Sunset Shimmer and her group gathered outside the school after hours. It had been a long day. Not just because of the battle Sunset had against the Invisible Man Stand user, but because she really wanted to face down whoever this “Brute” was and get it over with. She doubted a fight against a guy with a name like that would be easy.
‘If I’m lucky, he’ll live up to his name, and be a big idiot.’ She thought as she put away a couple of notes from her classes.
Back on task, she crossed her arms in front of her chest, as the group began discussing how to pinpoint such a figure.
Sunset had cursed herself for letting Invisible Man get away, but considering she had been attacked all day, guessed he had run off to hide.
“I had a pizza delivery once, near the woods, to a strange guy.” Rainbow said, tapping her chin, referring to an old summer job she held briefly. “I didn’t think much of it then, but his area was close to where all the arrow stuff has been going on.”
“Did you see him?” Sunset asked.
“No. I was told to leave the pizzas on the edge of the grass, not inside and not to step inside the grass.” Rainbow recounted. “All the money, including a nice tip, was under a rock.”
“Hmm. Could his actions leave a clue to his ability?” Rarity questioned, looking to Sunset.
“I don’t know.” She admitted. “I just got my Ice Phoenix, and I’m still uncertain what Stands can and cannot do.”
“This all sounds a little…scary.” Fluttershy muttered slightly, as Sunset cocked her towards her quiet friend.
“If any of you want to stay behind, I would not blame you in the slightest.” She said, not admitting she was a tad bit frightened and bewildered by all of this as much as they were.
“No, I will go.” Fluttershy said, eyes darting around the group slightly. “Its just one bad guy, really.”
“Yes. One guy should be enough.” Sunset said. “Let’s get this over with then.”
With that, the group headed out for their rides and transports, as Rainbow brought her cell phone.
“I’ll text the place to you guys,” She said, clicking away. “meet ya all there.”
Force sat on a small seat within his rustic wooden house. It was a simple building. Something he had covertly gotten together to hide out and launch his attacks and forays into the wider city without anyone finding him. He munched on some sandwiches, before answering his phone. It was a text from one of the boss’s contact numbers.
“Has Straight Comet reported in yet?” It asked.
“No sir.” He answered.
“I knew that coward would turn tail at the first sign of trouble.” The second stated. “We will deal with the deserter later. Are you and your Stand ready?”
“Yes sir.” He answered again. “Let them try and get past me. They’ll decorate this whole area.”
“Remember your limitations.” The boss warned. “I cannot suffer a second fool.”
“Yes sir.” He answered again. “I will not let them get the arrow.”
He received no more texts, as he finished off his meal, silently looking out the window of his tree-fort, over the fields of grass and dirt. He let out a slight sigh, before standing up and walking down the stairs. He walked over to where the dirt ended, and grass started, and slammed his foot down, like he was crushing a bug. A sharp click sounded, as a hideous figure flashed into existence behind him.
“Alright, Stone Tears, do your thing.” He ordered quietly, before heading back up into the fort. A grey, ghostly figure briefly appeared behind him, its face similar to a leering demon. It flashed away from, diving into the earth, and disappearing.
The group made it to the edge of the forests an hour or so later. The place was darkened, both by the slow setting sun, and the fact that, for some reason, specks of grey and black dotted the trees, giving them a strangely metallic look, when mixed with their brown color. Twilight stepped towards the trees examining them.
“Why is there…rock in this?” She asked aloud.
Sunset came over, followed by Rainbow Dash, both of them looking over the strange formations.
“The trees weren’t like this before,” Rainbow said. “y’know, during my delivery.”
“This might be the work of his Stand.” Sunset began, as a massive rumbling caught their attention.
The three looked to their friends in surprise, before a massive wall of rock shot up where the grass ended, and the sidewalk began, several feet high. A ghostly face appeared in the rock face towards the trio inside, sporting wide eyes, and large tusks, a rotund, squat body tearing itself out of the wall, as it two powerful arms slammed into the earth, creating two large craters. It turned its face upwards, looking at all three with a nasty grin on its face.
Sunset looked to her friends, who showed surprise and revulsion at the thing before, as its mouth cracked open, and it spoke.
“You have activated the Stand Stone Tears.” It announced in a deep, booming voice. “Seek out my master, and either defeat him, or beg for his mercy. Death is your only other option”
“Where is your master?” Sunset demanded activating Ice Phoenix, as it raised its fist.
“Seek out my master, and either defeat him, or beg for mercy.” The Stand repeated. “Death is your only other option.”
Sunset groaned in irritation, before sending her Stand to fight.
“SUZA!” It shouted, slamming a punch into Stone Tears’ face. The enemy Stand recoiled slightly, before grabbing Ice Phoenix by the wrists.
“Violence will…” It began to announce, before Ice Phoenix broke free and began pummeling him across the face with a barrage of punches.
“SUZASUZASUZASUZASUZASUZASUZASUZASUZA! SUZAKU!" It shouted as it blasted the Stand's face and body.
“…not get you anywhere.” It finished. “Your only option is to defeat or bow to my master. None others.”
Sunset looked at her fists, with its cuts and bleeding wounds, before the Stand crumbled away from the wall. She leaned into the wall, listening for a moment, as those outside the wall panicked and began beating on it.
“Girls, listen, we’re in here!” She shouted. “We’re fine. We have to find the Stand user and beat him. You guys stay out there, and stay safe, alright?”
“We’ll be fine.” Rarity shouted back. “It’s you who need to stay safe.”
“I just need to get to the user.” Sunset said in determination, before turning, and heading inwards.
Twilight and Rainbow looked at each other for a moment, before following after Sunset. Twilight was the first to speak.
“Do you know where he’s hiding?” She asked, pushing her glasses up.
“My guess is at the center of the clearing.” Sunset said, scratching her chin. “That’s the best place to use a Stand like this.”
“How will we…?” Twilight began, before a deep rumble sounded, like hundreds of drums beating at once.
They looked off in the distance, as the ground began to break and crack apart, a few yards off in the distance. The three looked at each other, as something broke through the earth and soil, like a shark fin breeching the surface of the water.
Sunset brought out Ice Phoenix again, lifting both its hands by its eyes, as she saw further through the Stand’s eyes.
“Do you see anything?” Twilight asked.
“It looks like rocks or something.” Sunset answered. “Its hard to tell, since its half buried…but its rocks.”
She got ready to fight, as the strange object sped towards them, raising Ice phoenix’s fists for battle, as the rocks split the earth, leaving a large split through the earth. She looked over her shoulder.
“You two, stay back!” She barked. “Only my Stand can face a Stand!”
The ground continued to tear and rip itself open, as the large pillars of rock tore through the earth. Sunset waited, until she could see the details, hoping to see a weak spot in the Stand. She couldn’t see much other then rock and stone, and swung.
“SUZASUZASUZASUZASUZASUZA SUZAKU!” Ice Phoenix shouted as slammed its fists against the rocks repeatedly, blasting and sending pieces of Rock flying through the air, as Twilight and Rainbow took cover behind some trees.
Even as she blasted through the rock, it kept coming forward, seemingly ignoring all damage, before she jumped away, the massive form of rock and dirt moving forward like a train, before disappearing underground entirely. Sunset landed, before focusing, enhancing her vision to pierce through the earth and see the rock beast coming at her group. To her surprise, there was no Stand, not like she had seen before, but just a large serpentine pillar of rock barreling through the earth. It barreled through the earth, came to a stop, made an abrupt turn, continued to the right for a moment, before making another abrupt turn, and barreling towards Twilight and Dash.
Sunset ran forward to place her self between the Stand and her two friends, before turning to them.
“Guys, get off the ground!”
“How do we pull that off?” Rainbow asked, as the rock creature began to breach the surface again.
“Climb!” Twilight shouted, grabbing onto a tree and making her way up, as Rainbow followed.
The rock breeched the surface again, one of the spines on its back nicking Rainbow’s leg, before it slammed into the earth and disappeared again.
“Rainbow, are you alright?” Twilight asked, as she slowly climbed onto a branch.
“Its just a scratch, don’t worry.” She replied irritably.
Sunset watched the earth rumble slightly, the grass shifting and displacing itself slightly as the creature, barreled through the earth, before it finally surfaced again, charging towards Sunset. The teen girl set her foot back, ready for it to come at. It barreled closer, a few yards away, then a few feet, and, once it drew close enough, she activated her stand, Ice Phoenix surging forward and grabbing the first few spikes that poked out of the ground. Her Stand grabbed one of the rock spikes, and yanked it up, pulling much of its mass out of the ground, before grabbing underneath the creature’s ‘stomach’, and tearing it completely out of the ground.
Sunset grunted and groaned as she tore the creature out, threw it in their air slightly, and proceeded to blast away at the Rock Stand. Punch after punch was delivered, Sunset trying to drive each one of Ice Phoenix’s fists through the rock stand’s body and completely shatter it.
“Suzasuzasuzasuzasuzasuzasuzasuzasuzasuzasuzasuzasuzasuzasuza!” She and her stand yelled, as she delivered more and more punches, even as her knuckles and ached from the Stand punches, and her arms began to protest.
Finally, she threw one last punch, sending the rock stand into the sky. “Suzaku!”
The massive stand could now be fully seen, or what was left of it, much of its upper body and “head” destroyed by her barrage of punches. What remained was a worm-like figure, the sides and top of the body covered in long spikes, and its front end shaped like a cruel, twisted dragon’s mouth, much of its lower side reduced to rubble. As it hit the ground, the Stand totally shattered into numerous pieces.
“Is that…it?” Asked Rainbow, climbing down from the tree towards Sunset.
“I mean it should be.” Sunset began to explain, gesturing towards the rocks. "Unless he cheated somehow."
“How could he….?” Twilight began, as the remains of the Stand began to rumble and shake, like a cell phone set on vibrate.
The pieces flew into the air, slammed into one another like cars and trucks in a horrifying car accident, and reshaped and reformed themselves, taking the shape of three, smaller rock creatures, who then barreled into the earth. Sunset looked down at her knuckles, by now cut, bruised and bleeding from her Stand rush, the ach making her wonder if she could continue the fight.
‘No wonder he calls it Stone Tears.’ She thought, as she looked around for anything to gain an advantage. ‘I’ll be in “tears” if I have to fight this any longer.’
“What do we do, Sunset?” Rainbow asked, hobbling over to her slightly.
“There’s only one thing left to do.” Sunset declared. “Listen closely girls, cause I’m only gonna say this once!”
“What is it?” Twilight asked.
“We,” She hesitated for a moment, before pointing over the Rock Stand. “We run away!”
She grabbed both of their hands with her Ice Phoenix, and ran towards the Three Stone Tears heading towards them. The two stiffened and tried to resist, but Sunset’s stand ran forward, not stopping until they were only a few feet away from Stone Tears. Before they could impact, Ice Phoenix pumped its legs and jumped upwards, Sunset and her companions following into the air, over the three Stone Tears, and landing behind them. She released them, as all three ran for the hills, as the three ran away, the three Stone Tear stands struggling to turn back around and pursue them.
The three ran for the trees and thicket, and kept turning and jumping as they ran, hoping they could lose the three stand pursuing them in the confusion. Finally, after running for what felt like several hours, they finally stopped near a creek, everyone breathing heavily, as Sunset looked around for anymore attackers. There was no sound, nor any other sign of another Stand attack, and so she allowed Ice Phoenix to fade back into her being.
“What was that?” Twilight asked, panicked.
“A stand.” Sunset replied. “Very different form the other one though.”
“How so?” Twilight asked.
“The Invisible Man user told me a Stand is connected with a person.” Sunset explained. “So if a Stand is destroyed, the person is destroyed with it.”
“And you smashed the Stand, right?” Rainbow asked. “So it and the user should be dead, right?”
“Should be.” Sunset said, looking over her beaten knuckles. “But it kept coming back at us.”
“How are you going to defeat this then?” Twilight asked.
“If I can get to the user, I might be able to stop this.” Sunset replied nervously. “Might.”
Twilight looked around nervously. She was, of course, in love with the idea of having and developing a Stand, and figuring out the mysteries behind it. But these new dangers were so strange, even to her and all the strange adventures she had participated in so far. Even Rainbow Dash looked uncertain, the usually aggressive girl seeming hesitant.
“Listen, just stick with me, and…” Sunset began, before something jumped out of the water and straight at her.
She immediately went into action, turning and bending backwards to avoid the Stone Tears Stand, before Ice Phoenix rushed forward, slamming a bunch into the creature, and shattering it to three large chunks. Before it could regroup, Ice Phoenix lifted up its foot, and with a yell, smashed every Stone Tears piece it could reach.
“And I'll deal with whatever comes at us.” Sunset finished, breathing heavily.
Brute Force read the news within his fort, boots kicked up, shirt buttoned down, as he looked over what was going on all around the world, he suddenly stiffened, like he had been hit in the gut out of nowhere, as a trickle of blood ran down his nose. He picked up a tissue, folded it, and gently damped it away, before setting it down.
“My my, someone is really beating up poor Stone Tears.” He said absentmindedly, looking out the window. “Poor thing, must think she can escape somehow, and not be added to my collection.”
He shook his head, as he continued reading. “I’ll have to search for them, see how they’re doing. Nothing better then watching idiots struggle in vein after all.”
He began to think it over, tapping his finders against his teeth, and began thinking over his situation. It was indeed risky to get close to such a fierce Stand user.
‘She’s new, but strong.’ He thought, scratching his chin. ‘I think I’ll wait a few more minutes, then check up on them. Too risky right now.’
He went back to scrolling through the news, before tapping his left fingers against his teeth again. ‘Oh, but I would love to watch them struggle. No, no, we’ll wait. Can’t let my love of fun distract from the mission.’
He sat back, humming along to a song on the radio, as he continued tapping his fingers against his teeth.
The group continued running, as Rainbow suddenly gasped in pain. She leaned against a tree and looked down in surprise. There was a large piece of rock attached to her leg, where the Stand had stabbed her. Sunset turned, and walked to her.
“Rainbow, are you alright?” She asked.
“There’s…a rock…on my leg.” Rainbow said uncertainly, indicating the strange object grafted to her leg.
Sunset rubbed her chin, before, trying to reach down and grab the piece and pull it off. Rainbow yelped in pain, before Sunset instantly let it go. Sunset examined the strange growth, before bringing out her Stand. Ice Phoenix’s eyes focused and glowed, before changing to a green color. The Stand user looked over the leg, and focused on the stone grafted to her.
Her eyes widened slightly as she saw the rock and the wound. It wasn’t just a rock grafted into Rainbow’s skin. From what she was seeing, the skin, muscle, and even bone had melted and begun fusing with the bone.
“Can you see what the heck is going on?” Rainbow asked.
“This piece of rock is grafted on pretty well.” Sunset said. “I’m not sure I can remove it.”
She stood up, deactivated the Stand, and turned to Twilight. She was uncertain about what she had just seen, and needed another opinion on this.
“What’s going on?” Whispered Twilight. “Is she alright?”
“That rock isn’t just grafted to her leg,” Sunset explained. “It is her leg, part of her body.”
“How is that possible?” Twilight asked, growing worried.
“Stands, I would guess.” Sunset replied. “We should keep moving.”
“Hey, girls, what’s going on?” Rainbow asked. “Is there something you want to tell me.”
“No, its all fine.” Said Twilight, trying to keep her nervousness from leaking into her voice. “We need to get to this User and defeat him.”
“The piece of stone on your leg is hard to get off.” Sunset said. “I think its most certainly part of his Stand power, can you walk?”
“I think so.” Rainbow replied, putting weight on her leg again.
The three began to walk off, as quickly as they could manage without forcing Rainbow to run too fast or too hard on her bad leg. The three stopped, as the ground began to rumble again, and a series of stone spines broke through the ground, like shark fins breaching the surface. Sunset looked around, at the few trees and bushes, before the clearing, before snapping her fingers suddenly.
“Everyone, separate!” She said. “Twilight, go left, I’ll go center, Rainbow, go right. I want to see how it reacts.”
“Is that smart?” Rainbow asked, as the Stone Tears stand began to pick up sped, her own eyes bugging out in terror. “Never mind, let’s go!”
The three followed Sunset’s directions, and ran through the clearing and scrub again, the rock stand seemingly stopping, watching the three of them, before going after Rainbow. Sunset huffed slightly, before turning to Twilight.
“Stop! Don’t move a muscle.” She shouted, before running towards the path the Stone Tears Stand was taking.
She did not wait for an answer, running as fast as her legs could carry her, teeth clenched as she saw Stone Tears break the surface, lunging through the air like a shark hungry for blood. Sunset came to a stop, mere feet away from it, and activated her Stand, Ice Phoenix lunging out and grabbing Stone Tears by its spiny tail. The Stone Stand failed in the air for a moment, struggling, as Ice Phoenix flexed its ethereal muscles, and with a loud grunt, slammed the Stand into a nearby tree. Splinters of rock and wood flew through the air, as Ice Phoenix maintained its grip, before lifting the Stand over its head, and smashing it into the ground repeatedly.
Both Sunset and Twilight watched in amazement at the sight of Stone Tears being lifted up, and tossed and smashed about by some invisible force. Sunset merely stood back, arms crossed, as she watched Stone Tears slowly get grounded down, until only its flailing tail remained intact. Without much ado, Ice Phoenix looked at the tail for a moment, before reaching back, and throwing it with great velocity, the tail flying many miles away. Sunset breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Although her injuries weren’t too bad, she knew she was in no shape to do any actual punching.
‘I’ll just have to find an alternative way to bust this guy open.’ She thought grimly. ‘Or find a way to rapidly heal myself.’
“Sunset, whatever you did, that was amazing.” Twilight said, as she and Rainbow approached. “This stand thing is…like nothing else.”
“Yeah, I really, really can’t wait to get one.” Said Rainbow with a wide smile. “Imagine how many jerks I’ll be able to…”
As she went on with her list of threats and promises to kick plenty of butt, Sunset noticed the rock attached to her leg had grown much larger. Now, a quarter of her calf had bee subsumed by the stone substance. Her eyes widened as she saw this.
“Rainbow, your leg.” Sunset interrupted, pointing to her leg.
Rainbow Dash looked down at it, eyes wide, as she knelt down and examined it, running her hands all over the rock growth.
“How the heck is this happening?” She demanded.
“I don’t know.” Sunset admitted. “But we will find this guy and beat him.”
“I’m starting to wonder if this was a bad idea. “ Muttered Twilight.
“No, we can do this, we have to!” Sunset declared. “Not only are we trapped here until we defeat him, and now that this rock is growing on Rainbow’s leg, we have to defeat him.”
They stopped as they heard a rubble in the distance, only for Sunset to gesture for them to continue on, and get away from the area. They didn’t stop running, even Rainbow forcing herself to keep going, despite the agony in her leg. It was a while before they actually stopped.
The group looked up again, as three more of the Stone Stands rabidly approaching blasting through earth and trees to get to them. Twilight’s eyes widened slightly at the sight of these pursuers.
‘Are they getting more determined then ever?’ She thought as she continued running. ‘Or are we just getting…tired?’
Either one didn’t exactly fill her with hope. She looked to see Sunset hold one of the Stands with the invisible force of her own, swinging it about, before tossing it away, as another leapt forward, Sunset ducking the Stand, as it burrowed into the earth, and turned around for another attack. She intercepted the third, the creature coming within inches of colliding with her, its spines and spiked tail twitching and bending slightly to scratch or impale her.
Sweat rolled down Sunset’s forehead, as Ice Phoenix’s eyes glared out in rage. She struggled against the weight and strength of the Stone Tears stand, before she heard the second one surface and head towards her again, blasting through a random boulder laid down there, and heading towards her. The second one meanwhile coming at her again from behind, the three on a collision course, and ready to absolutely devastate her now.
Before they suddenly stopped.
Even the one in her grip had stopped struggling, as Sunset looked at it in confusion. The three Stands burrowed into the earth, and quickly headed northwards. She and her companions were in shock for a moment, before she turned to the two.
“Follow them!” She shouted, immediately running after them.
Brute sighed as he sipped on his juice box, still waiting for Stone Tears to return to him. He looked at his phone , grunting in agitation.
“Geez, its been 10 minutes, why hasn’t Stone Tears come back yet?” He grumbled to himself. “This is worrying me.”
He got off his chair, and climbed out of his tree house, planting both feet firmly on the ground, straightening out and clearing his throat.
“Stone Tears, return!” He shouted to the air. He waited a moment, the air around him growing colder, as the ground ahead of him rumbled, and a massive rock pillar sprouted from the ground.
He looked up at the creature and its leering stone face, not batting an eye at his Stand’s reappearance. “Stone Tears, report!”
“I have been pursuing the group for several minutes now.” The Stand said. “I am sorry to say, Mister Master, but the Stand of a Sunset Shimmer, is very strong and tough. She’s been using it to hamstring my efforts.”
“Any injuries inflicted?”
“Yes, Mister Master,” Stone Tears said, giving a stiff bow. “The left leg of Rainbow Dash has been encased. She will be a statue very soon. Sunset can no longer punch, her knuckles too damaged from punching my projections.”
“How close are they?” Brute asked, scratching his chin.
“Well, that’s the problem, they are…” Stone Tears began, before a loud battle cry interrupted them.
“SUZAKU!” Brute’s eyes widened at the sound, turning to just in time for a rock to impact with his nose, sending him falling to the ground, sputtering and roaring in agony.
He held his bleeding nose, as Stone Tears turned to point at the three, Rainbow’s leg now totally encased in rock, and beginning to work its way up the rest of her body. “They were not far, Mister Master.”
“Found you, finally.” Sunset announced. “Now, call off your Stand, or I’ll have you in ‘tears’.”
“Ha, Stone Tears is actually deactivated.” Brute said with a chuckle. “But since you want him active…”
Before she could stop him, he turned to his Stand. “Stone Tears, activate!”
“Yes, Mister Master.” It replied, burrowing into the earth and disappearing.
Sunset ran towards Brute, only for a massive wall of rock and dirt to erupt from the ground in front of her. Her eyes widened. She brought out Ice Phoenix again, both fists raised, despite still sporting heavy damage.
“How are you still fighting with those knuckles?” Brute asked. “Yer really gonna injure yourself if you keep this up?”
“How are you still fighting, after I destroyed your Stand?” She asked, determined. “Three times, at least?”
“I ain’t gonna tell you that!” Brute indignantly. “Would you reveal the fact yer a pony from another dimension to a random bloke?”
“How do you know that?” Asked Sunset, keeping her voice and face stoic and even, despite the shock she felt rising in her.
“You don’t hide it too well, with all the magical shenanigans at yer school.” Brute chided. “Plus, me boss has an interest in ye.”
“Why me?” She asked.
Suddenly, one of Stone Tear’s projections launched itself out of the ground, almost hitting Twilight head on, before Ice Phoenix launch forward, grabbed its tale, and held on, despite its struggles and lashing. She waited, as another projection launched itself at her, before swinging the first Stone Tear Projection at the second, shattering them both to pieces. Brute grunted in pain slightly, as blood dripped from his nose again, as he used his sleeve to carefully wipe it from his broken nose.
“Oi, you daft git, stop that!” He shouted at her. “That really hurts me nose, you scurner!”
“Why are you still in one piece?” She demanded, her voice rising in anger. “This breaks the rules of Stands!”
“Oh, poor thing.” He said shaking his head. “This is perfectly how Stands work. Mine’s automatic. I activate it, and it attacks while I stay here.”
She seemed taken aback by this, as he shrugged slightly. “I should tell ya, before I end ya, but my stand turns you to stone. Like your friend, who tried to sneak up behind during the commotion.”
Rainbow raised a stick over head, ready to club Brute over the head, only for a massive wall to erupt from the ground and shatter the stick into several shards. Brute chuckled as he shook his head, the rock growths beginning to spread all over her body as he slowly walked away, as the rocks spread to her other leg, pinning her in place, much to her horror.
“You better watch yourself.” He warned. “The closer you get, the faster you turn. Scary right?”
Rainbow’s eyes widened, as Sunset narrowed her own eyes, before giving a yell and charging forward, her Stand manifesting in front of her and swinging out another wall erupted in front of him, the stone and granite blocking Ice Phoenix’s punch, as Sunset’s wounds on her right hand reopened. Brute laughed heartily, slapping his knee several time, as he wiped a tear from his eye.
“You’ll never breach this wall.” He said with a hearty chuckle. “My Stand will intercept any attack. You ought to try something new. You’re being too hot headed.”
There was nothing but silence for a moment, as he raised an eyebrow, trying to see around his wall. Suddenly a loud crack sounded. His eyes widened, as another crack sounded. Then another, and another, and another. As the last crack sounded, a fissure appeared in the middle of his wall, his eyes widening in surprise. He poked around the left side of his wall, as Ice Phoenix threw another rock at high speed, causing another crack in the wall to form. His eyes widened again, as he backed away slightly, Ice Phoenix quickly turning and throwing another rock at high speed. Brute barely ducked out of the way, as the rock sailed off, breaking the sound barrier as it left, before hitting a tree and burst right through it, leaving a round hole in the bark.
Brute’s eyes bugged out of his skull. He had heard this Stand user was tough, but he had never seen anything like this. He breathed in deeply, calming himself, as he straightened himself, and cleaned off his jacket.
“Smart move, but throwing rocks hard and some X-ray vision ain’t gonna save you.” He shouted to her. “Just give up. Stone Tears is absolutely untouchable!”
He suddenly poked around the corner again, looking around, before hiding again, and shouting. “Where the heck is your purple friend?!”
“What do you mean?” Sunset asked, seemingly just as surprised, looking around. “She was right…here…”
Brute grinned widely, shaking his head. “She ran off and left you. What a strong, magical friendship, eh?”
He laughed wildly, as his first wall broke apart, giving a full view of Rainbow Dash slowly being turned into a statue, his tree house-fort of solace…
And Twilight running towards it as fast as she could. His eyes widened in anger, as he snapped his fingers.
“Darn it all, Stone Tears, stop that daft git!” He shouted.
Two projections jumped out of the ground near his feet, and flew forward before burrowing under the ground and chasing after her at high speed.
“No escape! No Escape! No Escape!” He shouted, not noticing the wall crumbling behind him, and not caring. Even if he defeated Sunset, allowing her allies to get the Stand arrow would be a hollow victory. And his boss would make a point of making Brute hollow for it…
As his two Stand Projections jumped into the air and began to follow her, Sunset focused, her eyesight enhanced as Ice Phoenix’s eyes glowed red, blue and then gold, becoming enhanced and more attuned. As she focused, Ice Phoenix picked up two more stone shards. She extended her arms out, quickly calculating the measurements and distance.
“If I take into account wind velocity and speed…” She said, as Ice Phoenix wound up for its throws. “Then this should do it!”
Ice Phoenix threw both the rocks sailing through the air with a loud shot, like a sniper rifle going off. A visible trail of smoke followed the two rocks as they sped through the air, and, not long after, collided with both, impacting with, and sending both Stand Projections flying off course, and hitting the ground hard, as Twilight kept on running hard for Brute’s Tree fort. The Isolationist Stand user’s eyes widened in terror. Not only was he about to fail his boss, but his personal abode was to be revealed.
‘My private mansion in the trees!’ He thought, standing up, and running after her. ‘My fortress against interlopers! These daft idiots will ruin it all!’
His face grew locked in an expression of rage, as he ran as fast as he could after Twilight, four more projections of Stone Tears, blasting out of the earth and winding through the dirt and earth towards Twilight. Sunset’s eyes widened as she froze for a moment.
‘I can’t destroy all of those.’ She thought, eyes darting about from projection to projection. ‘How the heck do I destroy them all, or stop…him!’
She cracked a smile tossing the last rock to her stand, who gripped it in its right hand, as Brute slid to a stop in front of Rainbow Dash, turning quickly.
“Oh, right.” He said, grinning. “You’re still here, Sunset.”
She glanced at the rock her Stand held, before quickly locking eyes with him, as he took up a fighting stance, gesturing with two of his fingers.
“Come an’ have a go, if you think you’re hard enough!” He challenged.
AS he announced Rainbow Dash reached out and grabbed him by his shoulders, pulling him in and wrapping one arm around his neck in a choke hold.
“Get him, Sunset!” She said. “Let him have it!”
“You all are so stupid!” He said, not bothering to struggle or resist. “What will you do, throw the rock? Can it reach me in time to stop Stone Tears? Can you throw it fast enough to hit before another wall goes up.”
Sunset’s eyes darted to Twilight, who was getting close to the fort, but, the Stone Tears Projections were getting closer and closer to her as well. She looked back at Brute’s smiling face, his arrogant face causing her eyes to burn in rage. She wished there was a way to lodge the stone in her hand, into his arrogant face, without him seeing it coming. Ice Phoenix floated next to her, holding up the stone, as it glowed and burned with a red-yellow light, before vanishing.
Her eyes widened, but she didn’t hesitant to act.
“Time to throw!” She shouted. “SUZAKU!”
Brute raised a eyebrow, and looked very confused, as she threw it, the invisible stone flying through the air, and making a loud crack as it sailed through the air. A moment later, a loud crack sounded as something hit Brute square in the forehead, him being rocked backwards. The Four Stone Tears Projections flew through the air, about to collide, before breaking apart to pieces in midair. The stone that had grown around Rainbow’s legs and waist broke and shattered away, as she tested her feet and toes, immediately dropping Brute’s prone form.
“Oh thank god!” She said, squatting and patting her legs. “It started to feel like my legs were falling asleep.”
Twilight continued her run, scaling up the stairs of the tree fort, and disappearing inside. Sunset ran over, using Ice Phoenix to turn over Brute, as Stone Tears came out of the ground, it’s leering face and massive frame looming above.
“Congratulations, you have defeated my master, and now are free from my wrath.” The Stand announced, slowly clapping its massive hands three times. “You may leave as soon as possible. Please, do not linger too long.”
The Stand disappeared underground again, the ground breaking apart and folding in upon itself, covering its escape route. Sunset looked over at Dash, before gesturing towards the Tree Fort.
“Help out Twilight, with finding that arrow,” She said. “I’ll interrogate him if he wakes up again.”
Rainbow nodded, before running off. Sunset glared down at Brute’s prone form, waiting for a while, until the enforcer coughed and gagged, groaning as he got up rubbing his forehead.
“What the heck…?” He asked aloud. “Did I win…?”
“No, not at all actually.” Sunset answered behind, causing him to turn.
“Oh? Who are you, what are you…?” He began, trying very badly to lie. “I…I don’t know where I’m at, do you know who I am, love?”
“You’re a terrible liar.” Sunset muttered. “I should make your face a smear for what you’ve done.”
“Come on, no need for that…I…I was just doin’ my job, y’know?” He said, growing nervous and looking around. “You wouldn’t hurt a guy on his knees, would you?”
“I’ll decide how to deal with you, once I get the arrow.” Sunset said. “Now, tell me about your Boss.”
“I only know what he lets me.” Brute said quickly. “He’s shrouded in shadow, and keeps contact low. You won’t survive long now, though. He’s got his eyes everywhere.”
She waited for a moment, tapping her foot with her arms crossed, Ice Phoenix standing beside her glaring down at Brute, uncertain of what to make of his claims, before she heard Twilight call out to her.
“Sunset, we found the arrow!” She announced.
Sunset turned. “Great! Bring it here, and we’ll have to figure out our next plan of action.”
The two climbed their way down, Brute looking at them out the corner of his eye, breathing in slowly as sweat trickled down his face and forehead. Sunset turned away from him, as he grinned slightly.
“Stone Tears, activate!” He shouted, the grey, ghostly figure of Stone Tears appearing behind, before flashing into the earth. “Target Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash!”
Sunset turned quickly, Ice phoenix activated and ready, its own expression one of determined anger. The ground underneath rumbled, as the projections of Stone Tears swam under her feet and through the earth. Not waiting another second, she ran forward, as Brute laughed madly.
“Look at you, still struggling in vein!” He taunted. “I’ve won! You cannot defeat me before my Stand pins your friends down and retrieves my arrow! Even if you attack, my Stand will create a wall to keep you away! Submit!”
Sunset was not about to let him win, however, and stopped a few feet from him, just out of reach of her Stand, quickly thinking things over. There were few rocks to grab, the larger, more deadly ones too far to reach for. Getting close was out of the question, but she had one more trick up her sleeve.
‘Ice Phoenix was able to turn the stone invisible,’ she thought carefully. ‘And allowed me to alter my sight.’
If sight and color were connected, it was by one thing, and one thing alone; light.
‘Let me try and give you a new surprise.’ She thought with a small grin.
Brute noticed this, his own mouth bent in an arrogant grin. “What’s with that face? Why are you still puffed up, do you think you can still win? You can’t even throw a punch!”
Ice Phoenix rabidly flashed and shimmered with different colors, blues, then purples then greens, before a bright flash of white light enveloped and spread out, if only for a split second. It was all she needed. Brute staggered back, yelling and screaming.
“My eyes! My eyes!” He shouted, holding his hands up to his eyes, as Sunset jumped up, and came down just above him.
Before she could land, she activated Ice Phoenix, the Stand kicking out with its usual yell.
“SUZASUZASUZASUZASUZASUZASUZASUZASUZASUZASUZASUZASUZASUZASUZA!” It shouted with its master as it rabidly slammed its right foot into Brute’s face and chest, before spinning and slamming the edge of its left foot into the side of his skull, sending him flying away. “SUZAKU!”
She landed, her Stand lingering for a moment, as she looked over the area around the three, the Stone Tears Projections disappearing as Brute hit the ground. Her two friends looked at her in amazement, as she gestured over to herself.
“Come on, we have an arrow to use.” She said.
The group outside, waiting for their friends return their friends return, were in various states of worry and pacing the area. It had been very long since the three entered, and the wall came up, and all of them were worried. While the wall had come down, Rarity had advised them to stay put until Sunset and the others returned.
Just as the group was about to lose hope, they saw the three walking out of the forest, Rainbow hobbling along with Twilight’s help, as Sunset held a strange arrow at her side. Pinkie was immediately up, her face beaming with delight as she was, in one second, by Rarity’s side, and the second, tackling Sunset in a bear hug, squeezing her body tight, as Sunset barely kept the arrow from hitting Pinkie.
“Pinkie, please…I…can’t breath.” She gasped out.
Pinkie Pie however, went into excited, barley understandable ramblings as she latched on tighter, as Ice Phoenix manifested near its master, seeming ready to defend her. Finally, Rarity came up and gently pulled Pinkie away.
“While we are all happy to see our friends, perhaps we should let them talk.” She suggested calmly.
Sunset breathed a sigh of relief and began breathing heavily again, before holding up the arrow. “Twilight and Rainbow found this. We have a way to get Stands now, and face this new threat.”
“What do we do now?” Asked Twilight. “Its obvious if we all do it, we’ll end up in the hospital, or worse.”
“There’s no telling how powerful this new villain is.” Sunset said, running her hand along the arrow shaft and head, careful not to prick her fingers. “Brute said he had eyes everywhere. A hospital could be too risky.”
“Then do we each go home, and take turns getting a Stand?” Rainbow asked. “Then pass it along?”
“No, could get lost or attacked by one of his goons.” Sunset answered, eyes still locked on the arrow. “The only option is to go back to my place, and get everyone done all at once, that way, I can watch over you guys while the Stand comes out.”
“I can’t wait!” Proclaimed Rainbow, pumping a fist. “I really, really want punch the bad guys like you get to Sunset.”
“Let’s get to my place, and make it happen then.” Sunset said with a smile.
Many hours later, late at night
A shadowy figure marched through the forests, dressed in a fine suit unbecoming of the forested region he was in. His eyes glared out like two stars in the night, as he moved away from the burning wreckage of the Tree Fort. He took a deep breath as he began to plan out his next move, glaring up at the night sky and the moon, focusing on it in rage.
“I have already lost an arrow, and two of my ‘Skoutatoi’,” He muttered to himself. “Unacceptable. Now I have Sunset and her band to deal with.”
He clenched a fist in front of him, growling to himself. “I must mobilize my Retinue of Followers and get that arrow back, and if need be, destroy them all.”
He walked away, a ghostly, onyx figure appearing briefly behind him as he moved towards the edge of the forest, heading towards the exits.
“I must reclaim my past, and find power within this purpose.” He said to himself, eyes narrowed. “I will not have Celestia’s peons deny me a second time!”
He disappeared into the night, vanishing like a spectre of nightmares.