Satsui no Hado in Equestria

by Frogace55

Round 11: Next Stage

When I arrived at work the next day after oversleeping, I was surprised to see Applejack out front with most of her friends, all with varied expressions and levels of luggage. Twilight and Rarity seemed like they prepared for an apocalypse, and while Twilight looked concerned, Rarity looked a bit annoyed. Pinkie was smiling with her backpack and a nearly empty box of treats. Rainbow had a gym bag and seemed slightly angered. Applejack didn’t have anything packed and I didn’t see any body language showing how she was feeling.

“Yo boss,” I called. “Something up?”

“Twilight got a letter about you from Princess Luna.” Applejack replied.

“Ah, Did it say how she’s providing me transport for me and my plus one?”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Rainbow cut in, “‘Boss,’ Why would he call you ‘Boss’?”

“Because Applejack is currently my employer. Why else?” I simply replied

Rainbow looked at Applejack and back to me. “How did you…”

“I pay debts.” I said before returning to the more important issues. “So, what’s my ride?”

Twilight pulled out seven train tickets. “The letter said we are supposed to escort you to the castle.”

“You five, me, and my plus one. That’s seven.”

“Actually, the letter said ‘The Elements of Harmony and you.” Twilight said.

“I didn’t know Luna didn’t honor deals…” I muttered.

Rarity caught my comment and her eyes narrowed. “How dare you!”

“I guess there was no mention of a wager. That she lost. Or the terms. Which is the reason I’m going in the first place.” I stopped as a thought occurred to me. “By the way, Did you bring a cloak?”

Rarity, stuck speechless, just nodded to my seemingly random question.

“I’m going to need it for my plus one.”

“You mean her?” Pinkie asked pointing to a glowing tree.

I sighed. “Mirror, Jigoku, you two had to tail me. Might as well come out.”

Hearing both of their names, the changeling and the timberwolf showed themselves. Rainbow and Twilight immediately sprung into action, Rainbow charging toward Jigoku while Twilight fired a spell. Jigoku dodged both the spell and Rainbow’s attack. He responded with three barks. All of the ponies present but Pinkie stopped due to confusion.

“Do you want to translate or should I?” Pinkie asked.

Both Mirror and I shrugged. “Go ahead.”

“You understood it?” Twilight asked.

“HE said ‘That can’t be your best.’” Jigoku sniffed the air and gave another bark, pointing to the box. “‘Swing and a miss.’ Aww, I thought macaroons were right this time…”

“Anyway, Ji, when I said I needed you to stay, I meant it. You aren’t coming.”

A whine.

“Try shapeshifting and working on speaking to people with normal words. If you truly get bored, cover my shift for me.”

His response was a crude-sounding “ok” as he slunk back into the forest.

“With that out of the way, You can see why we need the cloak. We don’t need a street fight yet.”

The cloak was quickly handed over.

“When is the train the tickets are for?” I asked while pulling out another piece of meat from my bag to eat. I only have four strips left. Dang, gonna need a new snack soon.

“It’s the mid-afternoon train.” Twilight answered before asking her own question. “Why?”

“I have work to do.” I headed for the part of orchard that was supposed to be picked.

---

I was deep into work on the apple trees, lightly jabbing them to drop the apples, when Mirror asked me a question. “Why?”

Not ruining my rhythm, I responded, “Why what? Help you? Originally, a whim. Now, because I finish what I start.”

“I’m not worth it. There are hundreds that do my job.”

I stopped. “Then why the bloody hell would a timberwolf try to protect you and look for help to do so? I’m gonna see how deep the rabbit hole goes and that means helping you. Besides, if you’re worried about me getting into a fight on your behalf, that would happen with me anyway.”

She was quiet for awhile. When she finally spoke again, it was two simple words.

“Thank you.”

I gave her a smile and continued my work.

---

I finished my job in time for us to meet Twilight and her group at the train station. Instead of Fluttershy missing from the group, however, Applejack was the one not there. Fluttershy looked intimidated and had two bags. Everyone else seemed to have not changed their expressions from this morning with the exception of Rainbow. She was absolutely livid. I also saw Spike there carrying Rarity’s bags. Probably here for a send-off.

I checked the train schedule and the clock to see that the train wasn't to arrive for another half-hour or so. I guess it wouldn’t hurt to answer any question they may have. I turned to the group and saw Spike starting to strain.

“Spike,” The drake turned at the mention of his name. “First, you should put those down. You’ll hurt yourself.” He went to place them down and, one by one, they cascaded out of his hands. “Second, it’s fine to for them to know THAT now.”

“Tell us what?” Twilight asked.

“I’m teaching someone you have run into my techniques.” I stated

Rarity scoffed. “You teach your brutish moves? Who said yes?”

“Nightmare Moon.” Spike said.

All of the girls paled as the answer stewed around with them. Twilight was the first to speak.

“Have you gone mad?” She shouted, causing a couple of looks to come our way.

“And, more importantly, she’s going to help me-”

Rainbow cut in. “With taking over? I don’t think so!” She charged at me, using her wings for a speed boost. I stepped to the side as she went past.

“No, to protect you from others as strong as myself or stronger.”

“Ummmm, how strong?” Fluttershy asked.

“The weakest one can teleport, heal himself, and use mind control and that’s before his actual moves.” I said.

“Oh my….”

“I could take him on his own, but he also has a elite squad of assassins and three or four generals at his call.” I noticed Mirror fidget a bit at the mention of the Dolls, but continued. “The strongest one eats planets. I’d need at least two others to think of fighting that guy.”

“There is a huge difference in the power you just described.” Twilight pointed out. “How do we know we can trust you?”

“You don’t, but I will say this: I don’t want to rule the world. I live to fight. Now the question becomes: Do you want to truly fight me?”

Rainbow laughed. “You got the jump on me last time. I could easily beat you!”

I chuckled. “Our fight a week ago? That was a test drive. But if you think you could, I won’t stop you from challenging me.”

“Then I will.”

“Ok, you can name the time. In the meantime,” I addressed the rest of the group. “Any more questions?”

PInkie shot up her hand. “Yes?”

“How about these?” She handed me a box of muffins. “This the one?”

“I’ll eat one, but you’re wrong again.” Mirror got a whiff of the one in my hand, and the box suddenly was missing two more muffins. “But, at least someone likes them as much as you wished.” Sure enough, Mirror had a goofy grin on her face under the cloak.

That was the last question, as the train pulled into the station at that moment. Everyone boarded and found a seat rather quickly. I sat in the corner while the girls found a spot together in the middle and Mirror sat at the other side.

I closed my eyes and started to focus on the energies around me. Most of the train car had similar types of energy at different levels of strength. Must be the mana reserves of everyone. As expected, the middle of the car had the greatest output, as Twilight and her group was sitting there. To make time pass quicker, I decided to try to look over each signature. I had no idea if I could, but I felt it would be very helpful for future reference.

At first, I could only ‘see’ Twilight when focusing. Her raw power eclipsed everyone else's, like a sun beside lamps. I was impressed by the amount of power she had, but I wasn’t concerned who would win in a fight if we came to blows currently.

Eventually, I was able to notice the others, so I went to Rarity. She had quite a bit of power behind her, most likely from all the multitasking she did. She definitely had enough to carry her bags.

I was about to start on Pinkie when I felt a vastly different type of energy than the majority of the train. One that was concerningly familiar to me. It felt like the Dark Hado, but not. I followed it to the source and my mood soured. I didn’t feel the Dark Hado when I saved you last week. The bright side: at least I know my first opponents.

---

Within his lair, a imposing figure smiles upon his throne. “There was a delay, but everything seems to be happening according to plan. Doll, bring me Claw and Boxer.”

The underling leaves to follow his orders with a satule.

“Phrase one will begin shortly,” The figure licks his lips. “And will make for delicious entertainment.”

Comments

[Vigriff]

[BrowBurd]

7690386 uhh... wat?

[Vigriff]

7697775 Read the last third of the chapter and think which characters has those resources.

[BrowBurd]

7698453 i dont get it. So you know i have no idea what this story is a crossover with, so yeah...

[Vigriff]

7699694 Street Fighter, might be a Capcom vs. crossover as well.

[BrowBurd]

7699740 ive heard of street fighter but havent seen iether of them