//------------------------------// // Flurry's Rising // Story: Flurry Heart and The Original One // by Sirdubya //------------------------------// Arceus appeared out of a portal not too far outside of the empire with Flurry Heart and Absol riding on his back. The Princess of Balance watched in awe as the wide array of terrifying monsters, some clearly even bigger than Arceus converged on the empire and assaulted Sombra’s shadow army. “Arceus…are these your reinforcements?” Arceus turned his head to face her. “Yes. I gave rise to these titans to act as guardians in my stead as I slumbered, leaving the world to its own devices unless a state of great emergency demanded my attention.” He looked back out at them. “How pleasing to see that they have remained ever powerful even after countless centuries of dormancy. I feel almost irresponsible for not allowing them watch the very world I charged them to protect change as it passed through the currents of time.” Flurry Heart put her hoof on his neck. “If they were eager enough to heed your call without so much as a second thought, I’d say that’s proof positive that they trust you as much as they must revere you, even after so long.” Arceus looked back at her again and much to her surprised, lightly chuckled. “How lucky these people are to have gracious rulers such as you.” Flurry blushed and smiled upon being flattered by a god. “Speaking of whom, I believe they are waiting for you.” “Hmm?” Arceus turned his body in such a way that the side of his body faced the empire, almost as if he was a ship letting his passengers depart. “Go on, Princess of Balance. Fight for your kingdom in its hour of need.” Flurry was a little shocked that Arceus didn’t seem to be accompanying her to the empire, but she looked in his eye and felt the divine trust he put in his titans being directed towards her, and any hesitation she had was thinned out. His pinwheel then glowed and gently poured light into her horn, which she readily accepted. She confidently nodded. “Right! Come on, Absol!” “Sol!” She and her cat-goat friend leapt off of Arceus’s back and rushed towards the Crystal Empire with Arceus’s divine gaze being ever watchful over them. ***** The royals and surrounding townsfolk watched in a mix of horror and joy as they watched the variety of monsters completely decimate Sombra’s forces. They regenerated quickly, but the sheer power of these titans kept everything at a solid stalemate, and the dark lord himself was anything but pleased. Apart from the destruction, the blue deer used its holy powers to cleanse that corrupted shackles from the captive townsfolk as well as shred the shadows with its antlers and blast them with blasts of holy light. Its demon bird counterpart used a dark tractor beam fired from its body to devour the shadows and use them to generate dark energy pulses it fired from its mouth, which were surprisingly harmful to even the surrounding shadows. The green wolf, upon reaching the area howled and called for more of the green bolts of light to congregate towards itself, and it grew further into a bizarre serpent that had black frills extending from the back of its neck. It summoned a torrent of green arrow-like projections that pierced and shredded the shadows and caused miniature earthquakes below they’re feet. The black and white dragons seemed to join forces with the ice dragon in another sector of the empire. The white dragon vomited torrents of fire while the black dragon crashed and clawed into its foes with lightning surging around its body. The ice dragon made things easier for them by flash freezing the ground and making arenas of ice to trap their foes. At one point, the shadows made a desperate move and congregated together into a horrific draconic form of its own. It was serpentine with six arms that had long, serrated claws. The ice dragon and white dragon looked at each other and nodded, and the ice dragon folded it frozen wings and fired the spikes jutting out of them at the white dragon, who curled up into a ball of intense fire that the ice dragon plugged into its tail, and it was suddenly enveloped in a miniature sun. When it dispersed, the two dragons had fused together! It was still bipedal and had the generator tail, but it had red plug-like growths running between that and its wings. It looked as if the ice dragon had simply adopted the white dragons body type and fur while its face was still dominate. The black dragon unleashed a blast of lightning that paralyzed the shadow dragon just enough for the now fused dragon to blast it with burning ice that easily annihilated it. They then defused and resumed their reign of destruction. The giant red lizard found itself surrounded by shadows as it summoned sharp columns of stone to pierce its foes and caused mini magma eruptions right beneath them. However, it felt the need to take drastic measures. It surrounded itself with powerful red energy that became crystalline around it. After a moment, the giant ruby burst to reveal that the beast was now glowing as if it had bright lava for skin apart from its red shell. Its very presence caused the grass around it to ignite from being so hot, and the shadows could only tremble as their monstrous foes volcanic power intensified. The same went for the blue whale fish as it summoned torrents of water to swamp the shadows, but it surrounded itself with blue energy that crystallized over it. It too burst open to reveal that the aquatic beast had adopted similar traits to the now empowered magma lizard in the respect that it had lava-like flows within its body, and its water powers dramatically increased in magnitude. The green serpent briefly returned to the meteor it had emerged from and began absorbing some kind of energy from it. There were green crystals from within the fallen rock that reacted to the dragon’s presence and sent some energy up towards it. The serpentine drake became surrounded in a blinding ball of light for a moment, the earth below it trembling as if to fear what would happen. After a moment, the light exploded from it as if it were a shell to reveal a drastic change in the serpent. Its body now had black segments along with green which had luminous growths in them, and the horns on its head were replaced by two large tusks that curved outward. Flowing out from those tusks were long, golden ribbon-like growths that extended nearly down the length of its body. It top horns were still there and had those same ribbons as well. As it was being charged by a shadow ursa major, it soared high into the sky in and came slamming into it in a blaze of emerald light, completely destroying it's shadowy foe. The solar lion made quick work of the smaller shadows by shredding them with fire-bathed claws and firing beams of solar light. It took out a bigger one by slamming into it with a meteoritic tackle. Meanwhile, the lunar bat blasted them with telekinetic waves and a few times, folded its body up and allowed six points along the gold rims of its body to converge lunar light onto its forehead, which it fired to purge the shadows. The rainbow phoenix made a point of protecting the townsfolk and summoned pillars and walls of fire between them and the shadows so that could get away while the avian whale dragon blew destructive gales that tore the shadows to shreds. ***** As they looked on, the royals felt safe enough to confront Sombra without having to worry about the safety of the townsfolk. “Well Sombra, I don’t know where all of these monsters came from, but it’s clear that they know who the real monster here is. I’d highly suggest you surrender now lest you suffer the same fate as your conjured fiends.” Celestia warned. Sombra was gritting his teeth in sheer frustration, not believing that a previously unknown army of do-gooder monsters had the nerve to appear now of all times just as he was about to finally succeed in his conquest, and he was trying to hide his fear of one them completely maiming him. “You must feel terribly lucky that they decided to show their ugly faces now! Otherwise, I surely would have had you biting at my hooves…” he growled. The grey demon dragon loudly hissed at him, causing him to wince in fear. “Nrgh! I’ll conquer you all, rest assured! I WILL find a way to exterminate these pests!!” “Pfft! Likely!” Everyone looked over to see a certain somepony they’d been waiting for. “FLURRY!!” Shining exclaimed, both he and Cadance relieved to see their daughter safe and sound as was everyone else. “You…..” Sombra growled. The extradimensional dragons seemed to acknowledge Flurry as if they were expecting her, likely due to Arceus’s summon. “These beings were called here by someone I met atop Mt. Everhoof, someone my new friend, Absol introduced me to. I guess you all already know that they’re on our side.” “And where is this friend of yours now, Little Miss Balance!?” Sombra roared. Flurry smirked as her horn lit with the holy light blessed unto her by the ancient god. “He couldn’t make it, but I have a gift for you from him!” She blasted a beam of magic at him that gleamed with the golden light of Arceus’s pinwheel. Sombra snarled as he erected his force field, but Flurry’s magic completely shattered through it and blew the dark lord off his hooves. “UWAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!” Sombra screamed as he skidded across the ground. “ABSOL, NOW!!” Flurry commanded. “SOL!!” Absol rushed towards the fallen Sombra and charged his horn with the essence of midnight. “AAAAAB…. SOL!!!-SOL!!!-SOL!!!” He slashed at Sombra three times just before the dark king could stagger to his hooves and jumped back out of his range. “Nrgh!!.... Cursed fleabag!” Sombra growled. He tried casting his shield again, but was horrified when his spell wasn’t responding at all. It had been completely nullified! “WHAT!?” He started to panic and expelled a huge amount of dark magic from his horn. “COME TO YOUR MASTER, NOW!!” All of the shadows throughout the empire were pulled towards Sombra as though he were a magnet. They congregated into a gigantic mass of shadow that resembled Sombra if he were a horrific cross between a pony and a serpentine dragon. “” It’s bellow was about as demonic as the grey dragon’s, who looked ready to combat the energized Sombra when he felt an influence from high above call to it. It looked up and was calmed by whatever this force was, as if it was being told to let Flurry handle the situation, to which it complied. The Sombra dragon exhaled a torrent of shadow fire towards Flurry and Absol, but she shielded them both with a powerful magic barrier that she held just long enough until he ran out of breath. “Absol…..I know it might be early, but….you think now’s a good time?” Flurry asked as she held onto her Key Stone. Absol gave her a mellow, but confident smile and nodded. “Absol!” That was all she needed to hear. “Alright.” She held her Key Stone close to her heart as it began to glow. Energy strands erupted from the gem and converged onto Absol’s Mega Stone. The Absolite reacted to the Key Stone’s influence and shrouded Absol in a ball of light. Flurry watched in awe as it noticeably changed even in the blinding light, growing wings and its tail extending some along with its horn adopting a more curved form. The shell of light around Absol violently burst open to reveal its mega evolved form. “Wow….” “ABSOOOOOLLLLLL!!!!!!” Absol aggressively howled at Sombra, breaking Flurry out of her brief trance and reminding her of the foe she had to fight. “Okay, Absol! Let’s dance with this devil!!” Flurry, having expended her blessing on the magic blast that nullified Sombra shield could only rely on her strength of heart to power her magic, which she thankfully had in strides. She fired another beam of magic at Sombra that was without Arceus’s golden light, but was much bigger and abraded against the frenzied king like someone running barbed wire across his body, but he managed to blow it away with a burst of darkness from throughout his body, leaving him open for Absol to attack with its razor whirlwind technique, which was powerful enough to be classified as a mini hurricane. It then went into its hyper speed mode and blindsided Sombra from just about every direction within a matter of seconds before returning to Flurry. Sombra swung his bladed tail at them, and Flurry, as though she learned by example formed a huge sword of magic from her horn and parried the tail away. She then lunged forward and plunged her magic sword into Dragon Sombra’s abdomen, causing him to roar in agony, but he blasted her away with a bolt of shadow fire. While she managed to land on her hooves, she panicked for the briefest of moments when she saw Sombra lunging down at her. He would have chomped her had the Royal Sisters not blasted him with solar and lunar magic respectively, which only managed to hold him back as he tried to resist the assault. Shining Armor and Cadance took the opportunity while he was distracted to rush over to the Crystal Heart and cleanse it of Sombra’s curse while it was unguarded; their combined love magic easily purged his poison from the sacred gem. Having his source of power cut off from him, Sombra’s empowered form began to shrivel as though it had been starved, giving Thorax and Pharynx an idea. They used their magic to copy Sombra’s dragon form before it had been starved and held him in place while Ember and Spike cold clocked both temples and held his head still. “NOW!” Spike shouted. The Elements of Harmony gathered together once more and began charging their spell. However they released their magic into Airheart’s sword as he soared towards the pinned and weakened Sombra dragon. His sword brilliantly shined with the harmonious rainbow light, and he dove down from Sombra’s head to his lower abdomen, cleaving his shadowy form wide open and exposing the weakened king himself. “ABSOL, NOW!!” Flurry commanded. She fired a ferocious bolt of her magic that was carried by Absol’s razor wind, which tore the shadow dragon to shreds and struck true on Sombra, who didn’t even scream in agony as he fell to the ground in a heap, completely depleted of power and stamina. The titans calmly gathered around their fallen adversary, powering down if needed and stood behind the royals and Elements. Absol’s Mega Evolution suddenly disappeared in a flash of light right before everyone’s eyes, and he dropped to his knees exhausted. Flurry rushed over to him. “Are you ok, Absol?” she asked as she cradled him in her arms. Absol lightly nuzzled his head against her chest. “Sol…” Flurry smiled and pulled out the last her apples and handed it to him. “Here you go, sweetie.” Absol happily munched on his well-deserved snack, and she gave him a light kiss on the top of his head. Everyone was incredibly thankful for the monstrous beings coming to their aid, but they were still uneasy with them being so close with how terrifying they were. Flurry, however, was completely unafraid of them, knowing that they were called to arms by Arceus. She looked around at all of them, and they seemed to recognize her as their master’s ally and nodded at her. The solar lion stood next to Celestia, who was still shocked that there even anything living in her sun, but the lion, which wasn’t much bigger than her lightly nuzzled her neck while purring, as if to thank her for watching over the daytime that presumably it did before. The same happened for Luna and the celestial bat, but it just levitated there and let a quiet chirp that exuded the same gratitude as its solar counterpart. Both sisters felt strangely comforted by their new friends. Cadance and Shining Armor ran over to and embraced their daughter, thankful to every high power possible that she was alright and so proud of her monumental albeit inexplicable accomplishment given the….interesting circumstances. “Oh, honey!” Cadance said. Flurry wasted no time returning the hug. “Mom! Dad!” Absol got out of the way just before he could be crushed between them. They broke off after a tender moment. “Are you all alright?” “Our heads hurt a little from trying to fight Sombra, but other than that, we couldn’t be better!” Shining said. “What about you? Where did all of these things come from anyway!?” “Was there something that summoned them at Mt. Everhoof?” Cadance asked. “Mt. Coronet, mom.” Flurry said. They looked at her confused. Twilight and Airheart ran over to them and hugged Flurry as well. When they broke off, all of their attention was turned towards Absol. “So this was the animal that visited you last night, huh?” Airheart said. “I’m glad it helped you, but…” Twilight looked at the bizarre feline-like creature curiously, unsure of what to make of it as if it just calmly eyed her back. Fluttershy eagerly approached it, being an animal lover. “Oh, my! I’ve never seen anything like you, little guy!” she cooed, trying to pet it, but Absol coldly pushed her hoof away. “Sol.” It walked back up to Flurry and affectionately leaned against her. Fluttershy was stunned that an animal actually resisted her attention in spite of her affinity with any variety of fauna. “Ooh….rejected.” Airheart joked, earning him an annoyed glare from the animal caretaker. Suddenly, a flash of light briefly lit the sky, and in its place was a form Flurry immediately and happily recognized. “Arceus!” The original god floated down towards the cluster of royals and fallen Sombra as his titans bowed before their descending master. When he was floating just above the royals and townsfolk onlookers, the titans all let out celebratory roars and howls as if to welcome him. After a moment, Arceus lifted his foreleg by his knee alone, which was enough to command these beasts into silence. He let his leg down once he was satisfied. As he did atop Spear Pillar, he gently floated down to the ground just as Sombra was beginning to stir. Arceus lightly touched the ground just like before, but he still sent out a shock wave as though he’d fallen onto it at terminal velocity, but it was noticeably gentler than before. It nevertheless startled everyone save for Flurry and Absol along with the titans, who were expecting it. Celestia was especially shaken. She was in the presence of something far above even herself, and even with the position of authority she held, she couldn’t help but to tremble at the very sight of such a divine entity. Arceus looked down at the pitiful Sombra cowering at the sight him. “King Sombra, I presume?” He said, his voice booming. “AIIEE!!” Sombra hyperventilated as he tried pathetically to keep his cool. “A-A-And who do you think you are!?” Arceus’s expression remained ever neutral, but Flurry could feel authoritative anger in his eyes. “I’m the one you should be thankful did not confront you this day, lest your tyrant spirit be erased from existence!” Much to everyone’s surprise, Sombra seemed to find the threat amusing, and cackled even in his panicked state. “I’m the tyrant? Hehehe…. I’d say you and I would work well together." Even with his face unchanging, Flurry could suddenly feel an aura of wrath flare from Arceus. His pinwheel glowed, and Sombra was suddenly lifted in the air surrounded by a golden glow. He was slowly but surely being drawn towards Arceus’s face, and he could see the ancient god’s eyes gleaming red with rage. “Don’t you dare presume me to be anywhere near your rock-bottom level, you tainted dung!” he growled. Sombra choked on his own terror and couldn’t even scream or plea for mercy. Even Flurry was startled Arceus’s actions. Being a god, it was indeed admirable that he would be able to balance his wrath with his divine authority that demanded that he keep his cool, but she trembled at what the wrath of someone who shaped the universe must have felt like. After a moment of staring him down, Arceus put the now curled up Sombra back down where he was apprehended by a few guards, one of whom put an anti-magic sock over his horn. Even as they did their duty, they found themselves marveling at their ally. Arceus then turned to face Equestria’s highest authority. “Princess Celestia, I presume?” His tone was far gentler and actually friendly. Celestia gasped, still terrified of him, but managed to keep herself collected. “ Y-Yes. And you’re….was it ‘Arceus’?” “My apologies if I or my titans frightened you. We have only now just awoken from countless centuries of slumber. As such, you are as unfamiliar to us as we are to you, but I assure you on my honor that I am not your enemy.” Arceus said. “I’d say you’ve made that abundantly clear, Arceus. We cannot thank you enough for rising against our foe and saving us.” Luna said. “Why do you credit me? It was your esteemed Princess of Balance that is worthy of today’s glory.” He turned to face Flurry Heart. “It was she and her companion, Absol who returned to me my Pixie Plate and awakened me to this world once more. When we introduced and she explained the situation, I had no choice but to take action.” “Huh? But you said you’d only help if I gave you a good answer to your question.” Flurry said. Arceus chuckled. “I had every intention of helping you to begin with, Princess Flurry Heart. I merely wanted to test your conviction, and needless to say, I was quite pleased.” Despite feeling a little lied to, Flurry couldn’t help but to blush at her divine friend’s flattery. “But Arceus, just who are you?” Twilight asked. Arceus explained to them everything he did to Flurry. As he did, everyone felt Flurry’s disbelief as he told them the history he had seen. “You….YOU ACTUALLY CREATED THE UNIVERSE!?” “Not created, but simply shaped it. I know not what created the chaos that eventually settled into this universe, but I was the only one there to spark the fire that would create life.” Arceus answered. “The way say that your plate was planted….it sounds almost as though Equestria itself is what grew from it!” Cadance said. “So it would seem. I knew to expect the unexpected from the Pixie Plate’s essence, but even a god can be surprised.” Arceus said. “But enough about me. I do believe a certain princess is deserving of praise.” “Is she ever!” Thorax said looking at Flurry. Everyone started clamoring around the Princess of Balance and cheering her name. Arceus’s titans even let out mellow roars to celebrate her. However, one of them apparently had something to say. The grey demon dragon let out a mellow call that Arceus responded to. “Hmm?” The dragon faced down at Sombra and growled. “Would you now?” “Is something wrong?” Celestia asked. “It would seem that my titan, Giratina would be willing to imprison Sombra in his dimension. He would be the only one there apart from his warden and unable to escape.” Arceus said. Celestia shook her head. “That’s kind of you, but Sombra has offended us, therefore he answers to us.” Arceus and Giratina nodded. “Fair enough.” Arceus said. “Then please don’t let us keep you from your celebrations.” “Nonsense, Arceus. You and your titans are deserving of some pony-style gratitude!” Twilight said. “Yeah! Let these guys find some room and enjoy the festivities.” Airheart said. All of the royals agreed with them, namely Flurry. Arceus chuckled. “I suppose we could relax for a while. It has been a few millennium anyway.” With that, the many denizens of Equestria threw one of the biggest celebrations they’d had in years.