//------------------------------// // Chapter 5: Confrontation // Story: The Wiccan Demon // by Steven1992 //------------------------------// “All right, everypony’s gathered. Now mind telling us what’s up, Circe?” I asked still frantic because of Circe’s recent behavior. It took half an hour to gather the Mane Six, some were asleep and were not happy from being woken up. Circe was pacing back and forth behind on one side of the table, while the Mane Six sat on the other side. Tirean and I were standing to the right of the table. “What’s up, is we have a massive problem.” Circe finally said stopping her pacing her face still grim. “Well, can you please drop the grim look? It’s honestly freaking me out.” I shuddered a bit trying to keep it contained. “It’s a look Tirean and I have never seen before.” “I agree with Sarius, sis. It’s certainly a… freighting sight, to be honest.” Tirean added. I shuddered more hearing Tirean acknowledge such a thing. “If Tirean is frightened by you right now, you know you got to be scary.” Circe finally dropped the grim look and replaced it with an apologetic look. “S-sorry. Once I heard you mention mother has been working on that circle all day, I got scared myself.” Me and Tirean’s eyes widen. “If she got that look from being scared, imagine what it would be if we pissed her off,” I whispered to Tirean. He nodded shakingly. “Just don’t anger me then and you may never find out,” Circe said, rolling her eyes. “Enhanced hearing remember?” “Right.” I swallowed the lump that was currently in my throat and cleared it. “Anyway, what kind of massive problem do we have right now?” I asked already regretting asking. “At best, a mass genocide, at worst, extinction. Depending on how quickly we handle this.” Every pair of eyes aside from me and Circe went wide-eyed. “Well... That is pretty massive.” I said matter-of-factly. Circe looked at me and raised an eyebrow sarcastically. “You don’t say?” She remarked sarcastically. I narrow my eyes at her. “First the face, now sarcasm? Did I do something wrong to deserve this treatment from my own sister?” I asked not expecting an answer. Circle merely rolled her eyes. Her horns lit up as she took out a book in her saddlebag, placed it on the table and her horns lit up more as she used a strong spell on the book. The book flew open and pages were turning quickly before a flash of blue light created a projection. The projection showed a 3D pony figure with text and numbers. Starlight’s face lit up. “Neat. What kind of spell is that?” She asked really curious. “It’s a medium level spell I learned while looking through other books, before finding this book on the table. This book is why it took me nearly a week to find. It was actually in the restricted section, that required the magic of the current Empress to open. I’m glad Cadence was so willing to help me with not just that but with finding the book too.” Twilight’s eyes widen. “T-there’s a restricted section in the Crystal Empire Library?!” She asked getting overexcited to the point of breathing really hard. “Eeyup. You got a reason to visit Cadence and Shining Armor now. Though I think Cadence might be due soon.” Circe said. “Anyway, this pony here is Koreath. I strongly believe he’s the demon that was sealed in the book.” “Wait, a demon was sealed in a book? That’s a first.” I said sounding surprised for once. “Indeed.” Tirean agreed. “So what’s the details about him, Circe?” “He is responsible for the near extinction of a species. The Draconequui.” Circe answered, her grim expression returned slightly. Fluttershy gasped at this. “H-he’s the r-reason, Discord is alone?” She asked nearly on the verge of tears. Circe nodded sadly. “And from what I read, he came close to killing him too. But the details of the last part are vague. All it says is that he nearly wiped out the Draconequui and was then sealed away into the book.” She then turned to Tirean. “Did you learn anything from the Canterlot Library?” Tirean shook his head. “Not much, I’m afraid. Though I will say I may have the vague details your missing. It turns out, the parents of Celestia and Luna with the Elements of Harmony sealed him into the book and Celestia and Luna protected Discord during the whole thing. Unfortunately, despite being incredibly weakened from nearly wiping out a species, sealing him was the best that could be managed.” I rubbed my chin in thought. “That would explain how those three know each other so well.” I then looked at Fluttershy. “But that makes me wonder why he isn’t just a bit nicer to them. They helped save and protect him.” Fluttershy shrugged. “I don’t know. I’ll ask him when I get the chance.” I turned my attention back to Circe. “So we just need to best a severely weakened demon? Sounds easy enough.” I said before narrowing my eyes. “What’s the catch here, sis?” “The catch is that he has his own realm he draws power from and the only way to open a portal to his realm is through the ritual our mother is performing. If he manages to have mother complete the ritual and escape back to his realm it’s over.” “There it is.” I acknowledged. “So we basically have to stop the ritual so dealing with Koreath will be easier?” Circe nodded. “If he’s aware of this, he’ll have our mother create one hell of a defense to ensure the ritual isn’t interrupted. Which will mostly be magic defenses.” “Do you have a plan, Sister?” Tirean asked. “I do. It’s not the best but with improvisation, it’ll work. Starlight, Twilight, and Rarity.” The mentioned three mares looked at Circe. “The four of us are gonna focus our efforts on breaking the magical defenses together. If it goes well, it shouldn’t take more than 5 minutes. After that, it’s just a matter of stopping the ritual. Koreath himself may interfere so we need to be ready for that and he will not be easy to take down.” “And how can we do that?” Twilight asked. “The Elements of Harmony and the Trusdale Triplets together,” I stated. “But that’s impossible. The Elements were returned to the Tree of Harmony to help keep the Everfree Forest in check. We can’t use them. And the ‘Rainbow Power’ we used to defeat Tirek, I’m not entirely sure how we can access it again. So again, how?” Twilight asked frantic and unsure about this plan. I simply shook my head in disappointment. “You still don’t get it? Twilight, the Elements you’re talking about are just physical conductors for you all. They only help channel and focus your power of Harmony. The real power is inside each of you.” I started walking past each of the Mane Six. “Laughter, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Magic, and Kindness. The six Elements of Harmony. You six represent those Elements and therefore are the Elements themselves. You don’t need the conductors to use that power and the Rainbow Power is just your full Harmonic power released when you become one with the elements you represent.” I stopped next to Circe. “You girls don’t need the gems that you claim are the Elements of Harmony. You just need to remember the Elements are the aspects you represent. Become one with those aspects and you’ll be able to use the full power of Harmony. Nothing else to it.” “But will it be enough? This Koreath fellow sounds like he’s on a different level than Tirek was.” Rarity asked. “No, unfortunately. It won’t be.” Tirean stated. “But using the three of us as amplifiers should be enough. Remember, when Tirek got the magic from the three of us, he became strong enough to oppose the Rainbow Power. So when it seemed like it wasn’t enough, the Tree of Harmony made the three of us act as amplifiers for you.” “So together, we can defeat this demon or at the very least seal him away again,” I concluded. “That’s the plan. Now is everypony ready? We don’t have much time to think about this. So if we want to stop his resurrection, we need to act now.” Circe declared. Twilight looked to her friends, who all had mixed expressions among them. But they all nodded in agreement. “We’re ready.” “Good, then it’s time to exorcise this demon.” After a couple of minutes of galloping to my home, we arrived. Luna’s moon was slowly reaching the horizon. Circe stepped forward, charged up her horn and fired a magic bolt. It hit a large magic barrier that was formed around the house. “As I thought. Ready, girls?” Circe asked not expecting an answer. Rarity, Starlight, and Twilight stepped forward and nodded. All four mares charged up their horns creating a mixture glow of purple and blue. They fired their magic at the barrier, aiming for one point as the beams impacted together against the barrier creating a bright white light. Rarity was struggling a bit to match the magic output of the other three. After a while, the barrier began cracking and breaking from the combined magic of the four unicorns. It was obvious to tell that they were nearing their limits, as they started sweating and panting hard. Thankfully it didn’t take much longer for the barrier to the house to be destroyed as it shattered into pieces of magical residue. The magic of the unicorns faded as they catch their breath. “Alright. Be on guard everypony. We don’t know what to expect once we enter. So stay close to me and my siblings.” I warned. All of us then entered the home together, ready for anything. Once we got inside, Rowyn was chanting in a foreign language. The circle was now littered with various items that were being used in the ritual. “So I’m going to assume this ritual is hard to do. Seeing as you need to learn the chant and find the required items to do it.” I said asking Circe. “Yup. It helps explain why mother has been at this all day. That chant is not easy to memorize and items are rare themselves.” She answered. “We just need to either remove one of the items or break the circle.” All of us were about to do that until a dark heavy pressure made us stop that was followed shortly after by a deep otherworldly voice. ”I will not allow that!” A cloud of black smoke appeared over Rowyn and started glowing dangerously red. Circe, Tirean and I had little time to jump in front of the Mane Six and Starlight and combine our energies to create the most powerful Energtris Shield we could create, as a wave of dark powerful magic engulfed us. The entire front side of the house was destroyed in an instant as we were pushed back outside several yards away. The grass and trees in a wide cone from the house were withered to nothing, leaving what looked like a black stain on the earth. Sounds of cracking filled me with a small amount of fear, as what was creating the sound was the shield my siblings and I created. The blast was so powerful it severely cracked and damaged the shield, nearly breaking it entirely. Half of my energy supply was also drained due to using my energy to empower the shield. The same could be said for my siblings. “Hey Circe, you said this guy was severely weakened before he got sealed, right?” I asked still bewildered. She nodded. “Unless he was able to regain some of his power while sealed, he should be as strong as he was when he was sealed.” She stated, filling me with dread. “Heh heh heh. We are way out of our leagues right now.” I laughed nervously to myself. The shield was dropped, as I looked behind me to check if the others were alive at least. Thankfully they were, but they were very rattled from fear. I turned my attention back to the house, debris and a cloud of dust covered the now open entrance. A black smog then stepped forward through it, but on closer examination, it was a stallion that had black smog being emitted from the hooves and replacing the mane and tail. His eyes were blood red, his body was dark gray with a black magic circle surrounded by a red sun-like object for a cutie mark. He also had wings and a horn. The way his mane and tail flowed, it reminded me of Nightmare Moon. I could feel his power and it was massive. So much so I was feeling intimidated but the years of training my siblings and I went through helped us keep our cool, stay calm in the midst of battle, and be in full control of our emotions. I was scared and so were my siblings, but we weren’t about to let him figure it out. ”Lesser beings should know their place.” He spoke in the same otherworldly tone from earlier. ”None of you can hold a candle to the amount of power I possess as of right now.” I stamped my hoof in the ground hard to help the Mane Six and Starlight get over their fear and to also tell Koreath I wasn’t backing down, which worked for the mares behind me. “You used my mother like a puppet to bring yourself back and you’re threatening the existence of not only my home but the ponies and beings who are my friends and family. My siblings and I are no mere lesser beings and neither are the mares behind me.” Circe and Tirean also stepped forward. “Don’t get too comfortable being free, Koreath. Cause we’re about to send you back to your imprisonment or better yet to Tartarus!” Circe declared. ”Death it is then. For all of you!” His horn began charging up emitting a red aura as well as a black smoke surrounding it. A black beam was then fired at us, which my siblings and I blocked with another shield. Thankfully the beam wasn’t as powerful as the blast, but with our energy supplies diminished heavily we couldn’t keep blocking it. “Girls, we need you! Remember; you are the Elements themselves! Become one with the aspects and never forget we’re all in this together!” I shouted trying to snap the Mane Six out of the grip of fear they felt. Twilight managed to get a hold of herself. “He’s right. We need to believe in ourselves. We were able to defeat foes before cause we worked together. This shouldn’t be any different.” She said trying to sound inspiring. Unbeknownst to everypony present, Twilight’s cutie mark began glowing. The rest of the Mane Six were starting to get over their fear and they all acknowledged Twilight’s words. “Yeah, there’s nothing we can’t do if we team up and stick together!” Rainbow shouted, full of courage. Her cutie mark was glowing now. “Right. All we’ll need is each other and the friends we all made.” Fluttershy spoke feeling fully confident for the first time in her life. Another cutie mark was glowing. “I won’t lie ya’ll. I am scared right now, but as long as we’re all together I have nothing to fear.” Applejack spoke saying the honest truth. Four cutie marks. “We’re all scared, darling and there’s nothing wrong with that. I’m willing to lead my power and aid to my friends no matter what.” Rarity said with a flick of her mane, acting like herself. Just one more. “Let’s do it then. Let’s beat this badie so we can have another day to party, laugh, cry, and be happy to have.” Pinkie said bouncing with the most beautiful smile while also giggling. The cutie marks of the Mane Six were now glowing. The glow of their cutie marks then covered their bodies until they were engulfed in spheres, each being the same color of the ponies inside. One by one, the Mane Six emerged from them in their Rainbow Power form. The release of Harmonic energy created a pulse that dispersed the black beam Koreath fired and causing him to stumble back a step. He didn’t seem fazed by this, unfortunately. ”Do you honestly expect you can defeat me with the Elements of Harmony?” He then made a deep bellowed laugh. ”They are too weak to defeat me.” “Maybe, but you’re not just dealing with the Elements of Harmony.” My siblings and I started flying up into the air and positioned ourselves in a triangle pattern while the Mane Six floated up to our level and formed a circle. “You’re also dealing with the Trusdale Triplets.” I declared with pride. “We know for a fact, neither us or the Mane Six alone could defeat you,” Circe added. “But altogether, we have a chance.” Tirean finished. The harmonic energy and power of the Mane Six created an orb from which six beams of magic were attached to me and my siblings. Fluttershy and Twilight created a beam to Circe, Rarity, and Applejack to Tirean, while Rainbow and Pinkie were attached to me. The three of us started glowing with magic and energy. Koreath was now getting nervous. My siblings and I then focused all that power and magic as well as a bit of our own power into one hoof and shot a beam at a single point where they collided with each other, forming another orb of magic that shot a large white beam with rainbow streaks at Koreath. He responded with a shield of his own blocking the attack. But like with us, his shield was cracking from the sheer raw harmonic power. I noticed he was stuck in place. “Starlight! Get in the house and break the circle! We got this!” I shouted over the hum and sound of the power struggle. She nodded barely hearing me and running into the house. Starlight walked in the room and heard Rowyn still chanting. She was a bit happy they still have time but knew breaking the circle couldn’t have been this easy. She aimed for the closest object and shot a bolt of magic at it, only to hit another magic barrier. “I thought as much.” She said to herself. The barrier seemed basic, only to be enough to buy a small amount of time. Starlight gathered magic in her horn and shot the barrier. After a couple of seconds, she shattered it. She then acted quickly to break the circle but stopped when something didn’t feel right or more precisely, sound right. Silence. She looked at Rowyn, who was not chanting anymore. Starlight’s eyes widen. She quickly tried to break the circle or destroy one of the objects. But it was too late. A loud unnerving crack was heard that Starlight swore could be heard from Canterlot. She looked really close to the middle of the circle. Up a couple feet in the air, was a large crack. Another crack was heard as it expanded further apart. And another causing the crack to be as long as the circle which took up half the room. And with an ear bursting shatter that definitely could be heard in Canterlot, the crack opened wide revealing a portal. Upon opening, the portal released a large pulse of power and energy which disintegrated all the harmonic magic and energy outside. Starlight looked out the opening in the house to see that all the power and magic from the Elements and Triplets were just gone. Koreath dropped his heavily damaged shield, turned around and smiled widely upon seeing the portal to his realm.