Stand Names: Square Hammer, Cirice, and Hunter's Moon
Stand Users: Emeritus, Forge, and Copia

Stand for Equestria: Origin of Harmony

"Not every fight needs to be won, kiddo. They don't even need to be fought, most times."

This is what your father said to you when you were but ten years old, a foal who'd listen quietly as he dispensed onto you all the advice he could muster. Shining Beacon wasn't like you, but he loved you with all his heart. While you would be pushed into fights and roughhousing by bullies, your temper getting the better of you, he took more of a calm, logical reaction to the world around him. After all, he was more of a zen man, as you once put it. As you remember it, he was looking into the fireplace that particular morning, bathing in the soothing warmth of the burning orange plasma as he often did when you were little. You had complained to him that there was a colt who wouldn't stop bothering you, so you pushed back. As always, he encouraged the safer option. "Well, then what am I supposed to do?" you asked him. "He always does it when the adults aren't looking! My word against his! I have to stand up for myself!"

"Oh, of course, I'm not suggesting that you not defend yourself," your father rephrased. "It's more...you need to think smarter, not fight harder. If the teachers or parents can't see him, play on the defensive. Make him come to you, where you know you'll be safe. Either he'll stop, or he'll slip up." He gave you a pat on the head, with his hoof ruffling your short hair. "That's the best I can tell you, Star. Be strategic. Pick your battles."

You hummed, acknowledging his point as well as you can, when a thought pops up in your mind. "What if...a battle picks me? What if I can't avoid a fight? What if I get angry then?"

Shining Beacon looked at you with his steady blue eyes, and gave you another nugget of wisdom that day. "Then know when to run, hide, play dirty. You'll never get anywhere charging in..."

And that's when you wake up. Your face is covered by a leather mask, which tightens up around your muzzle and leaves you unable to speak. You can already feel a nauseous tinge in your stomach as you think about the material of your new gag. Your hooves are bound together with rope, keeping your legs close together. Your chest hurts from where Copia's Stand clobbered you just a few minutes before. Or was it hours? Days? Weeks? The passage of time is so foggy, and it doesn't help that the only indication time has passed at all is blue moonlight, cast through the windows of the Church. To your right is Canny, also slowly shaking her way out of a slumber. She's also wearing a disturbing leather mask and the same rope bindings. And to your left is Zecora, unmasked and unbound, but with her back to the room so no one else can really tell. Looking towards the room itself, you can see you're in a cell, with iron bars separating you from the altar and pews. You lay at the right side of the room, beyond one of the two sets of pews. In another cell fully across from you, you can see Ziggy, Lupina, and Fluttershy laying down, still fully unconscious.

Behind all the pews, at one end of the room, is the doorway, with two racks full of spears on either side. And on the other end, under the windows and behind those bastards Emeritus, Forge, and Copia, is a sudden drop. You can't see it very well from your prone position, but you still see a dip in the floor, marking a very obvious pit. Sitting in the pews are several deer you had previously incapacitated, still bearing wounds from their battles. Bruises, cuts. The deer that apparently stabbed Ziggy has one set of his antlers stained in dried blood, with a cast around both left legs, being supported by another cultist that, judging by the wary look he's giving Fluttershy and the nasty claw marks across his flesh, met Powerwolf's wrath during the chaos.

You are broken from your musings by a calm, rhythmic whisper on your left side. "We were drugged by the cult, but you and Canny were cured," Zecora explains quietly, hesitant to let the deer hear her. "Thank Hamon for your awakening, and your unconsciousness has been curbed. But as for the others, I couldn't aid. We can only hope, in time, the concoction will fade." You still feel groggy, so all you can do is nod. Turning to Canny, you give her a look, which she returns before laying her head back down. You need to listen in on this sermon, wait for an opportunity to pounce.

Clearing his throat, it is Emeritus himself who gathers the deers' attention with his hooves pressed against the wooden pulpit. "My children," he greets with a power in his voice, a captivation, that immediately captures his followers.

They respond back in a synchronized chant, despite slurs in their voices or pained gasps in their breathing, "WELCOME PAPA!" The sycophants manage to smile warmly up to the murdering monster, and the sickly feeling in your gut grows deeper. You can hear love and admiration in their combined tone, and the idea that this force of nature is somehow a cult of personality burrows into your head deeper. All of this, under Celestia's nose? Or maybe, another "hidden" piece of the puzzle.

At the sound of the his followers' joy, Emeritus himself gives a toothy, sickening grin back. Their cheers drive his wicked, black heart into overdrive. "Very good. My children, we come to you today for another sacrifice, present to our Lord and his wicked ways. The power vested in us by the fortunate soul of Grogar demands recompense. And today, we have six souls, six vestiges of flesh and of time, to give back to him." Grogar? Sounds...vaguely familiar. Vaguely. Nature was a bigger strong suit to you then history, it's likely something Twilight knows more about, if anyone. "But not just any sacrifices! No, Stand-using sacrifices! And even better, one has received Papa's touch years in the past!" The deer jeer into the other cell's direction, eyes burning towards Ziggy as he lays limply, shifting only slightly due to the sleeping toxin's effects. You watch as Forge and Copia each move towards the cells, standing beside the barred doors before facing the church once again. "Once the price of mortality has been met, we may bring our Lord back from the wretched abyss, and we will all be gifted a fraction of his essence. But for them, we will not be crucifying them! No, no, they're special, they deserve..."

"THE PIT!" the crowd and Forge respond back with yells of jubilation. Copia also replies back with the same words, but in his usual measured apathy.

"The Pit! Yes! Behind me is a well of creatures beyond our scope of control," Emeritus explains, now getting even more excited as the energy of his voice echoes across the Church walls. "The beasts will devour these Stand-users, and if they survive, then me and my brothers, your uncles, will devour them ourselves. The power of a Stand-using soul is so much richer than that of a normal Pony, a normal Dragon, a normal Zebra! But...hmm, before we descend them to the depths to be gorged upon...I have a story to tell you all." Emeritus points towards the other cell and motions with his hoof. Forge grins manically, and opens the cell door before dragging Ziggy out onto the floor with his hind legs. You share quick glances with Zecora and Canny. It's almost time to strike.

As the Diamond Dog lies on the ground, leg now bandaged judging by the ripped away leg of his designer pants, Emeritus looms over him, still on the Pulpit. "You see, long ago..." The deer lean forward in their chair, hinging off every word. "Ten years ago, to be precise, I was wandering the un-colonized wilderness outside of Trottingham, seeking followers to lead the way towards Lord Grogar. Very few of you who are here now come from that recruitment expedition, unfortunately. Disease and war takes all allies. While there, I stumbled across a Diamond Dog abode, a cave and tunnel system. I knew it would contain iron, bronze, gold, copper, and jewels that I could use to fund or forge my true path, so me and two of my children wandered in. Most of the inhabitants fled. Some died painful, gruesome deaths. But two stood in my way, a male and a female." Emeritus looks down at Ziggy with a frightening glare, his glowing eye in particular trained on his face. "Ziegfried and...Geeling? I believe? His beautiful China Girl, he referred to her as. Ziegfried wanted to defend the jewels and his woman, but she wanted to fight with him. Her home, her riches."

"Valiantly," Copia tells the group in his low, eerily calm voice. "Valiantly did they fight together. Our group was overrun, either retreating into the woods or retreating into unconsciousness. Ziegfried's Space Oddity was difficult for Papa to fight against. Gravity is, itself, a cruel god."

"But Papa is stronger than all in Equestria!" yells Forge in jubilation. "And gained the upper hand! One lucky backhand with the scepter form of Square Hammer was all it took to concuss Ziegfried! His eye started to bleed, popped a few blood vessels. And as you could see, it never fully healed!"

Emeritus nods to his two brothers. You look down at Ziggy in sympathy, empathy...anger. Anger that they got away with it for ten years. "And all that was left was the China Girl. I made him watch. I made him watch with his clear eye as I tore into her flesh and separated her carotid artery. We both watched as her thrashing turned to a gentle twitch...and then nothing. I left then. I knew staying too long would give Ziegfried a second wind. And why I didn't finish him off?" Emeritus steps away from the pulpit, and jumps down to the crowd's level, looming over Ziggy. "I wanted him to live with his failure. To caress his love and know she will never come back." Emeritus looks up and motions for both cells to open. "It's time, my children! Let us send these gifted heathens to Grogar!"

The other cell opens first, allowing the emotional Forge to also pull out Fluttershy and the listless pieces of Lupina. You look towards your allies, and get nods back.

First, Zecora sneakily undoes your knot with Hamon, as your Stand phases through the ground and touches the bars. Right as Copia opens the door, the bars suddenly fold and Copia is blindsided as New Divide manages to land a clean uppercut on his jaw. He flies back onto his side, before slowly getting up with little more reaction than a pained grimace and blood emerging from his bottom gum. You quickly fold in Canny's rope, freeing her from her binds, as you reach back and take off your mask. The other deer flip their shit at this, yelling in horror, before jumping out of their seats and heading towards the entrance to the weapon racks. "Canny, you need to run. We'll save the others," you tell her. She makes an indignant, muffled grunt at this, but you object back with "One of us running will separate them. Better odds that one of us run then all of us die here. Pick your battles, Canny! Go!"

Canny groans, but gets up and books it. The other deer raise their spears, only for Smooth Criminal to let Canny move straight through them, and the door. You and Zecora ready into battle stances, with New Divide behind you and Zecora waving her Hamon-charged rope bindings, two of them from your bondage as well as hers. You know it's likely that you're heading down the pit anyway with the numbers and the Reindeers' undivided attention, but like you told Canny, and like your father told you, you have to know when to fold them.

Emeritus growls as Forge and the armed Reindeer approach you. "Copia! After her!" he yells back, which the emotionless brother nods to before slowly walking out of the church, shutting the door behind him.

Perspective Shift: Canny Clockwork

Phased into a tree, as inconspicuous as you can be, you take a deep breath and let a shallow one back out. The plan is simple. Run back towards Ponyville, round up a militia, and chase them off. Hoping, praying all the while, that Star and the others are still alive. Your mask is now gone, freeing your muzzle from the gag as unfiltered huffs of air become the only things you're willing to let loose into this world. Slowly, you emerge out of the tree and move into another one, knowing that remaining still for too long lessens the chance that your friends and allies will survive.

Suddenly, you feel a chill down your spine. The air grows still, almost stagnant, as a soft hum fills the air. A quiet song, slipping through pursed lips. You peek just enough of your head out of the the trunk of the tree you're hiding within to determine where it's coming from.

It's Copia. The creepiest of the buggers, all stark and cold. Conditioned and calculated, he is. His Stand has emerged, staring with just the blackest eyes. Like Tirek's eyes. Knowing he's likely to be looking for you, you move your head back in and stay still, hoping he didn't notice you. He's still humming, in the only real display of any feeling he seems to have. A soft melody-

The tree you were in bursts apart, stopping your idle thoughts dead. You can tell, the sound of splintering wood and the mighty heft of the trunk's collapse to the ground overwhelms you, from the direction and distance as where you were. He knew you were there, that has to be the case. How? Did you leave hoofprints, did you make a sound as you phased out of it? His humming gets closer, louder somehow. Hoofsteps draw closer. You breathe in deeply, trying not to panic.

And then as quick as the first tree bursts, a solid chunk of the one you're hiding in bursts apart from a vicious, white-hoofed punch. Eyes widening, you slip back into it, only to see Copia peer into it. His glowing eye widens as he spots you, and his only response is a whispered, faint "Found you."

You bolt. Just as his Stand destroys your hiding space, you phase back into reality and begin running deeper into the brush as splinters fall from your hair. Your lungs burn as you flee, before you spot a far taller vantage point: an overgrown, abandoned shack the deer cultists must have left behind during their non-sedentary expeditions. Phasing through the wall with Smooth Criminal's intangibility, you quietly, but quickly, sneak upstairs. It's wooden interior is filled with plant life as you can smell blood in the air and spot discarded weapons around. This must've been the sight of a battle, and when the place was damaged in the fighting, the deer just left it to rot.

Staying by the window and looking out to the forest, you watch as Copia emerges not too far behind, just through the brush. His humming appears, by the shape of his lips, to have evolved to a whistle as his eyes remain trained to the ground. As he walks, he spits a bit of blood onto the ground from Star's uppercut. His eyes keep trailing across the path you took, as if he's tracking you. And his Stand is out the entire time, also peering with him. And it's there a thought crosses your brilliant mind: if his Stand's out, and he's tracking everything you left behind, as you watch him peer at footprints you can see, or lean down to sniff the grass and the splinters that shook out of your Mane, then...

His vision slowly moves up to meet yours, as his Stand stares daggers into you. In a panic, you look away to search for escape options, and then snap back to look at him.

He's vanished. Ice suddenly ebbs through your veins as a chill races through your spine.

You can't hide from him.

Perspective Shift: Shooting Star

Collapsing onto your side, you look back up towards the opening of The Pit, seeing several deer, including Forge, staring down at you from above. "Escape is futile!" he yells down at you. "We'll find her, and she will be devoured as well! Assuming Copia doesn't kill her on the spot." The deer scatter back as a trapdoor closes, cutting The Pit's light-source out.

With the sound of deep breathing as the only foretelling, a torch in the space underneath the Church lights up. A quick glance shows Zecora as the one behind it. Her arm is ablaze in the sparks of Hamon energy. She then walks towards another torch and sets it ablaze as well. As she carries on this task, you can see the others with you, now regaining consciousness and constitution. Lupina is the first to really regain her faculties, standing upright and peering around the darkness with a Timberwolf's night vision, aided by the darkness's fading away thanks to Zecora. "Where are we?"

"The Pit," you answer back as you stand up yourself, and shake the mental cobwebs off. "It's the cult's method of execution for Stand-users."

Zecora, still focusing on her breathing to activate the Hamon energy rippling through her body, does manage to reply "Filled with monsters and dread, it's Emeritus who'll kill us if we're not dead." Every time her arm contacts a torch, the Hamon glows scarlet and seems to spark into overdrive against the tip of the stick.

Fluttershy gets up next, slightly dizzy. You move forward and support her on your shoulder as she catches herself against you. With a huff, she blushes and stands up off of you, smiling shyly and replying "T-Thank you, Star." You smile back and nod. "S-So, um, scary monsters? I can help with that. W-We may not even need to fight."

"Still that rat bastard Emeritus to worry about, though." Ziggy is the last to rise, sitting against the stone walls as he tries to rest his still-out of commission leg. "Oh, hell's bells, did...who has the number of the carriage that hit me, my head is killin' me."

"Emeritus drugged us," you tell him, to which he just lets out a heaving sigh. "...Ziggy," you begin. It seems to capture his dazed attention somewhat, his eyes peering to you. "Why didn't you tell us? That the China Girl was a real person, what happened to her, that sort of thing."

Ziggy blinks twice, his eyes finally refocusing as the last of his grogginess fades as rapidly as it seems to have done for Lupina and Fluttershy. For a second you fear a blow-up, but then he simply nods, rests his head against the wall. His eyes flick up and to the left, staring into the fire of a torch just overhead. "Trust is a hard thing to quantify," he begins. "Oh, now, believe me, you've earned it, getting this far. But...it's easier, being closed off. What sounds like a less-daunting stipulation to asking a stranger's information? Someone broke a prized possession, or someone murdered your lover?" Ziggy lays his paws over his stomach, interlacing his fingers and breathing in deeply. "The day Geeling died, I lost so much more. My pride, my strength, my dignity. Friends and jewels and gems. My eye here is still blurry and bright lights are so much more uncomfortable. The dapper suit and the quest for vengeance, it's all I had. That's so much baggage to put on someone just living their life, even if they might be the next victim. I may put my quest before right or wrong, justice or lawlessness. But I don't want to drag people into this strange war of mine if they have nothing to point to, if they can't help me in some way. So I just...use my favorite pet name. End it there, let them assume what they want or suss it out if they're smart enough to, and take what I need." He looks back to you. "I was alone long enough that it looked like no one would follow me into the abyss. But here we are."

"You never have to be alone," Fluttershy tells him. "Not again. I-I may not be much, but I'll still help you, so will all of us."

"Aye," you respond. Zecora just nods as the last torch is lit up. The room you're in is actually a corridor, stretching to two different shadowy doorways.

Lupina stares at Ziggy for a second, before responding thusly "Everytime you call me babe, I'm tempted to walk away. But I haven't. Emeritus and his men have put the Everfree and the Elements into harm's way. I will aid you in stopping them."

Ziggy smirks, and using Space Oddity, begins to float into the air with his passion revitalized. "You lot really are teaching a old dog something new. I welcome this. But be forewarned, it'll only get trickier from here." He points to you. "You. No hard feelings, aye?"

"Yeah," you tell him. "I'd hide my pain, too, if I thought it'd protect people. Which isn't healthy, but it's...natural."

"Well, there we go! Not healthy, but natural." Ziggy responds. "No more secrets, fellows! Let us all...wait...wait, wait, wait, where's Clockwork?" He peers down the corridor into the shadows as if he'd see a splash of green against the black, as if she'd have run off on her own. "Canny? Where are you, bird?"

Zecora finally enters the conversation as her Hamon fades from view. "We sent her ahead, to gather aid. Copia's following her, to ensure their debt's repaid."

"Backup...fruitful, but in terms of beings we need alive, I would have volunteered the Bearer of Kindness," Lupina tells them with a courteous nod to Fluttershy, who looks aside sheepishly at the attention. "But I suppose it was out of my paws." With a burst of Evolution's power, Lupina is covered in razor-sharp thorns, as her wooden body is reinforced with extra overgrowth and a winding armor made of deadwood and branches. Three solid mutations to aid her. "Tell me, if Emeritus and Forge are going to come down here after their creatures of chaos are removed from play, they must have an exit or second entrance."

That makes sense to you. "We'd need to find it before they come down here, though. And this place is a dark, musty maze. Ziggy, can you grab a few of these torches to take with us?" Ziggy looks towards the torches on the wall, and pilfers it as Space Oddity does the same. Meanwhile, you blow out a few and fold them to reinforce the supply. "Fluttershy, does Powerwolf have a night vision ability?"

Fluttershy hums in thought. "Maybe. I-I don't know. But if he does, he could lead the way." From the shadows steps the monstrous Stand in question, growling as it sniffs openly into the air for prey. "Okay. How about...Lupina and Zecora can handle themselves in a straight fight, so I-I guess they should lead."

"Works for me, and since the rest of need to use our Stands for the advantage, how about Ziggy in the middle, with me and Fluttershy in the back?" you respond. Thankfully, this seems to get their support. Heading into formation, you and the party simply pick a direction and start walking forward. Two wolves with nightvision, one of whom is a Stand, and one nightvision Diamond Dog should lead the way fruitfully. Plus the torchlight, which helps you, Zecora, and Fluttershy follow them. Growls begin to fill the air as the beasts are now aware you're there and are on the hunt. But you have the objective, so you march forwards, staying calm into the bleak, shadowy depths of The Pit.

Perspective Shift: Canny Clockwork

Chaos, panic, rage. Shattered windows and broken doors. Everytime you go to make your escape, Hunter's Moon throws a fearsome blow and blocks your escape with it's terrifying strength. One of these punches caught you at the beginning of this siege, after Copia vanished from sight. It wasn't much, but your right foreleg feels bruised at the knee, swelling as even a glancing blow rocked you. You breath hastens, you need to think fast. With a yelp, you quickly phase into the floor itself, underground, right as Copia and Hunter's Moon cease their assault. Floating through the dirt and mud, you can hear his calm hoofsteps on the wooden floor, like he wasn't assaulting you like a berserker a second ago.

Hunter's Moon has a tracking ability. It seems to be able to spot things like hoofprints, discarded debris, and even sounds, as evidenced by how it was able to cut off your escape through conventional means. After emerging onto the grass outside the shack, you cautiously make your way into the woods, breathing in slowly. If it's sound it wants, it's sound it'll get.

With a frown, you magically remove your hat with your horn, and inspect it. Tipping it over and releasing a latch, you reveal the firing mechanism for your gears. Sighing, you set it to a remote-fire activation, and pull out a small remote from within the hat itself, before placing it against the ground, angled to fire up into the branches of a nearby oak. Then, you phase back into the ground itself, and blindly leave the area. The sacrifice of your favorite gadget and accessory weighs on you already, but it's probably better that then losing an arm, or your head. Emerging, you find yourself on a dirt path, close to a hill. You can recognize it already, it's attached to where you approached this Celestia-forsaken place already. Salvation, so close, it's the first thing tonight to fill you with hope. Now's the perfect time for a distraction. You pull out your remote and hear the satisfying, hard clank of one of your prize gears firing, and the rustling of branches. Here's hoping he took the bait.

You remain cautious as you walk on the dirt path, passing the Oleander Star pointed out, the river the Nutria were playing in, and the spot in the road where Star blurted out his thing about chess. Or sex. One of the two. You chuckle softly, trying to settle your still rapid-fire heartbeat as you hope you lost Copia.

Finally, you come across the woodland devastation of the battle with Lupina. Destroyed trees, folded soil and grass. So close to freedom-

Something impacts the dirt behind you. You whirl around quickly to see it's your own hat, your prized possession. Destroyed. Cogs and gizmos bursting out of torn fabric and desiccated felt. Your heart sinks lower into your chest. Looking up from it, you see Copia step out into the open moonlight, staring you down unblinkingly. His head tilts to the side, staring at you like he's admiring a collection of butterflies. "This is close to Ponyville," he tells you. "And as far as you go. Whether you die here or die in the Pit, it matters not to me. I shall drag you back to despair." Smooth Criminal floats beside you, as you frown and ready yourself. "I have seen cowards strangle themselves on gluttonous hubris or gouge their eyes out to avoid our wrath. But you, you both fight and fly. Hooves raised in a stance of battle, but ready to rear back and trot away. What say you, then?"

"I'm not dyin' here, neither are my friends." You glare back into his eyes. "Fuck off back to your camp. I'm too close to fail now, mate."

Copia's head tilts to the other direction, unfazed. "You are not the first to threaten this to me. But your Stand...tired though you may be, this power may be an equalizer. Know that you will fade in reverence." Hunter's Moon is summoned, hanging over his shoulder with the same tilt of the head. "Come now."

"It is time to witness...perfection."

What's Next?
<--- To Be Continued

Author's Note

Welcome back, ladies and gentlemen! Hope y'all are doing well. Bit of a longer chapter this time, I hope that makes up for the delay!

The "China Girl", Geeling, is named after the woman who actually starred in the music video for "China Girl", Geeling Ching (at the time, Geeling Ng).

As always, give your suggestions for Spots in the fight scenes or character moments or what have you! As you can see, I can still improvise a ton, so give your ideas and feedback freely!

As for last chapter's question, Boast Busters would have been amazing. I have an idea for Trixie come Magic Duel, let's absolutely get that far! :)

And now for today's engagement!

Do you have a favorite villain in either MLP or JoJo?

I know not everyone who reads this fic watches JoJo (hell, some of them may not watch MLP, I'unno.) But this seemed like a fun question. For me, on the MLP side, it's Sunset Shimmer and Starlight Glimmer. I love the idea of a redeemed villain who actually has to deal with the consequences of their bullshit and come out a stronger person for it. And for JoJo, it's DIO. It's always DIO. Part 1 Dio Brando, Part 3 DIO, even Diego Brando...both of him!

Anywho, hope you enjoyed the chapter, I'll catch ya next time! Have a good day, y'all!