Seven days ago - In the human world.
It was his usual school day for Zade. Nothing strange happened in the Santiago High School, not even the strange urban legends that he and his friends had busted in his blog. As he wandered in the locker corridor, he had a hard time at minding his own business. The nocturnal explosion that had devastated Aqua High School had lured every student's attention. Zade was worried about the involvement of his group during that night.
"I hope our secret wasn't exposed," Zade thought. "Otherwise we could be into a serious trouble, not even mentioning being expelled from the school or going into jail for destruction of property. The same thing goes for the blog. Someone could even think that we were ones who had destroyed half of that school."
Continuing on his path, he almost managed to get closer to the door leading to his classroom, only to be blocked by two students. One was a rust red haired boy, who looked at him with a unfriendly expression; the other one was a blond haired tall, tough girl. Both of them were giving him a real cold welcome.
"You are going into your classroom, I guess," The boy said.
"Not now, Nigel," Zade said, trying to surpass them, a second before being slammed against the locker by the tough girl.
"Not too hard, Teresa," Nigel said. "We need him alive."
"Since by then torture is legalized?" Zade asked.
Teresa grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and slammed him against the locker once more. "You better not looking tough. You are in a very dangerous area in this moment."
"What do you want?" Zade said nervously, trying to remain calm.
Nigel glared at him. "We are talking about the night the eastern part of the school exploded."
"It's caused by ill-intentioned individuals. Why going after me?" Zade asked.
Nigel punched him in the stomach, causing Zade to emit a yell of pain. "You can't fool us. You and your friends were the ones who were investigating about the disappearance of the six students. I am right?"
Zade doesn't respond, so Nigel gave him another punch in the face. Teresa released him from her grasp and leaved him falling on the ground.
"You better not taste our patience." Teresa threatened.
"Hey! You are bullying him for real, you damn bastards!?" Jace's voice said in the distance.
Zade, Nigel and Teresa looked at the source of the voice and saw Chris, Sera, and Jace approaching them. Sera was already in a full psycho mode, ready to give the two bullies the meaning of pain. However her murderous aura and her mode were both switched off as she and Chris saw Jace pulling out what seemed to be a molotov.
"You want pick up a fight? C'mon!" Jace said angrily as Sera and Chris tried to block him.
"Jace, what the hell are you doing!?" Sera asked.
"Are you nuts!?" Chris said.
"Jace! Don't worse your situation!" Zade ordered.
Teresa facepalmed. "Don't make me puke for your stupidity. Your molotov is a fake one, entirely made of plastic. You don't have even a lighter to do so."
"You damn intruders." Nigel murmured and then pointed his finger at the three students. "Don't think that the force of number will save you forever. Teresa, let's go."
Teresa nodded and then leaved the scene along with Nigel. They didn't even looked back as Jace was screaming back at them.
"That's right! You better not return!" Jace then rushed toward Zade. "Zade, are you alright?"
As Jace, Chris, and Sera were giving support to the beaten up Zade, under the eyes of the other students and the professors, Nigel and Teresa went upstairs and stepped into the roof top. The two bullies looked at each other, looking unconvinced.
"Are you sure they are the ones behind the blog?" Teresa asked.
"Maybe. I just hope that they weren't investigating on the disappearance of the six students." Nigel said. "It's possible that they were after that Deplacer stuff."
"They are just a group of dysfunctional nerds," Teresa reminded. "Why going in that school in the middle of the night anyway?"
"I don't know," Nigel said with a doubt in his mind. "I don't want them butting in our plan."
"What about Theodore?" Teresa asked.
"... Let's just wait for the time in which I can test my theory," Nigel stated.
Present day - In Equestria.
The sword of the stallion suddenly disappeared and was replaced by two guns. He then aimed his new weapons toward them, ready to do his move.
"Alright," Nigel said while making a devilish grin. "Who want some!?"
That being said, Nigel started shooting with his guns pointed toward the group. Sera putted herself in front of their trajectory and shielded herself with conjured skeletal constructs of spectral energy, blocking all of his bullets. The stallion ceased his barrage and observed both the four demonic ponies and the other ones behind them.
"You never changed, Nigel." Sera said coldly in psycho mode.
"What the heck is wrong with you!?" Rainbow Dash asked angrily.
Nigel pointed one of his guns at Rainbow and shot one bullet, which whizzed past her ear her, scaring the hell out of her.
"You should reflect before butting someone else business, dumbass." Nigel said and then looked at his partner. "Teresa, you know what to do."
Teresa nodded and channeled her sword with some kind of holy energy. She stabbed the sword to the ground, causing the earth to tremble a little. And then, suddenly, huge walls made of transparent holy energy came out from the ground around Starlight, Kamahl, Jeska, Thorax and the still chained Chrysalis, leaving only Rainbow, Zade and the rest of the demonic party outside.
"Starlight!" Zade exclaimed.
Starlight glowed her horn in an attempt to teleport the group but nothing happened, much to her astonishment.
"What the...!" Starlight looked dumbfounded.
"This barrier prevents you from using your magic," Teresa stated. "Don't even bother to try what you can't do."
Rainbow Dash flew toward them and tried to break the barrier with her hooves, but is not use. "Are you alright?"
Nigel shot one blow in the air, getting the attention of the five ponies. "Can I get your attention, you slackers?"
"You better think about your well being than that of the others for once," Teresa said as she retrieved her sword. "Still, that rainbow one is inopportune."
"Excuse me?" Rainbow said confused.
"Nigel, we have no time to waste," Zade said. "And most of all, I have no intention to fight you."
"Wrong answer," Nigel said as he replaced his gun with his Rebellion like sword. "Because we have a score to settle."
"That's right," Teresa agreed. "Your leaving the place unscathed is out of question."
"You have seriously the intention to kill us!?" Chris asked shocked.
"No one will miss you. After all..." Nigel channeled his sword with a violet energy. "You are monsters now."
Nigel swung his sword three times, unleashing three violet slashing waves that whizzed toward the four demonic ponies. Zade and his companions leaped away from their trajectory, except Sera, whose skeletal conjunction protected her from one blow, which shattered her defenses. Sera fell aback but then rose up, levitating above the ground and glaring at them with a menacing glare. She flew toward Teresa, all the while launching her magatamas toward her.
Teresa blocked the magatamas with a swing of her sword that generated a massive slashing wave of holy energy that struck Sera and made her fall on the ground.
"SERA!" Jace shouted worried.
"SERA!" Starlight shouted from behind the holy wall.
"One down," Nigel proclaimed as he replaced his sword with his guns again.
Zade glared furiously at him. "Why you...!" He then channeled his hooves in a purple energy. "DOUBLE REPPUKEN!"
Zade unleashed a big wave of energy that traveled toward Nigel, who high jumped above it and shot his guns at him. Chris putted himself in front of Zade while turning his hoof into the Soul Edge and shielded him with it.
Jace turned toward Rainbow Dash with a worried look. "What the hell are you doing here!? GO!"
"But..." Rainbow looked undecided.
"You have gone to far," Chris said with a intimidating tone as he channeled his Soul Edge with a dark aura and was about to slam it on the ground.
"Oh, you don't." Nigel retorted as he summoned a grappling hook made from a black chain-like cord with a red, claw-shaped head, that grasped Chris' neck and dragged him toward him. Nigel then kicked Chris down, causing him to crash on the soil.
"Chris!" Zade shouted.
Landing on the ground, Nigel noticed Jace spiraling through the air and flying toward him, engulfed in flames with all of his fury.
"SUCK ON THIS!" Jace exclaimed.
As Jace was approaching him, Nigel dashed toward his left side and phased through his phase unscathed. "Too slow."
Jace stopped and turned toward him. "What the hell!?"
"Teresa! Go with the heavy artillery!" Nigel said.
Teresa charged her Sword of Vengeance and unleashed all of the holy energy to the sky, causing multiple holy beams raining down at random. Two of the beams struck down both Jace and Zade, propelling them away and slamming them against the holy wall.
Sera, with a few bruises having her psycho mode turned off, slowly rose up and saw the situation with horror. Zade, Jace and Chris slowly stood up and glared back at the two ponies. Chris, however, couldn't help but noticing how much beaten up his other companions were. It was much worse than simple bullism. That was a real fight for their lives.
"Seriously, I bet you never had a real fight in your life, Zade." Nigel announced.
"Just give up and let us finishing you with dignity," Teresa said calmly.
"What dignity!?" Zade shouted. "You are trying to kill us. What you expect to gain from that!?"
"The end of your intromission," Nigel said coldly. "C'mon, slackers. Fight for your lives."
"You asked for it!" Jace said, a moment before using his lightning breath on Nigel, who dodged the blow.
Nigel was about to shoot, until Sera instantly unleashed a legion of skeletal monstrosities that rushed menacingly toward him. Teresa charged his sword with a blinding energy and was about to unleash that when she noticed Zade emerging from the horde and rushing toward Nigel with his hooves being channeled with a destructive energy.
Nigel eyes widened in that moment. "What are y-"
"RAGING STORM" Zade shouted as he slammed his hooves on the floor, causing very powerful geysers of energy rising from below and around him that overwhelmed both Nigel and Teresa, sending them to fly.
Nigel crashed on the ground while Teresa quickly readjusted her equilibrium and flew furiously toward Zade, intentioned to cut him down. Zade managed to block her and reposted her, tossing her around. His attention then returned to Nigel, who looked very beaten and angrier than before, and yet he was maintaining his calm despite those feelings.
"You damn fool," Nigel said as he stood up two legged.
"You asked for it. REPPUKEN!" Zade unleashed a wave of purple energy toward Nigel. Unfortunately his opponent phased through it as he dashed toward him. "What!?"
Approaching his target, Nigel replaced his guns with a couple of gauntlets (Eryx) and proceeded to beat up Zade with a couple of heavy punches in the face, stunning him and causing him to almost losing his equilibrium. Nigel then charged up his fist with demonic energy and sent Zade to fly upward with a flying uppercut.
Nigel landed with rogue grace, leaving a defenseless Zade falling abruply to the terrain.
"Tsk. And I thought you were the tough one." Nigel said sarcastically.
But he didn't had the time to fully contemplate about it that the legion of skeletal monstrosities leaded by Sera was charging in his direction. The pale unicorn levitated above her army and create a sphere of dark blue fire above her head.
"Nigel!!" Sera roared, being in full psycho mode as she unleashed the Flaming Dome upon him.
As the sphere descended upon Nigel, Teresa putted herself in front of him, charged the tip of her Sword of Vengeance with holy energy and creates a huge, fiery white explosion that wiped out the entire army of skeletal ghosts and overwhelmed Sera, who was propelled away during the impact. The pale unicorn rolled on ground until her body stopped in front of the holy wall.
"I told you that the force of number won't save you forever, slackers." Nigel announced.
"Hey!" Chris shouted, getting their attention. "You had forgot me!"
In that moment, Chris turned himself into Night Terror and shot a laser beam from his mouth. Nigel and Teresa just moved away from it's trajectory and rushed toward the monstrous pony. Chris furiously flew toward Teresa and tackled her in mid air, pinning her down to the soil. He then disappeared and suddenly reappeared behind Nigel in a explosion, only for the latter to remain still unscathed and wrapped in a demonic aura, much to Chris' shock.
"What!?" Chris said as he was propelled away from Nigel by a mysterious force.
"Enough!" Nigel said as his mane turned white and the time around him slowed down.
The injured Jace lifted his head slowly. "Oh shit. It's the DMC Devil Trigger!"
Nigel summoned his Rebellion like sword and stabbed Chris' body repetitively at high speed like a fury. Chris reacted by swinging his Soul Edge at him, only for Nigel to dodge the blow, all replacing his sword with his gauntlets again and charging his fist with demonic energy. Chris didn't had the time to counter attack that Nigel delivered a heavy punch in his stomach that almost caused him to fall aback. The pain that he felt in that moment was almost unbearable, but tried to ignored it, no matter what.
Chris glared back at Nigel and charged his laser when a huge holy pillar fell from the sky upon him and overwhelmed him, suffocating his scream. The pillar began to dissipate, revealing a really beaten up and fallen Chris. His body was then wrapped in a dark aura and reverted into his previous form, with his Soul Edge being reverted in his clawed hoof.
In his Nightmare Terror mode, Chris was resistant, but not so resistant to sustain much damage. The same thing could be said for Zade, Sera and Jace. Full of bruises and bleeding a little bit from their foreheads, they watched the scene in awe, almost feeling powerless.
"Did we had... Just lost?" Sera said with her normal tone.
"Even Chris couldn't do anything on them." Zade said.
"DAMMIT!" Jace slammed his hoof in rage. "I completely refuse!!" He tried to stood up.
"Jace! Don't do anything reckless!" Sera said alarmed.
"It seems like we have to speed up your demise," Nigel said as the Devil Trigger worn off, as if he had already his victory in his pocket.
"Stubborn until the bitter end," Teresa said coldly.
"C'mon, let's finish the job," Nigel said.
Nigel approached the three remaining demonic ponies, while Teresa was about to deliver a coup de grace to the unconscious Chris. They seemed to be ready to give them their fatal blow when Rainbow Dash putted herself in between them and the injured demonic party.
"Stop right there!" Rainbow thundered.
"Get out of our way!" Nigel said, pointing his sword at her. "Nobody asked your opinion."
"Besides, why risking your life for those monsterized losers?" Teresa asked coldly.
"To be honest," Rainbow said. "I didn't had trusted them a little bit because of what they are capable to do with their tremendous powers. But after seeing them fighting for their lives and seeing them being reduced in such state... I couldn't help but sympathize with them. And no, it's not Stallionckolm Syndrome. It's called empathy... And now I understand why Starlight and Twilight put so much faith into them."
"You have finished? Because you better step aside if you won't get hurt," Nigel threatened.
"You are kidding me? You are stronger but not faster as I really am!" Rainbow boasted and then flew at high speed around them, resembling a rainbow blur circling around them
She then toward Nigel for a surprise attack, but he instinctively backhanded her in her face, sending her flying a little bit. After that, he stallion turned his sword into his grappling hook and grasped Rainbow's neck in mid air with it. He then pulled the rainbow maned pegasus toward him and blocked her with one arm. Rainbow was wriggling to release herself until Nigel replaced his sword with a shotgun and pointed it on her head.
"See? This what happens when you don't play Baseball." Nigel said to Rainbow.
"Rainbow Dash!" Starlight screamed from behind the holy wall.
"Don't even think to glow your horn to teleport or even trying to save them," Nigel said. "Because I have a valid hostage. A Element of Harmony. If you don't want the Element of Loyalty dead, you better do as I said. She will be spared if you let us finish what we had started, a nobody else will get hurt. Except Zade's party, of course."
"You are cowards, and real monsters too!" Rainbow retorted.
"Shut up." Nigel said, pressing his gun on her head.
"You are expecting us to surrender in this very moment, right?" Kamahl demanded behind the holy wall.
"Yes. So?" Nigel asked.
"Can you please look a these monuments." Kamahl asked.
Nigel and Teresa looked at the monoliths. Their eyes instantly widened as the huge crystallized monuments were devoured by multiple spirals of living vines. Their pressure threatened to crush the monoliths, which started to crack.
"How is that possible!?" Teresa demanded astonished.
"There was no living, vegetable organism around this wasteland!" Nigel said angrily. "How did you do that?" He observed Kamahl, whose feet were wrapped in vines that dug through the soil. "No, don't tell me-"
"I have quite familiarity with nature itself," Kamahl said. "Under this terrain, an abundant dose of plants that were able to live undergrounds, feeding on the magic of the monoliths themselves."
"What?" Nigel looked surprised.
"However, you should think about your real problem." Kamahl said bluntly. "These monoliths are full of both the energy of the Twilegion and that of the Mirari itself. If destroyed by those magic imbued vines, it will spread a very destructive chain reaction that will aura that will destroy everything in this area. Are you sure that is the result you want to reach?"
Everybody gasped except Kamahl, Jeska, Nigel and Teresa.
"I never thought you are this crazy at this point," Nigel said. "And you forgot that I have still the hostage on my side."
"Kill her and I will unleash this scourge in the entire area." Kamahl threatened calmly.
"Are you CRAZY!?" Chrysalis retorted.
"Oh, shut up, you demon. You were silently rooting for these bullies." Jeska said.
"I know you detest loosing this war," Kamahl stated to Nigel. "But remember. Even the menace of power is power."
Nigel gritted her teeth and looked very grim. His calm composure was shattered and he trembled a little bit, which surprised him since he and Teresa were never been in a stalemate like this. It was like a double edged checkmate.
Resigned at this perspective, he released Rainbow Dash from his grasp and tossed her on the ground. Looking defeated, Nigel turned toward Teresa and approached her.
"Let's go." Nigel said.
"What?" Teresa said astonished.
"Don't discuss. Just do as I said... Please." Nigel said.
Teresa nodded in agreement and then glared coldly at Zade and the rest of the group. Her sword glowed for a moment and all of a sudden, the holy wall instantly sunk inside the ground, disappearing from their sight. Not only that, but the bodies of the demonic ponies glowed in a holy aura that partially healed their wounds.
"Eh?" Sera looked confused.
"What?" Zade said with perplexity.
"You four were alive for a miracle," Teresa reminded that to Zade's party. "You won't be alive next time."
"You had won this round... But the rest?" Nigel paused. "See you later."
Teresa and Nigel turned their back at them and proceed their way toward their unknown destination, disappearing in the horizon.
"Zade! Rainbow Dash!" Starlight exclaimed as she and the other ponies approached Rainbow Dash and the injured demonic ponies. "Are you alright?"
"Well... It could be worse," Rainbow said until she noticed the injured ponies. "Oh... Sorry."
"Don't worry." Zade assured. "This isn't the first time we got in the trouble."
"We have to take care of Chris!" Sera said.
"CHRIS!" Jace shouted alarmed as he stood up, ignoring his pain, and rushed toward the unconscious Chris along with Zade and Sera.
"Chris! Wake up!" Zade exclaimed. "Please you have to wake up!"
"Chris!" Sera shouted.
Chris remained immobile, not showing any sign of life, at first. But then, he slightly moved, groaning and opening his eyes.
"What is all this ruckus?" Chris said with a weak tone.
Zade sighed in relieve. "Thank god, you were still alive!"
Chris' eyes widened. "Nigel and Teresa?"
"Well, Kamahl pulled out a very convincing deterrent that saved us all," Zade said with a serious tone. "Seriously, this fight pushed us into our limits."
"Also, that Teresa bitch partially healed us for some reason that I couldn't explain," Jace said with a doubt in his mind. "Had that Teresa took lessons from Rubicant?"
Chris tried to stood up but felt to tired and in pain to do so. "Oh crap."
"Chris, you need to rest." Sera said
"But we have not time to waste," Chris reminded. "We have to find the Caledum."
"No, we have to save Twilight and the four Elements first," Jace reminded.
"If I am right, both of those things are in our same direction," Kamahl said. "Making this dilemma of priority entirely pointless."
"I know that would be inopportune," Starlight said calmly. "i will be the ones who will take care of your wounds."
"How?" Zade asked.
"Well, I have learned a lot of healing magic during my time as the leader of the Front of Lost Harmony," Starlight explained.
"You see, I have healed a lot of refugees. Healing you shouldn't be a problem at all."
"I saw her practicing to heal the injured ponies," Thorax assured. "I can assure you of that."
"Thank god we have a healer," Jace said exultant.
"Not exactly. I will just do my best." Starlight said optimistically.
Jace glared at Chrysalis. "You were rooting for those bastards, right?"
"Does that even matter if I do or not?" Chrysalis said sternly. "Don't forget that I value only my persona."
"But you got owned hard." Jace retorted gleefully.
"Enough," Kamahl interrupted them.
Rainbow Dash approached Starlight as the latter was using her magic to cure the demonic group. Feeling a little sorry for them, Rainbow couldn't help but express what she felt.
"I hate to say that but I was kind of a jerk not trusting your judgement," Rainbow said. "I mean, I thought you were brainwashed or something. What was I thinking?"
"You don't have to apologize," Starlight assured. "I know that was strange at first, but trust me. We are in good hands." Starlight paused. "I can't help but wonder if you remembered them saving you during your time as Twilegion's part."
"Well... I remembered them saving us," Rainbow said reluctantly. "But... It's kind of shocking when you got saved by so called villains who were actually good guys. That-"
"We got it," Jace butted in. "It's hard to trust the villains when you see one. But rest assured. We didn't had choose to be in this form anyway."
"There is one thing that bugged me to no end," Zade said.
"What is it?" Thorax asked.
".... Nigel and Teresa weren't fighting us for real," Zade stated.
"WHAT!?" Jace looked shocked.
"Are you kidding me?" Chris said as Starlight was healing him with her magic. "They were really trying to kill us for real. How could you tell that they were holding back."
"Don't forget that Teresa partially healed us," Zade reminded. "They were surely holding back. The real question is... Why?"
Far away from Zade and their group, Nigel and Teresa wandered in the middle of the wasteland aimlessly. They weren't just reflecting about their defeat. They were contemplating about something, like a doubt who bugged their minds.
"I expected them to be powerful," Nigel said. "That was kinda disappointing."
"They didn't had honed their powers far enough," Teresa replied. "I don't think they were a legitimate threat to us. And was not because they depends on the others."
"They were after the Caledum for sure," Nigel stated. "But that's not the point."
"I think I know what you are talking about," Teresa guessed.
"............ They had no idea of the real danger that is lying in the depths of this contorted story," Nigel said with a grim tone.
"You were late," A voice said.
Nigel and Teresa turned toward the source of the voice and found a very tall man wearing a saint robe, with very long black hairs and two eyes having two crystallized irises.
"Boream," Nigel called him. "What do we owe you this visit of yours?
"Arrogant as usual, eh, Nigel?" Boream said sternly. "You were supposed to get rid of the targets."
"But you didn't told us why," Teresa specified. "Besides, weren't you supposed to be a powerful Deplacer?"
"I don't have to account for my actions to anyone." Boream said. "You have one job and you had failed miserably."
"You may be the one who sent us in Equestria and turned us into ponies like this," Nigel said. "However, let me tell you something about it. We owe you nothing."
"You insolent child," Boream said calmly.
"Whoa. It's a bad thing when somebody pretends some explanation from you." A familiar voice said.
Boream eyes widened. "You were insolent as ever." He looked forward, seeing a very familiar human like figure. "Virum!"
"Long time no see, Boream." Virum said gleefully.
The two deplacer studied each other. Each one motivated by his own agenda that nobody else will ever discover. However, Virum looked more relaxed compared to his pseudo colleague.
"I didn't had come her to fight." Virum said. "I will talk about something of interest."
"How much interesting," Boream asked.
"............. It's about Theodore."