//------------------------------// // Chapter 25 - A new plan coming together // Story: Wherever the Light Shines: Part 2 // by MLPSolarDash1907 //------------------------------// The animals were silent, afraid of the large figure stomping through the trees. He’s a bipedal, and muscled werebear, looking like a towering behemoth. He’s dark brown, roughly eight feet tall, has silver armor covering his torso, legs, and parts of his arms. He has on a dark grey cloak and pants. Several scars covered his face as his glaring green eyes pierced through the environment. He’s been on guard for a long time and is ready for action, but his master has been carefully planning to take the puny ponies’ land. Several growls and hisses came from nearby, but the werebear paid them no mind. The minions training and fighting. His name is Ghadra. A loyal follower to his master, but sometimes he gets riled up and demands action. However, his master always manages to tame him and make him listen whether he liked it or not. “Just a little longer,” he muttered to himself, knocking some small trees to the side. The atmosphere became a bit heavier, and the forest a little darker as he came upon a clearing. The trees’ thick branches and leaves blocked most of the sunlight despite it being the middle of the afternoon. Looking ahead, he saw what appeared to be a chair made of different boulders. Spotting a large figure, Ghadra stopped in front of it and kneeled before it. “Master, you summoned me?” he said. Next to the chair, is another bi-pedal figure, only this one seemed different with his pointed-up ears, and hyena-like head. He’s facing away from his loyal follower. Ghadra could barely make him out in the shadows, but he knows his master. “Yes,” said the figure, “I trust that the Target has been neutralized?” “We could hardly get to it without it putting up a fight,” Ghadra explained, “But we were able to keep it from spreading its energy across the land and interfere with the operation.” “Good.” “And what of the unicorn you targeted?” The figure chuckled, “She and that boyfriend of hers had a fallout as planned. Now, she’s on her way far away from here.” “Should the others hear about it soon?” “They should. It was quite a sight.” “Good to know, Master,” said Ghadra, shifting a bit, “When do we make our move?” “Soon,” replied the figure, “The celebration of a Gala of some kind, celebrating the founding of the equines’ capital is happening in a couple of days. We’ll move out just before it goes on that night, and then we move in when the party’s in full swing.” “Finally,” Ghadra breathed a sigh of relief. “Your eagerness amuses and irritates me, Ghadra. Is there anything else you wish to share?” “The minions are almost ready and they should be in time for the invasion. Everything else is in place.” “And?” Knowing what his master is referring to, Ghadra smirked evilly, “The old fool is on his way. Ready to find them.” Ghadra gazed to his left to see three ponies, an earth pony, unicorn, and pegasus, with terrified eyes and trying to escape from their ropes. When Ghadra turned to gaze at his master again, he saw him turn his head to look at him. In the shadows, he could see him smile. Helping ponies and saving Equestria was something Starswirl the Bearded lived for back in his day. He might be older, but he still has a ton of magic at his disposal to protect the land by any means necessary. The elderly unicorn squinted his eyes as he lit up his horn in the blackening forest despite it being the middle of the day. He wasn’t scared, his eyes showed no fear, only sheer determination. Why was Starswirl in this forest? On his travels across the realm, he came across a village, its houses with white walls, brick roofs, and a mayor named Spring Rain. He found the village very welcoming and hospitable in his travels. The mayor even gave him half off at an inn. He enjoyed some walks along the paths and meeting the local ponies. However, the village was attacked by an unknown creature, injuring and carrying some ponies off into the forest close by. Nopony dared to go after them due to their lack of attacks of any kind in their village. Sure, animals do attack in the forest, but none came into the village. Starswirl, curious and willing to help, decided to go track the ponies down and take the creature down. They all bid him luck and hoped that their fellow ponies were still alive. “Still no sign of them,” he muttered as he furrowed his brow, he’s been searching for half an hour and hoped to come across something that would help. Nothing but trees and brush around him as far as he could tell. This forest is a cakewalk for Starswirl because he kept the Everfree under control before the Tree of Harmony did, plus he’s ventured multiple times into that foreboding forest and having to deal with teenage princesses. Winding through some trees and taking a bit of a left turn, he stopped. There, down on the ground were some heavy footprints and a piece of red fabric from one of the ponies taken. Levitating it up to himself to get a better look, he verified that he finally found something. Breaking into a trot, he kept a sharp eye out above in the trees’ branches, in front of him, and to his sides. But the tracks, however strange they were, he kept following them. He knew that he was likely heading into a trap, but he’s prepared Several noises crept from the woods and a couple growls from several beasts, but they didn’t deter him. A scream rang through the woods. Perking up, he broke out into a gallop to where he’d heard it. Knowing that it could be some other creature mimicking the scream he’s prepared to face whatever foul creature is possibly doing so. He came upon a large clearing, seeing nopony or creature in sight. Making his way across, he spotted the outline of what seemed to be three ponies laying on the ground. Lightly gasping, he trotted over to see a unicorn, an earth pony and a pegasus tied up, gagged, and battered. They gazed at Starswirl with terrified eyes. “It’s okay, I’m going to get you out of here,” he said softly. They rapidly shook their heads, trying to say something. As if to warn him. “You’re safe with me, I promise you,” Starswirl assured them as he removed a pegasus’ gag. She gasped and blurted out, “Don’t! It’s a trap!” BOOM! A large bi-pedal figure landed right between Starswirl and the tied-up ponies! Starswirl had managed to jump out of the way and land in a fighting position, his horn alit. His eyes widened when he saw the wide evil grin of Ghadra looking down at him with his piercing green eyes. “So, this is the famous Starswirl the Bearded that returned from limbo, huh?” said Ghadra. Starswirl managed to keep himself from showing any kind of emotion in response to that, but how did he know where he had been?! “Let these ponies go!” he demanded, his horn glowing brighter. “Oh, they’ll go just as soon you’re dealt with,” replied Ghadra. “I don’t know what you are you foul beast, but you’ve chosen the wrong pony to cross!” Starswirl declared as he fired a massive surge of magic towards him. He struck the werebear, knocking onto his back. He levitated him off the ground and threw him into a tree. Momentarily stunned, Ghadra sat back up and chuckled. “Normally I’d attack you, but I think you should look behind you to see my master,” he said. Starswirl raised an eyebrow and looked behind him to see the figure standing in the shadows. “Who are you?!” he demanded. The figure chuckled darkly, “Oh, Starswirl. Always so sure of yourself and the world around you.” “I said who are you?!” “My, aren’t we a little impatient today?” the figure taunted. Starswirl fired a beam of magic at the figure, but when it arrived, the figure vanished and his magic hit a tree instead, destroying it. “You definitely are,” said the figure, now to Starswirl’s left, how did he get there so fast?! “I may not be as sure of myself as I used to be, because I have a lot to learn, but you never stop learning about the world around you!” “Is that so?” “Yes!” Starswirl fired another beam of magic, only for the figure to vanish again and appear in a different spot. “Why did you take these ponies?! What are you up to?!” “Oh, if I told you that, then what fun would there be?” Starswirl growled, “Enough!!” He let out a pulse of magic across the entire clearing to hit the trees around him. When it did, some more trees collapsed. Looking around at the rubble and dust gathering in the air, nocreature’s in sight, looking as if he’d ended the threat. However, Starswirl believes otherwise. “Behind you.” Starswirl whirled around and fired another beam of magic without hesitation, only for it to be deflected by dark aura surrounding the figure’s claws. Momentarily surprised, Starswirl glared, “Who are you?! I demand to know!” “What’s say we start with your name first? After that, I’ll introduce myself,” said the figure. “I believe you know who I am,” Starswirl growled. “That’s not how an introduction goes,” the figure shot a bit of dark aura out, Starswirl dodged it with ease. “Now, what is your name?” Growing irritated, Starswirl growled and let his magic sweep across the figure. He conjured up more dark aura and shielded himself from most of the attack. Starswirl levitated himself high into the air, glints in his eyes and he let out a huge sweep of magic, seemingly hitting the figure. He quickly turned around, letting his magic sweep across the trees, destroying them as the captured ponies shielded themselves as Starswirl tried to save them. This unicorn spun around in the air several more times when he’d destroyed a significant portion of the surrounding forest, trees laying down in shambles. He floated back down and landed on the ground, his eyes still containing the glints and horn alit. Nothing happened for about sixty seconds. He waited and looked carefully. The werebear, Ghadra, was gone. Had he destroyed both of them? SHING! Starswirl screamed as dark magic hit him, throwing him to the ground. Shaking his head, Starswirl managed to stand up again, although somewhat injured. There was the figure again, seemingly no scratches on it. “It’s adorable you think you can touch me,” it said, “But I believe I asked for your name.” Starswirl grunted, really not wanting to do this, but he sighed and spoke, “My name is Starswirl the Bearded.” “See? That wasn’t so hard.” Out of the shadows, the figure stepped out, revealing himself to be a werehyena standing about as tall as Celestia, he had on black pants, a black cloak with red trimmings, dark purple bracelets covering his wrists, spiked belt around his waist. He had a predatory grin on his face, his brown eyes lit with glee as if he’d just killed his prey like a hunter. Starswirl’s eyes widened and his pupils slightly shrank, having never encountered such a beast. “Now, Starswirl, since I know who you are, it’s time I tell you who I am,” said the werehyena, standing tall, addressing his name in a dark, amused way, “I am Nightfall.” Nightfall. That name echoed through Starswirl’s ears. He’d never heard that name before but he had a feeling in his gut that this guy is a real threat to not only him, but Equestria. Without a second thought, Starswirl charged up his magic again and let out a blast, but Nightfall deflected it. Letting out some more magic, Nightfall dodged them, clapped and dark energy swirled outwards to the unicorn. Starswirl threw up his shield and it bounced off, when it did, Nightfall landed a solid punch onto the shield, cracking it! Thinking fast, Starswirl teleported behind Nightfall and shot him with some magic, almost knocking him to the ground. However, Nightfall quickly recovered and enveloped Starswirl in his magic, his claws had dark aura emitting from them as he threw Starswirl across the destroyed trees. The unicorn managed to levitate himself and stop his momentum, but Nightfall was upon him again, about to slam him to the ground. Teleporting and appearing above the werehyena, he let out a surge of magic, knocking him to the ground with a thud. He let his magic sweep across the area where Nightfall had landed, but another burst of dark energy came from underneath him. Nightfall jumped high into the air, tackling Starswirl and rolling across the ground with him firmly in his grasp. He landed a couple of punches on the unicorn’s face, dazing him momentarily before he teleported again out of instinct. Starswirl landed hard with a thud, his famous hat falling off his head. Not deterred, he lit up his horn brightly allowing a pulse of magic to cover the entire area. It pulsed about seven hundred yards in each direction, however, Nightfall had managed to direct and block the magic before it could do anything to him. Starswirl was getting worried, this beast has very powerful magic. Nightfall let out a shout as he slammed his claws onto the ground, letting out a massive shockwave and a pulse of magic. Starswirl nearly fell off his hooves, Nightfall enveloped him again and tossed him into a battered tree, shattering it! Before Starswirl could do anything, Nightfall jumped over, lifted him up by his cape and shoved his face right into the ground hard! The werehyena mercilessly struck him in the torso and face a couple more times before throwing him across the clearing once again! Landing with a thud again, Starswirl knew he had to banish this being! Despite being old and not as energetic as he used to be, the determination and care for his land and friends kept him going. Charging up an inter-dimensional spell, he stood up and faced Nightfall. The werehyena had an amused look as he shook his head, claws glowing with dark pulsing energy. Without a second thought, he fired right at Nightfall to banish him. The werehyena obviously saw this coming. He grabbed the spell with his claws, used some dark magic and threw it back at Starswirl, the spell turning into a miniature black hole! Horrified, Starswirl managed to teleport yet again as the black hole sucked in some of the debris. The unicorn appeared above Nightfall and let out a massive amount of magic to take him out, but the werehyena teleported! “What?!” Starswirl gasped. A large shadow appeared over Starswirl. Oh no. SLAM! He crashed onto the ground forming a large crater. “This isn’t even my full power!” he heard a voice declare as he picked up his head, completely dazed, “You’re supposed to be the most powerful unicorn for your time!” Feeling the presence next to him, he teleported again in vain hopes of getting away, but he only teleported a few feet away. “Such a disappointment, Starswirl,” said Nightfall as he walked over, “You might be skilled in magic, but what you lack is claw-to-claw or hoof-to-hoof combat.” Starswirl grunted, “Even if I fall, I do have friends that will bring them down.” “Oh, will they?” Nightfall taunted as he stepped in front of the exhausted unicorn, he knelt down, “Nopony knows about me. Nopony knows I’m coming.” He let a predatory smile take form on his features, “As for you...you won’t be able to stop me any time in the future. Or even help them.” For the first time since the Pony of Shadows, Starswirl felt truly afraid of an enemy. He had faced interdimensional creatures, Sirens, and beasts of the Everfree, but this powerful, able to use magic, knows hoof-to-hoof combat and knew where he’d be, makes this a very formidable opponent. However, he didn’t let that show on his face. He glared as he stood up weakly, facing down his amused opponent. “Still able to stand after all that, Beardy?” he taunted, “Admirable, but foolish.” Despite being exhausted, the powerful magic wielder lit up his horn to try to cast a spell to defend himself, but... Nightfall grasped Starswirl’s horn with a hand surrounded in his dark aura. The elderly unicorn’s eyes widened as he tried to teleport. But nothing happened. Eyes filling with horror, he tried attacking, but it felt as if his horn's magic has been plugged up. His opponent only snickered evilly as he squirmed, trying to pull his horn out, do a mega spell, anything. But the more he squirmed, the tighter Nightfall’s grip became. Nothing he did could free himself. “How unfortunate,” said Nightfall, giving a taunting smirk, “And to think one of the most magical beings in your realm would be more of a challenge for me.” Starswirl tried again to attack, but his horn just wouldn’t do anything! A massive pain pulsed through his horn as Nightfall chuckled in delight. “The three ponies I captured are meant to be symbolic,” he explained. Crrraaaackkk Oh no! Starswirl gasped in horror as he tried to stop his spell. “They’re the three ponies that came together to form Equestria,” Nightfall went on, his eyes sparkling with glee, “Now, they all will be divided and the land along with you, will be just a memory.” KER-SNAP! Starswirl screamed so loud, it would’ve woken the dead. Nightfall howled in laughter as the unicorn crashed onto his back, his hat falling off his head. Lying flat on his back, he continued to writhe in pain all while Nightfall held his now broken horn, rendering him unable to perform any kind of spells. It wasn’t chipped off like Tempest’s, it was completely gone except for small stickers of the horn just barely poking out. Nightfall’s figure towered over the writhing unicorn as he bled from where his horn used to be. The most powerful unicorn in his day brought trapped in limbo for more than a millennium has now been rendered completely magicless.