>>>>>>>>This chapter in the fanfic is mainly foundation for how Amaterasu arrives in Equestria.<<<<<<<<
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It was a beautiful summer day in Kamiki Village as its denizens went on with their lives, finally free of the infamous Moon Festival. The village, now triple in size, was filled with the hustle and bustle of a prospering community. Amaterasu, nowadays loafing about, hoisted herself up on a rock next to the tree Konohana; emitting a smirk as she thought that for once she wanted to escape from the sun for awhile.
She lifted her head up, gazing in the trees beauty as the faint chatter of Kamiki’s people stole her gaze and redirected it towards the village. Issun for once, was not with her; he remained in Ponc’tan to teach the younger poncles fundamental art techniques in their quest to become Celestial Envoys. “Now Ammy don’t go running into trouble because I won’t be there to help you, ya big furball!” Issun’s last words echoed through her brain as her reminiscing was interrupted through the sound of a heavenly voice. “Beautiful isn’t it?”
Amaterasu turned her head to see Sakuya, the embodiment of Konohana, materialize before her.
She barked in agreement as Sakuya sat on the rock to stroke her. They both looked on to the horizon when Sakuya broke the silence.
“I can’t believe how far the village has come, it seems like yesterday Orochi cursed Nippon and you purified the taint that plagued our beautiful land; now here we are.” Sakuya sighed as Amaterasu moved her head on the wood sprites lap. Sakuya giggled and gave Amaterasu a soothing scratch behind her ear. Sakuya then got up off of the rock and turned to the wolf.
“Amaterasu, your presence is needed back in the Celestial Plains; an urgent meeting has been called and that means you must be there too” she explained. Amaterasu enjoyed going to the Celestial Plains but loathed meetings between her and the other brush gods, she often fell asleep during them due to sheer boredom.
Amaterasu’s expression turned from bliss to that of disgust. Sakuya noticed and reassured, “Don’t worry I’m sure the meeting will be exciting”. The wolf churlishly rolled her eyes at her. “Now now you can’t be going to the meeting with that attitude! All the gods are required to attend and you must abide by rules!” Amaterasu could care less about the rules, but she knew it was her responsibility and she had to set a good example for her son, Chibiterasu.
Reluctantly she jumped down from the rock and prepared herself to visit the Celestial Plains. “One more thing Amaterasu, please try to enjoy yourself.” But before Sakuya could say any more, Amaterasu ran inside Konohana’s portal and was gone. Ever since Amaterasu defeated Yami, when she and Waka returned to the Celestial Plains, a route that led to the Plains was created in the River of the Heavens and Amaterasu was the only one to ever use it whenever she desired to occasionally visit Nippon. She took the path, and within seconds, she arrived at the Plains.
She surveyed her surroundings to see if anyone noticed her arrival. She then spotted her son and was happy to see him doing so well. Chibiterasu was nearly the size of Amaterasu when she walked over to greet him. She licked him and they nuzzled with affection.
“Ah, ma chérie you have arrived!” Both wolves turned their attention to the voice as Waka interrupted the reunion. “Hello Amaterasu! I hate to break the touching family moment, but you are needed at the meeting table.” Amaterasu hesitated a bit, but finally forced herself to the meeting.
She was grateful Chibiterasu was accompanying her this time. He was finally mature enough to participate in the discussion. As she walked herself to the meeting she snickered at the thought that the other gods were capable of human speech but not them. She took the time to truly appreciate how beautiful the Plains were; the sky was a diamond like white full of puffy white clouds as far as the eye can see. In the middle of the Plains was a large mountain standing inert and erect. Scattered around the mountain were dense forests teeming with wildlife.
Chibiterasu noticed his mother observing the scenery and reminded her with a nudge where they were supposed to be. After a couple of minutes of walking the three of them finally reached the meeting room made entirely out of a divine glass. Amaterasu peered through the glass and saw the other 15 gods already in their places. When she walked in, everyone looked at her sternly and all she could do was take her place with an embarrassed look. Chibiterasu took his place by his mother as Gekigami started the meeting.
“I’ve decided to call this meeting to address a truly concerning problem” Gekigami began. Out of all of the gods Gekigami was the strongest, so it seemed appropriate to have him lead the meetings. Waka overseeing the meeting had no idea why it was called, so he was listening in as well.
“It seems that Amaterasu’s efforts in defeating the dark lord were all for naught.” Amaterasu was wide awake now as those words assaulted her ears. “Red imps were seen in Ryoshima along with a very large shadowy figure”, all of the gods eyes widened as they listened to Gekigami’s announcement, “the figure poisoned an entire field and was last seen headed towards the Guardian Sapling.”
One of the gods cried out, “The Guardian Sapling?! Are you sure Gekigami?”
“I’m sure of it, the imps are an easy fix but the shadowy figure looks powerful and intelligent” Gekigami remarked, “The figure itself is shrouded in mystery for I cannot identify it, its unlike anything I’ve seen; plus it seemed aware of where the source of the lands protection is.” Suddenly Waka stepped in, “This is bad, the appearance of such a being may mean only one thing.”
“My word! It must be the works of Yami from the other side!” Kabegami shouted. All of the gods became frenzied in panic as it became impossible to understand what each one was saying. “ENOUGH!!!!” Gekigami bellowed as he shot an arrow into the table that nearly made it split in half. Amaterasu’s emotions filled with worry. Had Yami really returned from beyond the grave? Or had he just revived himself? Question after question poured through her mind as she became very anxious. Chibiterasu could tell that she was scared so he pressed against her body. Amaterasu looked at Chibiterasu and smiled.
“Now that I have your attention we need to figure out how are we going to dispatch of this threat.” “Perhaps we can consult with the High Celestials?” suggested Nuregami. “NO! Of course not!” Gekigami boomed, “We shall never disrespect their greatness with our feeble presence!” Chibiterasu looked up to his mother, his eyes glimmering with the desire for knowledge. Amaterasu knew exactly what he wanted to know.
The High Celestials are an enigmatic group of supposedly all powerful beings who rule over the Plains with an iron fist. Gekigami usually took serious offence when anyone mentioned them, so maybe they really are all powerful. Or they’re just frauds, bending the brush gods to tend to their every whim. Whichever scenario may be true, Amaterasu returned her sons plea with a stern look that said “It’s better if you don’t know.”
“Anyone else with any bright ideas? Preferably one that does not involve our superiors!” Gekigami shouted. Bakugami decided to speak up, “Why not just send Amaterasu to deal with the threat? After all she defeated Yami before so she should be able to defeat him again!” Amaterasu shuddered when Bakugami suggested that. She could still remember quite vividly how close she came to death in her showdown with the all powerful dark lord; if Yami really had returned she knew her next fight with him may be her last.
The irony in the situation was practically overflowing. Nearly every brush god possessed powers that would make a Bull Fighter run for the hills, yet here they were relying on the sun goddess to take care of the big bad scary monster. Amaterasu barked in objection to Bakugami’s suggestion. Tachigami, sitting adjacent to Amaterasu and her son, perked up on the hilt of his sword and spoke.
“I think all of us should take on the newborn threat together, we would definitely overwhelm him for sure!” Every god looked at Tachigami in shock. Commonly they poked fun at Tachi’s constant desire to show off his valor and bravery, but this was just insane. Then the idea sank into each god. What else could they do? This reincarnation was clearly malicious in nature and if it isn’t dealt with as soon as possible, disaster would strike Nippon; perhaps even worse than before! Amaterasu looked around the room as each god knew what had to be done.
After a couple of minutes of complete silence Gekigami finally spoke up, “Alright, it seems by the looks of it we all have come to a solution.” Amaterasu prepared herself mentally for the next set of words. “We will all arrive in Ryoshima to deal with this being for the safety of Nippon and our home.” As Gekigami began his next sentence he was cut off abruptly when a moon tribesman burst through the meeting doors, death on his face.
The tribesman, panting in between each word, spoke in a raspy voice, “My….gods..demons…in..the…Plains….” With that last word said the color faded from his body and he fell to the floor, lifeless. All of the gods but Chibiterasu focused on the corpse before them, he was transfixed on something else. Waka followed the young gods gaze to outside the room and every nightmare he feared had come true.
“Smoke….” Waka muttered under his breath. Amaterasu stared at Waka, her eyes whispering “just like old times.” Amaterasu broke from her stare and barked loudly. She ran outside and immediately Chibiterasu ran after her in pursuit, signaling with his tail for everyone to follow.
They were not prepared for what awaited them next.
Imps were notorious for setting things ablaze they did not find interesting or useful. They were setting parts of the forest on fire. As Amaterasu neared the source of the fire, slowly the sky began changing color from a divine white to an accursed red. Heaven had turned into Hell. Oddly enough Amaterasu did not seem to question what was responsible for the changing of the sky. She was most intent on killing whatever had invaded their homeland.
Finally she reached the source of the fire, with the other gods and Waka not far behind. Then she saw a truly appalling sight. A large shackled figure was devouring a celestial phoenix, pieces of the once magnificent creature, plummeting to the ground never to rise again. Imps surrounded the creature as if they were commanding the fearsome beast. Amaterasu peered over her shoulder as the others finally shared the unsettling scene. Gekigami gasped in horror, which confirmed Amaterasu’s assumptions. This was the creature that was seen in Ryoshima.
One imp turned his head in laughter and saw the gods. He alerted the other imps and the creature of the intruders. The creature tossed away the mutilated bird as it hit the ground with a sickening thud, blood splattering everywhere. Each god took a battle stance, with Amaterasu being in the very front. Waka unsheathed his sword, Pillow Talk, yearning for action. Amaterasu got a good look at the beast and then realized, it was not Yami; not even Orochi.
She then called Solar Flare to her back, small columns of fire erupting from the instrument. To her dismay the creature threw a lightening quick sucker punch only to be blocked by the reflector. Swiftly and gracefully Amaterasu swung the fiery saw at the beast, slashing it on the arm. It roared in pain, flailing its claws in the air. The others followed in to continue the onslaught. Surprisingly the imps had the foresight to block off the gods path to the monster they wanted dead.
One by one, swing after swing, she miraculously evaded each swipe of its claws; the spectacle would have made any acrobat envious. Then the monster nailed her in the side, right below her crimson markings; completely making a mockery of her godhood. She whimpered with pain and hit the ground hard. Desperately she called for the other reflectors to block the monsters thrashing. Within the makeshift reflector dome she struggled to keep the barrier up as the monster, continuously and with no mercy, assailed the wall before him.
The monsters attacks seemed like an eternity as time slowed down around her, beads of sweat hitting the ground faster than she could comprehend. Then the monster abruptly stopped thrashing. It imbued its claws with a dark magic and shot it at the reflectors. The powerful blast shattered the dome, sending the five reflectors flying in separate directions. Amaterasu looked up at her harbinger of death, when she noticed a large dark hole floating in the sky. The monster then picked her up and brought her to its face.
Amaterasu cringed when the monster flared its nostrils at her. All she could do was stare back in fear as she waited for the inevitable end. It roared, ceasing all fighting between the gods and the demons. God and demon alike stared in horror as the beast prepared to finish off the sun goddess. As quick as light, Chibiterasu ran through the crowd and hit the beast with a monstrous Inferno sending it staggering backward. Amaterasu assisted by conjuring a tree beneath the monster with her celestial brush powers. The tree tripped the monster, freeing Amaterasu from its grasp. The giant returned to its feet and quickly realized it was outnumbered, the rest of its imps were killed in the young god’s Inferno.
Now looking for a means of escape, the monster noticed what Amaterasu had seen before- the ominous dark hole in the sky. Before anyone could act, the beast imbued its claws once again in the same insidious magic and shot at Amaterasu and the hole in the sky. Amaterasu fell to the ground in agony and fought to continue breathing. Chibiterasu ran to his mother’s side in a desperate attempt to get her back on her feet. Everyone else joined in Chibiterasu’s concern as the beast began to slip away. Waka, out of the corner of his eye, saw the beast disappear into thin air. But that wasn’t on his top priorities list, Amaterasu’s injuries were. Waka looked down at Amaterasu, every god trying everything they could do to save her. One thing he did notice, she had no wounds from the blast.
“This is odd, Amaterasu was virtually unscathed from the magic of that creature.” “He’s right!”, Tachigami hopped down from his sword and got a closer look at the goddess, “I don’t see any wounds!” Chibiterasu licked his mother, doing all he can as her son, to save her life. Amaterasu clung to consciousness by a primitive string when her body began to de-atomize. A single tear shed from her eyes when her face faded into oblivion; the cloud of Amaterasu atoms floating into the never ending hole in the sky. Amaterasu was gone.
Faced with the overwhelming reality without his mother’s love or presence, Chibiterasu howled into the disconsolate sky.
Light filtered in through the enormous stained glass windows, turning the rays into a plethora of colors. Princess Celestia gazed at the beautiful window, remarking in its brilliance. She then turned away from the window, feeling a surge of urgency arise within her. Another massive presence was approaching Equestria. A smaller alicorn appeared by her side, “Sister, is something wrong?”
“Luna, I believe that a special guest will be arriving very soon.”