//------------------------------// // The end of a journey... // Story: The Nioh // by Veryfriedguy7 //------------------------------// White. White in all directions. For as far as she could see. The last memory of home she has is thrusting her golden sword, the Sohayamaru, the legendary yokai slaying blade, into the severed horn of her oldest foe, Otakemaru, it was surprising to learn that his hate for ponykind was sparked many years before their rivalry truly began. Her journey began in the year 1555 yet ended in the year 797, not the easiest thing to grasp. Wasn't her first time travel experience and she still struggled to wrap her head around it. Her job wasn't thinking it was slashing and it was a job she became very good at, one of, if not the best, samurai in her land. But all that skill did her nothing here. So here she finds herself in an now familiar white void, unable to move, breathe or speak. Not that she'd do that last one even if it would save her life. A vow of silence, the inability or just plain stubborn refusal, no pony would truly know. Her friends, companions and masters have yet to hear a word pass the hardy mare's lips. Or even see them behind the black bandanna she always wore. That was the current norm for her now. Drifting, wondering, thinking and reminiscing. Her choices not entirely on her part due to her utter lack of doing anything else that isn't those four things. She would've cried out but she didn't particularly feel like it, wasn't even sure she could. Until now. It was a normal day, or night, in the void of nothingness. There was an invisible consciousness of a certain mare floating in place as it always has since it arrived there. She was currently remembering the times she was 'possessed' by a Nekomata, a cat spirit that has it's tail split in two, stand on it's hind legs, float and can communicate with ponies through speech, and Hakutaku, a sacred beast that is said to have a knowledge of all things. She finds it kind of funny how it's a goat spirit with a third eye, taking that phrase quite literally. It was then that her reminiscing was interrupted by something echoing throughout the void. Something quite unexpected. A plea for help. It was in a language unfamiliar to her but the tone, the panic, is what made it clear to her. There was somepony out there that needed her aid. It was at that realization that the strength to continue came to her. It was small but it was there, she could work with almost nothing. She had before. She then began pushing with all her might, trying to find the one that needed help. That needed her. She knew not what for but she had to get there. She was needed once more. And so she kept pushing until she couldn't. Eventually she started getting tired, quite an achievement considering she could fight numerous yokai and samurai in one fight and win with merely a shortness of breath. Years of grueling battles and skirmishes with a sprinkling of a special uniqueness would do that to you too. Then she found herself exhausted, something she had only been in her very early years of self-teaching. She was hard on herself, pushed herself to be better and that was what eventually forged a terror on the battlefield. She was quite well known for her perseverance. But with everything she is, everything she had done and trained for. She eventually collapsed, total exhaustion taking over her being as she closed her eyes. Closed her eyes? Her eyes shot open to reveal a marketplace, maybe. A castle? Fortress? She had no idea what would need so much stone and she hasn't even looked around yet. It was time to rectify that. She struggled to push herself up but with her strength slowly returning she managed, she was never tired long. Looking around she found it to be a street filled with homes. She didn't want to know why they were built from stone. Heaving herself onto her hooves she checked over herself. Black mane and tail. Check. White coat. Check. Fluffy wings. Check. Yokai horns cutie mark. Check. Bandanna. Check. Satchel. Check. Dagger. Check. Sword. Check. Odachi. Check. Bow. Check. Matchlock rifle. Check. Master swordscolts gloves. Check. Armor... Not check. At least she had her signature bandanna. Didn't stop her from being miffed about her armor though. It took her years to perfect her armor. Multiple trips to the best blacksmith in the land, careful additions of unstable yokai parts to empower it and multiple additions of onmyo magic, which was cleverly created by the only two unicorns in Japanese history, to get it exactly how she wanted. It was gone now. Idly looking up she decided she could worry about armor later. If those green cone things were what she thinks they are then that could only mean one thing, this place is getting invaded. Bloody changelings are the same no matter where you go it would seem. Back home most bandits were changelings, their deceitful nature usually gave them no choice in the matter, a sad fact in Japan but bandits are still bandits and this samurai had a lot of experience with fighting bandits. Looking around for the most important looking building, figuring that the leader of the invaders would go there, after quickly making sure her weapons were secured she shot through the empty streets toward what looks like a castle. Most of the dive-bombing changelings were converging on the city that she saw while she sprinted past a park. It was a big city. Shaking off her awe at the cities size and grandiose architecture she sprinted on. If her adventures throughout Japan taught her anything but combat it was the evolution of Japanese architecture, she didn't recognize any of this. She must be far from home. The situation in the castle was far from ideal. Cadance was going to try to free Shinning Armor from his mind control but Chrysalis saw her and shot her with a magic bolt before she could get to him. Knocking her unconscious. "Hahahahaha! Is that the best you could come up with? It's a wonder I didn't conquer sooner!" Chrysalis mocked them glee. All the Elements of Harmony were stuck to the ground with goo, save Twilight who broke free. She instead was held down by three changelings. The hall was lined with cocoons, rapidly being filled by those who were attending the wedding, with a special six in the middle for a few certain mares. They would have made, mostly, angry retorts but couldn't due to the goo that was on their mouths, having been recently applied. The Queen was about to mock them a bit more but a flying changeling burst through the large doors on the opposite end of the hall, looking quite terrified. Needless to say the Queen was upset at being interrupted. "What do you want?! You are interrupting!" The Queen spat at her insubordinate. The changeling landed and hastily bowed while shaking. "I-I a-apologize my Queen. B-but there was a m-m-monster! It tore apart eight whole squads while making it's w-way here your majesty!" It shakily reported. It's insectoid voice echoing throughout the now silent hall. Pony and changeling alike staring at what this changeling had just said with a mix of looks from fear to disbelief and everything in between. "Eight squads?" She asked, almost sweetly. "Then send more squads you grub! It is one monster! One! You are an army! What is one going to do against thousands?!" She shouted with more than enough venom to make a king cobra blush. The changeling was then magically thrown through the double doors at the end of the hall and those same doors magically pulled shut, all courtesy of Queen Chrysalis. She turned back to the Elements to continue her mockery. Not even five seconds from Chrysalis shutting the doors, they burst open again. Now angry she spun to yell at the changeling that had done it this time. But the being at the door was far from a changeling. Standing there was a tall bipedal being. It had alarmingly large claws at it's feet which was glowing blue like they were made of some kind of crystal, moving up the body it's skin was a mixture of a blue shell-like exterior, actual skin and thick glowing orange lines which seemed to be brimming with some kind of energy. The glowing orange line on it's shoulders turned into a blue ribbon as it left the body and broke into three separate ribbons, two going moving away from the body on each shoulder and the other wrapping around and connecting to the other shoulder making it look like a halo broken in half. All hovering and moving on it's own accord. It's arms went from blue to black the further down the arm you went, ending in black and glowing orange paw-like appendages which held enormous glowing blue daggers, bent back-and-forth to look like a lightning bolt. It's head had the least black and blue on it yet managed to be terrifying all it's own. It had black, long, flowing hair which was much like the princess' hair which blew in an invisible wind and it's eyes were glowing pure blue with a pitch black pupil in the middle. It's most striking feature was the jagged, glowing orange twin horns on it's head. It was a demon. This fact stunned the entire hall to stillness but the demon was quick to spring into action. It lunged into the largest pack of changelings it could see and swung like there was no tomorrow. For many changelings there would be no tomorrow. All the ponies not in cocoons or goo'ed down ran for their lives, unaware that the demon was not attacking them as it charged the changelings and by the time only the important ponies and Chrysalis remained, which took mere minutes, over one hundred changelings had been cut down. It truly was a demon. It then set it's sights on Chrysalis and started running towards her at an alarming speed. Chrysalis, not wanting to end up like her children, took flight and didn't look back. The Demon seemed upset as Chrysalis's retreat if the grunt was anything to go by. The demon then turned it's sights on the main six and approached. Thinking this was the end, most stood tall, with the exception of Fluttershy. Whatever it had in store for them never came to fruition as it was blasted far back by a cobalt blue beam of magic and making a crater on landing on the other side of the hall. "AWAY FROM OUR SUBJECTS FOUL DEMON!" The Royal Canterlot Voice was famous for being the loudest thing anypony would ever hear in their lives, due to a case of turning somepony deaf Celestia stopped using it, Luna however, didn't get the memo. The one who was currently using it was hovering next to Celestia's own cocoon. "GO BACK TO THE PIT THOU CRAWLED OUT OF OR FACE THE WRATH OF PRINCESS LUNA!" She gave the Demon a chance to retreat, likely on the account of it coincidentally stopping the changeling invasion. The Demon rose up from the crater it had made and quickly got into what could be a combat stance, the paws on it's lower body were barely touching the ground and it crossed the paws on it's upper body with it's large daggers pointing at Luna. "Very well..." Luna grumbled before she magically cut down her sister who had heard and saw the entire situation. "Thou's pitiful fate hast been sealed..." She added as she stood tall and spread her wings, Celestia getting out of her cocoon and quickly matching Luna's stance. When their magic coursed through their horns everypony could feel it, even the non-unicorns, which was a testament to the huge amount of magic they wielded. It seemed that even the Demon felt it as it flinched when if felt the strong magical aura but quickly righted itself. The main six didn't move from their spot. Partly because of the excitement they felt to see both princesses vanquish a mighty demon and partly because they were still goo'd to the spot. For any reason, it would still be a mighty fight to behold.