Book Three: Uncertain Days
Chapter Eight
Twilight Sparkle walked on point, with Tess, the Doctor, her friends, Krel, Aja, and the Trollhunters (Including Blinky) close behind. "We've got to tell the wizards about this." She said, "But I'm also determined to find out what they're up to even if I have to barge into the basement myself." She said.
"Not to mention that we need to get our weapons back." Toby said.
They approached the door of Golden Oaks Library. Twilight raised a hoof to bang on the door. But before she could do so, the door was opened from inside. Gandalf, Merlin, and Starswirl were standing in the middle of the open first floor looking towards the door, out at them. "Perfect timing Twilight. We're ready." Starswirl said.
"W... What!?" Twilight stammered.
"I say just go with it sugarcube." Applejack said as she trotted past Twilight into the library.
"Yes I would agree with Miss Apple." Blinky nodded and entered.
Soon everyone was crowded inside. "I suppose you would like to see what we've been so hard at work on?" Gandalf surmised.
"Yes, Mithrandir." Tess said, "But first, I have some unsettling news..." She spelled out what she now suspected about what they had seen during the brief unplanned stop on the slopes of Mount Doom.
The wizards looked at each other. "It would explain the great ring Starswirl saw in his prophecy." Merlin finally said.
"Yes, but what of the dark queen?" Starswirl wondered.
"It was your prophecy you should know." Merlin answered.
Starswirl countered "Says the wizard who expected a teenager to be thirty."
"Now, now, you two." Gandalf said.
"Oh all right." Starswirl sighed. "Assuming Miss Fairwind is correct, at least we've made some progress in puzzling things out."
"But what are the odds that she's right?" Twilight asked. "I know it makes sense of a lot of things, but I'll ask the three of you the same thing I asked her: How would it even work without Sauron's spirit still in the living world?"
"Yeah, wouldn't it just be, like, 'The One Dud?'" Claire asked.
Gandalf answered "I fear not. Any sufficiently powerful evil could bond with the One, especially in the absence of Sauron. And our enemy is certainly more than powerful enough."
The Doctor said "Perhaps we should move on. You said you were ready to reveal what you've been working on."
"Oh yes indeed!" Starswirl said.
"Yes, let us start with this..." Merlin held out what they recognized as Jim's amulet. He released it, and the disk floated towards Jim, speaking as it went, 'James Lake Junior... For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is yours to command...' The amulet activated and surrounded the boy in his familiar armor.
"I don't get it." Toby said.
"Yeah, It looks just the same." Rainbow Dash agreed.
"Patience..." Starswirl said, and he used his magic aura to lift another amulet, at a distance seemingly identical to Jim's save that it glowed yellow. This one also spoke as it flew to it's new owner: 'Tobias Domzowski... For the wisdom of Starswirl, Warhammer is yours to command...' Armor similar to Jim's (Though with yellow glowing elements rather than blue) appeared and fitted itself to Toby, Warhammer appearing in his hands.
"You bound my Warhammer to an amulet!?" Toby exclaimed. "Awesome Sauce!!"
Starswirl said "Yes, and take note that you will now have at-will control of the weapon's weight changes."
"You're welcome." Merlin said.
Ignoring Merlin, Gandalf said "Let us not forget the third..." He produced a green glowing amulet. It too spoke: 'Claire Maria Nunez... For the courage of Gandalf, Stardust is yours to command..." Claire's armor, like Toby's, was very similar to Jim's save for the green color of the glowing lines. A staff appeared in her hands, and she looked at it in surprise.
"This isn't Skath-Hrun." She said.
"Well it is and it isn't." Gandalf said. He explained "As I told you before, the magic inside the shadow staff was dark and tainted. We stripped it out, and reforged the staff in light. It still has the same teleportation abilities, though you won't have to force yourself to feel negative emotions to power them."
"And the name?" Claire asked.
"Well it's no longer Skath-Hrun is it? A new name was needed, and 'Stardust' seemed appropriate."
"This is so awesome!" The girl was practically bouncing up and down, giddy with excitement.
"Wait a minute though!" Rainbow Dash called out, "I thought we had to work together."
"Oh yes... Jim, if you would be so kind as to deactivate your armor for a moment?" Gandalf asked. Jim did so, and then followed the wizard's instructions to stand by himself on the opposite side of the room. Then Gandalf said "Now... Twilight Sparkle, Applejack, will the two of you go and stand next to Jim? Within five feet if possible."
They did so, and Gandalf told Jim to activate his armor again. "Um, okay... For the glory of Merlin, Daylight is mine to command!" As the bright blue motes of magic erupted from the amulet and began to armor Jim, more of them came as well, and flew to Twilight and Applejack. Jim landed on the floor, armored up and sword in hand, and then Twilight and Applejack did as well. Each was covered head to tail in armor very similar to what Jim now wore: And the Elements of Magic and Honesty were incorporated into Twilight and Applejack's respective armors.
"What!? Is this!?"
"Yes indeed dear Twilight." Starswirl said. "The Elements will, of course, magically return to the Princesses when you are not in the armor. A safety feature, in case Celestia and Luna need them there. But each of you Element bearers now has armor that calls your Element to you."
Merlin elaborated "Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, your armor and elements are linked to Tobias' amulet. And Rarity and Fluttershy's are linked to Lady Claire's."
"Forgive me for asking, but would it not make more sense for the Ponies to have their own amulets?" Krel asked.
Gandalf nodded. "Ordinarily yes. And in fact, once the current crisis is over we are fully prepared, if you wish, to break the bond and give each Element Bearer her own Element linked amulet. But for now, well, you all know the words of the prophecy."
"'Man and Pony must together contend, and then the paths of fate may bend.'" Twilight quoted.
"Quite." Merlin said.
Starswirl added "And while this might be carrying the idea a bit too far... Well, why risk it?"
Standing near the back of the crowd, Blinky spoke up. "While I hate to be a downer, there's something I fear I must point out. What you have created here is impressive indeed. But what good will it do when we're stuck here and the attacks are happening on Earth and Eqqus!?"
"That's actually a good question." Claire said.
"Excellent, even." Twilight agreed.
"An excellent question with an excellent answer." Gandalf said. "Tell me, have you wondered how I got to this place? Especially since I knew Merlin on Earth and Starswirl on Eqqus?"
"Wait! We didn't have to risk my Tardis!?" The Doctor exclaimed.
"Oh but we did. There is a spell. A spell similar to the one the Princesses have been using to ferry war aid back and forth between worlds. This spell has the same effect, but is far more efficient in the power it uses. The downside, which is why we needed the Tardis, is that it only works on the wizard casting it. He cannot bring anyone else along for the ride, so to speak." Starswirl explained.
"But now, we have translated that spell into the amulets. The nine of you will be able to travel freely between worlds, although each of our Trollhunters will need the ponies partnered with them also present to do so." Merlin added.
"This is incredible!" Twilight cheered, "We can finally do something to help!"
"Then let's get started." Everyone looked towards the door to see Sheriff Tucker and Midnight Steel. It was the Sheriff who had spoken, and he spoke again, "We've got President Whitmore and Princess Celestia waiting at the secure window. There's a problem..."
XXXXX
Back on Earth, Shining Armor and Agent Marsh had rushed their team to New York. They arrived a few hours before Pinkie's party would start in Unity, and joined with the defenders already present. The airship which had appeared over Central Park had already met the same fate as those at Canterlot, but the massive number of Changeling drones which it had delivered were still wreaking havoc all over the city, as were not a few Orcs who had survived the crash. Civilians, fleeing the attack, were clogging the streets, and the situation as utter bedlam.
Marsh grabbed a passing soldier by the arm. "What's going on Sergeant?" He demanded.
"The enemy has taken control of Manhattan and is now expanding into the Bronx. All attempts by ground troops to hold them at bay has failed! The only thing working at all is fire from the air, but that's not enough!"
"The enchantment modified aircraft." Shining Armor thought to himself. "We've bought more weapons that should actually work. We need to speak with someone in charge here about the best places to deploy them though."
The Sergeant stared at Shining, only just realizing through his fear that a pony was talking to him. He looked at Marsh. "Sir?"
"Captain Armor and his team are on our side Sergeant. Now who can we talk to?"
"Right. This way!" The Sergeant led them several blocks through the chaos, during which time they twice had to fend off attacks by divebombing Changelings, before they reached a command post. After arriving, they were able to receive a more thorough briefing, and begin planning how to deploy the enhanced weapons to try to retake the city. They had only just begun, though, when there was a new complication:
Word came from a technician that all contact had been lost with an entire squadron that had penetrated enemy lines to spy out the area. They had been just north of Central Park, still undetected, when the lines went dead just after one of them had cried out. "The Air Force has a plane heading that way now." The technician said.
Leaving the planning for the moment, Shining, Marsh, and the base commanders went back out to the main war room, where a video feed from the approaching plane was being shown on a large projection screen. At first they saw only the city, and smoke rising from many places. Then as the plane got closer, they saw it. In the same area the squadron had vanished, there was a large creature. It was at least four stories tall, a horrid amorphous blob with a quartet of tentacles, each easily fifty feet in length, writhing about, smashing everything in it's range. Something resembling a face was on one side of the creature's body, including two mouths, one right above the other.
"Shining?" Marsh asked.
"New one on me." Shining Armor replied.
They watched as the plane fired on the mystery creature. Shells tore into it's body, and explosives detonated within, causing it to burst. A cheer went up across the room, but such was premature. For when the plane circled around to confirm the kill, they saw that the monster, whatever it was, was not dead, and had already reformed it's body in a matter of seconds. A tentacle lashed out at the plane, growing far longer than the others in an attempt to snare it's foe. The pilot managed to evade that attack, but was soon calling frantically for help.
"Command! Command! Some kind of... Portal or something... opened directly above me. It dumped some type of acid onto the plane and now everything is rusting and systems are fai-" The pilot's words were cut off.
"Sir we have visual from another aircraft." A new video feed appeared. This one was showing Manhattan from further away and also showed the falling debris of the destroyed plane, and the monster slowly moving through the city. As it went, it repeatedly motioned with tentacles, and wherever it motioned a new disc shaped portal opened, disgorging more of the acid.
"Get me the President." Marsh said. "And I expect Captain Armor will want to speak with Princess Celestia as well..."