Equestria Superhero Girls: An Amazonian Adventureby Time Agent ponyChaptersChapter 1Chapter 2Chapter 3Chapter 5Chapter 6Chapter 7Chapter 8EpilogueChapter 4Chapter 1"Everyone," Twilight said, "thank you for coming." Twilight and her friends were gathered in Twilight's house, as she had called them all in for a meeting. "You wanna explain what this is all about, Twi?" Applejack asked. "Yeah," Rainbow Dash nodded, "I got a ton of things on my plate today." "Like cupcakes," Pinkie Pie said, "mmmm, cupcakes with frosting," she drooled licking lips. "I think what Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are trying to say," Rarity interjected, "would you mind explaining why you called us all here to your house and in such a formal way?" Sunset Shimmer, Midnight Sparkle and Fluttershy all nodded in agreements, they too were keen to know the answer and the reason. "Well, you see," Twilight replied, "I feel like in most fights we've been in, we've only managed to win by the skin of our teeth or through shear dumb luck." "What?!" everyone collectively exclaimed. "I have reviewed some of our recent fights," Twilight continued, setting up her laptop, a projector and some footage showing some of the fights between the Champions and various villains they had fought, "and one thing became clear." "Wait a minute," Midnight said, "you record our fights?" "For research purposes," Twilight replied, as she pulled up the first video, a battle they had had with the villains Blue Snowman and Blizzard. "I remember that one," Rainbow Dash said, as she and the others watched the footage play, "we really kicked some ice that day." "Your missing the point," Twilight replied, "we only managed to beat them because we overheard Blizzard saying he was planning on double crossing his partner." She then pulled up some different footage of another fight, this one a battle with the villains, Killer Moth and The Fly. "We only to beat them," Twilight continued, "because both Killer Moth and The Fly were too incompetent and bumbling to stay focused." "We still beat them," Applejack said, "a win is a win." "And finally," Twilight carried on, pulling up one final video, "our fight with The Royal Flush Gang." The video played showing the Champions fighting the criminal group, the aforementioned Royal Flush Gang. "Oh," Rainbow Dash said, nervously rubbing the back of her head, "yeah, that fight didn't go well." The others nodded as they recalled the incident in question. Sunset Shimmer was about to argue, but stopped as she and the other girls were beginning to understand what Twilight was driving at. "I'm glad you're starting to understand my point," Twilight concluded, "we are relying to much on our powers too and we're in need of a little extra combat training." "I guess so," Fluttershy nodded. "Yeah," Rainbow Dash agreed. The rest of the girls all nodded, they realised that Twilight was right, when she we right. "Which is why," Twilight declared, "I took the liberty of signing us all up for a intensive training regiment on Themyscira." "Themyscira?" Rarity echoed. "Paradise Island?" Applejack said. "The home of the Amazons?" Fluttershy asked. "That sounds..." Sunset began. "Awesome!" Rainbow Dash interrupted. "I'm glad you all approve," Twilight smiled, "you guys better pack, our transportation will be arriving shortly." "I'd better pack plenty of sunscreen," Rarity stated, "the opportunity of a sun tan cannot be missed." "Remember," Twilight instructed, "this isn't a holiday, this is an opportunity to improve and learn new combat skills." "Alright, darling," Rarity replied, "but don't you forget people learn at their own pace." A few moments later. The girls were packed and ready to depart. As usual, Rarity had over packed but had been convinced by everyone how to only pack the essentials. Both Fluttershy and Twilight were bringing their pets Angel and Spike with them. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Sunset and Midnight were all similarly packed and ready to go. "Everybody ready?" Twilight said, once they had all done some final checks to make sure they had everything, or in Rarity's case mostly everything. "Yeah," the others answered. "Alright," Twilight replied, "we'll be picking some of our teammates along the way, I sent invitations out but only a few were available." "Great," Rainbow Dash smiled, "the more the merrier." "One question though, Twi," Applejack interjected, "how exactly are we going to get to this Paradise Island?" "Well..." Twilight began, but before she could continue the sound of a jet engine was heard from outside the house. Twilight and the others all headed outside, to be greeted by Donna Troy and Cassandra Elizabeth "Cassie" Sandsmark a.k.a. Wonder Girl, the jet engine sound was coming from the Invisible Jet that Donna was piloting. "Oh," Applejack said, "right." "Yay," Pinkie cheered, "Themyscira here we come!" Chapter 2Hours later. Twilight and her friends were on their way to Themyscira, they had picked up some of their teammates from their superhero team the Champions and were now cruising above the clouds in the invisible jet. The teammates were: Squirrel Girl, Hawkeye (Kate Bishop), Thunder and Lighting, Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan), Stinger and Spider-Girl (Anã Corazón). Everyone was amazed at the invisible jet and when Twilight had explained the situation they had all been gung-ho about the idea. "This is so cool," Rainbow Dash said, barely able to contain herself, "this is going to be the best vacation ever!" "Remember, Rainbow," Twilight stated, "this isn't a vacation, this is an opportunity to improve our combat skills and maybe learn how to work better as team and as heroes." "Yeah, yeah," Rainbow Dash replied, "take from me, as captain of every sports team at CHS, it's important to know your limits and not push your team too hard, everyone learns at a different pace." Rainbow Dash's words resonated with Twilight, did she have the team's best interests at heart? She shook it off, this was for the good of her friends and teammates. Twilight's thoughts were interrupted by the voice of Wonder Girl, "Attention, passengers," she declared, "this is your captain speaking, please fasten your seatbelts as we are about to make our descent towards Themyscira, thank for flying with us today on Amazonian airlines, hope you enjoyed your flight." Everyone returned to their seats as instructed and the jet began to dip below the clouds. Laid before them was the beautiful Themyscira, Paradise island. A unified 'wow' broke forth from everyone on board the jet. The invisible jet proceeded to land on the island, after which everyone disembarked and were taken to meet the ruler of Themyscira and mother of Wonder Woman, Queen Hippolyta. "I must say," Rarity remarked, "the architecture is simply beautiful." Themyscira contained stunning green landscapes, greco-roman architecture, Hellenic temples and columns from 1200 BCE. "I'll say," Fluttershy nodded, "it's like we stepped back in time to ancient Greece." The truth couldn't be more true, Amazons and their island had existed since the Roman Empire. After a few minutes, Twilight and the others arrived at the throne room. Donna Troy and Wonder Girl both bowed before the queen, Twilight and the others following their example. "Welcome home, sisters Donna and Cassie," Queen Hippolyta said, "and I see you have brought company." "Indeed, my queen," Donna Troy replied, "our friends have come here in search of wisdom and skill in the art of combat." Donna motioned to Twilight and the others, one after the other they all introduced themselves to the queen, making sure to be as respectful as possible. "Donna and Cassie have informed me," Queen Hippolyta said, "that your skills in combat are in need of improvement, yes?" "Yes," Twilight answered, "please, mighty Queen Hippolyta," she urged, "I feel that my companions are in need of expert combat training and I feel that your world would be ideal to teach us, so we can better protect the outside world from any threat that may come our way." The queen smiled, "I can sense the sincerity in your words," she stated, "we understand your plight and shall accept your request, we shall endeavour to train you as we would train our fellow Amazons." Twilight smiled, thankful that her request had been accepted. "Oh thank you, Queen Hippolyta," she smiled, "thank you for your kindness." "Donna and Cassie have told me many stories about you and your friends," Queen Hippolyta replied, "I simply wanted to see for myself, to see your drive and dedication first hand, I can safely say that they were right." Queen Hippolyta turned to Donna and Cassie, "show our guests to where they will be staying," she said, "as of today, you all are honorary Amazons, now go and get some rest, your training shall begin tomorrow." After their meeting with the queen, Donna and Cassie escorted Twilight and the rest to their living quarters, they were two-person rooms so they split into pairs. Along with their quarters everyone was provided with appropriate clothing, like the island's architecture the clothing worn by the inhabitants of Themyscira were Roman Stola, the female equivalent of the male Toga. Once everyone had picked their roommates, Twilight and her friends went to sleep, not knowing what would come their way, but confident they could rise to meet the challenge. Chapter 3The next morning. Twilight, her friends and the others all woke up, got dressed in their Stola, Rarity particularly like the chance to wear authentic Roman clothing. Once they had all dressed themselves, they all headed for the dining hall. Along with herself, her friends and teammates, Twilight's group were joined by some local Amazons who were also in training they were: Yara Flor, Nubia, Mala and Artemis. After they had all eaten they were all taken to the assembly hall, where they were introduced to their instructors, Princess Diana a.k.a. Wonder Woman and Aldrif Odinsdottir a.k.a. Angela. Angela was a seasoned warrior, the sister of Thor Odinson, on-again-off-again ally of the heroes Spawn and Nightwatch, and part time member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, she had been raised by the Angels of the tenth realm, Heven. Once they were all assembled Wonder Woman spoke. "Sisters, friends, Angela" she declared, "I hope you are ready as the training you are all about to undertake is not for those who are not possessed of strong will and resolve." "Heed Princess Diana's words," Angela said, "this is your last chance to turn back, for once the training starts we cannot promise that you will be the same people you were when you finish, do you understand?" For a second, everyone exchanged glances. Were they ready for what was about to happen? Did they have the will to over come the trials that lay ahead? Then they remembered all hurdles they had overcome already: Parallax, Kang the Conquer, Starro and Cosmos. They had proved they were ready for even the hardest challenges. "We are ready!" everyone collectively yelled, in answer to Angela's question. "Very well," Angela smiled, "let us begin." The training began slowly, starting with basic warmups, then moving to more intense exercises as the day went on. Some like Fluttershy and Twilight, struggled at first but over time started to find their groove. Others like Rainbow Dash and Applejack, were quick to find their rhythm and started to get competitive with each other. "Do you think we get lunch breaks or cool down time?" Ms. Marvel asked. "Do you think your enemy will let you take a lunch break?" Angela asked, "your enemy will never tire, your enemy will never show mercy, your enemy will never stop until you and everyone you care about is destroyed." Angela continued to watch as the training carried on in front of her, Wonder Woman looked on with concern in her eyes. The training went on for what seemed like an eternity but, finally at sunset, Angela called for everyone to stop and take a rest and get something to eat. As everyone left, Wonder Woman pulled Angela aside, "I feel that your training methods are a little extreme," she said, "you must remember these are mortals, they are not built the same as you and me, if you push them too much, then they'll break." "If they break," Angela replied, "then they are not worthy of the powers they wield." Wonder Woman sighed, "all that talk of worthiness," she retorted, "you sound just like your brother, Thor, but you lack his most important aspect." "And what would that be?" Angela asked. "You lack his compassion and empathy," Wonder Woman answered, "maybe you should spent some time among mortals, experiencing all that they have to offer, their accomplishments and their advancements." "How naive," Angela retorted, "you have spent so much time with these mortals that it has blinded you to one single fact." "And that is?" Wonder Woman inquired. "That as much as these mortals have advanced," Angela stated, "they are still the same barbarians that their ancestors were." Wonder Woman began to walk away heading towards the dining hall, she turned to face Angela. "Mortals may still have the capacity for war," she said, "but they equally have the capacity for peace." "I beg to differ," Angela retorted, "look at the last few years, the wars and extreme loss of life, mortals are animals then, they're animals now." "Perhaps the same could be said for Amazons and Asgardians," Wonder Woman replied, "for a time we both know only war, but over time we learned the ways of peace." "You may be right," Angela responded, "but if these mortals wish to protect this world, they must be ready for anything, my methods are simply pushing them to reach their full potential." Wonder Woman nodded, Angela seemed to understand her point of view and she, in turn, understood Angela's point of view. With that, she continued towards the dining hall, leaving Angela alone. As Wonder Woman approached the dining hall entrance, she could hear the voices of Twilight and the others. She was surprised by what she heard, thinking that their guests would be exhausted, tired and wanting to quit. But instead, the voices were fulled with enthusiasm and energy. "That was amazing," Rainbow Dash said, "I feel alive, I can't remember the last time I've felt like this." "I do have to admit," Ms. Marvel smiled, "it was hard at first, but once you get into the swing of things it's really fun." "Yeah," Thunder nodded, "a few hours ago I was barely holding on, but now, I feel like I can take on the world." "I hear that," Applejack agreed, "I feel strong, I feel like I could pick all the apple trees clear, back home." "Well, I'm glad to hear that," Wonder Woman said, as she entered the room, "I was worried that Angela's methods were a little extreme for you to handle, I see I was mistaken." "You're not entirely wrong," Twilight responded, "they were, at first, but how are we supposed to grow as heroes and as a team, if we don't push ourselves and our powers to the limit." "That is very admirable," Wonder Woman replied, "but it is important to know where one's limits lie and it is important to not to push your limits too far." "Yeah," Rainbow Dash nodded, "some limits are made to be broken, but not all limits should be broken." "You speak wisdom," said a voice. Angela, who had been listening in on the conversation, suddenly entered the room. "Your words are true," she continued, "but how can one truly know where their limits are, if they do not push themselves to the absolute limit?" "Because," Rainbow Dash replied, "if we didn't have a limit to our powers, we'd be gods." At the moment, Wonder Woman interrupted the conversation before it could go any further. "How about we agree that we made progress to today," she said, "and that it is important to know one's limits and push some but not all limits?" "Yeah," Rainbow Dash answered, "I can agree with that." "Indeed," Angela nodded, "after all, this world already has enough gods and monsters, we don't need anymore." Elsewhere. The witch Circe watched, through her scrying pool, as Wonder Woman and everyone else enjoyed their evening with much merriment. "Well, don't celebrate too soon, Princess Diana," she grinned, "soon you shall feel my wraith." She cackled with laughter, "and this time will be different," she continued, "because I'm not alone." From out of the shadows stepped, Loki, Thor and Angela's adopted brother. Chapter 5"Ah," Circe breathed, as the island continued to rise into the sky, "the world will be mine, with Themyscira as my throne." "Ours," Loki corrected, "the world will be ours, you mean." "Of course," Circe replied, smiling innocently, "forgive me, I must have misspoken." "Right...." Loki murmured, he was beginning to get suspicious of his partner in crime. Meanwhile. The heroes had all split into teams and were now searching the island for any clues that could lead to the location of the Casket of Ancient Winters. "Good luck," Wonder Woman said, "and may Athena watch over you all." "You too," Spider-Girl nodded. With that, the teams separated, each going to a different point on the island. After a while, they hadn't made any progress, but their day was about to get even worse. "We've been walking for hours," Rarity whined, "everything looks that same because of this infuriating snow." "Until we find the casket," Twilight responded, "Fimbulwinter will be eternal and the world will be lost." "Guys," Spider-Girl said, "I feel funny." "Me too," Ms. Marvel replied. The others turned to look at their teammates and to their surprise and shock, they saw that Spider-Girl had grown a tail, more specifically the tail of a monkey. Ms. Marvel on the other hand, had started turning into a Kangaroo, her feet had already transformed into those of the animal in question and a pouch was slowly beginning to form underneath her costume. Oddly, they seemed to be the only two in their team effected, Twilight, Rarity, Midnight and Squirrel Girl weren't effected by the phenomena. "What?!" Spider-Girl said. "How?" Ms. Marvel said. "It's Circe's magic" Twilight stated, "it seemed that the longer she remained on the island the more powerful her magic becomes." "If her magic is growing stronger," Ms. Marvel questioned, "then how come you three and Squirrel Girl aren't being effected?" Twilight thought for a moment, "Well," she answered, finally, "if I had to guess, the amount of Equestrian magic me, Sunset and the rest of our friends have been exposed to, had given us immunity to traditional magic or possibly ours geodes protect us or a combination of the two." "And I think the reason that Squirrel Girl isn't effected," Midnight added, "is that she's already part animal so maybe she's immune also since she already has animal features." "Regardless of the situation," Twilight said, "we need to keep looking for the casket." And so the heroes continued on their search, like before, the snow creatures that had menaced them in the beginning rose up to slow them down. "Keep fighting guys!" Twilight shouted, "we have to keep going." The heroes fought as hard as they could, but the cold weather was slowly starting to get them. Back with Angela. "Loki!" Angela cried, as she, Artemis and Nubia stood in the doorway to the throne-room. "Long time no see, dear sister," Loki said, "how have you been?" "Ah, yes," Circe smiled, "the outcast, stolen from Asgard and raised by angels, how quaint." "What's wrong, sister?" Loki asked, "no hug for your adopted brother?" "Enough!" Angela growled, "you will give up the location of the Casket of Ancient Winters or so help me...." She charged at Circe, Ichors ready to strike. "Lady Angela," Nubia cried, "wait!" But, before Angela could make a move, Circe snapped her fingers. In a flash, Angela's entire body was turned into diamond, which then fell to the ground with a loud clang. "Yes," Circe nodded, "she'll make a very nice chandelier or decorative addition to my throne-room." She focused her gaze on Artemis and Nubia. "You two will make great playthings for my pets," she declared, "how about a little cat and mouse." Before the Amazons could react, Circe transformed them into tiny defenceless mice. Then she ordered two tigers, which had been two Amazon soldiers, to chase and play with the two mice. Again, Loki, usually would be revelling in causing fear and tormenting to those he considered beneath him, but Circe's methods, surprisingly rubbed him the wrong way. Back with the heroes. "Come on, think," Twilight said, "if wanted to hide an extremely powerful magical item where would you put it?" "I can answer that," a new voice answered. Twilight and her team looked around and saw a figure shrouded in a black cloak standing in front of them. "Who are you?" Ms. Marvel asked. "Who I am," the stranger replied, his voice had an air of mystery about it, "is of no importance, simply know that I have the answer you seek." "You know where the Casket is?" Rarity asked. "Indeed," the stranger responded, "the casket is located at the Garden of Heroes." "How do you know this?" Twilight inquired. "And how do we know we can trust you?" Ms. Marvel added. "I know," the stranger replied, "because I know and you will trust me because you must." "That's not an answer," Squirrel Girl said, "drop the cryptic act already." "Oh come on!" the stranger responded, "haven't you heroes ever heard of theatricality?!" The stranger's voice had lost its mystery and now sounded familiar. "Pardon?" Rarity said, surprised and a little confused. "I mean..." the stranger said, trying to recover his mystique, "what I meant is..." He was about to continue, but, eventually sighed. "Oh, forget it," the stranger stated, finally, "I'm not going to sound cool anymore, am I?" Twilight and her teammates exchanged glances. The stranger pulled off his hood revealing their identity. "Loki?!" the girls collectively exclaimed. "Yep," Loki responded, "it's me, ta-da." He cracked a smile, "and I'm here to help you." Chapter 6"Seriously," Ms. Marvel said, "you what?!" "Like I said before," Loki stated, "I'm here to help." "You'll have to forgive us if we don't believe you," Twilight retorted. "I understand," Loki replied, "but I assure you, I'm here to help." The girls still weren't convinced. "Perhaps you would trust be better in a different form?" Loki suggested, "maybe something like this?" In flash of green and golden light, Loki transformed into Thor. "Like this?" he said, in Thor's voice. "Slightly better," Ms. Marvel replied, "but no." "Very well," Loki nodded, shapeshifting into another form, this one the form of Timber Spruce. "How about this?" he asked. "No," Twilight answered, her cheeks going bright red. "How about this?" Loki asked, changing his form one final time, into that of Superman, "don't much care for the red trunks," he said, looking his form over, "but I feel the righteousness coursing through me, you wanna have a talk about truth, justice and the American way?" "Just give it up, Loki," Midnight said, "it doesn't matter what form you take, it doesn't change the fact you're still you." "Very well," Loki responded, "if I can't win your trust with a face you recognise, then I'll just be one of you." In another flash of green light, Loki transformed again, but this time into a female version of himself. "What do you think?" she asked, "is this enough?" The heroes all gave the god of mischief the same disapproving look. "What do I have to do to prove to you that I'm trustworthy?" Loki replied, as he reverted back to his normal form. "Hand over your weapons," Squirrel Girl stated. "What?" Loki exclaimed, "absolutely not, what if we get captured? How will I defend myself?" "If you want us to trust you," Twilight continued, "you'll give us your weapons." Loki was about to argue again, but the look in Twilight's eyes told him she was serious. "Very well," he sighed, finally. He handed over two daggers. "One last thing," Midnight said, her ring lit up. Before Loki could react, some yellow handcuff constructs clapped onto his wrist's. "Is this really necessary?" he asked, "I thought we were all allies here." "We are," Spider-Girl replied, "allies who trust but at the same time don't trust you." "What's wrong?" Midnight asked, with a cheeky smile on her face, "I thought the god of mischief liked tricks." "Now," Twilight said, "you said that the Casket was at the Garden of Heroes?" "Yes," Loki answered. "Then lead the way," Rarity ordered, "we'll follow behind." "I take it," Loki said, "I'll be your meat shield?" "No," Ms. Marvel smiled, "we just want to keep you where we can see you." "Now move it," Squirrel Girl ordered, "and don't get any funny ideas or you'll have answer to Tippy Toes." Squirrel Girl's pet sidekick, who had been with the Champions ever since they arrived on Themyscira, glared at Loki cracking his knuckles in an intimidating way. "If you're trying to scare me," Loki said, "you'll have to try harder, I've faced my brother and father countless times, faced the fury of the fire demon Surtur and faced the down the Mad Titan, I will not be intimidated by a Midgardian tree rat." Tippy Toes growled and prepared to leap at Loki, only to be grabbed and restrained by Squirrel Girl. "Tippy," she said, "let it go, you can beat the stuffing out of him, later." "Anyway," Twilight said, "I believe you were showing us the way to the Garden of Heroes?" "Yes," Loki nodded, "follow me, please." With that, the group followed Loki, making sure that they didn't lose sight of him. Hours later. Twilight's group arrived at their destination, the Garden of Heroes. Usually, it was a magnificent garden with statues of Earth's heroes as a way of honouring their legacy. But now, the garden was covered in snow and rendered barren and cold. "Alright," Twilight said, "now we have to signal the others to let them know where the Casket is hidden." Twilight held up her Lantern ring, firing a bright beam of green light into the sky. The beam was bright enough that the other teams could see it through the snow and wind, signalling them to head towards it. "There," Twilight said, after she had finished, "now, we just have to wait for the others to regroup with us." All across the island, the other teams had seen Twilight's signal and were heading towards its location. The other teams had also met with unfortunate and bizarre transformations as a result of Circe's magic. Rainbow Dash and Applejack's teammates, Kate Bishop and Stinger, Kate's head having transformed into that of a Hawk and Stinger having partially transformed into an Otter. Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy's teammates, Thunder having partially transformed into a Bear and Lightning having gained the features of a meerkat. Wonder Woman's teammates, Yara Flor and Mala were partially transformed into a snow leopard and a cougar. Wonder Woman and Valkyrie were unaffected by Circe's magic, due to her demi-god status and Odin's magic. "We saw your signal," Wonder Woman said, "and have come as swiftly as possible." She and Valkyrie then noticed that Loki was with the group. "What is the name of Hera, is he doing here?!" she exclaimed. "He says that he wants to help us against Circe," Twilight explained, "we believe him...for now." "The girl is right," Loki chipped in, "and I can assure you that this is not a trick, I wish to help." "You'll forgive me, if I don't believe your words, trickster," Wonder Woman responded, "there is only one way to know if your words are true." She produced the Lasso of Truth, "with this, we will find out the truth," she declared. "Very well," Loki said, "if I must, I must." Twilight nodded to Midnight, who released the hand cuff constructs she had placed on Loki. Loki, didn't resist as the Lasso was placed on him. The Lasso glowed bright gold and Loki seemed to fall into a trance-like state. "Why do you really want to help us?" Wonder Woman asked. "Because," Loki answered, "Circe has gone back on our agreement, when Fimbulwinter has finally consumed everything we were supposed to rule Midgard together, but she is making it all about her and I, Loki, will not let some ancient, self-absorbed, power-hungry witch steal my conquest!" "Wow," Sunset said, "that Lasso really works." "That. Is. Amazing!" Twilight exclaimed, "that thing's power can really help me in collective surveys." "What other secrets are you hiding?" Valkyrie asked. "You know that D.B. Cooper mystery from 1971?" Loki replied, "that was me, I lost a bet with Thor and that was the result." The girls all stared, slack-jawed and in shock at what they had just heard. "You were D.B. Cooper?" Twilight said, almost struggling to breathe, "Y...Y...You?!" Twilight, who had been fascinated with the D.B. Cooper conspiracy when she was younger, was still recovering from what she had been told. "Anyway," Valkyrie said, "I believe we have heard enough." She nodded to Wonder Woman, who took the Lasso off of Loki and placed it back on a clip on her belt. "Well," Loki breathed, "now that thats out of the way, can we proceed, every second the Casket is left open Fimbulwinter continues to spread to every corner of Midgard." "Loki said that the Casket was hidden somewhere in there," Twilight stated, pointing to the entrance of Garden of Heroes. "Then we must not waste anymore time," Wonder Woman proclaimed, "we must enter the garden and locate the Casket." Everyone nodded. "Be on your guard," Loki added, "Circe may already be onto us, I'm pretty sure finding the Casket will not be easy." With that, everyone, once again, split into teams and entered the garden. As they began to search, Loki noticed Wonder Woman giving him side eye glances. "Something bothering you, princess?" he asked. Wonder Woman waited until the two were alone, before replying. "Let me make something clear," she said, her tone suddenly turning stern, "if you try anything, then I will take you down." Loki looked angry for a moment. After all he had done to prove himself, Wonder Woman still didn't trust him. Then, he took a deep breath and let his anger go. When he spoke his voice was professional, calm, "it may surprise you, Princess Diana," he said, "the truth is I don't enjoy hurting people." Wonder Woman stopped in her tracks, surprised at what she had just heard. "I do it, because" Loki continued, "I have to, because I've had to, because it's part of the illusion, it's part of the cruel elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear." "Loki," Wonder Woman said, but Loki held up his hand preventing her from continuing. "Anyway," he said, "I believe we have a relic to find." Without another word, Loki joined the others as they searched for the Casket. After a few hours, the heroes located the Casket, at the base of a statue of Achilles. "That was easy," Squirrel Girl stated. "Too easy," Ms. Marvel added. "Don't say that!" Rainbow Dash cried, "you know when someone says that was too easy, something happens!" "We can worry about that later," Wonder Woman said, "right now, we must close the Casket and put an end to Fimbulwinter for Themyscira and the world." The others nodded and with surprisingly little effort, closed the Casket. The snow storms began to subside and the creatures spawned from the snow began to dissipate. "Well," Stinger said, "what do we do now?" "First," Donna Troy replied, "we need to get the Casket as far from Circe as possible." "I'll handle that," Loki suggested, "if you'll allow me." Wonder Woman nodded to Donna who handed the Casket to Loki, who prepared to cast a teleportation spell on the Casket. But before he could execute the spell, there was the sound of marble grinding against marble. Everyone turned to see the statue of Achilles, break free of its plinth and start stomping towards them. Chapter 7"I told you!" Rainbow Dash cried, as she and the others ran as fast as they could as the Achilles statue chased after them, "I told you, never ever say 'that was too easy' ever!" "We need a plan," Sunset said, running along side everyone, "we can't afford to waste time with that thing." "Agreed," Wonder Girl nodded, "we need to take that thing down fast and quickly." "And I think I know how to do that," Twilight replied, "if I recall the legend about Achilles he had a specific weakness." "What is it?" Lighting asked. "If I remember correctly," Twilight answered, "Achilles was made invulnerable when his mother dipped his body in the River Styx...." "I hate to be rude, Darling," Rarity cut in, as the statue slowly began to close in on them, "BUT CAN YOU GET TO THE POINT, PLEASE?!" "Right, sorry," Twilight said, "it's the heel, we need a direct hit on the statue's heel." "First," Applejack added, "we need to bring that thing down, before we get squashed into apple sauce." "Anyone have any ideas?" Twilight asked. "I think I might!" Ms. Marvel shouted, "you guys even watch that space opera film trilogy?" "You mean the one with the laser swords and space wizards," Pinkie Pie answered, "Cosmic Wars, right? Or was it Starchaser: Legend of Orin?" "Star Wars," Sunset corrected, "she means Star Wars." "Anyway," Ms. Marvel continued, "you know the part in episode 5 where they're on the snow planet with the walking thingies?" Twilight thought for a moment, "You know what," she said, finally, "that just might work." She turned to the others, Wonder Woman and Loki. "Distract that thing until we're ready," Twilight instructed, "try to keep it from advancing." "How will we know when you're ready?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You'll know," Twilight responded. "Alright, everyone," Applejack said, "let's give that big fella everything we've got." While Twilight and Ms. Marvel prepared their plan, the others used their powers to slow and prevent the statue from going any further. Rainbow Dash and the other girls used their rings to restrain the statue. Spider-Girl used her webbing to blind it. Stinger used her size changing to grow to the same size as the statue and grapple with it. Kate Bishop, Thunder and Lighting used their powers and various trick arrows to do their part. Meanwhile, Twilight and Ms. Marvel were implementing their end of the plan, Twilight summoning a catapult construct with her ring, then loading Ms. Marvel into it and aiming it at the Achilles statue. "Ready?" Twilight asked, once they were locked on target, the statue's legs. "Ready," Ms. Marvel answered. With that, Twilight released the catapult and launched Ms. Marvel at the statue. Ms. Marvel stretched out her limbs as far as she could, turning herself into a rudimentary bolas. She was dead on target, she wrapped her limbs around the statue's legs holding on as tight as she could. The statue struggled against its bindings, trying to continue its advance. Ms. Marvel groaned and strained, trying to maintain her grip on the statue, she had stretched herself to her limit. The statue finally gave up and toppled to the ground with an almighty crash, the ground shaking as it fell. "Quickly!" Twilight shouted, "hit the statue's heel!" "Way ahead of ya, Twi," Applejack replied. Together, using their combined powers, Applejack and Thunder hit the statue's heel with a powerful attack. Applejack used her geode and her ring and Thunder used her shockwave generating powers. The statue shook from the attack, then slowly shattered into pieces. "Well," Squirrel Girl began, "that was...." Before she could continue, she was shushed by Rainbow Dash, the look on the said it all. "Right," Squirrel Girl uttered, "got it." "Anyway," Twilight interjected, while helping Ms. Marvel up from the remains of the statue, "now that's been dealt with, we need to get the Casket as far away from Circe as possible." "I'll handle that," Loki replied. "Agreed," Wonder Woman nodded, she nodded to Donna, who had been clutching the Casket tightly since the statue toppling. Donna looked reluctant, but abided by the request, she handed the Casket to Wonder Woman who passed it took Loki. "Thank you," he said. Loki placed the Casket on the ground and cast a teleportation spell and the Casket vanished. "Where did you send it?" Thunder asked. "Back my father's vault," Loki answered, "hopefully he or anyone haven't noticed it's missing yet." "So," Fluttershy inquired, "now what?" "Now," Wonder Woman answered as she, Donna Troy and Wonder Girl all spun really fast on the spot, once they stopped their outfits had changed: Wonder Woman was wearing golden armour with wings, similarly Donna and Cassie were also wearing matching armour only coloured silver and bronze, "we take the fight to Circe," Wonder Woman declared, drawing her sword. Chapter 8Meanwhile, back with Circe. "Something's wrong," Circe said, "I feel it, Fimbulwinter has stopped." She turned to Loki, "you've been awfully quiet," she stated, "surly, you have sensed the disruption too?" "I'm sure it's nothing," Loki replied, starting to visibly sweat, "maybe it will sort itself out and..." "You're very strange today," Circe commented. Loki was about to answer, when Twilight and others all burst through the throne room doors. "Circe!" Wonder Woman declared, pointing her sword directly at the witch, "your time is over!" "What?!" Circe exclaimed, "Still alive? But how?!" Then she noticed Loki standing with the heroes, then she turned to face the Loki standing alongside her. "Well," other Loki said, "this is awkward." In a puff of green smoke, the other Loki vanished. Circe turned to face the real Loki, a look of ungodly anger on her face. "Treachery!" she shrieked, "you dare plot against me?!" "You're one to talk," Loki retorted, "you were planing on be betraying me!" "Well, I should have known better," Circe said, "after all, you should never trust a trickster." "Enough!" Wonder Woman interrupted, "you are going back where you belong, Circe!" "Never!" Circe roared, she fired a blast of magical energy at the Amazon. Wonder Woman, using her bracelets, blocked the blast and retaliated. Circe noticed the armour Wonder Woman, Donna Troy and Wonder Girl wore. "The armour of Asteria?" she said, "you really think some crusty relic can give you the power to defeat me?" "No," Wonder Woman replied, "I have something better than any armour or weapon." "And what is that?" Circe asked, as she fired off more mystical blasts. "The Power of Friendship," Twilight cried, as she and the rest of the Champions and Amazons joined in the battle. Circe cackled, someone as powerful as her viewed friendship as something beneath her. "You really think," she laughed, "you really think, that you can defeat me with friendship?" "I know we can," Rainbow Dash retorted, "but also it doesn't hurt that, we have the god of mischief on our side." "Indeed," Loki nodded, "and I'm going to show you some real magic tricks, witch." "In that case," Circe remarked, "allow me to add some more players to the board." Circe, using her magic, opened up a portal and from it emerged a Tarandos, a Ceraste and a Crocotta. "Finish them, my pets," Circe commanded. The creatures obeyed and charged at the heroes. Wonder Woman, Twilight, her friends and their allies all battled the mythical creatures. The Tarandos was tricky, because it could camouflage itself to blend in with its environment. Luckily, Spider-Girl was able to fight the beast very effectively, using her Spider-sense. She waited for the creature to attack her and then counterattacked. The Ceraste was fairly easy to deal with, Rainbow Dash held her own against the creature. She used her speed to make the creature focus on her, tricking it into ramming into a wall. After a few more repeats of the same thing, the Creaste finally knocked itself out. Lastly, the final creature, the Crocotta, which the Champions took out using their new found combat experience. Wonder Woman was impressed with how far the heroes had come since coming to the island. Kate Bishop tried to delay the creature with some explosive arrows, but the creature simply shrugged off the attack. Fortunately, Stinger was able to hit the creature with one of her Pym dishes, shrinking it down and making it more manageable. Once the creatures had been dealt with, the heroes all regrouped for their final battle with Circe. "It's over," Wonder Woman proclaimed, "stop hiding behind your pets, you coward!" "Yeah," Rainbow Dash added, "quit slithering around and fight fairly, you snake." "A snake, huh?" Circe smiled, "let me show you just how snake-like I can be." Circe cackled as her body was enveloped in purple pink light, Twilight and the others shielded their eyes from the bright light. Once the light had cleared, Circe's new form was revealed, she had transformed into a giant Naga, a creature with the bottom half a snake, the top half of a human with a second pair of arms. "How'ssss thisss?" Circe smirked, as she conjured some swords, one in each of her four arms. "You just had to call her a snake," Sunset said, as Circe towered over them. "Hey," Rainbow Dash replied, "I didn't think she would take it literally." "Focus everyone," Twilight said, "here she comes." Twilight, her friends and their allies all assumed battle stances. "Sso be it," Circe hissed, "then come and facesss your end." With that, the heroes charged at the giant snake sorceress. Wonder Woman, Donna Troy and Wonder Girl all tried to attack together but Circe swotted them away as if they were flies. Twilight, the rest of the Champions, her friends and Loki attacked from multiple positions, making it so that Circe couldn't consecrate. "Don't let up!" Sunset called, "sooner or later we're going to wear her down." "Foolsss," Circe whispered, "no mortal or Amazon may harm me unless I wish it." It was then that Circe was hit by a blast of green magic from Loki, "What about an Asgardian?" he declared. Circe glared down at him, "You are beneath me," she snarled, "onccce my conquessst of midgard isss complete, Assgard will be nexxxxt." "My father and brother will stop you," Loki retorted, "or failing that, I will stop you." Circe laughed, the mere idea of, what she saw, as a lower god trying to defeat her was simply laughable. "You?" she said, "you were merely a means to an end, nothing more." "Underestimate me," Loki replied, "and you will live to regret it." "Ooo," Circe cooed, "I'm ssso ssscared." Loki fired off a couple more blasts of magic, which Circe dodged, after which she grabbed Loki bringing him closer to her face. "Sssso you have chosen death," she smirked, "ssso be it, like your sssister before you, you will fall." Circe showed Loki the frozen figure of Angela. "How dare you!" Loki shouted. He tried to attack Circe, but like before she swatted him away. Loki was saved from hitting the ground, by Spider-Girl with her webbing. "Restrain her," he cried, "I've got an idea on how to take her down." "Roger," Twilight and the others all replied. She and rest of her team once again, charged at Circe with Wonder Woman and her allies running interference. After a while, Circe looked like she was growing tired. "Now!" Loki shouted. Twilight nodded, she and the rest of the girls, using their lantern rings to restrain Circe, now that she had been weakened. Wonder Woman and her allies also doing their part to restrain Circe. Circe struggled against her restraints, but due to her weakened state her efforts were futile. "Whatever you're going to do," Valkyrie said, "do it now!" Loki nodded, before Circe could react, he grabbed into Circe's head, her eye's glowed green and then glazed over, shortly after Circe slumped over and reverted back to her regular form. "What did you do?" Twilight asked, as she and the others all gathered around the defeated witch. "I enchanted her," Loki explained. "Yeah..." Rainbow Dash said, "could you put that in terms those of us who don't understand magic." "Yes, I'd like to know that too," Twilight added, Midnight nodding in agreement, "for research purposes." "Well," Loki explained, "for enchantment to work, I have to make physical contact and then grab hold of their mind." "How's that work?" Applejack asked. "Depends on the mind," Loki replied, "most are easy and I can overtake them instantly, others the stronger ones it gets tricky." "Tricky?" Thunder repeated. "I'm in control," Loki continued, "but they're there too, in order to preserve the connection I have create a fantasy from their memories." "So, basically," Sunset said, "you put her in a hyper dream state." "Correct," Loki nodded, "you seem to be quite familiar with this kind of magic." "Lets just say," Sunset answered, "that I've studied magic similar to that once." "Well," Rarity said, "what happens now?" "Now that Circe is down," Wonder Woman replied, "all her magic should start reseeding." As if in answer, the members of Champions reverted back from their animal forms to their human forms. "Finally," Thunder said, "all that fur was getting really hot." "And those Kangaroo legs," Ms. Marvel agreed, "it was getting really hard to walk properly." "Wait," Fluttershy interjected, "if Circe's magic is reseeding and the island is still in the air doesn't that mean...." Suddenly, the ground began to shake. "The island is falling!" Kate Bishop shouted. "Quickly!" Wonder Woman shouted, "we must act fast!" "What about us?" Thunder asked, "some of us can't fly or have super strength." "Then do what you can," Donna Troy replied, "the rest of us will try and slow the island's decent." With that, Wonder Woman, Donna Troy and Wonder Girl and most of the girls, headed out of the throne room and took to the sky, every second the ocean got closer as the island got closer to the ground. "Alright, everyone," Twilight said, "we have to slow the island's decent in anyway we can." The girls nodded, using their lantern rings, they created small rockets that they stationed at the corners of Themyscira. Once they were set up, they activated them, meanwhile Wonder Woman, Donna and Wonder Girl were doing their part in slowing the island decent, using every ounce of their strength. "It's no good, Twi!" Applejack shouted, "it's going too fast!" "We have to try!" Twilight called, "even if we have sacrifice our lives!" "Right!" Sunset nodded, "because that is what it means to be a hero, right?!" The others all agreed, they pushed even harder but the island still continued to plummet. "I think this is it, y'all!" Applejack proclaimed, as the ocean came rushing towards them. But instead of hitting the water, the island slowed to a stop and gently lowered itself back into its original spot. "Did we do that?" Midnight asked. "Not quite," Twilight replied, "look." They all look up and saw Superman along with heroes, Blue Marvel, Sentry and Martian Manhunter. "It seems my distress call was answered," Wonder Woman said. After the island was secured, Twilight and the others met with their other friends on the ground. "What about Circe?" Twilight asked, "what will happen to her?" "Oh, don't worry," Wonder Woman replied, "Loki gave me a few ideas." Later. Circe jerked awake from her enchantment. She looked around, realising where she was, the Isle of Silence. She tried to scream, to curse Queen Hippolyta and her daughter to the depths of Tartarus. But no sound came from her mouth, due the nature of the Isle of Silence, no sound could exist. All Circe could do was scream in silent anger. EpilogueTwilight, her friends and the rest of the Champions all stood before Queen Hippolyta, Wonder Woman, Angela and the rest of the Amazons. With Circe banished to the Isle of Silence, all her magic had completely vanished from the island. "My fellow Amazons," Queen Hippolyta declared, "we are gathered here today to celebrate a momentous occasion, to give thanks to my daughter Diana, her allies and their friends, the Champions." A chorus of cheers erupted from the assembled crowd. "And now," Queen Hippolyta continued, once the cheering had died down, "to show our gratitude, we present these gifts." She gestured and some golden laurel wreaths were brought out. "I would also like to recognise the Champions as fellow Amazons and sisters in arms," Queen Hippolyta finished. Again, a chorus of cheers erupted from the crowd as Twilight and the others approached the queen to receive their gifts. "Thank you, your majesty," Twilight said, "it is an honour to be counted among your people." "On the contrary," Queen Hippolyta smiled, "it is I who should be thanking you, if not for your arrival then Circe would have surely managed to take the island and the rest of Man's world." "Your majesty," Twilight responded, "I hate to correct you, but we're not the only ones you should be thanking." "Who else?" Queen Hippolyta asked. "Loki, your highness," Applejack answered. "Loki of Asgard?" Queen Hippolyta exclaimed, "Loki, the trickster and god of mischief?" "The very same," Loki said, bowing as he revealed himself in front of the assembled Amazons. The crowd gasp, not able to believe that Loki, of all people, had been the one to save them along with the Champions and Wonder Woman. "Is this true, son of Odin?" Queen Hippolyta queried, "did you risk your life to save my home and sisters?" "Indeed, your highness," Loki answered, "these mortals have shown me the value and the power that friendship has." Queen Hippolyta stared daggers at Loki, not quite willing to believe Loki's words. "He speaks the truth, mother," Wonder Woman said, "Loki risked his life many times to aid us in our defeat of Circe." "If you do not believe my words," Loki said, "then believe the word of your daughter, she is the spirit of truth, after all." Queen Hippolyta was about answer, but was interrupted as a loud boom was heard, followed by a bright flash of rainbow light. After the light had dissipated, a figure appeared, it was Lady Sif, a fearsome Asgardian warrior, an ally of Thor and the Warriors Three. "Loki Odinson!" she cried, "your father wishes to see you, regarding the recent theft of the Casket of Ancient Winters from his vault." "Whoops," Loki smiled, "I guess someone notice it was missing." He turned to Queen Hippolyta, "I guess that's my cue to leave," he sighed. Loki turned to face Twilight and the rest of the Champions, "thank you," he said, "for letting me experience the magic of friendship." He turned back to Sif, "I'm ready," he stated. "Don't even try any of your tricks on me," Sif retorted. "No tricks this time," Loki replied, sincerely, "I'm ready to face my father." "Before you go," Wonder Woman interceded, "tell Odin of all the good that Loki has done here today, surely Heimdall has been watching the events of Midgard unfold." "I will be sure to ask him," Sif answered, "once Odin and Thor return to Asgard, Loki's punishment will be decided." "I will accept whatever punishment father deems worthy," Loki said. "Very well," Sif nodded, "at any rate, we must be going." With that, Sif took Loki's hand and there was another loud boom, a flash and the two Asgardians disappeared. Later, at the end of the day and back in Canterlot city. Twilight flopped into her bed, completely exhausted and glad to be back home after everything she, her friends and their allies had gone through, she just wanted to fall asleep. All in all, Twilight felt that her idea of extra combat training was a success. She was about to fall asleep, when she noticed something on her bedside table. It was an envelope with a strange seal on it, she knew it hadn't been there when she entered her room. Her curiosity having peaked, Twilight opened the envelop, exposing its contents. Inside the envelop was an invitation, it read: Twilight Sparkle, the rest of the Champions and the heroes of the world you are cordially invited to participate in the multiversal Contest of Champions Details will be provided upon your acceptance. Congratulations! Twilight put the envelop down, not fully understanding if what she had read was real or not. But she was far too tired to think about it now, the next day however, she would call everyone together and show them what she had been given. To be continued.....in the Contest of Champions Chapter 4The next day, training continued. This session being training with mock weapons and various other equipment. One of the various weapons included a bow and arrow, this gave Kate Bishop a chance to show off her archery skills. She repeatedly managed to hit the bullseye dead on, even managing to stack three arrows on top of each other. Both Angela and Wonder Woman were both impress and surprised by Kate's bow skills. "By Odin's beard," Angela exclaimed. "Indeed," Wonder Woman nodded, "she could give the goddess Artemis and Faradai of the Light Elves a run for their money." "I learned from the best," Kate replied, with a smile. As the training carried on and got progressively harder, Twilight and the others continuously bested and cheered each other on through all the challenges put in front of them. Their teamwork was starting to impress Angela, who had worked as part of a team and knew that importance of help allies in anyway, shape or form. As their synergy began to improve, suddenly snow began to fall and the weather turned instantly colder. "Snow?" Fluttershy said, "but it's the middle of summer." "Oh, bother," Rarity exclaimed, "and I only packed summer attire and these Amazon trappings are not suitable for cold weather." "Maybe Equestrian magic is on the loose again," Sunset suggested, thinking that Equestrian Windigos has somehow ended up in the human world, the human world had its own version of Windigos, but they were very different the ones she knew. "This is indeed no normal weather," Wonder Woman stated, "this all has the smell of magic about it." "Indeed," Angela said, "this can only be caused by the Casket of Ancient Winters." "How can that be?" Wonder Woman asked, "the casket is suppose be in Odin's vault under heavy guard." By this time, the snow had become a full on blizzard and creatures made of ice began to emerging from the snow. "So what exactly is this Casket of Ancient Winters?" Twilight asked. "It is a casket," Angela explained, "which contains the Fimbulwinter of Ymir, a magical winter that will destroy the world, unless we find the casket and close it, all of Midgard will be consumed by the Fimbulwinter." "We must inform the Queen," Rainbow Dash said, "maybe we can contact other heroes to coordinate a search for this thing." Suddenly the ground began to shake, signalling something big was approaching. Everyone was one their guard, when seemingly out of nowhere stepped a hulking figure, clad in armour. Angela recognised the figure immediately, "Kurse?!" she said, "impossible, you're dead." Kurse simply roared and tried to smash the group with his massive hands. "Get to the throne room," Wonder Woman ordered, "Angela and I will buy you some time." "Right," Twilight nodded, she and the others dashed past the ice creatures, heading for the throne room. Angela turned to Nubia and other young Amazons. "You," she ordered, "with me." Moments later, at the entrance to the throne room. The group paused to catch their breath and recover from the cold weather raging outside. "This day started out so well," Rarity said, "and now some crazy magical mcguffin is going to turn the world into a snow cone." "Well," Twilight stated, "hopefully, Queen Hippolyta and Amazons might be able to help get a message to the Justice Force." Now that they had taken a moment to warm up and strategise, Twilight and the others entered the throne room. The sight that greeted them was equal parts surprising, horrifying and startling. Queen Hippolyta and her guards had all been turned into different forms of animals, they could only tell they were the people in question because they were wearing items of clothing. At the centre of the room, sitting on the Queen Hippolyta's throne was the one responsible for the transformations, Circe. "Why hello there," the witch greeted. "Circe," Donna Troy proclaimed. "Who?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Circe," Twilight answered, "the witch from the Odyssey." Rainbow Dash, along with the others, gave Twilight a confused and guilty look. "Am I the only one who paid attention in history class?" Twilight asked. "Can we focus, please," Sunset said. "Agreed," Wonder Girl nodded, "as I recall, Circe, Queen Hippolyta imprisoned you in the depths of Tartarus, with zero case of parole." Circe smiled, "I had a little help," she replied. "From who?" Stinger asked. As if in answer, Circe's partner in crime, stepped out from behind the throne. Twilight and the others recognised who it was instantly, the Asgardian god of mischief along with being Thor and Angela's adopted brother, Loki. "I believe that would be me," he declared, "hello, trickster god, hi." "I take it, you're the one that stole the Casket of Ancient Winters from Odin's vault?" Donna Troy asked. "Guilty as charged," Loki replied, "I made Circe an offer she can't refuse." "Which was...?" Thunder asked. "He offered me freedom and revenge on Princess Diana, her mother and their homeland," Circe replied. "Making deals Loki?" Wonder Girl said, "that doesn't seem like you, not like you to play second fiddle to someone else." "Nice try," Loki smiled, "but me and Circe, it turns out, share a goal." "We both want to rule the world," Circe finished, "or something close to that." "If you want the world," Twilight said, "then you have to go through us." Circe's smile widened, "With pleasure," she laughed, with a flick of her wrist she summoned forth, a Minocentaur, a creature that was a fusion of a Minotaur and a Centaur. "Go, my beast," Circe proclaimed, "teach these mortals who is the future queen of this world." With a terrible roar, the Minocentaur, rushed towards the heroes. They ran, heading for the exit, Kate Bishop firing an arrow at Circe, as they ran, but with a snap of her fingers the arrow transformed into a snake that slithered away. Luckily, the team managed to make it to the door, just before the Minocentaur could get its hands on them. It continued to chase them, even outside in the blizzard. "We need to lose it," Applejack cried, "then we need to find Wonder Woman and tell her what's going on." "And how do we do that?!" Rarity asked. "First," Midnight said, "we need to stop it from moving, that'll make it easier to deal with." Twilight nodded, "we need some breathing room," she stated. "I'll distract it," Rainbow Dash stated, "that'll give you guys time to think of a plan." Using her geode, Rainbow Dash began running in circles around the Minocentaur, making it pay attention to her and not the others, she added to her distraction by taunting the creature. "Hey freakshow," she jeered, "if you're a Centaur and Minotaur, does that mean your half horse, half bull and half man?" The Minocentur simply roared in response. "Hey," Rainbow Dash replied, "was that horse or a bull noise? Pick one, please." While the creature was distracted, the others had quickly come up with a plan. Once the plan had been formulated, Twilight told Rainbow Dash to get clear after which she, Midnight, Rarity and Fluttershy using their lantern rings to bind the creature with Applejack and Thunder delivering the finishing blow. Upon the blow being delivered, the Minocentaur vanished in puff of smoke. "An illusion?!" Squirrel Girl exclaimed. "Must have been Circe's plan to lure us away from the Casket of Ancient Winters," Spider-Girl realised, "it has to be hidden somewhere on the island." "We can worry about that later," Stinger said, "right now, we need to find Wonder Woman and the others and warn them." Everyone nodded, but as they were about move off more of the ice creatures from before, rose from the snow surrounding them. "I suggest we run," Sunset stated. "Yeah," Applejack nodded, "and fast." As the snow creatures advanced on them, the group made a mad dash away from them, but, the blizzard made it hard to tell which direction was which. The snow creatures, despite being big, were surprisingly fast and managed to keep up with them. "It's no use," Lightning cried, "they're gaining on us and we can't tell where anything is because of all this snow." "And on top of that," Thunder added, "every time we beat one of these things another one rises up." "There are too many of them to fight," Fluttershy cried, "what should we do?" "Fight anyway," Twilight answered, lighting up her lantern ring. As one of the creatures was about to attack a figure emerged from the blizzard and effortlessly annihilated all the snow creature with a few moves. "Wow," Ms. Marvel breathed, "that was just...wow." The figure turn, noticed the group and approached revealing herself to be Jane Foster, formerly the holding of the title of Thor, now the hero Valkyrie. "You must be the Champions," she greeted, "we meet again." In the intervening time, the original owner of the Thor name, Thor Odinson, had reclaimed his powers and title. In appreciation of her dedication and heroism, Thor's father, Odin had granted Jane Foster the powers of a Valkyrie. Along with her new powers, Jane had also received Undrjarn the All-Weapon, a magical vambrace that could turn into any weapon she needed. "Dr. Foster," Twilight replied, "thanks for the assist, your arrival couldn't have come more sooner." "Indeed," Valkyrie nodded, "Odin informed me about the theft of the Casket from his vault, I arrived here as fast as I could." "And thank goodness for that," Rarity replied, "unless we find that Casket, this whole island and the whole world will experience another ice age." "We need to find Wonder Woman and the others," Sunset stated, "then we can regroup and go after Loki and Circe." "Agreed," Valkyrie nodded. The group along with Valkyrie, continued on their way, trying to navigate through the thick blizzard raging on. Applejack and Rainbow Dash used their lantern rings to create a snowplough construct to create a path and to clear the snow, as it was starting to pile up. They had almost thought they were completely lost, when they managed to stumble across Wonder Woman, Angela and other young Amazons. After quickly explaining the situation, along with Valkyrie's presents, Angela was ready to go on the warpath against Circe and her adoptive brother. "Do not be a fool, Angela" Wonder Woman said, "charging in without a plan is reckless." "Princess Diana is right," Valkyrie nodded, "as Twilight has said, we must find the Casket of Ancient Winters and close it first, then we can deal with Circe and Loki." "Go on your hunt," Angela replied, "but I will go and deal with the witch and my brother, alone." Without another word, Angela draw her twin blades, called Ichors, and rush off into the blizzard. Wonder Woman sighed, "Just like Thor," she breathed, "always leaping before he looks." She turned to Artemis and Nubia, "go with her," she ordered, "it would be good for Angela to have some support." The two nodded and dashed off after Angela. "Anyway," Wonder Woman continued, "we need to split up and search for the Casket, once we find it and close it, we can end this whole thing." With that, the group split into pairs. They were about to move out when suddenly an energy dome appeared, sealing off the island from the rest of the world, essentially turning the island into a giant snow globe. "It's Circe," Wonder Woman said, "she's isolating the island." Shortly after the dome had been put up, the ground shook as the entire island began lifting out of the water and into the sky. "Find the Casket, now!" Wonder Woman cried, "then we must deal with Circe and Loki."
Chapter 1"Everyone," Twilight said, "thank you for coming." Twilight and her friends were gathered in Twilight's house, as she had called them all in for a meeting. "You wanna explain what this is all about, Twi?" Applejack asked. "Yeah," Rainbow Dash nodded, "I got a ton of things on my plate today." "Like cupcakes," Pinkie Pie said, "mmmm, cupcakes with frosting," she drooled licking lips. "I think what Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie are trying to say," Rarity interjected, "would you mind explaining why you called us all here to your house and in such a formal way?" Sunset Shimmer, Midnight Sparkle and Fluttershy all nodded in agreements, they too were keen to know the answer and the reason. "Well, you see," Twilight replied, "I feel like in most fights we've been in, we've only managed to win by the skin of our teeth or through shear dumb luck." "What?!" everyone collectively exclaimed. "I have reviewed some of our recent fights," Twilight continued, setting up her laptop, a projector and some footage showing some of the fights between the Champions and various villains they had fought, "and one thing became clear." "Wait a minute," Midnight said, "you record our fights?" "For research purposes," Twilight replied, as she pulled up the first video, a battle they had had with the villains Blue Snowman and Blizzard. "I remember that one," Rainbow Dash said, as she and the others watched the footage play, "we really kicked some ice that day." "Your missing the point," Twilight replied, "we only managed to beat them because we overheard Blizzard saying he was planning on double crossing his partner." She then pulled up some different footage of another fight, this one a battle with the villains, Killer Moth and The Fly. "We only to beat them," Twilight continued, "because both Killer Moth and The Fly were too incompetent and bumbling to stay focused." "We still beat them," Applejack said, "a win is a win." "And finally," Twilight carried on, pulling up one final video, "our fight with The Royal Flush Gang." The video played showing the Champions fighting the criminal group, the aforementioned Royal Flush Gang. "Oh," Rainbow Dash said, nervously rubbing the back of her head, "yeah, that fight didn't go well." The others nodded as they recalled the incident in question. Sunset Shimmer was about to argue, but stopped as she and the other girls were beginning to understand what Twilight was driving at. "I'm glad you're starting to understand my point," Twilight concluded, "we are relying to much on our powers too and we're in need of a little extra combat training." "I guess so," Fluttershy nodded. "Yeah," Rainbow Dash agreed. The rest of the girls all nodded, they realised that Twilight was right, when she we right. "Which is why," Twilight declared, "I took the liberty of signing us all up for a intensive training regiment on Themyscira." "Themyscira?" Rarity echoed. "Paradise Island?" Applejack said. "The home of the Amazons?" Fluttershy asked. "That sounds..." Sunset began. "Awesome!" Rainbow Dash interrupted. "I'm glad you all approve," Twilight smiled, "you guys better pack, our transportation will be arriving shortly." "I'd better pack plenty of sunscreen," Rarity stated, "the opportunity of a sun tan cannot be missed." "Remember," Twilight instructed, "this isn't a holiday, this is an opportunity to improve and learn new combat skills." "Alright, darling," Rarity replied, "but don't you forget people learn at their own pace." A few moments later. The girls were packed and ready to depart. As usual, Rarity had over packed but had been convinced by everyone how to only pack the essentials. Both Fluttershy and Twilight were bringing their pets Angel and Spike with them. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Sunset and Midnight were all similarly packed and ready to go. "Everybody ready?" Twilight said, once they had all done some final checks to make sure they had everything, or in Rarity's case mostly everything. "Yeah," the others answered. "Alright," Twilight replied, "we'll be picking some of our teammates along the way, I sent invitations out but only a few were available." "Great," Rainbow Dash smiled, "the more the merrier." "One question though, Twi," Applejack interjected, "how exactly are we going to get to this Paradise Island?" "Well..." Twilight began, but before she could continue the sound of a jet engine was heard from outside the house. Twilight and the others all headed outside, to be greeted by Donna Troy and Cassandra Elizabeth "Cassie" Sandsmark a.k.a. Wonder Girl, the jet engine sound was coming from the Invisible Jet that Donna was piloting. "Oh," Applejack said, "right." "Yay," Pinkie cheered, "Themyscira here we come!"
Chapter 2Hours later. Twilight and her friends were on their way to Themyscira, they had picked up some of their teammates from their superhero team the Champions and were now cruising above the clouds in the invisible jet. The teammates were: Squirrel Girl, Hawkeye (Kate Bishop), Thunder and Lighting, Ms. Marvel (Kamala Khan), Stinger and Spider-Girl (Anã Corazón). Everyone was amazed at the invisible jet and when Twilight had explained the situation they had all been gung-ho about the idea. "This is so cool," Rainbow Dash said, barely able to contain herself, "this is going to be the best vacation ever!" "Remember, Rainbow," Twilight stated, "this isn't a vacation, this is an opportunity to improve our combat skills and maybe learn how to work better as team and as heroes." "Yeah, yeah," Rainbow Dash replied, "take from me, as captain of every sports team at CHS, it's important to know your limits and not push your team too hard, everyone learns at a different pace." Rainbow Dash's words resonated with Twilight, did she have the team's best interests at heart? She shook it off, this was for the good of her friends and teammates. Twilight's thoughts were interrupted by the voice of Wonder Girl, "Attention, passengers," she declared, "this is your captain speaking, please fasten your seatbelts as we are about to make our descent towards Themyscira, thank for flying with us today on Amazonian airlines, hope you enjoyed your flight." Everyone returned to their seats as instructed and the jet began to dip below the clouds. Laid before them was the beautiful Themyscira, Paradise island. A unified 'wow' broke forth from everyone on board the jet. The invisible jet proceeded to land on the island, after which everyone disembarked and were taken to meet the ruler of Themyscira and mother of Wonder Woman, Queen Hippolyta. "I must say," Rarity remarked, "the architecture is simply beautiful." Themyscira contained stunning green landscapes, greco-roman architecture, Hellenic temples and columns from 1200 BCE. "I'll say," Fluttershy nodded, "it's like we stepped back in time to ancient Greece." The truth couldn't be more true, Amazons and their island had existed since the Roman Empire. After a few minutes, Twilight and the others arrived at the throne room. Donna Troy and Wonder Girl both bowed before the queen, Twilight and the others following their example. "Welcome home, sisters Donna and Cassie," Queen Hippolyta said, "and I see you have brought company." "Indeed, my queen," Donna Troy replied, "our friends have come here in search of wisdom and skill in the art of combat." Donna motioned to Twilight and the others, one after the other they all introduced themselves to the queen, making sure to be as respectful as possible. "Donna and Cassie have informed me," Queen Hippolyta said, "that your skills in combat are in need of improvement, yes?" "Yes," Twilight answered, "please, mighty Queen Hippolyta," she urged, "I feel that my companions are in need of expert combat training and I feel that your world would be ideal to teach us, so we can better protect the outside world from any threat that may come our way." The queen smiled, "I can sense the sincerity in your words," she stated, "we understand your plight and shall accept your request, we shall endeavour to train you as we would train our fellow Amazons." Twilight smiled, thankful that her request had been accepted. "Oh thank you, Queen Hippolyta," she smiled, "thank you for your kindness." "Donna and Cassie have told me many stories about you and your friends," Queen Hippolyta replied, "I simply wanted to see for myself, to see your drive and dedication first hand, I can safely say that they were right." Queen Hippolyta turned to Donna and Cassie, "show our guests to where they will be staying," she said, "as of today, you all are honorary Amazons, now go and get some rest, your training shall begin tomorrow." After their meeting with the queen, Donna and Cassie escorted Twilight and the rest to their living quarters, they were two-person rooms so they split into pairs. Along with their quarters everyone was provided with appropriate clothing, like the island's architecture the clothing worn by the inhabitants of Themyscira were Roman Stola, the female equivalent of the male Toga. Once everyone had picked their roommates, Twilight and her friends went to sleep, not knowing what would come their way, but confident they could rise to meet the challenge.
Chapter 3The next morning. Twilight, her friends and the others all woke up, got dressed in their Stola, Rarity particularly like the chance to wear authentic Roman clothing. Once they had all dressed themselves, they all headed for the dining hall. Along with herself, her friends and teammates, Twilight's group were joined by some local Amazons who were also in training they were: Yara Flor, Nubia, Mala and Artemis. After they had all eaten they were all taken to the assembly hall, where they were introduced to their instructors, Princess Diana a.k.a. Wonder Woman and Aldrif Odinsdottir a.k.a. Angela. Angela was a seasoned warrior, the sister of Thor Odinson, on-again-off-again ally of the heroes Spawn and Nightwatch, and part time member of the Guardians of the Galaxy, she had been raised by the Angels of the tenth realm, Heven. Once they were all assembled Wonder Woman spoke. "Sisters, friends, Angela" she declared, "I hope you are ready as the training you are all about to undertake is not for those who are not possessed of strong will and resolve." "Heed Princess Diana's words," Angela said, "this is your last chance to turn back, for once the training starts we cannot promise that you will be the same people you were when you finish, do you understand?" For a second, everyone exchanged glances. Were they ready for what was about to happen? Did they have the will to over come the trials that lay ahead? Then they remembered all hurdles they had overcome already: Parallax, Kang the Conquer, Starro and Cosmos. They had proved they were ready for even the hardest challenges. "We are ready!" everyone collectively yelled, in answer to Angela's question. "Very well," Angela smiled, "let us begin." The training began slowly, starting with basic warmups, then moving to more intense exercises as the day went on. Some like Fluttershy and Twilight, struggled at first but over time started to find their groove. Others like Rainbow Dash and Applejack, were quick to find their rhythm and started to get competitive with each other. "Do you think we get lunch breaks or cool down time?" Ms. Marvel asked. "Do you think your enemy will let you take a lunch break?" Angela asked, "your enemy will never tire, your enemy will never show mercy, your enemy will never stop until you and everyone you care about is destroyed." Angela continued to watch as the training carried on in front of her, Wonder Woman looked on with concern in her eyes. The training went on for what seemed like an eternity but, finally at sunset, Angela called for everyone to stop and take a rest and get something to eat. As everyone left, Wonder Woman pulled Angela aside, "I feel that your training methods are a little extreme," she said, "you must remember these are mortals, they are not built the same as you and me, if you push them too much, then they'll break." "If they break," Angela replied, "then they are not worthy of the powers they wield." Wonder Woman sighed, "all that talk of worthiness," she retorted, "you sound just like your brother, Thor, but you lack his most important aspect." "And what would that be?" Angela asked. "You lack his compassion and empathy," Wonder Woman answered, "maybe you should spent some time among mortals, experiencing all that they have to offer, their accomplishments and their advancements." "How naive," Angela retorted, "you have spent so much time with these mortals that it has blinded you to one single fact." "And that is?" Wonder Woman inquired. "That as much as these mortals have advanced," Angela stated, "they are still the same barbarians that their ancestors were." Wonder Woman began to walk away heading towards the dining hall, she turned to face Angela. "Mortals may still have the capacity for war," she said, "but they equally have the capacity for peace." "I beg to differ," Angela retorted, "look at the last few years, the wars and extreme loss of life, mortals are animals then, they're animals now." "Perhaps the same could be said for Amazons and Asgardians," Wonder Woman replied, "for a time we both know only war, but over time we learned the ways of peace." "You may be right," Angela responded, "but if these mortals wish to protect this world, they must be ready for anything, my methods are simply pushing them to reach their full potential." Wonder Woman nodded, Angela seemed to understand her point of view and she, in turn, understood Angela's point of view. With that, she continued towards the dining hall, leaving Angela alone. As Wonder Woman approached the dining hall entrance, she could hear the voices of Twilight and the others. She was surprised by what she heard, thinking that their guests would be exhausted, tired and wanting to quit. But instead, the voices were fulled with enthusiasm and energy. "That was amazing," Rainbow Dash said, "I feel alive, I can't remember the last time I've felt like this." "I do have to admit," Ms. Marvel smiled, "it was hard at first, but once you get into the swing of things it's really fun." "Yeah," Thunder nodded, "a few hours ago I was barely holding on, but now, I feel like I can take on the world." "I hear that," Applejack agreed, "I feel strong, I feel like I could pick all the apple trees clear, back home." "Well, I'm glad to hear that," Wonder Woman said, as she entered the room, "I was worried that Angela's methods were a little extreme for you to handle, I see I was mistaken." "You're not entirely wrong," Twilight responded, "they were, at first, but how are we supposed to grow as heroes and as a team, if we don't push ourselves and our powers to the limit." "That is very admirable," Wonder Woman replied, "but it is important to know where one's limits lie and it is important to not to push your limits too far." "Yeah," Rainbow Dash nodded, "some limits are made to be broken, but not all limits should be broken." "You speak wisdom," said a voice. Angela, who had been listening in on the conversation, suddenly entered the room. "Your words are true," she continued, "but how can one truly know where their limits are, if they do not push themselves to the absolute limit?" "Because," Rainbow Dash replied, "if we didn't have a limit to our powers, we'd be gods." At the moment, Wonder Woman interrupted the conversation before it could go any further. "How about we agree that we made progress to today," she said, "and that it is important to know one's limits and push some but not all limits?" "Yeah," Rainbow Dash answered, "I can agree with that." "Indeed," Angela nodded, "after all, this world already has enough gods and monsters, we don't need anymore." Elsewhere. The witch Circe watched, through her scrying pool, as Wonder Woman and everyone else enjoyed their evening with much merriment. "Well, don't celebrate too soon, Princess Diana," she grinned, "soon you shall feel my wraith." She cackled with laughter, "and this time will be different," she continued, "because I'm not alone." From out of the shadows stepped, Loki, Thor and Angela's adopted brother.
Chapter 5"Ah," Circe breathed, as the island continued to rise into the sky, "the world will be mine, with Themyscira as my throne." "Ours," Loki corrected, "the world will be ours, you mean." "Of course," Circe replied, smiling innocently, "forgive me, I must have misspoken." "Right...." Loki murmured, he was beginning to get suspicious of his partner in crime. Meanwhile. The heroes had all split into teams and were now searching the island for any clues that could lead to the location of the Casket of Ancient Winters. "Good luck," Wonder Woman said, "and may Athena watch over you all." "You too," Spider-Girl nodded. With that, the teams separated, each going to a different point on the island. After a while, they hadn't made any progress, but their day was about to get even worse. "We've been walking for hours," Rarity whined, "everything looks that same because of this infuriating snow." "Until we find the casket," Twilight responded, "Fimbulwinter will be eternal and the world will be lost." "Guys," Spider-Girl said, "I feel funny." "Me too," Ms. Marvel replied. The others turned to look at their teammates and to their surprise and shock, they saw that Spider-Girl had grown a tail, more specifically the tail of a monkey. Ms. Marvel on the other hand, had started turning into a Kangaroo, her feet had already transformed into those of the animal in question and a pouch was slowly beginning to form underneath her costume. Oddly, they seemed to be the only two in their team effected, Twilight, Rarity, Midnight and Squirrel Girl weren't effected by the phenomena. "What?!" Spider-Girl said. "How?" Ms. Marvel said. "It's Circe's magic" Twilight stated, "it seemed that the longer she remained on the island the more powerful her magic becomes." "If her magic is growing stronger," Ms. Marvel questioned, "then how come you three and Squirrel Girl aren't being effected?" Twilight thought for a moment, "Well," she answered, finally, "if I had to guess, the amount of Equestrian magic me, Sunset and the rest of our friends have been exposed to, had given us immunity to traditional magic or possibly ours geodes protect us or a combination of the two." "And I think the reason that Squirrel Girl isn't effected," Midnight added, "is that she's already part animal so maybe she's immune also since she already has animal features." "Regardless of the situation," Twilight said, "we need to keep looking for the casket." And so the heroes continued on their search, like before, the snow creatures that had menaced them in the beginning rose up to slow them down. "Keep fighting guys!" Twilight shouted, "we have to keep going." The heroes fought as hard as they could, but the cold weather was slowly starting to get them. Back with Angela. "Loki!" Angela cried, as she, Artemis and Nubia stood in the doorway to the throne-room. "Long time no see, dear sister," Loki said, "how have you been?" "Ah, yes," Circe smiled, "the outcast, stolen from Asgard and raised by angels, how quaint." "What's wrong, sister?" Loki asked, "no hug for your adopted brother?" "Enough!" Angela growled, "you will give up the location of the Casket of Ancient Winters or so help me...." She charged at Circe, Ichors ready to strike. "Lady Angela," Nubia cried, "wait!" But, before Angela could make a move, Circe snapped her fingers. In a flash, Angela's entire body was turned into diamond, which then fell to the ground with a loud clang. "Yes," Circe nodded, "she'll make a very nice chandelier or decorative addition to my throne-room." She focused her gaze on Artemis and Nubia. "You two will make great playthings for my pets," she declared, "how about a little cat and mouse." Before the Amazons could react, Circe transformed them into tiny defenceless mice. Then she ordered two tigers, which had been two Amazon soldiers, to chase and play with the two mice. Again, Loki, usually would be revelling in causing fear and tormenting to those he considered beneath him, but Circe's methods, surprisingly rubbed him the wrong way. Back with the heroes. "Come on, think," Twilight said, "if wanted to hide an extremely powerful magical item where would you put it?" "I can answer that," a new voice answered. Twilight and her team looked around and saw a figure shrouded in a black cloak standing in front of them. "Who are you?" Ms. Marvel asked. "Who I am," the stranger replied, his voice had an air of mystery about it, "is of no importance, simply know that I have the answer you seek." "You know where the Casket is?" Rarity asked. "Indeed," the stranger responded, "the casket is located at the Garden of Heroes." "How do you know this?" Twilight inquired. "And how do we know we can trust you?" Ms. Marvel added. "I know," the stranger replied, "because I know and you will trust me because you must." "That's not an answer," Squirrel Girl said, "drop the cryptic act already." "Oh come on!" the stranger responded, "haven't you heroes ever heard of theatricality?!" The stranger's voice had lost its mystery and now sounded familiar. "Pardon?" Rarity said, surprised and a little confused. "I mean..." the stranger said, trying to recover his mystique, "what I meant is..." He was about to continue, but, eventually sighed. "Oh, forget it," the stranger stated, finally, "I'm not going to sound cool anymore, am I?" Twilight and her teammates exchanged glances. The stranger pulled off his hood revealing their identity. "Loki?!" the girls collectively exclaimed. "Yep," Loki responded, "it's me, ta-da." He cracked a smile, "and I'm here to help you."
Chapter 6"Seriously," Ms. Marvel said, "you what?!" "Like I said before," Loki stated, "I'm here to help." "You'll have to forgive us if we don't believe you," Twilight retorted. "I understand," Loki replied, "but I assure you, I'm here to help." The girls still weren't convinced. "Perhaps you would trust be better in a different form?" Loki suggested, "maybe something like this?" In flash of green and golden light, Loki transformed into Thor. "Like this?" he said, in Thor's voice. "Slightly better," Ms. Marvel replied, "but no." "Very well," Loki nodded, shapeshifting into another form, this one the form of Timber Spruce. "How about this?" he asked. "No," Twilight answered, her cheeks going bright red. "How about this?" Loki asked, changing his form one final time, into that of Superman, "don't much care for the red trunks," he said, looking his form over, "but I feel the righteousness coursing through me, you wanna have a talk about truth, justice and the American way?" "Just give it up, Loki," Midnight said, "it doesn't matter what form you take, it doesn't change the fact you're still you." "Very well," Loki responded, "if I can't win your trust with a face you recognise, then I'll just be one of you." In another flash of green light, Loki transformed again, but this time into a female version of himself. "What do you think?" she asked, "is this enough?" The heroes all gave the god of mischief the same disapproving look. "What do I have to do to prove to you that I'm trustworthy?" Loki replied, as he reverted back to his normal form. "Hand over your weapons," Squirrel Girl stated. "What?" Loki exclaimed, "absolutely not, what if we get captured? How will I defend myself?" "If you want us to trust you," Twilight continued, "you'll give us your weapons." Loki was about to argue again, but the look in Twilight's eyes told him she was serious. "Very well," he sighed, finally. He handed over two daggers. "One last thing," Midnight said, her ring lit up. Before Loki could react, some yellow handcuff constructs clapped onto his wrist's. "Is this really necessary?" he asked, "I thought we were all allies here." "We are," Spider-Girl replied, "allies who trust but at the same time don't trust you." "What's wrong?" Midnight asked, with a cheeky smile on her face, "I thought the god of mischief liked tricks." "Now," Twilight said, "you said that the Casket was at the Garden of Heroes?" "Yes," Loki answered. "Then lead the way," Rarity ordered, "we'll follow behind." "I take it," Loki said, "I'll be your meat shield?" "No," Ms. Marvel smiled, "we just want to keep you where we can see you." "Now move it," Squirrel Girl ordered, "and don't get any funny ideas or you'll have answer to Tippy Toes." Squirrel Girl's pet sidekick, who had been with the Champions ever since they arrived on Themyscira, glared at Loki cracking his knuckles in an intimidating way. "If you're trying to scare me," Loki said, "you'll have to try harder, I've faced my brother and father countless times, faced the fury of the fire demon Surtur and faced the down the Mad Titan, I will not be intimidated by a Midgardian tree rat." Tippy Toes growled and prepared to leap at Loki, only to be grabbed and restrained by Squirrel Girl. "Tippy," she said, "let it go, you can beat the stuffing out of him, later." "Anyway," Twilight said, "I believe you were showing us the way to the Garden of Heroes?" "Yes," Loki nodded, "follow me, please." With that, the group followed Loki, making sure that they didn't lose sight of him. Hours later. Twilight's group arrived at their destination, the Garden of Heroes. Usually, it was a magnificent garden with statues of Earth's heroes as a way of honouring their legacy. But now, the garden was covered in snow and rendered barren and cold. "Alright," Twilight said, "now we have to signal the others to let them know where the Casket is hidden." Twilight held up her Lantern ring, firing a bright beam of green light into the sky. The beam was bright enough that the other teams could see it through the snow and wind, signalling them to head towards it. "There," Twilight said, after she had finished, "now, we just have to wait for the others to regroup with us." All across the island, the other teams had seen Twilight's signal and were heading towards its location. The other teams had also met with unfortunate and bizarre transformations as a result of Circe's magic. Rainbow Dash and Applejack's teammates, Kate Bishop and Stinger, Kate's head having transformed into that of a Hawk and Stinger having partially transformed into an Otter. Sunset Shimmer, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy's teammates, Thunder having partially transformed into a Bear and Lightning having gained the features of a meerkat. Wonder Woman's teammates, Yara Flor and Mala were partially transformed into a snow leopard and a cougar. Wonder Woman and Valkyrie were unaffected by Circe's magic, due to her demi-god status and Odin's magic. "We saw your signal," Wonder Woman said, "and have come as swiftly as possible." She and Valkyrie then noticed that Loki was with the group. "What is the name of Hera, is he doing here?!" she exclaimed. "He says that he wants to help us against Circe," Twilight explained, "we believe him...for now." "The girl is right," Loki chipped in, "and I can assure you that this is not a trick, I wish to help." "You'll forgive me, if I don't believe your words, trickster," Wonder Woman responded, "there is only one way to know if your words are true." She produced the Lasso of Truth, "with this, we will find out the truth," she declared. "Very well," Loki said, "if I must, I must." Twilight nodded to Midnight, who released the hand cuff constructs she had placed on Loki. Loki, didn't resist as the Lasso was placed on him. The Lasso glowed bright gold and Loki seemed to fall into a trance-like state. "Why do you really want to help us?" Wonder Woman asked. "Because," Loki answered, "Circe has gone back on our agreement, when Fimbulwinter has finally consumed everything we were supposed to rule Midgard together, but she is making it all about her and I, Loki, will not let some ancient, self-absorbed, power-hungry witch steal my conquest!" "Wow," Sunset said, "that Lasso really works." "That. Is. Amazing!" Twilight exclaimed, "that thing's power can really help me in collective surveys." "What other secrets are you hiding?" Valkyrie asked. "You know that D.B. Cooper mystery from 1971?" Loki replied, "that was me, I lost a bet with Thor and that was the result." The girls all stared, slack-jawed and in shock at what they had just heard. "You were D.B. Cooper?" Twilight said, almost struggling to breathe, "Y...Y...You?!" Twilight, who had been fascinated with the D.B. Cooper conspiracy when she was younger, was still recovering from what she had been told. "Anyway," Valkyrie said, "I believe we have heard enough." She nodded to Wonder Woman, who took the Lasso off of Loki and placed it back on a clip on her belt. "Well," Loki breathed, "now that thats out of the way, can we proceed, every second the Casket is left open Fimbulwinter continues to spread to every corner of Midgard." "Loki said that the Casket was hidden somewhere in there," Twilight stated, pointing to the entrance of Garden of Heroes. "Then we must not waste anymore time," Wonder Woman proclaimed, "we must enter the garden and locate the Casket." Everyone nodded. "Be on your guard," Loki added, "Circe may already be onto us, I'm pretty sure finding the Casket will not be easy." With that, everyone, once again, split into teams and entered the garden. As they began to search, Loki noticed Wonder Woman giving him side eye glances. "Something bothering you, princess?" he asked. Wonder Woman waited until the two were alone, before replying. "Let me make something clear," she said, her tone suddenly turning stern, "if you try anything, then I will take you down." Loki looked angry for a moment. After all he had done to prove himself, Wonder Woman still didn't trust him. Then, he took a deep breath and let his anger go. When he spoke his voice was professional, calm, "it may surprise you, Princess Diana," he said, "the truth is I don't enjoy hurting people." Wonder Woman stopped in her tracks, surprised at what she had just heard. "I do it, because" Loki continued, "I have to, because I've had to, because it's part of the illusion, it's part of the cruel elaborate trick conjured by the weak to inspire fear." "Loki," Wonder Woman said, but Loki held up his hand preventing her from continuing. "Anyway," he said, "I believe we have a relic to find." Without another word, Loki joined the others as they searched for the Casket. After a few hours, the heroes located the Casket, at the base of a statue of Achilles. "That was easy," Squirrel Girl stated. "Too easy," Ms. Marvel added. "Don't say that!" Rainbow Dash cried, "you know when someone says that was too easy, something happens!" "We can worry about that later," Wonder Woman said, "right now, we must close the Casket and put an end to Fimbulwinter for Themyscira and the world." The others nodded and with surprisingly little effort, closed the Casket. The snow storms began to subside and the creatures spawned from the snow began to dissipate. "Well," Stinger said, "what do we do now?" "First," Donna Troy replied, "we need to get the Casket as far from Circe as possible." "I'll handle that," Loki suggested, "if you'll allow me." Wonder Woman nodded to Donna who handed the Casket to Loki, who prepared to cast a teleportation spell on the Casket. But before he could execute the spell, there was the sound of marble grinding against marble. Everyone turned to see the statue of Achilles, break free of its plinth and start stomping towards them.
Chapter 7"I told you!" Rainbow Dash cried, as she and the others ran as fast as they could as the Achilles statue chased after them, "I told you, never ever say 'that was too easy' ever!" "We need a plan," Sunset said, running along side everyone, "we can't afford to waste time with that thing." "Agreed," Wonder Girl nodded, "we need to take that thing down fast and quickly." "And I think I know how to do that," Twilight replied, "if I recall the legend about Achilles he had a specific weakness." "What is it?" Lighting asked. "If I remember correctly," Twilight answered, "Achilles was made invulnerable when his mother dipped his body in the River Styx...." "I hate to be rude, Darling," Rarity cut in, as the statue slowly began to close in on them, "BUT CAN YOU GET TO THE POINT, PLEASE?!" "Right, sorry," Twilight said, "it's the heel, we need a direct hit on the statue's heel." "First," Applejack added, "we need to bring that thing down, before we get squashed into apple sauce." "Anyone have any ideas?" Twilight asked. "I think I might!" Ms. Marvel shouted, "you guys even watch that space opera film trilogy?" "You mean the one with the laser swords and space wizards," Pinkie Pie answered, "Cosmic Wars, right? Or was it Starchaser: Legend of Orin?" "Star Wars," Sunset corrected, "she means Star Wars." "Anyway," Ms. Marvel continued, "you know the part in episode 5 where they're on the snow planet with the walking thingies?" Twilight thought for a moment, "You know what," she said, finally, "that just might work." She turned to the others, Wonder Woman and Loki. "Distract that thing until we're ready," Twilight instructed, "try to keep it from advancing." "How will we know when you're ready?" Rainbow Dash asked. "You'll know," Twilight responded. "Alright, everyone," Applejack said, "let's give that big fella everything we've got." While Twilight and Ms. Marvel prepared their plan, the others used their powers to slow and prevent the statue from going any further. Rainbow Dash and the other girls used their rings to restrain the statue. Spider-Girl used her webbing to blind it. Stinger used her size changing to grow to the same size as the statue and grapple with it. Kate Bishop, Thunder and Lighting used their powers and various trick arrows to do their part. Meanwhile, Twilight and Ms. Marvel were implementing their end of the plan, Twilight summoning a catapult construct with her ring, then loading Ms. Marvel into it and aiming it at the Achilles statue. "Ready?" Twilight asked, once they were locked on target, the statue's legs. "Ready," Ms. Marvel answered. With that, Twilight released the catapult and launched Ms. Marvel at the statue. Ms. Marvel stretched out her limbs as far as she could, turning herself into a rudimentary bolas. She was dead on target, she wrapped her limbs around the statue's legs holding on as tight as she could. The statue struggled against its bindings, trying to continue its advance. Ms. Marvel groaned and strained, trying to maintain her grip on the statue, she had stretched herself to her limit. The statue finally gave up and toppled to the ground with an almighty crash, the ground shaking as it fell. "Quickly!" Twilight shouted, "hit the statue's heel!" "Way ahead of ya, Twi," Applejack replied. Together, using their combined powers, Applejack and Thunder hit the statue's heel with a powerful attack. Applejack used her geode and her ring and Thunder used her shockwave generating powers. The statue shook from the attack, then slowly shattered into pieces. "Well," Squirrel Girl began, "that was...." Before she could continue, she was shushed by Rainbow Dash, the look on the said it all. "Right," Squirrel Girl uttered, "got it." "Anyway," Twilight interjected, while helping Ms. Marvel up from the remains of the statue, "now that's been dealt with, we need to get the Casket as far away from Circe as possible." "I'll handle that," Loki replied. "Agreed," Wonder Woman nodded, she nodded to Donna, who had been clutching the Casket tightly since the statue toppling. Donna looked reluctant, but abided by the request, she handed the Casket to Wonder Woman who passed it took Loki. "Thank you," he said. Loki placed the Casket on the ground and cast a teleportation spell and the Casket vanished. "Where did you send it?" Thunder asked. "Back my father's vault," Loki answered, "hopefully he or anyone haven't noticed it's missing yet." "So," Fluttershy inquired, "now what?" "Now," Wonder Woman answered as she, Donna Troy and Wonder Girl all spun really fast on the spot, once they stopped their outfits had changed: Wonder Woman was wearing golden armour with wings, similarly Donna and Cassie were also wearing matching armour only coloured silver and bronze, "we take the fight to Circe," Wonder Woman declared, drawing her sword.
Chapter 8Meanwhile, back with Circe. "Something's wrong," Circe said, "I feel it, Fimbulwinter has stopped." She turned to Loki, "you've been awfully quiet," she stated, "surly, you have sensed the disruption too?" "I'm sure it's nothing," Loki replied, starting to visibly sweat, "maybe it will sort itself out and..." "You're very strange today," Circe commented. Loki was about to answer, when Twilight and others all burst through the throne room doors. "Circe!" Wonder Woman declared, pointing her sword directly at the witch, "your time is over!" "What?!" Circe exclaimed, "Still alive? But how?!" Then she noticed Loki standing with the heroes, then she turned to face the Loki standing alongside her. "Well," other Loki said, "this is awkward." In a puff of green smoke, the other Loki vanished. Circe turned to face the real Loki, a look of ungodly anger on her face. "Treachery!" she shrieked, "you dare plot against me?!" "You're one to talk," Loki retorted, "you were planing on be betraying me!" "Well, I should have known better," Circe said, "after all, you should never trust a trickster." "Enough!" Wonder Woman interrupted, "you are going back where you belong, Circe!" "Never!" Circe roared, she fired a blast of magical energy at the Amazon. Wonder Woman, using her bracelets, blocked the blast and retaliated. Circe noticed the armour Wonder Woman, Donna Troy and Wonder Girl wore. "The armour of Asteria?" she said, "you really think some crusty relic can give you the power to defeat me?" "No," Wonder Woman replied, "I have something better than any armour or weapon." "And what is that?" Circe asked, as she fired off more mystical blasts. "The Power of Friendship," Twilight cried, as she and the rest of the Champions and Amazons joined in the battle. Circe cackled, someone as powerful as her viewed friendship as something beneath her. "You really think," she laughed, "you really think, that you can defeat me with friendship?" "I know we can," Rainbow Dash retorted, "but also it doesn't hurt that, we have the god of mischief on our side." "Indeed," Loki nodded, "and I'm going to show you some real magic tricks, witch." "In that case," Circe remarked, "allow me to add some more players to the board." Circe, using her magic, opened up a portal and from it emerged a Tarandos, a Ceraste and a Crocotta. "Finish them, my pets," Circe commanded. The creatures obeyed and charged at the heroes. Wonder Woman, Twilight, her friends and their allies all battled the mythical creatures. The Tarandos was tricky, because it could camouflage itself to blend in with its environment. Luckily, Spider-Girl was able to fight the beast very effectively, using her Spider-sense. She waited for the creature to attack her and then counterattacked. The Ceraste was fairly easy to deal with, Rainbow Dash held her own against the creature. She used her speed to make the creature focus on her, tricking it into ramming into a wall. After a few more repeats of the same thing, the Creaste finally knocked itself out. Lastly, the final creature, the Crocotta, which the Champions took out using their new found combat experience. Wonder Woman was impressed with how far the heroes had come since coming to the island. Kate Bishop tried to delay the creature with some explosive arrows, but the creature simply shrugged off the attack. Fortunately, Stinger was able to hit the creature with one of her Pym dishes, shrinking it down and making it more manageable. Once the creatures had been dealt with, the heroes all regrouped for their final battle with Circe. "It's over," Wonder Woman proclaimed, "stop hiding behind your pets, you coward!" "Yeah," Rainbow Dash added, "quit slithering around and fight fairly, you snake." "A snake, huh?" Circe smiled, "let me show you just how snake-like I can be." Circe cackled as her body was enveloped in purple pink light, Twilight and the others shielded their eyes from the bright light. Once the light had cleared, Circe's new form was revealed, she had transformed into a giant Naga, a creature with the bottom half a snake, the top half of a human with a second pair of arms. "How'ssss thisss?" Circe smirked, as she conjured some swords, one in each of her four arms. "You just had to call her a snake," Sunset said, as Circe towered over them. "Hey," Rainbow Dash replied, "I didn't think she would take it literally." "Focus everyone," Twilight said, "here she comes." Twilight, her friends and their allies all assumed battle stances. "Sso be it," Circe hissed, "then come and facesss your end." With that, the heroes charged at the giant snake sorceress. Wonder Woman, Donna Troy and Wonder Girl all tried to attack together but Circe swotted them away as if they were flies. Twilight, the rest of the Champions, her friends and Loki attacked from multiple positions, making it so that Circe couldn't consecrate. "Don't let up!" Sunset called, "sooner or later we're going to wear her down." "Foolsss," Circe whispered, "no mortal or Amazon may harm me unless I wish it." It was then that Circe was hit by a blast of green magic from Loki, "What about an Asgardian?" he declared. Circe glared down at him, "You are beneath me," she snarled, "onccce my conquessst of midgard isss complete, Assgard will be nexxxxt." "My father and brother will stop you," Loki retorted, "or failing that, I will stop you." Circe laughed, the mere idea of, what she saw, as a lower god trying to defeat her was simply laughable. "You?" she said, "you were merely a means to an end, nothing more." "Underestimate me," Loki replied, "and you will live to regret it." "Ooo," Circe cooed, "I'm ssso ssscared." Loki fired off a couple more blasts of magic, which Circe dodged, after which she grabbed Loki bringing him closer to her face. "Sssso you have chosen death," she smirked, "ssso be it, like your sssister before you, you will fall." Circe showed Loki the frozen figure of Angela. "How dare you!" Loki shouted. He tried to attack Circe, but like before she swatted him away. Loki was saved from hitting the ground, by Spider-Girl with her webbing. "Restrain her," he cried, "I've got an idea on how to take her down." "Roger," Twilight and the others all replied. She and rest of her team once again, charged at Circe with Wonder Woman and her allies running interference. After a while, Circe looked like she was growing tired. "Now!" Loki shouted. Twilight nodded, she and the rest of the girls, using their lantern rings to restrain Circe, now that she had been weakened. Wonder Woman and her allies also doing their part to restrain Circe. Circe struggled against her restraints, but due to her weakened state her efforts were futile. "Whatever you're going to do," Valkyrie said, "do it now!" Loki nodded, before Circe could react, he grabbed into Circe's head, her eye's glowed green and then glazed over, shortly after Circe slumped over and reverted back to her regular form. "What did you do?" Twilight asked, as she and the others all gathered around the defeated witch. "I enchanted her," Loki explained. "Yeah..." Rainbow Dash said, "could you put that in terms those of us who don't understand magic." "Yes, I'd like to know that too," Twilight added, Midnight nodding in agreement, "for research purposes." "Well," Loki explained, "for enchantment to work, I have to make physical contact and then grab hold of their mind." "How's that work?" Applejack asked. "Depends on the mind," Loki replied, "most are easy and I can overtake them instantly, others the stronger ones it gets tricky." "Tricky?" Thunder repeated. "I'm in control," Loki continued, "but they're there too, in order to preserve the connection I have create a fantasy from their memories." "So, basically," Sunset said, "you put her in a hyper dream state." "Correct," Loki nodded, "you seem to be quite familiar with this kind of magic." "Lets just say," Sunset answered, "that I've studied magic similar to that once." "Well," Rarity said, "what happens now?" "Now that Circe is down," Wonder Woman replied, "all her magic should start reseeding." As if in answer, the members of Champions reverted back from their animal forms to their human forms. "Finally," Thunder said, "all that fur was getting really hot." "And those Kangaroo legs," Ms. Marvel agreed, "it was getting really hard to walk properly." "Wait," Fluttershy interjected, "if Circe's magic is reseeding and the island is still in the air doesn't that mean...." Suddenly, the ground began to shake. "The island is falling!" Kate Bishop shouted. "Quickly!" Wonder Woman shouted, "we must act fast!" "What about us?" Thunder asked, "some of us can't fly or have super strength." "Then do what you can," Donna Troy replied, "the rest of us will try and slow the island's decent." With that, Wonder Woman, Donna Troy and Wonder Girl and most of the girls, headed out of the throne room and took to the sky, every second the ocean got closer as the island got closer to the ground. "Alright, everyone," Twilight said, "we have to slow the island's decent in anyway we can." The girls nodded, using their lantern rings, they created small rockets that they stationed at the corners of Themyscira. Once they were set up, they activated them, meanwhile Wonder Woman, Donna and Wonder Girl were doing their part in slowing the island decent, using every ounce of their strength. "It's no good, Twi!" Applejack shouted, "it's going too fast!" "We have to try!" Twilight called, "even if we have sacrifice our lives!" "Right!" Sunset nodded, "because that is what it means to be a hero, right?!" The others all agreed, they pushed even harder but the island still continued to plummet. "I think this is it, y'all!" Applejack proclaimed, as the ocean came rushing towards them. But instead of hitting the water, the island slowed to a stop and gently lowered itself back into its original spot. "Did we do that?" Midnight asked. "Not quite," Twilight replied, "look." They all look up and saw Superman along with heroes, Blue Marvel, Sentry and Martian Manhunter. "It seems my distress call was answered," Wonder Woman said. After the island was secured, Twilight and the others met with their other friends on the ground. "What about Circe?" Twilight asked, "what will happen to her?" "Oh, don't worry," Wonder Woman replied, "Loki gave me a few ideas." Later. Circe jerked awake from her enchantment. She looked around, realising where she was, the Isle of Silence. She tried to scream, to curse Queen Hippolyta and her daughter to the depths of Tartarus. But no sound came from her mouth, due the nature of the Isle of Silence, no sound could exist. All Circe could do was scream in silent anger.
EpilogueTwilight, her friends and the rest of the Champions all stood before Queen Hippolyta, Wonder Woman, Angela and the rest of the Amazons. With Circe banished to the Isle of Silence, all her magic had completely vanished from the island. "My fellow Amazons," Queen Hippolyta declared, "we are gathered here today to celebrate a momentous occasion, to give thanks to my daughter Diana, her allies and their friends, the Champions." A chorus of cheers erupted from the assembled crowd. "And now," Queen Hippolyta continued, once the cheering had died down, "to show our gratitude, we present these gifts." She gestured and some golden laurel wreaths were brought out. "I would also like to recognise the Champions as fellow Amazons and sisters in arms," Queen Hippolyta finished. Again, a chorus of cheers erupted from the crowd as Twilight and the others approached the queen to receive their gifts. "Thank you, your majesty," Twilight said, "it is an honour to be counted among your people." "On the contrary," Queen Hippolyta smiled, "it is I who should be thanking you, if not for your arrival then Circe would have surely managed to take the island and the rest of Man's world." "Your majesty," Twilight responded, "I hate to correct you, but we're not the only ones you should be thanking." "Who else?" Queen Hippolyta asked. "Loki, your highness," Applejack answered. "Loki of Asgard?" Queen Hippolyta exclaimed, "Loki, the trickster and god of mischief?" "The very same," Loki said, bowing as he revealed himself in front of the assembled Amazons. The crowd gasp, not able to believe that Loki, of all people, had been the one to save them along with the Champions and Wonder Woman. "Is this true, son of Odin?" Queen Hippolyta queried, "did you risk your life to save my home and sisters?" "Indeed, your highness," Loki answered, "these mortals have shown me the value and the power that friendship has." Queen Hippolyta stared daggers at Loki, not quite willing to believe Loki's words. "He speaks the truth, mother," Wonder Woman said, "Loki risked his life many times to aid us in our defeat of Circe." "If you do not believe my words," Loki said, "then believe the word of your daughter, she is the spirit of truth, after all." Queen Hippolyta was about answer, but was interrupted as a loud boom was heard, followed by a bright flash of rainbow light. After the light had dissipated, a figure appeared, it was Lady Sif, a fearsome Asgardian warrior, an ally of Thor and the Warriors Three. "Loki Odinson!" she cried, "your father wishes to see you, regarding the recent theft of the Casket of Ancient Winters from his vault." "Whoops," Loki smiled, "I guess someone notice it was missing." He turned to Queen Hippolyta, "I guess that's my cue to leave," he sighed. Loki turned to face Twilight and the rest of the Champions, "thank you," he said, "for letting me experience the magic of friendship." He turned back to Sif, "I'm ready," he stated. "Don't even try any of your tricks on me," Sif retorted. "No tricks this time," Loki replied, sincerely, "I'm ready to face my father." "Before you go," Wonder Woman interceded, "tell Odin of all the good that Loki has done here today, surely Heimdall has been watching the events of Midgard unfold." "I will be sure to ask him," Sif answered, "once Odin and Thor return to Asgard, Loki's punishment will be decided." "I will accept whatever punishment father deems worthy," Loki said. "Very well," Sif nodded, "at any rate, we must be going." With that, Sif took Loki's hand and there was another loud boom, a flash and the two Asgardians disappeared. Later, at the end of the day and back in Canterlot city. Twilight flopped into her bed, completely exhausted and glad to be back home after everything she, her friends and their allies had gone through, she just wanted to fall asleep. All in all, Twilight felt that her idea of extra combat training was a success. She was about to fall asleep, when she noticed something on her bedside table. It was an envelope with a strange seal on it, she knew it hadn't been there when she entered her room. Her curiosity having peaked, Twilight opened the envelop, exposing its contents. Inside the envelop was an invitation, it read: Twilight Sparkle, the rest of the Champions and the heroes of the world you are cordially invited to participate in the multiversal Contest of Champions Details will be provided upon your acceptance. Congratulations! Twilight put the envelop down, not fully understanding if what she had read was real or not. But she was far too tired to think about it now, the next day however, she would call everyone together and show them what she had been given. To be continued.....in the Contest of Champions
Chapter 4The next day, training continued. This session being training with mock weapons and various other equipment. One of the various weapons included a bow and arrow, this gave Kate Bishop a chance to show off her archery skills. She repeatedly managed to hit the bullseye dead on, even managing to stack three arrows on top of each other. Both Angela and Wonder Woman were both impress and surprised by Kate's bow skills. "By Odin's beard," Angela exclaimed. "Indeed," Wonder Woman nodded, "she could give the goddess Artemis and Faradai of the Light Elves a run for their money." "I learned from the best," Kate replied, with a smile. As the training carried on and got progressively harder, Twilight and the others continuously bested and cheered each other on through all the challenges put in front of them. Their teamwork was starting to impress Angela, who had worked as part of a team and knew that importance of help allies in anyway, shape or form. As their synergy began to improve, suddenly snow began to fall and the weather turned instantly colder. "Snow?" Fluttershy said, "but it's the middle of summer." "Oh, bother," Rarity exclaimed, "and I only packed summer attire and these Amazon trappings are not suitable for cold weather." "Maybe Equestrian magic is on the loose again," Sunset suggested, thinking that Equestrian Windigos has somehow ended up in the human world, the human world had its own version of Windigos, but they were very different the ones she knew. "This is indeed no normal weather," Wonder Woman stated, "this all has the smell of magic about it." "Indeed," Angela said, "this can only be caused by the Casket of Ancient Winters." "How can that be?" Wonder Woman asked, "the casket is suppose be in Odin's vault under heavy guard." By this time, the snow had become a full on blizzard and creatures made of ice began to emerging from the snow. "So what exactly is this Casket of Ancient Winters?" Twilight asked. "It is a casket," Angela explained, "which contains the Fimbulwinter of Ymir, a magical winter that will destroy the world, unless we find the casket and close it, all of Midgard will be consumed by the Fimbulwinter." "We must inform the Queen," Rainbow Dash said, "maybe we can contact other heroes to coordinate a search for this thing." Suddenly the ground began to shake, signalling something big was approaching. Everyone was one their guard, when seemingly out of nowhere stepped a hulking figure, clad in armour. Angela recognised the figure immediately, "Kurse?!" she said, "impossible, you're dead." Kurse simply roared and tried to smash the group with his massive hands. "Get to the throne room," Wonder Woman ordered, "Angela and I will buy you some time." "Right," Twilight nodded, she and the others dashed past the ice creatures, heading for the throne room. Angela turned to Nubia and other young Amazons. "You," she ordered, "with me." Moments later, at the entrance to the throne room. The group paused to catch their breath and recover from the cold weather raging outside. "This day started out so well," Rarity said, "and now some crazy magical mcguffin is going to turn the world into a snow cone." "Well," Twilight stated, "hopefully, Queen Hippolyta and Amazons might be able to help get a message to the Justice Force." Now that they had taken a moment to warm up and strategise, Twilight and the others entered the throne room. The sight that greeted them was equal parts surprising, horrifying and startling. Queen Hippolyta and her guards had all been turned into different forms of animals, they could only tell they were the people in question because they were wearing items of clothing. At the centre of the room, sitting on the Queen Hippolyta's throne was the one responsible for the transformations, Circe. "Why hello there," the witch greeted. "Circe," Donna Troy proclaimed. "Who?" Rainbow Dash asked. "Circe," Twilight answered, "the witch from the Odyssey." Rainbow Dash, along with the others, gave Twilight a confused and guilty look. "Am I the only one who paid attention in history class?" Twilight asked. "Can we focus, please," Sunset said. "Agreed," Wonder Girl nodded, "as I recall, Circe, Queen Hippolyta imprisoned you in the depths of Tartarus, with zero case of parole." Circe smiled, "I had a little help," she replied. "From who?" Stinger asked. As if in answer, Circe's partner in crime, stepped out from behind the throne. Twilight and the others recognised who it was instantly, the Asgardian god of mischief along with being Thor and Angela's adopted brother, Loki. "I believe that would be me," he declared, "hello, trickster god, hi." "I take it, you're the one that stole the Casket of Ancient Winters from Odin's vault?" Donna Troy asked. "Guilty as charged," Loki replied, "I made Circe an offer she can't refuse." "Which was...?" Thunder asked. "He offered me freedom and revenge on Princess Diana, her mother and their homeland," Circe replied. "Making deals Loki?" Wonder Girl said, "that doesn't seem like you, not like you to play second fiddle to someone else." "Nice try," Loki smiled, "but me and Circe, it turns out, share a goal." "We both want to rule the world," Circe finished, "or something close to that." "If you want the world," Twilight said, "then you have to go through us." Circe's smile widened, "With pleasure," she laughed, with a flick of her wrist she summoned forth, a Minocentaur, a creature that was a fusion of a Minotaur and a Centaur. "Go, my beast," Circe proclaimed, "teach these mortals who is the future queen of this world." With a terrible roar, the Minocentaur, rushed towards the heroes. They ran, heading for the exit, Kate Bishop firing an arrow at Circe, as they ran, but with a snap of her fingers the arrow transformed into a snake that slithered away. Luckily, the team managed to make it to the door, just before the Minocentaur could get its hands on them. It continued to chase them, even outside in the blizzard. "We need to lose it," Applejack cried, "then we need to find Wonder Woman and tell her what's going on." "And how do we do that?!" Rarity asked. "First," Midnight said, "we need to stop it from moving, that'll make it easier to deal with." Twilight nodded, "we need some breathing room," she stated. "I'll distract it," Rainbow Dash stated, "that'll give you guys time to think of a plan." Using her geode, Rainbow Dash began running in circles around the Minocentaur, making it pay attention to her and not the others, she added to her distraction by taunting the creature. "Hey freakshow," she jeered, "if you're a Centaur and Minotaur, does that mean your half horse, half bull and half man?" The Minocentur simply roared in response. "Hey," Rainbow Dash replied, "was that horse or a bull noise? Pick one, please." While the creature was distracted, the others had quickly come up with a plan. Once the plan had been formulated, Twilight told Rainbow Dash to get clear after which she, Midnight, Rarity and Fluttershy using their lantern rings to bind the creature with Applejack and Thunder delivering the finishing blow. Upon the blow being delivered, the Minocentaur vanished in puff of smoke. "An illusion?!" Squirrel Girl exclaimed. "Must have been Circe's plan to lure us away from the Casket of Ancient Winters," Spider-Girl realised, "it has to be hidden somewhere on the island." "We can worry about that later," Stinger said, "right now, we need to find Wonder Woman and the others and warn them." Everyone nodded, but as they were about move off more of the ice creatures from before, rose from the snow surrounding them. "I suggest we run," Sunset stated. "Yeah," Applejack nodded, "and fast." As the snow creatures advanced on them, the group made a mad dash away from them, but, the blizzard made it hard to tell which direction was which. The snow creatures, despite being big, were surprisingly fast and managed to keep up with them. "It's no use," Lightning cried, "they're gaining on us and we can't tell where anything is because of all this snow." "And on top of that," Thunder added, "every time we beat one of these things another one rises up." "There are too many of them to fight," Fluttershy cried, "what should we do?" "Fight anyway," Twilight answered, lighting up her lantern ring. As one of the creatures was about to attack a figure emerged from the blizzard and effortlessly annihilated all the snow creature with a few moves. "Wow," Ms. Marvel breathed, "that was just...wow." The figure turn, noticed the group and approached revealing herself to be Jane Foster, formerly the holding of the title of Thor, now the hero Valkyrie. "You must be the Champions," she greeted, "we meet again." In the intervening time, the original owner of the Thor name, Thor Odinson, had reclaimed his powers and title. In appreciation of her dedication and heroism, Thor's father, Odin had granted Jane Foster the powers of a Valkyrie. Along with her new powers, Jane had also received Undrjarn the All-Weapon, a magical vambrace that could turn into any weapon she needed. "Dr. Foster," Twilight replied, "thanks for the assist, your arrival couldn't have come more sooner." "Indeed," Valkyrie nodded, "Odin informed me about the theft of the Casket from his vault, I arrived here as fast as I could." "And thank goodness for that," Rarity replied, "unless we find that Casket, this whole island and the whole world will experience another ice age." "We need to find Wonder Woman and the others," Sunset stated, "then we can regroup and go after Loki and Circe." "Agreed," Valkyrie nodded. The group along with Valkyrie, continued on their way, trying to navigate through the thick blizzard raging on. Applejack and Rainbow Dash used their lantern rings to create a snowplough construct to create a path and to clear the snow, as it was starting to pile up. They had almost thought they were completely lost, when they managed to stumble across Wonder Woman, Angela and other young Amazons. After quickly explaining the situation, along with Valkyrie's presents, Angela was ready to go on the warpath against Circe and her adoptive brother. "Do not be a fool, Angela" Wonder Woman said, "charging in without a plan is reckless." "Princess Diana is right," Valkyrie nodded, "as Twilight has said, we must find the Casket of Ancient Winters and close it first, then we can deal with Circe and Loki." "Go on your hunt," Angela replied, "but I will go and deal with the witch and my brother, alone." Without another word, Angela draw her twin blades, called Ichors, and rush off into the blizzard. Wonder Woman sighed, "Just like Thor," she breathed, "always leaping before he looks." She turned to Artemis and Nubia, "go with her," she ordered, "it would be good for Angela to have some support." The two nodded and dashed off after Angela. "Anyway," Wonder Woman continued, "we need to split up and search for the Casket, once we find it and close it, we can end this whole thing." With that, the group split into pairs. They were about to move out when suddenly an energy dome appeared, sealing off the island from the rest of the world, essentially turning the island into a giant snow globe. "It's Circe," Wonder Woman said, "she's isolating the island." Shortly after the dome had been put up, the ground shook as the entire island began lifting out of the water and into the sky. "Find the Casket, now!" Wonder Woman cried, "then we must deal with Circe and Loki."
