The Rise

Four weeks ago

"NOW!" His own voice would shout. It's volume caused it to echo throughout his head. That was how it started every night. That shout that he heard for the past few nights was the start of the nightmares. For two weeks he had been suffering through these nightmares, experiencing them again and again. He dreamed of a shadowy man that he was unable to fully detail. The shadowy figure would enter the city in the dead of night and start its reign of terror. The figure he dreamed of was a killer without any remorse. As the nightmares continued every night they 'd get clearer and clearer.

Norman winced as more nightmares from the nights before showed up in his head. In his nightmares, he saw things that he wished he had never seen. Whenever he had these dreams, he’d watch the scene play out like he was actually there. Yet he wasn’t. He was like a ghost. unable to interrupt or interact with the nightmares.

For the first few weeks he dreamt of a man walking up to a house. On the front lawn was a little boy playing with his toys. At first, he had assumed the man was the boys father. But that assumption was quickly proven wrong as things only got worse soon after. He watched the little boy look up from his toys and make eye contact with the tall shadowy man. The man looked down at the boy and smiled. Norman wished he could do something. Anything. But he was unable to do anything in his dreams. As if they weren't dreams at all.

"Hello. Is your mommy home?" It asked.

Those words made his spine tingle. Despite knowing, no one in his dream could see or hear him. Norman would yell and shout at the kid. He'd scream at him to get away. From the way the mans questioned was worded. Norman could immediately hear the malice and could tell his smile had a sadistic look to it. Unfortunaetly for Norman, the boy was too innocent to see through the fake smile the man sported. The boy had likely assumed he knew his mom. The boy mistakingly said yes, receiving a smack in the face that made Norman flinch at the carelessness of the act. Norman felt unable to stand yet whatever was keeping him up refused to let him fall. He felt like he was useless. Knowing that he was unable to stop the shadowy man. Norman looked down at the grass in shame and saw the landscape bend and morph into a carpet. Norman looked up and found himself inside the house.

Norman could make out more items in the dream than he could outside. The carpet was a tan color with red rugs lining the hallway. Pictures on the walls and tables, and a small living room with a woman sitting in the reclining chair. Norman made another attempt to call out to the person sitting in the chair to no avail. He then heard a bump to his right and turned his head toward the sound. Norman looked at the front door and watched it creak open, revealing the man. Yet he was clearer than before. His skin was as black as coal and he was covered in muscle. Norman stared down at the mans arms and saw he dragged the unconscious boy on the floor as he entered the house. Norman gulped as he knew what was coming. He watched the man drop the boy and head toward the woman who hadn't even bothered looking behind her. Norman shouted as loud as he could just to get anyones attention. But no matter what the result was always the same. Knowing what was next, Norman closed his eyes and quickly turned away. He could only hear her scream for a second before hearing her attempts to breath. But that wasn't all. The man was laughing as if what he was doing was giving him joy. Norman wanted and tried to wake up yet he couldn't. The choking sounds ended as soon as they started and he had found himself at a police station. Norman looked around and recognized a few faces. To his relief, Norman saw himself bent on his knees talking to the same boy earlier. Norman felt a sigh escape him, knowing the kid was still alive. Norman saw the reports on the desk next to his dream self and had easily read through the partly hidden report. All he was able to read was: "Home Invasion, 1 killer at large, 2 bodies recovered on scene. 2 females. Babysitter found with neck crushed. Stepmother has several broken bones and large hole in the-"

Norman stopped reading that part of the report and made out a small address in the report. Norman read the address several times and made sure he memorized it completely. Before he could re-read it a sixth time the dream changed once more to something far far worse. He stood a distance away from a house that stood on a hill in the surrounded by a sea of trees. The only lights illuminating the scene was the moon and stars above. The house was white and shined brighter from the moons light. The house was lovely and its outside exterior burned into Normans mind. He then heard the sound of tires driving on dirt and looked to his right. a swarm of SWAT vehicles surrounded the house. To his surprise, Norman saw Agents exit out the vehicles in full military gear. Norman knew the rules on Agents with heavy gear. Unless it was absolutely necessary, Agents were always told to carry light. He looked at the heavily armed men and realized that they were there because something was going on in the house. At the same time, Norman then saw the door to the house was gone. A large hole where a door once stood, allowed Norman to see inside the house. From his position, he was unable to see anything but the front hallway. There was a orange light on the walls that flickered lightly. Norman wondered what that was and assumed it was the light from a fireplace.

BANG! BANG!

The gunshots flashed through the windows of the house and the large hole. Norman saw the orange hall flash and saw an outline of a person. Norman wondered who could be in there firing their gun inside the house. He looked at the house then back at the Agents and watched as they scrambled to get their guns and head to their positions. Norman heard another flash and then suddenly he was inside the house in the blink of an eye.

Norman saw the place was comepletely trashed. There were broken furniture and knocked over chairs everywhere, glass and other broken items were on the floor. Norman looked at the scene with the creeping sense of terror filling his head. Everything in his head told him to regroup with the Agents outside but he couldn't.

"It's not real. This is still a dream." he said to himself. Then he heard the screams. Norman watched with wide eyes as a man with a riot shield flew by him screaming. He watched the man hit the window and break the glass. The only part of him that was inside the house were his legs. Then he saw another agent firing several shots into the hallway as they slowly backed up. Then he saw who it was he was shooting. Norman looked at the man in shock. It was the same shadowy man from before only even taller and sporting even more muscle than before. The shadowy man didn't run and easily caught up with the agent. Gripping onto his arm, he easily ripped off the hand holding the gun, causing the man to scream in pain. Norman couldn't believe the strength the man had possessed and helplessly watched as the man was picked up by the neck and squeezed to death. The brutality of it all made Norman sick. He had never seen such brutal killings before. Only the decades-old crime files that he had read years ago could compare. Norman heard a couple thuds behind him and turned around. Instead of brokn glass and other items, the floor was filled with bodies of Agents. A look at the patch on their shoulders revealed to Norman who these Agents were. These Agents were part of an Agency Strike Team. Reserved only for terrorists or deadly hostage situations. Each of the bodies had a dozen knife wounds and missing limbs. On the opposite side of the room, Norman saw the shadowy man look at the bodies with a sinister smile. He could see the immense pride inside the man as he looked at his work.

Norman could hardly believe one man could have taken out an entire Agency Strike Team. But the shadowy man had done it with ease. Norman stared at the shadowy man and noticed how tall he had become. He was atleast 8 feet tall, taller than any man he'd seen before. Norman looked behind the shadowy man and saw its shadow on the wall. Norman stared at the shadow and noticed its physical differences compared to the human in front of him. Its hands were claws, It's legs bent forward like a goat, and what looked like horns were placed on the top of its head. It was like Norman was staring at the shadow of the devil himself. This man was no human, it was a demon. The demon was the cause for all this death.

Norman stopped staring at the shadow when he heard the sound of a gun cocking. He looked around to see where it was from and saw a white skinned man with blue hair wearing a police uniform holding a gun at the demon. He wondered if the officer was on patrol and saw the vehicles and went in to investigate. He must of heard the gunshots and wanted to help. His assumptions were cut off by the demon talking.

"Shining Armor? What a surprise. You're a cop." It exclaimed, acting as if he knew who he was.

"How's your wife, Cadance?" It asked.

That seemed to trigger something within the officer as his eyes widened with fear. His body completely freezing up. His eyes were bulging and he started to sweat profusely. The demon smiled at his reaction and started to advance towards him. Then out of the corner of his eyes, Norman watched as his dream self appeared out of nowhere and lunged toward the demon. Norman gasped as he watched his dream self plunge a knife into the neck of the demon. Norman couldn't believe he did that and prayed that was the end of him. Even the officer was shocked to see the knife inside the demon. The demon flinched at the feeling of the knife entering his throat. Normans dream self took a step back and panted. He watched the demon stand there with the knife still jammed in its throat, hoping it would fall. Yet it remained standing. Both Normans heard the sound of bones cracking and watched in denial, as the demon raised its arm and grabbed the knife in its throat. The demon pulled the knife out and a pool of blood spurted out of him as the gaping hole in his throat slowly closed up. Both Normans and the officer were too shocked to move after seeing what it did. The demon turned around with both hands clenched into a fist. The demon looked down at Norman's dream self and quickly lifted him off the ground by his neck. Norman saw the demon pick him up and believed he was about to watch himself die. Yet when the demon saw him he tilted his head in confusion. It was like it was the first time the demon was seeing him.

"Who the fuck are you?" It said.

"I thought you were from an alternate universe?" He choked.

"You must be completely original in this universe." It said looking on in thought.

"Well, aren't I special!" Norman choked out, before being thrown across the house, hitting a wall and breaking it. Norman flinched watching himself make impact with the wall. He looked on completely lost at the words exchanged by the demon and his dream self. Who is that thing? Is this still a dream? What did I mean by alternate universe? What is happening? He questioned himself, knowing full well he didn't have the answers.

He saw the officer had snapped out of his frozen state and grabbed the knife the demon pulled out and charged towards it. It quickly reacted and stopped the charge. Grabbing the hand holding the knife, it crushed Armors hand until he dropped the knife, screaming in pain. The demon threw him across a hallway, hitting a wall also and knocking him out.

He heard the demon yell at someone to get out, but could not see who. He looked at himself wincing in pain and checking for anything broken. He saw himself look around the house. Seeing all the bodies and a body he hadn't noticed before. She had pink skin and her face was charred off. Norman looked at the body and felt intense fear. He felt sick to his stomach even the dream him looking at it felt the same way. He saw himself look down at the ground again, dropping a single tear.

"Jesus..." he heard himself say, before getting up. Then everything went dark and he heard voices. This was something he never saw before and was naturally confused. Some voices he recognized would appear and some that he didn't know. He even heard the demon.

"You'll get used to it."

"You're insane!"

"What do we do?"

"We find him before he can do more damage."

"Ooh, I hope this works."

Then he heard a voice that came out louder than the others. He heard the voice of a teenager say things that were directed to him.

"NORMAN? CAN YOU HEAR ME? THERE ISN'T MUCH TIME!" The teenager voice said, speaking louder among the voices.

"I've tried looking for an escape already. There is none!"

"Go the other way, I'll deal with her." Norman heard his dream self say.

"NORMAN, LISTEN TO MY VOICE! BEHEMOTH! HE'S COMING!"

"No! Not going to happen!"

"How would you like your brother to be forever crippled!"

"It doesn't matter now. Soon this world will end and Equestria will go with it."

"SAVE HIM..." was the last thing he heard the teenager say before waking up.

Norman rose out of bed gasping for air. his breathing was rapid, heart was beating, and sweat had fallen onto the pillows and made them damp. He worked hard to regulate his breathing as he lay there alone in his room. A hotel room to be exact. Norman looked around the room and let his eyes adjust to the light coming from the lamp and the tv. He focused his vision on the nightstand to his left and looked at the time.

4:03 AM

Norman heard a crash in front of him and looked at the television. He squinted his eyes in an attempt to see what was playing and could make out a little of the film. He saw a man crash a truck straight through a building and proceed to shoot the place. Not wanting to watch something so eerily similar to his nightmares, he quickly scrambled for the remote and turned the tv off. As soon as he did he realized he was moving his hand. He waved his arms around and shook them, causing him to hear some pops and cracks. Norman felt relief knowing he was awake again. He then turned to his side and got out of bed. He entered the bathroom and turned the lights on. He stared at himself in the mirror and turned the sink on. He dunked his hands into the sink and proceeded to wipe his face with the water. He did this for a minute before drying up and brushing his teeth. He exited the bathroom 40 minutes later and walked to a closet. He opened the closet and saw his clothes hanging on a hanger. He quickly got dressed and packed his stuff up. He left the hotel room in a hurry and put his things in a car parked in front of his room. Getting inside, he quickly drove out of there and left.

And that's how Norman ended up in the parking garage of a residential skyscraper. He got out of the vehicle and made his way to the elevator, keeping a professional look. He walked by other people dressed exactly like him who tipped their hats or nodded as he passed by. Norman would respectfully nod back at them before moving on towards his goal. He reached a small waiting room and approached the young women sitting in the front desk. The young women was talking on the phone on her desk and noticed Norman approach.

"Hey, Belle."

"Hey, Norman. You're here early. You look tired." She said, looking at Normans eyes.

"I need a meeting with the Madame. Right now please." Norman requested with a polite tone.

"You know its still morning over there as well, right, Norman?"

"Trust me. She's there." Norman assured her.

"Well okay, I can request a meeting right now." Belle said, typing away on her keyboard. She submitted a request for a meeting and, sure enough, the meeting was approved instantly.

"Oop. Look at that she approved it already. Well there you go, Norman. Meeting rooms are to the left."

"Thanks, Belle." Norman said, walking off towards the meeting rooms.

"Take care." Belle waved in a loud quiet voice. She then returned to her phone call. Norman stared at the meeting room door and thought about what he was gonna say. When he was ready he entered the office and approached an empty chair. He approached the chair and pulled it out. Before he could sit down, a tv screen turned on. Norman looked at the screen on the wall and watched it connect. Immediately upon connecting, the screen flashed and a woman appeared on the screen. Norman looked at the woman on screen and straightened his posture and saluted instantly.

The woman wore a professional blue Agency shirt and jacket with a badge that signified her rank. Her hair was held up by a ponytail in the back. Her hair was purple with teal highlights and her skin was a light purple. Normans tired eyes made eye contact with hers and he could see she was inspecting him through the camera.

"Madame Glimmer." Norman said, keeping his salute up. He looked at the purple skinned woman and noticed the contents on her desk. He could see what looked like chinese food sitting on her desk. The food sat on top of a box with a panda logo. What made it more obvious to Norman was the chopsticks that she still had in her hand. He realized that he had started a meeting with his boss while she was eating her breakfast. Norman also realized he had forgotten to eat breakfast as the sight of food caused his stomach to growl. He was happy to know the speakers wouldn't pick up his stomach.

Norman watched her drop the chop sticks and cross her fingers together. The small ring on her ring finger sparkled a tiny bit as it reflected the light from the camera. She looked at Norman with a relaxed look and nodded at Norman.

"Good morning, Agent Norman. You can drop the arm now." She said, skipping the proper words. Norman dropped his arm and let out a small sigh. His arm had been getting tired from keeping it up.

"How's the west treating you, Norman?" She said, leaning back a bit in her chair. She motioned for him to take a seat with her hand, which he acknowledged. He took a seat in the small meeting room office and stared up at the camera.

"Fine, Ma'am. I'm sorry for the sudden meeting... and for interrupting your breakfast." Norman said, looking down at the table in front of him.

"It's no problem at all, Norman. I'm quite used to interruptions by now." She said, looking to the side for a split second.

"What is it that you called this meeting for?" She asked.

"I'd like to transfer back to the Agency in Canterlot, Ma'am." He requested, keeping a serious face. Norman looked at her face and saw her eye raise at the request.

"Do you now? Might I ask why?" She smiled, crossing her hands again.

"I was informed about the ongoing investigation at Canterlot and I'd like to contribute. I think my skills would prove useful in the investigation." Norman said, making sure his real reasons were kept hidden.

"You've never shown any interest in the investigation before. What changed?"

"Its... just a feeling, Ma'am." Norman said, hesitating for just a second.

"Hmm. Just a feeling, huh?" She said, catching Normans second of hesitation. She narrowed her eyes at Norman and inspected his face. She could easily tell he was hiding something from the way he talked and his request to transfer.

"Very well. Norman, I want you on a flight to Canterlot as soon as possible. If theres anything else say it now."

"Understood, Ma'am. I have nothing else to say." Norman said, saluting again.

"Oh, and Norman."

"Whatever your reasons are for suddenly wanting part in this investigation. I want to warn you. This investigation isn't as ordinary as it seems." The madame warned.

"I understand, Madame."

"An Agent that I'm sure you're familiar with is undercover at the local High School that this investigation is centered around. I want you to get a job at this school however way you see fit. The Agency will provide the credentials."

"Thanks, Ma'am." Norman nodded. Starlight nodded back and shut off the camera. Norman was left alone again in the empty meeting room. He gathered his thoughts as he got out of the chair and exited the room.

"Find them..." The disembodied teenage voice said, echoing through his head. He had to know what was going on. If he wanted answers about his nightmares then Canterlot was the only place he could go. But one thing kept appearing in his head. Who did that voice in his head want him to save?

"Save him..."

The madame shut off the camera and sighed. She scratched her neck and picked up the chopsticks again. She looked up at the corner of the room and coughed on purpose.

"Is he gone yet?" A disembodied voice asked.

"Yes." She answered, "You can come back out now."

She then saw a stream of bubbles pop into reality in front of her. She stared at the bubbles with an unamused face. She knew what was coming next and mentally prepared to meet the annoying bane of her existence. The bubbles all gathered in the center of the room and rather than combining into a bigger bubble, they rubbed against each other. The bubbles all attracted together and formed the shape of a human. They all popped instantly and out came him. The floating light blue skinned maniac that she felt inclined to shoot first and ask later upon first meeting him. The human arrived, floating above the floor, dressed entirely in a Boy Scout uniform.

"Good. Now on to business." He said, popping a juicebox into existence. She watched him chug the drink in a matter of seconds, before a new one took its place. She rolled her eyes at the action and leaned forward.

"Geez, Glimmy. At least pretend you don't want to shoot me."

"Don't, ever, call me that." She warned in a serious voice.

"Yeah, Glim, alright." The floating teenager shrugged, tilting his whole body sideways as he looked away to her right.

"Before we start anything today. I need to know. Why is one of my best agents suddenly interested in this investigation?" She asked, crossing her eyes, towards the smiling, floating, teen.

"I dunno why," the teen shrugged, "Why did you tell him to get a job at Canterlot High?" He asked, getting an annoyed glare from the Madame. She stood up from her chair and put both hands on her desk and leaned forward, still glaring at him.

"Listen, Pow."

"Chow." He corrected her.

"Listen, Chow. I don't know if anything you’ve told me is true, but if something happens to my Agents or those kids. You'll wish you never crossed me."

"oh, don't worry, Starlight. There's nothing in the whole universe you can do to me. All you can do is trust me and listen to everything I have to say." Chow laughed with a amused smile.

"What more could you possibly say? You already told me about the next two weeks." Starlight demanded.

"It's about the big one. And I mean this is thee big one."

"What big one?" Starlight asked, raising an eye.

"His name is Behemoth. And he is not to be taken lightly, Starlight Glimmer." Chow said, getting up to her face. Starlight was surprised he referred to her by her full name instead of by nickname and stared deep into his eyes. She could see the concern visibly on them. She lifted her finger and poked Chow on his forehead, causing him to slowly float away from her. Chow stopped his retreat and dropped his legs to the floor. Starlight pulled her chair forward and took a seat.

"Tell me." She said. And this was the start of an unorthodox partnership.