BIONIES: spirits of life

Chapters

Death of a hero
Ghost of a Machine
Fun with Rahkshi
'What's a Party?'
Outlines
Phantoka part 1
Phantoka part 2
Air and Bugs
The Hive Mind
A Life or... not Life Situation
The Hive part 1
Meet the Toa
wrench

Death of a hero

(*This was taken from the novel BIONICLE Legends 8 Downfall. I do not claim owner ship to the characters.*)

*In the heart of a waterfall, Matoro fell.

________The outside world was a blur of motion. He thought he caught glimpses of high mountains around him. It seemed there was a body of murky water down below, though he could not be sure. At one point, a dark, winged shape flew through the falls just below him, but he could not identify it.

________Time was measured in micro-seconds now, flashes of sight and sensation as he plunged deep into the core of the universe. He realized that he had made this leap of faith with absolutely no idea what he was supposed to do with the Mask of Life once he got here. It almost made him laugh. His five best friends were giving their lives for him, and here he was, moments from disaster and still clueless about what it would take to be a hero this day.

________Put on the mask.

________"What—?" he said, startled. "Who said that?"

________There was no answer. Had he really heard that, or was he losing his mind?

________Put on the mask.

________The Mask of Life — no one really knew the limits of its power. Maybe he was just hallucinating that he heard a voice, but the idea... what if the mask had to be, not just carried to the core, but donned for its power to be used? He remembered Takua, the adventurous Matoran who was hailed as the "herald" of a seventh Toa, meant to bring the Mask of Light to him wherever he might be. Little did anyone know Takua was destined to become that Toa, and the hero he had to find was the one who lived inside his own heart.

________The universe is a riddle, thought Matoro. Turaga Nuju often said that. It hints at the path you are meant to walk, but never makes its message clear. You have to figure that out for yourself... and maybe I just did.

________With a trembling hand, Matoro placed the Kanohi Ignika on top of his own mask. He expected to feel a surge of strength, or perhaps the opposite, a sudden, terrible weakness. But instead he felt... different. His body felt light and tingled as if a current of energy ran through it. He was falling still, but no longer tumbling out of control. His form was straight as an arrow and headed for a target still unknown.

________Images flashed through Matoro's mind. He saw the creation of the Ignika; its millenia of waiting for the proper time to be used and the destined wearer; he saw it taken from its resting place once before, to be used to heal the Great Spirit... and he saw what happened to the one who wore it then.

________He didn't cry out, or protest, or rush to tear the mask from his face. Nor did he waste a single moment in regret. He had never asked to become a Toa, or desired it, and the mantle of hero had never fit comfortably on his shoulders. But now, now he knew, and the knowledge brought peace.

________Nuju was right. The universe is a riddle. And today, I am the answer.

________His arms were thrust out in front of him. They were glowing now, little sparkles of light like the starfield above the island of Mata Nui. His whole body was changing now, patterns of light swirling, energies being unleashed, as the Mask of Life drew forth the essence of the being called Matoro.

________Is this the end then? he wondered. Is this what it feels like?

________Yes, he decided. This was death. This was the price the Ignika demanded for its use. He would no longer exist as Matoro, as a Toa, as a living being of organic muscle and mechanical parts... he would be far less than what he was, and far more.

________The world was changing all around him, and it did not frighten the Toa of Ice. He knew the real change was in how he was viewing his surroundings — no longer with eyes, a mind, a spirit bound to the physical world. He was becoming pure energy, pure life... the force that would bring the Great Spirit back from death. Already, he could barely remember how it felt to be in battle, or to be lonely, or to feel the warmth of a fire on a cold night. Pleasure, pain, satisfaction, disappointment, these were all just words to him now. He was beyond all that, or almost.

________But there was one emotion, one part of his former life, that he had not forgotten — one memory he refused to surrender. Jaller, Hahli, Hewkii, Kongu, Nuparu — his friends — his partners — who had fought beside him and laughed with him and made all the burdens bearable. They were out there now in the black water, about to die at the claws of the Barraki. No one on Metru Nui would ever know of their heroism or the sacrifices they were willing to make. They would never see their homes or those they cared about ever again.

________His own death, he could accept — but theirs? No, that was too high a price to pay, even to buy the salvation of a universe.

________He was Toa Matoro, at least for a few moments more, and he wore the Mask of Life. Or perhaps the Mask of Life now wore him. He didn't know, or care. He knew his friends were willing to die for him and his destiny, and for that reason alone, they had to live.

________Matoro pushed back against the power of the mask, fighting to hold on to his consciousness and his own existence for just another heartbeat. He wrestled with the power, pleaded with it, tried to bend it to his will. The Ignika, for reasons of its own, allowed this.

________Once before, long ago, a Toa had donned the Ignika and lost his life to complete his mission. That Toa had tried to be brave, but there was fear in his heart and he met his end with grief and regret. The Ignika sensed none of this in Matoro — only a will and determination that rivaled even that of Mata Nui himself.

________The Mask of Life, bound now to the energy of Matoro, granted him its power. Matoro seized upon it to perform his final act. It was not one of grand heroism, not a gesture that would shake the universe, but something more powerful and lasting than either one: a simple act of friendship.

________With all that done, Matoro surrendered himself gratefully and completely to his destiny. The merged energies of Toa and Kanohi mask exploded in the core of the universe, flooding it with light. Streams of golden power flowed into every part of this realm and then beyond it, until it had touched every place where the Great Spirit had once reigned. Just as countless beings had sensed the death of Mata Nui, so did they now feel life return to him. And in the sky above the city of Metru Nui, the stars shone brightly once before...*

The universe however, had other plans for Matoro. While he was deceased here, who is to say he is truly dead? He accepted his fate with courage, such courage that shall not go unrewarded, though he may be gone, it is surprising how one can find friends in the most unusual places…

Matoro’s entire body hurt. He was lying face down in a field. Groaning, he pushed himself into a sitting position. he observed his surroundings, there was a path and what looks to be a village ahead. ‘why am I in the jungles of Le-wahi?’ he wondered. He looked to his side to see his Twin cutter. He picked it up and started to slowly walk down the path wondering why death had put him in a field. After a short walk, he found his Cordak blasted in a bush. He went to go retrieve it when he remembered, ‘I’m dead, why should I need it now?’ still, it seemed odd to just leave it there, so he picked it up and resumed walking. By the time he reached the town the moon had took its place in the sky. Matoro looked at it in awe, it was beautiful. It reminded him of his days as a Matoran back on Mata nui. But, besides that everything in the town was strange, it was so… small. ‘Then again,’ he reminded himself, ‘I am taller than Matoran, maybe they are just shorter here.’ Satisfied with that, he resumed walking until he found a decent sized tree. He propped himself up against a tree and fell into a much needed sleep.

****************************************************************************************************************************************

“What is that?”

“I don’t know but it looks dangerous.”

“Hey, I think it’s waking up!”

Matoro opened his eyes, standing around him were dozens of multi coloured rahi. Or at least, they looked vaguely like rahi. Standing in front of him was a pink one with a poufy pink mane.

“HI!” it said.

Matoro blinked, did a rahi just say ‘hi’? I must still be sleeping,’ he told himself. Talking rahi, there was only two he has heard of being able to do that and both were back home in Metru nui. He sighed, home. As he started to get up the brightly coloured rahi backed away in fear. When he stood at his full height, he realised that he was at least double its height.

“Hello? Can you speak?” it asked again.

“Yes I can speak,” Matoro grumbled. Then he blinked and did a double take at the small pink rahi.

“HI!”

“Uh... hello?” he replied. A talking rahi, he chuckled, his death has talking rahi.

“What’s so funny?” asked a purple one.

“You can all talk,” replied Matoro.

“Of course we can talk,” replied a blue one, “why wouldn’t we?”

Matoro stared at the crowd; he shrugged slightly and said, “Where I’m from, Rahi don’t speak.”

This time, a yellow one spoke up, “um, what’s a ‘Rahi’?”

Matoro sighed, “Rahi are the term for all sorts of creatures as a whole, and I don’t recognise your kind so I refer to the term used for all.”

They stared at him; Matoro felt a sense of unease. But he didn’t know why, he was dead after all. In his eyes, they were small four legged rahi with fur and completely organic. In the ponies eyes however, they saw a giant two legged robot with a claw for one hand, cannon on the other with bright orange eyes behind a blue visor and silver mask. He also stank of salt water and fish. To them, he was a monster beyond their wildest imaginations.

“Err, I guess I’ll be leaving,” he finally replied.

“Wait, who you are?” asked the purple one again.

“I’m Matoro, second bearer of the Kanohi Ignika and deceased toa of ice,” he replied.

“What does deceased mean?” asked the blue one.

“Deceased means dead. I died using the Ignika and now I’m here to spend my death.”

“Wait, y’all are dead?” asked an orange one.

Matoro sighed, “Yes I’m dead, and I died to save my friends and hundreds of others.”

“Well if you are dead, then why are you here?” asked a white one.

“That is a very good question.”

Author's Note

well, it's back (sort of)

Matoran: villagers

Toa: hero's with elemental powers ex. air, ice, water, fire, earth and stone

Turaga: elders, usually former Toa.

Rahi: animals

Kanohi Ignika: mask of life user can bring previously dead things back to life and sacrifice themselves in the prosess.

Ghost of a Machine

Matoro was not amused. He’s been stuck in this town for three days now and hasn’t gotten a word from this ‘Princess Celestia’ character. Thankfully, the one known Twilight let him stay in her tree home for the time being. He could tell that the residence of the town were wary of him. It may not have helped that his right arm was briefly torn off when the pink one, Pinkie pie (how convenient) accidently fired a rocket from his Cordak blaster at him on his second day.

“HEY! What’s this?” she asked poking the trigger of the Cordak blaster.

“BE CAREFUL WITH THA-“. BOOM, the rocket blasted off Matoro’s right arm. It hung loosely by some cords connected from his back.

“Oops,” whispered Pinkie pie, pail with fear.

Matoro winced in pain, “don’t worry, it was bound to fall off anyway,” he then proceeded to grab his severed arm and reconnected it back in place. A small shower of yellow sparks shot out the socket. Matoro then began to test his fingers. He smiled, “There we go.”

“How, how did you do that?!” asked Twilight.

“Err, I reconnected the muscle tissue in my arm?” he replied.

“But that’s impossible! You can’t just reconnect missing limbs!”

Matoro shrugged, “if the tissue is worn out enough the limb may fall off. All I need to do is reconnect it.”

“Can everyone from where you’re from do that?” she asked.

“As far as I know, only toa can reconnect limbs.”

Matoro smiled remembering the torrent of questions that followed. Apparently, this was a land called Equestria. He spoke of the Great Spirit, Mata nui, his friends and what the Kanohi Ignika was. That was the thing that intrigued Twilight the most.

“So there is this mask, and it can revive dead people?” she asked.

“Only of they are dying or have just died. But, It has a price, anyone who use it die upon wearing it,” said Matoro.

“Why would anyone kill themselves just to wear a stupid mask?” asked the blue one, Rainbow dash.

Matoro gazed at the sky, it appeared that the sun itself was staring back, ‘it probably is,’ he reminded himself. He sighed, and then answered, “I died so I could save everyone. If Mate nui dies then everyone dies too. The stars themselves were going out.”

The questions stopped there, they could tell that Matoro was hiding something and he did not want to talk about it. Finally, on the fourth day, Princess Celestia came to see Matoro. She was slightly taller than him and he could tell that only a fool would anger her. Luckily, Matoro was no fool.

“So your Matoro, I am Princess Celestia,” she said.

“Err, hello,” he replied nervously, back home the closest thing they had to royalty were the Turaga, and they were just wise elders.

“I have heard that you are deceased where you’re from. Why is that?” she asked him.

Matoro chuckled quietly, he was out of luck, “well, if you really want to hear it, it started about one month ago…
… then I put on the Ignika and dissolved into light, reviving Mata nui and now I’m here,” Twilight, her friends and the princess were surprised at the trials that Matoro and his fellow toa had faced. He did however; leave out the parts where he had to use his mask power, like the shark fight. The most concerning thing to them was the Makuta. A dark being that tormented Matoro and his friends for over one thousand years prior to becoming toa.

“Is he dead?” asked Rarity.

“I doubt it. Knowing Makuta, he’s still plotting somewhere,” replied Matoro.

“Does he know you’re still alive?” asked they yellow one, Fluttershy.

“But I’m not alive. I used the Ignika and now I’m dead. Simple as that,” replied Matoro, “why else would I be here?”

“Matoro I can assure you that you are in fact, still alive,” replied Princess Celestia.

Matoro shrugged, “I used the Ignika and the price is death. You may not be dead but I know I am.”

“But how can we see you if you’re dead?” asked Pinkie pie.

“I don’t know,” he replied. Suddenly he got an idea. “Err, does this town have a graveyard?” he asked.

“Why do y’all want go to the graveyard?” asked Applejack.

He smiled, “experiment.”

Twilight showed Matoro to the graveyard, Matoro then proceeded to walk over to a large tombstone.

“Perfect,” he muttered.

“Um, Matoro what are you doing?” asked Fluttershy, just as Matoro started to dig up the grave.

“Hey! Why are y’all digging up that grave?!” asked Applejack angrily.

Matoro smiled slightly when he struck the coffin. He then told them, “now what you’re about to see may shock you but it’s nothing to worry about.”

A pale white glow came off of Matoro’s mask and surrounded the coffin. Suddenly, the coffin door opened and the dead, rotted body inside it proceeded to pick itself off the ground and stare blankly at the ponies.

“ZOMBIE!” yelled Pinkie pie as she ran away screaming.

The others stared at the corpse. It just stood there blankly, its eyes half open. Matoro put his hand on its back. It turned and stared at him. He smiled slightly, “Ok, time to go,” he replied as the corpse moved back into its coffin. Matoro picked it up and returned it back to its grave.

“But, that’s impossible!” said Twilight.

Matoro laughed, “You know, it seems that everything I do you say it’s impossible.”

“But, y’all can’t just go around makin’ zombies!” said Applejack.

“I don’t. I have only used my mask power twice before,” replied Matoro, “I’m still not sure why the Ignika gave it to me.”

“But what does this have to do with us being able to see you,” replied Princess Celestia, “If you’re dead.”

Matoro tapped his mask, “I wear the Kanohi Tryna, the great mask of reanimation. I assume I used it subconsciously when I died.”

“So what you’re saying is that you’re a zombie?” asked Rainbow dash.

“Pretty much,” replied Matoro.

“But if you’re a zombie, then why aren’t you trying to eat us?” asked Fluttershy.

Matoro laughed, “Toa rarely need to eat. We really only eat on special occasions and besides, If I was going to get you, wouldn’t have I done it already?”

They exchanged glances, this Matoro was very strange.

“But how do Toa and Matoran function without food?” asked Twilight.

“Hmm, I not too sure myself, I’ve never really thought about it until now,” replied Matoro.

“Well, besides that it seems that you do have something’s in common with us,” said Celestia.

“Really, Like what?” asked Matoro.

“From what I understand you need to sleep and breathe, another thing is you feel pain,” replied Celestia, “I also assume that there are more things that help you function.”

“Huh, I guess there are some thing we have in common,” said Matoro as he looked into the sky, wondering how his friends were doing.

Meanwhile, back in Canterlot, a strange fog rolled in. Just looking at it, nothing seemed wrong. But if one listened to it, then they could tell that it was no ordinary fog. It was thickest around the castle, specifically, the trophy garden. Dark green wisps floated around one stature in particular, a statue that had a fearful look. It was the statue of Discord. Slowly, the statue started to crumble and the spirit of chaos blinked in surprise, he was free. He looked around but couldn’t see through the fog.

“How strange,” he muttered, “what heroic being could have freed me?” he asked to no one in particular.

“You are not free yet Discord,”

“Who said that?” asked Discord.

“It’s surprising that you have forgotten my voice Discord,” it replied, “after all, I am your cousin.”

“What are you talking about? I have no living cousins,” Discord replied.

“Who said I was alive?” it asked.

Discord blinked, “Makuta?” he asked.

It laughed, “Yes my little spirit of chaos, and it is I, Makuta.”

“Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be back In Metru nui?” he asked.

If the fog had a face, it would be smiling, “Discord, when was the last time you saw me?”

“Somewhere around two thousand years ago,” he muttered.

“Exactly, now, there is a problem that needs fixing and I need your assistance,” replied Makuta.

“Why should I help you?” asked Discord.

Makuta chuckled, “all in good time Discord, all in good time.”

Fun with Rahkshi

It was Matoro’s fifth day in Equestria, and by far the most strange. It was his first real encounter with the citizens of Ponyville. The past four days he mostly only went out at night, listening to the stories of Twilight and her friends. Today was the day when he saw some real daylight. He glanced to his Cordak blaster to his right, ‘I’d better leave it here,’ he thought, ‘wouldn’t want my arm blown off again.’ As he exited Twilight’s tree home he got his first real look at the townspeople. He stared at them and they stared back. He slowly started to walk down the street when…

“ZOMBIE, RUN!” yelled Pinkie pie.

Matoro glanced at where Pinkie pie was. Twilight warned him that something like this might happen. Holding out his twin cutter, he froze Pinkie pie’s legs and mouth. He then proceeded to walk over to her.

“Why, hello Pinkie pie, nice day huh?” he asked.

“Mmph (HELP!)”

Matoro sighed, “Ok look, I’m not going to eat you. In fact I’m not even hungry, so why don’t you calm down and let’s try this again, ok?”

Pinkie pie nodded. Matoro then unfroze the ice around Pinkie pie.

“You ok?” he asked, “good, now, who told you I was a ‘zombie’ as you put it?”

“Rainbow dash saw me after you made that zombie come to life in the graveyard yesterday. She said you used your funny mask to make yourself become a zombie,” replied Pinkie pie.

“Ok, well, first thing is, I’m just assuming I’m a zombie. I might just be a visible ghost. Secondly, where does Rainbow dash live?” said Matoro.

“In the sky,” replied Pinkie pie.

Matoro looked into the sky and sure enough, he saw Rainbow dash’s house floating among the clouds. He sighed; there was no way he was going to get up there, he was going to have to give her a piece of his mind later. As if on cue, some storm clouds appeared in the sky and started to rain. Thunder and lightning crashed while it started to hail.

“What the?!” said Matoro as hail started to hit him, “uh… does this happen normally?” he asked.

“No, it never hails during a thunder storm,” replied Pinkie pie, “somepony must have messed up in the weather factory.”

“Yeah,” agreed Matoro, glancing to his left. He suddenly turned when he was an oddly familiar body shape streak through the hail. It was mostly upright, running on two feet and a grey and golden body. It also carried a staff of some sort. ‘Is that a…?’ he wondered, ‘no, impossible, I’m just seeing things.’ Matoro assured himself, ‘a Rahkshi in Equestria, hah, when Makuta sings.’

“Err, Matoro?” asked Pinkie pie, “something wrong?”

“Huh? Oh, no. nothing’s wrong, I’m just seeing things,” replied Matoro.

Suddenly, Rainbow dash was falling to the ground, she was trying to fly in vain as her wings looked too heavy to move. Matoro quickly created an ice slide to prevent her from falling. She slid down it and looked at him, “thanks, I don’t know what happened, one minute I was flying and being awesome and next thing I know my wings are too heavy to move.”

“How very strange,” replied Matoro as he looked at where he thought he saw the Rahkshi.

“Cool! Can I try the slide next?” asked Pinkie pie.

Meanwhile, Fluttershy was also having some problems of her own, but not with the weather. All the forest animals were going out of control. The only thing that could have led them to do this was a large magenta creature. It was very strange looking and smelt of cold metal and something else. It was shooting some sort of beam at the animals and making them attack anything in sight. Fluttershy was trying to calm them down when a white creature came up alongside the magenta one.

“Oh, um, please stop fighting,” she asked.

The white creature glanced at Fluttershy. It opened it face to reveal a worm like creature and hissed at Fluttershy. It took aim with its staff and shot a bolt of pure anger at Fluttershy. It hit her dead on. With a dazed look, she stumbled up the road and stopped in front of Rarity, who was just coming to see her.

“Oh, hello there Fluttershy, I was just on my way to see you,” she said.

Fluttershy, head still spinning gave Rarity a dazed look.

“Fluttershy, are you alright?” asked Rarity, concerned.

Fluttershy shook her head and looked at Rarity, then she yelled, “YOU! WHY DIDN’T YOU HELP ME?”

“Wait, Fluttershy what’s going on?!”

“THE FOREST ANIMALS WERE GOING OUT OF CONTROL AND YOU DID NOTHING TO HELP ME!” yelled Fluttershy.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know,” said Rarity.

“SORRY? SORRY?! SORRY ISN”T GOOD ENOUGH! I’LL KILL YOU FOR WHAT THEY WERE GOING TO DO TO EACH OTHER!” yelled Fluttershy, purely enraged.

“Wait Fluttershy! Stop, please!” said Rarity, scared at how angry Fluttershy was.

“NO! THEY WERE GOING TO KILL EACH OTHER!” yelled Fluttershy.

“HELP!”

Twilight, which was walking nearby heard Fluttershy’s yelling and came to investigate what was going on. She heard Rarity’s call for help and came running only to see and enraged Fluttershy preparing to attack Rarity.

“FLUTTERSHY, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” cried out Twilight.

“STAY BACK! SHE WAS GOING TO LET THE ANIMALS DIE!” Fluttershy yelled. She raised her hoof and prepared to pound Rarity into the ground.

“FLUTTERSHY, STOP!” Twilight yelled.

“NO! THE ANIMALS WERE GOING TO DIE!”

“AHHH!” yelled Rarity.

Twilight, thinking fast, froze Fluttershy just millimetres above Rarity. Fluttershy’s frozen body then fell over onto the ground.

“I’m sorry Fluttershy,” said Twilight.

“T- Thank you Twilight,” said Rarity, “I don’t know what happened, she just became enraged and started to tell me that the animals were going to kill each other.”

“Something must have happened did you see anything that might have caused her to act like that?” asked Twilight.

“Well I did see some large white creature running into the forest before I saw Fluttershy,” replied Rarity.

“Weird,” said Twilight.

**********************************************************

“NO NOT THE BEES!” yelled Applejack, a large swarm of insects started to attack the farm just after a large orange creature walked by. Bugs of all shaped and sizes were attacking the apple trees and there was nothing Applejack could do about it. When she started to ward off the bugs another large creature fired a beam from its staff and next thing she knew she was too weak to move. Then as soon as the bugs appeared, they were gone, along with all the apples.

“NNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!” she cried into the evening.

About an hour later, Twilight, Pinkie pie, Rainbow dash, Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy and Matoro gathered in Twilight’s house.

“What in tarnation was going on out there?” asked Applejack.

“I don’t know,” replied Twilight.

“I just guessing on this but, did anyone else see a large creature with a staff just before these things started to happen?” asked Rarity.

“Come to think of it yeah, I saw an orange one just before those bugs started attacking,” said Applejack.

“What could it be?” asked Fluttershy, recovered from the rage.

“Sounds like a Rahkshi.”

“Sounds like a what?” asked Rainbow dash.

“A Rahkshi, monsters that attacked my home when I was still alive,” said Matoro.

“But what would a Rahkshi be doing here?” asked Pinkie pie.

“I don’t know,” said Matoro, “I hope it isn’t a Rahkshi though, if it was then…”

“Then what?” asked Twilight.

Matoro looked down, sighed, and walked out of the house and into the night.

“Hey Matoro, wait!”

Matoro walked until he hit the center of the town. He sat down on of the benches and looked into the starry sky. ‘I wonder how Jaller, Hahli and the others are doing?’ he thought. He got up and started to walk away from the town. “If Makuta did follow me here then he will be going after me,” he muttered.

“Who Is this ‘Makuta’?”

Matoro spun around and stood mask to face with Princess Luna.

“Oh, uh… hello?” he said.

“Hello Matoro,” she said.

“Um, do I know you?” he asked.

“I am Princess Luna, bringer of the night,” she said.

“I am Toa Matoro, deceased toa of ice,” he replied.

“Yes, I’ve heard from my sister that you think you’re dead,” said Luna.

Matoro sighed, “Every day I’m less sure about that. I thought when I used the Ignika it would be done, I’d be with the other dead toa heroes.”

“Wouldn’t you be glad if you’re still alive?” she said.

“Yes but, my friends, Jaller, Hahli, Nuparu, Hewkii and Kongu are still back home in Metru nui,” said Matoro sadly.

“Metru nui, you mention it a lot, what is it exactly?” asked Luna.

Matoro smiled, “it is a large city, my home before the great cataclysm. After that I lived on the island of Mata nui. Only until about a month ago is when I returned to Metru nui.”

“It seems that you and your friends have had many adventures,” said Luna.

“Oh, you don’t know the half of it.”

******************************************************************

Discord stared at Makuta, and then he started to laugh.

“HAHAHAHAH, you look PRICELESS!” he said through the laughter.

Makuta glared at him, “ah Discord, looks can be deceiving. You of all people should know that, after all, you disguised yourself as a balloon when trying to defeat your pathetic equine foes,” replied Makuta.

“It was… for the effect. I couldn’t think of a better way to terrorise her,” replied Discord.

“And yet they still defeated you Discord. after all I’ve taught you,” replied Makuta, “admittedly yes, the first time you were imprisoned there was no way you could have won but the second time, you were defeated by six little ponies. And you had the upper hand, for the most part. You let your overconfidence get the better of you.”

“They were… more powerful then I realised, but not this time,” said Discord, “this time I will have the element of total surprise.”

“Didn’t you possess it last time?” asked Makuta.

“Celestia blew my cover,” said Discord bitterly.

Makuta gave Discord an amused look, “you talk about this Celestia character a lot. Maybe she is more than a common foe to you?”

“Shut up.”

****************************************************************

Brutaka looked at the five figures in front of him.

“Are you sure about this? You know what will happen if you fail,” he said.

The five stared at their former enemy, “yes Brutaka, we will succeed in this rescue,” said Jaller.

“Who exactly are we trying to quick-find again?” asked Kongu.

Brutaka chuckled, “oh, you’ll know him when you see him.” Brutaka then used his Kanohi Olmak, great mask of dimensional gates, to open a portal to a strange land. “He is through here.”

“Are you sure? You said that you couldn’t control where the end of the portal was,” said Nuparu.

“This is without a doubt where he is. Now go, time is of essence.”

“You guys ready?” asked Jaller.

“Ready,” said Hewkii.

“Yep,” replied Nuparu.

“Yes,” responded Hahli.

“It better not have any more water,” muttered Kongu.

“All right, let’s go,” said Jaller as he stepped through the portal. The other four soon followed.

“Go and find your friend,” said Brutaka as the portal closed.

'What's a Party?'

When Twilight, her friends and the toa arrived at the castle, they met an unwelcoming sight. Fifty armed guards surrounded the castle and they had no intention of letting anyone without authorisation in.

“Err, what happens now?” asked Hewkii.

“Don’t worry, I have authorisation with the princess,” said Twilight as she walked up to a guard, “Hello, I’m here to speak with Princess Celestia.”

“I’m sorry but the Princess cannot speak with anyone right now,” said the guard.

“What? Why?” asked Twilight.

“Sorry but its classified,” said the guard.

“But I’m her personal student!” protested Twilight.

The guard raised an eyebrow, “name?” he asked.

“Twilight Sparkle,” she replied.

“Who are the others, specifically those four behind you,” asked the guard.

“Oh, um, Pinkie pie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow dash, Fluttershy and…”

“They are Hahli, Nuparu and Hewkii. I’m Matoro.”

“What are you supposed to be exactly?”

“We are toa. They’re here on a rescue mission and I’m currently dead,” replied Matoro.

“Likely story,” said the guard, “identification.”

Twilight sighed; the guard really had no intention of letting them in, “we don’t need identification because we are the elements of harmony,” she replied. The guard stared at her and her friends. They indeed matched the description of the elements of harmony.

“You six can enter. The other four however, must stay outside,” said the guard.

Twilight glanced at Matoro; he shrugged and said, “We’ll be ok out here. Just tell her that the others are here.”

“Ok, maybe it’s better if all the ponies in the castle didn’t see four giant robots walking through the castle,” said Twilight as she and her friends walked off. When they were out of earshot Nuparu said, “You sure have some strange friends here Matoro.”

Matoro shrugged, “they were the first people I met when I arrived here. Just wondering, how did you five get here anyway?” he asked.

“Brutaka used his Kanohi Olmak,” replied Hewkii, “he seemed pretty certain that it would lead us here.”

“Wait, Brutaka? Why did Brutaka help you?” asked Matoro.

“He saw the error in his ways and rejoined the Order of Mata nui,” said Hahli.

“The Order of Mata nui?” asked Matoro, “what is that?”

“Kind of like the Brotherhood of Makuta, except it’s for Mata nui instead,” replied Nuparu.

“Ok…” said Matoro.

About ten minutes later Jaller and Kongu arrived with the Cordak blasters and toa tools. They handed them out to the other toa.

“Ok, here the plan, we go in, speak with this Celestia and find out if she really is a tyrant,” said Jaller.

“What?” asked Matoro, “Princess Celestia, a tyrant? Who told you that?”

“Some big mix-n-match guy,” replied Kongu, looking suspiciously at Jaller.

“Mix and match?” asked Hahli.

“Yeah, he looked like the statue I quick-looked at yesterday,” replied Kongu, still keeping an eye on Jaller.

“Statue, what do you mean statue?” asked Matoro.

“He means the funny looking statue we saw yesterday when we arrived,” said Hewkii, “it looks like eight different things mashed together.”

“Did he say his name?” asked Matoro, having a feeling that it might be.

“Disco or something like that,” replied Kongu.

“Was his name Discord?”

“Yes,” said Jaller, “he said he was the true ruler of this place and this Celestia and Luna usurped him during the Great Cataclysm.”

“How on Mata nui did the Great Cataclysm hit here?” asked Nuparu, “were nowhere near Metru nui or the southern continent.”

Matoro was silent. Discord had freed himself. Matoro’s only question was why hadn’t he done anything yet? From what he’s heard, they should have been bombarded with chocolate rain and candy clouds.

“Are you sure his name was Discord?” asked Matoro.

“Yep,” said Kongu.

“Not good,” muttered Matoro, “this not good at all.”

“Why not?” asked Jaller, “he’s the true ruler of this place.”

Matoro glared at Jaller, “do you know anything about Discord? I’ve been here for six days and from what I’ve heard, he’s on level with Makuta.”

The five other toa stared at him. They could tell that Matoro was being dead serious.

“Jaller, where did you meet this ‘Discord’?” asked Hahli.

“In the room where we quick-found the toa tools,” replied Kongu.

“Hmm,”

The toa waited about a half hour when Twilight, her friends and the princess came outside of the castle. Kongu noticed Jaller’s eyes flicker when Celestia appeared. Something was up.

“So you are the other toa,” said Princess Celestia, “I hope that you didn’t see much trouble from the guards.”

Nuparu smiled, “nah, we didn’t have much trouble, right?”

The other toa nodded.

“Uh Princess Celestia, these are Jaller, Hahli, Kongu, Hewkii and Nuparu,” said Matoro, “They helped me get the Ignika from the Barraki.”

“Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you all, but there was a problem with the security last night. Something about an armed attack on the protection shield,” said Celestia.

The toa looked away sheepishly. Princess Celestia then walked off to resume her meeting.

“So uh, were exactly will you be staying?” asked Twilight.

“I don’t know,” said Hahli.

“Maybe you could stay in the town,” suggested Matoro.

“The town?” asked Jaller.

“Yeah, Ponyville is not very far away,” said Pinkie pie, “I could throw a party!”

The other ponies groaned while the toa looked confused. “Party? What is a party exactly?” asked Nuparu.

Pinkie pie stared at him in shock. “How could anypony not know about PARTIES?!”

“Yeah I’m with Pinkie pie on this one, how can you guys not know about parties?” said Rainbow dash.

The toa shrugged, “is it like a celebration?” asked Hewkii.

“YES, and they can be for a million billion other reasons too!” said Pinkie pie.

“Uh huh,” said Jaller, “the plan was to find whoever we were looking for, which we assume is Matoro, and then were leaving by the end of the week.”

“Well that leaves plenty of time for a party!” said Pinkie pie.

As the group of twelve left Canterlot, Pinkie pie went on and on about parties. After a half an hour, all but Kongu had managed to tune her voice out of their heads.

“…and that’s how Equestria was made!” she finished.

Kongu nodded, ‘she sure is energetic’ he thought, “that reminds me of a great celebration when Le-koro defeated the Rama swarm,” he said.

“What’s a Rama?” she asked.

“A Nui-rama is a great wasp from the jungles of Le-wahi,” said Kongu, “many of my fellow villagers were quick-snatched by the swarm. Not even the ever-brave Toa Lewa could help us. He too was taken by the swarm. A brave Matoran of fire helped us save-rescue our Turaga and fellow villagers. There was a great battle with Toa Onua and Toa Lewa in the heart of the rama hive.”

“Aren’t all Toa friends with each other?” she asked.

“Many toa have teams, some do not. Toa Onua was trying to save Toa Lewa from the evils of Makuta who had corrupted him. Onua emerged victorious and a great party-celebration followed after the victory over the hive-swarm,” said Kongu, smiling as he remembered, “That was when I was still a small Le-Matoran.”

“You weren’t always a Toa?” asked Pinkie pie again.

“Most Toa start off as Matoran,” explained Kongu, “we were ever-searching for the missing Toa Nuva when a red lightning bolt hit the Toa canisters me and the others were quick-traveling in.”

“Can I become a toa?” she asked cheerfully.

Kongu chuckled, “I’m not sure, maybe if you hope-believe enough you might.”

The two stopped speaking until they got to the borders of Ponyville. Jaller, Nuparu, Kongu, Hahli and Hewkii looked into the small town.

“Here we are, this is Ponyville,” said Twilight.

The Toa glanced at the buildings; they were the size of most Matoran huts, just big enough for them to fit inside. Pinkie pie of course, started to set up the welcome party for the six Toa.

“Hey frosty, why didn’t little pink throw a celebration party for you?” asked Kongu.

Matoro shrugged, “Twilight wanted my presence to go mostly unnoticed. Unfortunately, the first day I arrived all the townspeople saw me.”

“Well I don’t think we have time for this,” said Jaller.

“Why not? We found Matoro or, he found us, anyways we have six extra days here Jaller, why don’t you relax a bit?” said Hewkii.

Jaller glared at him and resumed walking. Hewkii walked up beside Kongu and asked, “What’s up with him?”

Kongu shrugged, “he’s been like this ever since we met mix-n-match.”

“This ‘Discord’, he seems suspicious,” said Hahli.

Matoro chuckled slightly, “if who you and Jaller did see was Discord, then we are all in for some huge trouble.”

The group continued to walk until they arrived at Sugercube corner. “WERE HERE!” shouted Pinkie pie upon arrival. The Toa looked at the strange building.

“Is that… edible?!” asked Nuparu.

Pinkie pie laughed, “Of course not silly, that’s where I live!”

The Toa glanced at Matoro, he shrugged, “hey, first time I’ve been here too.”

The six Toa had to duck down to get in through the door way. The Toa stared in surprise as they were greeted by the entire town of Ponyville.

“How on Mata nui…” said Nuparu.

Applejack walked up to him, “best not to think ‘bout how Pinkie pie does things.”

Nuparu sat down in a booth and nodded. Physics seemed to work differently here. He looked over to see the other Toa being bombarded with questions from the citizens. He watched a small filly with a red bow and mane walk up to Kongu.

“Howdy mister, I’m Applebloom,” she said.

Kongu looked surprised at how small she was, “uh… hello. I’m Toa Kongu.”

“Err, Mr. Toa Kongu, how’d you get yer cutie mark?” she asked looking at the symbol on his legs.

“My what?” he asked looking at his leg. Sure enough, the symbol of Le-koro was carved into the armor on his legs, “how..?”

Nuparu looked at his leg as well, and, there was the symbol of Onu-koro carved into his armor as well. He was surprised, ‘that wasn’t there when we left…’ he thought about it some more and concluded that the laws of physics here had somehow changed them slightly so they would fit in more. ‘It still doesn’t explain how they got there without anyone noticing.’ He resumed thinking and overheard someone talking to Hahli.

“WOW, cool wings!” she said.

“Oh, hello, their actually fins, said Hahli.

“Why would you have fins if you’re on land?” she asked.

“We were on a mission underwater when we changed and looked like this,” Hahli replied.

“Changed?” she asked.

Hahli nodded, “a mask called the Kanohi Ignika changed us to become immune to the mutations’ waters of The Pit.”

“Oh… Ok, bye,” she said as she walked off to see her friends. They were two small ponies, one a unicorn and the other that was talking to Kongu. Nuparu smiled, the people of the town hardly seemed phased at the appearance of the Toa. Maybe it was because they had met Matoro before? No, he said he spent most of the time in Twilight’s house and mostly going out at night. Nuparu settled on that they were just friendly people. He turned to see Hewkii walking over to him.

“Wow, there sure are friendly huh?” said Hewkii.

Nuparu nodded in agreement, “yeah, they sure are.”

“Hey, have you noticed that we each have they symbol of out village on Mata nui carven onto our legs?” he asked.

Nuparu chuckled, “it’s kind of hard not to notice, Hewkii.”

Applejack walked over to the two Toa.

“Howdy there! Uh, I recon I’ve never really introduced mah self to you their toa so… hi, I’m Applejack,” she said.

“I’m Toa Nuparu, pleasure to meet you Applejack,” replied Nuparu.

“Hi, I’m Toa Hewkii.”

“Well, ah hope you toa like yer stay in Ponyville,” she said as she walked with to speak with Fluttershy.

Meanwhile, Kongu was again speaking with Pinkie pie.

“This is a great party-celebration Pink,” said Kongu as he made a small wind open a window.

“Ooh, cool! How’d you do that?” she asked.

“Well, as an air-toa I can control and manipulate air,” replied Kongu.

“Can I do that?” Pinkie pie asked excitedly.

“I’m not sure; you can always ever-try,”

Pinkie pie got up on her hind legs and tried with all her might as she tried to open a window with air. Twilight walked up and asked what she was doing. Kongu laughed, “Pink here is trying to be an air-toa.”

“Hmm, we don’t have Toa here,” said Twilight.

“Well, she can always ever-try,” replied Kongu as he watched her continue to open the window, “here, try to move your arms apart a little,” said Kongu as he tried to help her move her arms into a position where she could get a good attempt with the wind. Suddenly, the instant Kongu touched Pinkie pie’s arm, he saw a bright Pink Toa with a Kanohi Kualsi. At the same time, Pinkie pie saw a dark green and grey Pegasus with a mane that looked like the wind itself. A second later, Kongu shot across the room and hit the wall while all the nerves in his body were going out of control. Pinkie pie on the other hand had somehow opened the window.

“HEY! I did it! I opened the window!” she said turning to see Kongu having a small seizure across the floor with his mask grey. The last thing he said before blacking out was, “good job Pink…”

It took exactly 3.5 seconds for everyone to panic.

Outlines

Lightning streaked across the sky. Makuta Teridax walked silently through the storm. His plan was already well into its first phase: the arrival of the Toa Mahri. He smiled to himself, the order’s mind block was not as powerful as they thought, and it just took the right amount of… persuasion. When Brutaka absorbed his antidermis into his body, Teridax implanted a message in his head: when Matoro dies, send the other toa to ‘rescue’ him. Well, the cards all played into Teridax’s hand correctly, Brutaka rejoined the order, Matoro did indeed die and the Mahri are here. The only problem was Discord. Yes, he is useful, Teridax admitted, ‘the pathetic rulers of this wretched place will be too preoccupied with him to deal with me.’
It was Discord’s idea to confuse Matoro when he sent out twelve Rahkshi. Each damaging one of these supposed ‘elements of harmony’ either directly or indirectly. He smiled to himself, only six showed up. The other six are stalking the enemy until the time is right. He watched Discord walk into his line of sight.

“Teridax, tell me, when exactly are you going to spread some chaos?” asked Discord in a bored tone.

The Makuta glared at him, “if you are spotted now then the plan will be ruined.”

Discord laughed, “You let the two toa see me.”

“Ah, but one of them is slowly going under your control and the other has had his elemental powers drained.”

“Hah! These Toa are so pathetic they can’t even touch these ponies without hurting themselves,” laughed Discord.

Teridax glared at him, “do you know why the toa of air was damaged? He accidently transferred his elemental power to the pink one.”

Discord glared at him, “so?”

“Do you not realise? We have an extra toa to deal with,” answered Teridax.

“Pinkie pie a toa of air? Priceless!” Discord continued laughing at the thought of her flying through the air.

“Discord, do not forget that it was one toa of air in particular is the reason you spent all those years in stone,” replied Teridax.

“He was luck he met Celestia and Luna,” muttered Discord.

“Even so, that Toa still defeated you. Do not underestimate toa, Discord. Only a fool would underestimate a Toa,” said Teridax.

“Since when do you have so much respect for Toa?” asked Discord.

To his surprise, Teridax laughed, “Discord, it may surprise you how useful toa can be. It’s best to confuse your foes with a simple gesture of friendship. I said I wouldn’t destroy them on the spot if they helped me. They kept their word and so did I.”

“And what does keeping Toa alive have to do with your plan?” asked Discord.

“Don’t you realise Discord, how can I sentence them to millenia of misery when their dead? They are much more entertaining when alive,” replied Teridax.

After a short pause Discord spoke again, “so when do the others arrive?”

The Makuta smiled, “by the time the storm passes they will be in position.”

“Well, I have some minor chaos to attend too,” said Discord, “good bye.”

Teridax watched as the former Makuta teleported away. Moments later he felt another presence. He turned around to face the leader of his distraction.

“Teridax, we are ready on the assault on the city.”

Teridax smiled, “good, wait until sunrise to attack. They will be caught unaware. Can you work with your disability?”

The newcomer smiled back at Teridax, “here we have full sight thanks to a foolish unicorn. My team is ready.”

“Indeed, remember, strike fast and silently. Use the clouds to your advantage,” said Teridax as he returned to the forest. The newcomer grinned, ‘the feathered ponies won’t know what hit them.’ he smiled; Equestria will be conquered by the end of the month. He turned to the stormy sky and saw the first light of day. It was time.

For the first time in millenia, Antroz will once again rule the skies of Equestria.
The only thing missing was some Toa…

Phantoka part 1

(Phantoka, pronounce: FAN-toh-KAH: spirits of air.)

Strange images flashed through Kongu’s mind. He saw a bright blue balloon with soulless black eyes. He also saw Pinkie pie slowly losing her mind and turning grey in an internal duel of will and determination caused by the balloon. But, everyone’s willpower runs out eventually and Kongu watched in slight fear as Pinkie pie grew more and more violent. And there was laughter, unending and merciless laughter. The sound deeply unnerved Kongu. And just when Kongu thought he was going to lose it, a white crack shot through his mind and he awoke with a jump. Kongu groaned in pain, it wasn’t just being beaten down by the Piraka pain; it was being beaten by the Piraka, Brutaka and having the Barraki’s armies attacking him all at once. And it was near unbearable.

“Ugh…”

“HEY EVERYONE, HE’S AWAKE!” yelled someone. Kongu couldn’t tell.

The sounds of multiple footsteps were echoing across the hospital. Kongu opened his eyes. As much pain as he was in, he was surprised he could move anything. His lime green eyes looked slowly across the room. He saw Pinkie pie looking nervously at him. ‘So that’s who was loud-shouting.’ He thought. He tried to muster up the strength to speak.

“W-What happened?” he asked.

“Well, one minute I was trying to open a window and then you tried to help me and then you were on the floor shaking and making weird sounds. I think Twilight called it a seizure, whatever that is, so we brought you here. You were sleeping for hours, Jaller was really angry when he found out what happened, all the other toa besides you had to restrain him. Anyways the doctor also said that you were muttering something about laughter in your sleep. HEY, did you know that I’m the element of laughter…” Pinkie pie said in an endless torrent of words. Kongu cut her off, “WAIT! Just, be quiet for a fast-moment. What happened to me exactly?”

“You had something called a seizure, Jaller was really angry too,” she said.

Kongu sighed, “How long was I deep-sleeping?” he asked.

“About 24 hours.”

Kongu looked out the window across the room. The sun was rising. He also saw storm clouds disappearing into the sky peculiarly fast as the sound of footsteps grew louder. A few seconds later, the Toa and ponies arrived in the room along with Princess Celestia and another shorter being that looked like her.

“Are you alright?” asked Hahli.

“Never better, I love the feeling of being trampled by a herd Kikanalo,” muttered Kongu, “so can someone please explain what happened?”

“Well, when you tried to help Pinkie pie…” said Celestia.

“And then what? The last thing I can remember is a Pink Toa,” said Kongu.

“It’s exactly that. You somehow transferred some of your elemental power into Pinkie pie. She now has control of air,” said Celestia.

Ten pairs of eyes stared at her. The only one who didn’t’ look surprised was Luna.

“She’s a what?” asked Twilight.

“Your friend Pinkie pie is a Toa of air. She can completely manipulate it now,” said Celestia with a smile.

Pinkie pie blinked; two days ago when she was talking with Kongu she asked if she could become a Toa. Now, her wish was granted. She was now Toa Pinkie pie.

“Ooh, can I fly?” she asked.

The pony stared intently at Kongu, he chuckled, and “you can fly-hover like Toa Lewa but not wing-fly like your feather-friends.”

“Neat!” said Pinkie pie as she waived her arms in the air trying to fly. Kongu laughed again, “Pink, being an air-Toa is not as easy-simple as it looks.”

While Pinkie pie and Kongu were talking, Twilight asked Celestia how Kongu transferred his power to her.

“I’m not sure Twilight,” said Celestia as she received a letter and left the room to read it. Luna followed her.

Twilight then turned to the Toa, asking the same question. It was Matoro who provided her an answer.

“Toa can transfer their power to Matoran thus making a new generation of Toa. At the same time, said Toa who used their power in the Matoran loses their power and becomes a Turaga,” replied Matoro.

“Well then why is Kongu still a Toa?” asked Rarity.

Matoro had no answer to that.

“It could be possible that Pinkie pie always was a Toa of air but it took contact form another to trigger it,” suggested Nuparu, “do you have anything here that could relate to elemental powers?”

“Well, there is something called the Elements of harmony,” said Twilight.

“The Elements of harmony,” said Hahli, “you mentioned that at the castle. What are they?”

“There elements of harmony are legendary artifacts that need six ponies to activate,” said Twilight, “each element has a different power. These powers are honesty, generosity, laughter, loyalty, kindness and magic. When used the intended target may or may not be turned to stone.”

The Toa glanced at each other, Nuparu spoke again, “so, they need six people to activate, six different elements and it can turn people to stone… it sounds like this world’s version of a Toa seal.”

“A Toa seal… how do you activate one?” asked Twilight.

“A team of six Toa must unite and use their elemental power,” said Matoro, “it was used on the Makuta two thousand years ago during the great cataclysm.”

“Wait, two thousand years ago?” asked Rainbow dash, “You were toa two thousand years ago? How are our still alive?”

“We weren’t toa at that time,” said Jaller, “our Turaga were the Toa that defeated Makuta. We were forced into Matoran pods for one thousand years.”

“Um, how old are our exactly?” asked Fluttershy.

The toa glanced at each other; they themselves didn’t know how old they were. Hewkii spoke up, “were not sure exactly how old we are. When we were forced into Matoran pods two thousand years ago, they erased our memories. Most of what we know about Metru nui is from old tales from our Turaga.”

“Oh, ok.”

Suddenly, Celestia and Luna entered the room with a panicked voice, “Cloudsdale is under attack.”

The toa and ponies stared at her. Even Kong and Pinkie pie that were in an entirely different conversation fell silent.

“What?” asked Rainbow dash.

“I have just received a report that four large entities are attacking Cloudsdale. They appear to be bat-like in shape and each has a bright orange pod in their chest,” said Celestia, “they drop the pods over crowds of ponies. Their contents appear to be organic. If one comes on contact with sompony then they suddenly grow violent and turn dark grey in colour. We have yet to retrieve a live specimen from the pod to study as their life spans are very short once they leave the pod.”

“We have to do something, come on girls,” said Twilight.

“No. it is too dangerous for you six to handle alone,” said Luna.

Hahli spoke up, “maybe we can help them?”

“How do you plan to do that? You said those are fins. Not wings.”

Hahli smiled, “yes they are fins. But, I were the Kanohi Faxon, mask of kindred, I can change my fins to wings if I choose.”

Luna looked at the Toa of water, “so be it. If you choose to aid the pegasi then that is your choice. May luck be with you all.” With that, Luna left the hospital. Celestia soon followed. Rainbow dash turned to Hahli, “how can you change those to wings?” she asked.

Hahli smiled, “like this.” A dark blue glow enveloped her mask as her fins grew more organic in shape and appearance as a thin layer of hollow steel feathers grew on them. The ponies and other Toa were amazed.

“Wow…” said Rainbow dash.

“Hey, can I try my new air powers when were up there?” asked an exited Pinkie pie.

The five ponies glanced at each other, and then collectively said, “No.”

“You don’t trust Pink to be an air-toa?” asked Kongu, “I can teach her while were there.”

“Kongu your elemental powers are drained. You can’t teach her right now,” said Nuparu.

Kongu glared at him, “I knew that.”

“Sorry Kongu, I can’t let you go on this mission,” said Jaller, “you won’t be able to defend yourself properly and if that Celestia said was true, then we may have more than some dumb rahi on our hands.”

“Animals aren’t dumb,” said Fluttershy too quietly for anybody to hear.

“Now, where is this Cloudsdale exactly?” asked Jaller.

“In the clouds, duh,” said Rainbow dash.

“Uh huh, how are supposed to get there?” he asked.

“You fly.”

Jaller sighed annoyed, ‘why are the places in need of helping always in an impossible to reach spot?’

The twelve left the hospital despite the doctor not wanting Kongu to leave. Kongu laughed at him and asked if he’s ever been beaten down by an army. He said no and Kongu kept walking.

“So uh, how to we fly up to the sky?” asked Matoro.

“We take my hot air balloon. Once we’re there I’ll use a cloud walking spell so we can safely walk on the clouds,” said Twilight.

Unfortunately for Kongu, the Toa still refused to let him go into the sky. He walked away after asking Pinkie pie a question about balloons. Nine went into the balloon while Rainbow dash, Fluttershy and Hahli flew there. On the flight there, Matoro felt a sense of dread. Something wasn’t right about the attack. Why on the day it’s learnt that Pinkie pie is a toa, is the day the cloud city is attacked? Matoro continued to stare off when Rarity asked if he was alright.

“Huh? Oh, yeah,” he said.

“Are you sure? Is there something that you might know about this dreadful attack?” she asked.

“No. I have no idea what’s going on up there,” replied Matoro.

The group of Toa and ponies resumed to slowly fly to the city. But, their travel was not gone unnoticed. Antroz, Chirox, Vamprah and Mutran were waiting for them.

“Hello? Is anypony still out there?” called out Mutran in a mocking tone, “the big scary Makuta are gone now. I promise that nothing bad will happen to you if you come out.” Mutran knew that some pegasi were still out there. Why else was Vamprah still out hunting? He smiled to himself; it was relatively easy to put up a shadow leach hive in the area. Discord had made a surprisingly convincing empty field near a farm. ‘That’s about the only thing he’s good for, making illusions,’ Mutran thought to himself. He landed on a cloud and turned around to face Chirox.

“Hello Chirox, how do you like the sight? Too bad it’ll be gone when we go back,” said Mutran.

Chirox glared at the other Makuta, “who says it’ll be gone? Can’t I bring the worthless specimen back?”

Mutran laughed, “The pressure of our world is too great for anything bigger than a rat to be organic. It’ll be crushed instantly.”

The two Makuta continued to argue when Antroz flew down and spoke to them.

“The Toa have noticed our presence. They also saw fit to ask some little land equines for help.”

“Ooh, equines, I am so afraid,” muttered Chirox.

Meanwhile, Vamprah stared at his prey. It was slowly rising into the sky. He smiled slightly as he faintly heard what the passengers of the balloon were saying. They had no idea what they had gotten themselves into. Oh, they won’t die the moment they arrive. That’s not very entertaining, no, they will arrive, Vamprah will attack then retreat and finally when their guard is down he will swoop in and take them one by one. He soared back into the sky on his bat-like wings to tell his ‘teammates’ that the Toa and equines had arrived. The hunt had begun.

Fluttershy was terrified. Going back to Cloudsdale was one thing; going to Cloudsdale after it had been overrun by giant demonic bats was another. The moment herself, Rainbow dash and Hahli arrived she saw a large green bat drop a bright orange pod on a building. They saw it join a black bat in the distance. A red bat with larger wings soon joined them. It appeared to be commanding the other two.

“What are those things?” asked Rainbow dash.

Hahli stared at them. They looked familiar, but she didn’t know how. “I’m not sure Rainbow dash,” she said finally.

“I hope their friendly…” whispered Fluttershy.

The trio landed in the center of the city. It looked like a tornado had wrecked the place. Hahli suggested that they split up temporarily to see if they can find anyone. After a few minutes of searching, Rainbow dash called out.

“Heeeelllllllllllooooooooo? Is Anypony here?” Rainbow dash then heard a quiet scraping sound somewhere around her.

“Is anypony here? I won’t hurt you. I’m here to help,” she said. The scraping got louder until it felt like it was right above her. “h-hello?” she said nervously. Something was wrong. She turned around to find Hahli and Fluttershy. When she turned, she was face to mask with Mutran.

“Hello flight equine.”

“AAH!” she screamed. Mutran grabbed her with shadow and set her on a cloud.

Mutran had a menacing grin on his face, “why, that’s no way to treat a Makuta. You should be thankful that I’m here to save you from those awful Toa.”

“M-Makuta? You’re Makuta?” she asked, “isn’t there only one Makuta?”

Mutran laughed a dark, sadistic laugh, “no my little equine, we have an entire Brotherhood of Makuta. I am Makuta Mutran. I am the top Rahi scientist.”

“Rahi?” she asked. She then remembered Matoro mentioning what a rahi was when he first arrived. “You’re an animal scientist?”

“Yes, I create and modify rahi,” he said, “but, alas, there are three rahi I have yet to study.”

“What three animals?” she asked nervously.

Mutran smiled sadistically, “unicorn, earth equine and pegasi.” Mutran then used his Kanohi Shelek, mask of silence, to deafen and mute Rainbow dash as he used his power of sleep on her. Mutran chuckled darkly. Oh, she’ll live; he has no intention of letting her die. But she will be… different than before. Possibly less mentally stable. Mutran picked up the sleeping Pegasus and teleported to the Makuta base camp in the clouds.

Back with at the balloon, Matoro quickly noticed that nobody was there.

“Uh, where are all the pegasi?” he asked.

Applejack stared at the deserted city, “I bet there gone. Either they ran away or taken by them bats.”

“I agree with Applejack, there not here for sure,” said Twilight.

“Then where are they?” asked Rarity.

“At the hive,” said an unseen voice.

Jaller ignited his fire blade as Hewkii readied his war blade and Nuparu pulled out his aqua baster blade and protosteel shield. Matoro however, looked for the voice.

“Who said that?” asked Twilight.

The being landed on the cloud with a quiet thud, it then stared at the four Toa with venom in its dark red eyes. “It was me, Makuta Chirox.”

Matoro’s eyes narrowed, “Makuta? You’re Makuta?” he asked.

“Why yes you pathetic attempt at a Toa. I am indeed a Makuta,” said Chirox, “by the way,” he blasted Matoro with a short bolt of shadow, knocking him over, “that’s for blinding me.”

“What do you want here Makuta?” asked Jaller.

“What do I want? Well little toa, I want to rule the skies of Equestria again like I used to twenty thousand years ago,” Chirox said, “of course, you wouldn’t remember that far because of Teridax’s Matoran pods.”

Hewkii glanced at Nuparu. He nodded slightly and used his Kanohi Volitak. Chirox smiled slightly as one toa disappeared and the other three started to attack him. He flattened the three toa with chain lightning and waited for Nuparu to reappear. He glanced to where the ponies were and saw Vamprah attacking them. He smiled, ‘so that’s where he flew of too.’ Suddenly, Nuparu reappeared in his line of sight. Chirox lashed out with a bolt of chain lightning and shadow. Despite all the energy of Nuparu, he eventually fell to the force of the lightning and shadow. The last thing any of the four Toa saw before losing consciousness was the ominous shadow of Chirox.

It had been a long time since Vamprah had seen prey this easy. Sure, the purple one put up a slight challenge but was no match for his Kanohi Avsa, mask of hunger, to take away all their strength. It took a total of two minutes to take down the four ponies. Vamprah then departed, making the appearance of losing interest as he flew off to attack Hahli.

Fluttershy had been scared plenty of times. But never, and she means never, has she been so afraid in her life. She was frozen on the spot, white with fear as Antroz approached her. Antroz glided right up to her and made a dark laughing sound. Then, he spoke,

“Is the little flutter equine afraid? Well, I, Makuta Antroz has no time to deal with pathetic attempts on life such as yourself,” Antroz smiled to himself as Fluttershy fainted with fear on the spot. Sure, he cheated a little when he used his power over fear but, her fainting saved him a great deal of unnecessary trouble. He resumed flying when he saw Vamprah approaching Hahli. Reporting to Teridax could wait, not every day could one see the defeat of a flying Toa of water.

Hahli was fighting for her life; Vamprah had appeared out of literally nowhere and ambushed her. She shot her Cordak blaster wildly and shot jets of water at the attacker. Vamprah smiled inwardly, this Toa had resistance and the best part of a hunt is the fight. After a short fight, Hahli lay unconscious and defeated on the cloud. Antroz approached him.

“Good job Vamprah, the mission is complete I assume?” said Antroz.

Vamprah nodded, he never was the most talkative person in the world.

“Good, unfortunately, I have had no contact with Mutran. Do you have any idea where he went?”

Vamprah smiled, “he took the rainbow one to the base camp.”

Antroz scowled, “will he be experimenting in it?”

Vamprah continued to smile, “of course.”

Meanwhile, Kongu was sitting in Sugarcube corner trying this mysterious substance called ‘ice cream’ when he saw a Cordak rocket explode onto the ground outside. Kongu picked up his Cordak blasters and ran out to see where it had come from. He looked up to see small explosions in the clouds. He had to help them. Who knows what’s going on up there? Kongu ran back inside and started to search Pinkie pies room. She mentioned something that could make her float above the ground. Then, finally, he found what he was looking for. After taking the supplies outside, Kongu tied them to himself and slowly started to float up.
In the most extreme situations, a Toa could find anything to help others. In Kongu’s case, it was three thousand bright pink balloons.

Phantoka part 2

Rainbow dash awoke in a dark concrete room. She tried to get up but she was tied to a cold steel operating table. She turned to her left to see the unconscious form of Twilight. She tried to communicate with her.

“Twilight? Where are we?” she asked fearfully. Twilight stirred slightly and opened her eyes.

“Mmph,” mumbled Twilight, she had a rope tied to her mouth and a magic proof lock on her horn. Beside her was Pinkie pie in the same situation. They both looked utterly defeated. Then a cold chill passed through the room as Rainbow dash heard Mutran approaching. She shivered, the only thing that could to that was Discord. For all she knew, Mutran could be worse. She looked to her right to see the faint shine of some medical equipment and strange metal rods and bolts. She shivered again, what was Mutran going to do with those? She heard a click and three light’s turned on above her, Twilight and Pinkie pie.

“Why, hello test subjects 311,312 and 313. Today, Dr. Mutran is going to perform your operations today,” said Mutran sadistic glee.

“Where are we?” demanded Rainbow dash.

“Mmph!” mumbled Pinkie pie.

“Why, you’re in the Makuta research and operating wing. I hope you had a good rest because well, let’s just say you won’t be sleeping any time soon” Mutran chuckled, a horrible metallic sound, “now, who wants to go first?”

“You’ll never get away with this!” said Rainbow dash defiantly. To her surprise, Mutran smiled at her.

“Oh really, it seems I’m doing fairly well at getting away with it now,” said Mutran. Rainbow dash called out for help. Again, Mutran laughed. “Now Rainbow dash, don’t be so hasty for help. I offer you a choice.”

Rainbow dash blinked in confusion. “A choice?” she asked.

“Yes little flight equine, a choice,” said Mutran, “now, you have to choose one and ONLY one of your friends to be freed and never return a Makuta base, or, you can leave yourself and both of your friends have to partake in the operation. Make your choice.”

Rainbow dash stared at Mutran. Let one friend live and her and the other die? Or let both die and live herself. She started to cry when she made her decision. “I choose… myself.” It was barley whisper but it echoed across the empty operation room. Twilight and Pinkie pie stared at her with shock. Mutran smiled, “a wise decision Rainbow dash. Now, if you hold on a few moments the operations will begin.”

“What?! But you said-“

Mutran cut her off, “I never said I’d specifically be operating on you. In fact, the idea never crossed my mind. I already have a whole pegasi city I can operate on. So Rainbow dash I hope you like the show, I’m sure your friends won’t be.” With that, be picked up the large protosteel scalpel and some of the metal rods and started making slits in Twilight’s and Pinkie pie’s back. Rainbow dash watched in pure horror as her friends had large steel wings grafted onto their spines and a horn to Pinkie pie’s skull. Pinkie pie screamed in pain and a few moments later she fell silent, as cold and dead as the rods forcefully rammed into her skull and back.

“Ah, what a pity, land equines never see these operations through,” said Mutran to Twilight and Rainbow dash as he shoved the body onto the floor. “Now, I hope you can handle this better than your friend.” Twilight did in fact survive the operation only to die moments after its completion from shock and blood loss. Rainbow dash cried at the death of her friends. Mutran lifted her head, “now, I’m a Makuta of my word. So, off you go my little traitor.” suddenly, she found herself on the cloud she was on when she first encountered Mutran. She lay there and cried, and cried, and cried…

Matoro awoke on the cloud with Jaller, Nuparu and Hewkii lying around him. He picked himself off the ‘floor’ of the cloud and cracked his spine. ‘That could have gone better.’ He thought to himself. He turned around to see Rarity, Applejack, Twilight and Pinkie pie unconscious not far away. ‘they seem to be alright.” After waking up the other Toa, Matoro walked over to them to try to get them up as well.

“Come on, get up. You can’t just lie here all day, we have a city to save,” said Matoro as he tried to awaken Pinkie pie, “We also need another Toa.”

After hearing that, Pinkie pie bolted up right and asked, “Well what are we waiting for? We have ponies to save!”

Matoro smiled, it was unusual to see someone so enthusiastic to go on such a dangerous rescue mission. After some short moments, the group of eight started to head into the heart of Cloudsdale. They stared at the ruins of the famous rainbow factory. With a heavy sigh, Matoro continued walking wondering where Hahli, Fluttershy and Rainbow dash were, they were supposed to meet up here…

Hahli jumped awake, she dragged herself upright as she looked for the thing that attacked her. After giving up searching for it, she went to look for Rainbow dash and Fluttershy. After a short walk, she found Fluttershy slowly awakening from her encounter with Antroz.

“Hey Fluttershy, wake up,” said Hahli.

“No, go away!” mumbled Fluttershy.

“Why?” asked Hahli.

“You’re a big scary monster that’s going to eat me that’s why!”

Hahli chuckled softly, “Fluttershy, whatever that… thing was its gone now.”

Fluttershy looked up, “really?”

Hahli smiled, “yes Fluttershy, it’s gone.”

Fluttershy looked around to see if Antroz was still hiding somewhere. Satisfied that he was gone, she picked herself up and stared at Hahli, “did the monster attack you too?” she asked.

“Yes, a blue one attacked me,” said Hahli.

“I think a red one attacked me,” said Fluttershy.

The two were silent for a while until they found Twilight, Matoro and the others.

“There you are! Where were you?” asked Matoro.

“I was attacked by a large blue bat,” said Hahli.

“I was attacked by a red one,” mumbled Fluttershy.

“Where’s Rainbow dash?” asked Twilight.

“Isn’t she with you?” asked Hahli.

“No…”

The group fell silent. Only very faintly could Pinkie pie hear the faintest sounds of crying echo throughout the city.

“Hey, I hear something!” said Pinkie pie.

“What is it dear?” asked Rarity.

“Ah hear it too, it sounds like… crying?” said Applejack, “It’s coming from that way!”

The group of Toa and ponies rushed to the source of the crying. It was Rainbow dash, looking like she just lost at another of Discord’s mind games. She was a dull grey colour with dark stains around her eyes from her crying. She looked up at them sadly and resumed crying. They could all tell that something bad had happened. This wasn’t just fear, no; it was the after effects of torture. Bu none of them could see any physical harm on her.

“Rainbow dash? Y’all alright?” asked Applejack.

“No,” said Rainbow dash, still crying.

“Well why not?” asked Applejack softly, she could tell that whatever had happened, it had shaken Rainbow dash to her very core.

“Their dead,” she whispered, “they’re both dead because of me.”

“Who’s dead?” asked Applejack.

Rainbow dash just continued to cry, after some time, she said, “I let Twilight and Pinkie pie die.”

“Uh…”

“IT WAS MY FAULT! I COULD HAVE SAVED ONE OF THEM! HE EVEN SAID THAT HE WOULDEN’T HAVE OPPERATED ON ME IF I DIDN’T SAVE MY SELF!” she screamed.

“Who’s ‘he’?” asked Matoro.

She sniffed, “Makuta Mutran.”

The five toa fell silent. “Makuta? As it Makuta, Makuta?” asked Nuparu.

Rainbow dash nodded.

“Then the bats we saw…” said Hahli

“They were most likely Makuta too,” said Jaller.

“It doesn’t matter. Twilight and Pinkie pie are dead;” said Rainbow dash quietly, “I saw what happened after Mutran operated on them.”

“Um, what did happen exactly?” asked Rarity.

“He cut their backs open and put big metal rods into the slits,” whispered Rainbow dash, “he also grafted another rod on Pinkie pies head just before she died. Twilight survived the operation but died just after.”

Twilight and Pinkie pie were dead silent through this. They both could almost feel the rods being jammed into their backs.

“Don’t you worry, their ok,” said Applejack.

“No their not,” cried Rainbow dash, “they died because of ME.”

“We’re not dead Rainbow dash,” said Twilight.

Rainbow dash stared at Twilight and Pinkie pie. She screamed, “NOO! I’M SORRY DON’T HAUNT ME!”

“No silly, were not here to haunt you,” said Pinkie pie.

Rainbow dash sniffed, “you’re not?”

“No, were not dead and don’t plan on being,” said Twilight.

“But Mutran-“

“They were most likely illusions,” said Matoro, “if the Makuta can create illusions, then Mutran probably can too.”

“But they looked so real…”

Matoro smiled, “their illusions can be very convincing at times.”

Rainbow dash sniffed, “but… I still left the thinking they were real.”

“If you hadn’t then you would be dead. Even if you didn’t leave, Mutran probably would have done the same thing,’ said Hahli, putting her hand on Rainbow dash’s back. Suddenly, Hahli saw a light blue Toa with a Kakama while Rainbow dash saw a dark blue unicorn that’s mane looked like a river. Hahli took her hand of Rainbow dash and stepped back.

“What on Mata nui…”

“What was that?” asked Rainbow dash, the gray slightly faded.

“What happened?” asked Hewkii.

“Ooh, did you see a funny looking pony?” asked Pinkie pie.

“Uh… yeah?” said Rainbow dash.

“Yippee, now you’re a Toa too!” exclaimed Pinkie pie.

“Wait what?” asked Hahli in confusion.

“You see, right after Kongu tried to help me open the window, he said he saw a pink Toa when he touched my arm and I saw a green Pegasus with a windy mane. Now, we both think that that was actually us but our roles reversed! So the funny looking pony to you, Rainbow dash was Hahli and the funny looking Toa to Hahli was Rainbow dash!” said Pinkie pie excitedly.

“So what you’re saying is that I’m now a Toa?” asked Rainbow dash.

“Yep.”

“But why do I still have my elemental powers?” asked Hahli, “Kongu lost his when you became a Toa.”

Pinkie pie giggled slightly, “Oh, I was trying to open the window. He thinks I was trying a little too hard and drained his power.”

“So… can everypony become a Toa?” asked Rarity.

Pinkie pie shrugged, “I think it depends on the situation so you’ll have to wait. I don’t really understand it ether, but the princess’s might.”

“The princess’s? Why do you think the princess’s will know?” asked Twilight.

“Well, it’s because it seemed that Celestia and Luna had heard of Toa before,” explained Pinkie pie.

“Huh, maybe that’s why Luna didn’t seem surprised that you had elemental powers…” said Nuparu, “maybe another Toa was here before Matoro.”

The Toa and ponies continued to talk about the possibility of a Toa that was here before Matoro. Jaller sighed, the conversation was going nowhere, “Ok, now that were all together again, why don’t we try to find the missing pegasi. I know I haven’t seen one the entire time we’ve been here.”

“You couldn’t find anypony?” asked Rainbow dash.

“Nope, did you see anyone?” asked Hewkii.

“No, I only saw Mutran,” Rainbow dash said his name bitterly.

“What if the Makuta took them?” said Fluttershy quietly.

Matoro looked at her and shrugged, “maybe, you and Rainbow dash know these people better that we do.”

“Well, they’re not here,” said Rainbow dash. A dark shadow loomed over them with an all too familiar voice, “I do.” That was the last thing any of them heard before they heard a loud high pitch screaming sound that knocked them all unconscious.
Matoro awoke in a darkened chamber. His orange eyes scanned the small room. Fluttershy was sitting upright beside him.

“Hey, you alright?” he asked as he got to his feet.

Fluttershy nodded, “what happened?”

Matoro sighed, “Makuta.”

“What do we do now?” she asked.

Matoro made a weak smile, “we wait for them to get us.”

“Huh?”

“Don’t worry, I have a plan. I’m sure the others are nearby. All we need to do is contact them,” said Matoro, “hey Fluttershy, do you hear that?”

“Hear what?” she asked nervously.

“It sounds like… singing?”

“My little equine, my little equine,” sang Mutran; he heard the tortured screams of the captured pegasi in the other room, “AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!”
“My little equine, you used to not know what torture could be, ‘till you were captured by me! There is no hope! No adventure, I have no heart, what is kindness? It was a simple feat and your screams make it all complete YES! My little equine, you know you’re all going to diiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee!” sang Mutran cheerfully.

Vamprah stared at Mutran during his mental episode, “what are you doing?” he asked.

Mutran looked up from notes, “trying to calm down the slaves.”

Vamprah appeared to raise an eyebrow but, Makuta don’t have eyebrows. He then took flight to watch over the slaves in the hive. He saw Chirox on the way there.

“Vamprah, report to Antroz that the Toa and ponies have been captured,” said Chirox.

“Get Bitil to do it. That’s all he’s good for,” said Vamprah as he resumed his flight. He smiled slightly to Chirox’s annoyance. When he arrived at the hive he saw countless pegasi slaves. Most of them had been transformed into shadow pegasi, the others well… they were on a trip to ‘Dr. Mutran’s’ office for a checkup. There were three other Makuta at the hive besides himself. They were watching over the enslaved pegasi with disgust. Many millenia ago, Equestria was part of a much larger land mass. But, one hundred thousand years ago it broke off with two other pieces, an ocean and a jungle. Equestria was in the perfect spot when that happened so it got an equal amount of everything so it could sustain life properly. To Vamprah’s knowledge, there were only two ways to get here, using a Kanohi Olmak or the portal in the southern islands. The other Makuta of course, knew about this. They used it until Discord went rouge and the great cataclysm hit. Arriving at his destination, Vamprah went to speak with Krika.
“Krika, the Toa and equines have been captured,” said Vamprah. Krika glanced at him. That was the most he’s said to him this entire mission. He nodded and Vamprah flew off away from the hive. Krika looked over the slaves for the thousandth time that day. He knew something the others didn’t. He knew this was just a large distraction for Teridax and Discord. But Krika knew better than to call them out on it. For now, he will have to wait until the opportune moment…
********************************************
Jaller had finally melted the protosteel bars. It had taken him nearly three hours of non-stop melting. “There, the bars are melted,” he said to Twilight, who was put in the same cell as him.

Twilight nodded and walked cautiously out of the room. She saw Jaller activate his Kanohi Arthron. They had heard singing earlier. Twilight hoped it was just Pinkie pie trying to cheer the others up. Jaller had stumbled across the Toa tools and grabbed them. The two continued to pass a series of empty cells until they found one with disembodied voices coming out of them.

“…so where do you reckon the others are?”

“Knowing Jaller or Matoro, they most likely have already escaped.”

Twilight stopped, “Applejack? Is that you?” she asked the empty cell.

“Twilight? Where are you? Were in this here prison room,” replied Applejack.

This time Jaller spoke, “uh, were right in front of a cell with your voices coming out of it.”

“Oh, hi Jaller,” replied Hewkii, “so, where are you?”

“Right in front of you,” said Jaller.

“But I don’t see you…”

“Twilight, can you dispel illusions?” asked Jaller.

Twilight nodded. The then used her de-illusion spell and Hewkii and Applejack faded into view.

“What in tarnation…”

Hewkii got to his feet, “so… how are we going to get out of here?” he asked.

Jaller smiled, “stand back,” he held out his flame sword, ignited it, and made a series of quick slashing motions and the melted bars of the cell fell to the floor.

“Wow…” said Twilight.

The four then continued to find the others. Finally, they came across Matoro and Fluttershy. Matoro chuckled, “what took you so long? We’ve been waiting here forever.”

“You two alright?” asked Nuparu, handing Matoro his Cordak blaster.

“I am, how about you Fluttershy?” asked Matoro.

“Yes, I’m alright,” said Fluttershy quietly.

Matoro nodded, “ok so… what’s the plan?” he asked.

“First we get out of here. Second we find the missing pegasi,” said Jaller.

“Oh, I’m afraid nobody’s going anywhere,” said a chilling voice. Twilight noticed Rainbow dash start to cry slightly. ‘This must be Mutran,’ she thought.

“Come out Makuta!” said Jaller.

Mutran laughed, “foolish Toa, do you really think I’d just let you leave? Oh no, I have lots of tests to do. Especially on test subject 313.”

Rainbow dash by this point had curled up into a ball and started to quietly mutter “I left them. I left them. I left them.”

Hahli put her hand on her back to try to calm her down. It sort of worked, she stopped muttering.

“What did you do with the pegasi?!” demanded Twilight.

Mutran laughed his cold metallic laugh, “why Twilight my dear, there at the hive.”

“The hive?” asked Rarity.

“Oh yes, the shadow leach hive. All your little pegasi friends are now mere shadows of their former selves. Even your precious celebrity’s ‘The Wonderbolts’,” said Mutran.

Rainbow dash had started shivering. Mutran took a mental note of that, for later torture.

“Mutran, you are outnumbered eleven to one. Stand down,” said Matoro.

Mutran gave Matoro an intrigued look, “oh really? Well, first, Rainbow dash is useless; second, the pink equine has no training in being a Toa and finally, its four to eleven.” Just as he finished that sentence, Vamprah, Chirox and Antroz entered the room.

“If five of you couldn’t defeat Chirox all at once, what chance do you have against all four of us?” asked Mutran. As if on cue, the ceiling exploded in a large ball of flame and cloud bits. Everyone looked to see a near powerless Toa Kongu strapped to three thousand pink balloons firing Cordak rockets at the Makuta. One of them hit Mutran dead on as he screamed in agony. The Toa and ponies, taking advantage of the situation, ran for the exit not far away. Hahli noticed Rainbow dash hadn’t moved and scooped the traumatized Pegasus and followed the others.

“go after them!” shouted Antroz as he started to fire chain lightning at Kongu, who fired a rocket at Antroz’s feet, destroying the cloud and messing up his aim. Chirox instead blasted Kongu with shadow bolts and popping the balloons.

“Aaaaaaaahhhhh!” he yelled plummeting to the ground far below. The Makuta went to pursue the other Toa. They flew through the corridors and found Vamprah with the metal from his wing-knives melted onto his fingers.

“They went that way,” he muttered. But it was too late, the Toa were out of sight. Antroz swore bitterly, he failed Teridax. He then felt another presence.

“Well done Antroz, mission accomplished,” said the booming voice of Teridax.

The Toa and Ponies didn’t stop running until they reached Twilights balloon. She quickly untied the ropes and the balloon made its decent down. They all let out a loud sigh. They wouldn’t have made it if not for Kongu timing. But, they had heard his scream. It could only mean one thing: the balloons popped and he fell to his death. They had a moment of silence for the presumed dead Toa. When they finally made it to the ground they met Celestia and Luna anxiously waiting.

“What happened? We saw explosions and tried to help but were blocked off by an invisible barrier,” said Celestia.
The group was silent. Then Pinkie pie spoke, “we were captured by Makuta Mutran. Three others came and we were trapped in their cloudy fortress. Then along came Kongu on a bazillion balloons and started to attack the fortress. One of the Makuta popped the balloons and he fell. We barely escaped in time.”

The Princess’s looked at the group; they looked like they had been through a war. Luna then spoke, “so the Toa of air is dead?” she asked. Pinkie pie nodded sadly, “well, we heard him scream. He might have survived but… that’s a long way down.”

“Who might have lived-survived?” asked a voice.

“Kongu?” asked Nuparu astonished.

“Who else?” he responded.

“But, you fell from hundreds of feet in the air!” said Twilight.

Kong smiled, “hard-fell on a few trees. Honestly, you need to get a quick-faster balloon.”

Many hours later at Sugarcube corner, the group had come to an eventual conclusion: find this ‘shadow leach hive’. Unfortunately, they had no idea where it was or what it looked like and Rainbow dash was in no condition to face Mutran again. She was currently in the hospital being treated for mass shock and therapy. They decided to start to look for it in the morning.

‘The morning,’ thought Matoro, ‘what new horrors will the morning have? We only have four days before Brutaka creates another portal to home… what are we going to do?’

Air and Bugs

During the day Ponyville is a busy place. But after the sunset, more that Luna’s moon watches the night. Krika moved swiftly throughout the empty streets. His red eyes scanned the street until it hit their mark: Sugarcube corner. Although a Makuta, he finds Teridax’s plan overly complex. There is nothing wrong with a complex idea but, when it takes eighty thousand years to complete with thousands of smaller plans which contain plans themselves? That near impossible to do. Krika let out silent sigh, his mutation had damaged him greatly. He was supposed to be in Karda nui finishing off the plan at last. But, Teridax insisted that they retrieve Discord first. He continued to walk to the brightly lit shop. The Toa were inside. Using his natural powers of shadow that all Makuta possess, he faded into the darkness and began watching them.

“…Didn’t that hurt?” asked Rarity.

Kongu glared at her, “what do you thing? I was fast-falling from hundreds of bio in the high-sky and hard-landing on a tree. Of course it hurt!”

“But you’re ok, right?” asked Hahli.

“Better than Rainbows than what I hear.”

She nodded, Rainbow dash was currently in the hospital for shock treatment and therapy. They’re not quite sure what Mutran did to her but it seems that it was not just illusions that was going on. Krika overheard this and grimaced, he was one of the last few Makuta that had a shred of what they once were: heroes. That all changed when Teridax reviled his plan. In the end, he sided with Teridax’s idea but in spite of him; let the old Makuta leader, Miserix, live. He occasionally showed mercy but only to spite Teridax. And now here he was, waiting in the shadows, feeling slightly sorry for a cocky, overconfident Pegasus. He spat out some venom forming in his insect-like mouth, another part of his mutation. His teammates fared slightly better, Gorast needed to breathe and got a stinger and Bitil well… was Bitil. After some more mindless talking, the group parted ways for the night. Seeing no more reason to stay, Krika went on his way. He briefly overheard them speaking again but ignored it. He continued walking when he noticed some thin layers of ice forming on his armor.

“Think your clever Toa? Trying to freeze me while I’m minding my own business?” said Krika.

“Why are you here Makuta?” asked Matoro.

Krika smiled, “if I told you, I’d have to kill you where you stand and I don’t feel like seeing a fool die right now.”

Matoro slightly raised his Cordak blaster, waiting for Krika to attack, to his surprise, Krika laughed.

“Do you seriously think I am going to fight you here? In the middle of the night when the princess is watching? I think not,” said Krika.

Matoro stared at him, unsure what Krika was doing. Nevertheless, he made sure Krika was always in sight, though he may say he won’t attack, Matoro’s learned to never trust a Makuta.

“Well, then why’d you show up if you aren’t going to attack?” asked Matoro.

Krika spat out some more venom, Matoro stepped back a bit, “I’m here on official instructions from the hive.” Krika of course, knew that the Toa had found out about the hive by now.

Matoro aimed his Cordak blaster at Krika’s chest, “where is the hive?” he demanded.

“Toa, you aren’t seriously thinking of killing me right here? That would be violating the Toa code. If you want to live the rest of your days as an ex-Toa then go ahead, shoot me,” challenged Krika.

“What does it matter? I’m dead,” replied Matoro.

Krika laughed again, “foolish Toa, if you were dead, then why’d you end up here? Why not spend the rest of time with the other deceased beings? Why another world in peril? Face it Toa of ice, you may think your dead you may KNOW you are dead but, what does it mean to be dead? Truly dead? The hive will present itself when you find that conclusion. Farewell Toa Matoro. May Mata nui protect you.” With that, Krika used his Kanohi Crast, mask of repulsion, to send Matoro flying. Krika watched him as he flew until he hit the ground.
************************************************************************
The hospital had never seen anything like this. Rainbow dash was shaking and muttering but there was no explanation for it. Her friends told them to avoid speaking about the one called Mutran. They also advised that she not go near operating tools. But the doctors couldn’t figure out why now. There was nothing in the room that she could be afraid of and yet she was still cowering in fear. They had already tried a therapist and he said that she should be away from anything threatening and be reminded that her friends are ok. That last one threw the doctor off a bit. But, the therapist insisted that it would help her recover. Little did anypony know, nearly the entire city disappeared this morning and Twilight, her friends and a group of newcomers called ‘Toa’ had gone to find out what was going on. Though they failed in finding the pegasi, they know the creatures that did this. They’re called Makuta. They are to be avoided in sight. When the doctor returned to check up on Rainbow dash for the sixth time that night, he noticed something: she was a dull greyish blue, the same colours that the dark lord Discord made her about year ago. ‘What if Discord is free again?’ the doctor thought, ‘no, impossible, the Princess would have warned us.’ Satisfied with that conclusion, the doctor turned around to stand face to face with the therapist.

“Oh, hello,” said the doctor.

“Hello indeed.”

“Uh, I’m sorry but the hospital is closing.”

The therapist chuckled, “of course, I was just checking on how Rainbow dash was doing.”

The doctor looked at the therapist sadly, “same as before.”

“Ah, well, I’m sure that she will recover soon. I’ve seen worse cases than this. Just give her some time,” said the therapist as he walked off into the night. The doctor watched him go, wondering why he had returned so late…

Rainbow dash had finally fallen asleep. She thrashed around in her sleep. What she was seeing was not a dream. They were memories of Hahli’s experience on Voya nui and in The Pit. She saw the Piraka and the hall of nightmares, the fight against Umbra, fighting against Vezon and Fenrakk. Then she saw the dark waters of the Pit. The Barraki, Gadunka, and the final moments of the other Toa preparing a last stand to hold the Barraki back so Matoro could sacrifice himself. There was nothing after that, but she felt a rush of water hit her as she awoke with a jump. Rainbow dash looked around to see where the water had come from. She got out of the hospital bed and stood on the cold, concrete floor. She walked over to the door only to find that it was locked. The window was also locked. Something was different, but she couldn’t tell what. She walked back to the bed and started to go to sleep again, whatever it was, it could wait till morning.
**************************************************
A dull orange eye opened in the early morning sun. With slight difficulty, Matoro got himself into a sitting position. He stretched his aching joints and stood up. He vaguely remembered speaking with Krika. Matoro then began to walk towards Sugarcube corner. It seemed that it was now the meeting spot for the Toa. He smiled slightly when he saw Kongu trying to teach Pinkie pie how to control air.

“Ok, first thing in being an air-Toa is quick-think,” said Kongu, “Second thing is feel the air around you. After that, try to bend-move it with your willpower.”

Pinkie pie nodded as she closed her eyes and a very small wind blew across the room. Kongu smiled, Pinkie pie was getting the hang of this.

“Good, now try to summon-create a stronger wind,” said Kongu. Pinkie pie nodded again as the wind picked up. Pinkie pie’s wind slowly started to get weaker and Kongu asked what was wrong.

“I don’ know,” said Pinkie pie, “I just can’t feel the air as much.”

Kongu laughed slightly, “That means your Toa power is running out like mine has.”

“Does that mean it will be gone forever?” she asked concerned.

“No, you’ll just have to long-wait until it recharges,” said Kongu.

“Oh… okie dokie lokie,” said Pinkie pie.

Matoro chose this moment to present his arrival, “hello, Kongu, Pinkie pie.”

“Hey frosty,” said Kongu.

“Hi Matoro,” said Pinkie pie.

“Hi, have any of you found information about the hive?” asked Matoro.

“You mean that thing Mutran was talking about yesterday? Hmm… nope,” said Pinkie pie.

“Hive huh? Maybe it’s like the Rama hive on Mata nui,” suggested Kongu.

“You think the Makuta have Nui Rama here?” asked Matoro.

“I don’t know. Maybe there using the missing pegasi something,” said Kongu.

Matoro looked at Kongu surprised, “huh, maybe.”

At that moment, Twilight ran into the shop. She stopped for a moment to catch her breath.

“Hi Twilight,” said Pinkie pie cheerfully.

“Rainbow dash *pant* Rainbow dash is gone!” she said.

“Rainbows left the hospital?” asked Kongu.

“Yes the doctors said the left just after the sun rose,” said Twilight, “we have to find her. I’ll get the others.”

“Sure,” agreed Matoro as he walked out of Sugercube corner.

Some hours later, the Toa and ponies found Rainbow dash sitting in a river. She was just sitting there with her eyes closed. Hahli walked up to her.

“Rainbow dash? You alright?” she asked.

Rainbow dash looked at Hahli, “yeah, why wouldn’t I be?” she asked.

“Do you remember what happened yesterday?” Hahli asked.

“You mean in Cloudsdale? Yeah I remember that.”

Jaller glanced at Twilight, “is she always like this?”

Twilight shook her head, “I’ve never seen her do this.”

“Do you remember what happened with Mutran?” asked Hahli, hoping it would not bring back any traumatizing memories.

Rainbow dash looked at Hahli with determination in her eyes, “when I see him again I’m going to rip that stupid mask off his face!”

Nuparu chose this moment to speak up, “so, you not at all bothered by yesterday?”

Rainbow dash shook her head, “like you guys said, it was an illusion.”

“Well, it’s good to have y’all back Rainbow,” said Applejack.

“Um, did you find out where the missing pegasi are?” asked Fluttershy quietly.

“Not yet,” said Matoro.

“Well it can’t be too far away right?” asked Hewkii.

“If it’s anything like the Rama hive,” said Kongu, “nope.”

“Well I’m not going into some ghastly insect hive,” said Rarity.

Matoro chuckled slightly, “if we survived what happened yesterday, a hive of bugs will be no problem.”

A pair of dark reddish orange eyes watched the group in the shadows, it hissed slightly. ‘The fools don’t know what’s in the hive.’ It chuckled slightly to itself, ‘but they soon will.’ It then took off in its large insect wings and flew off to the darkness of the hive.

The Hive Mind

It moved like a spider and yet… it wasn’t your average spider. The Keelerak scuttled across the internal webbing of the structure known as ‘The Hive’. It moved slowly as it watched the enslaved pegasi and changelings. It called out with its buzz saw like mouth and received a message in its language: the plan is in full motion. ‘when this is over, we will kill the Makuta and claim the hive as our own!’ it thought, ‘we just have to wait until-‘ it screeched in pain as Krika’s front right leg pierced its armor and cut its way into the innards of the Visorak.

“Sorry, no traitors aloud,” muttered Krika.

Within seconds, the traitorous Visorak fell to the ground and its broken body lay there dead. Several shadow pegasi looked at the body briefly and then resumed their work. Most did not know what they were doing exactly but they did what they were told, they didn’t want to end up like the ‘Shadowbolts’. Although they all had their ‘light’ partially drained, they still had traces of their former selves. The Shadowbolt’s however, became brutal tyrants only obeying direct orders from Makuta Gorast. One pegasi had fallen in the presence of a Shadowbolt. She was injected with a near lethal dose of Hordika venom and left to die in the forest. Another species, the Changelings, were also captured by the Makuta.

“Why are we doing this?” asked one.

A changeling answered, “because if we don’t our queen will be murdered.”

“That’s why you are here. What about me and the rest of the pegasi?”

The changeling shrugged, “maybe they will kill your princess’s?”

“But, what about the elements of harmony? Will they save us?”

The changeling stared out into the hive, “I don’t know. They nearly killed us during our last encounter.”

“That’s because you were attacking Canterlot. Now you’re a prisoner just like the rest of us,” said the pegasi.

The changeling sighed, “One can only hope.”

One of the Shadowbolts overhead the two’s conversation and approached them, “not working? Well, why don’t we get Mutran to fix that?”

The pegasi panicked, “sorry! It won’t happen again!”

The Shadowbolt glared at the pegasi and changeling. Then she lashed out at them with a shadowy whip. The two cringed in pain, “you two got off easy, now GET BACK TO WORK!”

The two worked as hard as they could until the Shadowbolt was out of sight. ‘One can only hope’, the pegasi thought. One can only hope….

“Let me get this straight,” said Hewkii, “you kick each tree one by one until all the apples fall down? What kind of game is that?”

Applejack sighed; Hewkii was still having the trouble of the concept of apple bucking.

“It’s not ah game, we need to buck these here apples for food,” replied Applejack.

Hewkii nodded, food he understood, but why every single tree? “Do you have a faster method of getting the apples down?”

“There ain’t any faster way than this,” said Applejack.

Hewkii smiled, “oh really?” he then looked for a large rock. When he found one he placed it on the ground. “Watch this.” He then kicked the rock at the trees at a high speed. It hit nearly half the trees in the orchard. When the rock finally came to a stop, hundreds of apples fell of the trees. Applejack looked at them in disbelief.

“Faster than that?” asked Hewkii, grinning.

“What in tarnation…”

Hewkii laughed, “Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve played Kohli.”

“Kohli? What’s that?” asked Applejack.

“It’s a popular game on Metru nui. You kick the rock into the other net and your team gets a point. Well, in the old version at least,” said Hewkii.

“Huh, well, thanks for helpin me get all them apples,” replied Applejack extending her hoof.

“No problem,” said Hewkii, shaking it. At that moment, Hewkii saw a toa of stone with a Kanohi Rode while Applejack saw an earth pony with a mane made out of stone. Hewkii quickly withdrew his hand, “uh…”

“Err… yeah, thanks,” said Applejack.

A quiet buzzing sound suddenly filled the apple orchard.

“You hear that?” asked Applejack.

Hewkii nodded, “yep.”

Ssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss

“Toa…”

Hewkii grabbed his war blade and slowly but subtly started to create stone walls. A dark chuckling was heard.

“Foolish toa, a pathetic barrier of stone is not enough to keep you safe from Makuta Gorast!” then the Makuta burst through the field of trees, sending stone chunks and apples everywhere.

“HEY! Y’all are going to pay for that!” growled Applejack.

“Foolish Toa, do you think one as small as you can defeat ME?!” said Gorast as she sent a bolt of chain lightning at her.

“WATCH OUT!” yelled Hewkii as he pushed her out of the way while making anther stone wall. It exploded upon the lightning hitting it. He glared at Gorast, “why are you here?”

Gorast laughed, “I’m here to finish the job my brothers FAILED!” she yelled as he sent out more chain lightning at the two. Hewkii dodged, then created another stone wall and used his Kanohi Garai, mask of gravity, to make Gorast float up into the air to throw off her aim. Applejack however, was not so fast.

“AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” she yelled as the lightning hit her.

“Don’t move!” yelled Hewkii as he made a protective dome of stone around her to keep her out of harm’s way. Gorast laughed at him.

“Do you think a simple shield will protect your Toa protégé?” said Gorast, “well, think again!” Gorast then teleported into the dome and lifted Applejack off the ground with her four claws and up into the air hole in the top. Hewkii made the stone collapse, it was no use now, and used his mask again on Gorast to slam her back first into the ground. In a last effort, Gorast stabbed Applejack with her stinger on her mask and started to drain her inner ‘light’, causing her to turn a pale grey colour. Hewkii ran to the crash site to find the heavily damaged body of Gorast and injured Applejack on the ground. She weakly looked up at him.

“Help me…” Applejack then lost consciousness while Hewkii called for help…

*********************************************************************************

Some hours later Applejack awoke in Twilight’s house with eleven pairs of eyes looking at her.

“What the...” she started but then started to cough. Her coughing subsided and she asked, “What was that?”

“That was your first fight against Makuta,” said Hewkii, “and probably not your last.”

Rarity noticed the claw marks and the spot where Gorast used her stinger. “Applejack dear, what did that thing do to you?”

Applejack looked at her shiftily, “nothing.”

Hewkii shook his head, “no, you were stung by its stinger.”

“No ah wasn’t!”

Jaller walked over to Twilight, “your friend always this stubborn with injuries?”

Twilight shook her head, “no, she must not remember it very well.”

“Hmm…”

Outside the library, Krika watched the gathering of his enemies. He could easily destroy they right here and now but something was holding him back: the way out. They had a method of escaping but Krika new all too well what the consequences of leaving the normal were. Only Toa could pass through the barrier without being harmed. Discord tried it and well… it deformed him greatly. First, he is now organic. Second, thirty six of his original forty two kraata were lost. And finally, his deformed body, half the time he is floating because there was always the risk of falling over. Krika smiled inwardly when he noticed Matoro watching him out of the corner of his eye. Matoro was good with secrets, but sometimes he couldn’t tell if trusting Makuta was a good idea or not. Krika faded into the shadows and made his way back to the hive. If the Toa did tell the others, there would be little harm done. After all, one was powerless, another had no training, one had half of their ‘light’ drained and the other three hadn’t even awoken their powers yet. Both plans were succeeding nicely; one was for Discord, the other for the land of Equestria.

Matoro gazed into the sunset. It looked exactly like the kinds on Mata nui. ‘Maybe I’m not so far away after all…’ he thought. Sure, it was great to his teammates again but something was bothering him: Kongu, Hahli and now Hewkii have stated that the first time they came in contact with Pinkie pie, Rainbow dash and Applejack respectively, each had seen a strange looking Toa that bore resemblances to the respective ponies. He sighed, ‘just two more days until we have to leave. Will we be able to find the missing pegasi by then?’ Matoro stood up and started to walk back to the library. ‘one can only hope,’ he thought.

One can only hope

A Life or... not Life Situation

The clouds hung in the sky. Matoro looked up at them and sighed; up there is where the pegasi should be. Instead, four dangerous Makuta dwell in the sky for unknown reasons. Many attempts by the princess have been made to move the clouds but they all ended in failure. They just wouldn’t move. Matoro continued his morning search for the Hive. After Gorast’s attack yesterday he was certain that it was nearby. He also had a feeling it was near the farm. With the sun slowly rising in the sky, Matoro made his way to Sweet Apple Acres. Upon arrival, he noticed large chunks of stone lying on the ground. It seemed that he had walked into the battle field. He walked over to the recently cleared trees and followed the path that was formed. The sun had fully risen now and Matoro could tell that the day wouldn’t end well. While walking, he noticed he was being followed. He stopped.

“Whatever you want, I’m not the person to ask for it,” said Matoro.

“Ah, but you are Toa Matoro. You are the one I must ask. You are the only person alive to experience it.”

Matoro turned around to see a small black pony with red eyes; its mane looked like it was carved out of a shadow. Matoro instantly knew who it was. There was no fear in his voice when he spoke, “Makuta.”

The small pony smiled, “yes little Toa, it is I, Makuta.”

Matoro grimaced, “what do you want Makuta? Haven’t you caused enough harm in Metru nui?”

Makuta laughed, “Have you not realised the familiarities of this place? Did you not notice the familiarities of the sun and moon? Matoro, you are more at home than you were on Mata nui.”

Matoro glanced at the dark being in confusion, “what do you mean ‘more at home than on Mata nui’?”

The entity of darkness chuckled, “Matoro, were currently in Equestria. You were on the moon called Aqua Magna. Equestria just so happened to be in the perfect spot during the Great War. It severed with all the necessary components for life. Look into the sky Matoro. Look for the three planets.” With his parting words, Makuta exploded into shadow and disappeared. Matoro let out a heavy sigh and leaned against a tree. He wasn’t in a new world at all.

He’s returned to an old one.

******************************************************************************************

Hahli noticed the clouds darkening. Some small drops of rain started to fall. She knew the Makuta were making it rain. For what reason, she had no idea. She spotted Rainbow dash who, was sitting in a shallow creek. Hahli walked up to her, “what are you doing?”

Rainbow dash shrugged, “I don’t know. I just feel like being in water ok?”

Hahli laughed softly, “Are you trying to figure out your water element?”

Rainbow dash stared at her, “my what?”

“A few days ago, in the clouds, you became a Toa like Pinkie pie,” said Hahli, “you have a connection to water now.”

Rainbow dash watched the slowly moving water. She stared intently at it as it started to move around her. Her eyes widened as the water slowly moved into the air. The small pillars of water started to swirl around her is a protective sphere. All of a sudden, the water collapsed to the ground and the creek returned to its previous state.

“What the…” she breathed.

Hahli smiled, “just wondering, have you previously had experience handling water?”

Rainbow dash nodded proudly, “I’m captain of the weather team.”

“You must have moved clouds then. Clouds are made out of water. You may have tapped into your water element long before we arrived,” said Hahli.

Rainbow dash looked at the creek again. Then turned to Hahli, “why did you come here?”

“We came here on a rescue mission from someone we trusted,” Hahli sighed, “Now… I don’t know.”

“So will you be leaving soon?” asked Rainbow dash.

“In two days’ time, we will be gone.”

Rainbow dash nodded, “what about the missing pegasi and the Makuta?”

Hahli looked at the new Toa of water, “they will be found. That I promise.”

***************************************************************************************************

What is death? Matoro was still leaning against a tree when he noticed three small pony’s walk up to him. He turned around, expecting another unwelcomed Makuta. Instead, they were the three little fillies from the day the other Toa arrived.

“Um, hi Toa Matoro,” said the yellow one nervously.

“Hello little ones,” sighed Matoro, “what brings you over here?”

“Were looking for the missing pegasi,” said the orange one, “what are you here for?”

Matoro chuckled quietly, “the same reason you are.”

“Do you know where they are?” asked the white one.

“From what I know, there in a place called ‘The Hive’,” said Matoro, “the only problem is I don’t know where it is.”

“Well, maybe it’s nearby?” suggested the yellow pony.

Matoro nodded, “yeah, from the attack on yesterday, I’m certain it’s close by.”

“Attack? What attack?” asked the yellow pony.

“Yesterday there was an attack on Applejack and Toa Hewkii. Something happened to Applejack but we haven’t figured out what,” replied Matoro.

The yellow pony blinked, “what? Big Macintosh never said that Applejack was attacked!”

Matoro tilted his head, “are you related?”

The yellow pony nodded, “I’m Applebloom. Applejack is mah big sister. These are Scootaloo and Sweetie belle.”

“Nice to meet you,” said Sweetie belle.

Matoro nodded and started to walk into the grove of trees.

“Where are you going?” asked Scootaloo.

“Something’s off here,” said Matoro. He continued to walk until the tree’s just… stopped. Ahead of him was a barren field. “Strange…” he muttered.

“What’s so strange about a field?” asked Scootaloo.

“Hey Applebloom, did you know about this field?” asked Matoro.

She shook her head, “nope, I’ve never really wandered over here.”

Matoro looked at the field. He raised his Cordak blaster and aimed it at the center of the field.

“What are you doing?” asked Sweetie belle.

“I’m testing something. Stand back,” said Matoro as he fired the rocket at the seemingly empty field. The rocket soared through the air until it violently exploded upon hitting something.

But there was nothing there for it to hit.

The four stared at the now gaping hole in the middle of the field. All of a sudden, the field distorted to reveal a giant structure. They had found the hive.

“Wow…” the three fillies breathed.

“Wait a second… said Matoro as he heard a buzzing sound. He backed away slightly as it got louder.

“Mr. Toa Matoro, what is that?” asked Applebloom.

Matoro’s eyes widened upon realising what was causing the buzzing sound. “No time to explain. Run, as fast as you can. I’ll try to hold them off.”

“What is it?” asked Scootaloo.

“Visorak. Giant spiders from back home. Now hurry!” said Matoro as he readied his twin cutter.

“Are they dangerous?” asked Sweetie belle.

“Very dangerous, now GO!” said Matoro as the first few Visorak poured out of the hive. The three fillies ran as they heard the crackling of ice and the buzz saw like shrieks of the Visorak. They looked back for a moment to see Matoro freeze ten Visorak solid while four more were advancing on him. They winced slightly as Matoro spun around and his twin cutter nearly tore the Visorak’s face off. A stray Rhotuka spinner shot past the three and they continued to flee. When they returned to the farm panting for breath, they could still hear the shrieks of the spiders followed by a loud cracking sound. After that, the farm went silent for the rest of the day. The three then ran off to find the other Toa.

******************************************************************************************************

“He’s gone.”

Jaller turned to Hewkii, “what do you mean ‘he’s gone’?”

Hewkii shrugged, “Matoro mentioned that he would search for the hive in the morning. Three hours later and he still isn’t here.”

“Do you think he found it?” asked Jaller.

“I don’t know, maybe,” said Hewkii, “Applejack is still looking for her sister and her friends. Maybe they went with Matoro?”

“Maybe,” said Jaller.

“Mr. Toa Jaller! Mr. Toa Hewkii! Help!” yelled Applebloom.

The two Toa turned to see the three fillies running to them.

“What’s up?” asked Hewkii.

“Mr. Toa Matoro. He’s under attack by big spiders!” said Sweetie belle.

Jaller and Hewkii glanced at each other, “giant spiders?”

They nodded, “Mr. Toa Matoro called them Vhisorak.”

“You mean Visorak?” asked Jaller.

“Yeah, a whole lot of them came out of a big hive,” said Applebloom.

“Matoro found the hive?!” asked Hewkii.

“Well, he said it’s the hive. A lot of big spiders were in the hole he made,” said Scootaloo.

“If that is the hive we are looking for, then those were definitely Visorak,” said Jaller, “we have to get the others.”

Hewkii nodded, “what do you think happened to Matoro?”

Jaller sighed, “Knowing Matoro, he’ll be alright.”

****************************************************************************************

“Stupid Toa, nobody can defeat that many Visorak,” muttered Bitil as he kicked Matoro onto the floor and took off his mask.

Matoro glared at him, “tell that to the ones who failed to take me down.”

“Just be thankful Teridax wants you alive. If I had it my way, you would be splattered all over the hive by now,” said Bitil.

“Where are the pegasi?” asked Matoro.

Bitil laughed, “The worthless slaves? Why would you want to save them? We overrun their city in less than an hour!”

“I don’t recall seeing you up there,” muttered Matoro.

“Nor did I see you Matoro, but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t there,” said Krika as he walked out of the shadows, “Your pathetic toa friends are coming to rescue you. If only they knew that there is only one way to escape the hive.”

Matoro glanced at him, “and that would be?”

“Death.”

“Don’t think you’ve won so early,” said Matoro, “I’ve already died once and I’m still here.”

Krika walked up to him, “what about the equines? They have no armor, no weapons, nothing! Nothing except their pathetic friendship.”

Matoro laughed slightly, “but that is what makes them a threat.”

“Oh don’t worry Matoro; we know what their ‘friendship’ can do. All we need to do is sever it,” said Krika.

“And how exactly are you going to do that?” asked Matoro.

Krika smiled darkly, “why, it’s simple. We kill them.”

The Hive part 1

Twilight couldn’t believe her eyes. In front of her there was a towering inferno of what moments ago was a place of torture and suffering. Now it was just death. She backed away as small explosion shook the ground. She saw a burnt silver object fly through the air and crash into the dirt in front of her. She stared at it. It was a now cracked and burnt version of Matoro’s Kanohi Tyrana. She remembered the last thing to Toa said to her and others: ‘don’t worry, we’ll be ok. Now, get out of here!’ her friends walked up beside her to watch the flames die down and eventually the fire became nothing but embers. Twilight sighed and started to make her way back to the town…

Twenty four hours earlier…
Matoro worked silently. He gazed at the other slaves at this infernal place. ‘The hive,’ he thought, ‘one minute I’m looking for it, the next I’m captured in it.’ He’d been sent to work with two other slaves, a pegasi and a changeling. From what he’s gathered, the Rahkshi of insect control is here, along with the three other Makuta. He sighed, ‘when are the others going to get here?’ the pegasi working with him turned to face him.

“So… what brings you here to the hell hole that we call The Hive?” he asked.

Matoro looked at him, his sight was diminished from his mask being removed but he could still vaguely see the pegasi. “Botched rescue attempt. I guess I should think before I fire a rocket at a wall huh?”

The pegasi stared at him, “that was you?! Wow, nopony’s ever seen anything so mad.”

Matoro coughed, “yeah, they weren’t too happy that I found the place.”

“Rescue attempt you say…” wheezed the changeling, “you wouldn’t say that there will be another attempt soon?”

Matoro smiled grimly, “the other Toa will get us all out. I give you my word. The only thing we have to do is wait.”

The changeling wheezed, “Well, I don’t know how much longer I can hold out like this.”

“What’s wrong?” asked Matoro.

The pegasi answered, “Part of the exoskeleton around his lung is damaged. He’s having trouble breathing.”

“I’m going to make it…” he wheezed, “I have not come this far to die now.”

Matoro looked above to see the large Visorak webs. He could also see the six breeds of the spiders fighting amongst themselves. An unlucky Suukorak fell of the webbing and fell to its death below.
‘Where are the others?’

**********************************************************************************************

“You sure this is the way Applebloom?” asked Applejack. She had more or less recovered from the Makuta attack and now Rarity, Twilight, Fluttershy, Rainbow dash, Pinkie pie, the Toa and her sister and her friends were walking down the path they had taken before Matoro found the Hive.

“Yep, I remember walking past these trees,” replied Applebloom.

“So you were talking about ‘Giant spiders’ earlier,” said Nuparu, “what exactly did Matoro call them?”

“Mr. Toa Matoro called them ‘Visorak,” said Sweetie belle, “what is a Visorak?”

“Is it… bad?” whispered Fluttershy. Nuparu nodded.

“Visorak are vicious spiders that obey the Makuta. It is essential that you don’t give them the chance to bite you and/or hit you with their Rhotuka spinners,” said Nuparu.

“What’s a Rhotuka spinner?” asked Twilight.

“A spinney thing that the Visorak have on their backs,” replied Kongu, “they are very nasty-bad.”

Twilight nodded, “and what’s wrong with their bites?”

Jaller stopped, halting the others movement. He turned to face them, “Hordika venom is naturally produced in the Visorak’s pincers. One drop can and will change you into a monster.”

“M- Monster?” whispered Fluttershy. Jaller nodded.

“It turned the Toa Metru into Toa Hordika. Vakama, who was the Toa of fire, left his team after being corrupted by it. He nearly killed Matau, the Toa of air, when he tried to bring him back,” replied Jaller.

The ponies shivered. there was a poison that could mutate you into a monster? What kind of being could even think to live in a world like that?

“But, you can change back, right?” asked Rarity.

Nuparu nodded, “yes but only a few beings in the universe can cure it. The only one we know of is a mythical rahi known as Keetongu.”

“The key to Nongu?” asked Rainbow dash.

Nuparu laughed. “Keetongu is said to have a vast knowledge of poisons. Do you have anyone here like that?”

Twilight looked off thoughtfully, “well, Zecora knows a lot about herbs and that sort of thing. Maybe she has a cure if one of us gets bit.”

Jaller made an impatient sigh, “no one is going to bet bit by the Visorak. We go in. get Matoro and the pegasi and get out. Simple.”

“If you call fighting your way through a hive of Visorak and Makuta simple,” grumbled Hewkii.

As the group of fourteen walked through the orchard, a lone figure watched their movement. It smiled slightly as the little ones shouted out that they found the correct path and began to run down it. The being flapped its bat-like wings and soared through the air until it reached its destination. When it landed on the Hive, it was greeted by Krika.

“Are they coming?” he asked.

“Of course. They believe that they are heroes. And heroes never give up the chance to help someone. Now all we have to do is wait until they arrive,” said Mutran as he walked down a walkway into the Hive.

*****************************************************************************************************

Crack. Bang. Swish. Those were the sounds that echoed throughout the hive. Nobody knew what exactly they were mining for or why. Matoro had chosen to stay with the Pegasus and injured changeling while he worked.

“So when these ‘Toa’ characters are show up?” asked the Pegasus.

“Soon enough,” replied Matoro as the cycle repeated itself. Crack. Bang. Swish. He turned to the changeling who could just barley move the mining tool. “You alright?”

“Yeah,” he wheezed, “I’m not dead yet.”

Matoro sighed as he continued to work. Then, he paused. Something in the air shifted, like when something bad is going to happen you don’t know what. Matoro tightened his grip on the tool as he waited. The Pegasus noticed Matoro’s change in focus.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

Matoro quickly looked from one side of the room to the other, and then he replied, “Something bad is going to happen.”

“Could it be the rescue?” wheezed the changeling.

Matoro nodded, “it most likely is. Be on guard. It won’t be pretty.”

The Pegasus moved over to the changeling to try to block him from sight, if the Makuta let something loose in the hive, it will go after the injured first. Matoro narrowed his eyes. Whatever it was, it was in this sub section. Matoro would hold whatever it was off as best he could; maybe the Pegasus and the changeling could escape during the fight? A chilling voice echoed out throughout the room.

‘Toa… you are foolish to think that you will escape…’

Matoro tightened his grip on the pickaxe and waited. After some minutes, the voice spoke again.

‘You think they will save you? They would rather leave you to die than save you.’ Matoro smiled darkly after hearing that. He spoke out to the disembodied voice.

“Is that why they sacrificed themselves to give me a chance to save the universe?” challenged Matoro. Whatever it was, it clearly didn’t know Matoro or the other Toa.

‘You fool… they were lying to you…’

“If you call being surrounded by an army of sea predators lying then you’re wrong,” said Matoro, earning himself looks from the Pegasus and changeling.

“Uh Matoro? You alright?” asked the Pegasus. Matoro glanced at him.

“Yeah, I’m just talking with whatever decided to try to discourage me,” said Matoro as his eyes flickered across the room. He resumed speaking with it, “I’m sorry, whatever you are, but if you think for a second I’m going to believe that my fellow Toa are going to abandon this mission then you clearly haven’t seen what their capable of.”

There was silence in the room. The creature that was telepathically speaking with the Toa of ice was surprised, very few have been so sure that their friends would help them. These Toa have faced monsters that could even make a Makuta go on defensive.

‘So be it, Matoro, Toa of ice. You have chosen your fate.’

“Bring it on,” growled Matoro.

Then the entire hive shook,

**************************************************************************************************************

“This is the plan?!” shouted Twilight as the Toa started to tear a large hole in the side of the hive, destroying any Visorak that came through. Kongu laughed.

“This is always the plan,” he said as he fired a Cordak rocket at an incoming Roporak.

Applejack turned to Applebloom and her friends, “now, y’all get as far away as you can from this place. It ain’t safe.” They nodded and ran off.

After several minutes of Visorak onslaught, the Toa finally fought their way into the maze of webbing of the hive. They stared at the huge innards of the structure.

“How are we going to find the pegasi in this?” asked Rainbow dash.

Jaller grinned, “Easy, find the only thing that doesn’t make a buzzing sound and you find the pegasi. It will be easier if we split into groups. Keep your eyes open for Visorak and Makuta.”

They nodded in agreement as they split up and moved in five groups, Rainbow dash and Hahli, Kongu and Pinkie pie, Applejack and Hewkii, Nuparu and Rarity, and Jaller, Twilight and Fluttershy. An Oohnorak decided to follow Jaller Twilight and Fluttershy.

“So, how do you think we’re going to find our way out of here?” asked Twilight. Jaller kept his eyes focused on ahead.

“Honestly, I have no idea;” said Jaller, “maybe blast another hole in the wall.”

“HELP!” cried out a voice in the distance. The three turned their heads at the sound.

“Applejack?” asked Twilight as she started to move to move in the opposite direction. “Applejack are you alright?”

“TWILIGHT! RAINBOW DASH! ANYPONY HELP!” it cried out again. Jaller paused.

“Something isn’t right,” he said. He made a small wall of fire around Twilight who was trying to run to the voice.

“What do you mean? Applejack is in trouble!” said Twilight as she tried in vain to extinguish the flames.

“Exactly. How could she be in trouble? She should be with Hewkii. And if they got separated, we’d here Hewkii too,” said Jaller.

Twilight nodded, although she’s known the Toa for a short time, ‘they don’t seem like the type to just abandon somepony if they got into trouble. Applejack will be alright,’ Twilight told herself.
The calling stopped. Followed by the shrieking of Visorak. Fluttershy shivered. During the fight to get in, a Visorak got incredibly close to biting her. Its mandible only lightly scraped her left foreleg. She did not like the spiders.
Not one bit.

*****************************************************************************************************************

“Ugh, what in Equestria would actually enjoy these webs?” asked Rarity as her foot got caught in some. “Ouch!” she said as a barb cut her. Nuparu cut the through the webs with his ABB (Aqua Blaster Blade) as the two searched for Matoro and the pegasi.

“You ok?” he asked, stopping to listen for Visorak.

“Yes, just a minor scrape. Nothing I can’t handle,” she said.

Nuparu nodded, “well, ok. Just watch out for the Visorak. The last thing we need is a Hordika.”

“Yes, they do seem quite monstrous,” replied Rarity.

“That’s not the worst part. Imagine that one of the people you care about slowly turns into a wild animal. Slowly losing their mind to eventually become a beast,” said Nuparu darkly, “that is what Hordika venom will ultimately do.”

Rarity shivered ‘venom that makes you a monster. The better these “Visorak” are gone the better,’ she thought. Twin pairs of dark green eyes watched the two from a dark corner. One readied its Rhotuka spinner and fired. And then there was only pain.

Torturous, burning pain.

Meet the Toa

A pair of lime green eyes scanned the city. Jaller and the other toa walked silently through the Canterlot trophy garden. They had just arrived out of the portal.

“Wow, whoever made these statues really must have had an active imagination,” said Hewkii, breaking the silence.

“Yeah, whoever made this one must have quick-changed his mind about eight times,” replied Kongu, looking at a particularly strange one.

“Quiet, we don’t have time to look at statues,” said Jaller.

The five then resumed their travel throughout the city when suddenly…

“Ouch,” grunted Nuparu.

“What is it?” asked Hahli.

“There seems to be some sort of wall here, replied Nuparu, “but I can’t see it.”

Jaller walked up to the spot and out stretched his hand, sure enough, there was indeed a wall.

“He’s right, we have to get to the other side of this wall,” said Jaller.

“What if whoever was trying to save-find is in the city?” suggested Kongu.

“Kongu, if he was in the city we would have found him already and be gone by now,” said Hewkii.

“Well maybe we missed a spot,” responded Kongu.

“We checked every inch of the city!”

“Quiet! If we can’t find him by the end of the week then we return to the city and look again,” said Jaller, “now, Hewkii, where is the weakest spot in the wall?”

Hewkii stared at the wall; Jaller had illuminated it with a pale orange glow. “Hmm, right there,” he said pointing in the middle of the sky.

“Cordak blasters ready!” said Jaller.

“But what if it raises an alarm?” asked Hahli.

“Then we fast-run before they get here,” replied Kongu, holding up his Twin Cordak blasters.

The others did the same, “three, two, one, fire!” said Jaller.

The sound of Cordak blasters being launched into the night was loud. The sound that the rockets made on impact was louder. The wall crumbled at the sheer force of the rockets and the explosions. It was definitely noticed by the royal guards at the castle.

“Were under attack!” yelled a guard.

“All troops to stations!”

“The shield is breaking!”

The massive wall finally started to fall as the entire Canterlot guard was rushing to stop the attackers. When they arrived, they saw five tall figures, each with some sort of rocket launcher and another weapon, except for the green one, he had two launchers.

“Incoming!” yelled out Jaller seconds before the guards arrived.

“Too late,” muttered Kongu.

“What are these?” asked Hewkii, staring at a guard.

“The look like some sort of organic rahi,” said Nuparu.

They were surrounded in a matter of seconds; Hahli looked at the one who came closest.

“Um, hello?” she said.

The guard stared at the creature in front of him, a large bipedal monster with blue armor, a three fingered claw in one hand, a rocket launcher in the other, large steel wings and a blue mask with a visor.

“I place you five under arrest here by the royal Canterlot guard for destroying the protection shield,” he said.

“Hah, I’d like to see you try,” said Kongu, holding up his Cordak blasters.

“Lower your weapons!” he commanded.

Kongu looked at Jaller; he nodded, and lowered his blasters. The others did the same.

“Guards, take them away.”

The five walked through the city with their hands behind their heads. Jaller had a plan; they all knew it, but they just had to wait until Jaller decided to say what it was.

*****************************************************

Day six for Matoro and he was slowly warming up the land of Equestria. Unfortunately, they had nothing to go on about the strange occurrences that happened yesterday. The closest thing they had was that they were caused by Rahkshi. Twilight confronted him the next morning.

“You know what was going on yesterday,” she said.

“No, I’m just assuming what was going on,” replied Matoro.

“You said Rahkshi could only be made by Makuta. And from what I’ve heard those were Rahkshi!” she said.

Matoro glanced at her, “Mata nui protect you if Makuta is here.”

“What is that supposed to mean?!” she asked.

“I’m dead. There is nothing I can do to help,” said Matoro.

“But you’re Matoro, the toa who sacrificed himself for everyone!”

“Exactly, I’m dead. I died for that cause. If the Makuta did follow me here then you have to face him with your friends. Maybe you can set him in stone like that Discord character. These ‘elements of harmony’ sound like elemental powers to me,” replied Matoro, “besides, if I did face Makuta, I’d need five other toa to make a toa seal.”

“Toa seal?” asked Twilight.

“A toa seal is a seal that can only be made with six toa each with a different elemental power. I am a toa of ice. I’d need a toa of fire, water, air, earth and stone to help me perform one,” said Matoro.

“Uh Twilight, you got a letter from Princess Celestia,” said Spike as he walked into the room.

“What’s it say?” she asked.

“It’s an urgent notice for you and your friends, something about some attack that happened yesterday. She also wants Matoro to go,” he said.

“I wonder who could have attacked Canterlot,” wondered Twilight aloud, “thanks Spike.”

About an hour later, the seven arrived at the Canterlot Prison. Twilight and her friends stared at the prisoners. No one was more surprised at the prisoners than Matoro. There were five prisoners. The red one appeared to be their leader. He had red armor, spiked feet, and a mask that looked like it had been carved out of an open flame. He also appeared to have a large crab on his back. The green one was shorter but looked more agile. The black one had a silver mask and was tinkering with some chains in the room. The brownish orange one had some chains on his arm and a single red spike on the top of his mask. The blue one stood by the red one, she had large steel wings and, like Matoro, had a visor in front of her eyes. They stared back at Matoro.

“What the?!” said the red one.

“Matoro?! You’re alive!” said the blue one.

“Jaller! Hahli! You did get out of there alive!” said Matoro.

“Wait, Matoro, you know who they are?” asked Twilight.

“Of course, these are my friends, Jaller, Hahli, Kongu, Hewkii and Nuparu,” said Matoro, “what are you doing here?”

“Were here on a save-rescue mission. I guess Brutaka knew it was you did decide to secret-keep that it was you,” said Kongu.

“Wow… what are those?!” asked Rainbow dash gesturing to Hahli’s wings.

“Um, their fins,” said Hahli.

“Are you sure? They look like wings to me,” said Rainbow dash.

“Hey guard, can you let them out?” asked Matoro.

“Sorry, we can’t. They tried to destroy the Canterlot protection shield,” said the guard.

Nuparu smiled, “now?” he asked Jaller.

Jaller nodded, “now.”

“Bye!”
Suddenly, Nuparu disappeared from the cell.

“What?! Where’d he go?!” said the guard, “ALERT, PRISONER ESCAPE!” the guard ran off to find Nuparu. When he was out of sight Nuparu faded back into view laughing, “I can’t believe he fell for it!” he said laughing.

“How’d you do that their disappearing?” asked Applejack.

Nuparu pointed to his mask, “Kanohi Volitak, mask of stealth.”

“Hey Jaller, how about letting us out now?” asked Hewkii.

Jaller then proceeded to melt the iron bars keeping them inside.

“Err Twilight, can you talk with Princess Celestia about my friends escape. I don’t think that the guards would want to see them again,” said Matoro.

“But, they destroyed the shield and melted the bars!” said Twilight.

“Listen little purple one, we’re here to save-rescue someone and I don’t think that we can do any save-rescuing when we are in prison-jail,” said Kongu.

“Why do you talk like that?” asked Rarity.

“It’s tree-speak all Le-Matoran speak it,” replied Kongu.

“Oh ok,” said Rarity, still wondering how anyone can talk like that.

“Ok, Hahli, Hewkii and Nuparu go with Matoro. Kongu, come with me to find the Cordak blasters and toa tools,” said Jaller.

“Why do I always have to go do the quick-finding,” muttered Kongu.

Twilight, her friends, Matoro and the three other toa then departed the prison to speak with Princess Celestia. Jaller and Kongu on the other hand, had some problems. The two ran through the prison looking for a sign that could lead them to their tools.

“The guards are coming up behind us,” said Jaller, using his Kanohi Arthron, mask of sonar.

“Well, I hope they like a cyclone,” said Kongu as he summoned a miniature cyclone in the hallway behind them.

“Found them!” said Jaller when he found the room with the tools.

“Good, now we fast-hurry to the others and then leave this weird pace,” said Kongu.

“Not quite toa of air,” said a voice behind them. The two toa turned around to face a strange looking creature.

“Hey, you look like that stature I saw,” said Kongu.

“Yes little toa, that was me,” it said.

“Who are you?” asked Jaller.

“Me? I’m Discord, the true ruler of Equestria. I was usurped by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna two thousand years ago during a great earthquake,” Discord lied.

“A great earthquake? You mean the great cataclysm?” asked Jaller, “It hit even here?”

“Oh yes toa of fire, I live a peaceful rule until those two tyrants imprisoned me in stone for years,” said Discord.

“Matoro and the others are going to speak with Princess Celestia,” said Jaller.

“You have to save them before it’s too late!” said Discord, “who knows what she’ll do to them!”

“Come on Kongu, how have to hurry!” said Jaller.

“If you say so…” said Kongu giving Discord a questioning look.

The two toa then departed the prison to save their friends. Makuta then walked up beside Discord.

“Good Discord, you seem to use manipulating to your advantage,” said Makuta.

“Please Makuta, they were so easy, you were right, toa will do anything to help others,” replied Discord.

“Be careful though Discord, the second they suspect something they will go after you,” warned Makuta.

“Hah, I think I can handle two little toa,” said Discord.

“That’s the exact type of thinking that led to your second imprisonment,” said Makuta.

Discord glared at Makuta as he teleported to a different location to wait for the plan to set in motion.

The return of Makuta Discord is about to begin.

wrench

goddamn it, hasbro.

what have you let me with?

Makuta don' t make friends.

major editing may be in order

Author's Note

despite his f*king this up, Discord is a magnificent bastard.