My Little Pony: Zodiac Adventures

Chapters

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4

Chapter 1

The shows My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Jackie Chan Adventures and any characters from either of these are the copyrighted property of their respective owners. Neither of those owners is me.
Hello everybody! Or everypony! Whichever you prefer. This is just a little idea that popped into my head that I decided to try to pen down as a fan fiction for some reason. I hope people read and enjoy it! Right, here we go then!

====

My Little Pony: Zodiac Adventures
Prologue:

The Moon was high in the sky, casting its pale light over Equestria; the stars were nearly all invisible in Canterlot that night from the many lights of the Grand Galloping Gala. But far away from the biggest Equestrian social event of the year, in the Canterlot Sculpture Garden, the moon cast its light on the many statues held within, and the small purple dragon named Spike who walked among them, sad and alone. When Spike woke up that morning in Ponyville, he woke up from excited dreams about the day ahead of him. Tonight was the Grand Galloping Gala! He’d been looking forward to tonight for a long time now, not so much because of the Gala itself, but because of who was going to be there. Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, Rainbowdash, and Fluttershy would all be coming to Canterlot with him and Twilight Sparkle and he’d been secretly making plans about how the group of friends would spend the night of the Gala together having fun. Though he was nowhere near as obsessive about it as the purple unicorn that’d raised him his whole life would’ve been, he’d even made a small checklist of his own about all the best places to show his new friends on the tour of Canterlot! All these plans and excitement he had harbored made his current situation all the more depressing to the young purple and green dragon. After a, surprisingly good spontaneous musical number, his friends and pseudo sister/parent had…well…they’d pretty blatantly ditched him to pursue their own ambitions for the night. While he seriously doubted that any of them had done it with the intention of ditching him specifically, the fact that they’d run off while he was in the middle of exclaiming how much fun they’d all have together still hurt.

Left on his own, Spike had decided to go for a walk, going on a lonely version of his tour of Canterlot that he’d planned for his friends. Currently the baby dragon was strolling through the Canterlot Sculpture Garden, arms sagging at his side and head hanging low. “And this is the Canterlot Sculpture Garden Rarity! One of the most beautiful and artistic places in Equestria!” He said, miming displaying all the grandeur of the statues to an imaginary audience. Standing up straight and making big, sweeping motions with his arms with all the showmanship the little dragon could muster before returning to his defeated posture. He passed by some of the statues he’d planned to show Rarity, thinking maybe she’d like something artsy and beautiful like the statues and the Garden. He looked up as he passed a strange statue that looked like the sculptor had changed his mind about what animal to make the statue of with every part of the body and ended up with some kind of mash up monster. “Yeesh! Someone should really throw a tarp over that thing…” he said to himself with a slight shudder. Twilight had brought him to the sculpture garden a few times when they lived in Canterlot, mostly whenever she was reading something about one of the sculptors, and something about that statue just never quite felt right to Spike. Add to that that the weird, almost pained posture and lack of any kind of inscription on the base or record of who’d made it or placed it there and it just got more unsettling. He continued to wander through the Garden when he thought he heard a voice. “whazzat!...who’s there!” He said as he suddenly spun around trying to find the source of the voice. He took a few slow steps back as he looked around, Spike had fairly good night vision as a dragon, but still he saw nothing but shadows and statues. He jumped a little when he heard the voice again, beckoning to him. ”Come to me…little dragon…obey the contract…ssset me free…!” It was a quiet, whispering, almost hissing voice in the back of his mind that drew Spike off the main paved path and down a small dirt path to the side.

In no time at all he found himself in front of yet another statue, “sset me freee...” he heard whispered in his mind as if from the statue itself. This one was unusual as well, though less so than the mash up one. It was made of a yellowish stone and shaped like a disk. It was carved in a way that it greatly resembled a coiling snake seen from above, but all along the outer rim of the coils were a series of twelve octagonal indentations. The most striking thing about the statue was in the center of it. Sticking out from the very center of the coiling disk was a head that vaguely reminded Spike of the dragon he encountered in the Everfree Forest. “I’ve never seen this thing before…” Spike noted as he looked around, noticing that the statue was attached to a large grey stone cube with a glowing engraving of the sun, identical to Princess Celestia’s cutie mark on each face of it. “…the talismans! ...return them to me! Set me free!” He heard the voice again, stronger and more urgent now as something compelled him to look down from the statue. Just in front of the statue at the base he noticed a pedestal with an engraving of the moon matching Princess Luna’s cutie mark and twelve small rocks arranged on top of it. On closer inspection Spike noticed the small rocks had painted markings on them that vaguely resembled animals. He recognized a dog, snake, ox, rabbit, monkey, sheep, rat, pig, and rooster. There were three more that Spike couldn’t quite place though, one vaguely looked like a pony except the head was just all wrong. Another looked vaguely like some kind of cat with two heads, and the last… “What the heck is this thing supposed to be, some kind of bearded snake?” As he stared at them, Spike realized something; these little rocks were about the right size and shape to fit in the little hollows all along the statue! Reaching over, he picked one of them up absentmindedly to see if he was right. The instant he lifted the little stone from the pedestal however, the moon and sun engravings began to shine brighter and the ground began to rumble. “Woah! W-what the hay?!” There was an explosion of light that nearly blinded Spike, but he could just barely make out 11 trails of light in the sky sailing out in different directions. “NO! THE TALISMANS!” The voice screeched in Spikes mind. Fearful that he might’ve broken something and might get in trouble, Spike turned and took off running, never noticing the small stone still clutched tightly in his little claws, nor the blood red glow beginning to light up in the statues eyes as the shadows in the garden all slowly began to move towards it or the strange creatures that rose from them, “…but I am unbound, and I sshall live AGAIN!” and with those last unheard words, disappeared along with the statue into the darkness. He eventually wound up at a donut shop that Twilight used to take him to, run by Pony Joe, the events in the sculpture garden hazy in his mind. After several rounds of donuts and hot chocolate, it was all but completely forgotten, and feeling upset about being left behind was once more at the front of the baby dragon’s mind. Spike reunited with his friends and the Princess of the Sun, who were in such a state that half of the baby dragon was glad that he’d missed the Gala and half wished he could’ve seen what happened himself, and left Canterlot for home in Ponyville, unaware of the darkness he’d woken up from over one thousand years of enforced slumber.

====

And that’s the Prologue! Hope you like it. Please leave a comment! I’d love to hear some feedback!

Chapter 2

The shows My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Jackie Chan Adventures and any characters from either of these are the copyrighted property of their respective owners. Neither of those owners is me.
Hello again everypony! This one took longer than I expected since I got an idea for another story partway through and took a detour to write down some notes in case I forget the idea later. If things go according to plan, the next update after this one should be fairly quick so we can get the adventure part of this adventure rolling. As for how the ponies will deal with Shendu without chi magic, I have an idea in mind for that!

====

My Little Pony: Zodiac Adventures
Chapter One: Rising Darkness

A few months had passed since the Grand Galloping Gala, and the sun was shining high in the sky like it should. Among the clouds, in a carriage drawn by two white pegasus ponies in golden armor, sat a light purple unicorn mare with a star on her flank and a bright pink stripe running through her dark purple mane and tail. Twilight Sparkle, Bearer of the Element of Magic, and ever diligent and faithful student of Princess Celestia of Equestria was currently on a trip back to Canterlot. Reaching into her saddlebag, Twilight produced the scroll she had received early that morning with her summons from the Princess. She had been sincerely surprised when Spike suddenly burped up a letter while she and the baby dragon were brushing their teeth that morning. It took her only a moment to compose herself to give the letter from her mentor its due priority and with a soft glow from her horn, she went off to read in more appropriate settings. Spike remained in the bathroom staring at his toothbrush, which now more closely resembled a burnt out matchstick, in frustration for a few moments longer before hurrying along behind her.

“Dear Twilight Sparkle, my faithful student. It has been nearly half a year since the defeat of Discord, yet it still feels like it hasn’t been nearly long enough. As such, I truly wish I did not have to bring such poor news. It has recently come to my attention that a new source of Disharmony may be on the rise somewhere in Equestria. I know the past few months have been busy for you in Ponyville, but your presence is requested in Canterlot immediately. By the time you receive this message, a carriage drawn by members of my personal guard will already be on its way to retrieve you, expect them shortly. We shall speak more in person my faithful student. Signed, Princess Celestia of Equestria.”

Twilight Sparkle put the scroll back into her bag and remained silent for a moment, looking at the sky around her as the carriage flew. She knew there had been some unusual happenings lately, even by Ponyville’s admittedly unusual standards. Ghastly Gorge had been having frequent rockslides lately, and the strange creatures that lived within had been more aggressive lately. There had been far more accidents around Ponyville lately, a dam that had never shown any signs of weakening suddenly breaking. Construction sites that were built with the upmost planning for safety were suddenly coming down for seemingly no reason. Baby unicorns and pegasi were manifesting their abilities much earlier than was normal recently. The Zap Apples that the Apple Family was famous for began to appear without the howling of the Timber Wolves that always heralded it, and when Big Macintosh and Applejack went to check, they found dead and destroyed lumber vaguely in the shape of wolves scattered throughout the forest. For one particularly scary month, instances of dragons rampaging had spiked up dramatically, culminating in Spike himself suddenly turning into a greedy monster for a short while. Then just as suddenly as they’d started going berserk, all the dragons within Equestrian borders just seemed to disappear, Twilight was terrified she’d wake up one morning to find Spike had vanished in the night but thankfully that never happened. Perhaps the most unusual was the claims from all around Equestria of strange creatures nopony had ever seen before. Ditzy Doo, the mailmare had even claimed to get a good look at a group of them! Having been out early for her route, she’d been shocked to see what she claimed looked like a group of 12 strange jet-black ponies with no manes or tails and bright red eyes that ran on only their hind legs leaping from roof to roof and in some cases slipping in and out of houses without a sound. The Cakes had been especially frightened when Ditzy swore up and down that she’d seen one slip in and out of the upstairs windows of their home and shop where the foals’ room was.

Twilight Sparkle was brought out of her thoughts as the carriage bumped and shook slightly on landing. She looked up at the high doors that led to the main hall of Canterlot Castle, before picking up her pack, throwing it over her back and trotting up to the slowly opening double doors. Something was going on in Equestria and it had Princess Celestia worried, as her faithful student, Twilight would do whatever it took to help!

“WELCOME TWILIGHT SPARKLE! WE ARE PLEASED THAT THOU COULD JOIN US ON SUCH SHORT NOTICE!”

Twilight had to brace herself to keep from sliding right back out the door from the sudden force of the “Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice”, a task made harder by how smooth and polished the floor of the main hall was. “Ah! We…I mean…I apologize Twilight Sparkle, perhaps I let my nerves get the best of me since my dear sister discovered it missing.” Twilight allowed her ears to flip back up slowly and opened her eyes, relaxing her posture from when she was trying to keep from being blown away as she looked up at the dark alicorn at the top of the stairs who’d spoken. “It’s quite all right Princess Luna…” She said, a little more weakly than she would’ve liked. “It’s good to see you again!” The princess of the night gave Twilight a genuinely friendly, if somewhat worried smile in return as she descended the steps. “Likewise, now please follow me. My sister awaits you in the Sculpture Garden.” Twilight quickly followed Princess Luna as she trotted at a slightly hurried pace out of the palace and to the garden, Twilight having to put forth a little more effort to keep up with the taller pony’s longer stride.

Twilight followed the Princess through the garden, as she looked at the familiar statues and nearby hedge maze, she recognized the path they were on and for a moment worried that she was about to find that Discord was free again, but soon enough the statue of the draconequus came into sight and Luna passed it by with no more than a passing glare, Twilight following close behind. The all but galloped, well Twilight was galloping, down the winding paths before suddenly veering off into a barely visible dirt path into a side entrance of the hedge maze. This portion of the maze had no twists or turns, just a single straight path lined by hedges that grew more and more unkempt as they went deeper until finally they entered a small clearing all but completely consumed with creeping vines. In the center were two blocks of white stone, one with the sun engraved into every face, and another with the moon engraved only on the front, and standing beside these two blocks was Princess Celestia. Twilight stopped for a moment as Princess Luna trotted up to join her sister. It’d been a while since Twilight had seen Luna and Celestia together and she was momentarily struck by how similar the two looked now that Luna was regaining her powers. She watched their manes flow in some unknown breeze for a moment as Luna spoke to Celestia and then Celestia turned to Twilight and gave her a smile. “Twilight Sparkle, my dear student, thank you for coming.” Twilight could clearly see the worry in the princess’ eyes. “Of course Princess, please, tell me what’s wrong.” Celestia nodded quietly. “Of course, perhaps I should start at the beginning.” With that, the princess’ horn began to glow with magic and Twilight’s sight went white. As the princess spoke, Twilight saw images pass before her eyes.

“It was a little over one thousand five hundred years ago, in a time when Canterlot was nothing more than an empty valley at the base of a mountain. Luna and I had found the Elements of Harmony and used them to seal Discord away in stone. For years, we remained near the statue, guarding it incase Discord showed signs of escaping, as we did, peace began to replace the chaos of Discord’s reign in Equestria. One night, as I watched Luna raise the moon from a hill near what is now the center of the royal hedge maze; a strange light lit up the sky and from it dropped a statue of yellow stone and twelve small stones. Neither me nor my sister knew what the statue was nor where it had come from, but we could sense ancient evil magic deep within. In order to understand what had appeared in Equestria, Luna and I cast a spell to peek into the statue’s past.” At these words, Twilight saw the princess’s in an empty field at night, bending over a strange coiling statue with their horns alight with magic. “We glimpsed into another world, one long oppressed by evil. We saw demons and conflict, tyranny and uprising, villainy…and heroism. “Here Twilight saw thousands of creatures flying through strange skies chasing strange bipedal creatures fleeing for their lives in terror from magic fueled by evil. She saw eight of these fleeing creatures stand up and fight back. The monsters were driven back by strange magic that Twilight couldn’t begin to understand; eventually these heroes stood before eight terrible monsters and using a strange box, seven of the monsters were banished while the last fled. She saw fire and shadowy beings as the remaining monster conquered and enslaved a land for what she understood to be centuries. Finally a hero stood up to it again, and using its magic, separated the monster from the twelve small stones from which it drew its powers and turned the monster to stone itself before banishing it from their world. ”When we saw what kind of creature had appeared in our world, Luna and I acted quickly. Before the monster could wake and begin to attempt to bring darkness to an Equestria still recovering from Discord’s reign, we used the Elements of Harmony to further seal the monster in eternal sleep. We bound it to one stone which I enchanted with a spell that would make sure nopony would ever draw near it and potentially set it free. Luna bound the small stones we learned it drew its power to another, enchanted with a spell that would scatter them across Equestria should any disturb them.”

Twilight blinked to clear her eyes as her vision returned, slowly she could make out the two princess ponies in front of her, her mentor’s head hanging as if in shame. After a moment, Princess Luna continued where her sister left off. “We were careless, when Discord’s seal was broken we should’ve had you and your friends reseal the demon as well. For months we’ve been feeling an evil magic growing somewhere in Equestria, but we never thought…” Luna hung her head as well, shaking it slightly, seemingly angry with herself. “Twilight Sparkle, we learned from the demons memories so many years ago that its original seal would not break unless the twelve “talismans” from which it drew its powers were returned to the twelve slots in the statue.” Princess Celestia spoke up suddenly, lifting her head and meeting eyes with Twilight. “I ask for your aid, my faithful student, seek out and guard these talismans so that the demon cannot revive while Luna and I seek the demon itself out!”

====

And there’s the first part! Hope you like it. Please leave a comment! I’d love to hear some feedback!

Chapter 3

The shows My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Jackie Chan Adventures and any characters from either of these are the copyrighted property of their respective owners. Neither of those owners is me.
Hello again everypony! I said I’d get this one out quicker and it took even longer. Haha, I guess I underestimated it a little. School projects and Skyrim probably didn’t help. It begins!

====

My Little Pony: Zodiac Adventures
Chapter Two: Monkey

At the base of a large tree in the middle of a town called Ponyville, Spike waved goodbye at the flying carriage being pulled by a pair of pegasus guards on which his adoptive sister Twilight Sparkle rode. After a very sudden letter from the princess arrived summoning her to Canterlot, Twilight had quickly packed a bag and gotten ready to leave. When the carriage arrived, she left Spike in charge of the library and was on her way. He laughed a little to himself, proud of the responsibility he’d been trusted with. “No need to worry about a thing Twilight! Your Number One Assistant can totally handle this!”

“Hoo?”

“Who? Me of course! I’m her Number 1 Assista-…ugh” Spike slapped his hand to his face in frustration. Technically Twilight had left Spike AND Owlowiscious in charge. Although Spike and the bird got along much better than when he’d first shown up there were still problems. Spike was convinced that the bird was much smarter than anyone gave him credit for since it always seemed to pick the best part to chime in to make Spike think someone was questioning him. He glared at the small brown bird as it sat on its little perch and pointed a finger at it. “Twilight may have left us both in charge, but I’m the boss got it? I’m the number ONE assistant and I’ve got my eyes on you.” He warned the bird, wanting to make sure it knew the score here. “Hoo?” Owlowiscious responded back in a way that sounded confused. “Who? You! I’ve got my eye on y-ARGH!” Throwing his arms up in frustration at being caught up in this again, the little purple dragon stormed out of the room.

A few hours had passed since Twilight had left for Canterlot at sunrise, and since then things in the library had really picked up! That is to say they’d had three visitors, the Ponyville Library was never really all that busy. Unless it was for one of Pinkie’s party, only around ten ponies tended to visit on a normal day. By this point Spike was bored out of his mind, not just because it was slow as always but what ponies did come in, Owlowiscious kept beating him to helping! “Flying’s not fair! By the time I even get a ladder, you’ve already gotten the book!” He called out to the bird, pointing at it angrily. In return, the small brown owl merely tilted its head sideways and let out a “hoo?” “Oh forget it…” The bored little dragon walked through the doorway that led to his and Twilight’s room and up to a small chest where he kept some of his things and began to dig around for something to do. Spike managed to amuse himself digging through the chest, it was for all practical purposes his own little hoard and as such was full of things he’d simply found and kept without thinking. If there was one thing Spike found amusing about his bout of greed growth, it was the truly bizarre things he’d tried to collect, some of which had been stuffed in this little chest until it got full. He smiled a little as he pulled out a familiar white hat and placed it on his head, chuckled a little when he pulled out what appeared to be a serving tray, probably from Sugarcube Corner, and stared dumbfounded when he pulled out a small rock with a monkey painted on it. “What in Equestria is this thing supposed to be?” Staring at the little stone, Spike tried to remember where he got it and vaguely remembered having it when everyone came home from the Gala.

“Hello? Is anypony home?”

Spike looked up from the chest suddenly, he recognized that voice! “Yoo hoo! Twilight?” Spike bolted down the small flight of steps from the second floor of the bedroom and to the door, bursting through the door excitedly. Rarity looked a little startled for a moment before recognizing who was there as a door suddenly burst open before giving a warm smile. “Oh! Spikey-wikey! Good to see you! I must say that’s quite the fashion statement you’re making! It really suits you! Hmm…perhaps with a matching … and a red…but what color should the tie be? And….oh!” Rarity gave a somewhat sheepish smile as she realized she’d almost slipped “in the zone” there and what she had levitated up to her was not a roll of fabric as she thought but Twilight’s wooden centerpiece. “My apologies Spikey-Wikey! Is Twilight around dear? I was just dropping by to return this copy of “Sherlock Hooves” Father borrowed before he left on his trip.” Spike blinked himself out of his little daze of staring at her and stood up on the tips of his toes, puffing out his chest and trying to look strong and proud. “Twilight was called away to Canterlot this morning but she left me in charge of the library!” Rarity smiled that same smile that Spike found so beautiful and her horn flared up with magic, her saddlebag opening up and a decent sized hard cover book floated out. Before Spike could even take a step towards it however a brown blur shot past and next thing Spike knew, Owlowiscious was flapping his wings near one of the shelves as he pushed the book into its place with his talons. Since Rarity was present, Spike used every bit of self-control he had to keep from chasing the bird around with a heavy book for stealing his chance to help the most beautiful mare in Equestria.

It had been about an hour since Rarity’s visit and Spike wandered down the roads of Ponyville thinking about some way he might impress her. He’d given up on competing with Owlowiscious in the library, that bird cheats! As he took his walk, eventually reaching the park, Spike imagined the adventures of the brave Sir Spike the Dragonhearted as he fought all manner of fantastic creatures for his fair damsel Lady Rarity. Those were the only kind of fantasies where Spike never had any doubts about winning, because the heroes in the fairytales Twilight used to read to him when he was young always won themselves. Whenever he tried to think of a real way to get Rarity’s affections, he always had to purposely ignore one glaring flaw. Spike sighed as he passed a pony couple sitting on a bench. “In the end, I’m a dragon and Rarity’s a pony…sometimes I wish I was a pony too.” Spike sighed again, but this time, a slowly growing light caught his eye. “Huh? That rock! I didn’t even realize I still had it! What’s it doing?” Spike watched curiously as the small stone lit up, the marking of a monkey on it filling with a bright light. In an instant, Spike was blinded by a bright flash from the stone. He felt somewhat sick as he felt energy flow through him, magic that felt similar to when Twilight had grown a moustache on him, yet different. The nausea and magic passed as suddenly as it came followed immediately by Spike tipping over and hitting the ground face first when the light stopped. For a time, Spike kept attempting to get up and each time he’d lose his balance and tip back over. Noticing a small lake nearby, Spike crawled over on all fours hoping to see what was wrong. When Spike looked into his reflection he was stunned speechless to find a young-looking purple pony with a green and black mane staring back at him.

Deep in the Everfree Forest, in the ruined remains of The Ancient Castle of the Royal Pony Sisters, Shendu’s mind stirred as he felt a small burst of familiar magic. “At last…! One of the twelve talissmans has revealed itself” The demon sorcerer of fire had claimed this area as the site of his impending resurrection, sending out his Shadow Khan to search for the talismans and chase out or destroy anything that might draw attention to him before he was ready. Shendu had been busy, though bound to a statue the demon sorcerer still had ways of interacting with the world around him. The Shadow Khan, dark spirits that had once been his enforcers, had followed him to this strange land and now acted as his arms, legs, and eyes in this world. The demon dragon had been surprised to find that there were no humans in these lands at all, and that dragons were relatively more plentiful compared to his homeland, he’d been pleased to find that most of his kin were just as susceptible to his control as his former dragon minions. But that was the extent of the good news for Shendu, this strange land practically bled with magic identical to the kind that had been used to keep him asleep for over a millennium. It poured like a flood from two beings in a strange town. To make matters worse, were it chi, it would overwhelmingly positive. It blanketed the magic of his dormant talismans, impeding any attempts Shendu made to find them magically. “Appear before me, my shadow khan!” On command, the shadows in the ruined palace moved quickly along the ground before rising before him into the ninja-like shadow khan. The dark spirits stood quietly at attention before their master, their bodies unmoving, their red eyes unblinking. “The monkey talissman hass activated! Bring it to me, immediately!” The Shadow Khan bowed and disappeared in an instant, the only thought in their mind being to accomplish their master’s orders. Shendu’s red eyes grew dim as the demon dove into his thoughts, all he could do now was be patient, and so he waited and planned.

Spike wasn’t sure how long he’d spent staring at his reflection, but after the initial shock had worn off, Spike had spent quite some time looking at himself. He’d turn his head left, right, up, and down as excitement slowly began to build in him. Spike had become a unicorn colt, his coloring making him greatly resemble Twlight Sparkle, a light purple unicorn with a dark mane that had a bright second color to it. Spike turned to look at the small stone where it had fallen, he wasn’t sure what it was, but it was magical and had turned him into a pony. After having to take a moment to keep himself from trying to get up on his hind legs again, Spike trotted over to the stone and his fallen hat. Spike got the hang of walking on all fours quickly enough, since dragons had to do so too when they grew up, not having claws on the other hand was harder. After some embarrassing first attempts to pick up the small stone with his hooves, Spike had tried to lift the little rock with unicorn magic with practically no success. Having been with Twilight when she studied spells, he knew the theory of how unicorn magic worked but the little dragon turned pony was finding that to not be enough. The stone had, at most, shifted for an instant into the air before falling back, it felt like it was stubbornly refusing to work with his magic. Resigned to having to carry the little rock in his mouth, Spike tried half-heartedly to levitate the hat and was surprised to see it lift off the ground shakily and, after a few dips along the way, deposit itself onto his head. Spike couldn’t help but laugh excitedly to himself. “I can do magic! This is awesome!” He smiled as he reached down and bit onto the little stone, lifting it up with his mouth. He nearly dropped it when he heard a voice call out angrily. “Hey! You there! Just what are you doing out of school at this hour young colt!” Spike turned his head slowly to look at a cream colored pony with a blue and pink mane who was glaring right at him. With the stone in his mouth, Spike couldn’t say anything to keep the angry pony from biting his tail and dragging him away towards Cheerilee’s schoolhouse. “Good little colts and fillies should be in school at this hour!” The pony said through teeth clenched around his tail, Spike mentally made a little quip about talking with your mouth full as he was dragged away.

Twilight Sparkle hopped off the chariot and waved goodbye as the guard ponies who’d brought her home took to the air. Twilight turned around, deep in thought and headed for her door. Using magic without a second thought, the door opened in front of her and closed after, her saddlebag lifting off her back and drifting over to the desk where she always kept it. “Spike! I’m back from Canterlot!” Twilight called out as she otherwise quietly moved through the library, lost in thought, she stopped just before entering her room though when she noticed that Spike didn’t answer back. “Spike? Are you asleep?” She looked up and around her but the baby dragon was nowhere in sight, after looking around the various rooms and finding only Owlowiscious asleep on his perch, Twilight shook her head, deciding Spike must’ve stepped out for a little while and she’d just missed him. Twilight quietly trotted up to a comfy reading chair and decided to wait there for her number one assistant to come home as she tried to think about where to find these talismans. After half an hour had passed Twilight was starting to get a little anxious but dismissed it as her just being a worrywart. Once it had been two hours, Twilight was having trouble keeping nagging thoughts about how all the other dragons in Equestria had mysteriously disappeared, leaving behind their territories and hoards. By four hours, the door to the library swung ajar, forgotten as the purple mare had galloped out to find her dragon.

Spike was smiling a little to himself as he quietly trotted back to the library, the sun all but already down. He’d been a little annoyed at first at being dragged off to Ms. Cheerilee’s class, and more so when Cheerilee had assumed he was the colt of a family who’d recently moved to Ponyville and new to the class. However as the day went by he’d found playing with all the young ponies was fun. He’d also learned a lot, such as the story of the founding of Ponyville, and that Spike had absolutely no idea how to use a pencil with his mouth. He’d even had a chance to try out the little rock’s magic, using it to turn into a variety of critters to play pranks on Diamond Tiara and Silverspoon, who’d spent practically every chance they could before then making fun of him and his friends. He’d gotten scolded by Fluttershy however, when he turned into a woodpecker and pecked at Tiara’s head during the fieldtrip which was surprisingly intimidating. Spike was all but outright giggling to himself over how much fun he’d had as he walked home, they’d even given him a saddlebag to carry his school supplies in. He blinked though and looked around hearing someone calling his name, his real one, not the one he’d made up in class. He spotted Twilight running around looking panicked and calling his name. “Twilight! Hey! You’re back! How was Canterlot?” Spike called out as he galloped over. For her part, Twilight Sparkle stopped running around and calling out to Spike for a moment to stare at the strange little unicorn rushing over towards her. “I’m sorry…have we met before? How did you know I’d been to Canterlot today?” The little unicorn colt laughed at that as he came to a stop in front of her. “Oh come on Twi! It’s me! Spike!” Twilight merely blinked at that for a moment before smiling a little. “Oh, I see, I’m sorry. When I was calling out for Spike just now I didn’t mean you. I was calling for my friend, maybe you’ve seen him? He’s a baby dragon, about this big?” With that Twilight raised a hoof to about how Spike’s height, she mentally berated herself when she realized the little colt was the same size. Spike was quiet for a moment watching Twilight before suddenly realizing something and reaching into his saddlepack. Finding the little stone among the various little school supplies, Spike withdrew it, and holding it in his mouth, looked at Twilight for a moment before calling out as best he could. “Change back!” Twilight was blinded by the light that erupted from the little stone but when it cleared, she found herself face to face with the little dragon she was looking for. “SPIKE!” Twilight called out in joy as she pulled Spike close with a hoof and put her head around him, hugging him as best she could. ”Spike! I’ve been looking all over for you! Where have you been? Why were you a pony, how did you do that?!” Spike laughed and patted Twilight’s neck lightly to calm her down. “Sheesh Twi! Calm down.” He took a few steps back before spitting the little stone into his hand and holding it out for her to see. “I found this thing today! It’s got some kinda magic that lets me transform into anything I say!” He said with a big grin. Twilight stared at the little stone curiously in the fading sunlight before realization kicked in. “Spike! Where did you get that?” Spike was confused when Twilight didn’t sound excited or curious, but nervous instead. “We need to get back to the library so I can seal that thing away before it’s too late!” With that, Twilight began to herd the confused little dragon towards the library. Everything was quiet as she walked down the little path with Spike. The sun had gone down and the street was clear, Twilight could see the library not too far away in the darkness. She could see light from the open door pouring out into the night. Just a few blocks away and she could seal the talisman with the spell the princess had taught her and report in the morning about having found one after a good night’s sleep. She and Spike had only gone a few steps when Twilight thought she saw movement out of the corner of her eye.

Twilight Sparkle was standing in the middle of the street, watching Spike walk ahead of her towards the library. No matter where she looked there was nopony in sight, so why was she so scared? Twilight’s blood was running cold as she took in her surroundings, keenly aware of the cold night air blowing past her. Twilight’s ear twitched slightly as she heard what sounded like something quickly moving through the air. Twilight’s instincts were screaming at her to move, start galloping, grab Spike, and don’t stop and maybe she’d be safe. Her ear twitched again as she heard the sound twice more and Twilight began to slowly trot after Spike. She began to slowly speed up to catch up to him as she was hearing the sound more and more frequently. Twilight finally caught up to Spike when they were halfway to the library and quietly stopped him from walking any further with a light touch. Twilight looked down at the baby dragon once before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath. When she opened her eyes again the formerly empty street was now completely filled. At least thirty strange black bipedal creatures now surrounded her and Spike, most in the street, however some were even perched on the roofs of ponies homes. They were all dead silent and seemed to radiate nothing but cold, quiet, danger. They were all watching Twilight and Spike, their bright red eyes unblinking. “Spike…get on my back…” Twilight said quietly to the little baby dragon, who gulped and tore his eyes away from the strange creatures to climb onto her back. Twilight looked back at the strange creatures who continued to stare unblinkingly at them. Twilight began to move, and so did they. Twilight at first tried to charge straight towards the library, head down and horn forward. Two of the ones in front of her leaped away from her charge like she’d hoped, but that plan died quickly when a yell from Spike alerted her, she dug her hooves into the ground and kicked off in a different direction just as three more of the creatures dropped from the sky where she had just been. She ran as quickly as she could into a small alley between two buildings, headed for the next street. She knocked over some barrels as she passed in an attempt to slow the creatures down but when she turned to look found that most either leapt clear over the barrels or actually ran along the walls of the two building after her. Just as she was about to throw another one into the air behind her, she heard Spike call and ducked down just in time to avoid a kick from one of the creatures who had gotten in front of her. Still holding the barrel with her magic, she quickly did the only thing she could think of and slammed it into the creature as hard as she could. The barrel broke and the creature sailed through the air for a distance before crashing through the sign of a nearby shop. In the instant Twilight had stopped, the other creatures were upon her, a hard kick to the side sending her staggering into the street again where the creatures quickly surrounded her. Trying to find something to defend herself, Twilight levitated the remaining planks from the barrel around her. At first she attempted to use them as shields against the rain of punches and kicks that were being thrown at her but the creatures broke through any that she attempted to use as walls. Thinking quickly, Twilight began to use what remained of the boards to smack away any attacks aimed at her and attempt to counterattack. This tactic met with enough success to allow Twilight to break out of the pack of creatures with a buck and start running again. These things were fast and ridiculously agile, but it seemed that in a dead sprint, Twilight was faster than them. It was with this hope slowly building in her heart that she really could out run them that she felt something thin clip her hind leg and begin to wrap around it. Twilight realized it was a rope immediately before she felt a soft tug and her hind legs were pulled together and up behind her. Twilight went head first into the ground before rolling, the impact from the crash sending Spike flying. Twilight was feeling sore all over after that crash and as she attempted to get back up again, her head was roughly forced to the ground. One of the creatures had leapt onto her, holding her down head first with one hand. Twilight watched as it raised a fist up in the air ready to strike, she closed her eyes when the fist began to move. Twilight was a little surprised when she didn’t feel any sudden pain. She could hear someone yelling and she opened her eyes suddenly when she realized it was Spike.

Spike had been thrown a fair distance when Twilight crashed but he’d managed to roll most of the impact off and his hard scales took care of the rest. After a quick shake to clear his head he’d gotten up and tried to find Twilight, looking behind him he’d spotted her on the ground and had begun to run towards her to help her up when one of the creatures descended on her. It dropped onto her and harshly pushed her head down to the ground before raising one fist over her and quickly bringing it down towards her. “NOOOOOOOO!!!!” Spike called out as he ran as fast as he could, he was vaguely aware of holding something in his hand and so he raised it above his head and threw his make-shift weapon with all the strength he had at the creature to try and keep it from hurting Twilight. Spike was honestly surprised however at how the creature reacted, its fist stopped in an instant just above Twilight and it’s head jerked up to stare at him. It suddenly moved its fist away from Twilight and in front of itself, flawlessly catching Spike’s little projectile. Spike recognized it as the little magic stone he’d found just before the creature released Twilight and leapt back away from her, rejoining its group. Spike reached Twilight’s side just in time to watch as the creatures began to quickly disperse, the ones on the rooftops leaping away into the night, and the ones on the ground raised one arm above their heads in a single synchronized motion and threw something down, disappearing in an explosion of blue smoke. Unlike Trixie, there was no sign of them ever having been there when the smoke cleared.

Shendu was silent as the shadows once more converged in his chamber, his eyes lit up as he looked over the assembled shadow khan. One stepped forward and dropped to a knee, presenting the monkey talisman in its hand before rising and inserting it into a slot on the body of the sealed demon. Shendu growled quietly as he felt familiar power begin to course through him once again. “Excellent work my shadow khan. Soon… I shall live one more!”

====

Hope you like it. Please review! I’d love to hear some feedback!

Chapter 4

The shows My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and Jackie Chan Adventures and any characters from either of these are the copyrighted property of their respective owners. Neither of those owners is me.
Sorry this took so long, my finals are finally over and I have a break until May so back to work full steam! Writing the Apple Family’s accent is tough. I doubt I got it right, debating if I should just drop it and let it be assumed it’s there next time. On with the show!

====

My Little Pony: Zodiac Adventures
Chapter Three: Ox

Twilight Sparkle was vaguely aware of voices around her, distorted by the fog that clouded her mind. She opened her eyes and groaned quietly as her vision cleared. She was aware of being on her back with something heavy over her. She tried to get it off and sit up but could only manage a weak kick of her front legs as she tried to remember where she was and what was happening. She was vaguely aware of a change in the voices around her, though she still couldn’t quite make out what they were saying. Suddenly, white and green filled her blurry vision and she felt something lightly press a point against her head. A gentle light filled her sight and the fog over her thoughts began to clear as if under the rays of the sun. She remembered now! She’d come back to Ponyville after being given a mission by Princess Celestia! She’d found the first of the twelve talismans with Spike! She…she’d been defeated by the strange dark creatures and they’d gotten the talisman… In their first encounter, the demon’s forces had won. Twilight remembered watching where they’d disappeared for a while before the adrenaline began to fade away and the pain from the fight began to kick in. She remembered Spike running off to get help in a panic, and later being brought to Ponyville hospital and being given some kind of medicine by Nurse Redheart, then everything went fuzzy and dark.

“How are you feeling, Twilight Sparkle?”

Twilight recognized that voice! She blinked her eyes a few times as the blur of white and green began to focus into the concerned face of her mentor, Princess Celestia. “Princess!” Twilight squeaked out surprised. “What are you doing here?” Princess Celestia simply gave Twilight a small smile as she lifted her head back away. “When I’d received news that you’d been hurt attempting to retrieve one of the talismans for me, I came as soon as I was able, my precious student.” Twilight’s mind raced with questions, the Princess of Equestria merely stepped back and allowed Nurse Redheart and Doctor Caramel to approach. As the two medical ponies checked on Twilight’s health, she continued speaking, as if she knew Twilight’s questions before she asked them. “When you’d fallen asleep from the medication, Spike took it upon himself to write me a letter and explain the situation as he understood it.” Celestia motioned slightly with her wing and Twilight looked down, as last noticing the weight she had felt as being Spike’s head resting on her belly as the baby dragon snored. “He has not left your side once since you were admitted. And you’ve had quite a few visitors while you slept or so I hear. I’m glad to see you have taken your lessons on friendship so well.” The Princess smiled at Twilight as the two medical ponies finished their tests and helped the purple unicorn up. “The Princess’s magic is amazing, injuries that should’ve taken a month, healed in just a week.” Doctor Caramel mumbled to himself in awe as he ambled out of the room. “You’ve got a clean bill of health Ms. Sparkle, but do please be more careful. That fall you took did a number on your legs and I’m not quite sure what young Spike was taking about when he brought you in but whatever caused the rest of the injuries was no joking matter.” Twilight Sparkle nodded, remembered her encounter with the dark creatures and how poorly she’d fared, she was silent for a moment as she thought before she noticed the grey unicorn guard that had no doubt come with the princess. She nodded to herself before looking at the princess with determination burning in her eyes. “Princess, I have a request I’d like to make…”

Apple Bloom was having a perfectly normal day helping out her family on the farm. Specifically, Bloom was setting up the empty barrels for the apples to fall into. Setting down a barrel by a tree, she nudged it into place with her hind leg so it would catch the most bucked apples, then run off to get another barrel. It was on her way back from one such trip that she was stopped by a familiar voice calling out to her. “Hey there halfpint! Helpin’ out with the Apple-buckin’ Ah see!” Apple Bloom skidded to a stop as she looked around, spotting the yellow and orange cowpony in the vest and hat that’d called out. “Cousin Braeburn! What are you doing here?” The Apple-loosan cowpony merely chuckled a little as he walked up the dirt path to Sweet Apple Acres. “Ah’ve been hearin’ some rumors about some creatures in the area and Ah decided to pay a visit and see how things are.” Stopping in front of Apple Bloom, Braeburn looked at the scene around him. “But everything seems jus fine around here, guess I was just worryin’ for nothin’. Oh! Before I forget! Here ya go little cous!” With that, Braeburn reached into the pack on his back and pulled out a small necklace of feathers and turquoise beads with a large center stone bit clipped on. “A little somethin’ Ah got from the buffalo tribe! It’s supposed tah be good luck from what I heard.” With that the cowpony dropped the small necklace over her head and letting it fall into place. Apple Bloom looked down at the necklace, lightly batting it with a hoof before smiling and hugging her cousin’s leg. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!” Braeburn smiled and lightly patted her head with a hoof as he looked over, the rest of the family beginning to arrive to greet him. “Well Ah’ll be! Braeburn! How’ve ya been?” Applejack called out as she trotted over, looking tired after a hard day’s work. “Should’ve sent word you were coming cousin, we’d have had somethin’ ready for you.” Big Macintosh chimed in with a simple “Eeyup” as he ambled up next to his sister. “Just lemme wrap up this last tree and we’ll start supper!” That said, Applejack began to walk tiredly to the tree Apple Bloom had just finished setting up when she was suddenly stopped by her little sister. “Ah’ll do it!” Apple Bloom called out as she quickly ran over to the tree, turned her back on it and balanced on her front legs, prepping her hind legs to kick with all her strength, not noticing a soft hissing sound from around her neck as she did. “Well now that’s very sweet of you sis but you’re a mite you-“

“KRAKKOW!!”

Every pony at Sweet Apple Acres fell suddenly silent at what had unfolded before them. Braeburn’s eyed were wide, while Applejack’s mouth hung open, whatever she was about to say forgotten. Big Macintosh could only utter a simple “…what?” at the scene before him. There stood Apple Bloom, looking behind her as surprised as any pony else. Behind her was a jagged apple tree stump, The thick trunk snapped like a twig where it had been kicked, the top half of the tree several feet away on the ground looking like it had been through a storm. In the shock, no one noticed the blue bull-head mark on the main piece of Apple Bloom’s necklace glowing with otherworldly magic, announcing its awakening to its former master hiding far away.

Twilight Sparkle was quiet, a look of determination on her face. She’d been released from the hospital for nearly a month now. Thanks to the princess’s magic, the cracked ribs, large bruises, and sprained leg she’d received during the encounter with the Shadow Khan had been reduced to mild aches that were now all but forgotten. Though she was still upset about losing their first talisman, the truth is Spike had probably saved her life. Had Spike not thrown the talisman, the blow the shadow khan was lining up would likely have left her crippled if not dead. Since then Twilight had been doing everything she could to prepare for the next time. She had no doubt, to collect the talismans, Twilight Sparkle would have to fight, and fight often. And so, she’d spent the past month learning how to handle herself in a fight with some of the Princess’ royal guards. It was while practicing one of the training routines her new instructors had left her that a knock came from the door and a pony with a familiar southern twang called out. “Hey Twili’! Ya in here?” Twilight let out a sigh as she relaxed from her workout and levitated a towel over to herself as she trotted over to the main room of the library. “Applejack! I’ll be right there.” She called out as she moved between rooms. Entering into the main room she spotted the cowpony standing in the middle of the room. “There ya are sugercube! We’ve barely seen hide nor hair of you since you got out of the hospital. Are y’all feeling alright?” Twilight blushed slightly, embarrassed. She had gotten so caught up in preparing herself that she had honestly not left the library much at all the whole month. “I’m sorry Applejack, I’m fine. I guess I just got so focused on what I was doing I forgot about everything else.” The purple unicorn ducked her head slightly and gave a sheepish smile up at her friend. Applejack gave a soft chuckle before throwing a hoof around her and pulling Twilight into a hug. “S’all right Sugercube, jus’ don’t go forgettin’ ya have people who care about you.” Twilight smiled at her dear friend before gently pulling out of the hug. “Don’t you worry! I won’t!” She smiled confidently, making a mental note to write a friendship report to Celestia about this later, before looking the cowpony in the eyes. “So what brings you here Applejack? Anything I can help you with?” At this, Applejack’s face took on a worried look. “Well actually, there is one thing. Past couple of days have been a mite strange with Apple Bloom. All of a sudden she’s strong enough to give Big Macintosh a run fer his money. I’m worried Twi, something about it….just ain’t natural. I’m worried she might’ve gotten ta messin’ with some kind of potion again. I was hopin’ y’all might have a book that could help me figure out what’s what? Or could take a look at her and see fer yerself?” Twilight was silent, listening to her friend before focusing her magic into her horn and levitating a few books off the shelves. “Well I know there are one or two potions and spells that feature increased strength as an effect but, if she’s really as strong as Big Macintosh then the effects sound much stronger than the books say. Sure! I’d be happy to check on Apple Bloom for you and see if there’s anything wrong or dangerous.”

As Twilight followed her dear friend down the dirt path to Sweet Apple Acres, Twilight thought about what to do next. Nearly a whole month since the attack and she hadn’t made any progress in finding the remaining talismans. The fact that those shadows had attacked meant that the demon did have some way to find them which put Twilight at a disadvantage. The chances that the remaining eleven would show up in Ponyville were pretty low. Even if they did, she had no way of telling when one appeared. She didn’t even know what any but the monkey talisman were supposed to do. How would she be able to tell when she was dealing with one and not just any regular bit of Equestrian mystery or magic. It was with this thought in mind that Twilight arrived at Sweet Apple Acres to find Apple Bloom balancing an upside down pyramid of apple barrels on her back that absolutely dwarfed her. “Well, that certainly isn’t regular Equestrian anything…” Twilight managed to quietly gasp out as she looked up at the towering stack of apple-filled barrels. “Right, I’m on it!” She said with a confident little stomp of her hoof.

Twilight let out a tired sigh as she teleported the last of her machines back to her lab in the basement of the library. “Hoowee, I’ll be in pretty good shape for this year’s runnin’ of the leaves, I reckon.” Applejack called out as she stepped off the treadmill she and Big Mac had been taking turns on to power Twilight’s machines while she did her tests. “So did ya’ll find anythin’ Sugercube?” Twilight levitated a small checklist she had made while running tests as the orange farmpony walked up next to her. “Well with this we’ve successfully ruled out any internal causes. All my tests say nothing her body is doing could be causing this and she’s not using any magic herself. This means that whatever is causing it is definitely external magic.” Applejack just blinked slightly in response before nodding. “So what do we do now?” Applejack asked Now we just have to find out where the magic is coming from.” Applebloom fidgeted in place as Twilight’s horn lit up with magic and a small light shone from Twilights horn and moved over her. “How much longer is this gonna take?” Applebloom whined, Twilight could understand, the little filly had just spent the past few hours sitting on a stool with a colander on her head while Twilight ran her tests. “This should be the last test I thi-“ Twilight cut off as the light flickered and disappeared as it passed over Applebloom’s necklace. “That...shouldn’t happen...” Twilight tried again but no matter how much she tried, the light disappeared over the necklace, as if the magic that fueled it was being drank away. “What’s wrong Twilight?” Applejack leaned in over her friend’s shoulder looking worried. “I think I may have just found the culprit…oh no.” Twilight’s eyes widened as she moved the feathers decorating the necklace aside and found the centerpiece of the necklace. “What, what is it!?” Twilight looked out a nearby window at Sweet Apple Acres, bathed in gold as the sun began to set and cast long shadows over everything before looking over at her friend. “That thing in the center of the necklace is what’s causing this. It’s a magic item known as a talisman and because of it we’re all in danger. Applejack, I need you to listen closely and trust me...”

Far away in Canterlot, Celestia lowered the sun as Luna rose into the sky to raise the moon with her power as was her ancient duty. As the last rays of sunlight faded, shadows began to move across Ponyville. With unbelievable speed, the raced through Ponyville, over trees, holes, and buildings as if they were all flat terrain. They converged on the small farmhouse on the outskirts of town, surrounding it. The dark spirits known as shadow khan rose, seemingly from the very darkness all across Sweet Apple Acres. Quietly they moved across the field to the small home and the lone light that shone from a second floor window. The first few reached the entrance, there was no sound coming from the home but the spirits knew their target was there.

“KRAKKOW!!”

The door flew off its hinges without a moments resistance and sailed across the landscape, slamming into the group of shadowy creatures as it flew and continuing on, barely impeded. A large, red pony brought his legs back down, turned around, and stepped out of the broken doorway followed by a smaller orange pony in a brown hat. Applejack looked over the crowd of shadow khan, the door had surprised them and brought a large number down. Some seemed to disappear, fading into a small cloud of darkness while others merely picked themselves up after a moment. She couldn’t get an exact number but she figured there must’ve been nearly fourty of the things currently on her land, crouching down and preparing to fight. Applejack looked them all over silently before nodding and smiling slightly. “Well howdy! Name’s Applejack, of the Apple family! I reckon ya’ll must be the low-down varmints who went and put mah friend Twilight in the hospital for a while?” Applejack dug her hooves into the dirt and stomped, lowering her head and preparing to charge. “Nopony, and I mean nopony! Hurts. Mah. Friends.” The creatures only response was to charge and the apple siblings did the same. The shadow khan quickly closed the distance, three leapt high into the air and came down in an attempt to land on the two farm ponies. Applejack reared up on her hind legs, just barely avoiding the falling punch and then put all her weight into coming back down, slamming her front hooves into the creatures back and flattening him into the ground. The second creature managed to land on Applejack’s back, Applejack merely grinned at that and began to buck and kick wildly. “Welcome to the rodeo partner!” The surprise rider was bucked off just in time as another spun around in front of her, aiming a kick at the side of her head. Applejack ducked at the last minute, the kick merely taking her hat instead of slamming into her head. Spinning around on her front hooves, she drew her hind legs back and kicked out, slamming them into the creatures torso and sending it flying. Looking over during the brief lag, Applejack was surprised to find her brother under a pile of several of the attackers. She just chucked and got back to her own fight, not needing to watch to now what would happen. A moment later, a soft “Nope.” Was heard and shadow khan flew through the air.

Twilight was quiet as she sat alone upstairs, pots and pans littered the floor around her and the talisman sat on the ground in front of her surrounded by a pink bubble. She’d found she couldn’t teleport the talisman away to her library due to it eating away her magic, but she could use magic around it. This force field would protect the talisman for as long as she maintained it, meaning the shadow khan wouldn’t be able to take it without going through her first. Her ear twitched as she heard yelling and crashing from outside. Applejack and Big Macintosh must be fighting them already. She’d sent Granny Smith and Applebloom away as soon as she realized the shadow khan would be attacking the farm that night. She walked over to the window to look down and gasped. It was true she hadn’t gotten a good count of them but she was certain there were more this time than when she had been attacked, but why? “...The talisman he got back! The demon must be getting stronger!” Twilight was wrenched from her thoughts as she found herself face to face with one of the creatures. Some of them had broken off from Applejack and Big Macintosh and attempted to sneak into the house to steal the talisman. Twilight jumped back to the center of the room as the creature stared at her for a moment, it looked down at the talisman in the glowing sphere for a moment before leaping into the room, more quickly poured in after. Before long the room was filled with five of the creatures surrounding Twilight. Twilight felt a familiar panic beginning to well up inside her but she quickly trampled it down. She wasn’t the same as last time, she’d been preparing for this. Taking a deep breath, she levitated the pots and pans into the air around her and glared at the shadows surrounding her. They began to move, and so did she. One of the shadows immediately tried to sweep her legs out from under her, Twilight simply hopped in place and sent one of the pots in a hard arch into the shadows jaw, knocking it flat on its back. Twilight moved a pan by her head as one attempted to punch her from the right, the thick metal frying pan taking the blow with nothing more than a sharp clang unlike the wooden planks from that night. Taking advantage, she sent another pot flying to strike the creature along its middle, staggering it for a moment. In that moment, she brought the frying pan she’d used to block up over her head and down onto a third shadow before letting it continue its arch under her into an uppercut at the second. Of the five shadows that had slipped into the room, three were flat on the ground. The last two charged and leapt with a kick at Twilight. Twilight in turn drew the two pots back and sent them forward, colliding with their kicks and knocking them off balance before lashing out with two quick strikes of the pan. Twilight looked at the five downed creatures as two began to disappear and the rest tried to rise to their feet, levitating the force field containing the talisman and bringing it to hover just behind her, she raced from the room and down the stairs to join her two friends fighting outside.

The sun was beginning to rise once more over Equestria. As the sun’s rays fell over Sweet Apple Acres, it illuminated a scene that seemed to belong in a war zone. All across the fields, creatures in dark garb lay scattered and beaten, fading into clouds of darkness as the light passed over them. At the top of the hill surrounded by the disappearing shadows sat three ponies. Tired, worn, and a little bruised Twilight smiled as she felt the warmth of the sun’s rays pass over her. It hadn’t been perfect, once she’d gotten to the main group things got a lot harder to fight, but she’d done it. She sat there with Applejack and Big Macintosh feeling proud, she’d protected the talisman like her Princess had asked of her, she’d worked hard with the palace guards and she’d defeated the same creatures that had beaten her before. She and her friends had won. “Well, that was one hay of a tussel!” “Eeyup!” Applejack chuckled tiredly as her brother agreed. “Haven’t felt this tired since Ah tried to buck all the trees mahself.” Twilight smiled a little remembering the event. “Twilight.” The purple unicorn looked over her friend who was watching her with a serious expression on her face. “Ah learned to rely on mah friends that day. I won’t never forget that. Don’t ya’ll forget it neither. This mission ya’ll got from Princess Celestia is shapin’ up to be more than a mite dangerous. Don’t ya’ll try to do it all on your own. After all, nopony, and Ah mean nopony, hurts mah friends.” Applejack smiled as she finished and Twilight couldn’t help but smile a little as she nodded taking it all in. She hugged the orange farmpony tightly and both held back a wince as a few bruises protested the only way they could. That done Twilight released her magic, dropping the pots and pan and the talisman. Picking up the small magic stone in her mouth, she waved to her friends before heading off down the road to her home to seal the talisman up behind a more powerful field until the rest were collected.

Shendu’s eyes flashed brightly red with anger as the shadow khan returned, defeated and empty handed. “So, someone attempts to impede my resurrection...” light began to build in the mouth of the statue just before a stream of flames roared out, bathing the ruined chamber in an orange light. “...I shall not stand for this impudence! I shall live again! And this interloper shall learn what it means to oppose Shendu!” The shadow khan bowed lower before their sealed master and disappeared. Unknown to those present, a blue unicorn hid outside, peering in through one of the windows of the ruined chamber. “The Great and Powerful Trixie...thinks it might be best if she just moved on.” The blue unicorn whispered to herself as the creatures disappeared and the light in the talking statue’s eyes began to fade. She wasn’t sure what any of these creatures were, but something deep inside her told her this was dangerous and that she shouldn’t be here. Trixie turned and, crouching low, began to sneak away from the window as quietly as she could. “...if you think you are hidden from my notice, you are a fool.” Trixie froze as she heard the statue speak again behind her. She felt the ground shake and saw it crack as large powerful looking creatures rose out and towered over her. Trixie knew what these were, dragons, dozens of them. Trixie felt frozen, this was far worse than the fear she had felt the very first time she’d ever gone on stage before. She gulped and stood as tall as she could, just like that first day, she would get through this and excel doing so. “Hmph! Is this supposed to impress me? The Great and Powerful Trixie? Trixie defeated an Ursa Major with my powers! I few oversized lizards would be nothing to the Great and Powerful Trixie!” She said, trying to put as much confidence into her voice as possible. “Powerful?” The statue hissed back. “The magic I feel from you is pitiful, barely capable of cheap parlor tricks and illusions.” Trixie felt warm, anger and embarrassment burning in her face. Ever since she’d been shown up by Twilight Sparkle, every town she’d visited had responded in much the same way. Even this statue seemed to know of her embarrassment. The warmth turned to frozen fear in an instant as she saw the dragons, their eyes glowing an unusual, malevolent red rearing back to strike. Just as they opened their maws and prepared to dart down and devour the little blue unicorn, light flashed in their eyes and they stopped in their tracks. Trixie stared at the rows of teeth surrounding her before something behind her caught her attention completely. “Do you desire power?” the voice hissed as if right by her ears.

====

Two down! Hope you like it. Sorry again that it took so long. Please comment/review! I’d love to hear some feedback!