Chapters Prologue- Peaceful Beginnings P.1
“Spike Come on! If you don't hurry up we're going to be late! Shining can't afford that!” Twilight yelled as she pounded on her bathroom door.
“Sorry Twi, but when you gotta go you gotta go.” Spike said as he came out, zipping his pants back up in the process.
“Ugh whatever. Now come on don't worry about our stuff, I taught Shining the teleport spell.” Twilight said, hurrying the smaller boy out of the door and into the car waiting outside.
“Got everything that can't wait for teleportation?” Shining asked, looking back from the drivers seat.
“Yeah, let's go.” Twilight replied. The car jerked forward. Twilight looked at her old high school without emotion. She really didn't like that place.
“So...Spike you're going to be a Freshman at Ponyville high eh? Let me tell ya Little Brother, if any of the seniors ask you to do the kind of things you do for Twilight they're just trying to use you.” Shining said as he drove.
“What about the things I do for Twi, you make it sound like she's using me too...” Spike rationalized.
“Spike, you're my little brother. You help me out and do some chores or organization for me and I pay your rent and love you in return. Besides, I'm a Junior not a senior...Shining is right though, don't let people step all over you or I'll have to give them hell.” Twilight said, opening one of her favorite novels.
“Oh Twilight, just because you're the best Mage in Equestria doesn't mean you get to bully the other kids.” Shining said.
“First off, I'm not the best Mage. Second, you really think I'd bully other kids? I'm just saying if spike gets bullied I'll make sure it stops.” Twilight said, deciding to forgo the novel and take a nap instead. Her dark purple- nearly black- hair would get messed up but right now she didn't care.
“I guess. So, you think you'll like your new magic studies class Twi?... ...Twi?” Shining asked.
“No good, she's out.” Spike said, also with a yawn.
“Well I suppose not everyone can switch schedules on a moments' notice.” Shining said.
“Yeah well you're trained to do that...” Spike said.
“I guess. Take a nap spike, I'll wake you when we're there.” Shining said. It was useless though, he already heard the green haired boy's snores. Suddenly his phone rang, he put an earpiece on and pressed the button.
“Ah, Mi Amore Cadenza....I know, I just like calling you my love...they're napping already...really? The Princesses are transferring too?...Twi'll get a kick outta that... ...Tonight at Eight? I can make that easy...Bye Love.” he conversed. He looked at Twilight then. “Well Twi, looks like you'll be more excited about this change than you are leaving Canterlot High after all.” he said to himself.
“Gah! What was that?!” Twi yelped, having been jerked awake.
“Sorry, some ass hole tried to cut me off when there wasn't any room...ugh that's gonna have to get re painted.” he said, looking through a side mirror.
“We almost there?” Spike asked.
“I give it a couple minutes before we're in sight.” Shining answered.
“Right...” Twi said, opening the novel back up.
Within minutes Ponyville came into view. Twilight was a bit put off by the size of the place. It was more like a village than a town. She could clearly see the high school though, she imagined if it had a standard campus it covered half of the town.
“Here, I stopped by a clothes shop while you were asleep, I think you'll like them.” Shining said, handing two bags back. “It's starting to Rain.” Shining answered when Twilight gave him an odd look. She looked outside and saw that it was indeed raining. She looked over at spike, who was pulling out a purple hoodie with dragons circling around as the design. Curious, she opened her own bag. There were three other bags. One was warm weather wear, the other cold. The final smaller bag held her own hoodie. It was the same dark purple as her hair, but it had a six pointed star pattern on the chest.
“Wow that's awesome! Thanks!” Spike said, pulling it on instantly. Twilight laid hers on her lap and looked out the window.
“What's the matter, don't like it?” Shining asked.
“Oh I love it, sorry, I'm just gonna wait until we get out to put it on.” she replied, giving him a genuine smile.
“I got your favorite lipstick too...it's with the cold wear.” Shining sighed. Twilight grinned and fished it out. It was a purple a few shades lighter than her hair and hoodie, the same color as the T-shirt she was currently wearing. All of this combined with her black jeans and now her dark hoodie is the reason she was often pegged as goth. She didn't care, if they saw her as something that wasn't her that's her own fault. She just liked the style.
“Your Dorm is a...Tree...” Shining said to himself when they arrived at her Dorm address.
“They ran out of rooms in the official Dorm so they offered the Library.” Twilight said, pulling her hoodie on.
“of Course she accepted.” Spike said, pulling his hood up.
“Alright, if you need me I'll be up at the school finishing your paperwork and everything.” Shining said and drove off.
“WHOA WHOA WHOA LOOKOUT!” she suddenly heard. With a yelp she was pinned to the muddy ground by a groaning mass.
“Whoops, sorry. Lost control with a huge change in the wind speed.” the Woman that crashed into her said. Well she obviously wasn't just a woman, she had teal blue wings splayed out around her. That would make her a Valkyrie. She was wearing a teal jumpsuit which -cough cough- showed her rather well toned figure off nicely. Her goggles were half knocked off and her medium length and messy rainbow colored hair was everywhere.
“Ugh...” Twilight groaned as she got up. With a quick shake and a snap of her fingers the mud was gone. Spike was busy laughing.
“Sorry 'bout that. The name's Dash. Rainbow Dash.” Dash said, putting a hand out to shake. Twilight cautiously accepted it.
“So you're a Mage, that's cool. I gotta Fly though, I obviously got a lot of practice to take care of.” she said, leaping back into the sky.
“That was...different.” Twilight mumbled.
“Oh man, you shoulda seen your face when you got a look at her! You went all red!” Spike gasped out.
“I did?...well...not gonna deny it.” she said with a shrug and turned towards her new home, only to be face to face with a rather hyper looking woman. Her hair was abnormally fluffy and curly, even though it was raining. She gained a look of utter surprise, gasped long and huge and then dashed off with cartoon-ish speed.
“The hell?” Twilight mumbled to herself. “Maybe we should go grab lunch...take care of unpacking later...” she continued, not wanting anyone else to surprise them in front of her new home.
“Right...” Spike said, weirded out by the odd pink woman.
“At least this town has good food...” Twilight said as she actually unlocked her door this time around. There was a flash of light and literal explosion of color and sound as she toppled to the floor from a glomp from that pink woman.
“Hi my name is pinkie pie! I saw you and I didn't recognize you and I thought that was weird because I know EEEEEEEEverybody so I thought you must be new so I got everyone together and got this 'Welcome to Ponyville whoever you are!' party started!” the woman said in a single breath. After Twilight got over the initial shock she grimaced at the headache she now had.
“Oh Pinkie, I think the party cannon was um...A bit too much...Here, I have something...” an almost nonexistent voice said from next to her. She looked over at a Valkyrie, who was wearing a butter yellow sweater and pink jeans, with beautiful pink hair with butterfly hair clips crouching down next to her going through a bag. She pulled out what looked like a sweet and handed it to her.
“Um...eat it..if..um...if that's ok with you...it'll take care of that headache.” she said. Twilight cautiously did so. It's taste wasn't the best but it did it's job. Now that her head had stopped spinning she could think and get up.
“Thanks...um...” Twilight started.
“Fluttershy.” the Valkyrie answered shyly.
“Well now that that's all fine and Dandy you can say hello to thuh rest of us.” a southernly accented voice said. She turned around and saw Rainbow Dash, now wearing similar clothes to Fluttershy but blue instead of yellow and pink and had a cloud with a rainbow streaked lightning bolt design, next to two other women. One, the one who spoke, was wearing an orange tank top under a leather jacket and short jean shorts. He hair was long and tied loosely towards the bottom and she wore a stetson on her head. The tank had a large apple right on the front of it.
“Th' name's Applejack, Ah run thuh Apple Farm.” Applejack said.
“I'm Pinkie Pie!” Pinkie exclaimed, forgetting she had already said that. Twilight noticed the balloon pattern on her shirt.
“You already said that Darling.” the woman next to Applejack said. Her voice was 'sophisticated' as was her Hair. It was a more Royal shade of purple than hers and was styled with slight curls. She was wearing a white turtleneck with white designers jeans, she had a necklace that sported three expensive looking gems. “I'm Rarity.” she continued.
“Um...Hi...I'm Twilight Sparkle...this is my little brother Spike. We just transferred from Canterlot.” Twilight introduced.
“I suppose you'll be attending Ponyville High Darling...correct?” Rarity asked.
“Yeah...I'm a Junior, Spike's a Freshman. When does the first Semester start?” Twilight asked.
“Oh in a few days.” Dash replied.
“Thanks...well...We've got a LOT of unpacking to do...so uh...could you...uh...” Twilight started.
“Oh! You want us to Leave so you can unpack! Come on Girls we'll see her soon!” Pinkie exclaimed, practically bouncing out of the door.
“Alright, ya sure you don't want any Help cleanin' up?” Applejack asked, but when she looked back the mess was already floating around the room looking for a trash bin. “Nevermind...” she resigned and left.
Prologue- not as Peaceful Beginnings P.2
“Alright...so...day one...Tutors?” Twilight said to herself as she looked at the message board on the front of the school. In big letters taking up most of the board red 'NEW STUDENTS JUNIOR DOWN TO GYM LOBBY TO FIND TUTORS, ALL SENIORS REPORT TO GYM LOBBY FOR PROTEGES'.
“Well, guess we're heading to the Gym Lobby...which is somewhere...” Spike said.
“I know where it is, you may follow me.” a feminine voice said from behind. Twilight turned around and froze. That was Celestia and her sister Luna. They were Mages, but they had Valkyrie wings. Celestia's hair was long and flowing and had many different colors in stripes. Her wings were pure white as was her turtleneck long sleeved shirt- which to Twilight's embarrassment was rather skintight if you looked for long enough- with white jeans. Luna was similarly dressed, but in all Dark Blue while her wings were the same, her Hair looked like the night sky. What were the only Angels in existence doing here?
“U-um...t-thanks.” Twilight replied.
“You needn't worry so much Twilight, we don't bite.” Celestia said with a smile and began walking. Twilight quickly followed.
“Um...h-how do you know my name?” Twilight asked.
“You were top of thine class at Canterlot and the strongest Mage of thy age, possibly thy time. Of course we'd care to learn something as simple as thy name.” Luna answered with a warm smile.
“Oh I'm not t-that good...I just try my best...” Twilight said. Celestia made to respond, but they reached the gym lobby, which was full of people, and more specifically, the tutor registration. Luna excused herself while Celestia signed a few papers and then pulled Twilight aside from the line.
“Twilight, what do you think skill is? Trying your best. Your best just happens to be one of the best there is.” Celestia replied lately.
“Well...I guess that makes sense...why'd you pull me away? Spike and I need a tutor.” Twilight asked, looking back at the line.
“Not anymore, Twilight Sparkle. You are my protege, I counted spike as your Assistant, is that alright?” she asked, looking at the DracoMage.
“That works actually.” Spike said with a smile.
“Good. Now, there is something I must ask you...do you have any combat training?” Celestia asked.
“Yeah, my older brother is the Captain of the Canterlot Guard. Why?” Twilight asked.
“Well, I'd rather not discuss it in such an open place. We have all of today to ourselves to get used to our new tutors and proteges, do you have a dorm?” Celestia asked.
“Um no, but the town gave us the Library.” Twilight replied.
“That will do, let's just say Tartarus will be very relevant very soon.” Celestia said.
“Cerberus was sighted outside of Tartarus? That can't be good.” Celestia said when she received word of said sighting.
“Let's go.” Luna said. With a flash of magic they found themselves at the gates of Tartarus, where a group of Royal guards were busy keeping it shut. Cerberus was playing with a rubber ball in a cage.
“What happened?” Celestia asked the captain of this team.
“I have no idea. Cerberus just walked out...now every other monster that's been locked away is trying to bust out...it's all our mages can do to keep the door shut.” he reported. Celestia nodded.
“We're going in. Sister?” Celestia said, looking towards Luna.
“On it.” Luna replied, gathering her power around her hands. The royal mages stepped back and allowed the door to open, but once it did the creatures on the other side were blasted back by Luna's Magic. They all whimpered and ran away, afraid of the power.
“We'll be back in ten minutes, keep the door closed until then.” Celestia called back. They were answered by the door closing.
“Gatekeeper!” Luna called. They had found the Gatekeeper's den quickly, but found it empty.
“GATEKEEPER!” Luna called once more, using her Royal Canterlot Voice. Something fell to the floor. Celestia picked it up and sighed.
“This isn't good.” Celestia said, showing what looked like a cracked plate from armor.
“Nightmare moon...where have you gone now?” Luna asked no one in particular.
“Nightmare Moon?” Twilight asked, the story now completed.
“Yes, the Gatekeeper of Tartarus. She's gone missing, and without her to keep the creatures within the gates in check...Equestria will soon be filled with hellish monsters and evil souls. Ponyville High is no longer Ponyville High. It is now a school for those advanced in combat and magic. A school to train special forces, known as Night Guards.” Celestia explained.
“What is it going to be called then?” Twilight asked nervously.
“Tartarus High.” Celestia replied. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. Twilight opened it with her magic. Luna and the ponies that had greeted her were standing there.
“I have them Sister.” Luna said.
“Have what?” Twilight asked.
“I asked Luna to take on the most promising individuals she could find.” Celestia said, standing up.
“Apparently you all know each other, perfect.” Luna said.
“We've met, so What exactly is going on now?” Twilight asked.
“We're assembling a team. Do you all have tutors?” Celestia replied.
“Applejack is My Protege.” Rarity said.
“Dashie's Mine!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“Oh, even better. I'm guessing this one is yours then sister?” Celestia asked, looking at Fluttershy.
“Correct. Now that we're all here shall we get going then?” Luna asked.
“Where?” Spike asked.
“Our private home.” Celestia replied.
“Whoa...” they all said as they saw it. Just on the outskirts of Ponyville, it's backyard literally the everfree, was a mansion. And it was HUGE.
“In order to maximize our teamwork we should all live together, Therefore I have arranged so that all of us have rooms here. I'm sorry Twilight but we can't have you living in a Library.” Celestia said.
“Really?! That's so AWESOME!” Dash exclaimed.
“Oh great...I get to live with a bunch of girls...” Spike mumbled.
“Don't worry, the servants are very friendly.” Luna said.
“Well, feel free to explore. Any rooms that are locked are already taken- I suggest you lock a room once you've chosen it as yours. If you find servants working don't disturb them.” Celestia said. Pinkie and Dash immediately took off. Applejack rolled her eyes but she and Rarity soon followed, albeit with less excitement. Fluttershy followed suit, not wanting to be left behind, as Luna entered.
“What's the matter?” Celestia asked Twilight, who had not entered even when Spike did.
“I think it'd be smart to wait until things have quieted down a bit, less chaos. I wish I could thank you more, but all I can give are my thanks.” Twilight said, looking up at her Tutor.
“Oh don't worry my Little Protege, your thanks is all I need.” Celestia said, lightly hugging her new friend. She didn't catch the blush. “Now, while I simply adore that hoodie it's a bit impractical for when we train. All of us are going on a shopping trip very soon!” Celestia said. Twilight suddenly imagined Celestia in that skintight jumpsuit Dash had worn and immediately flushed up.
“Um like what?” she asked, barely keeping a stutter from her voice.
“Well I know your Friend Rarity is the best in Ponyville when it comes to attire, she would know. But for a guess I'd say something similar to a Valkyrie flight suit. They don't bag, they're warm yet not too warm, they have no movement restriction and are made of some tough stuff.” Celestia thought. Oh god, the image came back. If this was some sort of Anime then her nose would be spraying blood right now, luckily though it wasn't and the blood stayed in her cheeks.
“W-well...uh...I'd say it's Quieted down enough don't you think?” Twilight said and made to enter.
“I recommend the tower.” Celestia said. Twilight stopped, looked up to see there was in fact a tower. She looked back at Celestia, who smiled, and smiled back before entering.
“It's too bright.”
“Oh come on Darling, Pinkie's is Pink. It's fine.”
“but the Shade is too bright.”
“Darling, please just put it on.”
“Can't you just darken it more?”
“I know you're not a Goth, why must you insist on trying to be one?”
“I'm not trying to be one, I just really want a darker shade.”
“Oh fine Darling you win, I'll get the Dye.”
The group enjoyed watching the two arguing and were almost in tears laughing. Rarity had made all of their suits overnight, but Twilight's had been such a bright purple it was nearly pink. When Rarity finally came back with the suit much darker Twilight finally accepted it. Now they all looked at themselves and each other. The suits were slim and formed to their bodies very well, almost too well. They all vowed to wear something over them when out in public. Twilight couldn't help but stare at Celestia when they were fussing over getting Pinkie's hair through the thing. But she wasn't the only one, Dash and Applejack couldn't take their eyes off each other.
All of them ,armed with their sweaters/hoodies and loose jeans over their new attire, they returned to the Mansion.
“Alright...let's see what you got.” Celestia said when she unlocked the large vault-like doors at the back of the house- which extended into the forest- and stepped in. they soon followed. They saw a series of long hallways with various rails in various places all the way down, seemingly a hundred yards or so. They looked to the side where Luna was opening more doors and they all widened their eyes. It was literally an armory, it must be a firing range.
With a snap of her Fingers, Celestia used her magic to select a great bunch of weapons and snt them floating to each of the lanes.
“Take a lane, load and fire each weapon. I've got one of each major firearm class there for you, if you can't load or fire it then ask for assistance. What this will achieve is tell me your strengths and weaknesses as well as give you a bit of universal experience.” Celestia explained. They each took a lane and took the smallest, a sidearm, and proceeded to load. Twilight and Spike quickly loaded, cocked and fired off the sidearms and were already moving on to sub machine guns. Dash was having trouble cocking, Rarity was still loading, AJ was taking her time aiming. Fluttershy was surprisingly nearly as fast as Twilight and Spike.
“How in the hell did they get it done so fast?!” Dash exclaimed when she finally moved on to sub machine guns, but noticed Spike and Twilight were already on sniper rifles, and they had amazing aim.
“Their brother is a Captain...umm...my dad was one before he passed away too...” Fluttershy said from next to her, reloading an assault rifle.
“Ah don't see how they're so accurate...” Applejack said, loading a double barrel.
“They're experienced Darling...Although I am scared to think what dear Pinkie would do with a large weapon.” Rarity said, looking up from reloading an SMG to where Pinkie was firing madly with a shotgun.
“I thought only the special forces got these.” Twilight commented when she examined a strange rifle. Instead of bullet magazines it had a battery slot. The battery was fueled by magic or standard electrical power. It looked as if somebody took a standard M16, combined it with some sort of Launcher to create a large barrel and then stuck some covered wires in certain places. She popped the charged pack into it's place, took aim and fired. Everyone watched as the purple beam that came from the muzzle of the weapon went straight through the target.
“Whoa, when did you learn to use Energy Weapons?” Spike asked.
“Shining taught me when I turned sixteen.” Twi said, firing the rest of the clip. Spike shrugged and followed suit, following what Twilight did. He was much less accurate but he still fired it well.
“Good job you two, observe your friends now and tell me what you think.” Celestia said. Applejack lined her shots up and was pretty accurate, but she seemed to be a more close range fighter, her targets were closer than normal. Rarity seemed to do just fine with the sidearm and SMG, but anything larger gave her trouble. When she finally got to it, Dash seemed to be best with the assault rifle and the energy weapon. Fluttershy surprised them all, but she excelled at the long range sniper rifle the best, as well as her sidearm. After some coaxing, Celestia gave Pinkie a heavy weapon. It was often referred to as a Light Machine Gun, a normal 'machine gun' being a minigun, and the exact weapon name was a SAW. Pinkie was more accurate than Celestia herself was with it, she loaded it extremely fast and seemed to have a lot of fun shooting it.
“Well, now all that's left is your CQC, or Close Quarters Combat. Come on.” Celestia said, leading them to another section. This was was similar, but instead of a firing range it was a large Dojo-like room with rack upon rack of weapon.
“Where do you get all of these things?!” Dash exclaimed.
“Being what we are has it's benefits.” Luna said with a chuckled.
“Right, for this one pick what you want.” Celestia instructed.
Dash went for a single long two-handed Katana. Applejack went for a simple Longsword. Fluttershy went for the Ninjato, small dagger-like Katana. Rarity opted for the claws. Pinkie, surprisingly, went for the huge Battle Axe...which was nearly as tall as she was. She hefted it onto her shoulder with a happy grin. Spike took two one-handed Katana, and not just because he looked badass with them. Twilight couldn't decide.
“What's wrong Twilight? Everyone seems to have picked based on what they know how to use...” Celestia asked.
“That's the problem...I know how to use pretty much everything...is it weird to want to learn something new at a time like this?” Twilight asked.
“I like this one, you should show her your collection.” Luna said, now sporting a Glaive.
“Perfect idea!” Celestia said. She pulled open one of the smaller side doors and let Twilight peer inside. There was a single rack. There were four of the same thing stacked on said rack. Gauntlets. Gauntlets with claw-like slots in the knuckles. Gauntlets with blades extending back, curving, past the elbow (think of Bloodrayne). Gauntlets that seemingly went up to the shoulder.
“I like these for the versatility and universal uses.” Celestia said, nearly whispering in Twilight's ear, as she slipped passed the girl and donned a pair. Blades extended form the knuckles, creating claws (think of the Predator Wristblades, but with four instead of two).
“You are very welcome to them.” Celestia continued. Twilight nodded and slowly approached the rack. Obviously she needed to learn more, as putting the damn things on was almost impossible. They didn't just slide on or anything. Celestia started casually snapping her fingers, a spark of her magic flashing every time. After a few moments Twilight got the hint and used her magic to do it. Instead of the marble white Celestia's had, it took the same obsidian-like hue as her magic as they gracefully slid onto her arms. When they were secured she clenched her fists, moved her arms around and tested mobility. They were in fact very versatile. She thought about how to get the blades to extend without magic, but they did with just the thought. Curious, she thought about what the curved blades could do. They swung forward, giving Spike- who had been looking at them- a start as they almost lopped his head off.
“It took on your magic, it now serves you. If anyone else tries using it, it will simply not work. Luna called them Reaver Gauntlets once. I like that name.” Celestia explained.
“Reaver Gauntlets...” Twilight repeated, examining them.
“Right! Now let's see what everyone's got!” Luna exclaimed, stepping back out into the Dojo and readying her Glaive.
Prologue- Sparring and...Sexuality? P.4
(A/N ok I lied, not as much fighting as I wanted. also more Fluff than i wanted, but here you go an extra long chapter. god it is so much easier to write sexiness when they're human. I hit 6 pages. my goal is going to be eight a chapter. since there wasn't enough action and more than enough fluff I'm extending this prologue to five parts to get some semi-normal school life down to build up personalities and behaviors. since this place is a school full of kids who are good fighters, even if most don't know it yet, there are obviously going to be some things much more epic than schoolyard scuffles. Enjoy! -Dark)
“Hm...I was going to have us all pair up as tutor-protege sparring teams...but that leaves Spike as a handicap...Oh! I know! Emerald!” Celestia started, calling out of a door. A girl about a year older than spike came in then. She had Katana like spike's on her back and what looked like a standard martial arts uniform. Her hair was long and green, it was tied up in a tail.
“Ah, you're a Dracomage Right?” Celestia asked.
“Sure am!” the girl replied.
“Whoa hold on, what's a Dracomage?” Dash asked.
“You slept through that class last year didn't you...” Applejack sighed.
“A Dracomage is like any other Mage really, it's just that we use fire for most of our spells and stuff.” Spike explained, snapping his fingers to make a green flame appear.
“Well, that takes care of that. Pair up and begin!” Celestia exclaimed.
She decided to let Twilight practice a bit with her new weapons before she fought so she could observe the others, Twilight soon joined in with the observations. Applejack's longsword would normally have an advantage over Rarity's claws, but the Mage was so quick and agile it countered that advantage. In this case, that speed would be able to outmaneuver the longsword, but Applejack used it to the point where she was literally using the hilt as a weapon as well, batting the blades away with the extra two inches below her hand/hands and using the cross guard to lock the claws.
Watching Dash and Pinkie's fight was...well...scary. Pinkie would be giggling madly as she seemingly recklessly swung the giant axe, but after a moment or two of observing closely they were aimed perfectly so that they not only would be harder to defend against at an angle, but so Pinkie could spin and not lose momentum...once she got going she couldn't be stopped. That is, until Dash got under the radius and nearly took her head off. She stopped then, being more defensive as Dash somehow made the long Katana fast as a dagger.
While the fight between Dash and Pinkie was scary, Spike and Emerald's was interesting. The twin blades of the two would often leave trails of flame to stay in the air for seconds at a time to form a literal wall of fire. Most of the battle, however, was spent with the two sets of blades locked together, trying to pry the others' weapons from their hands. Eventually Spike was able to get Emerald's blades away from her, but a chain of fire flung them into the air where she proceeded to catch them. She spun, unleashing a small whirlwind of fire, but Spike's green lames burst through it and they were currently locked at the hilts again.
Luna had warned Fluttershy she was rather rusty so the shy woman let Luna get the first strike. She may be rusty by some divine standard, but Luna was still a force to be reckoned with. For that reason she was dumbfounded how, when Luna asked Fluttershy to start fighting back, she was getting her ass handed to her. With the small, forearm length, blade of the Ninjato, Fluttershy was able to lock Luna's Glaive and lightly tap various places on Luna's body. This caused light cramps and small knots of stiffness and pain. If this were a real fight her entire left side and half of her right arm would be paralyzed. She REALLY needed more practice.
Eventually Celestia decided Twilight had enough time to get used to the Gauntlets and squared up. Twilight did the same. They started with basic martial arts, which they were both very high leveled combatants in. when Celestia started losing the advantage of greater skill, Twilight was a fast learner, she extended the claws. Unfortunately for her Twilight had done the same. Fortunately though, Twilight was still a novice when it came to these weapons. She was good with claws, but constantly forgot about the curved blades and how Celestia could just flip them forward and nearly lop her head off when her claws were indisposed.
After the other spars had stopped they all watched the two fight. Twilight had finally gotten the hang of her new weapons, at least enough to not be hopeless. That's when Celestia made a terrible mistake. She switched to assassin-like tactics. When she found herself on her ass looking at a blade at her throat who couldn't even speak. When she had tried to slip a blade behind Twilight's defenses the girl had grabbed her wrist and literally flipped her over her head.
“What was that?” Celestia asked after Twilight helped her up.
“you used Assassin tactics...ever since I was old enough to hold a blade my brother has been teaching me to counter it...that's how my parents went.” Twilight explained.
“I didn't know he taught you THAT well.” Spike said.
“Well...looks like we could all use a clean. There's two bathrooms a floor, so six bathrooms total not counting the tower and attic. Are any of you well versed in the decryption of Glyphs?” Celestia said.
“A bit Darling, but I've never been able to tamper with them.” Rarity said.
“How about you?” she asked Twilight.
“She wrote the newest Volume of the Glyph Dictionary...” Spike said.
“Really? I'll need to pick that up then. There's a special bathroom sealed by a Glyph, it was built with the place, you're welcome to it. Servants will give you directions if you need them.” Celestia explained, finishing to the rest of them.
“Oh dear, I guess I'll have to remake these out of stronger stuff.” Rarity said, noticing all of their suits were damaged.
“Oh, I apologize. Here.” Celestia said, making an odd hand motion and touching the neck of each of their suits.
“That's a construction Glyph.” Twilight said,
“It is, I've set them to activate when the wearer touches them with the intent to repair and clean.” Celestia said, pushing on her own mark. With a flash of what looked like her magic the suit was whole and like new again. “It's powered by your own energy, but it's such a weak spell you won't notice it.” she continued. They all did so and their suits were new again.
“Well...um...I really need a um...shower now...” Fluttershy said. They all agreed and left. Twilight, however, returned to her tower. She decided it was better to wait and let all the hot water level out again before taking her shower. She was in the middle of changing into a tank top and shorts, namely only having the shorts on at the moment, when Spike walked in.
“Dude! Knock!” Twilight yelled, but not really phased. Spike didn't seem to be either.
“If you were doing something bad you woulda locked the door.” Spike commented.
“Whatever...” Twilight said with a sigh as she pulled the top on and plopped down on the bed next to Spike.
“What's wrong?” Spike asked.
“Trying to figure that out really...” Twilight said.
“Well let's here what you've got.” Spike said.
“I've been thinking a ton lately...about, you know, relationship stuff. Is it weird that I'm seventeen and this is the first time I've actually thought about that?” Twilight asked.
“Normally yeah, but for you- a study hard mage-? Not really.” Spike replied.
“Right...well...I've realized something kinda important to that...well...more like a lack of something.” Twilight started.
“And what might that be?” Spike asked.
“Sexuality...no idea which I am.” Twilight replied. At that point Dash was walking by with a towel around her, she stopped and poked her head in.
“Whoa, I may have just walked by at the wrong time...you guys talking about Sex?” Dash asked. The two shocked people looked at her, looked at each other, then back at Dash in horror.
“Oh God! You're sick Dash...” they said in unison.
“Hey I calls it as I hears it.” Dash replied with a laugh, stepping in fully.
“For your information, we weren't talking about sex. Not directly at least. I've been thinking and I have no idea what Sexuality I really am.” Twilight explained.
“Oh, damn you make it too easy. Well, does this turn you on?” Dash said, opening up her towel. Ya, that did the trick. Twilight was red as a tomato. Dash fell on the floor laughing, Spike would have done the same but...well...he's a guy. And a hot chick that wasn't his sister just opened up her towel in front of him. He was in the same position as Twilight.
“Oh yeah, Bi at the least. You ever get attracted to guys?” Dash asked. It took a moment for Twilight to realize she'd been asked a question.
“Um...not really, not that I've noticed.” Twilight managed to answer.
“Yeah well then welcome to Dykeville my Friend. I'd give you a chance now that you've seen my awesome body, but I've already got a thing goin' for me that I don't wanna mess up.” Dash said, closing the towel back up and sitting next to her, casually throwing an arm around her.
“Let me guess...Pinkie Pie.” Spike said.
“Oh, damn. Forgot you were there. And yeah, kinda obvious though isn't it?” Dash asked.
“I thought you were just good friends.” Twilight said.
“Well we are, but I live by a certain philosophy when it comes to relationships. Your best friend doesn't have to be your girlfriend, but your girlfriend should be your best friend.” Dash said, putting her arm out and waving it horizontally as she said it.
“Wow...that...actually makes perfect sense.” Twilight admitted.
“Yeah, it does. Well Luna, Flutters, AJ, Pinkie, Rarity and I are going out for some light Drinking. You in?” Dash asked.
“I am!” Spike exclaimed, the legal drinking age being 15 in Equestria.
“Sorry, but believe it or not I have research to do. I missed last month's quota so I gotta get an extra decryption done.” Twilight said, snapping her fingers to levitate over a book of unknown Glyphs.
“Huh?” Dash asked.
“The Canterlot University pays me for my research on Glyphs, since they're only just starting to get well known. I helped with the Glyph Dictionary volumes three through five and I personally wrote the sixth and latest, I need to decrypt a page a month or my funding is halted.” Twilight explained.
“You and your fancy Mage stuff. Fine, see you later then.” Dash said, getting up and walking out of the door.
“Next time we talk about anything like this again, remind me to shut the door.” Twilight said to Spike as he got up.
“Heh, yeah. See ya later Dyke!” Spike said, making to leave the room. But the door slammed in his face.
“Ever call me that again and I'll shove my dictionary so far up your ass you'll gain a few IQ digits...” Twilight growled. Spike didn't dare speak, so he nodded. The door opened and he was out of the house in seconds.
“Thanks.” Twilight said, having asked where the special Bathroom was and getting directions. She recognized the Glyph instantly and with a snap of her fingers and a horizontal -shoo- motion of her hand the door slid open. She was surprised to hear the roar of flowing water and a wall of steam. Hr tank and shorts were instantly plastered to her skin, said tank being white it became rather see through. Not wanting to be seen by a passerby servant she entered and shut the door.
When she entered the main chamber three things became known to her. First, there was a large pool fed by a beautiful waterfall. Second, Celestia was in said pool nude as ever. Third, they were both looking at each other- her tank was absolutely useless at covering her at this point.
“o-oh I-i'm sorry! I d-didn't k-know this was in use!” Twilight yelped and averted her gaze.
“Oh don't worry about it, this place used to be a bath house. Back in my great, great grandmother's time it was rude to not share a bath with a friend. If given the choice.” Celestia said with a giggle.
“Besides, we can't have you walking around like that for all the servants to see.” she continued, her eyes straying to Twilight's chest a bit too long than they should have. Twilight gave her a confused look while awkwardly crossing her arms. “I'm saying you may join my Twilight, I have no Quarrels with sharing a bath.” Celestia said.
“O-oh...um...ok...” Twilight said. She quickly undressed and entered the pool near Celestia and sunk to her nose.
“Don't be shy, you're very well proportioned by the way...Come now Twilight...we've known each other for a week now, I'd say we're good friends no? Come now and turn around.” Celestia said, grabbing a bottle of shampoo with her magic and putting some in her hands. Twilight slowly came closer to the Woman and quickly turned around. Her nervousness melted away, however, when Celestia began rubbing the shampoo into her hair. The combination of such gentle hands, the water at the perfect temperature and whatever brand that shampoo was just made her relax. When Celestia moved to her back she made an 'Eep' noise but did not protest. She finished all to soon, Twilight admitted in her mind.
“Alright, your turn.” Celestia said with a smile. Twilight turned around to look at her, but she nodded. Celestia flipped her hair to on side and turned around, waiting expectantly. Cautiously Twilight repeated Celestia's actions. Celestia found the assisted bathing just as heavenly as her Protege had. When Twilight moved to Celestia's back she heard a sharp intake of breath as the Woman twitched a bit. God if she had known having a friend washing you she would have asked Luna or probably a close servant to do it.
When they were both cleaned Neither could bring themselves to leave for some reason. Celestia chose to just enjoy the sauna-like pool as she reclined back a little and put her arms on the edges of the dip as she closed her eyes. God, Twilight could have sworn she was just presenting herself. Twilight may be well proportioned, but if Perfection existed it was Celestia. She found herself unable to stop herself from taking peeking glances. Unknown to her, Celestia noticed this. Unknown to Twilight, Celestia enjoyed little jokes and pranks. Embarrassing the girl next to her fell perfectly into that category.
While Twilight was attempting to busy herself with examining each individual bubble that came her way she didn't notice Celestia coming closer until the woman threw an arm over her shoulder. They were close. REALLY close. Their hips made contact, their legs. Twilight's right arm was stuck between her right breast and Celestia's left. For some reason she relished in all the contact, but externally she panicked.
“We've gotta get rid of all that shyness now Don't we? Last week I noticed you were very withdrawn and didn't even try to make friends. To tell the truth the Tartarus High school of elite combat hasn't officially started yet. Most students won't even know about it for another two or three weeks. I;m getting you all prepared for it. This means we have two or three weeks of actual schooling.” Celestia said.
“I s-see...” Twilight stuttered.
“Come on now, we don't want to look like wrinkly old prunes. According to Rainbow Dash you have research to do anyways.” Celestia said, standing up. Twilight watched as the woman walked over to a small closet, which had a great many towels, and began to dry off as best she could in the steam. Then she grabbed her dirty clothes, wrapped the towel around herself and opened the door to leave.
“This place is as much yours as it is Mine now, use it at your leisure. And if you find Luna or I are already using it don't worry and just join us.” she said before walking out.
Prologue- schoolyard scuffles P.5
(A/N sorry if it's not clear, but the last scene happens before Twilight's fight and the two have another class together. here's a small taste of action mixed with a bit of slice of life stuff. next chapter officially starts the story and will take place later in the day of this chapter. Enjoy! -Dark)
“Hey look it's the Gothic Nerd.” Twilight heard when she got to the school on Monday. She looked up and saw a group of people looking at her with less than friendly looks. Twilight just rolled her eyes and entered the building. One guy followed her though.
“Hey we were talkin' to ya.” he said.
“and I was ignoring you.” Twilight retorted.
“Ohoho. Listen, I'm a trained killer ya know. I could kick your ass any place any time.” he said, almost threateningly.
“And I could slit your throat. Or teleport you to the moon. Or just kick your ass.” Twilight said, clearly not amused.
“you plan on backing that up?” he asked, a small circle of kids had formed around them now.
“Do you?” Twilight asked. He looked around at the kids, they were expecting something.
“You know it's not really cool to hit a gir-” he started, but Twilight punched him in the gut.
“Quit stalling, if you're gonna hit me then do it.” Twilight warned.
“Bitch!” he yelled, charging at her. Trained killer? Heh, right. Yeah he had training, doesn't mean it worked. She just stepped to the side, leaving a foot to trip him. He went head first into some lockers.
“Hey!” another guy yelled. He and three others stepped into the circle. They all had the same jackets on.
“Oh great, a gang.” Twilight sighed and turned to them. She caught the wrist of one using a knife, twisted his wrist and confiscated the blade. Flipping it over so the blades faced down she took a stance, the other three had blades out as well. A second went with a clumsy stab as well, she did the same thing. Now sporting two blades like trench knives she took her stance once more.
“I really wouldn't fuck with me right now. I've got a lot on my mind.” Twilight growled.
“Get the Bitch!” one of the injured yelled. The two standing obeyed. They charged, but it wasn't clumsy. It was coordinated, but so predictable. Using one of the blades she deflected one and kicked him off his feet. For the other she slid to the side and grabbed the man by the arm and swung him around and into the other, who was just regaining his feet. Just as they were getting back to their feet they felt the blades at their necks, Twilight holding them.
There was a rather familiar click of a handgun cocking. The two on the other sides of the blades grinned. Without hesitation, Twilight smashed her fists into the faces of the two, dropping the blades in the process. As she did this she rolled sideways, the gun completely missing as it fired. The one holding it was the first guy, a look of surprise on his face. Before he even registered he had fired the weapon, Twilight had snapped his wrist and was now holding the disassembled sidearm up.
“Like I said...I reeeeally wouldn't want to fuck with me right now.” Twilight said darkly and walked off, the circle parting to accommodate her.
“I can't believe that bastard actually pulled a gun on you...” she heard. She turned around to see Spike, Celestia and Rainbow Dash. Dash was the one who spoke and she looked pissed.
“the Instructors watched. I hate it but those things are encouraged to weed out the weak...I never thought it'd start happening before the announcement...” Celestia muttered.
“I woulda helped, but Celestia held me back...” Dash grumbled.
“I knew you could take them, but I got worried when he pulled the gun...” Spike said.
“I thought they were only taking promising candidates...not gang thugs...” Twilight said.
“So did I, either they're getting desperate...or they're just here to be an obstacle...” Celestia replied.
“But you said this whole Tartarus thing hasn't even started right? Why would they be desperate? It's a test. At the Valkyrie town of Cloudsdale in flight school they'd do things like this...they'd throw in bad kids and bullies to toughen you up or weed out the weak.” Dash said.
“How'd Fluttershy get through then? She seems to shy to put up with that.” Spike asked.
“Oh, you just can't bully Fluttershy. It's literally impossible. She just accepts it as they're telling her flaws that she can try and fix and thanks them for it...if it ever got physical I'd punch them in the face.” Dash said casually.
“Right...so...I've got magic studies with you Spike, let's not be late.” Twilight said, looking at the clock.
“It appears we have Valkyrie Tactics Rainbow Dash. Shall we?” Celestia asked. The two groups split up and walked on as if the previous scene hadn't happened.
So you've got a lot on your mind. Care to tell?” Spike asked Twilight when the magic instructor gave them free time.
“Well Dash helped me figure out that little problem I had...” Twilight started, blushing lightly at the memory. Spike chuckled awkwardly and rubbed the back of his head. “Now that I know that...well...I'm thinking about WHO I could be in a relationship with.” Twilight finished.
“Ohhhh. Well let's hear it.” Spike said.
“Well, there's Dash, but like she said she's with Pinkie. Fluttershy is really nice and adorable, but I think she'd just freak out if I asked her out...but the one I think of the most is..well...um...” Twilight started, stammering at the end.
“Lemme guess...Celestia?” Spike asked. Twilight nodded. “Well I can see it, but how could you be thinking about her more when you've seen Dash?” Spike asked, apparently unable to get the image out of his head. Not that he wanted to, she wasn't exaggerating when she said she had an awesome body, it's just he was in public now.
“Well...about that..” Twilight started nervously and explained what happened at the bath.
“...I'm Jealous...I'd kill to bathe with her.” Spike said with a chuckle.
“Spike you Perv...but anyways...aside from...THAT...it was really, really nice...I could have stayed there with her all day and have been happy.” Twilight said.
“Alright...stop...please...I'm not into incest at all but you've got an image burned into my head and if you keep talking about it it's not going away...” Spike said. This earned a laugh from Twilight, but she decided to change the subject. That was done for her, however, when someone came through the door to go outside. Well more like was flung through with enough force to splinter the solid wood, but came through nonetheless. On the other side was Applejack, still in the pose of having thrown him.
“Shoot, sorry 'bout that...was aimin' fer the wall.” she said, a nervous grin on her face.
“Hey babe, I'm liking that look.” someone said from next to AJ. She looked at him and gave him an unamused look. Sure he was good looking, but she could already tell he was trash- if anything else than his terrible pickup line. She was currently in the outdoor gym class so she forwent her normal leather jacket and knee length jeans and instead just sported an orange tank and short shorts.
“Y'all just better keep on movin'. Not interested.” AJ said, returning to her recline leaning against the pole supporting a bar she had just been doing pull-ups on.
“Come on, you'd have to be interested to dress like that.” he commented.
“Pal, it's hotter than a Sauna out here. And when Ah'm exercisin' it just gets worse so Ah'd rather not make it worse by wearin' my casual clothes.” she retorted.
“Now you're just coming up with excuses.” he said with a laugh. She glared at him then.
“Pretty boy like you wouldn't know the meanin' of exercise. Just keep on walkin' now.” she said, starting to get really annoyed.
“Country girl like you wouldn't know a good catch when she see's i-” he started, but made the fatal mistake of trying to grab her ass. The second hand met ass she had grabbed his wrist and was in the process of flinging him over her shoulder. She was aiming for the two foot thick concrete separating the rec yard from the magic lab, but instead he crashed through the door.
“Ah'll pay fer that...” Applejack said sheepishly as the bell rang and quickly made herself scarce.
“Gotta hear the story on that one...” Spike said with a laugh.
“Yeah...” Twilight agreed.
“So...when are you gonna ask her out?” Dash suddenly asked. She and Celestia were taking a breather, having completed the cloud obstacle course.
“Excuse me?” Celestia asked, confused.
“Come on, it's obvious to those who're looking. And I see it like the sun in the sky.” Dash said, giving her a look.
“Well I'm not going to deny I want to, I don't think she's into women though.” Celestia explained.
“Oh, I know she is. Amazing what a flash can do when you're not sure of your sexuality.” Dash replied with a laugh.
“...not even going to ask...so you really think I'd have a chance?” Celestia asked.
“Dude, you're like her Idol. You may not know it but I've been talking with Spike a lot and they tell each other literally anything. Apparently you were her role model when she first started studying Magic. Plus he also told me she's got a wicked crush on you.” Dash explained.
“Really now?” Celestia said. Suddenly her mind ventured into a rather perverted mindset, namely imagining how things could have gone in the baths that weekend. She flushed up instantly at it and failed miserably at hiding it.
“Oh yeah, you got it bad.” Dash laughed.
“Oh shush, I see the way you look at Pinkie Pie.” Celestia said slyly, apparently thinking that fact was unknown.
“Ya, so does everyone else. She does too in the sack, for such a brutal fighting style she's got magic hands, let me tell ya.” Dash said with a grin.
“Ok! I get it! Hell am I that bad at seeing these things?” Celestia asked.
“Eh it's hard to tell sometimes.” Dash shrugged.
“What was that?” Celestia asked. Dash heard it too, it was a gunshot.
“Sounded like a nine mil. The hell are they doing down there?” Dash asked, punching a hole in the ground. The two looked down and saw twilight holding a disassembled firearm in front of a man holding his hand through a window. Needless to say they were down there almost instantaneously. They got the story from spike as she made her way through the circle. Dash, guilty for not being there to back her up, said something about being held back.
(A/N well guys the story has officially started. this is just a bit of starter chapter, managed to almost hit 6 pages with this one. next chapter is the first mission so look forward to it, enjoy! -Dark [P.S. as an idea for the armor imagine something like a combination of the ME N7 armor mixed with Talon combat armor from Fallout, but slimmed down a lot, and also Emerald is now going to be part of the story])
“All Students, report to the auditorium for an important announcement. I repeat, report to the Auditorium for an important announcement.” the PA system buzzed.
“So soon? I thought we had more time...” Celestia said. When they arrived at the auditorium they quickly found the others and grouped up. While kids were arriving they told each other what happened earlier, but before the others could comment a woman stepped up to the podium and got everyone's attention.
“Hello everyone. I will get straight to the point. As you may or may not have noticed, Everyone here is not a normal student. Some of you have had advanced training. Others taught yourselves. This is intentional. About two to three weeks ago hellish creatures were sighted outside of Tartarus. When the cause was investigated, it was found the Gatekeeper has gone missing. This means the only thing stopping those creatures from getting out now are the royal guard. They're simply not strong enough to do this for much longer. That is where you come in. you are going to be trained and armed and eventually sent on search missions for the gatekeeper, or on search and destroy missions for the creatures. This facility will from now on be known as Tartarus High, you the Tartarus Guard. The Faculty will have all the information you need, please see them for any and all questions. Thank you.” the Woman explained throughly.
“Right. The squad sizes are determined by us, team sizes as well. This means we can be solo to platoon size at any time we choose. You will carry your weapons at all times from now on, if they're making this announcement then that means the creatures have been sighted nearby. When we get back to the manor today I'll unlock the last locked door, which is the armor bunker and you'll get your armor, which you'll wear at all times as well.” Celestia explained to them as they walked from the auditorium.
“When does all this training and stuff start?” Dash asked.
“Tomorrow.” Celestia answered.
“Right, everything is light armor. You'll be pretty safe against CQC but for firearms anything higher caliber than a 9mil will give you trouble.” Celestia said. They all looked at the rows and rows of armor. They varied in shape, size and design.
After about two hours of browsing and testing they all agreed upon one design. It had one of the heavier body armor builds, but made up for it with armor for the legs and shoulders. It was slim, black and had vein like tubes going through it. The back was oddly flat and had an indent into it. They had no arms, but they were able to scavenge what they could from other designs. Twilight and Celestia didn't need armor for their arms, the Reaver Gauntlets had that covered.
“What's all this for?” Spike asked, noticing the back.
“Jetpack.” Celestia started, clipping a bulky pack on the back of a spare set.
“Magic battery.” she continued, popping one of said batteries into the indent as the suit's veins slowly filled with the color of the magic in the battery, but did not glow. “These are a special Design, I'm glad we agreed upon it. You can put multiple batteries in, imbued with different spells, to do things like cloaking fields or shields. As long as they don't completely run out they'll feed off of ambient energy and recharge, if you're a magic user yourself you can do this manually and overcharge it.” she explained.
“Awesome!” Dash exclaimed. Celestia proceeded to give them a four hour lesson on maintaining and repairing their armor before telling them to enjoy their last day of rest for a while.
Twilight was relaxing in the Sealed Waterfall, which is what she had decided to call the special bathroom, when she heard a light snap and noticed the door opening. She looked up to see Celestia undressing. She couldn't help but watch as she stepped over, gave her a smile, and slipped into the water.
After a moment Twilight decided to just not think about it, so she closed her eyes and sunk a little deeper in the warm water with a sigh of delight. After a few moments, however, she heard the sound of Celestia moving. Moving closer. She opened her eyes to look, but the woman was right over her. Slowly, she cupped Twilight's face in her hands and, with a small smile, kissed her.
Twilight sputtered and coughed, having slipped under the water in her sleep.
“Are you alright?” Celestia asked.
“H-huh?...oh...yeah...I guessed I dozed off...” Twilight said lowly.
“What's wrong?” Celestia asked.
“Oh, long day you know? Beat up four guys, get a gun to my head, spend six hours getting armor...the usual.” Twilight replied with a slight grin.
“Oh I know...I'm glad to have you all here with Luna and I. Believe it or not it gets rather boring here...Luna and I both have had more fun these past two weeks than we can remember...not to mention I'm rather enjoying these baths.” Celestia said, resting right beside Twilight once more.
“I am too.” Twilight replied with a genuine smiled. They chatted about various things for a while as the sun began to sink below the view of the window.
“Right. We all need to look our best. Orientation for Tartarus high starts today. Everyone's armor fit ok?” Celestia asked the next morning. A general affirmative sounded and she continued looking them all over.
She herself had an energy repeater, which was an assault rifle that shot magic bullets instead of regular ones, and her Reaver Gauntlets were on. Twilight had helped modify them slightly to the point where the curved blade could retract as well, very useful.
Luna had her Glaive, which had the blades retracted to look like a stave, strapped across her back as well as a Dragonuv parallel to it, a magnum revolver at her waist.
Fluttershy had two Ninjato in their scabbards vertical on the back of either shoulder, a 50. Caliber sniper rifle vertical between them and a Magnum Handgun at her own waist.
Rarity had her claws in holsters she had made at her waist and a custom made sidearm in a shoulder holster, basically it was a small SMG/ large handgun and could switch between firing modes- it was of her own design-.
Applejack had hr Longsword in it's scabbard at her waist and had a double barrel diagonal on her back.
Dash had her Katana at her own waist while she had a heavy assault rifle strapped to her back.
Pinkie had her battle axe and her SAW on her back, somehow her bouncing not restricted by the heavy weights. She also wore one of the ammo belts as an actual belt.
Spike her his twin Katana in an X pattern on his back with an assault rifle vertically intersecting them.
Twilight had her Reaver Gauntlets on and was currently retrieving a firearm from a large case that had arrived that morning from her brother”What...is that?” Rarity asked. She was looking at what looked like a slim, yet bulky sniper rifle.
“the original name we came up with was Modular Rifle, but now that I think of it we can just call it a Reaver Rifle.” Twilight said. She explained and demonstrated how parts of the sniper rifle could be removed or modified with some magical or manual manipulation to create an assault rifle, and then with further manipulation would create Dual handguns as large as Magnums.
“That's sick, but way too complicated for me.” Dash said.
“Very impressive, you and your brother invented it?” Celestia asked.
“Yeah, he's quite the gun nut.” Twilight replied, attaching it to the rails on the back of her armor.
“Shall we be going then?” Luna asked.
“Sally Forth!” Dash said, holding an invisible sword out and dramatically marching out of the door.
“Next!” was the word yelled out every few seconds in the large gymnasium where armed students were standing in line or waiting around near many tables with official looking people there. Each of the Ten, Emerald had been enrolled now and seemed almost identical to Spike, found it was combatant registration forms.
“Name?”
“Twilight Sparkle.”
“Specialization?”
“...General.”
“Armor Recognition?”
“Spectre Armor.”
“Weapon Recognition?”
“Reaver Gauntlets and Reaver Rifle.”
“Tutor?”
“Celestia.”
“Age?”
“Seventeen”
“Next!”
the quick exchange of words left Twilight a bit disoriented, but the others were currently going through the same thing. She sat down to wait while they got through their lines much slower than she did. While this happened Dash joined her, as did some guy. It was the same guy Applejack tossed through a door.
“Hey babe, lookin' to get lucky?” he asked Dash. She gave him a look and shrugged.
“Even if I was you'd have to get past my girlfriend.” Dash replied.
“Oh yeah? Bet I can take her.” he retorted with a cocky tone, tapping an SMG holster. Dash laughed and pointed to a line.
“Pink hair.” Dash said.
“That shy little thing?” he asked.
“No...that's Fluttershy...big goofy pink hair.” Dash corrected.
He grinned when he saw the girl, she was practically bouncing up and down as she waited. But then she noticed what was on her back.
“Eheheh...you aren't really my type anyways.” he said and slithered off, earning a laugh from the two.
“So...um...apparently they needed to create a new category for me...” Fluttershy mumbled when she joined them.
“Huh? Why?” Twilight asked.
“Well...because I'm a scout, an Assassin and a Medic all in one...they didn't even know what to call it.” Fluttershy replied.
“Let's just call it a Fluttershy.” Luna said, sitting down as Celestia did the same.
“I just told them General.” Twilight shrugged.
“I said powerhouse.” Dash said.
“We said General as well.” Celestia said, meaning her and Luna.
“Support.” AJ said, plopping down next to them.
“Apparently I'm an Infiltrator.” Rarity said, joining them.
“Powerhouse!” Pinkie exclaimed, bouncing into the group.
“They didn't know what to call us.” Spike said, Emerald in tow.
“I'd call you guys General also, with a touch of Pyro.” Twilight rationalized.
“So we're going to have to come up with a team name so that we don't get thrown around and put in random teams.” Celestia said.
“I was thinking about that. What exactly would we be doing as Tartarus Guards?” Twilight asked.
“Well...I guess we'd be the first and last line of defense for the citizens of Equestria...kind of like peacemakers, but instead of criminals it's monsters.” Celestia said with a thoughtful look on her face.
“Hm...it sounds kind of cliché, but how about the Elements of Harmony? I remember reading an old book about them, apparently they would be that line of defense against all kinds of chaos. It fits, right?” Twilight suggested.
“Hm...Personally I'd choose something cooler but it works.” Dash agreed. Everyone else gave a general affirmative as well.
“Nice thinking Twi, never woulda put those two together. But it's kinda long, how'd we shorten it?” Spike asked.
“Well I imagine, just like every other squad of powerful people in history, we'd get a nickname from others if we do out job right...but I guess just 'the Elements' would work.” Twilight said with a shrug.
“Team Registration for those with a trusted group of combatants and all regarding information will begin now!” someone announced.
“Well that's our que.” Dash said, hopping to her feet..
C.2 Mission1 Twilight&Celestia
(A/N HOLY SHIT 9 PAGES this was too fun to write, I couldn't stop. if you get confused Chronologically close to the end, Twilight's fight ends and then skips back to the beginning for Celestia's part.)
“Where the hell do they find these kids?” Dash asked. They were all back in the school, but to pick up missions and they got a look at what everyone looked like ready for battle. It put the royal guard to shame.
“A lot of them are sons and daughters of special forces and other authority figures...others are found on the streets, too violent to put in a regular school...yet kind enough to be allowed in public. They're all orphans, so are you all correct?” Celestia explained. The group nodded.
“Hey...before we get this mission...there's something I want to ask...how come the Royal guard and special forces can't take care of what we're going to be doing?” Twilight asked, surprising everyone.
“the Royal guard is just a police force, average training. Your brother is a captain, if you were to ask him about it he'd tell you the same thing. They're simply not strong enough to do it for much longer. As for the special forces...they can only do so much. The Tartarus project, which is what the higher ups decided to call this little experiment, is basically taking high school students with advanced training and making them into a sort of elite force...the Tartarus Guard.” Celestia explained.
“How do you know all this?” Rarity asked.
“Being the only Angels in existence... the government likes to include us in their planning... we're the only reason this force is going towards the Tartarus incident instead of some other self-gain inspired ploy of theirs...” Luna said.
“If you ask me it kind of sounds like this 'Tartarus Incident' was planned.” Dash suddenly said. They all looked at her with confused looks.
“I mean come on...they just happen to name this thing the Tartarus project, the Tartarus guard...yet that thing only happened what two weeks ago? No matter who or what is working on it you can't get all of this done in two weeks' time...it's either planned or the biggest coincidence I've ever seen.” Dash said, leaning back onto a pillar.
“Whoa, since when were you all into conspiracy theories?” Spike asked.
“My mom was in a special government task force...they DID that kind of thing, though nothing as big as this...smells like the higher ups are cooking something up with us as the main ingredients...” Dash replied.
“Anyone else got any interest bloodlines?” Celestia asked.
“Mah Granny founded Ponyville.” Applejack said.
“One of my great great however many times grandmas wrestled a dragon and won!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“My Mother and Father were the government's go-to agents when it came to espionage, also my mother was a world-class dress maker.” Rarity answered.
“Um...I'm the last in the line of...um...the Shy Assassins...if anyone knows what that is.” Fluttershy said softly. Nobody did. She seemed happy about this.
“Well, it seems everyone's got some sort of fancy blood in them.” Emerald said.
“Not really, our dad was just an average royal guard. It's when they got assassinated, for reasons we still don't know, is when our brother stepped it up and taught us everything.” Spike retorted.
“I'm just a girl off the streets, Celestia hired me as a servant at first, why I don't know though.” Emerald said.
“I wouldn't leave a girl on the streets, and you looked very capable. When you showed interest in the Dojo I had her trained up.” Celestia said.
“Right, well...fancy parents, conspiracies and sad tales aside I didn't wake up early to get all setup to stand and talk. Shall we?” Dash said, pushing off of the wall.
“Only solo and pair missions available huh? Right, well...Tutor-Protege pairs sound good?” Celestia asked, Spike and Emerald being assistants they were left out- and so automatically paired as a squad-.
“Yeah.” everyone replied.
“Right...well Twilight, what do you feel more comfortable with...search and destroy? Support? Or search and rescue?” Celestia asked.
“Well...I'd rather have more than just us so I'd rather not do a search and destroy...my medical magic is shoddy at best so the rescue part of search and rescue I don't feel comfortable with...Support sound good?” Twilight replied.
“Fine by me.” Celestia said and they stepped into one of the three lines.
“We have three support missions available for your skill level, we have one in Trottingham supporting the Tear Platoon, Edinspur with the Eyeglass Platoon and one just outside of Canterlot for the Shining Platoon.” the woman giving out missions said when she recognized the two.
“We'll take the third one!” Twilight blurted out without hesitation.
“Here you are, report to the location and give this to the commanding officer there for your objectives.” she said, handing an info card.
“Why the last one? I agree, it's closer, but you seemed worried.” Celestia stated as they walked.
“Look at who the commanding officer is.” Twilight said, handing her the card.
“Shining Platoon Canterlot twenty-third Platoon, commanding officer Sining Armor...wait...isn't that-?” Celestia read.
“Yes, my Brother. I don't trust anyone else to be his support...” Twilight said.
“Oh Damn, I forgot...how good are your magic supplies?” Celestia asked.
“Enough to sustain an interdimensional rift for three days straight, why?” Twilight replied.
“...Wow...more than enough...because I forgot about transportation, Jetpack needs power.” Celestia said, leaping into the air on her angelic wings. Twilight followed quickly, causing the thrusters of the pack to go from a normal orange to her purple. Celestia put in an earpiece and Twilight did the same.
“Read me?” Celestia asked.
“loud and Clear.” Twilight replied.
“Good, let's hurry.” Celestia said and dashed off. Twilight followed without hesitation.
“Sir, there's a squad of that new guard here to lend us support.” Shining's second in command reported, entering the tent he was using as the HQ. They were currently behind a makeshift barricade about a mile away from Canterlot's east gate, there were Demon attacks every few hours and his en were getting tired, but the hostile numbers were low. They had reached a standstill.
“It's about time...bring them here, quickly...” Shining ordered. The man saluted and quickly left.
“I hate how they're using high school students as these new super soldiers.” Cadence said, she had arrived earlier with a supply shipment.
“I hear they're putting that drug in the food...I don't like it either, especially since Twilight and Spike are in Ponyville now...but right now we need them.” Shining sighed.
“Hopefully they're respectable...some of those people are just gang thugs that got good at shooting things...” Cadence said lowly.
“Hopefully.” Shining repeated.
“He's in there, go on in.” they heard from outside. When the flap opened he got up and froze. First of all, that was Celestia. Second, that was Twilight next to her. Thirdly, they looked like they could take on a dragon and not bat an eye.
“Celestia? Twilight? What are you doing here?” He asked.
“We're your support, when I heard the Shining Platoon I jumped on it.” Twilight answered, running up and hugging him.
“Is that the Modular rifle? I thought we scrapped it.” Shining asked, looking at the rifle on her back.
“I figured out what was wrong with the design, the old one was too bulky and heavy.” Twilight responded.
“Right...well...now that you're here we can advance.” Shining started and pulled out a map.
“The barricade is holding, but we're at a standstill...if I send my men to attack without me there to ward off ambushes then it would just be a slaughterhouse. If I do go with them then nothing is stopping the Demons from using their own magic against us...” Shining explained.
“They just have one small little camp...they're only ten strong now, but they're big and they take bullets like spitballs...we've figured out their chest and heads are heavily armored, but there are weak spots.” he continued, pulling out another rolled up scroll. It was a very detailed sketch of what apparently they were up against. It was about eight feet tall when on two legs, but a side note revealed they walked on four. It was almost Feline-like, but had a scorpion-like tail and stinger. It had what looked like thick bone around it's chest as well.
“My men started calling them Manticores.” Shining said. “Like I said, bullets only seemed to annoy them until you hit a vital area, but when my men started pulling swords and explosives they were more careful. My guess is that the natural body armor these things have got only protect against instant pinpoint force, like bullets, but for slicing and stabbing it's not too good. That stinger though...one of my Lieutenants got hit by one and it was like acid...the claws are dangerous too, but not so much.” Shining explained.
“Right...do you have any snipers?” Celestia asked.
“Five man squad of them, you need them?” he replied.
“Yes...here's the plan...” Celestia started.
“Hunter one in position.”
“Hunter Five, in position.”
“Hunters two and four, in position.”
“Hunter three, In position.”
“Tartarus One, in position.”
“Good. Tartarus one, begin when ready. Once the flash hits fire at will.” Celestia said into her headset as the snipers and Twilight sounded off.
“Roger.” the radio buzzed.
Twilight took aim with her sniper rifle, it was the highest Caliber she had and she had spent three minutes putting glyphs on the bullet she was now loading into her rifle. The Glyphs would make the bullet punch through anything and explode with a magical flash so strong the Manticores would be blind for minutes, if not permanently. The final glyph would stop the flash with a shroud of shadows around the area, stopping the effect before it hit friendlies.
Twilight pulled the trigger, the resounding boom caused the Manticores to snap their attention to where Twilight was about three hundred yards away, Celestia and the others about a hundred on the other side of the small demon camp. By the time the gunshot reached them the bullet was already In motion. It went straight through one's skull and hit the fire. The explosion not only blinded the group, but caused the red hot ashes to blast around and further disorient the beasts. Once the boom from the flash reached the Hunter squad they opened fire simultaneously, having picked targets already. One missed but the other four scored hits on the soft temples the beasts had. Once the volley hit, Twilight and Celestia teleported into the middle of them.
“One mag says they can't do it.” Two said.
“Five mags says they can.” Four retorted.
“Ten from the both of ya says they do it but one gets hurt.” One radioed in.
the creatures, almost completely blind, only now just noticed the two humans in their midst. relying on their other senses which, unfortunately for Twilight and Celestia, were very advanced.
With a menacing roar the five remaining charged at the same time. There was a resounding volley of gunshots heard just as one of the five suddenly found five holes in it's head, it fell to the ground as two claws and curved blades slid out of their holders as the Reaver Gauntlets barred their fangs. The claws and blades blocked the attacks from the remaining four Manticores as the two used a burst of magic to push the Manticores back.
“The fuck are those?”
“No idea, looks like these chicks really are some sorta special forces...”
“God damn it I'm gonna lose five mags.”
“Or ten.”
Twilight spun around, facing a single Manticore and, activating the jetpack, shot forward. She embedded her claws into the soft tissue of the neck, pinning the beast to the ground. Then she spun around the frantic jabs of the tail as she used the claws almost like a crowbar and rather brutally pried the beast's head clean off.
The tail was still thrashing and, even headless, the beast was trying to claw at her. She swiped at the tail with a curved blade and cut the stinger off, then proceeded to smash it through the beast's chest armor. It stopped thrashing and was still.
As she got to her feet a large mass smashed into her back, the other one she knocked back had literally tackled her. It sniffed at the dead on and gave a malicious roar in her direction. She wiped blood off of her face and squared up.
“the fuck?! Did she really just do that?”
“Yes she did...and now it looks like she's going to box or something...”
Twilight slid the claws and blades back in, she wasn't going to get far now that this beast was ready for her. With another roar, it charged her. She jumped, with a burst from her jetpack, did a half flip and a corkscrew so that she was now facing where the beast was heading, and landed on it's back. She proceeded to drive a magic infused fist into the back of it's head. It's chin hit the ground and that caused it to flip over, but since Twilight was on it's back it wasn't good for her.
Now pinned under the writhing beast she was being crushed and suffocating at the same time. It was on her back and she suddenly had an idea. With a burst of magic and an awkward snap of her fingers her jetpack blew it into the air a few inches and a levitation spell held it there. She quickly flipped around and gave it a two-foot kick, with the now low gravity it had it went high into the air. It stayed there, writhing and screaming. She snapped her fingers and put her finger up, as if telling someone 'just a moment'. Then she quickly pointed down and the beast came with it. It landed on it's head and only twitched slightly, but otherwise didn't move.
“...Holy Shit...” was all the radio read from five different voices.
Panting, Twilight stepped towards the barely conscious beast as her claws slowly slid out. There was suddenly another volley of five shots, but she ignored it. She kicked it to roll it over and gave it a good look, it's skull was shattered now and only one eye was undamaged. But that one eye glared at her as it gave her a menacing, but weak, growl. Twilight spit to the side and put a claw up to put the beast down, but it suddenly blasted into motion.
Tackling her again, it made sure to keep her pinned this time. It started scratching wildly at her body, her arms held in front of her face. It scratched deep gouges on her arms where the armor was light and scraped deep grooves where it's claws didn't puncture. Thinking quickly, when it reached back to swipe once more she made to put magic laced claws through it's chest and into it's heart, but she forgot about one thing. The tail. It stabbed into her side and it hurt more than anything she had ever felt.
Well, that is until the pain made her claws falter and the best clawed her face. Both claws made full runs over it before a volley of sniper fire impacted it's head and stopped it. As it fell over sideways, she rolled over and got to her knees, holding her side. Muttering the name of a long and complicated spell and making a glyph in the ground with her own blood she snapped her fingers and a low flash appeared.
She hissed in pain and yelped as the wound on her side began to close and the poison leaked out, but the spell was rapidly draining her magic. The wounds on her face, which were the next wounds to begin healing, managed to just barely stop bleeding and eliminate infection before the spell sputtered out. She decided against casting it again, it'd leave her barely conscious and that wouldn't be worth it. Getting back to her knees from where she had collapsed again, she looked around to see Celestia pulling her curved blade out of the side of the last Manticore. She realized, however, she couldn't see out of her right eye, the one that took the hit. Looking at the stream nearby as Celestia rushed over, she saw she had for gashes going from brow to chin and three from her brow, crossing the top of the first four, and then crossing the bridge of her nose. Her eye was in tatters.
Casting a lesser healing spell she channeled her magic into her eye. Slowly she was able to see again, but it was weird...but she was so damn tired she couldn't pinpoint it.
“...She's dead...”
“No she's not, Manticore sting won't kill! Line up your shots now god damn it!” there was the volley.
“Shit man, you think she'll be alright?”
“Barely...wait...what's she doing...”
“She's a Mage, apparently pretty damn good one...look...”
“Ah, that'll scar pretty damn bad...that eye looks dead now though.”
Celestia had gone straight for the first one once she knocked the two Manticores back. She quickly slid her curved blades forward as she reached the beast and stuck them right where the ribs started. Dragging them forward, the blades magically sharpened, she gouged two jagged tracks up it's chest until she reached the protective bone armor it had. She twisted the blades so the flat side was up now and proceeded to pry the chest off. She then slid her claws out and stabbed it's heart before it even had a chance to react.
What she didn't see, however, was that the other had regained it's footing quickly and was lunging at her.
“Shit beast on one! Open fire!” the volley sounded. The bullets all bounced off of it's skull, but it had knocked it aside enough for it to miss Celestia completely.
Celestia rolled out of the way, flashing a smile towards where one of the snipers were and squared up to the beast. When she charged it, it expertly flicked it's tail and knocked her blades out of the way. It lunged at her again now, but she used her curved blades to hold it's claws at bay. As it's it's tail whipped at her, she made a huge risk. She slid her blades back in, kicking the beast a bit to make it lose it's balance, and then grabbed the tail. She then flung it over her shoulder and twisted it off.
“Did I just see her do what I think I just saw her do?”
“Three mags says she does what Two did and tosses it into the air.”
“Add another one and instead of tossing she uses those wings of hers for it.”
“Deal”
the downed beast was lying on it's back, winded and without a tail, when Celestia stuck her curved blades under it's ribs like she had the first one. It realized what she was trying to do and swiped at her. Dodging to the side, she realized that trick wouldn't work again, so she improvised. She leapt into the air, taking the beast with her, and fanned her wings out. With a mighty thrust of those angelic appendages she soared into the air. Just as her speed slowed she did a half flip and flung the beast back towards the ground and, with another mighty thrust, rocketed down after it.
“Fuck you five”
Meeting it about thirty feet from the ground, Celestia flipped around so her feet were on it's armored chest and did an awkward upwards thrust with her wings, sending them towards the ground even faster. The Beast's chest shattered, but it was still kicking. It wheezed and coughed blood as it tiredly swiped at her as it shakily got to it's feet, Celestia having done a rather cliché back flip off of it's chest.
“This is your fault for leaving your cage Beast.” Celestia said as she stepped up to it. She caught it's claws with her gauntleted hand and sighed as she flipped a curved blade forward and thrust it into it's side, piercing it's heart and twisting. As she did this she looked over at Twilight to see her casting a Healing Glyph. With a gasp, she ran over to her as she shakily made her way to the stream that had not yet been tainted with blood.
“She seemed almost...sad to kill it...”
“These things aren't supposed to be here in Equestria. They're like the citizens of Tartarus almost, but they got out...now we have to put them down...they're almost like stray dogs that go mad.”
“Huh...well...let's pack up and get down there to see if we can help.”
“Roger”
“Roger”
“Got it.”
“Fine...”
“Just because you lost almost Fifteen mags doesn't mean you have to be resentful.”
“Dude you know how expensive those are...it'll take weeks to get that back...”
“Twilight are you alright?!”
“Y-yeah...just tired now...they all down?” Twilight replied, exhaustion very clear in her voice.
“Yes, it's alright...you can sleep now.” Celestia replied.
“Oh thank god...” she muttered as she fell to her knees and fell over. Celestia yelped as she caught her before she hit the ground, but couldn't help but smile at how peaceful the girl looked. Then she frowned at the wounds on her face.
“We saw her use some kind of healing spell, can't you do that to finish the job?” one of the Hunter units asked, kneeling down next to them as they all arrived.
“No, if I try I could cause some major damage...I don't know where her magic left off and I don't know what glyph she used.” Celestia said sadly.
“She wrote it with her blood, it's over there.” One said, pointing to the spot. Celestia picked up Twilight bridal style and walked over. It was still in perfect condition, but Celestia gasped in disbelief when she saw it. It was a six pointed star with a different glyph at each point.
“It's...it's not just written in blood...it's an actual blood glyph...and it's made up on the spot...it's not even designed like other ones I've ever seen...I have no idea how it would work...” Celestia said, disbelief in her voice.
“Just made up on the spot? How is that even possible?” Two asked.
“She wrote two volumes of the Glyph Dictionary and helped with most of the others...i wouldn't put it by her...are any of you Mages proficient enough to teleport? I will supply the magic, I just can't concentrate enough...” Celestia asked.
“I'm no Mage, but I studied the arcane enough to at least start the spell.” One said.
“Right, just start and I'll supply the magic.” Celestia said. He nodded and focused.
“Looks like that wasn't a waste of time eh?” he said to the others, who gave a few chuckles, before the spell had accumulated enough power to work right and they were gone in a flash of light.
C.3 Mission1 Spike&Emerald
(A/N well here be spike and emerald. they may seem very overpowered in this one but they're fighting trees...as Dracomages. they are literally living flamethrowers. Enjoy! -Dark)
“What do you want to do?” Spike asked Emerald as they tried to decide what kind of mission to take.
“Well I'm a trained medic so we could go support or search and rescue.” Emerald pondered.
“I'm fine with whatever, I don't think we should be too picky when it comes to people's lives.” Spike said.
“Hm...good point. Alright let's do search and rescue.” Emerald said, getting into one of the lines.
“We've only got a few Everfree Forest missions right now, sound good?” the Man asked.
“I actually know a good part of the forest, we'll take it.” Emerald said.
“Right, so exactly where are we going?” Spike asked.
“Apparently a Tribal Alchemist named Zecora, who lives in the Everfree, was reported missing and her house looked like it was ransacked. Let's go.” Emerald said as they left the building. She cupped her hands close to her mouth and breathed and a ball of fire sparked to life in it as Spike did the same with his green flames. They simultaneously spread both hands wide as if to imitate wings, the fire split and followed and formed what looked like molten dragon wings. They grinned at each other and jumped into the air. Their jetpacks activated and they were sent whizzing off in the direction of the everfree.
“What's that?” a medic asked when what sounded like fighter jets flew near and landed.
“Dracomages! They sent Dracomages?!” a scout yelped, running over.
“You the Tartarus Guards that were sent to help us?” the commander asked.
“Yeah.” Spike replied.
“Alright. Are either of you expert trackers?” he asked.
“Yeah.” they both replied. Emerald was as close as a ninja you could get when you think about it, and Spike has been forced to do detective work for Twilight on so many occasions, even if it was just for a lost book, he was up there as well.
“Right, mainly our trackers and medics just need protection...the Timber wolves and Ents are feuding again and the Ents weren't friendly to begin with.” he explained.
“Right, we'll point your guys in the right direction if we find anything as well.” Spike said. The commander nodded.
“This is Eyes three, everyone report in.”
“Eyes one, calling in.”
“Eyes two four anf Five, in.”
“Eyes six, in.”
“Medics three through five, in.”
“Medic one, in.”
“Medic two, in.”
“Drake one and two, in.”
“Good, you all know what to do.”
The radio buzzed as everyone made sure their equipment worked. Every ten minutes they were to say something over the radio just to make sure they were still there, the forest was a dangerous place. It was also dense, Spike and Emerald were each leading a group of medics while the scouts were more spread out, they were forced to use their Katana as Machete eventually.
“Spike wait!” Emerald yelped when Spike went to hack as a wall of vines. Spike froze instantly and stood stock-still. Emerald pushed some of the vines aside and picked up what looked like shattered glass.
“Alchemy Flask, Any Eyes near our position?” she started, calling in the radio.
“Uh, I am.” One radioed.
“Found something.” Emerald said and continued looking around. She had spike hack away the vines in sections after she had checked under and through them as Eyes One dropped from a nearby tree. Emerald found two more flasks, one covered in what looked like blood.
“What do you make of these?” Emerald asked. Two of them were shattered, but the one with the red liquid all over it was intact.
“That's definitely an Alchemy flask...but that's not blood, blood tends to dry brown...here.” One said, asking for it. Emerald handed it to him and it burned him, he quickly dropped it.
“Fuck...” he cursed.
“It must be liquid fire then, Dracomages are immune to it's effects...it's a type of acid that's often used as a solvent or sometimes chemical grenades...” Emerald said. She then licked the dried liquid and instantly spit it out, coughing in disgust.
“Oh yeah, that's a chem grenade.” she sputtered. “There's blood and gunpowder in that. If this was Zecora's, then she used it to defend herself.” Emerald said. With a mighty swing of her Katana, she cut down the rest of the vines and found what looked like a makeshift camp.
“Jackpot.” she said.
“All Eyes, spread out from my position and look for anything that could be a trail.” One radioed in and left himself.
“AH! FUUUUCK!” one of the eyes screamed over the radio.
“What?! What is it?!”
“GIANT FUCKING SPIDER!” you could almost hear the facepalm from the other members.
“Riiiiight...” One grumbled.
“Shh! sh...I hear something outside the camp.” Spike whispered into the radio, the medics and Emerald all dropped low with him. There was a low creaking noise. It was far away at first, but soon it got closer. It started coming from all around now.
“You hack and slash at our children. You dare defile our bodies.” a slow grumbling voice creaked from the treeline as the trees literally walked into the clearing.
“ents... We do not mean to harm any of you or your home, but one of our own has gone missing here and she is very important to us, please allow us safe passage.” Emerald said.
“The Witch with burning liquid? Friends of hers are dead...” it growled as many more entered the clearing. They sported ghastly faces and branch-like arms and hands. They looked sharp enough to rip through flesh like butter.
“Please do not attack! We will defend ourselves and we don't want to burn down the forest!” Spike yelled.
“People cannot burn without fire...you have no fire.” one of them growled, taking a swipe at him. Spike dodged to the side and grabbed it's arm. Copping his hand to make an 'O' and blowing through it, he created a sort of flamethrower that engulfed the creature's arm in flame. It's low grumbling wail grated against his ears, but he hacked the arm off at the shoulder before it reached it's body.
“we WILL burn you if you do not leave.” Spike growled.
“You can't burn us all...” another said and, with surprising speed, lunged at Emerald. She drew her Katana and with a flame laced slash she hacked both arms off and follower through with a horizontal slash, cutting it into three pieces. She then used the flamethrower technique Spike did and turned it's body to ashes.
“Try us.” Emerald growled. With a mighty, grumbling roar the group charged forward. They drew their rifles and began firing. Each bullet was laced with their own magic, the friction of the bullets hitting the wood of the Ents would cause the magic to ignite and explode. It was magical incendiary ammunition and it pushed them back into the tree line. They quickly cupped their mouths and inhaled, causing the fires to go out.
“Go! Come on!” they yelled as they ran towards the medics. They didn't want them to come back in greater numbers.
the battle with the ents had been an hour ago and they were being tailed. They had met up with the others of Eyes squad. They knew their followers weren't ents, too quick, fast and silent. When one made the mistake of getting close, Spike used a blast of his pack to rocket towards it and tackle it. Sitting on top of it with a Katana on it's neck, he found a Timberwolf. It raised it's arm slowly and made a symbol with his hand. 'Friendly'. So it knew Equestrian Military hand signals. Spike withdrew his blade and let the beast up, it was quite large.
“We watched you fight walking trees. They new to this place. Evil things. They kill our dens, help us.” a larger wolf with branches sticking out of it's back said, approaching the group.
“Why should we help you?” Eyes three asked.
“You help us, we help you. Our goals are the same. Saw walking trees attack potion woman at home...then take from escaped camp.” it replied.
“So what you're saying is that we need to find where they are and attack and you'll help us?” Spike asked.
“Know where they are...not strong enough, pack scattered. You have fire. Fire makes us win.” it replied.
“Won't you burn too though?” Emerald asked.
“Potion Woman is friend of us, gives us potions. One makes fire cold for us.” the wolf said.
“So it's an elixir that makes fire not burn you?” Emerald ask. It nodded. “Alright...are they close?” she continued. It nodded again and motioned for them to follow.
“I don't trust these things.”
“Why not?”
“They're ents, just wolf-looking.”
“You're a thick moron four...the Timber wolves have always been friendly and have been around since Canterlot was founded. Ents came from Tartarus, I'd trust my life to these guys sooner than I would half of our military.”
“True that.”
Spike chose to ignore most of the radio chatter, it was just that. Chatter. When they came across a large clearing they all stopped. In the middle was what could be described as a large camp, but it was trees with faces scattered around a slightly larger one. The slightly larger one had a darker skinned woman strung up. She was cut up and bruised, but she still glared at the trees with such fury Spike was surprised they didn't combust.
“Right...spike, you know much stronger fire spells than me, you give the entire thing the biggest and strongest blast you can. I'll focus my spell on protecting Zecora. Once you give the signal, stop the fire and then it's the Wolves' turn. Once he gives the signal, you all clear out what the fire didn't get. I'll dash for Zecora and bring her back here to the medics. Eyes squad, you make sure they don't get close to here. We've given you incendiary ammunition, use it wisely.” Emerald said.
“You're quite the tactician.” One said.
“One of us has to be.” Spike shrugged as he gathered his power. He cupped his hands together, as if he was holding a small bead inside. When his hand started to glow he slowly expanded his hands, a compacted ball of fire, looking like the sun, slowly formed and expanded with it. The green tint was very strange looking, coming out nearly black. Once it was about as big as his head he snapped his hands back together to make an oval with both hands, inhaled long and deep, and blew with all his might.
Throughout the camp the Ents heard the roar of a dragon the size of a mountain. It wasn't flame being spewed at them as if from the maws of a dragon though. It was magma. Zecora's eyes widened and she cringed as a large blast went straight for her, but it hit the tree holding her and it did not burn. It felt rather like pudding if you think about it.
She fell from the dead tree's grasp and landed on her hands and knees in the strangely cold magma, but she saw it incinerate everything else. She was surprised again when the spew stopped and she saw a boy was the source of it. He fell backwards and panted heavily after it. She was even more surprised when a small pack of Timber wolves quickly and keenly swept through the molten area as if the magma were puddles of water.
“Hey there.” a girl said, suddenly appearing next to her and picking her up. She quickly ran over back to the treeline, where a group of trackers and medics were waiting. The girl put her down, turned around and made an oval with her hands. Instead of 'roaring' like spike had, she simply blew slightly. The magma quickly cooled off and the fires went out. The Timber wolves were scattered around, some holding blackened branched in their jaws or finishing of a surviving Ent.
“This place will be their memorial...but new trees will grow. We thank you, Fire Mages.” the Pack Leader said, bowing slightly as his pack did the same.
“Was that all the Ents in the forest?” Emerald asked.
“No, but now they are scattered and easy to hunt. Is Potion Woman ok?”
“She's unconscious now, but the medics are taking care of her.” Spike said between pants, he was still winded.
“I had no idea you could do that Spike. I was expecting a really powerful flamethrower...not a volcano.” Emerald said with a grin.
“I combined the Dragon's Roar with Volcanic Maw......Dragon's Maw? I dunno.” Spike said, getting to his feet.
“Well it was impressive. Let's get back to the hut to get Zecora all settled back in and then head back.” Emerald said.
“Right.” Spike said as the Medics pulled out a stretcher for the Woman.
(A/N here's Pinkie and Dash's battle! don't really know what to call these humanoid things, I'll take suggestions. this one is a bit shorter than the others but I'm starting to run out of enemies to fight, AJ and Rarity are going to be doing a support mission and Flutters and Luna are going to do a search and rescue. I need a creature for AJ and Rarity to fight and someone for Flutters and Luna to find and where. Enjoy! -Dark)
Pinkie and Dash looked at each other before choosing their mission.
“Search and destroy?” Dash Opted.
“You bet!” Pinkie exclaimed with a giggle.
“Ah, well...let's see...We've got a group of monsters harassing a city nearby, you up for it?” the woman behind the table offered.
“Sure.” Dash replied and took it.
“Hop on!” she said to Pinkie once they were outside. Pinkie hopped into Dash's arms scooby-doo style and Dash took off with a mighty thrust of her cyan wings.
“Hey there's a Valkyrie with someone in her arms coming this way...that our support?” a Man asked, looking through binoculars.
“Looks like it.” his commander said.
“Great, we get to watch over some little girls playing badass...” one man said.
“Hope not...” the guy with the Binoculars said. When the two finally arrived their jaws were on the ground. The Valkyrie had probably the hottest body they'd ever seen, not to mention the rifle and Katana at her back. The one in her arms surprised them more though, she had a damn SAW and a huge battle axe probably taller than she was.
“You those Tartarus guards that were sent?” the commander asked, unphased.
“Yeah.” Dash replied.
“Right. I was ordered to give command of my forward attack unit to you.” the commander continued.
“Alright, what do you have on the enemies?” Dash asked.
“We've got their location and their numbers. They're humanoid, they look like people but they're much stronger and faster. Bullets cut 'em down easy but once they get close you're done for. There's ten of them, but against my five men that's more than I'm comfortable with fighting against, even with the element of surprise. We don't have any snipers or heavy weapons and none of us are CQC users.” he explained.
“So what we goin' in alone? We can do that. Right, here's the plan. You sit back with us and we launch a surprise attack from all around to confuse them. I'll take to the air and come at them once you guys need to reload and Pinkie'll charge from the ground. Once we get close leave the rest to us, take shots when you can but if you shoot us you better make it up to us.” Dash explained.
“I highly doubt you could take them by yourself...four of them ripped apart half a battalion before they were taken out.” the commander argued.
“Pinkie and I took on four in the simulations. We got this.” Dash argued back. The commander just put his hands up and nodded with a sigh.
“If you die I'm not responsible.” he said.
“Who said you were?” Dash asked.
“This is gonna be fun!” Pinkie whispered.
“Right. Let's go!” Dash said, pecking Pinkie on the lips and jumping into the air. Pinkie hefted her weapon and let loose, keeping perfect accuracy somehow without using the tripod. The soldiers quickly followed suit ad Dash rained down from above. The volley was quickly over, the humanoid creatures devastated. Six of them weren't moving, but the other four were frantically trying to hide from the bullets. When they stopped they cautiously came out from behind the rocks they hid behind, only to have one decapitated and one pierced through the heart by Dash crashing down Katana-first.
One of the remaining two instantly began attacking, but with Dash's reaction time and speed she was able to parry each of the attacks with ease. These things had blades for arms, it was freaky. She noticed one lunging at her back, but she didn't even flinch as it was smashed out of the air by a drop kick from Pinkie.
The soldiers watched in amazement as Dash had a high speed back-and-forth battle with the one she was fighting, neither even scratching the other. Pinkie, on the other hand, had her opponent unable to even get close. She was spinning and hacking and charging at her target while giggling madly, the axe seeming to weigh as much as a feather at that moment.
The one Dash was fighting was beginning to slow down slightly and she managed to land a gash across it's chest, it was shallow but it was a hit. It roared in pain and did a back flip to get away from her.
“How do you not tire?!” it asked in a surprisingly clear voice.
“Years of endurance and conditioning!” Dash yelled as she blasted forward with a blast from her jetpack and a thrust of her wings. Her Katana went straight through one of the blades on one arm, but it also shattered. It yelled in agony as it happened, but quickly switched to a grin as he faced his now unarmed opponent. It lunged at her, but she leapt into the air and drop kicked it in he back of the head. It smashed into the ground with bone shattering strength.
She smashed down onto it's back with her knees, feeling something break beneath her she got to her feet a bit shakily. She kicked it over and it slashed at her, but she caught the blade between her hands like a clap. After a few moments the blade started slipping, so she flung it to the side and kicked at it's head. She proceeded to drive an elbow into it's chest, shattering a rib or two, then kicking it with all her might. It rolled a few times and landed on it's back once more, but completely winded.
She stepped up to it, but it jumped to it's feet and jabbed at her with the whole and unbroken blade. She weaved around them and landed an uppercut that sent it into the air. Before it landed she drove a roundhouse into it, which sent it rolling again. When she approached it this time however, it didn't resist. She smashed her fist into it's skull so many times she lost count. When she finally stopped to avoid breaking any knuckles she looked at it. It's face resembled a dent, but it was still alive. Clenching her bloodied knuckles, she grabbed it's intact blade-arm and twisted the blade off, earning a weak growl of pain.
She examined the blade. Damn, that would make a badass sword. It was about five feet long, had a buster blade look to it and had a slightly serrated blade. In one quick motion she decapitated the creature and, with a thought, tied the new blade to her back. She looked over at Pinkie, who was sitting on the chest of the other one watching her with her head in her hands, seemingly ignoring the stream of blood coming from a gash running from her right brow to about mid cheek.
Pinkie had been spinning while giggling, somehow not getting dizzy. The beast had tried to slow her or stop her with it's own blade, but it had shattered upon meeting the axe. After that she stopped spinning and began actually swinging it at the creature.
She saw her chance, it seemed to had forgotten it's other blade was shattered as it seemed to be using it to defend his right side. She did a large chop motion, embedding the axe into the ground, and flipped over the created. Picking the axe back up by the blades she jammed the head into it's ribs. It yelled in pain and tumbled away.
“Hey! That's mine! You're only borrowing it!” Pinkie yelled and charged after it. Seeing this, it swiped at her. She literally bounced over the horizontal slash. She did a spin-around in mid-air and landed next to her axe. She grabbed the handle and spun, ripping it out of the right side and smashing it into the left.
It made a chopping motion then, managing to catch her face before being stopped by the handle of the axe. She began pulling and pushing the axe handle, as if it were a water pump, and despite her new injury she giggled as she wrenched the creature's rib cage out of it's body. It was still alive though, which almost made her frown.
“Hey! You should be dead now!” pinkie pouted. She could see it's organs now, but it was unable to move.
“Ooh! What's that? OH! And that?” she started, plucking the organs out one by one as the creature screamed until it was still. She looked over at Dashie's fight and saw it was still going on, so she did the most logical thing. Took a seat on the nearest thing and waited.
“You alright?” Dash asked, panting.
“Huh? Oh yeah silly! Just a little thing.” Pinkie exclaimed, popping form her seat.
“Damn...that new drug really works...” the commander said, sliding down the ditch with his men.
“What drug?” Dash asked.
“The drug they put in your food...the Demon blood...” the commander started. Dash looked kinda pissed.
“Oh...I have a feeling you don't know, and I wasn't supposed to tell you that...” he said awkwardly.
“The fuck?!” Dash yelled.
“Wait! Before you ask me anything that's all I know! Some drug called demon blood goes into the Tartarus guards' food! That's it!” the commander quickly explained. Dash growled in frustration.
“Celestia...I can't believe she didn't tell us that...” Dash growled.
“She didn't know about it Dashie! Don't worry we'll get answers!” Pinkie said.
“How do you know she's not in on it?” Dash demanded.
“Oh it's obvious silly, she cares about us too much to keep secrets like that! Now wipe that meanie face off and smile before I make you!” Pinkie explained.
“Yeah? Try to...” Dash challenged, keeping a frown that horribly hid a grin from her face. Pinkie crashed into her with a kiss, making Dash giggle.
“Fine...” she said, grinning.
“Right...” the commander said.
“We'll go home now bye!” Pinkie exclaimed, hopping into Dash's arms.
“Those two...did that Valkyrie really just beat down one of those things with her bare hands?” one of the men asked.
“Yeah...I wonder if that drug is really that powerful.” the commander answered, watching the two fly off.
C.6 M1 Rarity&AJ, Aftermath
(A/N sorry about short RariJack mission but I ran outta juice here. some foreboding, Twilight won't be the only one- but it'll be rare. Twilight was practically drenched in Manticore blood and she had so many open wounds. the drug will be explained further in the next chapter, there will be an absence or real action like this for the next few chapters, recoveries and explanations. warning ahead, the next few chapters will delve heavily into the romance tab :3 Enjoy! -Dark)
“Well Darling, what do you suppose we ought to do?” Rarity asked her partner.
“Well Ah don' know about you, but ah don' wanna travel too far on these jetpack contraptions so somethin' close.” Applejack said.
“Hm...well let's try the support line and see if anything is close.” Rarity offered. AJ nodded.
“Something close? Uh...we've got one or two, how's supporting a battalion between here and Canterlot? We got a distress message, they can hold out for another day or two but they need help.” the Woman said.
“Sound good?” Rarity asked. AJ answered by taking the information.
“You the support?” the commander of the battalion asked when the two arrived, albeit winded- AJ from running and Rarity from a bit of magic exhaustion- and panting.
“Yeah, jus' need to catch our breath...” AJ answered.
“Right...are...are you all? We've got some sort of tree people on the other side of the ditch.” the commander asked.
“Tree people? How barbaric.” Rarity commented as she traced a simple glyph on her gun with magic and doing the same to AJ's double barrel.
“What'd that do?” AJ asked.
“the Glyph is very simple, I'm not too well versed with them. It reads as Fire and will make anything coming out fire, so basically incendiary ammunition.” Rarity explained.
“We need to get some Mages in the force...” the commander mumbled as he showed the girls to the barricade.
“Oh boy, Ah got this one.” AJ said when she saw the tree people on the other side of the wooden barricade, kind of ironic really.
“Be my guest Darling.” Rarity said, holstering her customized handgun. AJ grinned and shouldered her double barrel. Walking up slowly she soon broke into a brisk trot, then a dash as she leapt into the air and did a flip over the barricade. As she flipped, one of the Ents looked it up and found it's face full of burning lead.
“HOO-EY!” Applejack yelled as she dodged around the walking forest, breaking the trees in half with well aimed drop kicks when she had to reload.
“Well I suppose I should join...” Rarity mumbled, pulling out her handgun and leaping over the barricade herself and joining her friend.
After a few minutes they got swarmed, but the Ents suddenly found themselves burning and chopped up at the same time. Rarity had flaming claws and AJ's longsword was aflame as well.
“Damn girl, if yuh get tired like that maybe yuh should get some conditionin' an' stuff from Twi.” AJ said as she noticed Rarity was panting.
“Believe it or not using Glyphs as powerful as this, no matter how simple, take a lot out of you. The only reason Twilight can do them so easily is because she knows everything about them. Not to mention her reserves of magic are up there with Celestia and Luna.” Rarity said as they hacked living branch after branch.
“Ah guess.” Applejack said. The rest of the fight went rather quickly, the forest of living trees reduced to blazing ashed in minutes.
“Well, that was easier than I expected...” Rarity said.
“Yeah, me too. Ah guess with jus' a little fire these guy go down pretty darn fast.” Applejack said, shouldering her double barrel and turning towards the camp.
“I guess that Demon Blood really does work...” the commander said.
“I'm sorry...Demon...what?” Rarity asked.
“Uh...shit...” the commander sighed.
“Pal, the hell are you talkin' about?” AJ asked.
“Um...i guess I wasn't supposed to mention it...” the commander said.
“If you don' start talkin we'll find out if this works as well on people as it does on trees...” AJ said threateningly, nodding her head towards the double barrel she had shouldered.
“...Fine...” he said.
“-ight?” Twilight heard, she was barely waking up.
“Twilight are you alright?” she heard again. It sounded like her brother. Her vision focused and she saw that it was him with Celestia standing next to him, worry evident in both of their looks.
“Hey...why are you guys all...purple?” Twilight mumbled.
“W-what? Twilight are you ok?” Shining responded.
“Yeah, I feel better...why are you all purple?” Twilight asked again sitting up.
“Twilight...your eyes aren't open.” Celestia said.
“Huh?” she said. She yelped in surprise when she found that she could see herself. Quickly, she opened her eyes. Her right eye stung a moment, so she snapped that one shut.
“There, that's better.” Twilight said, her vision returning to normal.
“Wait...Twilight...open your right eye again.” Celestia said, suddenly right in front of her. Confused, Twilight cautiously opened it. As she did she felt it sting a bit more, but it was bearable now. Celestia gasped.
“What's wrong? Is it damaged? I can't really see out of it very well.” Twilight asked.
“I...don't think so...mirror...” Celestia said, looking back at Shining. He handed a mirror to her and she held it up. The first thing Twilight noticed was her new scar, four slashes going diagonal from above her brow to cross the bridge of her nose with three vertical from brow to chin. Then she noticed her actual eye. It looked dead, it was a milky purple with no pupil. When she finally got over the shock she now noticed something that scared her. Her teeth were sharper, like fangs. And her undamaged eye had a red tint to it. When she turned to get a better look at her weird new teeth, she felt something on her back as a shot of pain went through it.
She looked over her shoulder and froze. Black draconic wings. Not thinking quite right, her hands flew to her head to search for horns. She whimpered in horror when she in fact felt horns. They were about three inches long, they were spiral-ridged and they were rounded and curved slightly.
“What the fuck happened to me?!” she screamed.
“T-twilight...we...we don't know.” Celestia said, a bit disarmed by the vulgar outburst.
“Wait...did you say she took a Manticore stinger?” Shining asked.
“I thought I got all the poison out though.” Twilight said.
“That's poison, it wouldn't mutate someone.” Celestia said.
“Then I think we actually know what it is...” Cadence said.
“I-if you know anything about what happened...” Twilight practically begged.
“While you were unconscious you started screaming and writhing and all of this happened, but your eye was already like that. I think the demonic blood from the beasts got into your system and enhanced the Demon Blood drug and turned you half-demon...even though that's really cliché.” Shining explained.
“Wait...Demon Blood...drug?” Celestia asked.
“...Don't tell me they're doing it without the students' consent...FUCKERS....ok...well...let me explain then...they put an experimental drug, named Demon Blood after what it's made from, into the food they serve you and it enhances your strengths and everything...I imagine it's not much of a difference until it's been going on for a while...” Shining said. Oh he was pissed they did this to his family.
“What exactly is it made from?!” Twilight asked.
“Blood of Demons...called it the 'Tartarus project' or something...” Shining growled.
“...I...what am I going to do now that I'm like this? I mean I can use illusionary magic to his everything but if something hits my head, or I bite something...or something comes close to my back it'd be useless!” Twilight exclaimed.
“I don't know...” Shining growled.
“Do you think the students and faculty would be able to see past it? I wouldn't want you to get isolated...” Cadence said.
“Oh I'm already Isolated somewhat. Nobody likes the 'Goth badass' for some reason. I have my group of friends and that's all I need, their opinions are all that matter.” Twilight said, now that he brain was going she was able to start thinking.
“You'll be fine then. Maybe Dash's conspiracy theory was right after all...Luna and I are going to the higher ups for sure...” Celestia said.
“Hey...” Twilight started after closing her eyes and opening them a few times.
“What is it?” Celestia asked.
“This eye...it's weird...if...if I focus on it...everything is all purple, but it's weird...I can see myself, I can see your backs...I can see everything around me, even through the walls of the tent...it's all...purple...it gets stronger when I close it...” Twilight explained.
“That sounded like a magical sight spell...are you using any magic at all?” Celestia asked.
“No...but if I focus on my other eye they both return to normal, if I focus on my right...i see like that.” Twilight replied.
“Really?...I saw you use a spell before you passed out...what was it?” Celestia asked.
“Um...a standard healing spell...I thought it worked, I guess it kind of did something else...” Twilight replied.
“I think maybe the magic must have manifested in that eye and on top of healing it, giving you half magical sight...I've never seen anything like it.” Celestia said.
“Well, all of this new transformation and stuff aside...I'd hate to do it but we need to get back to Canterlot and you need to get back to Ponyville, can you walk Twi?” Shining said.
“Uh...” Twilight started, getting to her feet. “Yeah...my right leg hurts though...so does my right side and my arms...” Twilight explained.
“That's expected, your improvised blood glyph didn't completely heal everything so it was too risky to use another healing spell, so you'll have to recover normally. I give it about a week, unless if you get some sort of regeneration boost from this new...transformation. I imagine you could fly with those, you feel well enough to try?” Celestia suggested.
“Um...sure?” Twilight said.
“It's easy now that you've got the hang of it, isn't it?” Celestia asked from her palce hovering next to Twilight. It had taken quite a few tries, but Twilight had finally been able to fly and hover without support from her jetpack. She held her side as she flew and tilted her head so the wind didn't sting her still raw scar, but she couldn't help but give a sharp grin. Literally.
“Well, let's see if those muscles are new or developed. Tell me immediately if your wing arms get tired.” Celestia said. Twilight nodded and they shot off towards Ponyville. After a bit Twilight did get tired, so she resigned to gliding with the jetpack on, creating a balanced flight.
“Right...what are we going to do about me looking like this?” Twilight asked when she and Celestia were hovering outside of Ponyville.
“Well first we need to get you to a hospital to make sure everything will heal right, and your leg is broken so you shouldn't walk on it.” Celestia said.
“Right, well...for now I'll just use an illusion spell.” Twilight said. In a few moments she looked normal and was using her jetpack instead of her hidden wings.
When they reached the ground, Celestia supported Twilight. It was awkward having Twilight's wings brushing against hers invisibly, but ponies kept their distance a bit. They made it to the hospital, but Celestia refused to let the nurses take her and instead demanded to be led to the treatment room. The nurses obliged and led them.
“Right...I'm Nurse Read Heart...now you're going to tell me why you're so protective over this patient.” a nurse said, closing the door. “And why you have an illusion spell active.” she continued, looking up.
“They're the same thing.” Twilight said. She moved her hair out of her face to show her right side and dropped the illusions. Red's eyes widened and she took a step back, but she didn't freak out surprisingly.
“Holy shit...you weren't like that for your last physical...” Red said.
“Yeah well apparently when Demon Blood mixes with that drug they never told us about this happens.” Twilight sighed, cringing as she moved her leg. She hadn't realized how much it hurt until now.
“No, that's not how it works. That drug just enhances the senses. I developed it, I thought they would have told you...damn it...it just enhances your senses, like I said, like sharpens your eyesight and hearing and increases your reflexes...Twilight...what do you know about your parents?” Red heart asked.
“Um...my mother was a normal Canterlot Mage...my dad never had a history really, he just appeared one day and they fell in love, or so they tell me. That's all I know...though he did teach me and my brothers how to use magic.” Twilight explained.
“Twilight. The only explanation for what's happening is that one of your parents was in fact a demon. Your father is the most likely candidate.” Red heart said bluntly. Twilight looked at her for a few moments before sighing.
“So that's why they were assassinated...” she sighed.
“Wait...what?” Red asked.
“They were assassinated when I was little. Nobody knew why, I guess it was a demon hunter or something...can...can you tell me anything else about this weird transformation?” Twilight asked.
“Well...normally you'd be born like that, but your mother being a Mage she could have suppressed your demon blood. You said other Demon blood mixed with yours?” Red heart asked.
“Well yeah, I was practically drenched in it with a bunch of different wounds.” Twilight replied.
“Hm...I'm guessing high volumes like that then could awaken hidden bloodlines...” Red heart said.
“Wait, hold on...how are you so calm about all of this?” Twilight suddenly asked.
“Come to think of it, how did you know of the illusionary spell? You are no Mage.” Celestia asked. Red Heart grinned a little.
“There are a lot more of us than you'd think. We live in peace, half demons...even full demons. My mother was a Succubus.” Red heart said, her teeth sharpening and her tan eyes going red.
“Wait, so there are other kids like me around?” Twilight asked.
“Oh yes definitely, I just don't know them by name.” Red heart replied.
“Well then how come something like this hasn't happened to them?” Twilight asked.
“You have to understand...the kind of demons you're facing...they aren't the kinds we are. They're deadly. Those who get beat up enough normally don't live or even get solid hits in on their opponents. We've already got three casualties.” Red Heart explained.
“Oh...” Twilight said.
“Well...one thing I want to know right now is how that eye's doing.” Red heart said, leaning into her right eye, which was closed.
“Some accident with a cut off healing spell caused it to be imbued with magical sight.” Twilight said, opening it.
“Interesting...I know demons can sense magic...but outright see with it? Don't you need some sort of spell for that?” Red heart asked.
“Normally yes. I don't know how it happened.” Celestia said.
“Right, well...let's check on all your wounds, re-bandage them and get that leg a splint and crutches.” Red heart said, reverting back to her human look.
“Hey, I heard Twi got hurt pretty bad, is she here yet?” Dash asked when she burst into the living room of the manor to find everyone but Celestia and Twilight.
“Right here Dash.” Twilight called from behind. She came up to them in crutches, bandages around her abdomen and all down her arms as she hobbled up on crutches with Celestia in tow.
“Alright, what the hell happened?” Dash asked.
“Wait...did you just say you're a half demon?” Spike asked.
“Yeah...” Twilight replied, dropping the illusion once more.
“The fuck?!” Dash exclaimed.
“Ooh! Those are pretty!” Pinkie said, poking the horns.
“Well Darling...I...must say...you pull off that look well.” Rarity said. Fluttershy was the only one that seemed unphased.
“Oh good, I'm not the only one...” Fluttershy sighed. Suddenly she had small two inch long horns on her head and her wings turned from feathers to demonic.
“W-wait what?” the group yelped.
“Um...both my parents were half demon Valkyries...” Fluttershy said.
“...I never would have guessed...” Luna said.
“Wait, are there any other Demon kids we need to know about?” Applejack asked.
“No you're all normal, I think.” Twilight said.
“You think?” Dash deadpanned.
“Did any of you have a large amount of open wounds?” Celestia asked.
“I did, a bunch of scratches and small gashes...why?” Dash replied.
“Did you get any Demon blood on you?” Twilight asked.
“I ripped it's arms off and stabbed it with it, I was practically Drenched...” Dash replied.
“Were any of your parents Demons?” Fluttershy asked.
“I don't...think...so...wait...are you saying that's how you become half demon?” Dash asked, suddenly a bit worried.
“Not really, high amounts of demonic blood awaken hidden bloodlines. The fact you haven't changed says you must not be of demon heritage then.” Celestia said.
“Um...actually...it could take a few days...” Fluttershy said.
“Huh?” the group asked.
“Well...it normally happens soon, but it can take a while...my daddy said it took him three days to turn...” Fluttershy explained.
“Great...” Dash mumbled.
“Hey it's not that bad.” Twilight said.
“We're going to the higher ups after dinner, we'll get all of this sorted out.” Celestia said.
“Dinner sounds amazing right now...” Twilight said, rubbing her stomach.
“Right, well first you need to bathe.” Celestia said.
“I'll get dinner started.” Luna said.
“Oh! um...I wanna help.” Fluttershy said.
“I need a nap...” Dash said.
“I'll be in the dojo.” Rarity said.
“Ah'm gunna have ta join ya.” Applejack said.
“Hey Spike, Emerald, wanna play hide and seek?!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“I thought you'd never ask!” Spike exclaimed.
(A/N in terms of lilo and stitch this chapter takes on a more 'I'm so cute and fluffy!" approach. the next chapter or two will be recovery and reactions to half-demons and possibly griffons. not sure yet though. Enjoy! -Dark)
“So what do we got?” Dash asked when Celestia and Luna returned.
“Well, there are confirmed cases of half-demons in the school...but as of now only Fluttershy and Twilight have 'awakened' so to speak. Announcements have been made and people have been notified, you don't need to hide it.” Celestia said.
“And what about this whole drug thing?” Dash asked.
“It is an experimental drug but like Red Heart said it's only an enhancement...I chewed their asses out for not telling us about it...we also got them to talk about what really happened to the Gatekeeper.” Celestia explained.
“Apparently they know exactly where she is, but where that is just happens to be so vast and dangerous we need all of the Tartarus Guard to have as much power as possible...” Luna explained, Twilight noticed her ancient speech, for whatever reason she used it, wasn't present.
“Wait...don't tell me...” Twilight started.
“She's in Tartarus itself...” Celestia said. Dash flung her arms up with a yell and stormed off. Twilight sank back into her chair, AJ stormed off in a less dramatic fashion. Rarity was frozen in place. Fluttershy didn't seem much more freaked out than she normally was, but that could just be them, while the rest were looking at Twilight.
“Great...” Twilight sighed. Suddenly they heard Dash yell, it sounded like it was a scream of agony, yet not laced with pain. They all rushed up as fast as they could.
“M-my wings!” Dash yelled. When she stormed off and went into her room, she realized she was leaving a trail of her own feathers. And now they were slowly creating a pile under her.
“W-what the fuck?” she said lowly as she looked at her hands. Her nail lengthened and formed claws, Talons even. She looked at her wings and found that yes the feathers were falling off, but under the feathers was the sleek black of demon wings. She yelled in frustration and sunk onto her bed, hands holding the back of her head as she quietly seethed.
“Dash?! Dash are you ok?!” Pinkie exclaimed, being the First to enter the room.
“I'm fine...” Dash growled.
“Oh...” Pinkie said. The others quickly followed and started at Dash. She didn't grow horns or anything really besides the talons and the wings...but when she looked up they saw her pupils were slits.
“I can't believe one of my parents was a Demon and I didn't even know it...” Dash said lowly.
“It's alright Dash, we'll all deal with this together.” Twilight said, finally arriving on her crutches.
“...what will everyone think of me now?” she asked, more to herself than anything.
“Well, I don't know about those meanies...but I know you're still the best girlfriend ever.” Pinkie said, hopping in Dash's lap and pecking her on the lips. She smiled a sharpened smile after that.
“Yeah...I guess my friends' opinions are all that matters...” she said weakly.
“Are you alright?” Fluttershy asked.
“Yeah I guess...just tired now...” she said, flopping backwards.
“Well it is pretty late now.” Pinkie said, pulling the blanket over Dash and making to get up.
“pinkie...don't...don't go...” Dash begged.
“Oh I'm not going anywhere, I gotta put my gear somewhere right?” Pinkie asked with a giggle. Dash grinned and gave the others a look that said 'it's probably a good time for you to leave'. They all took the hint and left, the last thing Twilight saw was Pinkie taking her top off.
“How come she took it so much worse than you did Twi?” Applejack asked.
“Well I guess she pins more on what people think of her and everything like that...I kinda freaked out too though when it first happened so it's not like I'm super calm and collected...” Twilight replied.
“Right...well I think I need another bath, it's exhausting to go up two flights of stairs by myself.” Twilight said.
“Right, 'nite y'all.” Applejack said, waving as she made her way to her own room. The others said their goodnights as well, all except Celestia.
“What?” Twilight asked.
“Oh come on, you think I'd pass on joining you?” Celestia asked jokingly with a laugh, helping Twilight get down the stairs.
“Right.” Twilight replied with a laugh as well.
“What's wrong?” Celestia asked as they relaxed in the spa-like pool.
“Oh nothing important.” Twilight replied.
“Anything that's bothering you is important.” Celestia said with a smile.
“...I guess I'm just a little envious of Pinkie and Dash...” Twilight sighed.
“Hm?”
“Well...they have each other to love. I mean I have you and all the others and we all love each other, but as in like...romantically. Just a random wave of loneliness is all. But you here to talk to always makes it go away.” Twilight explained, ending with a smile. She leaned back and closed her eyes with a sigh, due to this she didn't see Celestia cringe slightly.
'oh Why have I been waiting?' she asked herself as she made her way over to Twilight.
“Twilight...” Celestia started.
“Mm?” Twilight replied without opening her eyes.
“You don't have to feel that way anymore...” Celestia continued, looming over Twilight a bit, her face inches from hers. Twilight's eyes shot open. For some reason Celestia couldn't bring herself to kiss the girl under her, she wanted to more than anything. Was she really that shy? But it didn't matter, however. Twilight softly leaned forward and kissed her. And there went that random shyness. Celestia returned it with a passion.
After a full minute they separated for a moment, just a small moment, to breathe. Then they started right back up, this time their hands began tracing curves. Once they separated for air again, they let out their breathes and looked at each other. They were entangled a bit, their bodies pressed against each other. It just felt right in all the right ways.
“I must say,this is getting rather heated, eh?” Celestia purred.
“Mmm...not enough if you ask me...” Twilight replied, was that a seductive tone? She looked at her again, her face was red but she was giving her a look. The kind of look that would bring other girls to their knees, Literally, in pleasure. But Celestia was technically already on her knees, so she just crashed into a lustful kiss with Twilight once more. But this time, their hands began exploring more than just their curves. It was strange for Twilight, she could see everything with her magical sight. EVERYTHING. And she had to admit, it excited her a bit to see Celestia's fingers explore her- WHOA DEAR LORD THAT FELT GOOD.
“Oh, looks like I found one of your spots.” Celestia giggled seductively as Twilight's first orgasm rolled out. Twilight, panting a bit, just grinned and started the kiss back up. This time she found three different spots from Celestia. Three orgasms in a row brought Celestia to a state barely even able to move. But she loved it.
“Informational Novels aren't all I read you know.” Twilight whispered into her ear.
“Oh, then teach me what you've learned.” Celestia giggled. They released simultaneously when Twilight jammed her womanhood into Celestia's, but they kept at it for a while. They lost count after a while and realized there was a bit of blood mixing in with the water and that Twilight was a more exhausted than you'd think.
“Oh...damn...I guess some of my cuts opened up again...” Twilight mumbled, looking at the blood slowly seeping from her arm.
“Well that's a mood killer...” Celestia sighed, but immediately carried Twilight out of the water and over to the towels. She summoned some bandages after helping the girl dress and re-wrapped all of her wounds. She grabbed the crutches and teleported the both of them to Twilight's tower. Woken up a bit by the burst of magic, something poked at Twilight's mind.
“This isn't a dream right?” Twilight asked.
“not at all.” Celestia replied with a laugh.
“Then what does this mean? For us I mean.” Twilight asked. Celestia's smile didn't falter, she just started up a kiss.
“It means I now have the most wonderful Girlfriend I can have.” Celestia replied with a giggle. Twilight grinned at this.
“Well this wonderful girlfriend wants a sleeping buddy. Any takers?” Twilight offered, hopping over to the bed on one foot, causing Celestia to laugh, and flop over onto it. She then slithered under the covers and held them open, enforcing the offer.
“Must you even ask?” Celestia said with a giggle as she joined her new girlfriend.
“Man what a day...” Twilight yawned.
“Yeah.” Celestia said.
“First mission, get hurt pretty bad...find out about half-demons and stuff...then I get laid, only thing I'd take out is the getting hurt part...but I guess that means I have you to care for me eh?”Twilight said, rolling over to look at Celestia. She answered by grinning and snuggling up to her.
(A/N here it is fellas, what do you think about Trixie being in the next chapter? should she join the team or no? Enjoy! -Dark)
The group got a lot of stares as they walked, or limped on crutches, towards the school. After missions and during recovery they had a relatively normal school day, or days. Suddenly there was the sound of wings flapping. They looked up to see a group of Valkyries flying overhead. But they weren't Valkyries, they had talons and their wings were far more bird-like. Almost like an eagle.
One of them swooped down and landed in front of them. She had white hair with light purple highlights.
“So, I heard there were half-demons. Never knew I'd see one when I first get here.” the woman said.
“Never thought I'd see you in Ponyville Gilda.” Dash said, stepping forward.
“Whoa, you too? Nice.” Gilda said, putting her fist up. Dash smiled and bumped fists with her.
“So who are these guys?” Gilda asked.
“These are my teammates. Twilight, Celestia, Luna, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, Spike, Emerald and my girlfriend Pinkie Pie.” Dash said, pointing to each of them.
“And this is Gilda, she's a Griffin.” she continued.
“Girlfriend eh? I used to fill that role. What's different?” Gilda asked.
“You're awesome, but she is too...you both like pranks, but she doesn't take it to far. And she's actually nice to people besides me.” Dash said with a slightly joking voice. Gilda made a 'pfft' noise and waved a claw, dismissing it.
“So what happened to you?” she asked Twilight.
“Manticores.” Twilight replied.
“Oh those bastards...yeah, I understand. Took my whole squad of five to take one of them out.” Gilda said.
“Me and Celestia took on two each.” Twilight said.
“Whoa seriously?” Gilda asked.
“We had a unit of snipers covering us but yeah, we got the jump on them though.” Twilight replied.
“Far out, you're cooler than I thought.” Gilda replied with a grin.
“Right...well...I don't know what the hell we're gonna be doing for classes...let's just get going.” Dash said.
“So what are the Griffins doing here?” Dash asked Gilda when they settled down to lunch that day, Dash and Gilda being the first to sit down.
“Eh ambassadors got mad they were making this 'super soldier' program and demanded we get let in too. They did this big filter thing. I've been seeing a few dragons around too.” Gilda explained.
“I see.” Dash replied.
“Hey isn't that one of your friends?” Gilda asked, pointing to a small circle of kids.
“Oh look, the half-demon is to scared to spill our blood!” one guy yelled.
“P-please just l-leave m-me alone...” Fluttershy squeaked. She had been surrounded, signaled out as the only half demon that wouldn't rip their heads off.
“Listen freak, we don't like your kind here. We hunt you.” he continued, unsheathing a Katana.
“Dude don't go that far, she's only half demon and she hunts them too.” a smaller kid next to him said.
“Shut it loser. Half demon is half dead, maybe without those wings you'd be only half th person eh? Let's find out.” he said and raised the blade. Before he could bring it down, however, it shattered and he couldn't move. Everyone backed away from him and Fluttershy.
“L-l-lemme g-go b-b-itch!” he stuttered out.
“B-but...I'm n-not a m-Mage.” Fluttershy replied, worried and looking around. One figure wasn't moving. A figure on crutches.
“Twilight?” Celestia asked lowly, putting a hand on her shoulder. Without a hand signal or a snap or anything, the man was lifted into the air.
“You don't want to fuck with me or my friends. Most of us didn't know what we were before it happened. You wouldn't have tried to chop her wings off before now would you have? I'd say you're the fucking demon.” Twilight said coldly. Suddenly the man's wings fanned out. He struggled to keep them away from her magical grip, but it was fruitless.
“I'm going to do to you what you would to do someone less deserving.” Twilight continued. Before she could, Celestia's hand on her shoulder became a quick embrace.
“Twilight! Enough!” Celestia hissed into her ear. Twilight looked at her and it was like she blinked and this new person was gone. She sighed and looked up at the man still in her grip.
“Sorry...but you're not getting off that easy.” she said. She glared at him and there was a resounding crack and a yell as his wing arms were broken, but the wings were still intact. She dropped him as she limped over to where Dash and Gilda were sitting.
“What was that?” Dash asked.
“I dunno...I saw him trying to hurt Fluttershy and it's like I became someone else...I still would have done it though...people like that don't deserve to live...” Twilight seethed.
“Twilight, is there something going on that I don't know about?” Celestia asked softly.
“Sort of...” Twilight sighed.
“T-thank y-you Twilight...” she suddenly heard as a gentle hug encased her.
“No problem Fluttershy.” Twilight replied and smiled at the shy woman as she sat down. Everyone else took seats as well.
“What do you mean sort of?” Celestia asked.
“Schizophrenia and Paranoia...I was diagnosed with it when I was little, after my parents died. Going back to school and spending time with Shining and Spike helped that, I thought it went away...guess not...that 'other me' was a hidden personality. A cold mask. It amplifies the darker thoughts that go through my head...like a psychopath or something.” Twilight explained.
“So you're a withdrawn goth that just so happens to be the biggest badass I've seen in a while...” Gilda summarized.
“Please don't call me goth.” Twilight pleaded.
“You've got the look though. Take the hair out of your fa-” Gilda started, using a talon to brush the hair that was covering Twilight's right side of her face, but froze when she saw why it was there.
“Not much of a choice.” Twilight said with a smile.
“Does...does that eye work?” Gilda asked.
“Yeah, it'd take too long to explain thought.” Twilight replied, opening the pale purple eye and creeping Gilda out with it.
“Whoa, you may be a badass but you're weird as hell.” Gilda laughed.
“Aren't we all?!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“True.” Dash laughed.
“So, not to pry. Well. Yeah to pry. But is there something going on between you two?” Gilda asked, pointing at Twilight and Celestia.
“Yeah, started last night.” Twilight replied.
“Finally!” Dash exclaimed, throwing her arms up, earning a laugh from anyone.
“I didn't know you two were planning on getting together.” Luna said.
“There's a lot of things about me you don't know.” Celestia said.
“Hm while that may be true it is the same vice versa, Twilight I must thank you again for helping Fluttershy. I wouldn't want my girlfriend hurt.” Luna said. Fluttershy went a bit red. Dash started choking on her food.
“You two? Well I never would have guessed but I see it, congratulations darlings.” Rarity said.
“Wait...what happened? I gotta hear this.” Dash asked.
“Well...” Luna started and looked at Fluttershy, who nodded.
“AboutthreedaysagoiwalkedinonLunawhenshewaschangingandicouldn'tmoveandicouldn'thelpmyselfandijustkissedherandshekissedbackandwe'redatingnow” Fluttershy squeaked in one breath. The table was silent for a full three seconds before Gilda, Dash, AJ, Spike, Emerald and Celestia burst out laughing.
“Oh boy, I can tell I'm gonna like it here.” Gilda wheezed out after a laughing fit.
“Do you have a place to stay Gilda?” Celestia asked.
“I've got a dorm, why?” Gilda replied.
“You can come live with us then if you join our team.” Celestia continued.
“Whoa really? You'd take me?” Gilda asked.
“Yes, you're a friend of Dash's and you've taken on a Manticore. All you need is a bit of training and you'll be good.” Celestia said.
“Cool.” Gilda replied.
(A/N tell me how you think I handled Trixie. we'll get more into her personality next chapter- as well as Gilda's a bit- so if you think it's underdeveloped that's why. Enjoy! -Dark. P.S. this isn't a spoiler because the chapter is called trixie and I've said in comments she's gonna be in the story)
“Holy...Fuck...” Gilda said when she saw the Manor.
“C'mon! We'll show you around!” Dash said and dragged her inside long with most of the others.
“We're going to go grab Lunch, see you later.” Spike said, arm draped around Emerald.
“Had a feeling...” Celestia muttered.
“Yeah.” Twilight said.
“Hey Twilight...what exactly was that back there? When you...snapped...you used magic. But with no glyphs or movements or anything...you didn't even blink...do you know?” Celestia asked.
“I dunno really. I've been able to do it since I was about ten...but obviously it's not normal, so I just stick to glyphs and stuff. Couldn't exactly do the right movements to do what I did back there so I guess I instinctively turned to it...” Twilight explained.
“That's pretty impressive. It's almost unheard of, the only Mage I've ever heard of was starswirl the bearded.” Celestia said.
“I read about that.” Twilight said with a smile, but before anything else could be said there was the sound of a cart rolling up behind them. They turned to see what looked like a magically drawn cart with a large poster saying 'THE GREAT AND POWERFUL TRIXIE!' on it. A woman in blue robes and a ridiculous wizard hat stepped out. Her hair was long and white and she ha a smug look on her face.
“The great and powerful Trixie graces you with her Presence! She has seen this large manor and demands she be allowed to stay here!” the woman exclaimed.
“Great...one of these people...” Celestia muttered under her breath.
“Sorry, but the only people staying here are of my family or on my team. We don't even know you, you'll have to find out somewhere else.” Celestia said, faking reluctance.
“Oh such barbarianism. Trixie would like to inform you that she is just as capable as any other Mage when it comes to combat. She would like to know why you are wearing that ridiculous costume though...” she said.
“I highly doubt it...and this isn't a costume.” Twilight said, flaring the wings a moment. Trixie looked unamused.
“Half-demons. Trixie has heard of them. Even so, you dare doubt my skill?” she exclaimed.
“Yep. If you can take me off my feet you get to stay here.” Twilight said.
“This hardly seems fair. You are crippled.” Trixie laughed. Twilight just began limping towards her. Trixie sighed and sent a blast of magic at Twilight. It melted in midair and dispersed. This surprised Trixie. She used a large rope to attempt to trip up Twilight, but it was wrested from her magical grip and flung away. Desperate, she flung a large rock from nearby at the girl hobbling up to her. When it hit her it shattered, shards of the rock and even the dust disintegrating as it impacted her. She stopped half a foot in front of Trixie and poked her in the arm with a crutch.
“Tag.” Twilight said. Celestia burst out laughing. Trixie was suddenly frozen as Twilight's hair blew out of her face and she caught sight of the scar. She yelped when the eye opened. After a few moments it closed and Twilight had a look of deep thought on her face.
“I think she should stay.” Twilight said as she turned around.
“Why?” Celestia asked.
“She has a very bright aura. She has the potential to take claim to her boasting, she just doesn't have the skill nor the training...yet. Besides, Rarity could use a Mage sparring partner that's closer to her level.” Twilight explained.
“I trust you, Alright come on then. Get your things and I'll show you to a room. Be warned though, in this place if you boast you better plan to back it up. We're all friendly though and don't be afraid to ask for help or training.” Celestia said. Trixie snapped out of her frozen state and just nodded, taking a few bags from her cart and following Celestia.
“You coming Twi?” Celestia asked when she turned a different path when they entered the Manor.
“I almost killed someone today, I need to relax. You know where to find me.” Twilight said. Celestia nodded.
“Where is she going?” Trixie asked.
“We call it the sealed Bath. There's a Glyph on the door, you're welcome to it but don't be surprised if me, my sister or Twilight are already in there.” Celestia said.
“Hey who's this?” Dash asked when they entered the main room, where Fluttershy was sitting in Luna's lap and Pinkie Dash's.
“This is Trixie. Twilight thinks she has the potential to be on the team. Our job is to toughen her up to that if we can.” Celestia said.
“That freaky eye of hers can see how strong someone is?” Gilda asked from her place lying on the rafters.
“Not really, it can make out Magical auras, apparently Trixie's is pretty bright.” Celestia answered.
“Well Trix, if Twi thinks you're cool I'll give ya a try, nice to meet ya.” Dash said, putting a hand out. Trixie shook it and everyone gave similar greetings.
“What's the matter?” Celestia asked as she showed Trixie a free room.
“Trixie feels out of place...” Trixie said.
“I'm going to be blunt. Simply put you are. If it were up to me you would have had to find somewhere else. Not because I'm mean or cruel, but because I don't think you can handle it. Are you in the Tartarus Program at least?” Celestia asked.
“Trixie is, what do you mean though?” Trixie replied.
“You saw how powerful Twilight is. And you saw how bad she got hurt. We face those kind of threats every mission. Do you know how to fire a weapon? Or do you have some training in CQC?” Celestia asked.
“Trixie is very good with the standard firearms, she uses these to fight in close quarters when she needs to.” Trixie said, pulling trench knives out of her bag.
“Meet me in the Dojo I showed you in ten minutes.” Celestia said.
“Um...Alright.” Trixie replied.
“I need to go help Twilight re-bandage after her bath.” Celestia explained, looking at the clock.
“Um...right.” Trixie responded. Celestia nodded and left.
“Oh.” Celestia started, sticking her head back in. “Bring your combat gear.” she said and popped back out.
Celestia stood in front of Gilda and Trixie. Gilda ha what looked like gloves on that extended her Talons to be even more deadly. She had Griffin styled armor as well, winged shoulder plates with sleek, smooth body armor. Trixie had a surprisingly badass setup. Her shoulder plates were spiked, it was a full set of armor. The elbows, knees, toes and knuckles were spiked as well. She looked very combat ready.
“Right. I'm not going to beat around the bush. You will both attack me until you cannot anymore or you draw blood. You may use any means you have.” Celestia said, her claws and curved blades sliding out of their notches as she kept her arms folded.
The two trainees looked at each other, then at Celestia. They lunged forward, but were stopped as Celestia spun and retracted her claws to land punches on each of them, sending them rolling back.
“Coordinate your attacks. Learn each others' style. Blindly charging will get you killed.” Celestia instructed. The two got up and charged again. This time, however, Gilda took to the air, the Dojo having a tall ceiling, and Trixie attempted to hold Celestia in place with an ensnaring spell. This attack failed, however, when Celestia broke the spell without much effort and deflected both attacks.
Knocked back, Trixie thought quickly. As Gilda occupied most of Celestia's attention, her being the superior fighter, she decided to use her magic in a way she had only heard about. She pulled out a flier she had on her for some reason, turned it over and quickly scratched a glyph onto it. She scratched another glyph onto the ground and snapped, summoning a rope. She attached the glyph paper to the rope and dashed for Celestia.
Seeing this, Gilda made a large push to get Celestia as off balance as possible and leaped into the air. Celestia saw Trixie running at her with a rope in her hand and put her blades up in defense. Trixie tossed the rope into the air and charged in with her trench knives. Gilda attacked as well, the two of them occupying Celestia just barely enough for her to not notice the rope slowly coiling around the three of them.
“Now!” Trixie yelled and jumped back. Gilda jumped backwards as well as the rope tightened suddenly, encasing Celestia. Celestia proceeded to slice the rope, but found it would not cut. Then she noticed the glyph attached.
“Very clever. I do not recognize this glyph.” Celestia started. “But.” she continued, the rope disintegrating. “it was obviously made specifically to protect against cutting. Nothing else.” she finished, her blades afire.
“That would have worked against someone who didn't know any magic or with a lesser knowledge than your own. I think we're done. You two fit together surprisingly well.” Celestia congratulated, smiling.
“What do we do now then? It's only been ten minutes.” Gilda asked.
“You two spar. If you get hurt go to Fluttershy, she'll fix you up. Remember, don't start something you don't intend to go through with.” Celestia answered, looking directly at Trixie and then leaving.
“Trixie needs a bit of a breather...” Trixie said.
“Yeah, so do I...” Gilda replied. They were both breathing heavily.
“Trixie wishes to know where you learned how to fight.” Trixie said.
“Uh...my dad taught me. We're a warrior clan, we're taught since we're old enough to wear armor and put on our claws. How about you? And why do you talk in third person like that?” Gilda replied.
“Trixie was taught by traveling mercenaries after they saved her from bandits a few years ago. Since then she has been training with anyone who knows the style. And Trixie speaks like this for no specific reason...it helps her traveling magic performances...she guesses it just sticks.” Trixie answered.
“Yeah well it's actually kinda annoying. I can deal with it for now, but Dash or even Twilight might snap at you if they're in a bad mood.” Gilda warned.
“Why would Twilight snap?” Trixie asked.
“You shoulda seen her during lunch today at the school. Some ass holes were messing with Fluttershy and they tried to cut her wings off for being a half demon...then suddenly there's Twilight, she shattered his sword like it was made of sugar and would have ripped his wings off if Celestia didn't snap her out of it...she's scary when she's like that...her voice is cold and she has no emotion whatsoever...the creepiest part about that though is that while she was doing all that magic she wasn't moving a muscle...not even blinking...” Gilda explained.
“She was using magic against Trixie before...it was a bit disarming...her arms are bandaged as well so Trixie guesses they are hurt, using them with the crutches must be the best she can do with them Trixie thinks. It must be a special ability to do magic like that, Trixie has never heard of it before.” Trixie said.
“Right...well...enough chatting, let's see what you got. By the way, that was pretty good for on the fly like that. Celestia may not have recognized that glyph but Twilight would have. Apparently she wrote two dictionaries on them.” Gilda said.
“Wait, that is Twilight Sparkle? I thought it was just the first name they had in common...” Trixie muttered.
“Yeah, well let's get started!” Gilda yelled and leaped at Trixie.
C.11 Recovery p.3 Demon Hunters
(A/N I'd like to thank s00perguy for being the wall i bounced ideas off of to come up with this chapter. enjoy the brutality! -Dark)
Trixie and Gilda had turned in after they were done sparring and had turned in almost instantly, they were exhausted. Therefore, they weren't there when something smashed through the window of the main room they were all in. when it hit the ground the object shattered and a blast of fire engulfed the area.
“Whoa fuck!” Dash yelled.
“OWOWOWOWOW!” Pinkie exclaimed, having been right next to it.
“Whoa nelly what in the hay's goin' on?!” AJ exclaimed.
Suddenly the fire went out and Pinkie was holding her right arm, shaking slightly.
“Dash. Go find out who threw that. Fluttershy, help me.” Twilight said. Dash looked at Pinkie for a moment but did as she was told and sped out of the shattered window.
“Pinkie, this is really going to hurt.” Twilight said as she wrote a glyph on bandages Fluttershy had just soaked in burn ointment. “Let me see your arm sweetie.” Twilight continued.
“Ok...j-just as long as it stops hurting after...” Pinkie sniffed, tears lightly streaming form her eyes. She shakily held out her arm, the burn extended from her wrist all the way up to her shoulder. It smelled rancid. Twilight gently began wrapping the burn in the bandages. Pinkie hissed a bit with each wrap, but soon her entire arm was wrapped, similarly to Twilight's own.
“the ointment will numb the pain a bit and the glyphs I traced on these will speed the healing.” Twilight explained as Fluttershy wrapped a second layer of bandages to protect the healing ones.
“T-thanks Twi...” Pinkie said.
“No problem.” she said with a reassuring smile. She looked up and it fell as Dash came back and threw a very familiar Valkyrie onto the floor. His wings were on splints.
“You again...” Twilight growled, getting to her feet and back onto her crutches.
“Filthy Demons...what are ya gonna do? Huh?” he challenged. The entire group paled a bit when they saw Twilight's face go stoic.
“Spike...” she said, her voice emotionless, as she held her hand out to the Dracomage. Spike sighed and cupped his hands over his mouth and blew, creating a ball of green fire. He then dropped the fire into Twilight's hand, turning it purple in the process.
“You tried to remove Fluttershy's wings so I broke yours. You succeeding in burning Pinkie...” she started coldly. The purple fire changed and became almost like a glove. “Now I'll burn you.” she finished almost sinisterly.
“There's more of us. Demon hunters. We'll fuck you up! All of y- AHHHHHHHHHH!” he started, but was cut off as Twilight grabbed his face with her flame encased hand. He continued to scream as she held him for a full five seconds before letting go.
“Go ahead Fluttershy.” Twilight said, turning around to where Celestia was standing and limping over. She leaned into her and Celestia noticed tears in her eyes.
“I snapped again didn't I?” she asked.
“Yes...but I don't think you did quite enough.” Celestia said, embracing her as Fluttershy put the burn ointment on bandages and gauze and wrapped the man's face. He wouldn't get the benefit of the healing glyph like Pinkie though, he'd have to suffer.
“He said there are more of him...he said Demon hunters...if they're hunting us...” Dash growled.
“We won't hunt them...but we will retaliate in kind.” Twilight said to her. She nodded.
“What the hell is that smell? Whoa what ha-...whoa...” Gilda said, coming down. Trixie was silent. The man had regained consciousness and Dash quite literally kicked him out while Luna repaired the damage to the manor.
“What's wrong?” Celestia asked a maid that had entered.
“We just found Rick dead...that man...he...he did it...” the maid said through her tears.
“What?!” Dash yelled. She turned to barge out of the door, but Twilight put a hand up, stopping her.
“Do you know how he was killed?” Twilight asked.
“Stabbed in the back...” the maid answered. Twilight nodded and made her way to the door, a spear held by a suit of armor floating in her magical grip.
“Be right back...” Twilight said. The group crowded around the large window to watch as Twilight limped out. Sh looked up, as did they. It had started snowing.
“Snow? That's weird...it normally doesn't snow until after Hearth's warming eve...that should be another few days.” Rarity said. They returned their gaze to Twilight, who they saw had her right eye opened and her left closed. It glowed ever so slightly in the dark. The spear suddenly glowed and launched out into the night. They tracked it's progress until it went into something and embedded into the ground. The spear still glowed ever so slightly as Twilight limped back towards them. They made out the man on the spear, pinned to the ground through the heart.
“Stabbed in the back. They are even now.” Twilight said.
“We will arrange Rick's funeral...” the maid said. Twilight nodded and made her way to her tower, Celestia following to help her up the stairs.
“Trixie...never wants to get on her bad side...” Trixie said.
“No kidding.” Gilda agreed.
“...the fuck man...” Dash growled. They had arrived at the school entrance to find a girl pinned to the wall. It looked like she had horns, but they had been snapped off. She had two gaping holes on her back, signifying wings, and it looked like what could have been talons were shattered. Written in the girl's own blood was 'DEMON' above her head.
“This...this is murder.” Rarity said.
“No it's not it's Righteous! Demons are the enemy.” a voice from behind them sounded. There was a girl with a large weapon that fired stakes. Stakes that matched the one that pinned the half demon to the wall.
“Oh shit you did that Rei? Fuck yeah!” a guy next to her said.
“Wow you're so cool!” a girl said.
“Yeah well the bitch was a demon. I just did what I had to do.” the girl known as Rei said, posing as a small mob of kids came to congratulate her. A few other kids stepped by Twilight and the others.
“...are you saying you fucking did this?” Dash asked.
“What's it to you demon? I should kill you right now.” the girl said, raising her weapon. It shattered. Twilight turned around. Both of he eyes were glowing the purple her magic eye did, but brighter.
“You have taken an innocent life. She did nothing but have demon blood. She was your classmate, probably a squad mate. And you shot her in the back and defiled her corpse.” Twilight said. Her voice wasn't just cold. It was freaky as hell. Her wings flared as her crutches shattered in her hands. She glared at the girl, her sharp teeth gaining a few fangs.
“Yeah, what are you going to do about it? Demon bi-” the girl started, but was cut off as her head literally exploded. The stake in the girl disintegrated as she was let down to the ground gently.
“Fuck man you're going to kill us all!” one of the people screamed.
“No. you are the ones hunting us, we don't hunt you. You hurt us, we will hurt you. Kill us?...we will end your life painfully.” Twilight growled as she slowly calmed down.
“We're not the monsters here...” Dash growled. About twenty kids had taken up ranks behind Twilight, dropping illusion spells or other things revealing demonic heritage. Twilight, now calmed down, turned around and was surprised to see so many people behind her.
“Lead us.” one said.
“What? Twilight asked.
“You are strong. You have a heart. You are not a monster.” another said.
“What do you mean lead?” Twilight asked.
“We can't take this anymore. They've been doing stuff like this, though not going so far as killing, since the half-demons were revealed...now that they're not afraid to kill...” one explained.
“Twi, I think it'd be best if we get the hell away from this place.” Dash said.
“Um...I don't want anyone to get hurt...I agree with Dash...” Fluttershy said.
“Where would we go?” Twilight asked.
“the Everfree?” Emerald suggested.
“That'd work. I bet we could take refuge with the Timber wolves. They were pretty friendly and Emerald and I helped them out.” Spike said.
“Wait, we can't have everyone who's not a demon come...it'd ruin your lives...” Twilight started.
“Save it Twi, whether y'like it or not we're comin'...we're a team, a family. If we got people 'round here huntin' you we don' wanna be anywhere near 'em.” Applejack said. Twilight looked at her friends. They all smiled and nodded.
“A-alright...I guess we can try the Timber wolves...huh...guess I don't need those crutches anymore.” she said, taking a few steps and finding her legs were at least healed to that point. She looked at her new group. All of the demons had wings, the ones who didn't were her friends and had jetpacks.
“Right. We'll fly there.” Twilight said. She walked around the friends with jetpacks and sent bursts of magic into the batteries, ensuring they'd last the trip and then some.
“What about supplies?” someone asked.
“We can go into different towns while hidden, or that aren't prejudice, and get supplies we can't find in the Everfree. I hope nobody here is strictly vegetarian because the Everfree doesn't have the best plant life.” Twilight sighed.
“Ah'll catch up to y'all. Ah've got a sis and big brother to say bye too, Ah'll bring some apples from th' farm too.” Applejack said.
“Right, use this to find us again.” Twilight said, tossing a small rock to her.
“What's it do?” AJ asked.
“Just trace the Glyph with your finger and it'll find it's way back to me.” Twilight said, scratching a simple glyph with her magic.
“Thanks.” Applejack said.
“What're you up to sis?” Big Macintosh, AJ's big brother, asked when he found her searching the house.
“Lookin' fer you an' bloom.” AJ answered. Applebloom walked in at that point.
“There yuh are. Now listen you two. There's a bunch of dangerous people out there huntin' mah friends. They call themselves demon hunters. They've already killed one of Celestia's servants an' a girl down by the school an' hurt Pinkie Pie real bad. We're goin' away. Fer good. Ah don' know if Ah'll be seein' either of yuh anytime soon but if'n yuh need a place tuh hide if it gets too dangerous here we'll be in thuh Everfree with thuh Timber Wolves.” Applejack explained.
“W-what? Yer goin'?...they...they killed people?” Applebloom asked.
“Yeah, the ones that did it are gone now though.” Applejack said.
“What exactly is yer plan?” Mac asked.
“We take refuge with the wolves an' do what we've been doin' here. We'll be takin' in any others we can find. When we're strong enough we're gonna do what this Tartarus project is supposed tuh do and find that gatekeeper and put a stop tuh all of this.” Applejack said.
“...AJ...there's somethin' yuh should know first. Applebloom, say goodbye to yer sister and turn in. this aint sumthin' fer your ears.” Mac said. Applebloom saw he was serious so she didn't argue. She didn't even try to eavesdrop.
“What is it Mac?” AJ asked.
“Mom an' Dad...they didn't die in a barn fire. They went the same way Miss Twilight's did...fer the same reason. Expect Applebloom in yer camp in a few days...Mom was a Demon, you an' bloom got the blood. Granny Smith knew a bit of magic, have Twilight break the spell on you.” Mac explained.
AJ was lost for words.
“Why should Ah be expectin' Bloom?” AJ asked.
“Ah'm gonna train her up fer the next few days...her friends are like that too, Ah don' think Rarity knows about Belle...but Granny knew her parents before they passed. Ah don' think Rarity's like that too though...but Ah'm not sure.” Mac continued.
“...Right...Ah'll tell everyone...mind if Ah take a few baskets with me?” AJ asked.
“Go right on ahead.” Mac said.
“Thanks mac.” AJ said, hugging him.
“Mhm. Ah'll do what Ah can here...if'n ah meet any more half demons Ah'll send 'em yer way, Ah'm headin' up to Appaloosa an' Canterlot to supply a few places, Ah'll tell 'em to tell yuh Mac sent 'em.” Mac said.
“Ah love yuh Mac. Thanks.” AJ said. Mac nodded and AJ left.
C.12 Relocation p.1 The Everfree
“You sure they were here?” Twilight asked Spike.
“Yeah, they found us. They might be watching right now.” Spike said.
“Hey! If there are any Timber Wolves out there we wish to speak to you!” Twilight called out. Three entered the clearing.
“Fire People, you have others? They smell of the tree people...” the leader asked.
“Most of us are Half Demon, but our enemies are the ones you fight. We seek refuge with your pack, or if you know of another place.” Twilight said.
“Why do you seek refuge? Your answer will determine mine.” the Wolf asked.
“The Tartarus Guards that don't have demon blood have begun hunting us, even though we were part of them.” Twilight answered.
“What do you plan to do?” the leader asked.
“We plan to continue to eradicate the hostile demons and stop them for good. As for the guards, we will remain neutral to them unless they strike first.” Twilight said.
“You are a leader of strong will and heart. You look and smell like a monster, yet you are not one. You and your kin are free to come and go, but you will need to work with the pack to earn it.” the Leader said.
“We hadn't planned otherwise. We also plan to gather more of our kind, if they earn their keep would you allow them to stay as well?” Twilight asked.
“Of course. My name is Kirin. Welcome to the pack.” he said. He lead them to a part of the forest that was nearby. It was slightly more spacious and there were many holes in the ground. They looked up and noticed what looked like a simple town built into the trees. Down the holes they spied movement.
“We live in the trees. Some of us live underground. The tunnel runners are messengers for patrols. You will build your own den up above or down below. We have tried building inside large trees, but didn't work. Magic may help, your choice. Meet in my den, middle of town, when night falls. Until then find and start your Den.” he explained. They nodded and he leapt up, using platforms hidden by branches to make his way up. Wings and jetpacks flared as they all scattered to find a place.
“This will definitely work...” Twilight said. On the very outskirts of the tree town there was a massive tree. There were a few other smaller ones, but this was the biggest. It was about the side of Ponyville itself in diameter.
“Dash, go round up the others. If they can use magic send them here, if not let them know where we are and tell them they know when to meet Kirin.” Twilight said. Dash saluted and dashed off.
“You are taking charge rather easily Trixie Thinks.” Trixie said.
“Yeah well...they all need somebody to look up to. Wasn't my choice, they all chose me. I'm just filling the role they need.” Twilight answered as about nine of the half demons landed.
“Right. Here's the layout I have planned for now. We're going to go twenty feet downward using the roots as tunnels to connect to the other tunnels. We'll go all the way to the top. The walls will be two feet thick not including the bark. Once we have that hollowed out Celestia, Luna and I will make the interiors. Don't destroy any of the wood, stack it where you can. It's incredibly difficult to grow it from scratch.” Twilight ordered.
“How will we hollow it out?” one asked.
“Use a simple veil of magical energy and use it almost like a chainsaw. You're basically going to shave and chip away the wood and catch what comes off and form it into planks like so.” Twilight explained, snapping and slowly cutting out a door and using her magic to create a hinge.
“This door will be hidden, since it is on ground level. Once it meets where the walkways above are make another door and use some of the wood to connect the walkway, unless you'd rather jump from the platforms to here every time. Here's how you'd hollow it out.” Twilight continued, doing the same thing but instead of a chopping motion it was like her hand had a chipper extended out of it. It quickly and smoothly cut about three inches in and shaved everything out wherever her hand was pointing. So walked all the way inside, creating a mall tunnel of sorts, and then stood in the middle and did the same, but with both hands, and spun quickly. The resulting effect was the entire section from ground level to about a foot from her head, minus the two feet of the walls, hollowing out. The shaving flew around in the air and formed the ones floating around from the last cut. With a snap they all came together and formed stacks of wooden planks next to the door. She then pointed straight down and made a tunnel down the twenty feet about the diameter of her hand.
“There, that's the limit for how low you should go and where the walls are. That took a lot out of me, and I need to go watch for Applejack. If you get tired try to help out around the Pack.” Twilight ordered. They all saluted and got to work happily. This surprised her.
“Wow...I was expecting a bit of reluctance...” Twilight said.
“You're the perfect Leader. You would be side by side with them if you didn't just do so much at once. And knowing you, you'll be back once you get Applejack to help right?” Celestia said.
“You got me there. It's odd, but I really like it...” Twilight said.
“Like what?” Celestia asked.
“I have a whole little community of people that are my responsibility...Before it was just spike...with the old team we really didn't have a leader...but now I'm that leader of more than just eleven others, I'm leading over thirty and they all look up to me. And I can deliver. It's a great feeling to know you can fill that responsibility...” Twilight explained.
“It is. No go watch for Applejack. I'll make sure none of them overwork themselves.” Celestia said.
“Thanks.” Twilight said. She pecked her on the lips and flew off.
“Hey Applejack, took you a bit.” Twilight said two hours later from her spot sitting on a tree in the clearing.
“Ah lost that pebble of yours a few times luggin' these. Ya mind?” Applejack asked, panting. Twilight giggled and dropped to the ground. She snapped her fingers and levitated the large baskets of apples off of Applejack.
“Thank yuh Kindly. Now. There's sumthin' Ah gotta tell ya and sumthin' yuh gotta do.” Applejack said, cracking her back with a sigh.
“Sure.” Twilight said,
“Look at me with that fancy eye of yers and see if you can find some old magic and cancel it out.” Applejack said.
“Uh...sure. What'd you need to tell me?” Twilight asked, switching from her left eye to right.
“Well...Mac's doin' some travelin' soon and he said he'd point and half demons he found in our direction. He also told me that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo are half demons, though Rarity wouldn't know.” Applejack explained.
“Really? What about Applebloom?” Twilight asked, locating the magic and breaking it.
“Well...he also told me that mah mom was a Demon an' that Bloom and I are half-demons...Guess it's true.” Applejack said as she observed her body changing. Her eyes became slits, small spikes sprouted form her elbows and she got two horns atop her head like Twilight's, but smaller. She yelped when some ridges along her spine shot outward and some on her forearms, tearing through the jacket she was wearing. The tattered and ripped top fell to the ground, exposing Applejack's skin. She covered herself with a red face as she shivered slightly in the cold.
“Wow...two things. First, nice body. Second, I've never seen one of ours like that...” Twilight said with a laugh. The spikes were mostly out of the way of her main body and they had all retracted to be just small ridges, but the damage was done. Twilight noticed her shivering and used her magic to fix up Applejack's top and jacket.
“T-thanks...” Applejack muttered.
“Right. These apples will help us out a lot, thanks. We're making our Den, or home, now.” Twilight said and led her to the giant tree, explaining what Kirin had.
“Whoa Nelly...that's one big tree...and Ah thought the Library was huge...” Applejack said. The tree had been completely hollowed out down the twenty feet and all the tunnels at this point. There were some touching it up but most of the workers were making their way upward slowly now. There was a massive amount of wood planks nearly blocking the tunnels, but it'd all be used soon.
“Hey Twi! We found a huge underground pool of water! It's massive! We could use it!” Dash called from below. Twilight hopped down the twenty feet to the tunnels and followed Dash's voice down one of the many tunnels the roots had been carved out to find Dash and Rarity. It was a massive cavern, but it was filled with crystal clear water. Twilight heard a few waterfalls in the distance.
“I'll have to modify the layout plan...but add a few pipes and magic that feeds off of the tree to finish it and we can have running water.” Twilight said, looking up and around, seeing many smaller roots around the cavern and dipping into the water everywhere.
“The Tree? Aren't we killing it by what we're doing?” Dash asked.
“Normally yes, especially with the roots down here. But if you remember I put a few glyphs on the outside. They use a tiny part of the energy the tree generates to keep it fully alive. Whole it would generate enough energy to power Ponyville indefinitely, but that energy would normally be used to sustain everything. With most of the inside gone only a tiny portion goes to the tree, the rest being absorbed by the glyphs. Tapping into that we have power. We can make touch glyphs instead of light switches and stuff.” Twilight explained.
“Dude...you're a fucking genius.” Dash laughed.
“Darling that is simply marvelous! Just off the top of your head like that? I can't wait to see how this whole thing works out it will be absolutely marvelous!” Rarity exclaimed.
At around early evening, two hours before the sun would fall, Kirin came by to check up on their progress. He found Twilight clearing sections that would take the others much longer to clear while they had a rest.
“Hello Kirin.” Twilight said, breathing heavily.
“Greetings Twilight. I see you are fine with your new Den. I noticed some of your kin are elsewhere in the village, doing small favors for my kin and the sorts, and thought I might check here. I see now that not all command magic. Their help is nice and we are grateful, sunset is in two hours.” Kirin said, reminding her.
“Yes I remember. Alright guys, I'm beat. Your turn.” Twilight said, stepping out. There was about fifty of the three to four hundred foot tall tree left to hollow out and the new door and walkway had been connected, Kirin was in the doorway. The others were quick to recover from their resting and even quicker to get back to work.
“They are loyal...more loyal than any other followers I have seen.” Kirin commented.
“I'm not sure exactly why. But they did choose me to lead them. At first I thought it was because they were scarred of me but that's not it.” Twilight said.
“I spoke to many of them in the village. They say they follow you because you weren't always one of them, yet you act as if you were. You were the only one strong and brave enough to stand up to the prejudice. They follow you almost blindly because they know your heart and mind are pure and you would do them no ill.” Kirin said.
“Really? I just did what I thought was right...anyways I was going to tell you when we met but you're here now...” Twilight started and relayed what Applejack had told her about the new arrivals likely to flood in.
“We will alert our patrols. As for the little ones coming form your old town we will station a patrol in the clearing and near the potion woman.” Kirin said.
“Thank you so much. I should get back to work. If I should lose track of time and not notice the dropping of the sun I mean no offense, we will start making it livable soon so it is very possible.” Twilight said.
“I will send a runner five minutes early.” Kirin said. Twilight smiled and nodded, then got back to work.
C.13 Relocation p.2 Nightstalkers
Twilight had used some of the wood to create a ground-level floor. The way this was done was taking the planks and putting them into position, then with a little bit of magic the tree regrew into the gaps. The final product looked like the floor was natural. She, Celestia and Luna stood in the center now and concentrated. Celestia and Luna lent all of their power to Twilight, who was moving wood around at speeds and amounts the others could only gap at.
“The sun will set in minutes. Is Twilight here?” a Timber Wolf asked, coming up to the walkway. Dash, who was looking in through that doorway, pointed down. The wolf watched as the tree built itself into a tower. There were stairs, furniture makeshift plumbing and small glyphs all over the place. The Timber Wolves used crystals from a mine nearby that glowed. Twilight had found that by absorbing or adding magic would make them glow at different brightnesses. These were in place everywhere as lights connected to touch glyphs.
By the time it was finished and Twilight fell to her rump from the exertion it looked like a tower in the fullest. From the outside it looked like a large tree. There were many windows hidden behind one-way spells and the branches of the still intact trees. There were balconies on the larger branches and a large spiraling staircase on each floor. It could house a population exponentially larger than their current size fairly easily.
“Shit!” Twilight yelped when she saw the sun setting and noticed the runner. She flew up the floors and burst out of the door, quickly making her way to the center of town.
“The top floor is mine and Celestia's!” she called behind her back.
“A bit late but I can understand, you look exhausted.” Kirin said when she arrived in his Den. She looked at herself and groaned. She had cut up her suit so that it was just barely a top, sleeveless and no belly. She pressed the Glyph on her neck to restore it.
“Right. What I wish to speak with you is of somewhat importance. First, while you and your kin are with the pack you are one of the pack. We don't have a culture like the humans, but the general rules still apply. You get the good and the bad. Your kin will be treated like pack members. If asked, they will gather food or help repair damages. If asked they will run messages through the tunnels- once they get to know them- and even patrol.” Kirin explained.
“Of course, we ask nothing more.” Twilight replied.
“Good. Now, being part of the pack, we will fight for you as you will fight for us. With the Tree People scattered that threat is no longer there, but other enemies will move in soon. We will fight the demons with you, whether we are going through the gates of fire themselves or protecting the Pack.” Kirin said.
“You needn't ask, it is our home as well now and wed defend it as fiercely as you. But I can't ask you to join us.” Twilight said.
“Then it is an unfair bargain. We choose to fight by your side as members of the pack” Kirin said.
“Very well. Thank you, so much. There is one question I have to ask though.” Twilight said. Kirin nodded. “Do your kind eat fruit?” she asked.
“Yes, when other food sources are scarce. Many of us enjoy it though, why?” Kirin replied.
“We have a world class apple farmer here with us. If we could find some secluded space she could start a small apple farm, she brought large baskets of them with her too if your Kin need it.” Twilight said.
“We will see what we can do. I think I am going to enjoy this companionship.” Kirin said.
“I hope so. Is that all?” Twilight asked.
“Yes.” Kirin said. Twilight nodded and left.
“Man Twi this place is awesome! There's flight clearance on all the floors and everything! I know you said that top floor was yours and Celestia's, what's up with that?” Dash asked.
“Well there's really only enough space for a few people up there so I thought why not make it some private quarters? Once we start getting more people and the time we can make rooms and everything, but that might not be fore a few days. That took a lot out of us.” Twilight said.
“Got it. Everyone's either resting or settling in or doing something like that. Celestia had Trixie and Gilda start sparring in that cavern down there, she thinks it makes a great training room.” Dash said.
“I agree, make sure they don't damage the plumbing though. It is made out of wood.” Twilight said.
“Got it.” Dash said.
“Hey before you go, where is Celestia?” Twilight asked.
“On your floor.” Dash replied and dashed off. Twilight smiled and made her way up the stairs. She slid open the sliding door that was sealed similarly to the sealed bathroom back at the manor and stepped inside.
“Hearth's warming eve is coming up. You think we should try and give gifts?” Celestia asked from her spot looking out of a window at the vast expanse of the Everfree Forest.
“Sure. It'll definitely make everyone happy. What's got you so captivated?” Twilight asked, joining Celestia at the window.
“This Forest...it's really beautiful once you're inside it like this. Most people are scared out of their minds about it...but if I would have known it'd be this gorgeous...I would have come here long ago.” Celestia said.
“Everything's beautiful when you're there.” Twilight said, hugging her back.
“Mm...when was the last time we had time to relax?” Celestia asked, her voice dipping into a bit of seductiveness.
“Not that long ago...but it feels like forever...the walls are thick and solid enough to be sound proof...” Twilight replied. Celestia grinned and spun around, using her magic to summon both Twilight and her own bed- combining them- then cloning it and, with Twilight's help, made enough for their group on all the floors and then some. The Mages had summoned curtains to create rooms of the sort for now.
Celestia pushed Twilight gently onto their bed and crawled on top of her.
“Love you.” Twilight said.
“And I you.” Celestia replied, starting a kiss.
Four days passed swiftly. Dash and a few of the faster group members had learned the tunnels. Others still had learned patrol routes and hunting grounds. Their Tree Tower had gained dozens of new residents. The cavern had been expanded so that it could train whole platoons at once. Rooms were made for those who wanted them while something similar to barracks were made for those who were comfortable with that setup. Applejack was currently making her way to Zecora's, where a patrol had reported Applebloom and the other crusaders arriving, and they all sat around a large purple bonfire in the main hall, which they had come to call the massive ground level room, as they waited for everyone to return.
“Right, we're all here now.” Applejack said, entering with the three 16 year olds. “Excellent! Let us begin!” Dash exclaimed.
“Begin what?” Scootaloo asked.
“Gift exchange. Ah made a few things fer yuh Bloom.” Applejack said, sitting them down. They were a bit wary of the mass of half demons around them, but quickly found themselves having fun. All three of them were like the others, half demon. Gifts were exchanged merrily as snow fell around the tree, the magic bonfire keeping them all warm though. The original group gave some rather extravagant gifts. Twilight had made new suits for everyone, they had been dubbed as the commanders of this new group, and they were now less militaristic.
Luna had somehow procured an experimental sniper rifle and had special glyphs on it. The rifle was a more powerful 50.Caliber rifle and the Glyphs could coat the bullets in a sort of magical jacket, depending on the glyph it yielded different effects. Piercing shots, incendiary, explosive etc...
Celestia had made Twilight a new set of Reaver Gauntlets. Instead of claws it was single blades, the curved blades were now slightly less curved and had slight hook-like bends at the ends.
Twilight had noticed Dash's lack of CQC weapon, she had just used her fists when she needed, and made her a new blade. It was a large blade, sort of a mix between Katana and longsword, that had an array of enchantments on it.
“I sort of made up the Glyphs, but they do all kinds of things. If it ever breaks it'll regenerate, once you figure it all out you can have different effects on the blades and this one is very important. Since you're always going so fast and you're so strong breaking is a problem. The regeneration relies on this Glyph which feeds off of your energy. What this one does though will absorb the energy from what the blade cuts and stores it in you.” Twilight explained, holding the blade out.
“Sweet! Thanks Twi!” Dash said and grabbed it by the hilt. Suddenly there was a large flash as what seemed like pressurized magic exploded out from the blade. The blade and everyone was unharmed, but they were all feeling odd.
“uh oh...” Twilight grunted, having looked at what was happening with her eye. “The absorption spell reacted with something and created a whole new blood glyph...that flash just caught all of us in it's effect...” she continued as the odd feeling turned into an almost literal bubbling of her skin.
“W-what's happening?” someone called.
“Ah! Our weapons!” another yelled. They all looked and all of their weapons were melting into their skin as fur slowly began to sprout.
“Ah! It's causing our bodies to absorb them...and...and it's using the nearest genetic makeup besides our own to power us up...” Twilight said.
“Wait so we're turning into what...Timber Wolves?” Spike yelped.
“N-not exactly...” Twilight growled as they all began to morph slightly. When it was all over they all withheld their Demonic features, they were still more humanoid than the Timber Wolves, but unlike the wolves they had fur. They retained most of their facial features, a bit of a muzzle forming and hairstyles and such were still intact. It looked rather ridiculous for some of them.
“Werewolves?!” Spike exclaimed.
“No...the freak spell took Timber Wolf Genetic make up and mutated it with our Demonic blood...we're...we're something new now...” Twilight said. She looked down at her hand, which was now a clawed paw, and yelped as the single claw blades slid out of her forearms.
“Whoa! We can totally use the weapons we absorbed!” Dash exclaimed, sliding two slimmer versions of the blade she had.
“What would we cal ourselves?” someone asked suddenly.
“Hm...we're not werewolves or timber wolves...what would fit? It looks like we've all got black fur...Night wolves?” someone suggested.
“Nah, we're not as much wolves to have a name like that...but Night works.” another said.
“Hm...it might be rather cliché sounding Darlings but Nightstalker would fit rather well. Most of you are demons, that plus the fact we've been melded with creatures of the night and what we do...it fits does it not?” Rarity suggested.
“I like it!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“Sis? How are you all so calm about us suddenly changing like this?” Sweetie asked as she slowly extended the claws she had, having learned Rarity's fighting style and weapon of choice.
“We've been through Hell kid, we're kind of used to it anyways.” Dash said.
“This is so cool!” Scootaloo exclaimed.
“Are you all alright?!” they heard kirin's voice call.
“Yeah...freak spell gone wrong...” Twilight answered, opening the door.
“...What happened?” Kirin asked. Twilight explained to the best of her ability.
“Nightstalkers eh? That fits well. I came by to say a patrol found and eliminated a Manticore on the outskirts of the Western outskirts.” Kirin said.
“I see...so...we should expect some work in the future eh?” Twilight asked.
“Yes. When you figure more about this odd transformation I'd love to hear it, but for now I must turn in.” Kirin said. Twilight nodded with a laugh and went back inside. She froze when she saw some of the others back in their human forms.
“Whoa! We can change at will and still have that cool power when we're human!” Dash exclaimed as she looked at her blades with her human form. She walked up to Pinkie, who was pretending to be a household dog, and scratched under her chin with a laugh. Pinkie proceeded to thump her foot, earing laughs from everyone, and lick Dash's face like a dog.
“Ya hear that?” A Nightstalker Twilight was on patrol with. They were on one of the Patrols near Ponyville.
“Yeah...that sounds like it's coming from Zecora's Hut.” Twilight said. They made their way over from the trees and were glad to see Zecora's Hut undisturbed. But there were what looked like Tartarus Guards leaving.
“Man she was useless...she only knows where the Timber wolves are and they're allies...” one of them said.
“She did tell us she saw the Manticores around here so we're on the right track at least.” one of the woman with the four man group said. Twilight quickly searched the area with her magic eye and found the Manticores waiting for them, yet out of sight, on their current path. Twilight looked at the Nightstalker with her. She made a 'shh' motion and pointed at where they could barely see the Manticores, then at the guards. He nodded. They dropped right in front of the Guards.
“Whoa Fuck! You Timber Wolves need to be...wait...” the leader said.
“Shh...” Twilight said and pointed her finger. “Ambush.” she whispered. The leader's eyes widened.
“What are you?” he whispered.
“Later.” Twilight replied. She made a few hand signals, telling them to support her and ally. They nodded, confused this creature could talk, let alone know their hand signals. Twilight looked at her partner and nodded. They dashed up the trees and rocketed at the Manticores, spooking them out o their hiding place. There was a total of three. The guards immediately opened fire on one of them, bringing it down for Twilight to rip it's throat out. Her partner was holding one off while Twilight had grabbed the others' tail and ripped it off. She then spun around and shoved it into it's throat and twisted, stabbing the stinger up through the jaw and into it's brain.
The third Manticore had realized these two black beasts would kill it, so it charged past Twilight's partner and at the guards. Twilight and her Partner reacted instantly, but the beast had already torn them apart with it's claws, teeth and stinger. By the time they got to it and finished it, the others didn't look like they'd survive.
Twilight acted quickly. First, she cast a few healing spells to stop all the bleeding. Then, she used a few minor blood glyphs to stabilize them.
“Grab those two will ya?” Twilight asked. Her partner nodded and strung two of them around his shoulder while she did the same.
“Whoa what happened to them?” Dash asked. Fluttershy went straight to treating them. The other commanders were out on patrol.
“We found them on patrol and saved them from a Manticore ambush. One got around us and attacked them.” Twilight said.
“You did a good job with Healing Spells Twilight...you're getting better.” Fluttershy said as she put various healing ointments and herbs from around the forest as Twilight and her Partner reverted back to their human forms.
“W-wait...T-twilight?” the Leader coughed.
“Yeah, that's me. Why? You know me?” Twilight asked.
“Wait...you're not a wolf thing anymore...you're...” he said, eyes widening.
“Yeah, Welcome to the Half Demon colony. Though now we're called Nightstalkers. Long story.” Twilight said.
“You're...treating our wounds?” he asked.
“Why wouldn't we? We went through all that trouble to help you.” Twilight's partner said.
“...but Why?” he asked.
“What are they telling you we're all bloodthirsty monsters?” someone asked.
“Well...yeah...you killed two of us before you left.” the Leader said.
“And those who I killed murdered innocent people. One of them was human, one of them was half Demon.” Twilight said.
“What?” the leader said.
“Great they're hunting us aren't they?” someone groaned.
“Yeah...but a lot of us don't really believe most of the stories...but you're on a shoot on sight policy though...a lot of us would rather avoid you though, or figure out what's really happening...but a lot more would just shoot...” the Leader explained.
“Well we're not monsters. We'll help any of them we see, as long as they're doing something right...but if they strike first we strike back. We're not going to go on a rampage for one person's mistake though...” Twilight explained.
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“If one of you kills one of us, we'll kill him. But because of that we're not going to kill every other Tartarus Guard we see...like I said, we're not monsters.” Twilight said.
“Great...that makes us the monsters.” he groaned.
“No...just the ones that would attack us for no reason and shoot on sight without question.” Fluttershy piped in.
“Glad we thought you were some sort of Timber wolf...or we may have shot...” the leader chuckled.
“Well actually we are part Timber Wolf...like I said long story...but long story short a spell went wrong and we have Demon and Timber wolf blood.” Twilight said.
“Oi! I heard a couple of guards are here!” Dash's voice rang out as she and the other commanders came in.
“Yeah, they're cool though.” someone said.
“Good.” Dash said as she roughly dropped a man onto the ground, right on his broken leg.
“Bitch!” he hissed.
“Bastard.” Dash said, kicking him.
“What's with him?” Twilight asked.
“He and his team got ambushed by those humanoid things on the other side of the forest...me and my patrol dropped in to help them. By the end only he was still alive and he just turned around and shot at us. Didn't do much damage but it'll take a bit before that closes up.” Dash said, motioning towards where one of her Nightstalkers was holding a bandaged arm.
“And now we have the monster.” Twilight said, getting to her feet.
“The hell you gonna do to me?! Kill me?!” the man yelled.
“No. we're not going to patch you up though...you hurt us, we leave you hurt. But you didn't kill one of us so you're not dead yet. We're gonna send you home with them.” Twilight said, pointing a thumb at the other guards. “And we remember faces pretty well...so if we see you out there again we won't be as helpful.” she continued, motioning for the hurt Nightstalker, now in human form, to come closer. She did and Twilight gently extracted the bullet and left her to Fluttershy.
“You're getting very good at that...you're like everyone's mother.” Celestia giggled. Twilight smiled at that, but frowned as the man started laughing maniacally.
“Mother?! you're all fucking monsters!” he laughed. Twilight nodded to dash, who kicked his head and knocked him unconscious.
“I never really liked that guy...” the Leader of the other squad said, earning a laugh from Dash. “So...you said we're going back...what will we do?” he asked.
“Up to you. Tell them what we are and what we do.” Twilight shrugged.
“You're not worried about us telling them where you are?” he asked. Twilight laughed. “Come here, is he good to walk?” Twilight asked. Fluttershy nodded. Twilight helped him to his feet and supported him. “How big do you think this place is?” Twilight asked.
“A few stories...” he answered.
“What do you think this is?” Twilight continued, going up the stairs to the walkway door.
“Some building somewhere.” the Leader answered.
“How many of us do you think there are?” Twilight asked, stepping onto the walkway.
“Couple dozen at the most...” he answered unsurely.
“This is the largest tree in the Everfree Forest. It has over ten floors, a basement and tunnels system. We are on the outskirts of the Timber wolf Pack, we are part of said pack. Our numbers number just over two hundred and counting. Everyone can take a Manticore one on one successfully.” Twilight explained.
“One of us can probably take out a three man Tartarus guard squad alone. At the least. Now, do the math. That means you would need at least six hundred to fight us. Not to mention the Timber Wolves, another hundred or so. Plus, the Commanders we've been known as...we could take much more than that...so I guess you could say it'd take nearly a thousand to win against us.” Twilight explained casually. The leader's jaw dropped.
“And trust me, we'll know the second they enter the forest. If they attack us here we will show no mercy. Remember that.” Twilight warned as she let him back down next to his team.
“Right...got it...any way we could ah...join you?” he asked.
“Well you'd have to go through a kinda painful transformation into a Nightstalker...or if you were a half demon you'd just have to take a little test, but for you it'd just be you guys doing errands and stuff...grunt work. That is, until you solo a Manticore to prove you can handle the bigger stuff.” Twilight explained.
“Why are you telling me this?” he asked.
“Because the readers wanna know this stuff!” Pinkie exclaimed.
“Huh?” everyone said.
“oh...um...Twilight you explain it!” Pinkie said, Dash laughing at the randomness.
“Right...you asked. Simple as that.” Twilight said, giving Pinkie an odd glance.
“Really?...huh...” he said.
“We'll be back. I don't think the full blown transformations would be best for us, we could be like a mole for you, tell you stuff outside the forest ya know?” the leader of the squad, now all conscious, said.
“You'd do that?...What's your name?” Twilight asked.
“Ken.” he replied.
“Rin.” one of the two woman said.
“Bright Steel.” the larger of the group said.
“Long shot.” the woman with a sniper rifle said.
“Well...I don't know how you'd get information to us, but if you can leave it with Zecora and she'd bring it to us. Or you could give it directly to one of us or another of the Pack.” Twilight said.
“Right. Come on Bright, let's get this moron out of here before he wakes up.” Ken said. He was still unconscious so someone not sympathetic to the Nightstalkers wouldn't know exactly where they were.
“Well that was interesting. Who knows? Maybe there's more like them.” Luna said.
“If there are we could gain some more numbers, Nightstalker or double agents alike.” Celestia said.
“Yeah. Alright everyone! Down the the caverns for Glyph training!” Twilight called, opening up a large circle on each of the floors so the ones not on that floor could quickly make their way down.
A week had passed. Many people had begun to miss life in their old homes. Not so much the place, but interacting with others than each other. They also needed more supplies to make weapons, clothing, armor and other necessities. Applejack would need some things from Big Mac before she could start their secluded orchard so they were running low on food supplies as well.
“Right. We'll all split up into groups ranging from two to four. Don't go anywhere you'll be recognized if you can help it. If you can't do that then use the Glyph on the side of your hood. It'll change some of your basic features, but any of us would be able to recognize you. You all know what we need, anything not necessary comes out of your own pocket. Don't reveal your identities unless necessary. If you find any half demons or Tartarus guards willing to help or join us point them our way. If you're not back in three days without valid reasoning you'll be presumed dead, captured or irresponsible and we'll go looking for you.” Twilight explained, handing out large cloaks to everyone.
“Sorry love, but everyone knows your hair style and color...Mine too...” Twilight said to Celestia. She was pouting because her hair had been dyed black and cut rather short. Twilight had removed the lighter purple highlight from her own hair and had hers cut like Celestia's.
“What about Rainbow Dash?” Celestia pouted.
“Lots of Valkyries dye their hair like that, but nobody's been able to replicate yours. I'm sorry, if you don't grow to like it we can always change it back.” Twilight said, kissing her on the forehead like one would a child.
“Dash are the tunnels clear?” Twilight asked.
“Yep, we got the OK from Kirin too.” Dash replied.
“Right. Move out people! AJ, thanks for staying back to hold down the fort.” Twilight said.
“No problem, Ah git tuh see mah brother more than all of them git tuh see other people. Ah'll keep the recruits an' kids safe.” Applejack replied.
“Thanks.” Twilight replied. Applejack smiled at her and joined the rest of the Pack, which were changing and filing into the tunnels.
“Manehattan eh? This should be interesting...” Twilight said as they approached the large city. Two other groups were with them, a total of eight combined, since it was a big city.
“I'm still a bit upset about my hair so you better make it up to me...” Celestia mumbled, earning a laugh all around.
“Right. Alright everyone, you know what to do.” Twilight said. They all nodded and they dashed off. Once they were close they quickly changed back and donned their cloaks, entering the city from three different places.
“This looks like a good place to start.” Twilight said. She and Celestia were standing in front of what boasted to be a 'modern blacksmith'. Celestia shrugged and they entered.
“Whoa there Ladies, this isn't a shopping mall.” a pale woman wearing violet shades said.
“And you're no blacksmith...” Celestia said. The woman shrugged.
“What are you talking about Vinyl?” another woman asked, coming into the room wiping her hands on an apron that was nearly covered in soot.
“These chicks just walked in.” the woman known as Vinyl said.
“Wait...Vinyl as in Vinyl Scratch? Aren't you a DJ?”Twilight asked. Celestia gave her a weird look.
“Yeah, not anymore though. You listen to my old stuff?” Vinyl asked.
“No but my little brother did. You seem familiar though...wait...no...Octavia Philharmonic?” Twilight asked.
“Yes...you recognized me through all this grime?” the other woman asked, taking a rag and wiping her face.
“I'm good with faces.” Twilight shrugged.
“Well what are two ladies like yourself doin' here?” Vinyl asked.
“Your sign says you're 'modern blacksmiths'... we need materials for making weapons and possibly premade weapons.” Celestia said.
“We don't just give that stuff out... you don't really look like the type that'd nee-” Octavia started, but both women froze when Twilight pulled her hair away from her right side to show her scar.
“Whoa dude that's pretty sick.” Vinyl said.
“You two are half demons.” Twilight suddenly said. The two women looked at each other, then at them and suddenly charged with a random weapon on display. Twilight snapped her fingers and simply held them in place.
“The hell was that for?” she asked.
“You're Fucking demon hunters...” Vinyl growled. Twilight and Celestia laughed and Twilight let them down.
“Oh man...you can't be more wrong.” Celestia said.
“Huh?” Octavia said.
“Do you know the names Twilight Sparkle and Celestia?” Celestia asked.
“Yeah, they're those two that sparked the half demon break off...” Octavia said.
“You're looking at them.” Twilight said.
“I heard they're some new kinda demon called Nightstalker or something like that. That would make you one of them, you don't even look half demon to us.” Vinyl said.
“Well you look human to us as well.” Twilight said.
“But how do you know?” Octavia asked.
“Because I'm me.” Twilight said.
“You're not going to tell us how are you?” Vinyl asked.
“Not unless you come with us.” Celestia answered.
“What do you mean?” Octavia asked.
“You obviously are wary of demon hunters. In Ponyville, which was where we used to live, they killed innocent people and half demons. You know we broke off, we've got our own colony going. Or Pack, depending on how you look at it. We gather any half demons looking for refuge, and you tow being blacksmiths we could use you.” Twilight explained.
“We still don't know if you're who you say you are...the Twilight and Celestia we knew had that cool hair...” Vinyl said. Twilight sighed and Twilight used an illusion to restore their hair for a moment, then letting it drop.
“Oh...wow...never knew how much hair could change a person...” Octavia mumbled.
“I guess we're in then...we get those fucking hunters in here all the time boasting of their kills...” Vinyl growled.
“You make firearms right?” Celestia asked.
“Of course, why?” Octavia replied.
“That's all we really need.” Twilight replied. She extended what used to be her gifted Reaver Gauntlets. They had the texture of bone, yet the strength of the metal. It looked pretty awesome.
“Fuck!” Vinyl yelped.
“Oh, that's nothing.” Twilight giggled, retracting it.
“Right...well...what should we pack up?” Vinyl asked.
“Oh no, we'll be here for another two days.” Celestia said.
“Alright...well now that we're with you mind telling us where your colony or whatever is and how you knew we're half demons?” Octavia asked.
“We live with the Timber Wolves in the Everfree. And I saw through your illusion spells with this.” Twilight replied, showing and explaining her eye.
C.17 Preparations for War
(A/N this one is a bit short and the action I promised is omitted, but for a good reason. as the title suggests and as you will read, War be upon us. you'll get your juicy action there. : P)
“Alright what do you have for me Dash?” Twilight asked as she and the other commanders gathered around.
“He was all sneaky about it. I didn't even recognize it, he dropped it right into my hand. It was totally awesome...anyways, according to some of the things he gave me there's big numbers of demons inbound heading to Ponyville and Canterlot. Also, you'll get a kick out of this.” Dash said, pulling a piece of paper and rolling it out on the table.
“Oh my god...really...they've gone back to wanted posters?” someone giggled. Twilight didn't look amused. It was her. It was a hand drawn image, the scar wasn't even there and her hair was what it was before her latest mission.
“At least they won't find you with this.” Celestia said.
“That's not what I'm worried about. They signaled me out because I'm the leader. If they find out about all of you then they'd put these up of you too. Look at the reward. Four million Bits...that's enough to make anyone give second glances at anyone with a similar hairstyle.” Twilight said.
“So what's yer plan Twi?” Applejack asked.
“What do those reports say about what the Tartarus Guards are doing?” Twilight asked after a moment of thought.
“Yeah, they're splitting into two forces. One to defend Ponyville and one Canterlot. Estimated time until the demons get there is three days...apparently there's more than just Manticores and the Slicers.” Dash explained.
“Slicers?” Twilight asked.
“Uh, what I've been calling those humanoid ones.” Dash replied. Twilight nodded.
“Right. Those that used to be Tartarus guards, I want you to train up The others to how they act and how they behave etcetera andante. Tomorrow we'll split into two groups. AJ, I'm putting you in charge of the Ponyville forces. I'll go to Canterlot. Until then we split up our forces as equally as possible and train.” Twilight explained.
“I like the plan, but I find something terribly wrong with it.” Luna said.
“I'm already ahead of you. They can't just ignore a couple hundred people suddenly claiming to be guards. We have any moles high up?” Twilight asked.
“We've got the second in command of the defense forces in with us.” someone answered.
“Whoever has the best chance of seeing him unnoticed will go right now and have him make a believable story.” Twilight said. One of their newest warriors, an ex-officer in the military- saluted and dashed down for the tunnels.
“Right...now...down to the caverns all of you!” Twilight commanded.
The day passed slowly, but it finally passed. Twilight and around a hundred and fifty others were running behind them. With her was Celestia, Spike, Emerald, Gilda, Trixie, and Rarity. When they had all left, Zecora had quite a scare as she was gathering herbs in the forest as Battalion after battalion of Nightstalker almost literally popped out of the ground. They all gave called greetings and waves, which she returned with an uncertain wave, as they ran in two different directions.
“We're close, Human forms now.” Twilight called. They all changed back to their human forms. None of them looked the same except Twilight, Celestia and the few others that had altered their appearances since they had last been seen. They arrived at the large camp outside of Canterlot withing hours.
“I'm Dawn, the one you were told of.” she said to the sentries when they stopped her.
“We have the appropriate space for you and your tents, the commander wishes to speak to you and your second in command. He's in big tent.” he said, a bit in awe of the army behind her.
“Right.” Twilight said and they all walked in.
“You two are...very familiar...” Shining Armor said when they entered. It was just him and them in the tent, so Twilight smiled.
“Well, you always said I'd look good with shorter hair.” Twilight said, showing her scar.
“T-Twilight?! What are you doing here?” Shining yelped.
“Come on, where else do you think a few hundred fighters would pop up from. The ground?” Twilight asked, plopping down on one of the stools.
“Wait...all of those people that got sent here and to ponyville are...” Shining started.
“Nightstalkers. Every last one of them. The only ones that are still back are the ones not battle ready yet, which out of around three hundred and something only a few dozen at the most.” Twilight finished.
“I've been hearing stories about Nightstalkers...that you went rogue and started killing at random...that all of the other Nightstalkers did the same...” Shining said.
“And you don't believe it one bit do you?” Celestia asked.
“of course not. But you all still killed innocent Tartarus guards.” Shining replied. Twilight laughed.
“Innocent? You're hilarious Brother. We don't kill people. Not even when they take shots at us and hit us we don't kill them. We won't treat their wounds but we won't kill them. The only time we kill people are when they kill others or us.” Twilight said.
“I heard that from one of the guards not into Demon Hunting...how did you know about us anyways?” Shining asked.
“When we save Guards and they're sympathetic to us we give them a choice. Join us, or go back. The ones that go back act as moles. We've got quite a few.” Twilight explained.
“Twilight...you've changed.” Shining suddenly said.
“...Yes I did...but tell me, how so?” Twilight replied.
“It's not a bad change...but I'll miss how you used to be. Back then you were Loving...and you cared for everything...” Shining started, but was interrupted by Twilight shushing him with a hug.
“Oh you big moron, that didn't change. That's WHY I've changed really...back then I only had spike to look after. Now I have hundreds that are all my responsibility. You're in charge of all of these people here, the two forces are about the same. It's a similar feeling, but you're only in charge of them here. Your responsibility is when they're doing their duty. Since day one... I've had to fight for the Pack, lead them, nurture them. Everything I do is for them. That won't change.” Twilight said.
“Huh...I guess you're right...” Shining said. He inhaled deeply, then let it out. “Right...as you probably know the targets will be here in two days. Estimated size of the force is about a hundred, consisting of Manticores, the Humanoids and something scouts can only describe as giant demons. I was worried, even after I heard we'd be getting reinforcements...but now...you guys could probably handle everything by yourselves eh?” He explained.
“Probably. Right now my Pack here, and in Ponyville, are finding out how many are sympathetic to us in the forces. Together with them we're isolating and will be incapacitating the hunters. We're not going to hurt them, Fluttershy developed a sort of sleeping potion. We'll give it to all of them the last meal before we fight and make sure they're in a safe place. Then we'll fight.” Twilight explained.
“Why incapacitate them?” Shining asked.
“If we're going to be at full fighting strength we're going to have to use our Demon stuff and we don't want to get shot in the back. It's happened too many times with these hunters.” Twilight said.
“Uh...Right...” Shining said.
“Since when were you a Tartarus Guard?” Applejack asked the commander of the Ponyville Garrison, she had worked for days to be able to change her voice and accent.
“Since Mah sister left...why?” he asked, it was Big Mac.
“Because yuh just made mah Day a whole lot easier.” Applejack said, glomping him.
“What the- AJ?” he asked.
“Uh huh...'Bloom's here too workin' with thuh others.” Applejack said.
“Huh?” Mac said. Applejack explained the plan.
“She thought of all of that?” he asked.
“Mhm. She's a natural born Leader. Ah gotta get back to mah troops, make sure they're getting' along with yours. We heard the forces comin' here are smaller so Ah got more of the youngin's and newer recruits.” Applejack said.
“Uh...Right. See you later sis.” Mac said.
“You betcha, and while I'm here call me Violet.” Applejack replied, putting her illusion back up and switching her voice.
“Alright...how long'd that take yuh to master?” Mac asked with a laugh.
“About a week. I had a little help from Gilda and Dash to get the punk-ish thing down.” Applejack said with a grin. She gave a farewell gesture and walked out of the tent.
(A/N well I was going to use this to start the next chapter, but that would have left me with like twelve pages of word so I decided to do it as a short Interlude. Enjoy! -Dark)
“So, I've found this group right here is with us, but not in on the plan.” Celestia said. She was sitting around one of the scattered camp fires with a circle of people.
“Really? Well, why don't you agree with our plan?” Twilight asked, sitting in Celestia's lap and leaning back into her, which earned a few glances as Celestia put her arms around her.
“The ones that are Hunters, the ones you'll be drugging. They're most of our best fighters. Even with you guys as reinforcements we'd get slaughtered.” someone said.
“You do know what we are right?” Twilight asked, a bit confused.
“Yeah, you're those Nightstalker guys.” another replied.
“Everyone here has gone through a sort of test. This test is to kill a Manticore by yourself or something of equal glory...everyone here has done this many times before. We alone could at the least hold off the force coming at us. We'd just like help doing it.” Twilight explained.
“What's stopping you from turning on us then?” someone asked. Twilight sighed and sat up to look straight at them.
“If we wanted any of you dead you would be. Our numbers are over four hundred. This isn't even half of our forces. The commanders alone could clear this entire camp.” Twilight said after a moment, reclining back into Celestia.
“What's stopping you then?” one asked.
“We're not monsters. We don't want to kill every human out there. We may not look it but we are still human. The only times we've killed one of you guys is if you killed first.” Twilight said.
“What about our commander? He's not a Tartarus guard, he's a military captain recently promoted. What are we going to do with him?” someone asked.
“Commander Shining Armor. He's my brother, you don't have to worry about that.” Twilight said.
“One last question. How does a Teenager lead hundreds of people with nearly blind loyalty when they're of pretty much all ages?” one asked.
“I dunno. Ask them. We all did a lot of running today and we trained like hell yesterday, I'm exhausted.” Twilight said.
“Well come on then Love. Let's get you to the tent.” Celestia said, picking up the already napping girl bridal style.
“When you do what she's done for everyone...you can't help but follow her.” Celestia said to the group.
“So...the head of the Nightstalkers is related to our commander eh? That's new.” Someone said, putting out the fire.
“Commander? What are you doing here?” someone asked fearfully, Applejack was talking to them about the plan and he appeared out of nowhere.
“Ah like tuh relax with mah troops.” he said, putting an arm around AJ, or 'Violet'.
“Don't worry fellas, Ah may not look it but this oaf's mah brother.” AJ said.
“Wait...I thought you only had two sister, AJ and Applebloom...” someone said.
“Twi made up these cool glyphs and I trained my voice.” AJ said, dropping the illusion for just a second and putting it back up.
“And Bloom's right over there.” she said, pointing to where the crusaders were successfully sparring against three Tartarus Guards.
“Damn, are those who I think they are?” one asked.
“Yeah, they started calling themselves 'Night Crusaders' after they made warrior. Anyways, any concerns?” AJ asked.
“Not really, your plan is solid.” they all agreed.
“ARRRGGHH!” someone yelled. They looked to where the Crusaders were sparring. A man was skidding across the ground towards them, Scootaloo was still in a pose that implied she had just punched him.
“Damn...” he coughed. “That girl's got power...” he continued.
“You remember little Scootaloo?” AJ asked.
“That little girl that couldn't even fly?..yeah...wait...what?” he asked, looking up.
“She just punched you in the gut.” AJ said, patting his head.
“Hey Scotch! Man down.” AJ called with a laugh.
“Really now, I told you fighting her was a bad idea.” Fluttershy, but with a shorter mane, said as she came over.
“Hey, y'know what? Yuh look a might prettier without that Hair of yours coverin' yer face.” Mac said.
“R-really? U-um...some recognized me by my hair and...um...I had to cut it...” She started, her stutter and shy manner of talk coming back. “It took a few days to um...suppress my shyness long enough for this to work.” she continued, reverting back to 'Scotch' as she gave the downed man some bruise ointment.
“Are you flirting with my Girlfriend Mister Macintosh?” Luna asked, appearing on the other side of him.
“Not at all, jus' complimentin' her.” Mac replied calmly. Luna smiled and looked at the others, who were by now giving them odd looks.
C.18 Defending of Canterlot
(A/N What's this? an entire chapter for one battle? I must say, I think I may have outdone my self. look in the comments below for an example of what Pauldrons are and something close to the skull I'm talking about. Enjoy! -Dark)
“Is it all done?” Twilight asked Rarity.
“Yes it is, we're good to go Darling.” she replied. Twilight nodded and turned on her earpiece.
“Do you see them Love?” She asked.
“Yes, there are Manticores, Slicers and quite a few large ones...they look like giant demon bears.” Celestia replied.
“We got a few accounts of them. Apparently the troops are calling them Ursa.” Twilight said.
“Yes...they're advancing quickly, estimated time until arrival twenty minutes.” Celestia said.
“Well then let's meet them.” Twilight said. She turned around to where her Nightstalkers and the friendly Tartarus Guards were waiting alike. She raised a hand and made a chopping motion. 'Forward'. Something so simple. Yet it yielded one of the most impressive advances ever.
All of the Nightstalkers changed. Some running on their legs, others flying through the air. Twilight took to the air and went straight for the mountain overlooking the valley they had chosen to meet the Demons. On the top was Celestia, Fluttershy and all of the snipers in the force.
“I've got them. They'll recharge after three minutes to full strength, if you completely exhaust them it'll take three times as long so nine minutes.” Twilight said, teleporting a pallet of batteries. They had all been given customized rifles that would take the batteries and, depending on what glyph on the barrel was used, would create different magical effects.
“Alright...make your shots count, don't fire unless you're sure you won't hit a friendly. Priorities are as follows. Supporting allies, catching demons that break through and finally the stronger ones.” Fluttershy said calmly. Twilight nodded to her and flew up to Dash, who was in charge of the aerial forces.
“You all ready?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, I can see there's quite a few harpies there.” Dash said.
“Yep, that'll be your job. Once they're all down help the ground forces.” Twilight said.
“Right.” Dash said and charged forward. Twilight nodded and teleported back to the front of the ground forces.
The demons charged once they saw the ground forces, but were immediately devastated by a deafening volley. Each shot was complimented by a magical flash, increasing their speed and penetration. The first two lines of demons were down immediately.
Then the ground forces met with Twilight at the lead. She had upgraded her Reaver design and now had blades sprouting all over her arms instead of in the few places. She let her cold side out. She grabbed a Manticore by the neck with her jaws and crushed it, flinging it into a harpy that came in low. She then stood on her back legs and roared, which was followed by the roars of the Nightstalkers in the air as they crashed into the air forces.
Twilight was face to face with an Ursa now. She tackled it to get it away from her allies. She was surrounded by enemies now, but that didn't matter. It swiped at her, cleaving the head off a slicer in the process, and she leaped above the swing. She shoved her claws into the soft flesh of it's neck, but it only roared and shook her off. She did a kick flip and dropped to all fours to dodge another swing. She then dashed around it and climbed up it's back. She shoved her claws into the back of it's skulls and pulled it's head back. She looked over to the mountain top and there was a volley of sniper fire. Around thirty armor piercing bullets went into, and through, the beast's skull. Most of the bullets continued through and hit other demons, but the Ursa went limp as it's head was turned into bloody mush.
She growled as she was surrounded by slicers, but grinned as her, now much larger, curved blades slid out. What ensued next was what one could consider a dance of blades. She spun around and weaved in and out of the attacks, often causing them to hit another of it's kind. She would slash and stab out with her blades and even lunge out with her jaws and crush a skull or two. When she disposed of this group she was allowed to breathe a bit. She looked around and saw her Pack was in a similar situation. They were fighting of Manticores and Slicers. Ten were fighting an Ursa at once, quickly bringing it down. She found Celestia with her jaws ripping out the throat of a Manticore and Dash ripping the wings off a harpy. Rarity was combining her dashes with a series of teleport spells, as were the Mages following her, and effectively confusing and thinning down the enemies. Spike and Emerald were probably the most obvious fighters. Together they would swing their blades like a flaming tornado. She was surprised when Spike used it Dragon's Maw and spewed lava onto a horde of Demons.
And now there was an Ursa behind her. She spun around to fight it, but it stopped mid swing and fell limp to the ground. As it fell, she saw Fluttershy pull blades out of it's temples and flip off.
“Hi...ran out of ammunition.” she panted. Twilight grinned and bumped fists with her. Nearly half of the demons had been decimated, but Twilight began noticing some injuries and fatal wounds on her own side.
“Let's go save some lives before we start fighting again.” Twilight suggested. Fluttershy nodded. They went around the field, where uninjured or minorly wounded ones would drag the incapacitated ones. There were a few dead already, but the medics from the Tartarus guard were keeping the others alive as best they could. Fluttershy would give them something to ease the pain and prepare for what seemed like a Surgery, then Twilight would use a blood Glyph to heal them with the guidelines Fluttershy had prepared. After a while though, Twilight was exhausted. A few had died before they got to them, but the rest were at least going to survive.
“I'm...almost...out of magic.” Twilight panted.
“Here.” Celestia said, dashing up and dropping a few overcharged batteries. “I knew you'd use up your magic helping people so I prepared these.” she continued.
“Thanks...” Twilight said and grabbed them one by one, draining them into her own body and then putting them in her pack to recharge. She wasn't back at full strength, but it was good enough. She looked to where she would be needed most.
“Celestia, I need you to go support Rarity, she's running low on magic and needs to rest. Fluttershy, if you're up to it go find the other assassins and work on the Ursa. I'm going to go help Dash and the others, they're getting pushed back.” Twilight said. The three nodded and they took off in three different directions.
“Damn it! These fuckers are tough!” Dash yelled, prying the jaw off of one of the harpies and breaking it's neck.
“Get back Dash!” someone suddenly yelled. She didn't hesitate to drop a yard or two and backwing. Just in time too, Twilight came flying in. her curved blades were out and she was spinning, almost like a drill. She barreled through the group that Dash was holding off and stopped her spin. She proceeded to reach her hand out to Dash with a wink. Dash grinned and took it and they began to spin each other. They cut down what was near them and then Twilight let go, launching Dash through the lines. With a sonic explosion, she broke the sound barrier. The resulting blast blew a group of Harpies away, blood streaming from every opening as their insides were turned to mush.
Dash yelled in delight as she sped around, somehow not losing momentum, as her blades suddenly appeared to be made of pure rainbows as they left double trails behind her. She diced and weaved through the harpies. To her it was like slow motion as her blades cut through bone and blade alike like it was ice cream. When she finally stopped she was panting and her arms were so sore she couldn't move them, and her wing arms were about to give out, but she was grinning. Twilight tossed her a battery and pointed to the ground, where Pinkie was fighting a hoard of slicers, giggling like a maniac. Dash nodded and absorbed the battery, abating her exhaustion.
Twilight and Dash launched downwards at Pinkie, she saw this and batted the last Slicer away like a baseball. Then she caught the two, who dived at her feet first, and spun a few times before flinging them with the large axe at two Ursa. The two spinning Drill-like woman put holes in the Beasts' heads without getting a single drop of blood on them.
“Fuck a Wyrm!” someone yelled over the radio. The snipers scattered into the battle as three hulking forms blasted flames at where they were.
“on it.” Fluttershy's voice said.
“The fuck is a Wyrm?!” Dash yelled.
“Basically...Demon Dragons. But a hell of a lot bigger and more dangerous.” Twilight replied. She saw Fluttershy, with her group of nineteen other assassins in tow, climb up the Mountain. They waited until the Wyrms had passed over them before they launched upwards into it's underside. Some went through the membrane of the wings, others embedded blades into vital organs. The ones who went through the membrane, Fluttershy being one of them, launched back downwards and landed on it's head. No matter what you are, but when you're sandwiched by twenty sets of blades on both sides of your head, you're going to go down. They all leaped back onto the mountainside as the beast began to drop. The other two Wyrms had noticed this and were turning around to do another fire run. But suddenly there was an earth shattering roar, or series of roars, as about a dozen dragons burst from over the mountain.
All of them impacted the much larger beast and clung to it with their teeth and claws. As one the dragons blasted the beast with their fire, effectively scorching every square inch of flesh on the beast as they ripped and tore at it with their talons. The Wyrm began to fall to the ground and they all launched off and at the other. It was fast for how big it was as it fled from the group of dragons. The fire and their proximity to it had left the Dragons' talons and teeth red hot.
“Well that solves that problem.” Fluttershy said.
“That still only counts as one!” Luna's voice called over the radio, earning a giggle from Fluttershy.
“Are you two counting kills?” Celestia asked.
“Oh yes, rather fun...though Dear Fluttershy got a huge head start while she was sniping, I've managed to catch up...” Luna replied.
“Barely.” Fluttershy giggled as she and her assassins swarmed an Ursa.
“Darling, hate to break the fun but Celestia isn't enough to help us down here, we need support.” Rarity said. Twilight didn't hesitate as she led the snipers that had ran out of ammunition in a charge towards Rarity's opponents.
More than half of the Mages were unconscious from magic exhaustion, Rarity was siphoning power from a small case of batteries Celestia had summoned to them to wake them up. Twilight joined her in this as the rest helped defend. When they were all back in fighting shape Twilight took the rest of the batteries and absorbed them.
“Everyone clear the battlefield. All magic users come to my position.” Twilight said and launched back a few hundred feet, where she started gathering her magic. As one, the Nightstalkers struck final blows or avoided enemies as they retreated past her. All magic users crouched next to and behind her and began lending her their power. Five minutes later the demons were upon them, the Dragons had led the last Wyrm to her as well. Just as they all lunged at the group of Mages, Twilight opened her right eye alone.
Instead of the normal glossy, pale purple it was shining brightly. A red line began to draw itself on the eyes as she clenched her teeth. It formed a six pointed star and was drawn almost like a pentagram. It was a Blood Glyph she was developing. Once it was complete and the red lines attached to her eye, earning a hiss of pain, it was branded and her other eye shot open. All of the magic she had been gathering and borrowing was released in a blinding blast of power. It was wide at first, but Twilight focused and concentrated it on the small group of enemies remaining.
Her forces were all exhausted now, she couldn't stand any more casualties. The enemy's forces had finally been trimmed down to enough where this would work effectively. When the condensed magic exploded she shielded them from the flash and the aftershock, but they still felt it. When the dust and magic finally dispersed, there was literally nothing left. There were small shields spotting the landscape, where dead or injured Nightstalkers were, but everything else was gone. The mountain had been sliced clean in half, the other half vaporized just like everything else in the valley.
The Mages all fell to their hands and knees, but Twilight fell flat on her face in exhaustion. Dash yelped and picked her up.
“Ugh..Dash...t-take Flutters and get the ones out there back here...” Twilight said weakly.
“You alright?” Dash asked.
“I will be...imagine flying the opposite way while inside a tornado for three days straight...but with magic usage...” Twilight said.
“Got it..see you in a bit.” Dash said with a salute as she, Fluttershy and their troops dashed out to collect the casualties.
“Hey this could be a helmet...” Dash said, dropping something onto the ground a few minutes later. It looked like a Dragon's Skull.
“What is it?” Twilight asked.
“Wyrm skull...it's body was on the very edge of your blast. There's a lot of bones and stuff out there, for some reason they all shrunk. If we made this into a helmet would you wear it?” Dash replied.
“No...but something in it's likeness yes. Pauldrons would be cool too.” Twilight replied with a smile.
“Gotcha.” Dash said.
“Right...now, I need a nap.” Twilight said. She closed her eyes and was instantly asleep.
C.19 Defending of Ponyville
(A/N not quite as much fighting as the last one, but I planned it like that. I admit i burst out laughing when I wrote the end. Enjoy! -Dark)
“But sis!” Applebloom protested.
“Bloom save it. You and the others are strong, but I don't want any of you crusaders right in the fighting. Besides, who else is gonna watch over the elementary kids? If they slip past us it'll be your job to stop them.” Applejack explained.
“Ugh...fine...let a couple slip past then will ya? If we're defendin' our friends we might as well show off.” Applebloom said.
“Yeah, the three of us are better fighters than most of the newbies! Octy and Vinyl are examples of that.” Scootaloo said.
“I might.” Applejack said.
“We'll have our earpieces in...if AH hear yuh get hurt Ah'm chargin' out there.” Applebloom said.
“Deal.” Applejack said.
“They're coming...estimated size half of our own, but they have two Ursa.” they all heard on the radio.
“The hell? There were more of them...Alright, looks like you guys might get more than I thought...if they're trying to sneak around we need someone here to at least warn us of it.” Applejack said.
“On it.” the three said with a salute.
That'll be the nice guards coming to protect us.” Miss Cherilee said with a smile when there was a knock on the schoolroom door.
“Howdy Miss Cherilee.” Applebloom said. Cherilee froze. She looked at them. They were armed and outfitted like the others.
“The Crusaders?” she said, the other students looking around their teacher. “I thought you all moved to Canterlot.” she continued.
“That's what Mac told you? Nah, we went to live with Twi an' AJ an' all them.” Applebloom said.
“My daddy said they were those evil demon things though!” Diamond Tiara said.
“Demons yes, evil no.” Sweetie Belle said.
“Wait...are you?” Silver Spoon started.
“Nightstalkers? Yeah.” Scootaloo replied.
“Wait...where's the guards that were supposed to protect us?” Cherilee asked.
“Those are us.” Scootaloo said.
“What? But...but you're not even the oldest in the class!” Silver Spoon pouted.
“I'm gonna tell my daddy on you and he's going to tell your commander that you're a demon!” Diamond Tiara threatened.
“Your daddy can't do anything. And even if he did go to our commander, who do you think sent us here? AJ is our commander. And her brother is the other commander.” Scootaloo said.
“Wait...if they sent you...have you three...killed before?” Cherilee asked. Everyone went silent.
“Demons, of course. People, yes...but only because they killed our friends.” Scootaloo said lowly. The others stared at them.
“I'm no tactician but I'll try...our snipers are in place right?” Applejack asked, she had begun to use her 'Violet' voice even when not needing it so her orders were clearer and had a lower risk of being heard wrong.
“They are. Everythin's ready.” Mac said.
“Right. What did the scouts say about what their numbers are?” she asked.
“Besides thuh two Ursa they're all just Manticores an' Slicers. No fliers.” Mac said.
“Good, our fliers are kinda weak...wouldn't want them against any enemies without height advantage. I think with the Ursa I'll have to take one while the troops take the other. Most of our better fighters went to Canterlot. The fighting over there already started...apparently they're weak in the temples and snipers work great.” AJ explained.
“Alright, Ah'll get that out to thuh troops... I see 'em. Ready?” Mac said, looking at the horizon. AJ nodded.
“Alright let's get moving! Let's take the fight to them!” she yelled as she changed and charged, followed by her forces.
“Alright you big bastard. Yer goin' down.” AJ said as she ran towards one of the two Ursa. She slid her longsword out of her arm, damn she'd never get used to that feeling, and jumped. She smashed into it blade first and knocked it to the ground. She dragged the blade up, cutting it's chest open, but it swiped at her and hit her with a backhand. Regaining hr balance mid air, she landed on her feet and launched into the air again.
Hampered by it's wound, the Ursa couldn't swipe high enough to hit her. She shoved her blade into it's temple, but it flinched and she missed and instead sliced down it's cheek. She huffed and tried again, this time it took a swipe at her.
“Alrigh' you fucker! Die!” she growled as she shoved her blade into it's spine. She then grabbed her double barrel from the strap on her back and put it to the base of it's skull and fired both barrels. That got it. Now that he adrenaline rush was calming down she heard the radio chatter, apparently her troops were having trouble with the Ursa so the snipers were telling them to hold it in place. She watched as the volley rang out. Some shots missed and hit other demons, some hit but bounced off of it's thick skull. A few hit dead on though, going in one Temple and out the other. It fell to the ground, lifeless.
“Alright! Let's finish these bastards off!” AJ yelled. They turned away from the dead Ursa, only to be blinded by a brilliant burst of light in the direction of Canterlot.
“Hoo-ey! Someone pissed Twi off!” Applejack laughed as she charged at the distracted Demons.
“Pack members in Ponyville, there are Demons coming your way!” she suddenly heard in the radio.
“How many?” Applejack and Applebloom asked at the same time.
“Two Manticores and Two Slicers, can you three take that?” the voice asked.
“No problem.” Scootaloo said.
“We got some Demons nearby. Sweetie, post up in the window and cover us. You're better with that gun than you are those claws.” Scootaloo said, nodding her head at the Carbine on Sweetie's back. She nodded and opened the window facing where they could now make out movement.
“Where are you going?” Cherilee asked.
“To take out the demons.” Scootaloo replied.
“Ah don' like Fightin' them Manticores. You take 'em and Ah'll take the Slicers?” Applebloom offered as they exited the building.
“Got it.” Scootaloo said, tightening her gauntlets. She had an internal version, but the extra layer of metal helped a lot. Plus these had small spikes on the knuckles. Applebloom had a Rapier, apparently Granny Smith was a world class fencing champion in her days. She taught Mac and he taught her.
“Alright, let's do this.” Scootaloo said when they saw the demons. They weren't aware of their presence and were instead looking for anything to kill. They changed to their Nightstalker form and jumped to the rooftops. Flanking them, they waited until they were just in sight of the schoolhouse. Sweetie took a shot. It went straight through one of the Slicer's skulls. The second their heads turned the two above jumped down. The Slicer was fast and managed to block Applebloom's Rapier thrust, but the Manticores weren't so lucky. Scootaloo brought her spiked knuckles right into it's head. She had used a thrust form her wings to add that extra burst of speed. It's skull was fractured and shattered.
She looked up and jumped straight forward and over the Manticore lunging at her. She took her stance and waited. The beast lunged at her again. This time she did a back flip. When it was under her she halted her flip and landed on it's back. She started bashing on it's head, but it's tail lunged forward. She grabbed it, but when it bucked she lost her grip and her footing and was flung off. It roared as it lunged at it's downed opponent, but was halted as a bullet bounced off it's skull. It reared backwards and fell on it's back, writhing at the pain.
“Thanks Sweetie!” Scootaloo said over the radio and got to her feet. The Manticore had recovered somewhat and was now glaring at her. She wiped her lip to wipe some blood off that had splatter on her and she took her stance again. She focused as it lunged at her. Dash had taught her a trick to where she calmed herself enough things would appear a bit slower. It was working. She easily saw how to dodge to the left and duck under the claw to land an uppercut on it's gut. Then to spin around and uppercut it's jaw. It was Trivial then, to jumped up with a thrust of her wings and thrust back down for a vertical drop kick and smash it into the ground. As it got to it's feet again she could almost see where to hit to continue fracturing it's skull. Mundane it was to bash at it's head over and over again until it was nothing but a pulp.
“Whoa girl, calm it down.” Applebloom said.
Applebloom's fight had gone rather quickly. The Slicers were good for just that, Slicing. The Rapier could do it just fine, but was more for stabs and thrusts. She was able to easily parry it's slicing attacks or simply duck around them and land clean stabs at it. She finally managed to knock it to it's back. When that happened she simply thrust her blade into it's chin and into it's brain. She heard Sweetie take a shot and saw Scootaloo getting to her feet and watched as she proceeded to pull a badass pose and beat the crap out of the Manticore, finally bashing it's head in.
they walked back to the Schoolhouse, where they saw all of the kids and Cherilee at the windows, watching in horror and awe.
“Hey Diamond Tiara! Wanna know what Manticore brains look like?!” Scootaloo called, showing her spiked fists that still had said brains stuck on them. Diamond Tiara proceeded to faint.
(A/N for those of you who think the action is over now that the big fight is done stop right there. you forget, they still need to go find NM, the Gatekeeper. or did you all forget about that? *grins*. Enjoy! -Dark)
“Ugh...the f-fuck?...why am I tied up?” someone yelled. All of the drugged guards had been tied up together and stripped of their weapons.
“Because we needed you out of the way.” Dash said.
“Demon?! What the fuck?! You drugged us?!” someone yelled.
“No, we did.” the friendly guards said.
“...wait...you're with the demons?” someone asked.
“no we're with the Nightstalkers. You people who harbor hate and prejudice against the half demons as if they're monsters would have turned on them in the battle.” Shining Armor said.
“Commander? Wait...what? Turn on them in the battle?” someone asked.
“Of course we were there. Where do you think a couple hundred fighters would come from? Preschools?” Dash said.
“Why would you help us?” someone asked.
“God damn these guys are bigger morons than we thought. We. Are not. Your. Enemy. You're the ones who hunt us. You're the ones who kill us first. We only fight you in retaliation.” Dash growled.
“The Nightstalkers and half demons are more on the 'good side' than all of you are.” Shining Armor said.
“How the hell did they get you Commander? I never thought you'd switch sides...” someone said.
“For crying out loud...Why do you morons not accept the fact that just because they have demon blood doesn't mean they're monsters?!” he yelled.
“Listen 'commander'. You don't know what we went through because of those fucking demons. We lost friends and family because of them.” someone growled.
“And we lost even more thanks to you guys.” Twilight said, appearing next to Shining. “My mother and Father were assassinated by people like you for no reason other than my Father was a Demon. My Pack, we've lost dozens fighting this battle and many other battles against demons...but you know what? Most of our casualties come from people like you. We avoid Tartarus Guards when we see them unless they need our help. If they do, we help them. Sometimes they'll stop and listen to us...but you know what happens most of the time? Once we save your asses you turn around and shoot us in the back.” she continued angrily.
“Why the fuck would you be stupid enough to help them though?” one of the friendly Guards asked.
“Because we're not monsters. We give them a chance...we just saved Canterlot AND Ponyville now...and you people still think we're the monsters?” Twilight replied. She suddenly stopped and took a calm breath.
“Brother...I recommend stripping them of their rights as Tartarus Guards until they prove they won't pursue their old habits.” she said stoically. She then turned to the group again. “I don't care if you don't like it, but if you hurt one of my pack again I will destroy you. And I won't even leave anything to bury.” she continued. She threw her hand to the side. They all looked. An Improvised graveyard.
“That is where the dead are buried. There were only three deaths in the Tartarus Guard. Everything else is from my pack. We died for you. We died to protect what you're supposed to. Think about that. Would monsters willingly die to help you?” Twilight finished. Everyone was silent.
“Twilight, come on...we need to meet up with AJ's group at Ponyville.” Celestia said softly to her. Twilight breathed slowly and nodded. She turned around to where all of her forces were.
“Take the Wounded back to the Den with Fluttershy. I'll be back by tonight with the others. The rest of you, Let's move out.” Twilight called as she changed and took off into the air. The Guards all watched as the force took off in two directions.
“There they are.” someone said on the radio. Applejack looked up from where she was hauling a barrel of apples and saw Twilight's forces coming their way.
“They're uh...with you...right?” Mac asked.
“Yep. That'll be Twi's group.” Applejack replied.
“Twilight's being Carried by Celestia...I don't see any injuries...” the radio buzzed again.
“That big ol' blast yesterday was her usin' a big spell...she's probably Exhausted.” Applejack said.
“Right.” the radio buzzed. Ten minutes later, Applejack couldn't help but burst out laughing as Celestia landed with Twilight fast asleep on her back..
“Oh shush.” Celestia said with a smile. She lightly patted Twilight's cheek to wake her up and set her down.
“Sorry...” the girl mumbled.
“Don't be. You deserve weeks of sleep after that.” Luna said.
“So, how'd we do down here?” Twilight asked.
“Really well. We had one Guard death and four Nightstalkers...luckily that was all.” AJ replied.
“Wow...I guess the forces were really unbalanced...we had Wyrms and about ten Ursa over in Canterlot.” Twilight said.
“We didn't even have fliers, and only two Ursa...they did send a couple around to get at the citizens though, but the Crusaders handled it.” Applejack said.
“That's...good I guess. We lost twenty three and three guards.” Twilight said.
“I don't envy you then...if I had been in charge of that group we woulda lost a lot more, I'm no tactician.” AJ said.
“You did good enough here, that's all that matters. Nobody's perfect” Twilight said.
“No one 'cept you.” AJ replied with a grin.
“Nah, not even close. I just learn quickly.” Twilight giggled.
“Uh...Miss Twilight...there's somethin' you outta know.” Mac said, standing next to Applejack suddenly.
“Hey Mac, just call me Twilight. And what is it?” Twilight asked.
“They're alive an' fer the most part well...but there's some people here that say they're yer Parents.” Mac said. Everyone froze.
“What?” Twilight said.
“Who's there?” Twilight heard after she stood at the door for a few moments. She opened the door and walked in. There, sitting on the bed, were two people that looked exactly like her parents...they were even properly aged.
“Who are you?” the man asked.
“Tell me who you are first.” Twilight said.
“I'm Dusk Sparkle...” the man said.
“Dawn Sparkle...” the woman answered.
“That's impossible. They were assassinated many years ago.” Twilight said, crossing her arms.
“That's what they're telling everyone? Figures...we ran away to protect our kids from hunters. We've been living with the Changelings for some time now.” Dusk said.
“...you don't have any illusions or anything...I see you both know magic...but you're not using it...well...Dusk is, but that's to hide your Heritage.” Twilight said.
“How do you know all of this?” Dusk asked.
“Because I do. Tell me something only Dusk and Dawn would know.” Twilight replied.
“We have three kids...two boys and a girl.” Dawn said.
“Not good enough.” Twilight said.
“They were all Mages, Spike is a Dracomage.” Dawn continued.
“Still not good enough.” Twilight said.
“Twilight was an unawakened half demon.” Dusk said. Twilight froze. Dusk and Dawn noticed there was a tear going down her face.
“What's the matter?” Dawn asked. Twilight looked up, showing her face.
“it really is you...” she said lowly and slowly stepped towards them.
“Huh?...wait...Twilight?” Dusk asked. Twilight nodded and they were suddenly caught in a hug.
“W-why are you here?” Twilight asked.
“We saw a big flash and decided to check it out. We heard about the Tartarus Guards and the Nightstalkers...Figured we'd play peacemaker. We got here and that big fellow had us wait here.” Dusk answered.
“Speaking of Nightstalkers, there are a lot of them here now...where'd they all come from?” Dawn asked.
“We came in from Canterlot. The demons that attacked split into two groups.” Twilight started and recounted the numbers.
“I'm sorry...but...why haven't you been mad at us for leaving like that? Or why?” Dawn suddenly asked.
“Because I know the feeling.” Twilight answered after a moment. “When the half demons started popping up or awakening, like I did, the Hunters started popping up too...they'd started to kill us so we left. I led them off into the Everfree and found our new Colony. We're living with the Timber wolves.” she explained.
“Wait...you're...you're the leader?” Dusk asked.
“Well yeah, who did you think was?” Twilight replied.
“That big fellow's sister looked like she was in charge.” Dawn said.
“Oh, I put her in charge of this group since she has the most to lose here and she'd never let it be lost. Though the hardest fighting was on my end in Canterlot...” Twilight started and explained her battle.
“Whoa...hold on...wait...that massive blast of magic was you?” Dusk asked.
“Well...yeah. I mean not all me, I had all the Magic users lend me their power too.” Twilight replied.
“Twilight...channeling and focusing that much raw magical power...that's...not even the Angels would be able to do it without serious damage to their magic system...” Dawn said.
“Really? They were part of the team lending me their energy...most of us passed out and I've been sleeping most of yesterday and today...still pretty tired actually.” Twilight said.
“Wait...the Angels are with you?” Dusk asked.
“Yeah...they've been with me since we started the Tartarus project...and Celestia's kind of my girlfriend.” Twilight said.
“...What?” the two said in unison.
“What's wrong with that?” Twilight asked.
“Nothing...it's just a surprise...the last generation of Angels, Celestia and Luna's parents, were the strongest beings alive. No other person could keep up with them but each other.” Dusk said.
“Celestia and Luna are about that strong...but Luna's with one of my Friends, Fluttershy, and they're a pretty even match...as for me and Celestia, she says she wouldn't stand a chance against me if we were enemies but I don't believe it. Our spars always end in a draw.” Twilight explained.
“Hmph...I'll believe it when I see it.” Dusk pouted. Twilight gave him a confused look.
“Oh shush. He's just mad because back then he had a crush on their mother and she wiped the floor with him.” Dawn laughed.
“Oh. Well...now that I know for sure it's you guys...I think Spike would want to meet you too. Also I have to introduce you to all of my friends and family!”Twilight exclaimed, suddenly energetic.
“Family?” Dusk asked.
“The pack. We're all a big family when we don't need to be fighters.” Twilight repliedh appily and dragged them outside.
(A/N sorry if this seems rushed but I'm leaving tomorrow morning and won't be back until friday and I'm busy, but i vowed to get this out today. Enjoy! -Dark)
“So...why did you leave the Changeling hive?” Twilight asked after Dawn and Dusk had been introduced to almost literally everyone. Spike was with them this time.
“These demon attacks aren't only affecting humans Dear. You know this, the Timber wolves were in a bad place before you came along. The Griffins have the least of it, due to their lands being far away from the gate. As I can see, there were some dragons helping you as well. But the Changelings are rather close to the gate, we volunteered to go find help.” Dawn explained.
“Well now that our threats are done we can come and help them.” Twilight said.
“You would? We haven't even gotten to a reward yet.” Dusk said.
“Of course. They need help. That's good enough for us.” Twilight replied.
“But a reward would be nice.” Spike joked.
“Well the reward would be their debt. If you do help them, they'll help you. They are aware of the need to find the Gatekeeper.” Dusk said.
“That'd be perfect, but we technically know where she is. We're still not strong enough to attempt a rescue.” Twilight said.
“Wait...she's not...oh god she is...past the Gates of Tartarus I presume?” Dawn asked.
“Yes.” Twilight replied. Suddenly she and Spike put their hands to their earpieces.
“We got reports from the Den, somethings wrong and Kirin needs the rest of us back there.” Twilight said, already changing. Wings flared and the entire camp of Nightstalkers either took off into the air and charged towards the nearby forest.
“Kirin, parents. Parents, Kirin. What do you need?” Twilight asked after the quick introductions. The wolf nodded at Dawn and Dusk, and they nodded back, before he spoke.
“Wendigos...they've been sighted on the outskirts of the forest.” Kirin said.
“I thought they were only a Myth...told during Hearth's Warming Eve to get people to be nice top each other...” Spike said.
“They are, but we call these Demons Wendigos...they are as old as our own kind. They were banished from some darker land. They chill the air and their fur is frozen. Their touch is like Frostbite. They wanted this forest for themselves, but my ancestors fought them. Every few generations they return...” Kirin explained.
“How do you push them off?” Twilight asked.
“normally we would simply fight...but our numbers are too small for that, but with your help we can win.” Kirin said.
“Do you know their numbers?” Twilight asked.
“Yes. There are Ten, as always. But Ten of them can destroy all life in this forest within days.” Kirin said.
“Have you ever tried talking to them?” Dawn asked.
“Yes. My Great Grandfather did. He was able to get them to speak, but he did not understand the language.” Kirin replied.
“Well maybe I could try. I'm fluent in every Equestrian Language. Not to mention a few mythical ones.” Twilight offered.
“You can try, but if they even get close to touching you I'll burn them.” Spike said.
“That's why I'll have you and Emerald there with me.” Twilight smiled. “Where are they now?” she asked.
“Those things are scary.” Spike said as they watched the beasts. They were almost perfectly ghosts. They floated above the ground and they immediately felt the chill around them. They were a spectral blue and frost coated everything they touched. Their fur like ice, their teeth icicles. Their eyes though. They had a ghost-like glow. They all suddenly stopped and turned towards where the three were hiding. Obviously caught, they revealed themselves.
The Specters cocked their heads in curiosity. They had expected Timber wolves apparently.
“Can you understand me?” Twilight asked. The creatures gave her a confused look. One of them said something to another in an odd language. But wait, she understood it.
“Is she human?” the creature asked the Leader.
“Can you understand me now?” she asked, switching to the language Glyph names were derived from. She remembered it was called Archaic Speech or something like that.
“You know our Tongue?” the leader asked.
“Yes. We guard the Wood Wolves and this forest, for it is our home as much as theirs. Why are you here?” Twilight asked. After mentioning they were friends of the Timber wolves, one of them crouched low.
“Wood wolves bad...friends of wood wolves bad...” it growled.
“Hey hey, don't even think about it or I'll melt that face of yours right off.” Spike said, having been forced to learn the language by his older sister.
“Fire Mages...you could easily destroy us. Why do you not?” the leader asked.
“Because you're here for a reason and I want to know and solve this dispute peacefully.” Twilight said. The leader looked at her for a long time. He looked back at the others and nodded to them. They touched to the ground and the spectral chill dispersed. Now they were just large wolves, they hadn't been seen for centuries.
“The Wolves split into two...us, and them. They inherited the attributes of the Trees they lived in and their language. We inherited the attributes of the icy Mountains we stick to. The Wood Wolves began to grow soft, so our ancestors send groups of us to toughen them up. They think we are the evil ones, but they tried talking last time...now they are doing it again, with you though. Their numbers dwindle, but as do ours. They cannot read nor speak our language nor we theirs so a peaceful solution has not been possible. At first we attacked them...but they grew strong and now hunt us when we are sighted. We do not blame them.” the great wolf explained.
“Well the current pack leader would gladly find a peaceful solution.” Twilight said.
“There are only fifteen of us left...tell your pack leader our only condition is to allow us access to the forest and it's resources, the mountains no longer sustain even our small pack” he said.
“I will, come with me. I guarantee your safety.” Twilight said.
“Very well.” he said. With a soundless command he ordered the others to leave, but the smallest one stayed. She looked at him and he nodded. She joined him as he stepped towards them.
“This is my Daughter, Frostbite. My name is Jack Frost.” he said.
“Alright. Try to keep up.” Twilight said as she and the other two changed and dashed off. The Wendigos kept up rather well, even without reverting to their Spectral sort of form.
“We will allow haven here. Our condition is that you assist us when we attack the Gates of Tartarus.” Kirin said.
“These terms are acceptable.” Jack said. Kirin and Jack then pounded their chest and bowed their heads to each other, signifying the deal is complete. Twilight had drawn a temporary glyph on the Wendigos' head that would teach them any language they hear. It took a lot of mental power to not pass out and jumble it, but the Wendigos were as strong minded and you could get.
“Right. I will ask you allow my Daughter a permanent spot here, she wishes to learn about this Pack.” Jack said.
“We have lots and lots of space, we can do that.” Twilight said.
“But being a part of the pack includes fighting with us. If you stay with the Nightstalkers you will be as a Nightstalkers. Twilight will be your leader.” Kirin said.
“I know. I was speaking to one of them. We are skilled fighters, I am the best in our pack besides my Father and I would be insulted if you did not allow me to fight by your side.” Frostbite said, looking Twilight in the eyes. The giant wolf being on eye level made it intimidating, but Twilight just grinned. Frostbite had obviously intended to be a bit intimidating with it an was surprised by this.
“A note for you Darling, you can't intimidate Twilight. She could turn this whole forest into dust if she wanted.” Rarity said. “But off of that subject you simply MUST tell me how you get your fur so beautiful and soft!” she continued, earning a laugh all around.
“You freeze it and let it thaw naturally. Don't think that'd work for you though.” Frostbite said with a smirk.
“I imagine you'd like a cave-like room. I can do it, but give me a bit. I'm still exhausted from magic exertion from a big battle we just had. For now you can find a cave of your choosing, there's many empty ones connected to the tunnels below.” Twilight said to Frostbite.
“Alright, thank you. We saw the after effects of that battle. According to the woman, I imagine the one near Canterlot was your doing?” Frostbite asked.
“Yeah.” Twilight replied, yawning and leaning against the wall.
“So...what's your story? How'd you end up here?” Frostbite asked. Twilight thought for a moment and told the tale. It took a rather long time. It was dark when Twilight finally finished, they had moved to a Cave of Frostbite's choice.
“I am really going to enjoy living with you Twilight Sparkle.” Frostbite said with a smile.
“Thanks, I hope so.” Twilight giggled. “So I've been wondering...how come you can turn back into relatively normal wolves and the Timber Wolves can't?” Twilight asked.
“They've forgotten how to, and now that their generations have been made with their elemental form. My Father Lied earlier, he said the wolves split into two. We are in fact four. There used to be wolves of fire and wolves of the air...but they have gone extinct. Wars between those two went on for long. The fire wolves would have turned on us if they weren't gone.” Frostbite explained.
“I didn't know that...I think I'm going to enjoy hearing about the Wendigo history and stuff from you.” Twilight laughed. She was going to say something else, but a huge yawn escaped her.
“You said you were Exhausted, you should go sleep. I am perfectly fine here.” Frostbite said, stepping up and licking Twilight's cheek.
“Hey now, I've already got a girlfriend.” Twilight giggled.
“Oh she doesn't have to know.” Frostbite giggled back. “But joking aside that was a major sign of trust.” she continued.
“Well thanks. I won't make you regret trusting me if I can help it.” Twilight said. Frostbite nodded and Twilight went into the Tunnels to return to her own room.
(A/N thanks to s00perguy for the base for the glyph, I modified it to fit my needs but it's his base. enjoy! -Dark)
“Don't worry, we'll be fine. You really think they'd be able to incapacitate us?” Twilight said to Dash, who was demanding she come with them.
“You've still got magic exhaustion...” Dash argued.
“And I've also got a good supply of Magic Batteries if I need to use them. Don't worry Dash I'll be fine.” Twilight said.
“How come Frostbite gets to come with you?” Dash whined.
“So she can get used to how we work outside the tower. She's only just mastered the magic needed to assume human form.” Twilight said, looking at said Wendigo. Or rather rough looking woman. She had pure white, short hair and had nails almost like claws. Her eyes were ice blue and she had some odd tattoos that would normally be hidden by fur.
“Ugh fine...but if those Changelings do anything don't hesitate...” Dash said.
“Look at you getting all protective.” Twilight giggled.
“I've never even heard of them before...how can I tell if they're trustworthy or not?...just be careful.” Dash said.
“Don't worry, I'll take care of her. She is my girlfriend after all, not yours.” Celestia joked. Dash retorted by sticking her tongue out and stepping back.
“By the way Octavia, Vinyl...I wasn't expecting these when you were working for a week straight...but I must say, I like them.” Twilight said as she mounted a peculiar motorcycle. Octavia and Vinyl had worked for a full week designing them, making them and even learning some magic from the better Mages on Vinyl's part to master duplication spells. They were all black with customizable secondary colors. They were sleek and a bit long. Any cyclist on the streets would think they looked rather incomplete. The simple truth is that technically they were, they had no fuel tanks and other basic motor needs, but instead had a few battery ports. Once Twilight, Celestia, Dawn and Dusk shot off they found out they were fast and easy to handle as well.
“Man, I love flying and I'm ok with running...but these make traveling so much easier...not even tired. And they use so little energy it's more than an even trade. Those two did an amazing job with them.” Twilight said.
“They did.” Celestia said, hopping off the back of Twilight's bike as Dawn and Dusk got off the other.
“The hive is here. We must wait until we are recognized.” Dawn said. About two minutes later someone came out of a hidden passage on the side of the mountain range they were in front of. His skin was a bit darker than a normal person's and his hair looked like it had holes in it. He had insect-like wings as well. There were a few tiny holes in them as well.
“We knew we could count on you to bring help.” he said to Dawn and Dusk with a smile.
“Take us to Chrystarium.” Dawn said. It nodded and let them through.
“Chrystarium is still in power?” Celestia asked.
“Yes, Chrysalis was in power for a little over a year but that didn't go so well. She's a warrior, not a leader, so she crowned her sister in her place.” Dawn replied as they walked.
“How do you know about all this?” Twilight asked.
“Luna and I spent a few years of our Childhood traveling Equestria and meeting all the races. Chrysalis was probably the best friend I made during that time and I spent most of my time here. Chrysalis and Chrystarium are sisters, but Chrysalis was crowned when their mother died. She was too young though so Chrystarium took power until Chrysalis was old enough. According to your parents that didn't work out too well.” Celestia explained.
“Ah Dusk and Dawn Sparkle! I knew I could count on you.” they heard a voice as they entered a large chamber. A woman with long white hair with holes seemingly cut into it with larger and whole insect wings said, standing from a rather odd throne. Now that there was a bit more light Twilight could see the only one with pupils in their eyes were that woman, apparently Chrystarium. They were slits.
“This is my Daughter, Twilight, and her Partner, Celestia.” Dusk said.
“We know Celestia, but we did not expect you would recruit your own Daughter.” Chrystarium said.
“It wasn't their choice. I would have come to help anyways.” Twilight said with a smile.
“We lead the Nightstalker pack in the Everfree. We would have come sooner but a small problem at home needed dealing with. There is a Wendigo that will arrive shortly, she is with us.” Celestia said.
“Already here.” they heard Frostbite's voice come behind them. She had chosen to simply run, being much more used to it.
“We have never seen one of your kind. I thought you were like ghosts that froze everything you touch.” Chrystarium said.
“That is only when we are traveling great distances or fighting.” Frostbite said, turning to her human form.
“Back on the subject, what is it you need help with?” Twilight asked.
“Chrysalis!” Chrystarium called after nodding. A woman identical to her, but with blue hair instead of white, entered. “I believe you know one of them very well. Brief them as you show them to rooms please.” she asked.
“Sure Sis, come on.” Chrysalis replied and motioned for the three newcomers to follow.
“I can't believe you're here Celestia!” Chrysalis exclaimed when she showed them their large room. She glomped the woman in a large hug, which was returned.
“It's a marvelous turn of events. Chrysalis, this is Twilight. My pack leader, my partner and girlfriend all in one.” Celestia said.
“Girlfriend eh?” she asked, her mood soured a bit.
“Let me guess, you were Celestia's girlfriend back then?” Twilight asked, but not rudely.
“We were barely teenagers, so it wasn't exactly like that, but yes.” Celestia said.
“What makes her better than I?” Chrysalis asked a bit rudely.
“Oh hell...I had hoped you wouldn't do this. She is a better woman than the both of us, she is responsible for hundreds of people and handles it all calmly and effectively...no offense but she is also the better lover...and to top it off she could turn half of Equestria into a wasteland if she was at full power with a snap.” Celestia explained quickly.
“Hey that makes it sound mean and challenging.” Twilight said.
“No...I asked and she answered. Well now that that's out of the way we can get to business. When we first sent Dawn and Dusk we were being attacked by what your people have been calling Manticores and Harpies. Since then we defeated them, but another force has been spotted nearby. There are two Ursa, but our forces are no good up front like that, we don't have the strength or the right skills to take an Ursa head on...let alone two.” Chrysalis said.
“Only two?” Twilight asked.
“Only? You say it as if it is nothing...” Chrysalis huffed.
“Chrysalis...Twilight can get rid of them right now...” Celestia said.
“I'll believe that when I see it...” Chrysalis mumbled.
“I've got an idea. We need to stop them from attacking, we can't stay here forever. Do you know why they attack?” Twilight asked.
“They sense the magic from our Hive and are drawn to it.” Chrysalis replied.
“Then I know just what to do. I can take care of the Ursa when they get here, and while that's happening Celestia can place magic hiding Glyphs around the area. If maintained correctly the only time you will see demons here is if they blindly stumble past the hiding barriers.” Twilight said.
“We do not know how to maintain Glyphs.” Chrysalis said.
“I will teach your Mages.” Celestia said.
“What can I do?” Frostbite asked.
“You came with us to help fight and to learn more. We have the fighting covered, you can try and learn more about the Changelings. I'd love to hear what you find.” Twilight said.
“The beasts will arrive in a few hours. We had begun setting up traps to hamper them, but they have proven ineffective. Are you sure you can take two at once?” Chrysalis said.
“Very sure.” Twilight replied.
“Your scouts were wrong Chrysalis.” Twilight's voice said over the radio.
“How so?” Chrysalis asked.
“The Ursa have a Friend.” Twilight replied. As she said it they all saw it. A Wyrm. Bigger than any Twilight had ever seen.
“Hey Frostbite, you think you can distract that Wyrm long enough for me to take out the Ursa?” Twilight asked.
“I've done it before.” Frostbite's voice replied, but it was slightly filtered and ghostly. In seconds Twilight was joined by the Spectral Wendigo.
“Just keep it occupied. I'll need to gather some magic to finish it, but the Ursa I can do without using so it should be fine.” Twilight said. Frostbite nodded and launched at the hulking mass in the air. It blasted it's fire at her, but the particles froze before they reached her and became snow. She would tackle the beast, pushing it away from Twilight, which would leave spots of ice.
While Frostbite kept the Wyrm occupied, Twilight simply stood still as the Ursa charged her. Slowly, something sprouted from her right arm as the left fetched something out of her pack. In her left hand she popped Magic Candy into her mouth, they were imbued with a lot of magic and would act like the batteries. They tasted good and were easier to use than absorbing batteries, they were Fluttershy's idea.
Her right arm sprouted a large blade. If you would compare it to a Buster blade, it would be thinner but much longer. After her left hand was free, another sprouted from that one. As Twilight raised them, they shrank but grew in diameter. Then they split into long claw-like fingers. Large blades like before sprouted from her elbows. She took a stance and shot into the air, dragging the blades with her as she thrust her wings, as the Ursa were upon her. This caused a near instant decapitation of the closest.
She landed on the ground, causing a small crater at her feet, as she dead beast fell to the ground, followed by it's head. She looked up just as the other roared at her. She casually stood from her crouching position and looked up at the Wyrm. Frostbite was holding it's jaws shut, which froze them shut, as it fought back with fire.
“Well...That's new.” Celestia said as she watched Twilight prepare to fight.
“Those hardly seem practical...” Chrysalis said, watching the very large claws form.
“Keyword seem.” Celestia said as Twilight struck.
“And now she's just looking at Frostbite...” Chrysalis huffed.
“She wants to make sure she has the time to not use magic now that surprise is gone.” Celestia said.
“You know...she's not looking at us...” Chrysalis suddenly said.
“Don't even think about it.” Celestia giggled. “For your own safety.” she continued.
Twilight smiled at Frostbite, who waved at her, and then looked back towards the Ursa swiping at her. With speed you'd miss if you blinked, her right arm went up and halted the swipe and held it's paw there. It pulled back a few times and roared. Seeing that that paw was stuck, it swiped with the other. Same thing happened. Roaring again, it lunged at her with it's jaw. She brought her arms together, lopping of it's paws and it's bottom jaw.
It gurgled out a mangled roar of pain as it reared up and fell backwards. Twilight casually walked around it, dragging a retracted hand across it's side lightly. She crouched down next to the beast, retracting the other hand and looked it dead in the eyes.
“I'm sorry.” she said as a claw extended and she decapitated it.
“Why'd you say I'm sorry?” Chrysalis asked.
“because I snapped...I made it suffer and hurt unnecessarily instead of ending it's life quickly like the first.” Twilight said as she looked over to Frostbite. “Bring it over here.” she continued.
“On it.” Frostbite's voice came. Twilight dipped into the pool of power she had been gathering and closed her eye. She then opened her right eye, the first time actually using it since she branded that glyph on it. The eye had turned black, but the six pointed pentagram glyph was still good as new.
As Frostbite shot over her she brought her magical gaze directly on the Wyrm. It stopped and hovered in the air. It slowly landed, nor breaking contact with Twilight's eye. It lowered itself to the ground and looked at her. She slowly walked towards it, Ursa blood still dripping from her claw. With one swift motion she took it's head off. She swiped the air next to her, flinging blood off her of claws, and then retracted them. She turned around and walked back towards the hive as she closed her eye.
“What was that?” Frostbite asked when they regrouped.
“With that blast at Canterlot I branded a blood Glyph onto my magic eye. It's a multipurpose power glyph. It absorbs and steals the powers of what I choose and can be manipulated to use it in many ways. I siphoned the Wyrm's power, tiring it out, and then using some of that power to control it's exhausted mind. I told it to huddle down and I made it painless.” Twilight replied.
“You can brand glyphs?” Chrysalis asked. Twilight replied by opening her right eye.
“That's scary.” Frostbite said.
“You can do it anywhere, but since my eye was already enchanted it adds to it. You already know this Frostbite, those tattoos are tribal Glyphs, are they not?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, when activated it gives us our spectral form...you can see them now because Humans don't have fur, but a Wendigo is born with them.” Frostbite replied.
“Did that exhaust you?” Chrysalis asked.
“A little, but most of the power I used was taken from the Ursa and the Wyrm so I'm fine.” Twilight replied.
“What was with those blades? I've never seen them before.” Celestia asked.
“To be perfectly honest I wanted something with more power...I discovered I can use magic to modify my internal weapons as I see fit...I tried those long blades, but decided against it for this fight. The large claws worked much better.” Twilight answered.
“Perhaps we should call you the Reaver then.” Frostbite said.
“What?” the others asked.
“In every race's legends..there is a Being. In human legends it is known as the soul stealer or reaper...in ours it is the Reaver. It steals the life, or technically souls, of evil and uses it for good. They had unimaginable power, but never thought to use it for anything other than good.” Frostbite explained.
“That fits. Perhaps that brand could be duplicated for other people that are very strong and could handle and use it...the Reaver Brand.” Celestia said.
“Guys, can we please not think about this right now?” Twilight asked. “I'm still figuring it out.” she continued.
“Right.” the others said.
“Thanks... now I may not be tired, but I'm starving...” Twilight said.
(A/N sorry this is late but I've got a huge collaboration project with Photo Journal, Lunar Justice and a third guy I forget his username to deal with now. this chapter was brought to you because i started watching Rosario + Vampire)
“What is that?” Twilight asked. Chrysalis had led Twilight, Celestia and Frostbite to what was basically a mess hall. Twilight was unsurely looking at the drink she had been given.
“It’s Changeling alcohol. We call it Crystal Water, it’s distilled from the water that drips down the crystals in our caverns and a special ingredient is added to make it into an alcoholic drink. We drink it with every meal, like Wine.” Chrysalis answered.
“Oh, ok. Is it strong?” Twilight asked.
“Very.” Chrysalis replied, downing an entire glass with a giggle.
“Whoa...yer all...bluh...” Celestia giggled. Chrysalis was currently changing her form into theirs, but was doing so while heavily intoxicated. The resulting... thing... look rather like someone plucked random features from all of them and randomly threw them onto her. Twilight and Frostbite were rolling on the ground laughing.
“Bluh?... that sounds like blue... bleach... blergh...” Chrysalis went on for a moment, naming things that started with bl.
“We should prob’ly get outta here... they’re all givin’ us funny looks.” Twilight giggled. She was probably the least intoxicated, but she was still utterly wasted.
“Oh! Oh! Tel’port us!” Chrysalis exclaimed.
“I’ve never been teleported...” Frostbite said softly. When she was drunk she didn’t act like it... she was just sitting and laughing at the others.
“Oh it’s so FUN!” Twilight exclaimed. There was a flash of Lavender light and suddenly there was a sound of rushing wind.
“WAH!” they all yelled as they found themselves a few hundred feet in the air. Falling. Quickly. Another flash and they found themselves in the caverns. Twilight groaned and there was one more final flash. Third time’s the charm, they were in the big room that was theirs.
“WEEEEEEE!” Frostbite exclaimed.
“’Mind me never to tel’port drunk again.” Twilight said, plopping down on her bed.
“Hey... there’s something you should probably know about me...” Frostbite said with a grin.
“Oh? Wha’ be that?” Twilight asked.
“I don’t slur my speech... but you should now... I’m a horny drunk.” She giggled.
“Oh aren’t we all?!” Celestia blurted out, flailing her arms and legs upward from her place next to them. Twilight knew exactly what that implied. Under normal circumstances she would have been embarrassed. but now she was drunk, it excited her. But wait, she had a girlfriend. She looked at said girlfriend. Said girlfriend was making out with Chrysalis.
“Hey...” Twilight moaned, poking Celestia in the side of the head.
“Eheh...wha?” Celestia said, looking over at her.
“We’re all drunk... an’ yer already doin’ stuffs... wha’bout me?” Twilight slurred. Celestia giggled and threw her arms around Chrysalis’ and Twilight’s shoulders and plopped back downwards onto the bed.
“Menage et Toi!” Celestia exclaimed. Twilight looked at Chrysalis. Chrysalis looked back. they grinned.
“Hey whoa...what about me?” Frostbite asked.
“Uh...Menage et... uh...Quatre?” Celestia offered unsurely.
“Oh hell yes!” Frostbite exclaimed, scootching in next to Twilight.
“We needs a bigga bed!” Chrysalis pouted.
“On it!” Twilight said and clapped her hands. the bed, which would comfortably hold two people, tripled in size.
“YAY!” Chrysalis exclaimed, clapping her hooves.
“Come on then!” Frostbite exclaimed, top literally flying off.
“I’m glad I’m drunk off my ass or this’d be weird!” Chrysalis exclaimed, pouncing on the wolf woman. Literally.
“Well now, we don’t want to be left behind now, do we?” Celestia’s voice tickled Twilight’s ears. the tone made her shiver in anticipation.
Once again, Twilight was glad she was wasted. Currently, her head was between Celestia’s legs, doing exactly what you think she is. Celestia’s was between Frostbite’s, and she between...Twilight’s? She had gotten the strange idea to use her changeling powers to change into Twilight... and then proceed to do what could only be described as a circle of... well... pleasure. Twilight had thought it was weird as first... it put a whole new meaning to masturbation. But the fact that not only did they look the same, but their bodies were the same -including pleasure spots and the such- it was quickly quite enjoyable.
Chrysalis was the first to go, Frostbite would randomly breath straight into her womanhood with a chilling breath that certainly did not cool her down.
Twilight was right behind her. Frostbite may have been amazing at finding her new spots, but that let Chrysalis know where Twilight’s were.
Frostbite was next, she may be a horny drunk, but she doesn’t have much practice containing release.
Celestia was a tough one, apparently she had trained herself to not release while drunk. because she wasn’t budging. “C’mere Twi, lemme at ‘er!” Frostbite said. Twilight grinned and stopped her actions. Frostbite quickly took over. Chrysalis joined her. Celestia had to admit, she had never had the pleasure of having two tongues working on her.
And then there was Twilight. She crawled up to Celestia’s face and locked her in a kiss. she had tasted herself on Twilight’s tongue before, but the fact she was being worked on by two other women at the same time?... man, it had never excited her like that before. Twilight began running her hands down her body. she would trace the curves ever so gently, just enough to cause that ticklish feeling that just made you shiver.
And there it was. Twilight knew it was there. the release. Celestia moaned into their kiss and pulled her close. Chrysalis and Frostbite knew instantly, for... eh... obvious reasons.
After they had *ahem* cleaned up they were in what would pass as PJs and were laying in the enlarged bed.
“That was...different.” Twilight said.
“Oh but trying new things is always fun!” Chrysalis said.
“I’ll have to agree with that one.” Celestia purred.
“I second.” Frostbite yawned.
“You got me there.” Twilight giggled.
“Well. look what we have here... Two Nightstalkers, A Wendigo and a Changeling in bed, together, after a night of sloppy drunken sex.” Celestia chuckled.
“Well I guess this means we’ll never turn on each other, eh?” Frostbite said.
“Well this changeling won’t need to eat real food for days after this.” Chrysalis said.
“Well one thing’s for sure...next time we get drunk we need to do this again.” Twilight said. this earned a round of tired laughter. they soon were all asleep, exhausted from their Day’s, and Night’s, activities.
(A/N sorry for such a short chapter, I'm losing filler skills...planned on making this longer but I'm going to have to wrap the story up soon. Enjoy this little chunk! -Dark)
Dusk walked into the room and couldn’t help but wonder why all four of them were in one bed. he shrugged and threw open the curtains of the room, letting the light in. Four simultaneous groans.
“Those sound like hangover groans. Dare i ask what you four did last night?” Dusk said.
“Trust me...you don’t wanna know.” Twilight groaned.
“Fair enough. Chrystarium wanted to make sure you were alright, apparently you all left strangely.” Dusk said.
“Pfft...strangely sure is a nice way to put it...” Chrysalis said.
“Wasted was more like it.” Frostbite said.
“Should I be concerned you’re drinking at such a young age Twilight?” Dusk asked, her still being a teen.
“Dad, really? you seriously just asked me that?” Twilight asked, giving him a look that spelt out ‘really?’ just as well as what she just said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dusk retorted.
“Dude I know she’s your daughter and all, but she could kick your ass if she wanted to...” Frostbite said.
“I still don’t believe you’re that strong.” Dusk said, shaking his head.
“You weren’t watching yesterday?” Twilight asked.
“That’s with Magic dear. I mean physically.” Dusk said.
“...Don’t push it, I’ve got the worst hangover of my life.” Twilight groaned.
“Ooh, sounds like someone’s a bit scared of her old man eh?” Dusk retorted.
“Dude, we know you’re her dad...but seriously...I haven’t seen her in a bad mood before...and she still scares the piss outta me.” Frostbite said.
“Last time she was in a bad mood she nearly ripped a Valkyrie’s wings off.” Celestia said.
“Well I’ve got no wings to rip off.” Dusk challenged. Twilight shot a glare at him.
“There’s a few other things i can rip off rather easily...” Twilight said coldly.
“is that a challenge?” Dusk asked.
“Obviously not, but if you want it to be I’ll be sure not to kill you.” Twilight replied.
“Feisty.” Dusk said.
“Dear what is taking so long?” Dawn’s voice called as she entered.
“He just challenged Twilight to a brawl he’s going to lose.” Celestia said, stepping next to her.
“...Twilight wouldn’t accept that...” Dawn said.
“She is when he pushes her...we got wasted last night on Crystal Water and we’re all in a bad mood.” Frostbite said.
“Last chance.” Twilight said threateningly.
“Oh no, that’s her Schizophrenia kicking in isn’t it?” Dawn asked.
“Yep.” Celestia replied.
“I know. always wanted to spar a woman on my level.” Dusk said. he took one step towards Twilight and found himself embedded into the wall behind him the next. Twilight still stood, her foot still outstretched from her kick. after a few seconds she blinked and gasped.
“Oh dad I’m so sorry! I was so exhausted and my head hurt so bad i just snapped!” she exclaimed.
“Damn...I haven’t seen him out cold since he fought your mother...” Dawn said to Celestia.
“...was it that fast?” Celestia asked.
“Oh she let him take one more step but yeah.” Dawn replied and peeled her husband off of the wall. “Well now that that’s all done, Chrystarium wants to speak to you.” she continued.
“There you are. I cannot thank you enough for you help. We will maintain the Glyphs you inscribed and we are yours to command when needed.” Chrystarium said.
“Our pleasure, and thank you. We should return to our Den now, the other commanders might get worried or something.” Twilight replied.
“I understand. You are free to leave, not that you were ever forced to stay.” Chrystarium said.
“Wait, sister. I have a request.” Chrysalis said.
“What is it?” Chrystarium asked.
“If it’s alright with you guys, I would like to accompany you. With our primary threat now eliminated we don’t much need a general. I’d be of much more use fighting by your sides.” Chrysalis explained, looking at Twilight and Celestia.
“I don’t think we’d have a problem with that.” Twilight said.
“Hm...do you have an adequate second in command?” Chrystarium asked.
“Yes.” Chrysalis replied.
“Very well. Just be sure you come back in one piece.” Chrystarium said.
“Thanks Sis.” Chrysalis said, running up and hugging her. Then she quickly made her way to where the others were.
“Well let’s get going.” she said. Twilight nodded and she and Celestia leapt into the air.
“Why aren’t you following them?” Frostbite asked, turning to her Wolf form.
“Becuase I wanna run with you.” Crysalis replied, using her magic to copy Frostbite.
“That is so damn awesome.” Frostbite said before taking off on foot.
(A/N THIS STORY LIVES! here we go, if the picture links below don't work right just right click them and click open image in new tab and it'll work. Enjoy! -Dark)
Dusk walked into the room and couldn’t help but wonder why all four of them were in one bed. he shrugged and threw open the curtains of the room, letting the light in. Four simultaneous groans.
“Those sound like hangover groans. Dare i ask what you four did last night?” Dusk said.
“Trust me...you don’t wanna know.” Twilight groaned.
“Fair enough. Chrystarium wanted to make sure you were alright, apparently you all left strangely.” Dusk said.
“Pfft...strangely sure is a nice way to put it...” Chrysalis said.
“Wasted was more like it.” Frostbite said.
“Should I be concerned you’re drinking at such a young age Twilight?” Dusk asked, her still being a teen.
“Dad, really? you seriously just asked me that?” Twilight asked, giving him a look that spelt out ‘really?’ just as well as what she just said.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dusk retorted.
“Dude I know she’s your daughter and all, but she could kick your ass if she wanted to...” Frostbite said.
“I still don’t believe you’re that strong.” Dusk said, shaking his head.
“You weren’t watching yesterday?” Twilight asked.
“That’s with Magic dear. I mean physically.” Dusk said.
“...Don’t push it, I’ve got the worst hangover of my life.” Twilight groaned.
“Ooh, sounds like someone’s a bit scared of her old man eh?” Dusk retorted.
“Dude, we know you’re her dad...but seriously...I haven’t seen her in a bad mood before...and she still scares the piss outta me.” Frostbite said.
“Last time she was in a bad mood she nearly ripped a Valkyrie’s wings off.” Celestia said.
“Well I’ve got no wings to rip off.” Dusk challenged. Twilight shot a glare at him.
“There’s a few other things i can rip off rather easily...” Twilight said coldly.
“is that a challenge?” Dusk asked.
“Obviously not, but if you want it to be I’ll be sure not to kill you.” Twilight replied.
“Feisty.” Dusk said.
“Dear what is taking so long?” Dawn’s voice called as she entered.
“He just challenged Twilight to a brawl he’s going to lose.” Celestia said, stepping next to her.
“...Twilight wouldn’t accept that...” Dawn said.
“She is when he pushes her...we got wasted last night on Crystal Water and we’re all in a bad mood.” Frostbite said.
“Last chance.” Twilight said threateningly.
“Oh no, that’s her Schizophrenia kicking in isn’t it?” Dawn asked.
“Yep.” Celestia replied.
“I know. always wanted to spar a woman on my level.” Dusk said. he took one step towards Twilight and found himself embedded into the wall behind him. Twilight still stood, her foot still outstretched from her kick. after a few seconds she blinked and gasped.
“Oh dad I’m so sorry! I was so exhausted and my head hurt so bad i just snapped!” she exclaimed.
“Damn...I haven’t seen him out cold since he fought your mother...” Dawn said to Celestia.
“...was it that fast?” Celestia asked.
“Oh she let him take one more step but yeah.” Dawn replied and peeled her husband off of the wall. “Well now that that’s all done, Chrystarium wants to speak to you.” she continued.
“There you are. I cannot thank you enough for you help. We will maintain the Glyphs you inscribed and we are yours to command when needed.” Chrystarium said.
“Our pleasure, and thank you. We should return to our Den now, the other commanders might get worried or something.” Twilight replied.
“I understand. You are free to leave, not that you were ever forced to stay.” Chrystarium said.
“Wait, sister. I have a request.” Chrysalis said.
“What is it?” Chrystarium asked.
“If it’s alright with you guys, I would like to accompany you. With our primary threat now eliminated we don’t much need a general. I’d be of much more use fighting by your sides.” Chrysalis explained, looking at Twilight and Celestia.
“I don’t think we’d have a problem with that.” Twilight said.
“Hm...do you have an adequate second in command?” Chrystarium asked.
“Yes.” Chrysalis replied.
“Very well. Just be sure you come back in one piece.” Chrystarium said.
“Thanks Sis.” Chrysalis said, running up and hugging her. Then she quickly made her way to where the others were.
“Well let’s get going.” she said. Twilight nodded and she and Celestia took off on the bikes.
“Hop on.” Frostbite said to Chrysalis. Chrysalis grinned and sat down behind Frostbite on the bike, wrapping her arms around her stomach lightly as they sped off after the other two.
“About time. Who’s this?” Vinyl asked when they entered the tower, seeing the awestruck Chrysalis with them.
“Changeling General, old friend of Celestia’s. What’s up?” Twilight asked, seeing Vinyl was dying to show her something.
“Follow me! We managed to finish a few different sets of armor and stuff!” Vinyl exclaimed, quickly leading them to the forge, which was a cavern turned nearly molten.
“There you are, Vinyl you just left in the middle of the inscribing process for the last one!” Octavia scolded.
“Sorry, They’re back.” Vinyl said, quickly picking up where she left off inscribing glyphs on to one of three sets of armor, two obviously made for a female and one obviously made for a male.
“Oh! perfect! I just finished making Pauldrons and the Helmet too.” Octavia said, lugging out a few pieces with extremely well made half-Wyrm-skulls on them. She then pulled out what looked like a metal Wyrm skull with it’s mouth open and a helmet made from it, which was exactly what it was.
“These are all amazing, but a lot of us like to fight in our Nightstalker form.” Twilight said.
“That’s what the glyphs are for.” Vinyl said. “Try this one on. We made it specifically for you.” She continued, placing the final piece of the glyph inscribed armor. For the next few minutes they helped her don the armor and finally the helmet. Her only peeve with it was that it left her abdomen exposed, but it was explained to her that she would lose a great deal of agility if it was all covered.
“It fits great, I didn’t know you knew how to create Glyphs Vinyl, I’ve never seen this one before.” Twilight said, examining one on her gauntlets.
“Activate them and transform into your Nightstalker form.” Octavia said. Twilight did so. She felt the Glyphs working and as she transformed the armor changed with her. It also took on the same texture and genetic makeup as the Reaver Gauntlets did.
“Whoa, it’s like the Metallic Bone everything turns into...” Frostbite said.
“That’s exactly what it is. We did some experiments and found the composition of how the Nightstalker magic works and turns things into manipulable material. When you’re human it’s as strong as ever, but when you’re in your Nightstalker form it binds to your body. You won’t be able to necessarily absorb it like we did our weapons, but it can be manipulated to meld with the weapons. We tried to make firearms that could be absorbed, but it would leave gunpowder in your system and it’d either make you sick or blow a hole in your arm.” Vinyl explained.
“...Who got their arm blown open?” Twilight asked.
“I did, but Fluttershy cleaned it up and some of the medics sped it along.” Vinyl said, showing a scar down her arm.
“You gotta be more careful. You did a really great job with this, but what about those other two?” Twilight asked.
“Those are for everyone else. They’re much more simple and not quite as intricate, but they work the same way as yours. We don’t have the time nor the materials to make everyone armor and just giving important people armor isn’t fair, so we made these bases for duplication.” Vinyl said.
“I get it, you made them simpler so that it won’t take so much out of the one duplicating.” Celestia said.
“Right.” Octavia replied.
“Well we can get all the Mages gathered up sometime soon and start the duplication. As for the Pauldrons and the helmet, I think that any of us that have taken down a Wyrm should get The helmet and a pauldron. the Commanders get Two Pauldrons. Hm, that means Fluttershy and her assassins will definitely be rather intimidating.” Twilight thought.
“We’ll also have to formulate a spell that any troop can use with their basic Nightstalker magic to quickly don or remove the armor, that took too long.” She continued.
“We’ll get right on that.” They said.
“Thank you. Now, I think I need to make Chrysalis a room and introduce her to everyone.” Twilight said.
“Oh Frostbite, The armor should work for your Wendigo form, Ice armor is nice but you need something solid for where we’re going.” Octavia called. Frostbite waved her acknowledgement and they left.
“Whoa damn, that looks awesome!” Dash exclaimed when they entered the main room. Twilight hadn’t removed the new armor.
“They’re still working out a few kinks but pretty soon I’ll need every mage to do a power siphon to duplicate armor for the forces. I’ll also need some of our Tunnelers to scout out some of the caverns the tunnels are connected to and see which one would make the best armory and connect it to the Forge.” Twilight said.
“On it.” A few people said and dashed down into the Tunnels.
“The Timberwolves are making battle preparations.” Luna reported.
“They have good perception of when they’ll be needed. Send messages to all of our allies and tell them we’ll be meeting soon. Is there a city closer to Tartarus than the Changeling Hive?” Twilight asked her.
“I know of one, it’s in ruins now and it’s name was lost to time. Everyone knows it as the Graveyard though.” Celestia said.
“Oh I’ve heard of it. Tell them that’s where we’ll all meet. We will wait until all of our allies are ready to move out and we’ll send word we’re moving so we all get there at relatively the same time. Those bikes were useful for individual, but I think we’ll have to fly and run for this one.” Twilight went on.
“I’ll start sending right away.” Spike said.
“And lastly I need some fruit and some sweet apple cider.” Twilight said.
“Gotcha!” Applejack said.
“The Wendigos arrived three minutes ago. We have the timberwolves, changelings, Tartarus Guards and our own here. We’re just waiting on the Dragons and the Griffons.” Spike reported to Twilight.
“Griffons are here, Dragons were sighted.” The radio buzzed.
“We’re all set up for the forward push, that gate has seen better days.” Dash’s voice buzzed.
“Once the Dragons and Griffons are prepared we’ll make one huge push. Don’t pick any fights that aren’t warranted, there are hundreds of things in there that are peaceful or that won’t attack us. We’re going to blow through the place as fast as we can and get out with the Gatekeeper even faster.” Twilight said over the radio.
“Everyone’s armed and ready.” Vinyl said, coming in with Octavia.
“You two stick back in the push a bit, weapons and armor might break so you’ll be there to supply us with new ones if that happens.” Twilight said.
“Fine, is this going to be a huge fast paced charge or are we going to be careful about it?” Vinyl asked.
“From what we got out of the higher ups with the Tartarus Project we know exactly where Nightmare Moon is, we’ll get there as fast as we can but once we’re there we’ll slow down.” Twilight said.
“Where exactly is she being held?” Luna asked over the radio.
“The old Gatehouse, the one that got overrun a thousand years ago.” Celestia’s voice answered.
“Hey this is Black Claw, we’re all set and ready to go. Those Dragons are almost done too, we’re working on getting them headsets that work with them.” The Griffon Chief’s voice buzzed in.
“Alright, Everyone get into position. Have someone put a telepathic glyph on those headsets and enlarge them to fit.” Twilight said. She exited the crumbling building she was currently in and walked towards where a great mass of different races all preparing for the push were preparing.
“You’re leading almost every single race there is in a massive push to storm the old gatehouse that’s full of hostile demons. How does that make you feel?” Some reporter asked. Twilight had no idea how the hell she got in there.
“I have no idea how you got in here, but I don’t feel anything out of the ordinary. I’m saving Equestria by doing what I’ve grown to do best. Now get the hell out of here, we’re about to push.” Twilight said, teleporting the reporter miles away.
Apparently something didn’t want them to start off without a surprise. The doors on the massive gate to tartarus slowly creaked open. There were guards and nightstalkers preparing explosives to blow the doors out, but that obviously wasn’t needed anymore.
“Everyone at the gates fall back and set those explosives to detonate on my command. Whatever’s coming out might not be friendly.” Twilight said into her headset.
“I don’t know what it is... But it’s big.” One of them said. Twilight prepared the flare of magic to detonate the explosives, but nearly burst out laughing when a familiar canine head poked out.
“Cerberus, what are you doing here?” She asked with a laugh as the massive three headed dog finished opening the door and crouched down to her level when she reached him. It might be the fact that they’re part Timberwolf, but Twilight understood the creature without the normal telepathy spell.
“I came to help! I miss my master. There’s more Denizens of Tartarus that want to help as well, we cleared a path to the river for you. Those blade arm guys aren’t much of a threat but the rest are very dangerous.” Cerberus explained.
“Yeah, we’ve figured that out.” Twilight said with a smile, scratching the main head under the chin for a moment.
“Right. We’ve got a clear path to the river. Way back when, the old gatehouse was near the center of Tartarus itself. At the time it wasn’t very big. Having cerberus to guide us will help us greatly.” Celestia’s voice came over the radio.
“When we get to the river, the Ferryman should be on our side. We’ll fit all we can on the boats and have the rest fly. The river isn’t deep so the dragons could probably walk through it and your scales should counter the cold.” Twilight planned.
“If the demons have any semblance of a brain they’ll know we’re going to take the river. They know the place better than we do so they might have ambushes set up along it.” Luna’s voice came.
“The others will follow you and scout out anything nearby.” Cerberus said, somehow hearing Twilight’s radio.
“We can hide among them and radio in.” Chrysalis said.
“We can freeze them out.” Frost said, appearing next to Twilight with a wave of cold.
“Right. They’ll obviously send resistance, so we need to designate what does what. Tartarus Guards will obviously be on the boats as well as the some odd hundred or so Nightstalkers that don’t have wings. They’ll do what they can when they can. The rest of my Nightstalkers and I will do the same, but we aren’t limited to the boats. Wendigos and Changelings will focus on countering ambushes and scouting. Dragons, I think you can handle any Wyrms that get by.” Twilight explained.
“What about us?” Kirin asked.
“I think you guys are about in the same situation as my grounded Nightstalkers.” Twilight replied.
“So, what are we waiting for?” Dash asked, touching down next to her. Twilight turned back towards the graveyard city and found that pretty much the entire force assembled was waiting behind her. There was something else, though, something she noticed not long after they first arrived.
“For the hunters to come out and play.” Twilight said and turned directly towards where she knew people were hiding. Instead of coming out, like she had anticipated, the group of five men ran off screaming.
“They know what we’re up to now...” Twilight said.
“What relevance does that have?” Frostbite asked.
“It means they could gather up a force and get into Tartarus themselves.” Celestia said, stepping up next to Twilight.
“And if they do that, they’ll slaughter anything in sight that’s not human. Hostile or not.” Luna finished, taking Twilight’s other side.
“I know who can help with that.” Cerberus said. He turned around and called a few things into the door and soon rumbling steps could be heard. They all looked in awe as two massive stone gargoyles stepped out of the gate and waved. They were nearly as tall as the gate itself.
“The old Gate Guardians... WHere have you been these hundreds of years?” Celestia called up with a laugh.
“Sleeping... The new gatehouse didn’t need us.” One of them replied.
“Will you stand vigil and not let anything through?” Twilight asked.
“Of course.” The other replied. The forces scattered a bit when they moved to either side of the door so they weren’t crushed. The two beings proceeded to ground themselves, shoving their claws and feet into the ground. As they did this, massive runic markings etched into their bodies started to glow.
“What’s happening?” Twilight asked Celestia.
“The Guardians are doing just as you asked. They ground themselves, dipping into the nearly limitless store of energy in the ground and use it to power ancient glyphs that create an ethereal wall where they specify and only those they allow may pass through it.” Celestia explained.
“How come the old gatehouse fell then?” Twilight asked.
“The stores we tap into are not limitless, and back then the ones who attacked was nearly the entirety of Tartarus.” One of the gargoyles said.
“Which is about four times the size of our force.” Luna finished.
“The hunters won’t even put a scratch in it then.” Dash said with a grin.
“I hope so. Thank you for your help.” Twilight said to the creatures. They inclined their heads and Twilight turned back towards the gate.
There wasn’t a signal.
No handsign, no chatter, no flare of magic, no indication whatsoever.
Twilight stepped through the gates with not even so much as a batted eye at the drastic change. Right behind her, her army. Her nightstalkers quickly fell into pace, Timberwolves and tartarus guards not far behind them. Chrysalis and her changelings scattered in all directions, taking many different forms to blend in. Frostbite, her father and their Wendigos shot off into the air in their spectral forms and soon became nothing but shimmers of blue in the black that was the sky. With a triumphant roar, the dragons took to the skies directly above them.
Her friends formed up around her as they all stopped at the river to see massive ships and smaller frigates and even rowboats lined up.
“Well, come on then. I haven’t got all eternity.” A disembodied voice said and a skeleton clad in dark robes swung a lantern around, basically hurrying them over.
(A/N well a little less action than the other ones, I don't know whether to even do AJ and Rarity's mission in much detail...I've run out of enemies and ideas. would you guys be alright with just me pretty much going 'Oh it was rather uneventful' and move on to all the explanations and aftermaths of the missions? enjoy this chapter! -Dark)
“I believe I know which you would like to do, correct?” Luna asked.
“Um...if you mean search and rescue...then um...yes please.” Fluttershy replied.
“I agree wholly, believe it or not I am an amazing tracker...I had a nick name of 'Hunter of the Night' at one point, too bad it never stuck.” Luna said. Fluttershy smiled at her and they got in line.
“Alright we've got a-” the woman behind the table started, but someone said something into her ear.
“We have reports of the Ponyville Elementary school getting attacked and now Mrs. Cherilee and the students are missing, can you handle that?” the woman asked quickly.
“Of course!” Fluttershy squeaked and was halfway out of the door by the time Luna registered she had moved.
“I can see you are very motivated to find these people.” Luna commented when she finally caught up to Fluttershy at the schoolhouse. It was relatively undamaged, but the inside looked like a tornado had come through.
“Cherilee is a good friend of mine and I can't help but worry for the Children...Applejack and Rarity's little sisters were part of that group.” Fluttershy explained.
“I see...oh hello, I also see a trail.” Luna said, looking low to the ground. It was a set of odd Taloned tracks around smaller human tracks. It led right into the Mountains nearby.
“I know that mountain...there are dragons there...” Fluttershy said lowly, glaring slightly. Suddenly she fanned her wings out and took to the air, Luna hot on her heels.
“Why would the dragons attack?” Luna asked.
“I don't know. They're not openly violent so there is a reason. The fact the schoolhouse isn't burned to a crisp tells me there is something important we don't know.” Fluttershy called over the wind.
“The tracks go around the mountain and into the topmost cave.” Luna said when they arrived near enough to the mountain for a magnification spell to see the tracks.
“That's the Hoard cave...” Fluttershy said lowly, but continued anyways.
“I knew kidnapping the little humans would bring warriors here...” a deep voice rumbled as they entered the cave. Luna saw Fluttershy slowly reaching for her Ninjato. She grasped both hilts but did not draw yet.
“Why did you take them?” Fluttershy asked. Suddenly a giant red draconic head appeared from the dark and stared right at her.
“Humans were attacking us. We want to know why.” he growled.
“You'll get no answers until we know the children and their teacher is safe.” Luna demanded. The Dragon flicked his hea and another dragon hidden in the shadows left for a moment and returned with the group of scared people.
“They are safe...now why do you attack?” the Dragon demanded. Fluttershy let go of the hilts.
“Humans would not be so foolish to attack dragons. Tell me what happened, if I know anything of it I will give any answers I have.” Luna said.
“...Humans came from the forest...they were strong and faster than I've ever seen. They had blades weird like it was their arms, but they spoke with human voices and walked on two legs. They killed two of my Kin before they were slain.” the Dragon explained.
“Hm...do you have the bodies? I can examine them and see if they are human.” Fluttershy said. He moved his head and suddenly the room was filled with a decaying stench as the room lit up. Two corpses were thrown out. Fluttershy and Luna instantly knew they weren't human.
“Those are creatures of Tartarus...” Luna said.
“Tartarus? The place of monsters? Why are they here?” the Dragon asked.
“the Gatekeeper went missing. People like us are being sent to search for her and others like these children as well as exterminate other creatures of Tartarus.” Luna explained.
“Hm...well then I propose a deal. We aid you in the search for the gatekeeper as long as you agree to protect our eggs while we are gone and give my warriors spots in these forces of yours.” the Dragon offered.
“I am highly ranked, I cannot guarantee spots in our forces but I can guarantee your eggs will be guarded.” Luna said.
“Very well, see what you can do. Take my Daughter with you, her brother was one of the ones killed and she is restless and eager to fight against what killed him.” he said as a smaller sleek, black dragon stepped forward.
“Very well.” Luna said.
“I am Onyx.” the Dragon said.
“Fluttershy...” said.
“Luna.” Luna said. The three nodded and turned to the children.
“Come on, are you alright?” Fluttershy asked.
“We're ok miss Fluttershy...” Sweetie Belle said, she was a bit shaken.
“It was pretty darn Scary, but after we got here they were pretty nice.” Applebloom said.
“Mrs. Cherilee tried to protect us...but she's just a teacher...” Scootaloo said.
“I must say, I never thought I'd be getting a battle scar.” Cherilee said, a gauze pad already plastered on the side of her face.
“Oh my...I'm going to have to look at that when we get back.” Fluttershy said. Cherilee nodded.
“You hear it?” Onyx asked lowly.
“Yes.” Luna said.
“I do...” Fluttershy said. There was a grumbling sound nearby that Onyx recognized.
“Those creatures...” she hissed. The others nodded. “Shy one, take the regular people and secure backup of some sort...we will hold them off.” Onyx said.
“No, Fluttershy is a better fighter than I. Cherilee, do you know how to use one of these?” Luna asked, pulling a handgun out and offering it to Cherilee.
“I'm not as boring as I look.” Cherilee responded, taking the handgun and spinning it around to check the clip and the sights, then cocked it.
“Whoa miss Charilee.” Scootaloo said. The teacher grinned at them.
“Right. Ponyville is about a ten minute run until it's in sight, go as quick as you can. Onyx, do you have any quarrels about taking Fluttershy on your back?” Luna asked.
“Not if there is good reason.” Onyx replied.
“Right, We'll all take to the air but Fluttershy needs something under her for best accuracy, you two will circle Cherilee and the students until they are in sight of ponyville. I'll post up on a cloud and pick any off I can. When the citizens are safe we will finish them.” Luna explained. The other two nodded. Onyx had to admit, she was impressed by the rifle Fluttershy had.
“That's a lot of them...” Fluttershy mumbled.
“Scared?” Onyx called.
“Of course, it's in my nature. But so is being calm and collected.” Fluttershy answered with a smile before cocking the rifle and unleashing shot after shot. Every single one at least hit a target, more than half of them felling the beasts instantly. Fluttershy asked Onyx to go in closer for a better shot every now and then and when that happened the dragon would always give them a blast of fire. It slowed them down fantastically.
When the students finally made it back to the town Luna met up with them with her Glaive out.
“Right. There are fifteen left. Onyx, how many can you take?” Luna asked.
“I killed ten in the last attack.” Onyx said proudly.
“Perfect, five each.” Luna said and dived down. She was surprised when Fluttershy followed, her Ninjato held in reverse grip as her wings were held close to her body. Onyx grinned and followed suit.
All three of them fanned their wings out right before impact, the three of them hitting the group with enough force to shatter necks and spines yet soft enough for them to be unaffected. Onyx chomped down on one's head, killing it, and blasted torrent after torrent of fire at them. Whenever they got close her bladed tail, talons or teeth would rip them apart.
Luna decapitated the second of hers while she still had the element of surprise and managed to keep the other three at bay by spinning the Glaive and thrusting it at them at random times. They managed to surround her, but she blasted one in the face with her jetpack as she used the thrust to break through another's defenses, one left now.
She slowly beat it's defenses down and shattered it's blades by spinning the Glaive and kicking at it's knees. It was rather like a helicopter blade when spinning like that,there had to be some magic involved. It ended with her Glaive in it's head from the chin.
The Dragon and the Angel looked over to see Fluttershy's fight when they were done, but the shy Valkyrie was busy bandaging a cut on her arm, humming to herself.
Fluttershy's fight had gone very quickly. These things may have been quick and strong, but she was just about, if not as, fast as Rainbow Dash. With her Ninjato held in reverse grip she was able to dash through the crowd of creatures and slit important tendons and knees, causing them all to falter. When this happened she went for their throats. As she clashed blades with the last one, the one before was not quite dead yet with it's throat slit and slashed at her. She sidestepped it, it nicked her arm, but the brunt o the force went straight into embedding the blade into the final creature's head. With a grunt she sat down and pulled out a medical case and quickly began bandaging herself, humming.
“What? Essentially they're brutes...I specialize against them...” Fluttershy explained.
“...I thought you were just the medic...” Onyx said.
“Oh she's the Medic, the scout/sniper and the Assassin.” Luna said, smiling at her friend.
“Well, what do we do now?” Onyx asked. Luna looked at the dragon. She was slim and small, definitely not as big as the other dragons.
“Well first thing's first, why are you so small?” Luna asked.
“...it is a birth Defect. I stopped growing once I hit my teens, I am about twenty of your years old, but I am as old as a Drake.” she said. She was about twice as tall as Luna's head and was probably big enough to hold more than just Fluttershy, but barely.
“Well, that means you won't cause so much of a fuss once in Ponyville, we will need to wait for my sister before we go higher up to talk about your terms. Like I said, we can guarantee Egg safety, but dragon additions to the teams will need to be discussed more thoroughly.” Luna explained.
“We just want to get rid of those monsters...being added to your teams would just allow us to know what to do.” Onyx said.
“Good point. Well let us go.” Luna said.
C.16 Manehattan p.2 coming home
(A/N I dunno why but I can't think of legit ways to add action. but don't worry, I'll make sure the next chapter is at least half action though! Enjoy! -Dark)
The two days came and went. They rented a motel room and met up with the others there every night. On their last day there, Octavia and Vinyl showed up at their doorstep, along with the dozen other half demons they and the others managed to recruit.
“Hey. Follow us.” Vinyl said.
“Why?” Twilight asked.
“You're not the only one to have an idea for a safe haven. There are various 'safe houses' around Equestria for our kind. There's one nearby.” Octavia said.
“Really? That's great. Lead on.” Twilight said. It was still early in the morning, the sun had yet to show itself, so they all let their demon features out and run across rooftops or fly through the sky amidst the maze of skyscrapers and other tall buildings. Twilight and Celestia grinned as they joined them, causing looks of surprise all around at their Nightstalker form.
“That is sick.” Vinyl said when Twilight came up next to her. She was running across rooftops like a juiced up parkour expert while Twilight was on all fours doing a more toned down version of it with Celestia not too far back.
“We thought so.” Twilight replied as they left the city. “We've got everything we need, we were going to wait and give you time but if you're all ready to go we can leave right away.” she continued
After a few minutes of running, or flying, the group came across a large cave. A young girl barely in her teens walked out.
“Vinyl! Octy!” she exclaimed, running up and glomping the two at once.
“Yo Melody, haven't seen you in a week.” Vinyl laughed.
“Adopted Daughter.” Octavia said.
“Nice.” Twilight said.
“Hey you're pretty cool...what are you?” Melody asked.
“Well if you want you get to be like her. This place isn't safe anymore. Get all the other kids and round them up, we're leaving as soon as possible. We're going with miss Twilight and Celestia here and living with them and their friends where it's much safer and better.” Octavia explained.
“Right.” Melody said and rushed back in. soon there were kids ranging from age ten to eighteen coming out with packs. The older kids worked together to take larger loads filled with supplies. Within three hours, with help from the others, they were all ready to go.
“Right. Gimme a second, put all your bags on the ground.” Twilight said. She opened her right eye and threw her vision to the Tower, finding the storage room and quickly teleporting everything where it wouldn't be in the way nor inside of anything else. “There.” she said after a few minutes. “Everything will be there now.” she continued as she closed her eye.
“That was totally awesome. We're all set then, where are we heading exactly?” Vinyl asked.
“The Everfree. If you get there before us just find a patrol of Nightstalkers or Timber Wolves and tell them we sent you, they'll lead you home. The rest of you just follow us.” Twilight said as she changed again and took off.
“Holy shit Twi. Everyone else brought back a few newbies at the most...you brought what four dozen? And Children too...where the hell did you find them?” Dash asked as they met up on the way back.
“Apparently there are safe havens all around that the half demons find. We've gotta learn to recognize them, this one was right by Manehattan.” Twilight said, her calls coming out almost like growls. She had been running a while.
“I heard rumors of those but didn't believe it. Team eight ran into some Demon Hunters. No casualties but Flutters'll have her hands full with 'em when they get back.” Dash said.
“Any run ins with Guards that weren't trying to kill you?” Twilight asked.
“Yeah, we met up with Ken and his team. Got loads of reports and stuff, I'll show them to you when we get back.” Dash replied. Twilight nodded.
“Is that a tree with a door...and a village in the trees?” Octavia asked.
“Hey living in a tree house is better than a musty cave.” Vinyl shrugged.
“Welcome. To Nightstalker Tower.” Dash said, opening the large twenty foot door.
“Nightstalker Tower? When did this name happen?” Twilight asked as they filed in.
“Eh just came to mind.” Dash shrugged with a laugh. The newcomers were frozen in awe at the large room.
“Downstairs in the storage room, down tunnel 3, you'll find your things. I'll make some rooms for you if we don't have enough. We've still got five or more floors completely roomless.” Twilight said.
“Wait...this place has more floors?” Vinyl asked.
“Well yeah, where do you think the others are?” Twilight said.
“There's more?” Melody asked. There were about forty Nightstalkers lounging around, most of them having just returned.
“Uh by now our numbers are close to three hundred.” Celestia said.
“Whoa...” the group said.
“You brought your smithing stuff right?” Twilight asked Octavia.
“I did...a bit dangerous to be forging inside a tree though...” Octavia replied.
“We can clear out one of the caves down in the caverns below and put some enchantments around it so you'll be fine. Besides, the tree is protected.” Twilight explained.
“Um...alright.” Octavia replied.
“Go and get your things and meet me on the fourth floor, be careful. Stuff might still be teleporting in. use the bark walkways to be sure nothing will plop on your heads.” Twilight said, starting up the stairs.
When Vinyl, Octavia and the others got to the third floor they found Twilight and Fluttershy working on injured Nightstalkers.
“Thank you so much Twilight. I wish I knew magic so I could help them like that.” Fluttershy said.
“No problem, I enjoy learning medical treatments. And you're fine just how you are, magic can't beat good old fashioned medicinal knowledge.” Twilight said. Fluttershy smiled and Twilight turned around. She wiped blood off of he hands and motioned for them to come up the stairs. They followed.
“Right. Find an empty room. If there are none and you're not alright with sharing I'll make some more upstairs.” Twilight said. Vinyl, Octavia and Melody were the only ones needing rooms now. She led them upstairs, the rest of the group came up to watch, and she had the corner of the room cleared.
She gathered her magic and a bunch of the planks that were lined up on every floor and made a basic room. She then let her magic seep into the Glyphs adorning the room. They watched in fascination as the tree absorbed the planks, so to speak, and grew to complete the room. She made the door, hinges and other basic things. Then she summoned two beds in the slightly large room and made basic necessities in it. When it was all done Twilight was breathing a bit heavily, but the room looked like the others. Naturally part of the tree.
“Whoa!” they all exclaimed.
“Nice isn't it?” Twilight asked.
“It's better than I expected. What are all of these?” Octavia said, pointing to the glyphs on various places.
“Shower.” Twilight said, pointing to the larger of the two closets, which actually had a faucet of sorts. She pressed the glyphs and explained the hot and cold and water pressure.
“Lights.” she continued, showing the lights. She continued in this manor, explaining everything out of the ordinary.
“Wow...this place really is amazing...” Vinyl said.
“Yeah. Tomorrow we'll get you armed and fitted for armor and get you guys trained up. Everyone needs to know how to fight against demon hunters and demons alike.” Twilight instructed.
“Oh, just because we make the weapons doesn't mean we know how to use them.” Vinyl said.
“That sounded like a challenge.” Twilight laughed.
“Maybe it was.” Vinyl said.
“Hm. It'd be unfair, I am leading all of these people after all...I know. We'll see how strong you really are. Hey Scoots, you up for a match?” Twilight called. Scootaloo popped her head down the stairs from above.
“Sure!” she called and rushed down.
“Right to the caverns!” Dash called.
“This doesn't feel right...” Vinyl said.
“What?” Scootaloo asked.
“You're as old as melody...” Vinyl whined.
“Vinyl. Here we have a policy. You either have to kill a Manticore by yourself or do something of equal glory. Scoots here took on two and got out without a scratch. She's our newest warrior.” Twilight said.
“Fine. But don't go crying to Twilight if I hurt you.” Vinyl said.
“Hey...Melody was it? Sorry but I'm gonna have to beat up your mom.” Scootaloo said. Melody just giggled and nodded.
“You're not even going to use a blade?” Vinyl asked when Scootaloo pulled on armored gauntlets with no claws or anything.
“I'm not telling you how to fight. Let's get this over with, I was in the middle of something.” Scootaloo said with a grin. She took an odd stance. It resembled an MMA stance, yet had a bit of boxing and bare knuckled fighting style in there. When someone rang a bell to start the spar, Scootaloo's boots suddenly changed. They had wheels.
She would rapidly dash or change momentum instantly with held from her wings, which meant she would always get out of reach of Vinyl. She got frustrated and decided to use her magic.
“Oh you sneaky woman, I didn't know you were a Mage.” Scootaloo giggled when her wings were plastered to her back. With an unseen command the wheels went back into her boots and she took her stance again. Vinyl, wielding a Zweihander, charged first. Even without he wheels and wings Scootaloo was fast as hell. The girl ducked around the blade and punched at he elbow. It wasn't a strong hit, if it was it would have broken, but it was enough to make her arm limp. She proceeded to land hit after strong, solid hit on her until she couldn't even get up anymore.
“Damn girl you hit hard.” Vinyl coughed as Scootaloo helped her to her feet.
“I broke a Manticore's jaw with a good uppercut...broke every bone in my left hand though. That's why I had these made.” Scootaloo said, showing the gauntlets.
“Nice...” Vinyl mumbled, rubbing her stomach- which took a rather hard hit from said gauntlets.
“Oh here.” Fluttershy said, pulling out a jar of ointment. “it'll help the bruising.” she said.
“Thanks...well...I admit...I never thought I'd get my ass handed to me so easily by a teenager...” Vinyl said.
“Well you're always so cocky Vinyl.” Octavia said.
“yeah whatever...” Vinyl grunted.
“Right. Well get all settled in, I need to go over some new info with Dash.” Twilight said. The others nodded.
