(Sweet Apple Acres, Nearby Clearing)
Burning Star awoke to the biggest headache he ever had, worse than the time he entered a drinking contest with Hiller...
He won, mainly because the Virus in his body prevented him from getting drunk. So, he cheated Burning Star out of an easy victory by withholding that information.
The Black Alicorn got up from his leafy bed and jumped to his hooves. A cramp in his wings from sleeping on the hard rock floor.
Suddenly, he heard a grunt as he realized he just jumped on Quickfire.
The Fiery Pony got off and said, "Oh, sorry about that. Gah... my head hurts so bad, Quickfire... where are we?"
Quickfire grunted out, "Sweet Apple Acres, more specifically the den of a Timberwolf on the outskirts of the farm. Apparently, Hiller somehow dragged us in here when it got dark. He had to explain to this worlds Applejack and Big Mac that we were from another world, they asked for him to demonstrate..."
Burning Star smirked, "let me guess, he showed them his Viral Blade?"
Quickfire nodded with a slight chuckle, "Yep, and the two of them passed out on the spot. They won't remember anything about us in the morning."
Hiller just entered the den with a basket of apples on his head, he had the look of somepony who needed a drink.
He dropped the basket and said, "Here, eat up. They won't notice these being gone, they have WAY too many Apples for their own good. You're welcome for dragging your fat flanks out here. Seriously, Burning Star, what do you eat?"
Burning Star shrugged and said, "Just about anything, King Sombra taught me to be an omnivore because there were so few plants in the Frozen North. I know a pony eating meat is a bit disgusting, but I had to in order to survive."
Burning Star pulled back his lips to show the group that he had canine teeth as well as his normal pony teeth, a sight that was rather odd.
Then again, Quickfire lived in a world where a powerful dark Alicorn was attempting to conquer their world and this one, so odd was an understatement.
Hiller snickered, "Hey, I ain't judging. I have to consume flesh in order so generate my Virus Weapons, so the idea of consuming other living beings isn't anything new. It honestly doesn't bother me anymore, I've consumed so much biomass that I could live basically forever."
Quickfire unsheathed his Katana and pulled out a stone and began to sharpen it, the sound of scraping metal echoed inside the cave.
Burning Star began to eat, and watched as Hiller began to chow down on the apples, his jaw dislocating to fit a good dozen or so apples in his mouth before swallowing with a gulp.
Burning Star raised an eyebrow, "Doesn't that hurt when you mutate your body into these ungodly shapes?"
Hiller shook his head, Apple juice running down his cheek, "No. I feel no pain from my own body's mutations, hell... I could rip myself apart and reassemble myself without a scratch on me."
Burning Star shuddered at the thought of seeing that and he said, "Ok, if and when you do that, give me fair warning please?"
Quickfire looked out of the entrance to the den, seeing the moon in the sky and thinking to himself, "Midnight is out there somewhere, and she is probably preparing something big. Something to pull our universe to collide with this one... I don't like it at all. She is nigh invincible, but we can beat her, right?"
Quickfire was snapped out of his thoughts by Burning Star saying, "We leave to face Midnight as soon as the sun rises, she is much stronger in darkness. I am much stronger in the light, as the Heat of the sun can quickly heal and power me up."
Quickfire nodded and took of his bag to use as a makeshift pillow, he said, "Goodnight everypony, Burning Star... you going to take first watch?"
Burning Star nodded, and Quickfire and Hiller fell asleep.
About 2 hours later, Burning Star was sitting at the campfire, using his fire powers to create little figures of his family in the dancing flames, when suddenly his ears shot up, hearing a voice from outside.
He quickly doused the Fire and got quiet.
King Sombra taught him that the darkness was his ally, not enemy. He underwent a test where he was stuck in a completely dark room for 24 hours, no light at all.
The voices got closer, and Burning Star began to ignite his horn with Dark Magic, whatever or whoever it was that was out there...
Was certainly going to sh-t bricks if they walk into this cave...
The Alicorn heard the sound of life forms talking, they seemed to be arguing about something, and they were getting closer.
"And now we play the waiting game..."
Firestorm trudged through the muddy swamp they ran into while running towards the edge of the forest, he was miserable.
The fiery Pegasus whined, "Noble, are we there yet?"
Noble's eye twitched slightly, his companion had been complaining all throughout the night as they ran from the nightmare known as Midnight Sparkle...
What kind of pit of Tartarus had she crawled out of?
She not only brushed off any attack that the trio threw at her, but she easily disposed of them as if they were a used napkin.
Noble thought to himself, "It seems we cannot beat Midnight alone, if we were able to contact Celestia for assistance, we would. But, she gave us this mission, and I am not going to call for backup, not now. It is my duty to protect Equestria, so I will."
Firestorm was now frustrated, it just started to get windy, and his clothing (while light) didn't protect him from the elements as well as Freedom Fighters did.
For some reason, it was a very hot wind...
Noble Blade looked over at him and said, "Dont you dare say "Are we there yet?" Again! Freedom Fighter just found us some shelter, an old den of some sort. We can hold out there until daybreak... then we make a beeline for Canterlot. My magic needs to recharge, and we all need some rest after that battle."
Freedom Fighter nodded, his red eyes staring blankly towards the den. He sensed something was... off about it.
A voice in his head said, "its way too quiet in there. Something is not right, then again... this is the Everfree Forest. There really isn't anything right in these woods now is there?"
Noble Blade walked up to Freedom Fighter and stared into the den that he found, Firestorm followed after the two as they approached the entrance.
Noble ignited his horn, but no light filled the cave. He thought to himself, "What in Celestia's name? This cave should be as bright as daytime, why is it not working?"
Firestorm asked Noble, "Hey Noble, isn't your magic supposed to light up the darkness? Is your horn screwed on right?"
Noble Blade gave the Pegasus a deadpan stare, "No, Firestorm... my horn is fine. It's just... something is messing with the light in this cave. The only thing that can do that is Dark Magic... which is forbidden to practice by Celestia."
He put one hoof to his mouth and yelled, "HELLO?! Anypony home? We are warriors seeking shelter for the night. Is anypony there?"
A deep voice responded and shook the ground, "Who dares disturb my slumber? Are you friend or foe?"
Firestorm shouted into the cave, "Listen Up, Mysterious Voice, we are dirty, cold, and exhausted. We are going to rest here because if I have to walk any longer, I'm going to lose my mind. "so either you leave..." he drew his weapons, "or we make you leave!"
Noble Blade's eyes widened, "Firestorm! Think about what you just said, you are threatening an unseen life form that can somehow cancel out my magic. Doesn't that alarm you?"
Firestorm stopped and thought for a moment, then said, "It does, but whatever is in there, it can't be any worse than what we just went up against, right?"
Freedom Fighter suddenly saw a bright light coming out of the cave, it was bright orange and approaching fast.
It was a massive fire ball!
The Earth Pony tackled his two partners to the dirt as the giant fireball screamed over their heads and landed behind them.
Firestorm turned around and saw something that sent chills down his spine, it rendered him speechless at the sight.
Behind them stood a giant pony-shaped life form. But it was composed not of fur and flesh, but it rather seemed to be completely made of fire.
Even it's blank eyes were burning wells of blue flames that stared at the Pegasus, Unicorn, and Earth Pony like they were slices of cake.
Noble Blade drew his sword and stood his ground, Freedom Fighter extended his batons and took a defensive stance, Firestorm took to the air and prepared his weapons.
The giant fire pony laughed, "Hmph, how amusing that you believe that simple weapons can harm me. Do you not know what I am?!"
Firestorm chipped in with his typical annoyance, "A giant walking bonfire in the shape of a Trojan pony?"
Noble Blade facehoofed, "Not the time, Storm. We have no clue what this... thing is."
The giant fire Beast roared, "NO! I AM NOT A CRUDE EXCUSE FOR A DISGUISE, I AM AN IFRIT, A FIRE ELEMENTAL BORN FROM THE FIRES OF TARTARUS! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE IN MY HOME!"
Noble Blade instinctively drew his sword and entered a battle stance, trying to appear more intimidating to the fire demon, "We were seeking shelter, and we saw your den, believing it to be uninhabited. Apparently it was not."
He said to the giant fire monster, "We are sorry to intrude upon your... home, great Ifrit, we had no intention to offend you, well at least me and my Earth Pony Friend didn't. But if you intend to attack us, then you leave us no choice but to respond in kind."
The Pegasus snorted in annoyance, "Hey! I was trying to get it to laugh a little, since he seems a bit hot headed."
Freedom Fighter rolled his eyes at the joke, but he quickly snapped back to reality as he saw the Ifrit growl menacingly, making him take a defensive stance in front of his teammates.
Noble Blade continued to speak, "Hey, wait a minute... if you are an Ifrit, how come you aren't setting everything ablaze like Ifrits usually do? I do not know much about your kind, but i do know your species are pyromaniacs. So, what, or who are you?"
The giant fire pony smirked, "It seems that this Unicorn has a shred of knowledge as to not provoke me further. Therefore I shall spare you, for you have passed my test..."
Firestorm raised an eyebrow, "This was a test? I didn't study for a test today."
The Fire Demon snorted "I am no Ifrit. This was merely a disguise to try and scare you off... but since it didn't work, I guess I should drop my disguise."
The Fire giant extinguished, revealing a Jet Black Pony with dark blue eyes, which seemed to bore right through the Guardians of the Sun.
Noble Blade gasped, "In Celestia's name... what are you? And more importantly, who are you?"
the most interesting thing about the pony was the fact that he was An ALICORN of all things, Noble Blade and Freedom Fighter bowed, while Firestorm just sighed.
He said in a snarky voice, "Oh come on! Are they just giving out Alicornhood to anypony nowadays?! Who are you and why are you here?"
Burning Star asked the three his question, "First I got to know, who the buck are you three, and why did you decide to come to this cave of all places? You look like you fought the devil and survived, then again, maybe you did fight the Devil I am looking for..."
Noble Blade introduced himself, "I am Noble Blade, one of the Guardians of the Sun, and the Pegasus is Firestorm..."
Firestorm cut in, "I'm Firestorm--the fast, the deadly, the super hot, and the totally annoying."
Burning Star gave the Pegasus a deadpan stare, "I can see that three out of four things you just said are true... totally not hot, no you're not hot." Said the Black Alicorn, flipping his mane back, causing what appeared to be embers to scatter into the air, bringing light to the cave.
Noble Blade told the Firey Pony calmly, "We just did fight something that seemed to come right from Tartarus itself, now care to tell us who are you?"
Burning Star bowed in respect, "I am Burning Star, the Black Alicorn of Fire. Tell me, have you seen a pony known as Midnight Sparkle? Alicorn? Dark Purple fur? completely insane? You've met anypony like that? I really need to know, like... now."
Firestorm went wide-eyed, "H-how did you know that? We didn't even tell you! Who are you?"
Burning Star smirked, "Heh... I'm somepony who is hunting her down like you are. I immediately picked up on your conversation when you walked by this cave, so... you got your flanks handed to you by Midnight, huh? I'm not surprised, you went after her with swords and other melee weapons. You were doomed from the moment you stepped foot in the place. Come in, I would love to introduce you three to my associates. You all look exhausted as well."
Noble Blade asked the Black Alicorn, "Wait a moment, how do we know this isn't a trap and you aren't working for Midnight Sparkle? Because if you are this will not end well for you, Burning Star."
Burning Star rolled his eyes and grabbed Noble Blade by the face and stared right into his eyes, his eyes filled with an eerie green light.
He said in an outright demonic voice, "Fine, you want a example, here is an example! I have trained with one of the strongest unicorns of all time, a pony who could strike fear into the heart of Celestia and Luna, and I DO NOT FEAR THEM. But you will FEAR ME!"
Noble Blade started to shake with terror, before backing up in fear, he shakily replied, "Y-Y-You were saying you were sent here to catch her, we were sent here as well to try and convince her to leave."
Burning Star shrugged, "Yeah I figured as much that Celestia had some sort of secret task force, she seems so focused on her "Royal Duties" that it makes sense to recruit the best of her Forces.
He continued to speak, "Oh well, seems only appropriate to introduce you to my task force, the Star Hunters, named after... me of course."
Firestorm unknowingly thought out loud, "In the name of Luna, this pony's ego is almost as large as mine."
Burning Star obviously heard that and delivered a strike to his head with his hoof, sending a wave of pain through his body and a killer headache. He said in an obviously frustrated tone, "Not nice, Pal."
Firestorm snapped back at him, "I'm don't intend to be all smiles and hugs to you, you just Attacked us, you jerk!"
Noble Blade chimed in, "Do you have even a bit of respect and honor for other ponies other than you?"
Burning Star narrowed his eyes, "Where I grew up, honor meant nothing. So the answer to that is no, why be polite to somepony when nopony was nice to me when I was young?"
Freedom Fighter was hiding on the ceiling, but was knocked to the floor and pinned underneath some sort of flesh-like web.
It came from an Dark Brown Earth Pony with a short black mane commonly found in the military forces of Equestria. His hooves seemed to be morphed into long red fleshy tendrils.
The Earth Pony said, "Name is Hill Taker, or Hiller, but I'm called the Protopony. Don't mess with me, pal... and I won't mess with you, ok? I'm not a fan of ponies that sneak up on me."
Freedom Fighter made a gesture telling the Earth Pony to back off, and he did, the fleshy web removed itself from Freedom Fighter and he got up to his hooves.
Noble Blade advanced on Hiller, but was stopped by a Katana at his throat, it came from a armored unicorn with only one eye visible through his reddish-orange mask.
He introduced himself, "I am Quickfire, the greatest Pony Warrior in the world, well... my world at least. I've yet to see your talents, but judging from your performance against Midnight and holding out for so long is a great example, but you all need some work if you are going to beat her."
Firestorm lowered the Unicorn's Katana and said, "Ok. Can we not try and kill each other for two seconds? Maybe we can come to an agreement, or is that too much for you savages to handle?"
Quickfire's temper snapped and he snorted in anger, "Ok that's it I'm gonna kill him! I have a very good temper, but you aren't helping here, you crimson nuisance!"
Firestorm smirked, "I don't intend to make this any better than it is, PAL. I am not known for my politeness, it's part of my charm." putting a lot of emphasis on the last word.
Burning Star used his magic to sit Quickfire down, before saying, "I agree with Firestorm, let's talk like adults."
So Burning Star began to tell his story, which began to cause Firestorm to fall asleep with some unease, he didn't want to be in this cave, it was too small.
He said out loud with a sudden burst of energy, "Ugh! I don't care about these pointless vacation days! Can we please get back to the action, I want to hear about some of your awesome achievements, Burning Star."
Noble Blade was taking it all in, he had never heard of Burning Star before, so he asked an obvious question, "Excuse me, Mr. Burning Star, where exactly are you from? And where is this Midnight Sparkle from?"
Burning Star began to explain, "Well I'm going to simplify this for you, since we don't have all night. You see, I come from a different universe altogether, the same universe Midnight Sparkle is from, yeah it's my bad she is here... I didn't expect her to change the destination of her wormhole travel."
Freedom Fighters eyes widened and he pointed to the Sky, Burning Star interpreted this and replied to the group. "Yes, that was the portal you saw, it was us three going after her, a pony family called the Apples patched us up, and then we GTFO as fast as we could. I am not risking freaking out the ponies of this world, it could cause world ending consequences, if you know what I mean."
Freedom Fighter started talking via sign language with Hiller, learning about his experiences in the military.
They were... odd to say the least, and terrifying to say the most.
Firestorm was speaking with Quickfire about his life, all Quickfire said was that he was an Assassin and he knew Midnight Sparkle, that was it. This left the Pegasus's curiosity getting the better of him.
He kept pestering the assassin, "Oh come on! Show me what's under the mask, please?" He gave the unicorn the puppy dog eyes, and Quickfire rolled the single eye shown through the hole in his mask.
He said to the irritating Pegasus, "No, you aren't ready for that yet, it's too risky now, and I don't think you can take the sight of it."
Firestorm banged his hoof on the floor, then grasped it in pain when he remembered he hit solid stone, "I want the truth! You can't hide behind a mask forever, you aren't Freedom Fighter!"
The Earth Pony gave Firestorm a glare, and Firestorm said, "No offense, Freedom."
Quickfire roared at him, "You can't handle the truth, Firestorm! It would shatter your view of reality, and I would rather not show you, since it risks my identity being discovered."
Noble Blade ignored the argument and asked Burning Star, "Sooo, how you get your wings? Did you ascend like Princess Twilight? I'm curious as to how somepony as... roughish as you could gain such an honor."
Burning Star shook his head sadly, "Nope! I was born with them, however I was mocked for them. Foals called me a freak..."
Noble Blade stood back in shock, "How disgraceful! Mocking somepony different just because he has wings, you should have punished them when you had the chance, Burning Star. I can see from your Cutie Mark that you are proficient in Fire Magic, yes?"
The Black Alicorn smirked, "Well... Yes and no. While my mark indicates that I can use fire, These powers are not based off magic, they are natural-born, and run off my stamina. Pretty handy in a long fight, eh?"
Firestorm took a look at Burning Star's wings, they were black with red, yellow, and orange feathers. They seemed to radiate heat, just like the long and rough Scarlet covered mane that ran up his neck.
Noble Blade had an idea, "Hey Burning Star, considering our interests are shared, and that we need assistance... how bout you team up with us to take down Midnight Sparkle? After all, your magic can defeat her, right?"
Burning Star nodded, "Yes it can, but I need to talk with Celestia and Luna and tell her the situation, and that I mean no harm. I do not want the entire military on my tail, right?"
Noble Blade, with uneasiness in his voice, nodded. "Fine, You seem ok, albeit a little snarky, but you better tell me about yourself more when we converse with the princess... after all, she is an Alicorn after all. Maybe you share something in common?"
Firestorm added, "Hell, maybe you can hit it off? Celestia is single you know..."
The Black Alicorn shuddered, "How bout no, Stormy. I'm not looking for a date, let alone a relationship. Duty before Dames, right?"
Noble Blade nodded, "Of course! I have sworn myself to defend this land even if I must sacrifice my own life to do it. We all have, right?"
Freedom Fighter gestured to Burning Star that he is watching him, and Burning Star gestured back.
"Come at me bro, you attack me again, I'll burn you so bad that you'll need another body to replace your charred corpse."
And so the six Stallions teleported off to Celestia's castle... now knowing that a budding friendship was starting.