Twilight and Spike held each other in loving embrace for quite a while; long enough that Littlepip found herself starting to doze off where she stood. Feeling her head bounce off against the wall she was leaning against, Littlepip decided now was the time to break the moment. Quickly walking over to where Spike was sitting, Littlepip stopped just a few inches away from him and silently tapped her hoof against him. Spike quickly turned his head and glanced at her.
Littlepip waved up at him, “Sorry to interrupt but I believe we came here for a reason, right Twilight?” Spike looked away and back down to Twilight who was nodding her head. Spike carefully lowered Twilight to the ground. Twilight did her best to focus back on the matter at hoof.
She quickly rubbed the tears from her eyes before looking back up at Spike, “She’s right. I was told that you of all ponies could help me find what I am looking for.”
Spike nodded, “I have Sprite-bots set up all over Equestria. Whatever it is you need to find, I will be sure to find it far faster then anypony else around here.”
Twilight smiled, “You always were someone I could count on. ”Spike’s face went red as he smiled back. Twilight continued, “I need you to find an artifact. It is a magical piece of wood connected to a Door needed to save my Equestria.”
Spike nodded, “An artifact huh? This won’t be easy. What you are asking will be like trying to find a needle in a dessert.” Spike took a deep breath, “But for a friend, you can count on me.”
Twilight nodded, “If it helps, these pieces so far have been known to attach themselves to dark or powerful beings.”
Spike went over to screen and began to push several buttons that lay in rows under them. “That actually might help narrow it down. Just give me a few moments to get in touch with all of my Sprites.”
Twilight nodded then turned back to Littlepip. She was about to thank her when somepony came running in and nearly knocked her over. “Twilight!”
Twilight regained her balance and noticed Night standing nearby looking panicked. Twilight rolled her eyes, “Night, relax. I’m fine.”
Night shook his head, “That’s not what I am worried about!” Night took a second as he thought about what he just said. “Err, I mean I was worried about you.” Night grinned apologetically, then shook his head, “But we have bigger problems!”
Twilight and Littlepip glanced at him as worry began to play across their faces. “What is it?” They both asked at the same time.
“You're not going to believe it. You need to come outside right now!” Night then turned around and now took stock of the dragon just a few feet away from him. Night’s face switched from shock, to amazement to shaking his head trying to refocus to the matter at hoof, all in under a few seconds. He then took off back towards the entrance without looking to see if anypony was following. Both Twilight and Littlepip glanced at each other before sprinting after him. Once everypony had left the cave, Twilight noticed that Velvet and Calamity were there and looking up into the sky. Twilight and the rest of her friends looked up as well; just passing over them was the creepiest Shadow Twilight had ever seen.
It had no body yet had a cloak and hood. Thin bony arms and hands appeared along the sides. Its face was just two yellow eyes peeking out from the hood. The creature had a black aura running off of it. It seemed to be slowly moving across the sky looking for something. Littlepip glanced down, wondering what it could possibly be looking for. Her eyes scanned the ground below them and soon fell upon something she did not expect to see out in the middle of nowhere.
“Um, I think we have a problem.” All eyes went from the sky towards what Littlepip was looking at. Twilight gasped; just a mile or so away from them, a green alicorn was being chased by Shadows. It appeared to be attacking them as it ran. But a soon as it would turn around to do so, the closer the Shadows got.
Twilight quickly turned to Littlepip, “Is that what I think it is?”
Littlepip nodded, not taking her eyes off the alicorn. “I don’t know why it is here, but these things are dangerous. The fact that it is heading this way is big problem.”
Twilight shook her head, “Aside from the mind boggling fact that another alicorn exists besides the princesses, why is it such a big problem if it gets to close?”
Littlepip grimaced, “Actually there are more of them. As for why they are here. Let’s just say the other you had a bit of an experiment and things did not go well. And for why it is important that thing doesn’t get to close…” Littlepip let out a big sigh before continuing, “Inside this cave there is something that cannot be damaged. It is last hope for returning Equestria to its former glory and if it accidently gets destroyed… Hope for a better future dies with it.” Twilight nodded her head as she tried to wrap her head around this.
Twilight was about to turn and ask another question when she felt the air around them change. A chill ran down her back, and just a second later, the Shadow that had been flying above them dove right past them. Everypony dug their hooves into the dirt as the wind kicked around them, seemly ready to throw them off the cliff they were standing on. Littlepip tracked the creature as it dove for the alicorn.
The alicorn tried to react but it was too late. The creature was already on her by the time it looked up. The alicorn watched as the Shadow seemed wrap itself around her, like cloth covering a bug. It then squeezed itself around her. The alicorn soon became consumed in the dark creature’s grasp. Black fire began to form around them, obstructing everyponies view from it. The fire grew big, consuming the Shadows that had just moments ago been chasing it. There was a scream heard from within the flames, but it was impossible to tell where exactly it had come from.
Soon the fire began to dissipate, and a new creature stepped out of the flames. What had once been an alicorn was now was Shadow. It was completely jet black with glowing yellow eyes. It appeared a bit taller and its wings were a bit larger. Its horn seemed to radiate dark energy. It began to walk towards their direction.
Littlepip bit her lip before turning back to her team, “We can’t let this thing get any closer. I’m not sure exactly how powerful this thing is now, but I do know that this thing is dangerous and we have to stop it now.” Every other pony nodded their heads in understanding.
Twilight glanced back at where the creature was and began to calculate the distance as she lit up her horn. After having made the calculations, she turned to Littlepip, “I can get us down there, but I am going to need some extra magic.”
Littlepip nodded while Velvet took a step forward. “I can help as well. Any magic you need I can apply.” Twilight smiled as Littlepip and Velvet lit up their horns. The magic surrounding the horns began to flow towards Twilight’s. Night and Calamity huddled around the three ponies as Twilight felt the magic energy engulf her.
“Ready?”
The other ponies nodded their heads in unison. With a flash of light, all them disappeared from the cliff side. No more than a second later, they reappeared in just a few yards away from the alicorn. The alicorn stopped in its tracks as it looked on at the five ponies that appeared in front of it.
Littlepip held back what little food she had left in her stomach and readied her Little Macintosh, Calamity shook the stars out if his eyes and shifted the guns on his back, and Velvet blinked for a moment before staring calmly but determinedly at the Alicorn. Twilight simply flashed her Keyblade into existence. Night shook his head amd glanced quickly over at Twilight before bringing out his own blade. The alicorn seemed to ponder for a moment, wondering whether or not these ponies before were even a threat. Then the Shadow part of it kicked in. It didn’t matter. They were in its way and that is all that mattered. The Shadow Alicorn lit up it horn and pointed it at the group.
Littlepip's eyes widened for a second before yelling “Scatter!” Everypony in the group did as they were told and spaced out away from each other. The Alicorn wasted no time; as soon as its attack was ready it fired. Dark energy shot from it horn, sailing between Littlepip and Twilight. Both looked back as the energy ball hit a small rock. The ball immediately engulfed a small portion of the area in a ball of black fire. The rock quickly dissolved, leaving nothing left. Both ponies stared at the spot in horror before turning to each other. Both knew exactly what they were thinking. “Stay as far away from that attack as possible.”
Littlepip and Calamity look over at each other. Both nodded as a plan seemed to form in their minds. Littlepip put away her Little Macintosh and produced a fully automatic rifle. “Calamity, I have the left.”
Calamity grinned, “…And I av’ the right.”
Littlepip quickly glanced back over at Twilight and Night, “Twilight, I need you and Night to distract it for a moment. When I give the signal, attack on both sides.”
Twilight quickly glanced back at the creature then to Littlepip, “Alright.”
Both Night and Twilight ran at the creature, both staying a good distance off to the side. The Shadow Alicorn quickly looked left and right, unsure which one to direct it magic towards. Both ponies took advantage of this and began to split farther out. The Shadow Alicorn glanced back and forth quickly as it began to realize that they had now surrounded it on both sides. Looking directly ahead, Littlepip was now in its sights. The alicorn lowered its head, ready to take aim when it heard yell coming from behind it. The alicorn quickly glanced behind it and noticed that a Pegasus was now directly behind it. It became very clear to it what was now going on, it was about to become center stage for a massive attack.
Littlepip smirked and yelled, “Now!”
Calamity unloaded the full fury of the guns on his back. Littlepip switched to fully automatic and did the same. Twilight unleashed a torrent of fire upon the Alicorn while Night unleashed a blizzard of sharp particles of ice. Velvet looked on in amazement as the creature was engulfed in a hale fire of magic and bullets. The alicorn was soon lost from sight as both completely consumed it, kicking up dust as the creature seemed to disappear in the mess. After several minutes, the firing ceased. Littlepip looked on, waiting for the dust to settle and see what was left of the alicorn after all they had done to it. Looking back, these things had always been tricky to take down, but never before had she had such strong magic users on her side.
Her eyes locked with Twilight whose face was full of worry, “Think we got it?”
Littlepip laughed, “I’d be surprised if that thing can even move after what we unleashed on it. Gotta say Twilight, the amount of fire you unleashed on it was enough to make Celestia herself blush." Twilight smiled at the remark.
Night let out a small laugh but stopped as more of the dust began to clear. He looked on in horror as a shimmering bubble could now be seen through the dust. “Girls, I wouldn’t start celebrating just yet.”
Both Twilight and Littlepip glanced ahead of them. Twilight shook her head as Littlepip sputtered, “B-but… That can’t be right. No alicorn shield should have been able to withstand that.” Littlepip shook her head, “How strong is this thing?”
The alicorn stood calmly as the dust finally cleared. A scratch nor burn mark could be seen on it as the energy bubble slightly seemed to sparkle. All ponies quickly ran back to Littlepip to regroup. All except Velvet who hung back, looking on in shock. Littlepip looked at her friends with less spirit then when she had begun.
“Alright, plan B. Twilight,” she extended her hoof towards Twilight’s Keyblade still hovering in the air, “How much damage to you think you can do against this creature with that blade?”
Twilight flinched a bit, “I’m honestly not sure. So far, it seemed to be able to destroy some Shadows with just one or two blows. Others, it seems that either strong magic or certain weakness needs to be found.”
Littlepip stared at Twilight with determination, “Twilight, this is a yes or no question, can this thing do damage.”
Twilight lifted her hoof slightly before stared back at Littlepip with the same determination, “Yes, it should be able to cause some damage.”
Littlepip smiled, some of her spirits returning to her. “Alright, here’s the plan. This alicorn may have a strong shield, but it has to have a breaking point at some point. We are going to find it. Once the shield is down, it may or may not have the ability to put one up again. That’s where Twilight comes in.” Littlepip again gestured to Twilight’s Keyblade. “I don’t fully understand how this thing works but I do understand that this weapon is strong. It might just be strong enough to give us the edge we need to take this thing down.”
Littlepip turned back to Twilight, “When that shield goes down, we need you to be ready to pop out and deliver one hell of a blow to this things head. Can you do that?” Twilight nodded her head quickly. “Alright, try and aim for its horn if you can. If this doesn’t work, at least we may be able to impair it from using magic against us.”
Littlepip glanced back towards the Shadow Alicorn only to see that it was gone. Littlepip looked around frantically until she spotted it just a few yards away from them. It was again walking towards Spike’s lair. Littlepip’s eyes grew wide, “Hey, get back here! We’re not done with you yet!”
Twilight watched as Littlepip produced a small object with a pin in it. Littlepip bit into the pin pulled it out and chucked it at the Alicorn. The object harmlessly bounced off of it, the shield shimmering slightly around it. The alicorn stopped for a moment, regarding the object with curiosity. Then the object exploded, sending dust and earth into the air. That got the real attention of the Alicorn.
It turned around, facing back towards Littlepip and her friends. Littlepip grinned and produced several weapons seemingly out of nowhere. “Let’s see how powerful that shield really is.” With that, she began to unload everything she had into the Alicorn’s shield. Night looked on with awe. Calamity only shook his head as he shifted the guns on his back. Soon Calamity and Night joined in firing with everything they had, while the alicorn only seemed to regard them mildly. With no damage seeming to occur to its shield, what did it have to fear after all?
Littlepip was starting to grow weary; after all, they were hardly even putting a dent in the alicorn’s shield. Then an idea struck her. Littlepip raised her hoof and stopped her firing; her friends were surprised by this but followed suit.
Littlepip then took a step forward. “That’s quite a shield you have there. Able to withstand anything right?” The alicorn stared at her silently and coldly. Littlepip continued, “Bet you can sit here all day dishing out what we give you, safe behind that thing. Just stand there and watching us silently like the coward you are!” Littlepip pointed her hoof at the alicorn, “That’s right, you heard me. I called you a coward. Not just that, you make all the other alicorns look bad!”
The alicorn stared at her coldly though Littlepip could have sworn she saw it flinch for second. Littlepip smiled to herself.
Velvet stepped close to her and gave her a small nudge. “Littlepip, what are you doing?”
Littlepip quickly turned to her and gave her a fake smile, “Nothing Velvet. Just telling this alicorn what I think of it. That it’s ugly and has no right to HIDE BEHIND THAT SHEILD.” Littlepip eyes quickly went from Velvet to the Alicorn and back again. Velvet’s eyes widened as she began to understand what Littlepip had in mind.
Velvet then turned back to the alicorn, “You know what, you're right. That alicorn is pretty ugly and um… has really weird eyes.” Littlepip raised an eyebrow towards Velvet. Velvet shrugged and whispered, “What, I may be good at diplomacy but that doesn’t mean I am great at insults.”
Nevertheless, the alicorn seemed to be taking it personally. The alicorn shook its head. It had no mouth but the message was clear as its body began to shake slightly. Littlepip took another step forward, “I bet you can’t even fight! Well come on then, show us what you got, you sorry excuse for a pony!” That finally got to it. Somehow the alicorn had gone past its instincts long enough to get aggravated.
It dropped its shield and lowered its horn, getting ready to fire as it charged up a shot. Littlepip jumped up into the air and shouted, “Twilight, now!” The alicorn ceased it charge just in time to see a unicorn barreling towards it, ready to bright her weapon down unto its head. The alicorn quickly lit up its horn again. Twilight wasn’t going to give it a chance to fire. She brought her Keyblade down with everything she had. But to her surprise, it was intercepted mid strike. A large clanging noise echoed throughout the area. Twilight glanced up and saw a dark glowing sword made of black and purple aura being caught against her blade.
The alicorn horn then brightened as the sword seemed to grow bigger. Twilight’s eye’s grew wide as the alicorn lifted up the now giant sword and brought it down, ready to split Twilight in two. Twilight cried out and held up her Keyblade in defense, intercepting the sword. As soon as the blades met, another loud clang could be heard, but this time it was followed by a large crack. Twilight blinked in surprise and glanced up at her Keyblade. A big crack had appeared, snaking its way through the middle of her Keyblade.
“Oh no…” Twilight whispered.
Night yelled out for Twilight to move just as the alicorn brought down its massive sword again. But it was too late, shocked by the damage that had just been caused, Twilight was too slow. The Keyblade took another direct hit. With a louder clang and much louder crack, the Keyblade split in two.
The two halves of the Keyblade hung in mid-air for only a second before it began to spark as a huge amount of energy was released. Twilight and the alicorn were both blown back as the Keyblade sent out a shock wave of energy. Twilight yelled out in surprise as she was tossed end over end, her goggles and handkerchief getting blasted right off of her.
Twilight felt her body come to a crashing halt on her back. Twilight stared up at the cloudy sky as she tried to regain the air that had been knocked from her lungs. Slowly raising a hoof towards her head, it became quickly apparent that she was bleeding; a gash had formed on her head from the blast. Twilight blinked and glanced down, what she saw made her heart stop.
Two pieces of her Keyblade now lay in front of her. Twilight felt her world nearly crumble around her. Her only weapon, the weapon that could allow her to do magic, was now gone. Twilight quickly tried to conjure up an old spell she knew, one of her old healing spells. But nothing worked. Twilight’s horn only simply lit up. But no spell was cast. As far as she could tell, her magic had been cut off. Twilight stared at the pieces again, her emotions falling faster than the tears from her eyes.