//------------------------------// // Episode 12: Swarm of the Century // Story: EoH Evolution: Season 1 // by Bahamut0 //------------------------------// Tyrannus hummed to himself as he tended to Fluttershy's animal friends. With how kind Fluttershy is, it's no wonder that all these animals take so easily to her. I can see why they like it here. He then blushed as he thought of Fluttershy. And it's not hard to see why they like her either. Tyrannus then heard the door open, and saw Fluttershy coming in with a new animal. "Oh. Hi there Fluttershy. What's that you got th-" Tyrannus froze when he saw what Fluttershy was holding. And he screamed. "AAAHHHHHH!" Tyrannus hit the floor as he stumbled backward! "Ty? What's wrong?" Fluttershy asked. "You screamed like you just saw a monster." She then looked at the parasprite she'd brought in. "Aw! Don't tell me you're scared of this cute little fella?" Tyrannus sprung to his feet. "Fluttershy. There is NOTHING cute about that thing if you knew what it was!" He then pointed at the Parasprite! "That thing is called a Parasprite! And it's one of the most deadly pests in all of Unity! The second it eats any form of food, it can multiply! And from then, they'll keep eating and multiplying! They could demolish an entire city's food supply! But we should be okay. As long as-" Tyrannus froze, and then gripped Fluttershy by her shoulders. "Fluttershy. Tell me you didn't feed it anything. PLEASE." "Well, it already ate an apple when I found it on my way home." Fluttershy replied. "But one little apple couldn't cause this little guy to multiply that much, right?" Tyrannus sighed. "I'd argue against that point, but I feel it best that you learn this lesson for yourself. Don't say I didn't warn you tomorrow. Until then, enjoy your new friend. Just don't be surprised if you find your fridge cleaned out soon." The next day soon began, and Tyrannus noticed a couple new parasprites trying to get more food from Fluttershy. "So? Still enjoying your new friend?" "Actually, no." Fluttershy answerd with a sigh. "I tried to resist feeding them, but I just couldn't help myself! They look so cute when begging! I just couldn't say no to them!" Fluttershy set her head down on the table. "And because of that I might get eaten out of house and home. Tyrannus scratched his chin in thought. "Well, there IS a way to get these things out of town without hiring an exterminator. And I think I might know just the person to help." Tyrannus scooped the parasprites into a jar, and headed fro Sugar Cube Corner. "Parasprites can be led away easily with music. And there's only one person I know who has a bunch of instruments stashed away for any spontaneous song or music segment." Tyrannus walked right up to Pinkie. "I need your help getting rid of these things. Tell me you have the necessary instruments." "Hmm. I'm going to need a couple minutes." Pinkie said with a nod before zipping away. She returned only seconds later with a bunch of instruments equipped to her! "Okay! Just let 'em out of the jar, and let me work my magic!" Tyrannus let the parasprites out of the jar, and Pinkie began to play all the instruments in perfect sync! Tyrannus didn't know whether to be amazed or confused, so he decided on a mixture of both. Pinkie returned a few minutes later, and shoved the instruments. "Well, that takes care of our insect problem!" And with that, Pinkie went right back to work. Meanwhile. At the Nightmare Forces' Lair Night Terror smiled as several chambers containing nightmare essence opened. "Ah. At long last. You've all fully revived." The warriors Night Terror had been waiting so long for to revive finally lumbered out of their hibernation chambers. "It's been so long since you all last roamed my lair." "Really gotta work on your wake-up call boss." One of the warriors remarked with a groan. "So. Who're the poor fools we've gotta run into the ground? All of us together should make them dust in no time." Night Terror shook his head. "As much as I'd enjoy an old fashioned slaughter and rampage, I'm afraid I'll have to say no. Sending you all at once would waste my most deadly warriors. And there is one among our enemies that I'd like to crush with my own hands..." Night Terror scowled at Burst Stream's mental image. "But that can wait until later. I have a new comrade to introduce to you." Dark Mist stepped out from behind Night Terror. "This is Dark Mist. And he shall be accompanying the warrior I select for our first true strike." Night Terror scanned over his warriors, and pointed to one of them. "Nightmare Stinger." Nightmare Stinger stepped forward. He was an humanoid gigantic insect with poison-purple compound eyes. His head was that of a wasp, and two stinger blades protruded from his forearms. Purple marks along his jet black body made it look like he had eyes all over him. "Yes, Lord Night Terror." Nightmare Stinger said as he bowed. His wings buzzing in excitement. "Shall I sentence those who have wronged you into an eternal slumber within nightmares?" Night Terror smirked wickedly. "Yes. Go to the town known as Unityville. And make sure that the bearers of the Elements of Harmony know your sting. Cast the whole town into an endless nightmare. Let it be a message to all of Unity, and to Celestia herself, that the nightmare is far from over." "At once my lord." Nightmare Stinger made his way to the portal, and then looked at Dark Mist. "Don't lag runt!" He snapped! Dark Mist only grunted at the remark as he followed through the portal. The two soon stood on a hill looking over Unityville. "Ah. Now comes my favorite part of the job!" Nightmare Stinger said as he clapped his hands together! "Stirring up panic!" Nightmare Stinger then shifted into a swarm of wasps that descended over the town! However, he was unaware that Princess Celestia was making her visit. And she quickly erected a barrier that blocked out most of his swarm form! Only the insect containing Nightmare Stinger's primary consciousness made it through as he commanded the rest of the swarm to dismiss. However, he soon found the targets of his stinger! Quickly stinging the Main 6! It won't be long now! Nightmare Stinger hovered a while to watch as the Main 6 started to twist and writhe as soon as they fell to the ground unconscious! They were rushed to the hospital immediately! However, he was surprised when Ace caught him in a sample jar! "Where do you think you're going?" Ace asked. He then made his way to the hospital, and brought the captured Nightmare Stinger with him. Showing him for the guys and Celestia to see. "I think this is the culprit behind our friends' current condition." Ace then looked to the Main 6. "It's like they're stuck in a nightmare. A really bad one at that. Not long after they were bitten by these." Ace then handed Nightmare Stinger over to Princess Celestia. "Anything you can tell us about this little guy princess?" Celestia scanned Nightmare Stinger with her magic. "This is not good. I've only sensed magic like this from one other source. The Nightmare Forces. You've had battles with their most basic of minions. But this one, this one is something different. Something far deadlier." Celestia was about to continue when the sound of screams started to sound from Unityville! "We'll handle the disturbance!" Burst said to Celestia. "You just make sure Twilight and the girls are alright! C'mon guys! Time to do our job!" The Elements of Heroism immediately ran onto the scene of Dark Mist attacking! "I'm guessing you're rolling with the Nightmare Forces? Maybe your boss didn't tell you about us. We're the Elements of Heroism. And we protect this town." Dark Mist smirked. "Oh, I know about you all right. So that's what you call your lame little group." He then looked over to Ace. "Honestly? I thought you'd have found a cooler group to hang out with little bro." "Why did you call me that?!" Ace snapped! Dark Mist shrugged. "C'mon! Have you really forgotten what I look like after so long? Then again, I've upgraded myself from that sniveling coward I was all those years ago. Quite the improvement, wouldn't you say?" Ace's eyes went wide with horror. "...Ice? What....what happened to you?! Why are you attacking my home? And why are fighting alongside the Nightmare Forces?!" "The answer is simple. I'm becoming stronger. Fear no longer has power over me. Instead, I use it to hold power over others." Dark Mist answered with an evil smile. "And the name's not Ice anymore. It's Mist. You'd be surprised at what a little nightmare can do for you. But I'd say your friends are quite familiar with it. My partner for this mission is a real pro at what he does. But since you're my little bro, I think I'll give you a free hint. If you want to wake up this town, you better get to bug squashing. See ya!" Dark Mist, well, turned into a poison purple mist and flew off! At that instant, the swarm form of Nightmare Stinger then descended once again! Any unfortunate enough to get stung were soon trapped in an unending nightmare! Burst started firing at any clouds of insects that came his way! The lightning nature of his blasts made short work of the bugs, but the swarm didn't seem to slow at all! He then caught Tyrannus about to ready his cannon! "NO!" Burst said as he gripped Tyrannus's hand! "Ty, you haven't had enough training with your Duelist Arms yet! And we're in a crowded area! Firing your cannon could cause people to get hurt in the aftermath! We've gotta pull back to the hospital! Let's move!" Back at the hospital, Nightmare Stinger had increased the size of his insect form and busted out of the jar he was imprisoned in! He flew out to resume command of his swarm form, and circled over the town like a black cloud! Anyone who hadn't felt his sting yet stayed indoors. Trembling as they hoped for the sound of buzzing to cease. The Elements of Heroism took a few minutes to rest from their frantic rush to the hospital. Ace feeling pretty broken up inside about his brother joining the Nightmare Forces. "Ace?" Steel asked. "You OK over there?" "Honestly? I feel like I got punched in the gut." Ace responded. "My own brother...my family." Ace then buried his face in his hands. "I know what he's done, but I keep asking myself why he did it. What reason could he possibly have to do something like this?" Burst sighed, and put a hand on Ace's shoulder. "Ace. This thing's obviously got you messed up. I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to sit this battle out. You need time to process this. And in your current state, you're not in your right mind. That's more than likely going to wind up landing you as another victim of whatever's attacking us. We just need a plan right now. Let's give Ace some room to internalize this." As the rest of the guys left to make battle plans, Ace sighed as he slumped against the wall and slid down to the floor. However, he soon had an unexpected visitor. "Oh. Princess. Shouldn't you be with my friends?" Princess Celestia shook her head. "Actually, you're the one that I need to speak with Ace. Because I went through something very similar when Luna became Nightmare Moon. And before you start to assume anything, I'm certain that you'll find a way to get him back to his senses. But more importantly, I know how much it hurts when your own family fights you." She put a hand over her heart, and sighed. "Though the past is behind us, the memory still pains me." "Princess Celestia...thank you." Ace said as he stood up. "I know that somehow, Ice will get back to normal. But right now? I've got a home to protect." Ace walked over to where the other Elements of Heroism were discussing their plan of attack. "Hey guys. I'm better now. So what's the plan?" Inferno smiled. "Since everyone's gone indoors, that means we've got a less crowded area. Meaning Ty can fire away with his cannon at the swarm and fry them! That should bring this fight to a quick end!" "Sounds like a solid concept." Ace said with a nod. "But I don't think this is going to be that easy. That nightmare insect I captured earlier looked a bit different from the rest. Hmmm." Burst blinked at Ace in confusion. "Ace? If there's anything that won't work with the plan, please tell us." "Oh. No. Nothing's wrong with it." Ace replied. "But it does give me an idea. And now seems like as good a time as any to implement it! Let's do some pest control." The Elements of Heroism headed outside. And sure enough, the swarm began to buzz wildly! "Ty! Fire your cannon!" Tyrannus nodded, and fired a blast of thunder from his cannon at the cluster of nightmare insects that swarmed him! Cloud after cloud kept coming at him! All the while, Ace noticed that a certain cluster of nightmare insects kept hanging back while sending out clusters. "Inferno! Fire at the big cluster in the back! Aim for the center!" "You got it Ace!" Inferno called back as he fired a blast of fire from his blaster! The second it hit the main cluster's center, a screech of pain erupted forth as Nightmare Stinger reverted to his default form! "So. This is the pest responsible for everyone's bad dreams." "Curse Dark Mist for ditching me!" Nightmare Stinger hissed as he slowly stood up. "So. You're the lot that are giving my lord so much trouble. I am Nightmare Stinger! In the name of Lord Night Terror, I shall cast you all into an endless nightmare!" Tyrannus snorted. "We'll see about that." Tyrannus fired a blast of thunder from his cannon, but Nightmare Stinger flew out of the way! "He's too fast for my cannon!" He then activated the blades of his gauntlets, and charged at Nightmare Stinger! However, his blades clashed with Stinger's own! "Keep him busy Ty!" Steel cried out as he flew at Nightmare Stinger! However, a nasty surprise greeted him! Another Nightmare Stinger sprouted from the original's back! "What the-whoa!" Steel barely dodged the copy's stinger blade! As soon as Steel broke off his attack, he noticed that three more copies of Nightmare Stinger had spawned! "I think this fight just got a lot more annoying!" Steel locked blades against the doppelganger that had locked blades with him! "Buzz off!" Steel slashed the doppelganger's head off! Only for the entire body to dematerialize into a group of the nightmare insects and burn away! "Guys! Only one of these things is the real deal!" Nightmare Stinger's cackle sounded from the remaining copies! "That's right fools! Only one of me is the real body! But which is it? I do so love guessing games!" "Then we just need to smash all of your copies!" Tyrannus grunted as he whipped out his cannon, and fired at the copy he was fighting! Instantly obliterating it! Burst fired a charge shot from one of his blasters at the copy that took a swing at him! "That doesn't make this fight any easier! They've all got the same strength as the original! And they look identical too!" Burst shot the head off of the copy he was fighting, and it withered away! Only for two more to spawn! "And the more of these things we squash, more show up!" "Don't worry guys!" Ace called out! "I know how to get rid of your bug problem in an instant! These copies are just spare bodies for Nightmare Stinger! We need to take out the brain of the operation!" Ace took to the air, and hovered. He then spotted what looked like another copy. However, a third eye in its forehead was open while it directed the swarm below. "Burst! Toss me one of your blasters!" Burst threw one of his blasters over to Ace, and Ace began to charge up a blast! He flew right up to Nightmare Stinger, and fired point blank! Nightmare Stinger fell to the ground! Twitching as the lightning ripped through his body! A few seconds later, the twitching ceased and Nightmare Stinger disintegrated! "And that takes care of our bug problem." Everyone soon came outside, and cheered for the Elements of Heroism. "Looks like another happy ending." However, Ace's smile was only on the outside. We saved Unityville. But not Ice. Ace then saw Burst put a hand on his shoulder, and the rest of the team offered Ace an encouraging smile. Then again, not every battle can be won on the same day. I'm not giving up! And with friends like these by my side, no way I'm calling it quits this early! Just you wait Ice. I'm gonna be your wake-up call!