//------------------------------// // The Battle: Part 1 // Story: Tristan's New Life // by ShadowVoltstreaker //------------------------------// Shadow's POV All of the ponies here seemed calm, so I guess news of Slipstream’s return hasn’t been spread. It may be for the best though, they can’t handle too much excitement if I remember correctly. "Kill Them…" "I'll only kill them if the need should arise…" I told the screeching voices in my head with a smile. "Kill them… now!" "Fine… I'll kill a one if it will shut you all up..." Looking around at all the possible candidates I settle on a brown earth pony with a frog as a cutie mark. "Excuse me sir?" He stops and turns toward me, "Uhm, yes? What is it?" "I need you to do something very important for me, if it's not too much to ask…" "Not at all… what am I doing exactly?" "Well…" I lifted the flap to my saddlebag and brought out a red orb. "Hold this for a moment." "Ok…" he slowly stuck out his hoof and I dropped the red orb in it, figuring I may as well kill two birds with one stone… "So… what exactly am I doing with this?" as soon as he asked, the orb fused into his hoof, causing him to scream in pain. "Orb fuses upon contact in ten seconds flat… may have to lower the activation time." I said, jotting down my notes. All around me ponies were crowding around and whispering, most back away entirely while others couldn't move… possibly out of pure terror. The screaming stopped, and the pony dropped to the ground, motionless. I heard gasps all around and even more screaming… "Takes 12 seconds for the victim to die… what about the-" The pony's body then explodes, spreading blood everywhere and cloaking my body in it… "Explosion." I finished, chuckling a little. Screams and stomping… that's all I could hear after that explosion… I waited a few moments before I got up and finished my notes, "I suppose that this experiment can be classified as a failure…" before I could put up my notepad though, the blood started to slide off my body and gather where it originated from… slowly all the blood took form and created the brown earth pony just like he was before! He looked shocked but instantly recovered and ran away. "Success! I still have to lower the activation time but for a prototype this is extraordinary!" I shouted with a wide smile. "As soon as this is fully finished I can join back up with-" "Hey you!" somepony shouted at me from behind. Turning around I see that it was that unicorn, I believe his name was… Night? "Aren't you supposed to be guarding the Elements?" I asked. "Technically I am… I have a barrier there that, when destroyed, will teleport me to it." Night said with a grin on his face. "And, Since you seem the most level-headed out of the four…" I cut him off, "Oh… you think I'm level-headed? I think you've misunderstood something here… you see, out of the four of us I-" He cut me off mid-sentence, "Whatever, why are you all here?" I chuckle lightly and reply with, "Slipstream wants revenge on the ponies who imprisoned him. But since those two are long gone we had to settle for their offspring, the current rulers of Equestria, and what better way to break her than to kill a few of her most trusted 'friends'." He began walking slowly towards me, "And just what made you think that we'd be so easy to get rid of?" "You mean besides the fact that one of your friends got knocked out by a single headbutt?" I laughed. "And did you know that he's already back up and fighting her as we speak?" I wasn't expecting this… nopony has been able to survive one of her headbutts… Slipstream barely made it out alive himself when they first met… Just then a black streak passed me from the sky and came crashing down a small ways away, turning around I saw that it was Aurum and… that colt from before! He looked incredibly different, "Amazing… you all may actually be able to win…" "There is no 'may' we will win." Night said, preparing to attack. ________________________________________ Blaze's POV "Why don't you just give up!" Slipstream shouted as he tackled me to the ground and starting punching me. Using my wings I pushed him off me and up into the air. Flipping myself on all fours I shoot into the air like a rocket and drive my head into his gut, making him cough up some blood. He quickly recovered and slammed his hoof down on my head, causing me to crash into the ground, breaking a few ribs... I look like a rag-doll right now... "Well… if you don't kill me… I'm sure Fluttershy will after she sees how this place looks." Slipstream landed on the ground and his flames grew larger and darker, "CAN YOU TAKE THIS SERIOUSLY?!" "If we both were serious…" I started, and began getting back up on all fours, "Then Ponyville would just be… a pile of ash." "Exactly!" "I just don't see your logic…" "That's because you aren't very open-minded…" In the distance I heard something that sounded like crashing. "Well I guess they're having fun." Slipstream sighed and shook his head, "And yet I'm here with boring old you…" "Buck you! I'll get a little bit more serious if it'll make you happy." "Good…" the flames on in his mane calmed down slightly and he got into an attack position. I hardened my gaze, made myself focus and got ready as well, waiting for my chance to strike… "Swap places with me dude." "What? Why?" "Because it's cramped in here and I need to stretch my legs…" "Remember what happened last time I let you take over?" "How was I supposed to know his arm didn't bend that way?" "I'm not even going to answer that." "Anyways this is Slipstream! If I kill this guy then you can go help the others!" "…that is true… all right, I’ll let you take over. Just don't go too crazy." "Hey Slipstream! I'm going to let the other Me take over for a while!" "Oh that charming fellow inside your head is coming? This is going to be interesting." Closing my eyes a moment I see myself walking towards me, before he passes me we Hi-5 each other, finalizing the swap. ________________________________________ Crossback's POV After that crash Aurum was done for. "Been a while since I had that much fun." I got out of my Disharmic form and stepped out of the crater to see that Shadow guy and Night exchanging blows. I looked behind me to make sure that Aurum was still knocked out, and seeing that she still was didn’t take off my nervousness. So I decided to cast a restriction spell on her... just in case she woke up. Finished with my spell I took to the sky and flew to the Library to check up on the girls. Landing in front of the library I run inside and see each of them standing around looking worried. Upon hearing me they all ran to me and sent a barrage of questions at me, holding up my hoof I silence them and tell them what I know. "Fortune and that Buckshot guy are fighting, Aurum is out of the fight, Shadow and Night are fighting, and I'm not sure about Blaze right now but I'm sure he's doing fine as well…" "Is Night ok?" Twilight asked me after I was finished. "Don't worry about him Twilight, he's much stronger than you think." I reply. "What are they here for anyways?" Rainbow stepped up and asked. “And why can’t we help you guys?” "Revenge… From what I understand, Slipstream was imprisoned on the sun by Celestia and Luna's parents. And now he's returned to take his revenge on their children… and if he destroys us, then Celestia and Luna will most likely break…” "That's horrible!" Fluttershy said, her voice was muffled by her hooves over her mouth. I nodded, "And we don’t want you all to get hurt, even if you all can handle yourselves. I'm going to check on the other battles… will you guys be ok?" "Yeah, Night left a barrier here so we should be fine." Twilight replied. Smiling I said, "Good. Hopefully this will all be over soon." I then turned around, walked out the library, shut the door, and flew towards the direction that Blaze and Slipstream went. As soon as I get into the air I see smoke in the distance, "Blaze… you better not burn down that forest." I then fly full speed towards the column of smoke.