//------------------------------// // Day 15 // Story: Alternate to Magic // by smirker //------------------------------// Morning comes and Walker has breakfast with Runner and Sprinter, knocking is heard at the door and Walker opens the door and he sees Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, "Hi, Walker." the three fillies said together, "What are you three doing here?" Walker asked, "Well, if you want to, we can act as your sisters." Sweetie Belle replied, "Um..." Walker said, "It will mean more friends and less loneliness." Walker's Optimist said, "It will mean more mouths to feed and less space for you to move around." Walker's Pessimist said, "Sorry, but I must decline." Walker said, "Oh, come on, Walker, please?" Sweetie Belle asked, "I'm sorry, but I have to say no." Walker replied, the Cutie Mark Crusaders groan with disappointment, "You three can come in, though, we let visitors here." Walker said, "Yay!" the Cutie Mark Crusaders said, and they enter with him. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle and look at Walker's paintings, "Wow, can ya paint us one day, Walker?" Apple Bloom asked, "I'll think about it." Walker replied, the Cutie Mark Crusaders smile, "You three hungry?" Sprinter asked, "No, we had breakfast already, thank you." Sweetie Belle replied, "What brings you three here?" Runner asked, "Well, we wanted to hear about you guys' travels." Scootaloo replied, "Oh, um, maybe when you three are older, some of the things we encounter in the Void are not for the faint of heart." Runner said, "Like the onis?" Sweetie Belle asked, "Worse. Much worse." Sprinter replied, Walker finishes breakfast and he washes his dish, "School's out again today because of you and your family, Walker." Scootaloo said, "Wow, I thought we'd go back today." Walker replied, "One question, did you all choose Walker for the student exchange program deliberately?" Runner asked, "No, he really was chosen at random, nopony thought you all would have thought he and his family had connections to the afterlife." Sweetie Belle replied, "Well, I'll be back, I'm going to go see Champion Lucius really quickly." Walker said, "You know, I actually kind of wished he would've trained you and Runner in combat when I was younger." Sprinter replied, "No thanks, dad, I don't like the onis' methods of fighting." Runner said, "What were the first three worlds you three went to in chronological order?" Scootaloo asked, "Aerostia, Chrysaor, Yomi." Walker said, "Chrysaor, Aerostia, Yomi." Runner said, "Yomi, Chrysaor, Aerostia." Sprinter said, "Why did Spirit only allow y'all to go to them worlds for?" Apple Bloom asked, "Because they were the ones who saw Spirit as either good or neutral the most, they were the safest worlds for us to go to." Runner replied, "Oh." Apple Bloom said, "Well, I'll be leaving now, I'll be back in a few minutes." Walker said, and he goes outside and heads to Yomi. Champion Lucius sits in his throne and was sleeping, Walker appears in his fortress and Champion Lucius opens his eyes, "Walker, what brings you here?" Champion Lucius asked, "Just wanted to make sure you're alright." Walker replied, "*chuckle* I am fine, I have already fully recovered." Champion Lucius said, "I'm also here to see if you have any information, I learned that there are actually several people in my world who know about the Void." Walker replied, "Yes, Zecora has not been around recently, perhaps you should go look for her, her home is in the Everfree Forest." Champion Lucius said, "Who is this Mother Nature?" Walker asked, "An old friend of Celestia, you shouldn't worry about it, and Arcana, well, let's just say she has a connection to Celestia as well." Champion Lucius replied, Walker wonders what the connection was, "You should get going, Walker, maybe you can find Zecora, and be prepared for a future fight." Champion Lucius said, "What fight?" Walker asked, "Grogar is coming." Champion Lucius replied, "Who's Grogar?" Walker asked, "You will know soon enough, but if you wish to find Zecora, you should get going now." Champion Lucius replied, Walker agrees and teleports back to Ponyville. Walker teleports to Fluttershy's cottage and heads to the Everfree Forest, "Walker, wait." Fluttershy said while she was running, Walker turns around and looks at her, "It's dangerous in there, why are you heading there?" Fluttershy asked, "I'm going to look for Zecora." Walker replied, "Now that you mention it, she hasn't been around, let's look for her together." Fluttershy said, and they enter the Everfree Forest. Fluttershy leads the way while Walker looks around, the souls of the animals come to see him and Timberwolf souls attack them, Walker shoots them with his pistol and absorbs their souls, "Wow, Walker, you didn't seem scared." Fluttershy said, "Well, they're souls, most of them get destroyed after one hit." Walker replied, "Are the animals judged, too?" Fluttershy asked, "Yes." Walker replied, Fluttershy begins to tear up, "What's wrong, Fluttershy?" Walker asked, "To think that those cute and furry little creatures receive damnation and be punished in the afterlife, that is so sad." Fluttershy replied, "I see your point, but there are good and evil animals, too." Walker said, "But still." Fluttershy replied, and they continue through the forest. Walker and Fluttershy arrive at Zecora's house and see a lot of souls around her home, "Wow, Zecora has a lot of visitors." Fluttershy said, and she knocks on her door, "Zecora?" Fluttershy asked, there was no answer, she opens the door and sees Zecora was not home, but shes a circle of white candles around a skeleton, Fluttershy whimpers and Walker enters the home, he sees the candles and skeleton, "What happened here?" Walker asked a nearby soul, "The zebra did a ritual shortly after the ponies in Ponyville discovered your family's powers, she performed a ritual to contact her ancestors and went to the afterlife." the male earth pony soul replied, "What is that skeleton there?" Fluttershy asked, "That's her skeleton." a female unicorn soul replied, "*gasp* Is she...?" Fluttershy asked, "No, she's just exploring the afterlife, when she is done, her flesh will return." a male Pegasus soul replied, "Well, we should go, Fluttershy, we now know where Zecora's at, I have to head home." Walker said, "Okay, bye, Walker." Fluttershy replied, and he teleports to his home. Walker arrives at his home and sees the Cutie Mark Crusaders were still there, "You took longer than I thought." Scootaloo said, "Yeah, Fluttershy and I went to go look for Zecora together." Walker replied, "How is she?" Sweetie Belle asked, "She performed a ritual to enter the afterlife." Walker replied, "Wait, performed a ritual?" Apple Bloom asked, "You don't need to have contact with Spirit directly to enter the afterlife, rituals can be performed and shamans can enter the afterlife through other means without dying." Runner replied, "What's a shaman?" Sweetie Belle asked, "A person who has access to spirits." Sprinter replied, "Say, are y'all three shamans?" Apple Bloom asked, Walker, Runner, and Sprinter shake their heads, "We are soul collectors, when someone dies, it is our job to go to their world and collect their souls so it may be judged and sent to the afterlife, if all three of us are unavailable, then Spirit himself will collect the soul." Runner replied, "Why can't he just collect all of them?" Apple Bloom asked, "There's too many." Walker replied, "That, and we made a deal, it is the duty of the males on the paternal side of our family to serve him." Sprinter said, "What will happen if y'all's family tree comes to an end?" Apple Bloom asked, the three think about it, "Now that you mention it, I don't know." Sprinter replied, "It is simple." Spirit said from behind Walker, Runner, and Sprinter, they turn around and see Spirit in the form of a colt that looked just like Walker, "Ah didn't see ya there, Spirit." Apple Bloom said, "I just appeared." Spirit replied, "Oh." Apple Bloom said, "So, what will happen if our family tree does come to an end?" Walker asked, "I will just call you and the males from your paternal side of the family back to continue to be soul collectors, those that are willing, if they don't want to, I'll just send them back to the afterlife." Spirit replied, "That's it?" Walker asked, "Yes." Spirit replied, "Why weren't the other worlds open to our ancestors?" Runner asked, "There were not that many souls to collect back then, but worlds got more populated over time, that is why I opened the worlds to you three." Spirit replied, "Why can't we go?" Sweetie Belle asked, "You've seen how different three of them are, several worlds are unwelcoming." Spirit replied, "Still, I wanna explore." Sweetie Belle said, "It's unwise to have three kids go alone." Runner replied, "But Walker is going to the Void on his own." Scootaloo said, "To places he knows that are safe, when we go to a new place or a dangerous place, all three of us go together." Sprinter replied, "Oh." Scootaloo said, "I'll be going now, I have souls to collect." Spirit said, and he fades away, "Are you two going to do your jobs today?" Scootaloo asked, "It depends, we have to help the harpies, vulcans, and onis if they get attacked." Runner replied, "Well, I can try to get the onis to try to teach you guys." Sprinter said, the Cutie Mark Crusaders look at him as if he was crazy, "Well, I'll give it a try." Sprinter said, and he leaves his home. Sprinter walks to Yomi and the onis go to him, "I need your help today, I recently got a job as a combat instructor." Sprinter said, the onis snicker, "Good, I was hoping you all could teach my students today, let's go." Sprinter said, and he leads them. Sprinter has his class gather around the School of Friendship and the onis were there to help him, "Alright, everyone, the onis will be your opponents today, so good luck against them, who wants to go first?" Sprinter asked, his students look on and sweat, "I'll go, I mean, Princess Ember was able to take them." Smolder said while she walks forward, she gets ready to fight them and a male red oni runs to her right while a male blue oni runs to her left. Smolder tries to punch the blue oni with her right fist, but he grabs it with his right hand and begins to squash her hand, the red oni goes into her left blind spot and punches her in her neck with his right fist, Smolder exclaims and falls to her knees, the blue oni lets go of her hand and goes behind her and punches her in the back of her head with his right fist, she grunts and falls over, "Next." Sprinter said, and a unicorn stallion goes forward. The unicorn fires magic from his horn at the red oni and he strafes to his right, the blue oni kicks the stallion in his right side with his right foot and screams, he almost falls and the red oni kicks him in his left jaw with his left foot and he slides across the ground, "Next." Sprinter said, Gallus walks forward, the onis run to his blind spots and were about to punch him, Gallus flies up and makes the two punch one another, "So long, suckers." Gallus said, and he flies to the red oni and begins kicking in his face with his feet, the red oni lets out annoyed grunts but was mostly unfazed, he grabs Gallus' feet and uses his fire magic to set Gallus on fire, he screams while the blue oni grabs his shoulders from behind and uses his lightning magic to electrocute him, the two put him down and Gallus groans in pain while laying on the ground, "Next." Sprinter said, and an earth pony mare walks forward, she whimpers in fear at seeing the two onis, the red oni punches her in her left jaw with his right fist and she slides across the ground, "Next." Sprinter said, and Yona goes forward, she charges to the blue oni while screaming, he strafes to his left and goes into Yona's blind spot, he kicks her in her abdomen with his right foot and Yona grunts while falling over, the red oni runs to behind her and hits her on the back of her head with the bottom of his fists, Yona screams and becomes unconscious, "Next." Sprinter said, and Silverstream flies forward while sweating, the two onis run to her and Silverstream screams while flying away, she goes into the water and changes to a seapony, the blue oni puts his right hand in the water and electrifies it with his lightning magic, Silverstream screams while being electrocuted, she floats back up while groaning in pain, "Next." Sprinter said, and Ocellus walks forward slowly, she changes to a bugbear and flies to them, she tries to grab the two onis but they go behind her and the red oni punches it in its spine with his right fist, it roars and falls over, the red oni jumps onto its back and runs across it and punches it in the back of its head with his right fist and Ocellus changes back while laying on the ground, "Next." Sprinter said, and Sandbar walks forward, he gets cold feet and the blue oni quickly runs to him and goes behind him and hits him on the back of his head with the bottom of both of his fists, Sandbar screams and falls over. Sprinter and the two onis look and see the other students run away, Sprinter faces his students, "One important rule in fighting from Yomi: never attack your opponent from the front, always attack them in their blind spots or the back." Sprinter said, "No!" Rainbow Dash said while she and Applejack run to him, "Those are cheap shots!" Rainbow Dash said, "Yeah, that ain't fair." Applejack said, "Well, when you fight the onis, expect cheap shots, the Anti-Spirit cult uses cheap shots as well." Sprinter replied, "That's it, come on, Applejack, let's take them on together." Rainbow Dash said, and the two walk to the two onis, "I'll take the blue oni, you handle the red one." Rainbow Dash said, and the two run to them. The blue oni runs to Rainbow Dash's right blind spot and tries to punch her with his right fist, Rainbow Dash quickly turns around and faces him, she flies back to dodge his fist, she flies forward and punches him in his abdomen with her front right hoof, he was unfazed, "Huh?" Rainbow Dash asked while she looks at him, the blue oni snickers and punches her in right jaw with his left fist, she grunts and slides back a bit, Rainbow Dash feels the area where she was hit, "It's not too bad." Rainbow Dash said, she sees the blue oni strafing to her right and she watches him while he tries to get into her blind spot, he runs to her and begins strafing to her left, he strafes to her right again and she keeps turning to face him while flying in the air, he ducks and goes under her, he grabs her hind hoofs and uses his lightning magic and electrocutes her, Rainbow Dash screams, she falls onto the ground and tries to stand while groaning, the blue oni stomps on her back with his right foot and knocks her back down, she screams as she falls to the ground. Applejack watches the red oni and sees him strafing to her left, she watches him easily since he was slow at running and easy to track, he tries to punch her in her face with his left fist and Applejack ducks and dodges it easily, she turns around and bucks him in abdomen, "Huh?" Applejack asked while she looks back, she sees her kick did not hurt him, the red oni snickers and punches her in her face with his left fist, Applejack exclaims while she slides forward on the ground a few inches. Applejack struggles to stay up and not fall, she regains her composure after a few seconds and turns around, "Hmph, it is rare for another species besides my own to still be standing after one hit." the red oni said, Applejack focuses and sees him strafing to her right, she faces him and he aims down and tries to punch Applejack in her sternum with his right fist, she jumps and kicks him in his face with her hind right hoof, the red oni looks to his right after getting hit but quickly turns back, the red oni tries to punch Applejack with his left fist but Applejack ducks and punches the red oni in his face with her front left hoof, it did no harm to him, the red oni then hits Applejack on the back of her neck with his left elbow, she exclaims and falls to the ground, she growls and tries to get back up, but the red oni jumps onto her back and Applejack screams when he lands on her, "You're lucky that this is just a test, if this was a real fight, I would've landed on your head." the red oni said, Applejack wobbles around and the red oni loses his balance and falls, Applejack gets up after struggling a little and was ready to keep fighting. Rainbow Dash watches the blue oni carefully and dodges each hit, she sees that while he was the faster of the two onis, he was not as fast as her, and Rainbow Dash dodges his attacks easily, she looks for openings and hits him in his chest, abdomen, and armpits, each attack did not faze him, he jumps and goes behind Rainbow Dash, he kicks her in the back of her head with his right foot and Rainbow Dash grunts, but did not fall, she turns around and flies to him and tries attacking him, he was not fazed, "Is that really your strongest?" the blue oni asked, Rainbow Dash looks at him with shock and he punches her in her left jaw with his right fist, Rainbow Dash grunts and slides back a little. Applejack focuses on the red oni and sees him running to her, she gets ready to defend herself and counter his attack, but he jumps and lands behind her, he turns around and grabs her hind hoofs, he throws her into the air and Applejack screams, she hits the ground and a crater appears, she stands up while grunting and faces the red oni, he runs to her and jumps in the air and tries to kick her with both of his feet, she ducks and runs to behind him, the red oni lands on his feet and turns around, and sees Applejack jump and lift her hind right leg up, she hits the red oni on the top of his head with the bottom of her hind left hoof, he looks down from the force but quickly composes himself, Applejack looks on with shock to see he was still unfazed, he punches Applejack in her face and slides across the ground while grunting, she stands up and Rainbow Dash grunts as she falls next to her to her right. Rainbow Dash stands up and she and Applejack look at the two onis, "Let's try switchin' around." Applejack said, and she goes after the blue oni while Rainbow Dash flies to the red one. Rainbow Dash flies to the red oni and he was ready to punch her, he tries to punch her with his left fist and Rainbow Dash flies around and dodges him easily, she tries punching and kicking him multiple times but it did nothing, the red oni tries hitting her several times but Rainbow Dash dodges all of them easily, the red oni tries to punch her with his right fist and Rainbow Dash flies to her right to dodge it, but the red oni quickly pulls his fist back and punches Rainbow Dash with his left fist, Rainbow Dash screams as she flies through the air, she flaps her wings and does a flip in the air, she flies to him again and tries attacking him again, "Wow, you're weak when compared to the other one." the red oni said, Rainbow Dash looks at him with disbelief and he punches her in her face with his left fist while she was distracted, Rainbow Dash screams and she hits the ground this time and slides across it. The blue oni moves around quickly and hits Applejack several times, "This ain't too bad, them punches feel like regular ant bites." Applejack said, the blue oni continues attacking her and Applejack tries to buck him, but he moves too fast to get hit, so Applejack punches him with her front left hoof and hits his abdomen, he lets out a small grunt and continues to focus, Applejack jumps and kicks him with his hind hoofs and hits him in his chest, he grunts a little but did not slide back, Applejack tries to hit him again, but the blue oni keeps switching directions of strafing around her and begins hitting her in her blind spots and back, Applejack exclaims and falls over. Rainbow Dash and Applejack groan and were on the ground, "What do you two think?" Sprinter asked, "I think they both have potential." the blue oni replied, the red oni nods, "Well, let's take a break." Sprinter said, and the two onis go back while the people they fought continue to recover. Runner teaches his students and the souls of the dead were running with them again, they finish a lap and the foals pant, "Why don't the creatures from the other worlds join us for?" a filly asked, "Well, those three worlds don't have track, and only the onis run, the harpies and vulcans usually just fly." Runner replied, "The onis can't fly?" a colt asked, "No, but they can jump really high, and their ruler can teleport." Runner replied, the foals look at him while speechless, "Come on, let's keep running, we're behind on schedule." Runner said, and they all stretch a little and run again, Runner runs with no problem but his students and the dead souls running with them pant after finishing their next run, "Runner, do you have any hobbies outside of your career?" another colt asked, "Reading about the royal guards, I'm a big fan of anything related to honor and chivalry." Runner replied, "Did your wife know about the Void?" another filly asked, "Actually, no, I never told her about it." Runner replied, "That's wrong, Runner." a third filly said, "I know, but if I did, she wouldn't believe me." Runner replied, the foals become speechless, "Yeah, I'd have a hard time believing that, too." a third colt said, "It wasn't just me, my dad never told my mom about it, either." Runner replied, "Do you still wish you had a daughter, Runner?" a fourth filly asked, "Sometimes, but I'm happy to have Walker." Runner replied, "I don't know if you'd be able to handle raising two kids on your own." a fourth colt said, "I would try my best, and remember, my dad's also around to help me." Runner replied, "Still, that's so sad, they never get to have a mother's love." the first filly said, "I didn't get a mother's love, either, but remember, my dad didn't get a father's love, either." Runner replied, the foals remember seeing Sprinter's childhood, "Well, let's continue." Runner said, and he runs with the foals following him. Walker was at Sweet Apple Acres and plays tag with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, they run around and Walker was it, he runs around and sees the souls of Bright Mac and Pear Butter watching them, he keeps running and the Cutie Mark Crusaders run away from him. Walker runs faster and runs after Scootaloo, "Tag!" Walker said, and he runs away with Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle while Scootaloo runs after them, she runs after them and touches Apple Bloom, "You're it." Scootaloo said, and she, Walker, and Sweetie Belle run away from her, Apple Bloom runs after them and touches Sweetie Belle, "Yer it." Apple Bloom said, and she, Walker, and Scootaloo run away from her, Sweetie Belle runs after them and touches Walker, "Tag, you're it." Sweetie Belle said, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders run away from him. Walker runs after them and was getting bored already, he shoots a black skeletal hand out of his front right hoof and at a plant in the ground, Walker goes near it and was in front of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the three turn around and run away from him, Walker makes the skeletal arm come out again and he grabs a wagon wheel and goes to it and he was to their lefts, the three turn to their rights and run away, he sees the three running to the barn, Walker makes the skeletal arm come out again and grabs the roof and he goes into the air and through the sky, "Woo-hoo!" Walker said while he was in the air, the Cutie Mark Crusaders stop running and see him land on the roof, "What's wrong?" Walker asked, "Ah wanna swing around." Apple Bloom replied, "Me too." Sweetie Belle said, "And I can't fly, that looks fun." Scootaloo said, Walker thinks for a minute and teleports back down to them, "Grab onto me." Walker said, and they do, Walker shoots the skeletal arm out of his front right hoof again and swings in the air while Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle hold onto him tightly, "Whee." Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle said together, they go through the air while Walker grabs things with his skeletal arm and they swing around through the air and have fun. Twilight Sparkle walks to Chrysaor and goes to go see the vulcans, "Excuse me." Twilight Sparkle said, the vulcans face her, "You all know a spell to cure people from being possessed, right?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "Yes, but we do not know if we can teach it to you." Elder Hephaestus replied, "Please, you must try, we don't have any countermeasures against the souls of the dead." Twilight Sparkle said, "You got Walker, Runner, and Sprinter to deal with them." Elder Hephaestus replied, "They're not always around to deal with them." Twilight Sparkle said, "Hmm, true." Elder Hephaestus replied, "Please, Elder Hephaestus, I need to learn the spell so I can cure the possessed ponies without killing them." Twilight Sparkle said, "Well, those three do help us a lot with the Possessed, Undead, and Anti-Spirit cult, I guess it's time I return the favor and help their land." Elder Hephaestus replied, "Thank you, Elder Hephaestus, this means a lot to me." Twilight Sparkle said, and he leads her to their home. Twilight Sparkle sees Elder Hephaestus cast the spell by shooting a yellow blast out of his right hand, Twilight Sparkle watches and tries to cast the spell with her horn, "Do you not shoot magic out of your hoofs?" Elder Hephaestus asked, "No, it has to be cast with our horns." Twilight Sparkle replied, "I see, maybe we should try having a soul possess a dead body." Elder Hephaestus said, and a vulcan soul goes into the ground, it bursts open and a decaying corpse of the bear and boar hybrid animal comes up. Twilight Sparkle was uneasy at seeing the decaying corpse but composes herself, she tries to cast a spell but changes the animal into a big pumpkin, "Oh, um, give me time to warm up." Twilight Sparkle said, and she casts a few spells, most of them were telekinesis and teleporting spells, she teleports back, "Alright, I think I'm ready." Twilight Sparkle said, and she tries to cast the spell, she ends up giving the pumpkin wings, she tries again and casts another spell, she makes the pumpkin grow bird legs, Twilight Sparkle rolls her eyes and tries again, she makes the pumpkin grow a mouth and teeth, "Ugh!" Twilight Sparkle said, and she tries again, she changes the pumpkin to a turnip, Twilight Sparkle begins to seethe, "No need to get angry, it will only make things worse." Elder Hephaestus said, "Can I see the spell again?" Twilight Sparkle asked, Elder Hephaestus shoots a yellow blast out of his right hand and at the turnip, the soul is forced out of the turnip, it floats back in and possesses it, "Didn't you guys write it down?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "No, my parents created the spell and passed it to me orally, I did the same to the others, we did not record it." Elder Hephaestus replied, "Why not?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "Some creatures of the Anti-Spirit cult would want to learn it so they can force the soul possessing someone out so they can take over for themselves and spy on us and the other creatures who worship Spirit." Elder Hephaestus replied, Twilight Sparkle becomes speechless while she did see his point, "Let's continue." Elder Hephaestus said, and Twilight Sparkle casts several spells, each spell did something different, the vulcans were impressed at some of Twilight Sparkle's spell, they were mostly impressed by her spell to freeze people in place, "Maybe you should take a break and try again." Elder Hephaestus said, and she does. Twilight Sparkle rests for twenty minutes before trying again, she tries again and casts another spell that makes herself change to a seapony, "Hmm, you might have to practice a bit more, creating the spell to force the spirits possessing things out took my parents decades to make." Elder Hephaestus said, "Yeah, you're probably right, I'll try again another time." Twilight Sparkle replied, and she leaves and goes to Yomi. Champion Lucius sits in his throne and his fortress' doors open, he looks and sees Twilight Sparkle come in, "Twilight Sparkle, what brings you here?" Champion Lucius asked, "I want to learn your telekinesis." Twilight Sparkle replied, "Don't you have telekinesis of your own?" Champion Lucius asked, "Yes, but it's not electrified like yours, so I'm wondering if you're using some kind of advanced magic." Twilight Sparkle replied, "No, it is a natural ability for the oni tribe I am from." Champion Lucius said, "Wait, you're not the two onis fused together into one?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "No, far from it, the red and blue onis now are the only oni tribes left, the rest were destroyed by our world's civil war, I am the last remaining member of my tribe." Champion Lucius replied, "How did onis as strong as you go extinct?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "We were attacked by either even stronger onis or overpowered by a big number of weaker onis." Champion Lucius replied, "Oh, well, can I learn your telekinesis?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "Twilight Sparkle, remember, the magic of Yomi is different from Equestria's, that goes for every world, you should know that after seeing the humans." Champion Lucius replied, "Still, if I can learn it, then I wish to study it." Twilight Sparkle said, "The lightning in my telekinesis comes from inside of my body." Champion Lucius replied, "Oh, well, can you try to teach me?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "I don't think I can." Champion Lucius replied, "I know it's a bit of a stretch, but I was wondering how paralyzing telekinesis was possible." Twilight Sparkle said, "Perhaps you should cast magic and spiritual energy together." Champion Lucius replied, "I don't know how to use spiritual energy." Twilight Sparkle said, "Oh right, it is invisible and unknown in your world, and Equestria doesn't have Spirit in any of their cultures." Champion Lucius replied, "So, how is spiritual energy used?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "It is used by gathering it inside of your body and making it take its shape based off of your imagination, that is how Walker, Runner, and Sprinter form their weapons, those four special powers of theirs are from Spirit himself." Champion Lucius replied, "But how does one gain the ability to use it in the first place?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "Meditation, it increases your willpower to not only resist possession, but the ability to use spiritual energy." Champion Lucius replied, "Meditation, I'll have to give it a try." Twilight Sparkle said, "Do you have anything else to ask?" Champion Lucius asked, "Actually, yes, how did you know Princess Celestia when you came to Ponyville?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "I have my ways." Champion Lucius replied, Twilight Sparkle becomes unhappy with his answer, "That is all I have to say, if you're still wondering about Zecora, go see Fluttershy, she and Walker have found out what has happened to her." Champion Lucius said, Twilight Sparkle just turns around and walks out of his fortress. Everybody in Ponyville goes on with their days and everybody stops what they were doing when they see Zecora arrive into the town, "Zecora? Where were you?" Rainbow Dash asked, "While I was not here, in the afterlife, I was there." Zecora replied, "Why did you perform the ritual to go there for, Zecora?" Fluttershy asked, "Wait, what ritual?" Applejack asked, "While my kind cannot see the souls, we are well taught about their roles." Zecora replied, "So, why did you go to the afterlife for?" Fluttershy asked, "My family has long been dead, and them, I miss, being able to see them again made me feel such bliss." Zecora replied, "Oh, so you went to go see your family." Twilight Sparkle said, Zecora nods, "Wait, what is going on over there?" Twilight Sparkle asked, and she runs to the grass in front of the School of Friendship. Sprinter and the onis continue to instruct their students, the onis attack the students from their blind spots and knock them down, they pant and Yona gets back up, "Yona... can... keep going." Yona said, "You all went up against two onis, let's see how things are when you're up against three." Sprinter said, and three red onis walk forward. Yona charges to them and two red onis went to her left while the the third one goes to her right, the first red oni punches her in her jaw with his left fist from her left blind spot, the second red oni punches her in her jaw with his right fist from her right blind spot, Yona screams as she gets pushed to her sides by the force of the punches, the red oni goes behind her and slams the bottom of his fists onto Yona's neck, she screams and falls over, "See, when up against two onis, you have a chance, but when you're up against three onis, you're screwed." Sprinter said, he looks and sees his students were all groaning and on the ground, "One more thing, if this was a real fight, the onis would be ganging up on you and attacking you from all directions when you're down on the ground like that." Sprinter said, some of his students exclaim and scream in shock and look at him, "Enough!" Twilight Sparkle said while she ran to the area, "That's enough, I will not have my students be endangered when learning basic combat!" Twilight Sparkle said, "Can any of you stand up for another round?" Sprinter asked, "No! These fights are over!" Twilight Sparkle said angrily, "It's not over until all of your opponents are dead." a male red oni replied, "NO!!" Twilight Sparkle yelled angrily, she hears groaning and sees Sprinter's students were in a lot of pain, "You're supposed to be teaching them basic combat, Sprinter." Twilight Sparkle said, "I am." Sprinter replied, "What part of your job tells you to teach them cheap shots?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "I'm not teaching them cheap shots, I'm teaching them to be prepared for it." Sprinter replied, "Ugh, just end the class for today, Sprinter, you think it'll be best to let Rainbow Dash teach them a few things." Twilight Sparkle said, "Alright, go home, everyone." Sprinter said, and his students struggle to get up but manage to, they walk home while Sprinter looks around and sees the ponies, harpies, and vulcans have gathered around to see what Twilight Sparkle was mad about, he sees Walker and Runner within the crowd, "Come on, Runner and Walker, let's call it a day." Sprinter said, and the two walk to him. Everybody gets ready to head home and Walker, Runner, and Sprinter see white mist appear in front of them, the ground freezes and a bipedal creature who looked like a black skeleton appears, it was wearing blue armor that covered its entire body, a helmet that left its face exposed and had white downwards horns on its sides, it wielded a sword in its left hand and a shield in its right hand, both were made out of ice, "I have finally found you three, receivers of Spirit's powers, the Anti-Spirit cult has demanded your deaths." the creature said, and Walker, Runner, and Sprinter summon swords in their front right hoofs and pistols in their front left hoofs. The creature swings his sword around and sends out a light blue wave, the three duck and they look back and see the wave freeze whatever it touched, the three quickly turn around and shoot him with their pistols, but he blocks the bullets with his shield, Sprinter changes his sword to a sledgehammer and teleports to the creature, he swings the hammer and hits the shield and cracks it, Walker and Runner change their swords to sledgehammers and teleport to him, Runner hits his shield next and cracks it even more, Walker hits the shield next and breaks it. The creature slashes his sword horizontally and Walker grunts as he got hit, he falls to the ground and the creature jumps and tries to stab his sword into Walker, but he teleports away before the sword hits him, the creature stabs the sword into the ground and freezes the area around him. The harpies, vulcans, and onis join in to fight the creature and the harpies throw boomerangs and scratch his armor, he tries to swing his sword around but a male vulcan grabs the sword with his left hand and breaks it in half, the creature uses his ice magic and fix his sword and make another shield appear, a blue oni tries electrocuting him by grabbing him from behind, it did nothing, the creature swings around and gets the blue oni off, a red oni jumps onto him from behind and uses his fire magic on him, but their magics cancel out one another. Elder Hephaestus flies forward and punches the creature several times, he grunts after each punch and was on his knees after a few punches. The creature was on his knees and Walker, Runner, Sprinter, the harpies, vulcans, and onis get ready to kill him, "No! Stop!" Twilight Sparkle said while she and Starlight Glimmer run to the creature, "Don't kill him, you all are supposed to forgive and offer him his friendship." Twilight Sparkle said, the harpies boo while the vulcans and onis jeer at her, shocking her, "Enough! You guys aren't going to offer him friendship?" Twilight Sparkle asked, the harpies, vulcans, and onis shake their heads, "Why won't you harpies offer friendship?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "He tried to strike a downed opponent, he fights with dishonor." Adetokunbo replied, Twilight Sparkle stares them with disapproval before turning her attention to the vulcans, "What about you vulcans, what's your reason?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "We find it to be an act of stupidity." Elder Hephaestus replied, "What? No, it's not, look at me, I used to be a bad pony, I was offered forgiveness and friendship, and I'm now helping others." Starlight Glimmer said, "We still find such an act to be idiotic." Elder Hephaestus replied, "What abot you onis, why do you all refuse to offer friendship?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "It is considered surrendering to the enemy in our culture, which is considered cowardly and shameful." a blue oni replied, "Is it really that big of a deal?" Twilight Sparkle asked, "It is punishable by death." a red oni replied, "WHAT?!" Twilight Sparkle asked, "You heard us, if we forgive him and offer him friendship, we will be labeled cowards and bring shame onto ourselves, which in turn will cause our own kind to hunt us down and kill us." the blue oni replied, Twilight Sparkle look at him with her eyes and mouth wide open. Starlight Glimmer holds her front right hoof out to the creature, "We are naturally friendly creatures who forgive our enemies, we have no connection to Spirit in any way, I'd like to welcome you to Equestria." Starlight Glimmer said, the creature looks at her and reaches out to her slowly with his right hand, he grabs her hoof and snickers, he pulls her forward and forms an ice dagger in his left hand and stabs her in the back of her neck, Starlight Glimmer screams in pain, "It doesn't matter if you have no knowledge of Spirit or him in your culture, anyone who gets in our way must be killed, and every member of their species must be killed until extinct, their world then must be destroyed, and all of their fauna hunted until extinction, that is the way of the Anti-Spirit cult." the creature said, Elder Hephaestus flies to him and punches his head off with his right fist from behind and Runner absorbs his soul. Starlight Glimmer lays on the ground and was unresponsive, "Quick, somepony get her to the hospital!" Twilight Sparkle said, and two Pegasi grab her and fly away, "Ugh! The harpies only befriend those who fight fair, the vulcans see befriending your enemy as an idiotic move, and the onis will be labelled cowards and killed by their own kind. How am I supposed to spread friendship to people like these?!" Twilight Sparkle asked, everybody just left while Twilight Sparkle vents. Runner goes to the Void and gives the soul to The Judge, he comes back to Ponyville and heads home with Walker and Sprinter, the three enter their home and close the door, they hear footsteps in their bedroom and the three close their eyes' and their visions become dark blue, they see three light blue figures moving, they were bipedal, the three summon their swords and pistols and sit at the table. The three close their eyes' and reopen them to make their visions normal, they hear the intruders coming and were behind them, the three quickly turn around and fire a bullet from their pistols, but they hear a crack and a clang, the three see their intruders, they were all wearing one-piece long-sleeve jumpsuits and featureless metal masks that covered their entire faces, and wore mid-calf length boots, the three see a few differences, the one behind Walker was wearing bronze colored clothes, and the intruder's hands and feet seemed to be made out of brown rock, the one behind Runner was wearing silver colored clothes, and it had a metallic right arm and left leg, and while its left eye was silver and normal, its right eye was completely red and robotic, and the one behind Sprinter was wearing gold colored clothes, and its body seemed to be made out of gold crocodile skin, but the intruder's right index finger, middle finger, pinky, left ring finger, middle finger, and right eye were gold and transparent. The three let out battle cries and tries to attack the three, Walker, Runner, and Sprinter realize all three of them were males, the three run around in a circle around them while screaming, the bronze one attacks Walker, the silver one attacks Runner, and the gold one attacks Sprinter. Walker dodges the bronze intruder's punches and he put craters in the wall, Walker looks and sees green wind around each of his fists, Walker jumps and kicks the bronze intruder in his face with his hind right hoof and cracks his mask, the bronze intruder continues trying to hit Walker, but he runs under his fist and the intruder chases him. Runner blocks the silver intruder's punches with his front forelegs, he jumps and kicks Runner in his chin with his left foot, Runner grunts and slides back a few millimeters, the silver intruder lets out another battle cry and tries to do a knifehand strike with his right hand, Runner blocks it with his front left foreleg and the silver intruder jumps back. Sprinter ducks under the gold intruder's punches and punches back when he rises back up, the gold intruder's mask protects his face, Sprinter looks at the gold intruder's body and sees the gold and transparent parts of his body acted normally, he jumps and tries to kick him with his hind right leg, the gold intruder blocks it with his right forearm, Sprinter then kicks him in the face with his hind left leg and cracks his mask, the two move around and punch and kick one another until the three intruders were all in one place while fighting and Walker, Runner, and Sprinter shoot them with their pistols, the three grunt and fall over. The three intruders groan in pain while Walker, Runner, and Sprinter pant, "Who are these three?" Walker asked, "I don't know, but they're likely members of the Anti-Spirit cult." Runner replied, "First thing tomorrow, we leave Ponyville." Sprinter said, Walker and Runner nod in agreement, they hear groaning and see the three intruders getting up, the three shot dark blue and orange fire out of their front right hoofs to burn them, they fall back down and stop moving. Walker, Runner, and Sprinter look at them and the three look out the window to see if anypony was watching them and wondering what the noises were, but no one was there, the three hear walking behind them and quickly turn around, they see the three intruders walking to them, the top halves of their jumpsuits burned off, and their masks were destroyed, they see the gold and silver intruders looked like humans and had crocodile-like skin, the bronze intruder was made completely out of brown rocks and had blue water come out of his bullet holes, the silver intruder had metal prosthetics for his entire right arm, his chest, and he had an artificial heart, the three realize he was a cyborg, and the gold intruder had gold and transparent legs, his left leg was missing below the knee, and his right leg was missing below the thigh, and a gold and transparent mandible, "What the?" Walker asked, "I see, so one uses magic, one uses technology, and one uses spiritual energy." Runner said, "Focus, you two, here they come." Sprinter said, and the three run around them in a counterclockwise circle while letting out battle cries. Walker, Runner, and Sprinter watch them carefully, the three intruders jump and try to kick them, Walker, Runner, and Sprinter teleport away and the three intruders run to them. Walker fights the bronze intruder and he tries punching Walker several times, he dodges them and sees the bronze intruder have green gusts of wind appear around his arms, he tries punching again and was faster, Walker dodges several of them until he is hit in his left jaw by the intruder's right fist, he grunts and falls over, the bronze intruder leans down and grabs Walker's neck with his hands, he begins to choke him while Walker gags, he lifts him up and looks at him while chuckling, Walker changes his sword to a hammer and begins hitting the bronze intruder on the back of his head, the bronze intruder groans a bit and blue water falls from his head and he falls over, Walker sees him crawling towards him and he shoots him in the head four times, each shot made him go in the air and he falls over dead after the last shot, his skin changes back to normal, but the lower half of his right arm, his left hand, and the lower of half of his right leg remain as rocks, he had bronze crocodile-like skin, and the water from his body changes to red blood. Runner holds the silver intruder's hands back and he shoots red beams from his robotic eye, Runner strafes side-to-side to dodge them, he aims directly at his face and he teleports to behind the silver intruder, he turns around and tries to slash him with his right arm's claws, Runner stabs him in his artifcial heart with his sword and he groans, but the silver intruder stands his ground and limps towards him, Runner panics and begins shooting him in his heart, he still limps towards him while black oil and red blood leak out, Runner panics more and begins aiming his pistol at his head, he fires several shots and he stops in place, he hears him powering down and his red eye turns off and he falls over dead, Runner sighs in relief. Sprinter and the gold intruder wrestle with one another and Sprinter was on the ground, he kicks the gold intruder in his groin and he grunts in pain and loses his grip, Sprinter stands up and was behind him, the gold intruder turns around and sees his two allies were dead, he looks at them and a tear falls from his left eye, Sprinter looks back and sees the two dead intruders, the gold intruder screams in rage and runs towards him with his arms out to the sides, Sprinter aims his pistol at his head and fires it into the center of his forehead, he ducks under his right arm and the gold intruder stops running and falls over dead, the gold and transparent parts disappear and his amputations could be seen clearly. Walker, Runner, and Sprinter look at the three dead intruders and their souls come out of their bodies to attack them, the three fire their pistols and destroy their body forms and Walker absorbs the bronze intruder's soul, Runner absorbs the silver one, and Sprinter absorbs the gold one, "Let's go to bed, we'll give the souls to The Judge in our dreams." Sprinter said, Walker and Runner nod and the three go to their beds and sleep.