Raise thy sword by the light...and head to the place where the sword's light gathers... There, thou shalt find the colossi thou art to defeat.
"Yoo-hoo, Twilight, get up sleepyhead!"
Twilight Sparkle was the last one to stir awake out of the rest of the Mane Six, slowly getting up to her hooves and feeling a bit sore for having to sleep on the floor instead of an actual bed. Then again, they didn't have that much of a choice in the matter either given where they ended up. Dormin's spell landed them, for the most part, in some sort of large ruin. The walls were as ancient as the rocks, molded down and coated in old dust from the years since it's been lost in time. It seemed just as familiar as it was different, with the place Twilight waking up belonging to the throne of an unnamed ruler, each and every single statue of the Colossi described by Dormin lined all along the walls, in position as if they were in attendance to their lord.
Thanks to the wake-up call by her pink friend, Twilight found her own hooves and got herself standing. Looking around aside from the obvious statues, she saw the rest of her friends around the room basically woken up as well and waiting. The only one actually trying to do something besides just sitting around was Applejack, who was by one of the statues and trying her hardest to buck one of them into rubble.
"Come on, crack or somethin," Applejack groaned in between kicks.
"Is she still trying?" Twilight asked, a bit groggy.
"She's been at it the whole night. But I still don't understand how a simple statue can't just break after all that kicking," Fluttershy replied, just to hear the orange pony groan and move away, both back legs sore and even a little red.
"Alright. I'm spent," Applejack FINALLY admitted, "Those things are tougher than the walls of the Crystal Empire."
"So I'm gonna assume you didn't crack any of them after three days?" Pinkie inquired. Applejack shook her head.
"I'd have better luck bucking a frozen Apple Tree than making a dent in these things," Applejack replied. She took a seat, giving her back hooves a moment to recover. The others checked the statue in particular where Applejack had just finished, and sure enough all of that bucking only seemed to kick some dust if anything.
Rainbow Dash had enough.
"Ok, that's it. I know you keep saying no, but I'm gonna try it. Stand back everypony!" Rainbow Dash finally decided.
"Rainbow, wait!" shouted Rarity. However it was a bit late to say that much since Rainbow Dash was already in the air, and flown outside. The rest of the Mane Six were now wondering where to actually get out of the way. They all could hear the gathering wind outside as Rainbow Dash began to gather up more and more speed outside, wings flapping faster, and a blur outside moving quicker and quicker, until ...
"YaaaaaaAAAHHH! -" *BOOOOM*
A Sonic Rainboom. The word that best describes the strongest aerial maneuver of force and energy Rainbow knew, and she had just released one right inside of the throne room! Blasts of rainbow power launched out any window inside said room, blasting through the sky and probably being heard a good few miles away, only to fade in the air.
As for the throne room ... geesh, it's a wonder it was still standing. Rainbow stood in front of one of the statues, front hooves already slamming into it from the hit, as dust blasted everywhere and her friends kinda knocked to the wall.
... Nothing.
"ARE. YOU. SERIOUS?!" Rainbow screamed.
"There. You happy now?" groaned Rarity, who now was even filthier than she already was.
"What are these statues made out of to take a hit like that?" Fluttershy had to ask, her hoof gently being placed on the same statue Rainbow Dash just flown into. A direct hit from a pony at sonic speed and even that wasn't enough to make any actual dent on the statues, even if that same blast cracked the wall behind it!
"Rainbow, we told you that wouldn't work," Twilight said.
"You got a better idea? We've already looked this old castle from top to bottom at least seven times, and hadn't found hoof nor fur of Celestia OR Luna," Rainbow angrily and impatiently reminded.
"I know, I know, but until we know where those Colossi are there's nothing else we can do. I've already tried every spell I know of, and that didn't work either," Twilight said, though she felt reluctantly to even admit that.
"Well it would definitely help if that "Dormin" character told us where they actually were. Stupid dust, I just got this mane cleaned up," Rarity sighed, trying some of her own magic to "wring out" the dust from her mane as best she could.
"So why don't we ask Dormin where they are? He already knows everything in this BIG place," Pinkie suggested. By the looks of her friends' faces (excluding Fluttershy of course) this was asked more than once, and they weren't thrilled on relying on the princess's kidnapper for help here. They did cause this whole scenario in the first place, and who knew what was going on back home. Twilight Sparkle still was convinced it might not be a good idea, but just glancing outside towards the sky at the sun hidden behind the faded clouds was enough for the Alicorn to finally concede.
She walked towards the front of the room, and looked straight up towards the ceiling. One detail in this room that seemed different from typical throne rooms is a huge skylight just above their heads. They never had a reason until now to actually talk through this thing.
"Dormin! You brought us here, and we've been patient with you, but ... ugh, we can't wait any longer! Can you just tell us how to find these Colossi?" Twilight shouted.
They all waited for a bit, just staring up at the hole, but nothing seemed to be happening. Not another voice, not even a murmur beyond the sound of the wind outside. Twilight stayed staring up at the opening, but she slowly started lowering her gaze, thinking that Dormin wasn't -
...Thou choose only now to talk to us. ... Thou are very patient. ...
All the Ponies stepped back when they heard that mixtured voice, the chill running along through the room as they all turned their gazes up to the hole. They couldn't SEE Dormin, but they knew that distinctive voice enough from last time to know who it was for sure.
"Yeah, we've been patient with ya," Applejack said with a stomp of her hoof, "But we've waited long enough here."
... As we all, mortal. said Dormin slowly. But we are puzzled all the same. Has thou not heard us?
"Heard you where?" Rainbow remarked impatiently. Dormin was quiet at first, but eventually the voice began speaking again.
Raise thy sword by the light...and head to the place where the sword's light gathers...
"There, thou shalt find the colossi thou art to defeat - that wasn't just a weird dream? You WERE talking!" Twilight quickly concluded, as if those words were suddenly clicking with, not just her, but the rest of her friends as well.
"Oooo, that's super easy! If ONLY we had a fancy sword that can actually do that," Pinkie said.
"But we don't have a sword," Fluttershy reminded.
Thou already has one. ...
"Ok, can you just STOP talking in riddles and just spell it out? Do you want us to get rid of them Colossi for you or not?" the rainbow Pegasus snapped. She would tackle Dormin by this point if she could see them, but Dormin wouldn't allow it if they could help it. Dormin didn't speak beyond that, leaving the Ponies below to try and figure this out for themselves.
"Raise thy sword by the light ... raise thy sword ....... wait ..."
Something clicked in Twilight's head.
"What is it? Do you know what they're talking about?" Fluttershy asked.
"I think so. Wait right here," Twilight replied.
It was worth a shot. The alicorn, thinking more about the "sword" Dormin kept mentioning, turned her gaze away from the hole up in the rooftop and over towards outside instead at the natural light. For the time of day, the sunlight from out there was just at a good place for a ray of the dim sunshine to venture inside. Twilight stood in a position where she had the light cover much of her body. She raised her head good and high, and ...
aaaaaannnnnnnd ...
*shimmer*
"GOTCHA TWILIGHT!"
"ACK! Pinkie!" Twilight yelped, not underneath the pink mare as she hugged her tightly. It took the alicorn a good ten seconds until she finally got Pinkie Pie calm enough to get her to let go, making Pinkie let go with some aura magic around her body.
"What did you do that for?"
"I thought you were gonna act all magic-possessed again, so I'm gonna make sure you're still with us," Pinkie made clear. But as she was bringing Pinkie down to the ground, the light from outside started to align itself with Twilight's glowing horn. ...
"Twilight. Your horn ..."
Rarity didn't need to say anymore for Twilight to quietly look up. The light was reflecting off of her horn's magical aura, as if her horn alone was made of glass. Even so, this reflection wasn't that simple, as all of the light seemed to only reflect off of one point, bouncing off in several directions.
"How're you doing that? Never seen you use a spell like that before," Pinkie asked.
"I-I'm not doing that, I swear I'm -"
However, an idea suddenly clicked in Twilight's head.
"Ok. Ok. Now ... Aim it at the light ..." Twilight had to move very carefully now, her head stiff as a board as she slowly began moving around. The others kept a close eye on the point. The light off of Twilight's own horn did not just bounce off normally as she was moving around, but instead, it began to waver and bend closer and closer together the more she began to turn. One hoof step at a time, the lights drew closer and closer.
"Come on ... connect please ... aaaaand GOT IT!"
It was a direct line, shining a glow that was as if she was just shooting a laser from her horn. Twilight and company finally found a path on their way.
"So the Colossi is straight that way," Twilight concluded.
"Great! Come on, let's go beat some evil monsters," Rainbow said, rearin and ready to go. However, the Pegasus was already grabbed from flying away by Applejack's strong teeth. Old habits die hard.
"Hold up, Rainbow, we might've gotten the main idea, but we still got no clue where this Colossi is," Applejack said. Rainbow did settle down, but then their pink mare got up onto the window and checked outside.
"You think that very convenient-looking ditch might be the way?" Pinkie asked.
Everyone else went up and looked outside just to see what Pinkie Pie was talking about. Right out of the window, they all got a view of the world outside of the ruins. Unfortunately for many of them, the outside world looked just as empty as the castle. However, even with it looking so empty, they did end up finding a large "road" leading away from the palace. It was lined with ridges and dirt, and not even a mile away from them it lead straight towards what looked like a mountainside.
"That could work," Twilight said.
For the first time since they've arrived in this world, the Mane Six were finally off on their way and going out into the world. The exit from the ruins opened up to empty hills, and VAST plains with only the short dry grass to comfort their hooves from rocky ground below them. The sky was clear, but weakly casted under white cloud with grey spots to break up the otherwise blinding white.
The gallop down the path was no problem, but then came to the mountainside. It was a good thing they got themselves two Pegasi and an Alicorn, otherwise it would be a bit harder than it should.
"So what kind of monster do you think we're gonna be facing?" Fluttershy asked along the way.
"I don't know. I mean, I've never heard of a Colossi before," Twilight replied, not accounting any real mention of them in any of her books. Then again, they were in a completely different world, so that was probably why.
"It could be anything. It could be a giant serpent, some HUGE gorilla beast, a giant bear! I bet it's something really crazy," Rainbow said, though by her tone she sounded more excited for action than anything else, even at the expense of Fluttershy's worry. Rainbow only needed a glance to see it.
"Ehh, sorry. Too much?"
"Well I'm gonna say this, if them monsters are enough for that Dormin to capture Celestia and Luna to make us do this, we're in for one heck of a rodeo," Applejack replied.
"Hopefully not TOO big of a rodeo. I'm not looking forward to a complete tussle after all that time stuck in that dusty old castle," Rarity said. The unicorn had her priorities.
"Still keep your eyes peeled. For all we know it could be watching us right now," Twilight instructed.
Good timing to say it too, because not even a minute after she said that, the group was brought up towards a flattened area of the path. The area they found looked even more dead and old than the route getting there; the ground was dry and cracked up with gravel and stone, only a few dried bushes and a dead tree welcoming them from their climb. The tall walls of rock wrapped around the area, as if they've entered an arena.
"I dunno. My Pinkie Sense hasn't gone off in the last ten minutes, so maybe it's not around here?" Pinkie shrugged.
"I thought your Pinkie Sense can't detect monsters," remarked Applejack.
"I know, but these sound like big doozies," Pinkie reminded, "and we all know what happens when I sense a big doozy."
"Hang on, I'll scout it out," Rainbow Dash decided. They weren't getting much done down close to the ground, so an aerial recon would work much better. The Pegasus flew up good and high, and she got a good fifty feet off of the ground before she stopped and checked around. ...
....... *thump* ....... *thump* .......
"HOLY - guys we got a big one!" Rainbow shouted.
"Rainbow, what're you talking abo -" Rarity said.
....... *thump* ....... *thump* .......
"Oh. My."
*THUMP*
They found it. Or rather, it found them.
The entire group had their nerves completely frazzled when, not even ten feet away from them, a GIGANTIC HOOF slammed into the ground! The patterns on this giant foot matched nothing they've seen before, and the weight was so immense and so shattering, the ground underneath cracked and wavered with no trouble at all. The beast was nothing short of titanic. Even where Rainbow Dash was flying at that moment, this giant was even taller than that, the rainbow Pegasus flying face-to-face with it. The best way to compare this beast to anything would be a Minotaur: sturdy hooves with a cow-like head made of rock, and yet the broad shoulders and long muscular arms of a Gorilla. A HUGE mane covered its neck down its back, as dry and as bristle as the grass, and every step made the trees and shrubs shutter in fear they would be crushed. In one hand the beast held a mallet big enough to crush a Ponyville cottage, and it was casually holding it as if it weighed nothing. Shaggy fur mixed with old skin, and bizarrely varying builds around its body; a set of three flattened platforms jotted its back, and rocky rings and belts wrapped around its stomach, legs, and arms as if they were built into it.
"We found our Colossus," said a very humbled Twilight.
"Yeah," replied an awestruck Applejack.
The giant minotaur didn't even break stride, not even noticing the most colorful creatures just below it as it continued wandering along down the mountainous valley. Not even Rainbow Dash flying by its face, nor the dozens of birds that circled around its shoulders even seemed to flinch the Colossus.
"So now what do we do?" asked Fluttershy. Twilight looked to the minotaur again.
"Dormin wants it gone. And it looks like a Minotaur from back home, so ... maybe we can just tell it to go?" Twilight was skeptical about it herself, but she didn't even knew where else to start with this giant. She never had to fight anything this size of Dragon Lord Torch before.
"Well it's goin away now," Applejack pointed out, seeing how it was still walking away.
"Yeah but, to where?" Fluttershy wondered. The question then got everypony else thinking the same idea. If they wanted it gone, they needed to make sure that's what it was doing. With that idea in mind, Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, and Twilight started flying over towards the head as the others galloped close behind. The Minotaur Colossus still didn't stop its stroll as they got over to it face again.
"Hey, you big ape! Word from Dormin says you got to get out of here!" Rainbow shouted in the minotaur's face. All that got her was a snort from the giant beast, as it continued its march along its way.
"Eh, what she MEANS to say is that Dormin doesn't want you around here, and he wants you to go out of his Kingdom," Twilight said, less bluntly but still getting the point across. The Minotaur did eventually stop moving to look to the creatures before it, its blue eyes as ancient and blue as the sky.
"Nothing personal, Mr. Colossi, but we can't have you walking around here. So, I-If you don't mind, maybe you can wander somewhere else?" Fluttershy said. The large beast still didn't seem to give them any response beyond a low groan, and even then it wasn't anything they could comprehend. As they all were keeping an eye on the large creature though, the ground Ponies started to see a slight detail to this Colossus.
"Hey, Y'all better come down here and check this out!" Applejack suddenly called. Rainbow, Twilight, and Fluttershy flew down only a little bit before seeing what the ground Ponies were seeing. The spot in question focused on the Minotaur's leg. The leg itself didn't seem that different from the other one; a mixture of fur, skin and rock. However, after looking more closely, the Ponies started to notice something on the "heel" of the leg. It had a rather faint glow to it, slightly blue almost, but the main thing they were seeing was a slight reddish mist seeping from it.
"Oh my," Fluttershy gasped, "that looks very painful. It must feel terrible walking with that everywhere you go."
That was only confirmed when even the slightest touch from Fluttershy's hoof made the Minotaur groan in discomfort. The beast lifted up that same leg and began to give it a shake, making the ponies around it scatter to avoid getting stepped on. Looking at this injury, the other Ponies started getting some idea in their heads.
"Hey girls, you don't think -"
Hold up thy sword to reflect the light onto the colossus. Its vitals shall be revealed...
Everypony immediately freaked out, looking every which way for the source of the sudden voice but could only find the Colossi with them.
"I wasn't the only pony who heard that voice, right?!" Rarity asked.
"If you mean the freaky voice that just told us about "vitals" then yes," replied Rainbow Dash, digging into her ear as if somepony stuffed something in it.
"D-Dormin?" Twilight wondered in a strained breath, a hoof rubbing her own head as if getting a headache. Honestly though, who else would be talking to them around here besides the titan standing in front of them? Dormin though wasn't done with them ...
Thou must climb the colossus to reach its vitals. Attack its leg in order to cut a path for thyself...
... Attack its leg? The ponies took one look at the injury on the beast's leg, still seeping the red mist and still giving the Colossus a rough time.
"N-No we can't! It's still hurting," Fluttershy managed to say, presumably to the voice in her head. However, as the Ponies waited for Dormin to say something again, they kept quiet and basically left them with those hints. The Minotaur Colossus, seeing nopony in its way, started to slowly lumber onward, the ground shuttering and birds keeping pace with it in the air. It also didn't help that this beast was now walking towards the direction of the old castle they just came out of, so whatever they were gonna do they better do it fast.
"Wait, not that way!" Twilight called, flying up to the front of the Colossus's face again, "You can't go that way! Turn around!"
However, the Colossus before her only gave a low groan and ignored her this time, moving forward. Twilight actually got herself knocked back by the giant head, sending her towards the ground as the beast itself didn't even acknowledge what it did, nor who it did it to.
"It's not listening. Come on girls, help me with this," Twilight instructed. There wasn't any arguments there, and they all tried to reach to this Colossus to make it stop. But in their efforts to make this towering beast halt its march towards the castle, one Pony made one tactical error: trying to reach the beast's head, Pinkie Pie hopped up alongside its fur ... only to accidentally land right onto its wound.
*MMMMMMMmmmm* The low, gravelish groan emitted from the depths of the beast, the pain shooting through it like an arrow. The sound alone made the Ponies halt themselves, which in hindsight was a good thing, since it took just that much time for them to realize it was getting weaker all of a sudden. Weaker, and losing balance.
"Scatter!" Twilight shouted. And just in time, since the beast was falling forward. Any miniscule equine in the shadow of this animal scrambled to get out of its way, the wounded leg giving in on itself and bringing this titan to its knees. So much weight toppling down so fast made the ground underneath it crack and tremble. It wasn't enough to make this beast fall completely, it only just managing to catch itself with a large hand slamming onto the ground to make the Earth itself quake, but it still left the beast in a sharp pain.
"Oops," Pinkie gulped.
The blue hue of calmness in its "eyes" turned into a shade of orange.
"Uh oh, I think we made it mad," Rarity shuttered.
No more Mr. nice colossus. Fueled by the pain in its leg, the Minotaur turned its attention directly onto the small equine around it. Instead of a simple walk to them, it began to lean back slow, and the club it held brought WAY back behind it. Anypony could probably guess what it was about to do now ...
"Clear outta the way, y'all!" Applejack shouted.
*WHAM!*
The tremors from the beast's own steps were earth-shattering enough, but when everypony felt that club slam into the ground, the ground felt ready to break underneath them. Everypony on the ground stumbled from the tremors and the knockback it created, but it was only by a few tail hairs that none of them got caught underneath that club. Lucky for the Ponies, while they lacked in size, they found out speed worked very well even for the slowest in their group since many of the Minotaur's steps took a quarter of a minute with each one, and even longer just for it to swing.
"Wait! Stop! We don't want to fight - AAHH!" As much as Twilight tried to communicate to it, the beast was no longer having any of it, and forced Twilight back with a stomp of its mighty hoof. This stomp was dangerously close to Fluttershy, missing the Pegasus by a hoofnail!
"There's no talking it out of leaving now," Rainbow Dash concluded, hooves digging into the ground.
A giant like this going on a rampage can not be ignored. With her wings spread, Rainbow Dash had the honor of getting the first strike on this giant beast; flying up at high speed and giving the Colossus a kick right under the chin. Even for a creature the size to a mouse compared to the giant, the kick proved just strong enough to stun the Colossus, making it stop and head bobbing back slightly. Even with such a strong kick, the damage was only minute as the Colossus did a more classic Minotaur move and swung its head forward, in attempt to ram the Pegasus out of the air.
Down below, the giant hooves were stomping around all over the place, making it rough for the ground Ponies to keep still or at least keep standing as they tried to help Rainbow Dash from on the ground. The most they could do though were kicks to the legs, and even then even Applejack's bucking felt like just tossing stones at it. In fact, Applejack's kicking was making her back legs more sore than actually hurting the giant Minotaur. The Colossus's huge hoof slid to the side, and slammed Applejack, Pinkie, and Rarity away from it. The hit, while barely much for the Colossus, sent all three of them into the rock wall.
Thou must climb the colossus to reach its vitals. Attack its leg in order to cut a path for thyself...
The message echoed in all of their heads again, but this time with the giant Colossus on a rampage they listened a bit more closely. What else could they do against this beast now?
"STOP!" Twilight finally said. She had enough of this, and the best she could come up with on short notice was a magical blast from her horn. The purple aura, focusing as much energy as she could, wrapped and coated the entire beast in a aura to keep the beast completely still. Just the effort of keeping the giant still was making the Alicorn strained in place.
"Twilight!" Applejack exclaimed.
"Girls, get back! I can't keep it in place forever!" Twilight shouted in a strained voice, teeth grinding together in her muzzle as she kept herself as focused on the giant Colossus as much as she could. trying to keep the beast still was like trying to lift all of Canterlot off of the ground, her legs starting to quiver as her horn glowed with all the might she could muster.
Enough time to keep the Alicorn distracted, and unable to notice one closing the gap. ...
Thou's going at it all wrong.
Such an eerie, yet familiar voice, but this time the voice wasn't just coming from the equine's heads. With all of the excitement calmed down, the group turned to find the quiet hoofsteps of their hooded king of the palace, walking towards their way.
"DORMIN!"
The mere sight of them actually made Twilight lose enough concentration to lose control of the beast. The release of Twilight's control over the titan of a colossus caused the Minotaur to lurch forward, its legs unprepared for the sudden shift in gravity as it stumbled under its own weight. The mountainous walls of the "arena" were slammed hard by the beast, shaking the earth and crumbling the wall before collapsing to the ground in a heap of its own weight.
"What in Celestia - what're you doing here?" questioned Applejack immediately on seeing them.
Thou's approach. Noble, but misguided. Thy can't negotiate with the monsters. ...
"But we can't - ... k-kill him," Fluttershy insisted, though she could barely even say the "K word". Dormin though was unmoved.
... We knew thou wouldn't willingly ...
Sometimes the best way is to show rather than tell.
With the beast dormant and weakened from the fall, Dormin moved slowly towards the Colossus The beast itself was moving rather slowly, and with its eyes still enraged in their orange state, it stared right at Dormin for a moment or two. Both beings of this world simply stared at one another for a time, before Dormin started to move closer towards the Colossus -
*stab*
GRAAAHHHHHHHH ...
None of them could entirely see what Dormin did, nor what actually came out to harm the Colossus, but whatever it was it made very little effort to slice right into the beast's head. The Colossus froze, hands gripping the ground on the sudden pain circuiting through its ancient mass of rock and fur. The damage was beyond major, a sickly black substance spewing out as if its head was a geyser. Never before had anypony, here or Equestria, had seen something so ...
So raw ...
So brutal ...
Dormin turned slowly back to the Ponies, the oil-like blood all over their person, along with the ground, in a fine coat of splattered black. The Colossus, which moments ago was so aggressive and full of life, now laid there dead as if it never lived at all. The body laid dormant, and slowly but surely a hue of its own black magic started to swirl and release from its core.
Thou art noble for mercy ... if only it was possible. Our power is locked within thy's targets. It is impossible to revive our power otherwise. ...
"Can't you just do it then?" Rainbow Dash asked. Dormin shook their head, as the black magic coating the once-hostile beast swirled and lengthened into the air. The more it spiraled, the more alert the Ponies were to it as Dormin continued, undeterred.
We would if we could. ... But thou's power is specialized. The only method for thy's gain of our power is through a vessel ....... Through your own.
The magic then struck.
"RUN FOR IT!" Twilight gasped.
The magic barely even gave Twilight Sparkle enough time to even do that, the essence of the beast flowing so fast through the air they could hardly see it catch them. Not even the sound-barrier breaking speed of Rainbow Dash was enough to escape the speed of the tendrils of magical essence to take its hold on all of them. Getting struck by this magic was as painful as it was numbing, the blackened darkness splitting amongst the six and skewering them through their chests.
All the six could do was gasp in complete shock more than they could scream in pain as the Colossus's soul and magic transferred from one vessel into several others. Blackened ask and smoke seeped out from their muzzles as the transfer transpired, barely able to breathe as it is thanks to the process alone.
Just like that. Barely under ten seconds flat. The process was done.
All six of them collapsed in a faint, unconscious from the blow to their beings. Dormin rested a hoof on Twilight's tired head, with only one final sentence for them.
Remember that ...