//------------------------------// // Chapter 3 (2/3): Darkspark's Attack // Story: MLP FiM x Fairy Tail: Wizards in Equestria // by SonnL //------------------------------// With all those she considered a legitimate threat away from Ponyville, Darkspark finally initiated her scheme. In Ponyville, Darkspark has taken down a majority of the wizards that were not caught in the stasis field inside the guild hall, including Jet, Nab, and Vijeeter. Max attempted to hinder the Red Moon General by surrounding her with a sandstorm, but she used her magic to blow it away. “How did you get past the barrier?!” Max shouted. “As if any barrier can stop me.” Darkspark answered with a smug look on her face. “SAND SLASH!” Max launched a crescent-shaped blast of sand with great force. “WOOD-MAKE: VIOLENT APPROACH!” Laki created a massive wooden spiked ball and fired it at Darkspark. “SOLID SCRIPT: THUNDER!” Levy pointed her finger and shot the word Thunder, which turned into a bolt of lightning. Reedus used his Pict magic to create a cannon, which then fired a cannonball. “SECRET SEEDS: KNUCKLE PLANT!” Droy threw seeds on to the ground, which then grew into large vines with fists. The vines immediately lashed out at Darkspark. “PURPLE RAIN!” From his hand, Macao fired dark purple fire projectiles. “SMOKE CRUSH!” Wakaba created multiple fist-shaped smoke to attack Darkspark. Darkspark blocked all incoming attacks with a magical barrier. “She stopped all of our attacks!” Wakaba exclaimed. Darkspark’s horn then lit up and released a blinding light. While the wizards were busy shielding their eyes, she fired a dark blue magical orb at them and they got blasted by a dark-colored explosion. Max, Reedus, Laki, Levy, Macao, and Wakaba were all rendered unconscious. Droy was still conscious, but was too injured to stand. Another wizard, Kinana attempted a sneak attack. “POISON AROMA!” Kinana tried to stop Darkspark with poisonous gas. Unfortunately, the gas had no effect on the dark unicorn. “Nice try. But we Red Moon Generals all have immunity to poison.” Darkspark fired a magic beam at Kinana and knocked her out. She then noticed Droy trying to call for help using his Aura bracelet. “Somebody! Help us! A Red Moon General is here in Ponyville!” Darkspark lifted Droy off the ground using levitation. “Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but the barrier that you wizards placed around Ponyville to protect it is now working for me and I made it prevent any communication with the outside.” She then slammed Droy into the ground four times before throwing him into a nearby house. The barrier surrounding Ponyville is also made of magic runes and Darkspark altered the runes to suit her needs. “Now that those wizards are dealt with, time for me to deprive all the ponies of this town of their cutie marks!” Darkspark got all giddy since she’s certain that nothing can go wrong for her. Right now, the only wizard left in Ponyville is Romeo, who is at the School of Friendship. But just like the wizards Darkspark just incapacitated, Romeo is not part of her list of foes that she needed to be wary of. Meanwhile in the School of Friendship’s headmare office, Starlight is imprisoned in a dream. In her dream, she was in her old village, ruling it with an iron hoof like she did before she met the six element bearers. Apparently having no memory of her life after meeting Twilight, Starlight was happy to see the villagers living their lives with “smiles” and “equality”. With seemingly no one left to stop her, the Ponyville residents were completely helpless against Darkspark. “You get an X mark! You get an X mark! You get an X mark! And you get an X mark!” Darkspark whistled as she fired dark magical waves at every pony in her path. Darkspark doesn’t actually pull a cutie mark off a pony’s flank and store it somewhere like Starlight did. What she did was transform the cutie marks into X marks. Nonetheless, the victims still lose their cutie mark talents. The best the ponies could do was try to flee, but they could not escape the dark waves fired by Darkspark. “Waaaaaaaaaaaah! My cutie mark!” Diamond Tiara started crying. “Hey! I got something to say to you!” Filthy Rich shouted at Darkspark. Darkspark quickly gave Filthy Rich a menacing glare, and it made him froze with fear. “You got something to say. Go on. Say it!” Darkspark dared Filthy Rich. He was so scared that he couldn’t utter a single word. Darkspark then lifted him up with levitation. “Wait! No! Please don’t hurt me!” Filthy Rich cried out. Ignoring his pleas for mercy, Darkspark threw him through a window of a nearby shop. “Daddy!” Diamond Tiara screamed as she rushed to her father. Darkspark continued spreading misery in Ponyville unopposed. Even blank flank foals were given X marks. Some ponies tried to hide, but Darkspark’s dark waves can phase through walls and solid objects. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo grabbed and held on to Darkspark’s right rear hoof. “Our cutie marks mean so much to us! Give them back!” Scootaloo demanded. In response, Darkspark kicked the CMCs away from her. “Let me tell you an important life lesson little fillies. The weak have no say in how they live. So you better get used to the new marks on your flanks because it is your fate to live the rest of your life with them.” Darkspark said coldly. Asuka was so terrified that she did not move an inch. Thus, Darkspark did not pay her a glance. “Hold it right there, missy!” Granny Smith yelled as she confronted Darkspark. “You should be ashamed of yourself! I oughta…” Darkspark immediately silenced Granny Smith by using telekinesis to shut her mouth. “I will not be talked down to by a lowly old hag!” In a fit of anger, she hit Granny Smith with a magic beam, knocking her down to the ground. “GRANNY SMITH!” Apple Bloom screeched as she, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo quickly went to Granny Smith’s side. Without any concern, Darkspark continued on. In her dream, Starlight continued enforcing her rule on her village. For a time, she was enjoying herself. However, that did not last long as she eventually felt something was amiss. “What is this strange feeling that keeps nagging at me?” Starlight thought to herself. “Something inside me is telling me that all this… is not right. But why?” “Wake up Starlight!” Trixie’s voice can be heard. “Huh?! What was that?!” “Please wake up!” This time it was Sunburst. “Wake up! Waaaaaaaake uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuup!” Starlight heard Trixie’s voice again. “Those voices. Why are they so familiar?” And that’s when everything was started to come back to Starlight. She remembered her redemption, her reunion with Sunburst, meeting Trixie, and becoming the guidance counselor and later headmare of the School of Friendship. All her memories returned. Starlight then looked at herself in the mirror and saw what she once was. “This… this isn’t me! I’m not that pony anymore!” “Wake up Starlight! We need your help!” Sunburst said. “But… how did I get here!?” Starlight then came to a realization. “It must be that stone! I have to get out of here! But how?!” An idea then came to Starlight’s mind. She quickly galloped to the cutie mark vault. “I hope this works.” Starlight then fired a powerful magical blast and destroyed the cutie mark vault. Afterwards, the world Starlight was imprisoned in slowly faded away into white. She woke up back in the real world, back in her office in the School of Friendship, where Trixie and Sunburst were waiting for her. “Starlight! Thank goodness! I was afraid you wouldn’t wake up!” Trixie hugged Starlight tightly. “Starlight! You have to help us! Ponyville is under attack right now!” Sunburst shouted. “Under attack?! By what?!” Starlight then noticed the X marks on Trixie and Sunburst’s flanks. “Your cutie marks?! What happened to your cutie marks?!” “A dark unicorn is here! She is turning cutie marks into X marks!” Trixie exclaimed. “That must be the one Twilight and the others were looking for! But what about all the Fairy Tail wizards here?!” “They’ve all been beaten! You’re the only one who can save us now!” Trixie wailed. “Seriously?!” Starlight was shocked by the news. She then tried to contact the Fairy Tail wizards on the outside with her Aura bracelet. “I cannot call for help!” “It gets worse! The dark unicorn has trapped all of us here inside Ponyville! We can’t even use teleportation to get out!” Sunburst informed Starlight. “I guess it’s up to me then.” Starlight said nervously. She then summoned her robe. “I’ll be going now! You two go help the students!” Starlight took a quick glance at the stone that put her to sleep and obliterated it with her magic. She quickly left her office to confront the dark unicorn. “I wish I have my own magic robe.” Trixie pouted. At the courtyard in the School of Friendship, many more ponies, including Sandbar, fell victim to Darkspark’s rampage. In an attempt to stop Darkspark, Romeo unleashed purple flames from his hands. The dark unicorn easily blocked his attack with a magical barrier. “Everyone, run!” Romeo shouted as he tried to hold the Red Moon General back. Smolder assisted him using her fire breath. Unfortunately, their combined flames were not able to break through Darkspark’s barrier. She then used levitation to immobilize both Romeo and Smolder. “Stooooooooop!” Silverstream screamed as she and Gallus rushed at Darkspark. The general then tossed Romeo and Smolder into the hippogriff and griffon. “No dark unicorn hurt friends of Yona!” Yona charged at the dark unicorn, but she simply used levitation to throw Yona over her. Ocellus transformed into a bugbear and also tried attacking Darkspark only to get blasted back by a magic beam. “You’re lucky I’m more lenient with young ones. But get in my way again, and I won’t be as pleasant.” Darkspark warned Romeo and the Young Six. Starlight then teleported to the courtyard. “STOP RIGHT THERE!” Starlight bellowed. “Starlight Glimmer?!” Darkspark was surprised since she never expected to see Starlight awake. Starlight then noticed the number on Darkspark’s left eye. “You’re eye. You’re Lower 5.” “Yes. The name’s Darkspark. Pleased to make your acquaintance.” “But. How were you able to overwhelm all the Fairy Tail wizards here?” “Oh, were you under the impression that all the humans were capable of solving all your problems? Let me share something with you Starlight. After studying Fairy Tail for a long time, I found out that only a select few are powerful enough to rival the Red Moon Generals. The others… well… not so much.” Starlight became more nervous since she would have to fight a Red Moon General without assistance from any of Fairy Tail’s elite members. “I came up with a brilliant plan. I lured the Council of Friendship into a trap with an anonymous tip and I lured away all the strong humans by creating a situation that required their undivided attention. I take away the cutie marks of all the Ponyville ponies in broad daylight, and Fairy Tail suffers the shame of being unable to stop me. Anyway, I was going to come to you, but since you’re here, I’ll remove your cutie mark!” Darkspark fired a dark magical wave at Starlight. The wave hit her, but Starlight’s cutie mark remained unchanged. “What?!” Darkspark fired more dark waves, but they had no effect on Starlight. “Tch. It appears that Aura’s magic is protecting you. I intended to take away every single cutie mark in Ponyville, but I suppose a single exception wouldn’t be a big deal. “Enough! I’m ending this now!” Starlight shouted. Both Starlight and Darkspark teleported to the outside sports field. “Tell me something! Why are you taking away ponies’ cutie marks!?” “Not that I have any obligation to explain myself to you, I’m just showing the weak that they have no control of their destinies. That’s how it was in the world I came from. The strong call the shots and the weak have no sway over anything. But I must admit. I did take a page out of your book. By the way Starlight, how was it being your old self?” Starlight seethed with anger. “So you were responsible for that stone! You… You’re going to regret making me relive the worst part of my life!” Back in the courtyard, Romeo gathered the Young Six together. “Everyone, listen. I have an idea, but we have to work together on this. It’s going to be risky, but if we pull this off, I think we can turn this around.” Romeo said. “What’s your plan?” Ocellus asked. At the sports field, Starlight engaged Darkspark in a fierce battle. The unicorn and dark unicorn continuously fired magic beams at each other. Starlight avoided her opponent’s attacks by teleporting. Darkspark, on the other hoof, remained in one spot and just used her barrier to defend herself. Starlight teleported to behind her opponent and she fired a beam in an attempt to attack Darkspark from behind. Once again, the dark unicorn blocked the beam with a barrier. “Don’t bother trying to be sneaky. I can sense any spell coming at me.” Darkspark boasted. Starlight and Darkspark continued attacking each other with magic beams. Neither of them was landing a hit on the other due to Starlight teleporting and Darkspark using her barrier. “She’s strong! Even though she’s the lowest-ranking Red Moon General, she’s still tough!” “You are proving to be more annoying than I expected. And I already wasted enough time with you. I guess I’ll just take the rest of the cutie marks in one go.” Darkspark released a gigantic dark wave that spread throughout the entirety of Ponyville. At Sweet Apple Acres, Big Mac and Sugar Belle were taken by surprise when their cutie marks suddenly turned into X marks. “There. Now all the cutie marks in Ponyville are gone, with you being the sole exception.” “You could have done that from the beginning! Then why spend so much time going around Ponyville?!” “Because I was having fun watching ponies try to flee only to learn how pointless it was. But now you have spoiled my fun, Starlight. And I have no intention of leaving Ponyville without full satisfaction. So… I’m going to break you… both body and spirit.” “I’m not going down so easily!” Starlight charged up her horn and fired a larger and more powerful beam at Darkspark. This time, Darkspark conjured a magical mirror screen and it reflected Starlight’s attack back at her. Caught off guard, Starlight quickly put up a barrier to block her own attack. Darkspark then fired a dark blue magical orb, which exploded once it came into contact with Starlight’s barrier. The explosion broke through the barrier and sent Starlight flying into the nearby bleachers. Darkspark then began choking Starlight with telekinesis. “Now how should I break you?” “Hey!” Romeo got Darkspark’s attention as he and Smolder attacked her with their flames. However, the dark unicorn just blocked their attacks with a barrier. “This again?” Darkspark merely rolled her eyes at the futility of Romeo and Smolder’s attacks. Just like before, she immobilized Romeo and Smolder using levitation. “I was going to let you two off easy, but it seems you both don’t have the brains to realize how much of a threat I am. So how am I going to make it perfectly clear to you? How about I break every bone in your body?” Darkspark was then hit by a buckball, causing her to release her grip on Romeo and Smolder. “Who threw that?!” Sandbar and Yona threw more buckballs at the dark unicorn, but she caught them using levitation. “Buckballs? Really? What do you hope to accomplish with these?” Darkspark asked annoyed. Unbeknownst to her, Gallus and Silverstream were flying right above her, each carrying a bucket of sneezing powder, and they dumped the powder onto her while she was distracted. “Now you’re making me angry! I… ah… Achoo!” Darkspark began sneezing uncontrollably. While Darkspark lost focus due to her sneezing fit, Yona tackled her with full force. Darkspark actually felt that as she reeled on the ground. Ocellus quickly flew towards Darkspark, transformed into a gorilla, and slammed her fists onto the dark unicorn as hard as she could, further staggering her. Before the general could recover from the pain that Yona and Ocellus inflicted on her, Romeo ran to the dark unicorn, grasped her horn with both of his hands, and used his Purple Flare magic while his hands held tightly onto the horn. This stunt paid off as Romeo successfully broke Darkspark’s horn off. She let out a bloodcurdling shriek that blew back Romeo and Ocellus. “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!! MY HOOOOOOOOOOOORN!!!!!!!!!” Darkspark screeched. “You braaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat! What have you done to me?! I’m going to smash your face for this!!!!!” Before Darkspark could attack Romeo, Starlight blasted her away with a magic beam. She then used levitation to grab Darkspark and began throwing her around like a ragdoll. Eventually, the general was slammed hard into the ground. Starlight then fired a charged-up beam, which sent Darkspark flying many yards away until she crashed into a large boulder with enough force to shatter it. As the tables turned on Darkspark, Freed and Bickslow arrived at the outskirts of Ponyville via teleportation. “This is odd. Weren’t we supposed to be teleported to inside of Ponyville instead of out here? Bickslow asked. “What’s even more concerning is that I still cannot get in touch with anyone inside the town.” Freed said. Bickslow tried walking into Ponyville, but the barrier stopped him. “Hey! What gives?! Why is the barrier not letting me through?!” Bickslow said surprised. “Hold on. Something’s wrong.” Freed then examined the barrier. “The barrier was altered?!” Freed then used his magic to open the barrier and Darkspark sensed this. It’s only a matter of time before the rest of Fairy Tail is alerted to what’s going on in Ponyville. Knowing that staying in Ponyville any longer would spell doom for her, Darkspark made a hasty retreat. She used teleportation to get away and despite not having full control of her magic, she managed to teleport to someplace far away from Ponyville. “Looks like she got away.” Starlight said. “Wahoooo! We drove away a high-ranking dark unicorn! How awesome is that!?” Smolder cheered. “I wish Headmare Starlight pummeled her some more, but it was satisfying seeing the look on her face when her horn broke. It was priceless!” Gallus commented. “Yona and friends should celebrate!” Yona said excitedly. “Um, everycreature. What about my cutie mark?” Sandbar showed that his cutie mark did not return. It is unfortunately apparent that breaking Darkspark’s horn did not undo the spell that turns cutie marks into X marks. At Klugetown, Natsu, Happy, Lucy, and the Council of Friendship went through a long and arduous battle, but they successfully defeated 3000 monsters and the barrier surrounding Klugetown deactivated. “Finally, it’s over.” Happy said exhausted. Meanwhile, the Mane 6 were having a group hug. “We did it! We all survived!” Pinkie cheered. “But my poor mane has been ruined!” Rarity cried out. “Just be happy you’re alive.” Lucy said. At Canterlot, all the unicorns pitched in and they managed to overcome the fly-der threat, though there was a lot of cleaning up that needed to be done. “Look at all this mess.” Spike groaned. “I hope Twilight and the others are having better luck.” Fairy Tail also managed to stop the monsters and the dark unicorns threatening the Crystal Empire, Manehattan, Fillydelphia, and Baltimare. Starlight came to the guild hall and disabled the stasis field. While those who were just released from the stasis field tend to the injured guild members, Freed and Bickslow checked on the Ponyville citizens. All the ponies were depressed, having lost their cutie mark talents. The two came across Diamond Tiara and the injured Filthy Rich. “Are you alright sir?” Freed asked Filthy Rich. “I’m fine… Ow!... I think I got some broken bones!” “Easy there. I’ll take you to the hospital.” Bickslow offered to help. As Bickslow tended to Filthy Rich, Freed continued checking on the citizens. He later found Asuka, the CMCs, and Granny Smith. "Granny Smith, please wake up." Apple Bloom put her hooves on Granny Smith, trying to see if she could wake her up. "Please say something." But her physical contact and shaking weren't working. Tears were flowing down from Apple Bloom’s eyes as Granny Smith was not responding at all. “Please excuse me.” Freed then checked for a pulse. “Oh no…” “Is she going to be okay?” Apple Bloom whimpered. “I… I wish I have better news.” Freed spoke with sadness in his voice. On this day, a tragedy occurred in Ponyville.