//------------------------------//
// A Battle Most Vile 
// Story: Okami: Equestrian Legend 
// by Shaq-of-All-Trades 
//------------------------------//

	The inside of the factory was dark, quite dark. As she walked in, the door that Amaterasu had opened slammed shut, sealing them within the darkness. "Ammy... this is seriously freaking me out!" Issun chirped up, indeed shaking on her snout hard enough to nearly make her sneeze. Slowly, her breastplate glowed, igniting with a gold and red light. When the room was revealed, both Amaterasu, and ancient goddess, and Issun, a traveler of the world, both of whom had seen many tragedies, nearly emptied their stomachs at the scene which was no longer concealed by shadows.

It was a scene of death.

Corpses were strewn left and right, the cloud-stone painted a deep, dark red. The bodies had been mutilated beyond recognition, looking drained of blood and... strangely enough, of color. So many cuts lined them, their faces the most damaged, as well as the area around their hearts. Their backs also appeared to have suffered... It may have been easier to bear, if it were only adults... but no, there were children too. Amaterasu forced herself to slowly walk forward, the vileness in her stomach rising as her stomach rose to her throat. She looked down at the young pony, no more than eight at the most, and she realized exactly why the backs of these ponies were messed up as well. Something had torn off their wings. It must have done so violently, for there was still some pieces of torn muscle and bone forming little stumps. Discovering that anything could do something so cruel, and to so many, Ammy did indeed empty her stomach, the vomit black.

"Whoa... Ammy... we have to fix this. This... it just isn't right. This place is seriously messed up!" Issun hopped backwards on her head and hid in her ear, trying to stay as far from the scene as possible. Ammy, closing her eyes, turns away form the child's corpse, and begins to walk deeper into the factory, her hooves becoming sticky and red from the blood she was forced to tread through. She tried not to think too much about it. As they traversed the corridors, more and more scenes of gore and bloodshed revealed themselves, as well as scenes of torture. Bodies hung against walls like trophies, decapitated corpses, wings mounted, and so much more. It was as if they had entered the lair of some twisted beast that wished to inspire as much fear as it could before striking from the dark. Eventually, Ammy had to pause, to get her wits about her. Walking through so much was no easy feat, and it was wearing away at her mentally and emotionally. Issun tried getting her spirits up by recounting some past experiences he had been remembering, but it did little good.

"...nbows... Must ma.... bows..."

Ammy's head shoots up at the sound. Was that a voice just now? She could barely hear it, but she was sure that she'd heard the voice of a pony. Standing quickly, she begins to gallop in the direction she thought the voice came from. "Ammy, what's gotten into you all of a sudden?!" Issun says as he struggles to cling on.

"Must make... re rainbows..."

That time, she knew she had definitely heard a voice. It sounded female to her, but something was... off. She couldn't place it, but it was of little concern at the moment. She needed to see some life. After a few twists and turns, Amaterasu finds herself standing before a large, intricately carved door. Looking at the bottom, it seemed there was more blood than anywhere else she had seen so far. It was a problematic situation, but she needed to see if indeed, somepony was alive. She opens the door slowly, weary of what may lay behind it...


~~~~~~~~~~


"Rainbow, rainbows, must, make, more rainbows~"

As Amaterasu and Issun entered the room, an intense evil barrier formed behind them, locking them in. Before them, was a room filled with metal devices, each one containing a blade that was caked in old, coagulated blood. In fact, everything was covered in blood. This was not a place of peace, nor happiness. This was a place of madness, pain, insanity.

"Oh? Is that another pony I hear? Come, come, give me your colors~ We need more rainbows!"

Ammy turned to the voice, and saw a pony. It was a mare, covered in blood spatters and looking very, very pale. Her mane and tail, though caked with blood, appeared to be like a rainbow itself. In her hoof was a sword that brought about a memory. "Ammy..." Issun started. "That sword. It's... like I can remember something like it.... Isn't that weird? Have we ever fought a sword before?" Before Amaterasu could react, though, the room began to darken. She looked down at her breastplate. Something seemed to be weakening it's strength. She looked back up in time to see the mare just in front of her, flying just above the ground and ready to slice her head off. Rolling to the side, Amaterasu growls.

"You're not a pony..." the mare said. "But I know who you are." The mare faced her again, and Amaterasu was able to notice two things: one was the black necklace around her neck, which reeked of both light and dark magic (more-so of the latter), and two, that her eyes were empty, as if she weren't even really there. Her mouth curved slowly into a smile. "You don't know me, Amaterasu, but I most certainly have a grudge against you. You struck down my brother-in-arms long ago. Blight, born of the sword Goldnail."

"Ammy! If what she's saying is true, then she's been possessed like the Emperor was!" Ammy took heed of this information.

"Indeed, I have possessed this pony, one of the Elements of Harmony which stands in the way of our leader, Orochi's, conquest of this world. Noriaki, the demon blade, screams for vengeance! Come, so that I, the vile Pestilence, may make dark rainbows from your essence!" With a flash, Pestilence zoomed forward, Noriaki held forward in a thrust. Amaterasu dodges right, but is buffeted by the wind formed and knocked into the wall. For a moment, she is stunned, while Pestilence flies up into the center of the room, hidden in darkness.

"Ammy, there's no way you can take this guy while he's flying! You'll have to get him on the ground!" This was easier said than done, Ammy thought to herself with a grimace. After all, this enemy was faster than her, and had the element of darkness while she was a glowing target. If only she were able to shed some light, she'd be better able to combat this foe. Wait... that's it! she thought, turning towards where she figured the ceiling was. She had a plan. Before she could test it, though, Pestilence begins to laugh. The sound seemed to come from every direction, and before she could react, Pestilence bomb-rushed her from the side. It hurt quite a bit, but her breastplate prevented her from taking too much damage. Pestilence flies back into the darkness, waiting to strike again; however, Amaterasu enacts her plan.

Looking to the ceiling, she uses the Celestial Brush to form the Power Buck. As she suspected, the strong blow knocks away the solidified cloud, letting in a bit of sunshine. The room brightens, and Pestilence screams in pain, falling to the ground. It seemed he thrived in darkness, and the introduction of light had weakened his power. Noriaki slides from his grip, and Amaterasu rushes to it, attacking it with her glaive. As she does, a small crack forms, and the cursed blade glows a blood red. Leaping back, she avoids the oncoming explosion, as the sword returns to Pestilence, who stands up and glowers at her with the captive mare's empty eyes. "Your pain shall grow tenfold!"

Suddenly, the machines in the room begin to whirl to life. From the way they're positioned, they form a sort of ring around the room, blades stabbing towards her if Amaterasu tries to draw near. Pestilence takes the momentary pause to fly up to the ceiling, and bucks the clouds into a seal, putting the room back into near blackness, except for what Ammy's breastplate can illuminate. Looking up, she sees a ring of blood red swords form.

"Prepare to be eviscerated!" Pestilence shrieks as the blades turn and shot towards her. Using another Power Buck, she manages to knock most of them out of the air, but a few still hit. She was beginning to feel the darkness coming on. She drew on a healing smile, and was suddenly refreshed. I can't heal her possession until I break the sword's grip on her... Amaterasu pauses to think, as another barrage of swords comes towards her. She knocks them down as well, and once again, blasts a hole in the ceiling. Again, Pestilence falls and drops Noriaki, and again, Amaterasu attacks the blade. The crack thickens, the blade becoming a bit chipped, before it suddenly releases another explosion without warn. Amaterasu takes the full brunt of the blast, and is knocked into one of the machines, which immediately (and painfully) stabs her back into the center of the pseudo-arena. "I see now how Blight was defeated by you... but now, prepare to see the full power I possess with this body!"

Despite the hole in the ceiling, the room seems to darken as the necklace around Pestilence's neck crackles with energy. A very feminine scream emanates from the body, and Pestilence flies forward with such speed, a sonic boom erupts, a dark tinted rainbow accompanying it. Amaterasu ducks, escaping the attack by a hairsbreadth, and is nearly torn away back into the attacking ring by the accompanying wind. Issun hung onto her ear for dear life, screaming prayers to not die when he was still so young and beautiful.

"Do you see my power?!" Pestilence boasts, laughing for a few minutes. Ammy looked up. The hole in the ceiling was still there, light was still coming through... yet, Pestilence no longer seemed to be suffering from it. Was the light not strong enough anymore? The laughter stopped, and another scream filled the room.

"Furball... I think that move is killing that pony! We need to end this, quickly!" She couldn't agree more. Turning to face Pestilence, Amaterasu dodged once more, bracing for the wind, and let the demon boast some more about how powerful it was. How would she be able to strengthen the light in the room? What was the secret? It suddenly became quite obvious. Rushing under the hole in the ceiling, she looks up and draws a sun. Suddenly, the room is filled with an intense light as the celestial body changes positions and distance. As the room is filled, Pestilence screams and once again drops Noriaki, which Ammy wastes no time attacking. After a few blows, a scream rips through the clouds, and the blade splits clean in half. The machines falter, and Amaterasu quickly draws a healing smile on the mare. The darkness pulsates quickly into the necklace, before dispersing. "Whoa! We did it! Lets hear a victory howl, buddy!"

Crouching low, Amaterasu unleashes a fierce howl of victory, the sunny sky turning to a star filled night. A constellation blinks it's way into existence. Filling in the missing stars, a gust of wind buffets her, as a spectral pony appears flying in circles around her. She pauses, still flapping her wings in front of Ammy, then gives the goddess a noogie. "Yo! Thanks for freeing me from those crazy stars! It was weird flying around up there! Name's Rainbow Dash by the way. Might give you an autograph for that performance, though, it could have been a bit cooler. Maybe, like, twenty percent? Also, thanks for not messing up my body, either. That dang demon went and pushed me out, then took over!" She dives back into her body, and as she stands, her colors blossom to full vibrancy. The world shimmered slightly, and suddenly, all the darkness was blasted away as things were restored to normal. The blood vanished, the machines turning to fountains of rainbows, the dark gray clouds becoming white and calming.

Suddenly, Rainbow's body glowed just as the other's had, and an orb of light shoots out into Ammy. As her eyes glow, she speaks in the hauntingly familiar voice:

"Oh Amaterasu, origin of all that is good in Nippon and mother to them all. Yet another element you have freed, and closer to both peace and chaos you bring this world. My power has grown much stronger, and only two more elements must be freed before we are once again united. Heed these words, dear Amaterasu. Do not allow emotions to cloud your judgement of what must be done. The enemy you bring to this world will bring both joy and hate. Neither of these, must you combat him with. He is chaos, and chaos cannot be destroyed. It can only be kept in check. But my time to speak with you is growing less, and less, so that is all the advice I may give. From this Element, the Element of Loyalty, you have gained the of technique of Blitz. With this power, blow away the darkness in your trail, Amaterasu and Issun."

The presence fades, and Amaterasu is left a bit shaken. Those words... they had stirred up a memory. Her and two others. She didn't know why, but she felt closer to those two than any others. AS she was lost in her memories, she heard pony voices. Leaving the room with Rainbow, she is greeted with a very, very happy sight. All the ponies, every last one of them, was alive and well. All traces of the darkness she had seen, the place of death and sadness was erased along with the demon Pestilence. They seemed to have no recollection of the events, and Issun didn't want to mention it anymore than Amatersu (even if she COULD speak). Happy that everything was a bit more peaceful, Amaterasu collapses into unconsciousness.