For a tale that would make and break legends of old, one would expect that it would start of in a glorious manner. But don’t forget this is the life story of the famous Twily Sparkle and her companions. So don’t expect anything to be normal about this tale especially the beginning which brings us to the base of the dragon fang bandits…
For several years now the dragon fang have made base camp in some old mountain ruins. Life had been good for them the towns were ripe with plunder. It was too far out in the country for the military to get involved. And their ace in the hole prevented the local towns from rising up against them. Yes it was a good time and place to be a bandit all they had to worry about was which town to plunder next. But rumors began to spread across the country side. Rumors of a powerful sorceress that had started killing one bandit group after another. All the rumors said that her activities were all a good distance from their turf. So they let their guard down on that one fateful night that would start the gears of destiny.
It was another glorious starry night on the mountain with the stars gleaming like diamonds in the darkness. However the members of the dragon fang were too busy admiring the real diamonds, gems, and gold in their hooves to notice. The last raid had been more fruitful than many had been in years and everypony even the leader a gruff looking earth pony, that wore a pink vest for some unknown reason, had to give his men credit.
“You bunch of slobs did well tonight, I doubt theirs a single gold bit left in that town.” The leader pauses mid speech to drain a massive mug of cider before continuing as one of his men refills his cup. “To show my appreciation here’s a little reward!” With his free hoof he reaches into one of the nearby chest full of gold and jewels and begins to throw hooffuls into the air while taking giant gulps from his drink.
Suddenly a bright orange orb flew over the ruins walls landing slowly in the middle of the camp before turning into an explosion taking close to a score of the dragon fang with it. Nopony seemed to notice the enigmatic shadow that appeared out of nowhere in the midst of the ensuing fires.
“What the hell is going on?”
Shouted the bandit leader over the din, before he could even get an answer from his men he knew what was happening. As the dust started to settle the form of a purple unicorn walking towards him told him all he needed to know.
“You, you, you…I can’t believe it! How did you find us you little magic using bandit killer, everypony run for your lives it’s Twily Sparkle!”
A smug smile spread across the mares faces as the bandits started to run in fear from her.
“That’s right! And I didn’t even have to give you your other two guesses like the last group. Congratulations here’s your prize, Fire Ball!”
Even from miles away the constant chain of explosions could be seen and heard drowning out the cries of the dragon fang. As abruptly as it began it ended as Twily Sparkle began he raid on the bandit’s treasure.
“And thus Twily Sparkle the sorceress supreme dedicates her life to defeating the evil terrine of the evil bandit gang. This one den of wickedness is destroyed, but so long as evil exist in this world Twily’s battle will never end.”
“How can you monolog about fighting for justice while stealing our treasure?”
Those were the last words the bandit spoke before the sorceress held out her hoof and released another fire ball towards him.
“Never interrupt the main character or a mare of such beauty as myself when she is talking. You guys are just the stupid first episode cannon fodder your only purpose is to make me look good.” With that she took her leave with her selection of the most valuable pieces of their treasure.
It was late afternoon the following day after the raid. Twily would have been enjoying the scenery if clumsy bandits weren't failing so badly at trying not to be seen by anypony.
Why does this always happen to me? All I do is destroy their homes, kill their comrades, and help myself to a little bit of their treasure I don’t deserve this. Sigh, might as well get on with this since they won’t stop following me until I do. Thought the mare as she did a spinning jump to face the direction she had just come from.
“You guys all suck at hide-and-go-seek so come on out already so I can get on with my life by ending yours.”
In response an earth pony stallion drops out of a tree almost instantly with his blade drawn.
“Finally caught up to you, now you have nowhere to run. Do you think you can steal our treasure and get away with it? Do you, you little witch?”
Twily Sparkle wasn't paying much attention to what the bandit was saying as she was trying to figure out how he was able to get up the tree in the first place. She did however catch the last part the bandit shouted at her and proceeded to pull out a rather large scroll from her cape.
“Do you, you little witch? Does your script really call for such lousy lines?” comments the mare as she scours the scroll “what do you know that really was part of the script, guess that shows how important your character is. Let’s just skip this whole dialog about you trying to get the treasure back, so just trigger the pathetic ambush already.”
The bandit is quit taken aback by this. How did she know about all his plans? Did she really have some sort of magic scroll that told her the future? His concerns about the scroll vanished as he saw his fellow bandits out in the open only hiding a leg at the most. We really do suck at hiding thought the bandit as he assured himself that she only knew of his intentions because she spotted his companions.
“Alright boys you heard the mare let’s get this over with nice and quick.”
Looking around her Twily Sparkle gave a sigh of pity. Sure after fighting many bandit gangs she knew the level of intelligence wasn't high among their kind, but still this was pathetic logic even for them.
“You guys really should read more books it would help with your stupidity.” With her hoof firmly planted onto her face she continues “If your entire gang wasn't enough to stop me inside your own base, what makes you think that half a score of bandits can take me on?”
“Witty and cute just what I like in a mare, to bad I have to kill you here!”
Sigh, one more fireball should be able to wrap this fiasco up, thinks the mare as she trails off in thought. Okay maybe I’m not the most upright of girls out there, but why can’t I get hit on by stallions who are not professional idiots…I mean criminals?
Almost as if by some queue on a script a shadowy figure of an a stallion in armor appears on the hill behind them
“Excuse me, but anypony who gangs up on a mare is going to get their flank beaten by me personally. So if you want to live I suggest you get running and I might not chase you down.”
This sudden appearance of an outsider quickly drew the attention away from the fight that was about to take place.
“Shut and stay out of this pretty boy. Just who do you think you are anyway talking to the dragon fang that way?”
It had been a sleepless night while pursuing the sorceress leaving the bandits rather irritable towards this new comer regardless of how well armed he was. The stallion quietly readied his sword flicking his mane from the front of his face with his free hoof.
“If I told you my name you would only get it dirty”.
“Screw this, guy’s we’re bandits let’s kill all of them!” A mighty cheer arose from the remnants of the dragon fang as they charged the new comer.
“Well I’m glad we came to a mature adult decision” muttered Twily under her breath.
Still scared of the sorceress from the events that had transpired the night before, the bandits decided to try their luck on the swordspony. Leaving Twily to day dream away.
Oh what should I do? I know I did kind of just wish for a decent guy to show up, but I’m a complete mess a little time to clean myself up a bit would have been nice. Wait shouldn't I help him? No remember Twily all those hours spent studding romance novels. This is where the dashing prince charming comes in and saves the beautiful heroine from danger. I have to play my part and act all scared and cute. She was about to give a fake scream of terror as the last bandit fell before the swordpony’s blade.
“Sorry asking you this all the sudden, but I've been searching for a pony named Twily Sparkle. I heard that she was around these parts you wouldn't happened to have met her?” Inquired the swordspony as he sheathed his blade.
Ah and here I was worrying about trying to act cute in front of him. When he’s clearly already head over hoof for me and has embarked on a daring quest in order to court me.
This mare really needs to stop day dreaming and reading romance novels.
“Shut up! What’s wrong with a girl having dreams?”
Doing a quick look around and seeing nopony besides himself around the puzzled stallion begins to questions the mare sanity.
“Um who are you taking to?”
“Oh no pony really just talking to myself….out loud….Anyways I’m Twily Sparkle may I ask what business you have with me.”
Totally mess this first impression up, might as well get this over with so I can forget this ever happened.
A look of relief came over the Stallions face and he smiled as he introduced himself.
“So you’re Twily Sparkle huh your just as Candace described you. Nice to meet you I’m Shinning Armor your brother in law.”
Twily stared hard at the white unicorn blinking a few times before stamping her hoof down.
“MY WHAT IN LAW!!!!?”
Much later at a restaurant and after the whole menu had been ordered much to the dismay of the waiter, chef, and owner did the unicorns talk to each other again.
“Before we begin I have a letter for you from your sister.”
Dear sister,
Sorry for the abrupt news about my marriage to Shinning Armor, but since you’re always running around the country side killing bandits I couldn't send you an invitation.
PS
You really should drop by home more often so you don’t miss things like this.
PSS
Just so that you know that this is really me and not a changeling again, don’t want to repeat what happened last time. Sunshine, sunshine ladybugs awake clap your hooves and do a little shake.
Love your sister Candance
Silently Twily folded the letter and hid it in one of the many pockets in her cape. Shortly after stashing the letter the food that was ordered arrived. All conversation was put aside as they gorged themselves. The ravenous eating of the two ponies made short work of the food which could have fed a small army for an entire day.
While our heroes were enjoying their meal, a mighty roar echoed from the destroyed fort of the Dragon Fang. For deep within the mountain itself a dragon was awakening. The thick steel chains that bounded it to the mountain went taunt. Gashing cracks began to appear in the mountains solid foundation underneath the onslaught of power from the angry dragon. The prison that had held it captive for years finally gave way to the dragons might. With its freedom won at long last the dragon took flight once again to terrorize the country side.
As the poor waiter pony began to move the entire pantry from their table back into the kitchen, the unicorns spoke again.
“So now that you've finally met your new sister in law what do you plan to do now?”
It was plain to see that the stallion wasn't the brightest bulb as the purple unicorn could see faint traces of smoke coming out of his ears. Before long he hit one of his fore hooves on top of the other with a complete blank look on his face.
“You didn't plan that far ahead did you?” a silent nod was the only answer her question received “just how did such a scatter brain catch the attention of my sister much less marry her?”
“Excuse me youngins, I don’t mean to interrupt but name is Samons the elder of this village and I can’t help but notice you two aren’t from around these parts.”
Twily was caught completely off guard. She had been so busy observing her new family member that she hadn’t notice the strangers approach. Trying not to show her surprise she slowly turned around to face the new comer. She was greeted with the seasoned face of an old earth pony. A slight twinkle shone in the purple mares eyes. She had been on the road long enough to guess that this old stallion was interested in talking business with her.
“Now I might be mistaken due to being old and all, but are you by any chance the renowned sorceress Twily Sparkle?”
In her journey so far Twily Sparkle had learned that when conducting business with strangers it was best to confront them bluntly and get to the point.
“As a matter of fact I am.”
Some level of shock and awe of such a powerful, famous, wise, and most importantly gorgeous mare gracing a town with her presence was to be expected. But why was the one most surprised by this her idiot of a brother in law?
Trying to respect her sisters choice in a mate Twily decided to give this stallion the benefit of the doubt. In that he thought she was some other pony with the same name, but she was quickly reassured that this stallion was dumb.
“Wait you’re a sorceress?”
At the utterance of this statement face hooves and tables went rampant in the restaurant sending several dishes onto the floor. The content of which caused some ponies to slip adding to the chaos of the scene.
It took a few seconds of silence and controlled breathing before Twily removed her hoof from her face. She was red with embarrassment for being in the company of such a pony. Not only that, but she had hit her face quite hard with her hoof making her face all the more red.
“What did you think what I was wearing was a school uniform” she saw Shinning about to open his mouth to speak and quickly cuts him off “no please don’t answer that, just keep your mouth shut till I say so.”
Several coughs from the elder bought him their attention once again. After several more coughs he made his plea.
“This village is currently in great danger and are currently in need of the famous bandit killer and dragon spooker-”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa wait a minute I’m okay with bandit killer, but what in the wide wide world of Equestria is a dragon spooker?” Asked the mare.
The old stalion must have had a cold for he kept on coughing for the longest time before responding.
“It means that even dragons step pass in sheer revoltion.”
Once again a great clamor arose in the restaurant. As Shinning did his best prevent Twily from bashing the elder of the head with a spare chair she had picked up with her magic.
“Wait! I did mean to offend you. Please we need your help!”
Never one to give up a quick bit Twily lowered her weapon. However a quick twinkle in her eye told the elder he was going to get charged a leg or two for what he just said. Not wanting to further aggravate the dangerous and greedy mare the elder got straight to the point
“The people of this village are under the cruel hoof of a cruel band of pink shirted bandits-“
“The name of this gang wouldn't happen to be the dragon fangs would it?” asked Twily inquisitively “If it was you don’t need to worry about them. I took care of most of them yesterday and believe it or not that stallion finished off the rest this morning.”
Upon hearing this news the elder’s face beamed with joy and took off towards the door, faster than a pony of his age should have been able to. All the while shouting about how they had been saved from the black dragon that the dragon fang kept. Once he was gone Shinning leaned over and held a quite conversation with his sister in law.
“Did you really defeat a dragon?”
“Nope didn’t know they had one. So what do you say we forget about it and leave town before it gets here?”
“I like the way you think sister.”
Sister… it’s going to take a while to get use to him calling me that.
The pair didn't even get the chance to make for the door before the air was ripped apart by the fearful roar of a dragon flying overhead. As if to testify the dragon strength the whole town shock and windows broke from the pressure produced by the shock waves created by the dragon just flying by. On its second pass over the town a river of fire came from its mouth setting a third of the town ablaze.
Screams of terror and fright could be heard all around as ponies of all tribes try to flee the dragons wrath. There was however one pony that fought against the crowd to get inside the crumbling restaurant. It was the mayor who was a slightly darker hue than before due to his singed coat.
“You youngins lied to me you said you beat the dragon! Now the dragon is on a rampage! It’s already destroyed half the town and just finished burning the library I was in to the ground!”
Rather than being ashamed of lying to him and apologizing profusely as he expected. Twily had a blank look on her face with her eyes vacant of all light giving them an empty feeling that rather unsettled the mayor.
“So let me get this straight that dragon just torched the entire library, turning all the books into ashes?”
An eerie murmuring laugh came from Twily’s mouth as her eyes went blood shot. Her mane seemed to gain a life of its own as it started to dance like tongues of flame. She slowly started to the door with such a murderous air about her that the two stallions were quivering with feer. As she excited the building she turned to look at Shinning with the face that not even a mother could love. It was not the face of Twily Sparkle the bandit killer, but that of the dreaded dragon spooker. It was a fitting name though Shinning as he doubted even dragons wouldn't flea in fear when seeing such a monster approaching them.
“Well what are you waiting for brother? Let’s get ourselves some dragon meat!”
Chills ran down his spine when she called him her brother. Just what type of crazy family did I marry into? Was the last thing he thought before he was grabbed by Twily’s magic and dragged out of the building.
Weather he liked it or not Shinning was now force to confront not one but two beasts. That even the bravest of knights would grow pale from hearing their names uttered around the fireplace. One happened to be his newly met sister in law. This gave him mixed feelings about his idea of having the wedding before meeting the rest of the in-law family. He shuddered to think what the rest of them might be like.
Despite the chills constantly running down his spine he suddenly felt very warm. It was a fireball that Twily had just pitched at the dragon in quite a flashy way considering they were attacking an angry dragon. A second later there was a tremendous explosion that engulfed a second third of the town in flames. Truly this was turning into a battle between two monsters.
“Guess it’s my turn to show what I got” Spoke the stallion as he brandished his sword and charged the dragon with a fierce battle cry.
Upon hearing the cry Twily briefly left her dragon spooker state. “Wait you numskull you’re a comical relief character. By attacking it you’ll only-“ she didn’t have time to finish her warning before the dragon repelled him with a swing of his tail sending him flying into her.
She was now trapped underneath her surprisingly heavy brother’s unconscious body as the dragon advanced toward them. In her panic she forgot to use any form of magic to escape. The giant claws of the dragon’s foot were on its way down to crush them. Then all the sudden the dragon stopped its foot like it was about to step on something disgusting. Preforming an awkward leap over the two of them it continued to walk away destroying the rest of the town as it went.
“Wow it just stepped over us like a pile of…”
Of course my brother in law had to come too just at that second. “Speak for yourself” yelled the mare as she shoved Shinning off of her. “Okay that’s it dragon you’re going to get it now, Levitation!”
Without warning a twister of magical wind surrounded the two unicorns. Much to Shinning’s dismay he flew for the first time in his life. Quickly discovering his new found fear of heights he grabbed onto Twily’s leg. A mischievous shine appeared in her eyes.
“Good idea brother, you distract the dragon while I cast the spell.”
He was about to protest what ever idea that had just come into her head. But before he could do anything she had already flung him towards the angry dragon. With sword still drawn Armory flew towards the dragon ready to strike a fatal blow to its head.
He had though never fought a dragon before and underestimated the hardness of its scales. Thus he got his sword stuck in the dragons forehead. The pain from the wound caused the dragon to renew its rampage with vigor as it tried desperately to ride itself of the insect on its head.
“Darkness beyond twilight, Crimson beyond blood that flows. Buried in the stream of time is where your power grows. I pledge myself to conquer all the foes who stand, before the mighty gift bestowed in my unworthy hoof. Let the fools who stand before me be destroyed, by the power you and I possess...DRAGON SLAVE!”
With the final words uttered a screaming beam of crimson energy launched from Twily’s hooves. The beam vaporized all in its path, upon reaching the dragon an explosion so powerful and large it could be seen from space enveloped the entire area. The resounding thunder of the explosion echoed loudly throughout the mountains and valleys for hundreds of miles. Some witnesses even swear that they saw a cloud shaped like a mushroom tower of the highest peaks.
Somehow Shinning had survived the blast that obliterated the dragon along with most of the town. Upon seeing her companion Twily landed near him.
“How’s that for a title drop. Anyways I did it my magic destroyed the dragon, haven’t done that spell in quite a while.”
Lifting his bruised head from underneath a pile of rumble the white unicorn began to rub his aching head. “Got anything in your bag of tricks for a headache?”
“Well I’m glad nothing important was hurt.”
Chided Twily in good humor, but she was once again taken aback by her brother as he actually agreed with her.
“Yeah that’s true”.
Just then the mayor appeared from underneath some rubble. Was this stallion faking his age or what thought Twily, but she quickly put on her business face.
“So mayor can I get a reward for saving the village? Maybe twenty gold pieces, yeah that sounds fair for beating a dragon.”
The mayor pony shook with anger. “SAVE THE VILLAGE! SAVE THE VILLAGE! JUST LOOK WHAT YOU DID TO IT!”
As he said this he threw his hoof in the direction of a massive creator that was the remains of the town. Twily nodded in appreciation of her handy work.
“Well to make an omelet you have to break a few eggs”.
For so much destruction a lot of villagers emerged behind their mayor unscathed.
“Now we’ll break you”
“Well I’d love to stay and chat, but I don’t want to be tardy to my next appointment so…see ya Shinning.”
With that the purple unicorn quickly began to gallop away. Shinning was quick to join her in running away from the mob yelling death threats to them.
"May I ask where we are running to" asked Shinning between deep breaths.
"I was planning on visiting Canterlot's libraries to catch up on my studies".
This was met with laughter from the white unicorn. "You're just as Cadance described you a hot tempered egg head.”
For better or for worse this is how the story of the famous sorceress Twily Sparkle who would become feared by bandits, evildoers, kings, and even by demon lords began.
Q & A
Hey Twily here to answer some of your questions, not that we have any at this time seeing that this is the first chapter. So I’ll go through some questions that you ponies may ask in the future.
Q: Wait Twilight is Lina and Shinning is Gourry, are you shipping them together even though they’re siblings?
A: First off if you are actually reading this part of the chapter you should know by now that Shinning is already married to my sister Candance. So no shipping is going to happen between us. Why the cast is like this, well what story doesn't call for strong bonds between characters to further the plot? Also this isn't a direct retelling of the Slayers story cause that would be boring and uninteresting not to mention unoriginal and illegal on some level.
Q: If that’s true why are there so few differences between this and the Story for Slayers?
A: For Pete’s sake ponies this is the pilot chapter/episode and the author’s first attempt at doing something like this so give it a few chapters before it gets a definite life of its own. Though the underlying plot will remain the same this is a slayers alternate universe/crossover after all.
Q: Why didn't the Mane 6 beat up Discord when he broke free?
A: In this world the elements on Harmony grew rapidly weaker after banishing Nightmare Moon. Allowing Discord to awaken close to a thousand years before the "Mane 6" were even born.
Q: What’s up with the weird names?
A: Well since in the pony universe you’re most use to Shinning calls me Twily and my first companion in the series is this universes version of him the author went with that name. As for other characters that show up some more plot related names may be used.
Q: How did you obtain a script?
A: That's a rather interesting story. A pink earth pony just appeared out of nowhere and gave it to me when I asked who she was all she said was. "that's a secret" then she vanished. Wonder if I'll ever run into that crazy character again?
Q: Shouldn’t the chant for the Dragon Slave be different if it’s coming from Discord?
A: Actual question from a reader here, so let’s not mess this up. Truth be told this is going to be explained soon in a future chapter. So please be patient.