//------------------------------//
// Dominating the First Fight [EDITED] 
// Story: Bushi Tales 
// by Kris The Kris 
//------------------------------//

In the Solar Court in her throne room,  Princess Celestia sighed as she listened to this one noble unicorn named Blue Moon who kept trying to pass a law that would keep all dogs out of public places. As he blathered on, talking about it, Celestia only had one thought, along with most of the guards in there.

"Can't something interesting happen?"

"And that concludes my reasoning for the 'No Dogs' law." Blue Moon finished his argument, putting away one of dozens of charts he had made for the court.  

She noticed most of the other nobles in the room were asleep. She smirked internally before announcing her decision. "I am sorry but your law is denied for being unequal towards those who need dogs and Diamond Dogs." Celestia subtly motioned for a few guards, for she knew that he would have a hissy fit. 

The noble started shaking in rage, standing up. "This is an outrage to all allergy sufferers everywhere! I will see to it that all my supporters will write letters until you are-"

The entrance was suddenly blown open with a cloud of smoke obscuring it. The guards quickly got into position in front of the open doors, the nobles scrambling away in fear. Celestia's eyes widened when she saw two very familiar beings. "Allie? Gwen?" 

"MISS TIA!" Allie screamed in joy before charging past the confused Guards,  jumping over the ponies that were in her way or just jumping off them like she did to Blue Moon, and landing right front of Celestia.
Then she ran to her side hugged the big pony princess. 

Celestia, in both shock and nostalgia, hugged Allie back with her wing with Gwen just watching from the entrance with guards surrounding her. 

"I missed you, Miss Tia! We were in the stone for so long with no one to really talk to except Discord!" Allie whined, looking up at Celestia's face with tears in her eyes. "And he wasn't even that good at singing!

"It is kind of an emergency." Gwen spoke up, spooking all the nobles who just noticed that she had snuck into the middle of the group. They swiftly moved away from her, leaving a large circle of space around her. The guards noticed that Gwen and move and followed her. "Discord was freed shortly before we were." 

With that name, plus that fact that most everypony there had seen the three statues, the muttering and whispers began. Most of them were positive, seeing how the heroes of the past were back. Some were negative, seeing as they said that Discord was back. The guards were even putting their spears in a more complacent location. One pony was asking about muffins. No one really knew what Derpy was doing there.

None of that went through the dog hating noble's mind, who wasn't making the connections between the statues and the living breathing duplicates there like everyone else. He was far more angry about getting interrupted and the fact that this 'uncouth brat of a diamond dog' had done it. Plus, it had touched him. 

Blue Moon got up with a growl, yelling what was on his mind without really thinking. "This is why we need those laws! To keep the impudent Diamond dogs like this one out! They are noting but thieves and liars!" 

Everything went quiet as Celestia and a few other ponies glared at the dumb unicorn. 

"Solar Court is adjourned until further notice." Celestia stood up, Allie moving away slightly. "Furthermore, Blue Moon is no longer allowed in the court for his racist views on Diamond Dogs." Celestia looked away from the fuming unicorn. "Guards, please alert the others that Discord may have been released and to check on his statue." 

Blue Moon growled under his breath, glaring at Allie, before getting escorted out by a pair of guards.

Celestia looked to Gwen as she walked up to the vessel. "It is glorious, yet troublesome to see you two in the flesh again." She looked between the two and could see the differences in just how they stood. 

Allie seemed to stand on her toes more, seeming as excitable as Pinkie Pie. Before she was excitable but she also had her reflective and quiet moments, which helped her to decide to get imprisoned in the stone. 

Gwen was standing firm but emotionless, when before she slouched more, trying to hide her presence from the world. Now, she seemed at attention but depressed with a slight slouch.

"I am aware of how long it has been. We need the elements again." Gwen stated firmly, her face showing little to no emotions. "He is aware of them and is most likely going to steal them." 

"Give me a minute to contact the current wielders and I shall go retrieve them from the vault." Celestia levitated a scroll over with ink and a quill. As she wrote her letter to Twilight, she lamented the emotional state of Gwen. 

"After all this is over, I should formally introduce them to Twilight. Maybe she can get Gwen out of this new shell." Celestia put the finishing touches on the letter before sending it off. "Let's go."





Gwen jogged behind the Princess with her staff at the ready as Allie stayed in front, looking around every corner for trouble. In other words, Discord. 

"....Tia....I think he's planning something." Gwen spoke up, looking out some of the windows as they moved, taking notice of some of the pink clouds. "He hasn't come to confront us in any way, not even to taunt us." 

"And he likes taunting us!" Allie barked from the front, peeking down some halls. Her tail wagged slightly when she saw Luna's room.

Celestia looked around more warily. "He could be making something to fight you, like that Omnihunter."

"Ahhhhhh, good times~/I hope not!" Allie sighed/Gwen snapped, remembering the battle with giant deadly bug over a thousand years ago. To Allie, it was glorious. For Gwen, it was terrifying due to lack of team members. 

"He's probably not strong enough to create something that powerful since he just got-" Gwen stopped for a moment before spinning around and shooting off a single magical bolt down the hall they had come from. 

There was a loud bleat of pain that echoed through the castle. 

"....God, I hope it's not poisonous one." Gwen spoke up, with Allie recognizing the sound as well since they had both fought them about a thousand times before Equestria. 

"Tia, get the elements and meet the current users halfway! We'll try to keep collateral damage to a minimum!" Gwen ordered, her staff starting to glow with power gathered from the air itself. 

Celestia looked to her friends with worry before nodding and teleporting to the vault.

(Theme power up)

Allie ran up in front of Gwen, taking out both her katanas. One was glowing while the other was as black as night. She was growling with excitement.   

As soon as the F.O.E appeared, Allie stopped growling. "Really? Just a Dream Eater? I was hoping for a Nightmare Ram. They're a lot more dangerous to fight!" She asked out loud as she looked upon the giant ram F.O.E. 

It looked like a giant ram, only it had red eyes, human like hands, and sharp teeth. It towered over the two seasoned adventurers with it's head grazing the ceiling.

"Honestly, I think Discord is underestimating us...again...It's rather insulting." Gwen muttered, picturing the first circle in her head and beginning the construction. 

The dream Eater had heard all of that and roared in rage swinging it's hand paw thing at Allie, trying to smash her.

Allie crossed her swords in front of her, wincing as the attack hit her defense and slammed her into a wall. She moved slightly, feeling a bit weary but not to a troubling amount. 

Gwen looked unconcerned with her partner as she created her first circle, manipulating the magic in the air to create an intricate circle under the F.O.E. It started producing vines that started covering the Dream Eater's face. "Hood Circle!"

Allie moved away from the wall as she focused on her inner rage. "Haaaaaaaaaaa!" Energy was collecting on Allie's weapons as the F.O.E. struggled with the vines on it's head, swinging wildly every which way and knocking a few holes in the walls and ceiling. 

Gwen started preparing one of her numerous healing spells in order to fix the wounds that Allie would get from the powerful but double edged attack. She knew that the excess energy from the circle would help in a minute but it was better safe than sorry.

Once the energy got burning hot on the katanas, burning Allie's hands and arms, she swung them both savagely at the Dream Eater. It released a large magical shock wave that knocked it though the damaged wall and out of the castle and into the guarden. "Shockwave!"

Allie started chasing it out as extra energy popped out of the circle that stayed with the giant monster and surrounded her, slowly healing the burn wounds.  

Gwen started following, preparing to launch a healing spell at Allie when she came to the edge of the hole and noticed the apparent school group from before. They seemed terrified but otherwise okay with a few guards escorting them away. 

~~~

"Ah' knew it." Apple Bloom deadpanned as she followed everyone to a shelter. "Ah' knew the world would be destroyed by giant evil sheep."

The guards and the other Cutie Mark Crusaders briefly looked it Apple Bloom with an indescribable look. 

~~~

Gwen shook her head, confirming they were far enough away to continue fighting before jumping out after Allie. She shot her healing spell at the bushi, who was starting to shake.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA! BLOOD SURGE!" Allie roared at the top of her lungs as she caught on fire. She was breathing rapidly as she held her weapons up and charged at the Dream Eater, the flames encompassing them. 

"FLASH SLICE!" Allie disappeared briefly as she reappeared on the other side of it, a savage gash appearing on the Dream Eater. Allie spasmed slightly as she felt several muscles tear under her skin. 

It roared in pan before collapsing, black smoke surrounding it as Allie looked back. 

Panting, Allie looked to Gwen in the distance. "Well that was rather eas-"

The F.O.E.'s claw suddenly shot out and slammed into the unaware bushi, knocking her into a statue. "Allie!' Gwen called out in worry as the heavily injured Dream Eater stood up on three legs.

It roared in rage, finally tearing the vines off and glaring at Allie with a Dozing Gaze, quickly putting her to sleep.

"Mrrrrrrr." Allie fell over, snoring loudly as the fire from the Blood Surge kept hurting her. 

Gwen stared at the beast as it started limping over and got ready to smash the prone bushi, completely ignoring Gwen. Gwen was shaking slightly as she disconnected a part of the Magic Circle that kept it stable. 

"Dismiss Blast." Gwen intoned with anger as the magic that fueled the Hood Circle started inflating explosively.




Celestia was following the train tracks with the elements floating beside her, flying as fast as she could without loosing concentration. it was kind of hard when she kept worrying about Allie and Gwen and the other ponies that could be caught in the battle.

She faltered slightly in the air as she heard a large explosion from Canterlot.  

The alicorn looked back and saw a quickly vanishing magical cloud along with a dark smoke that was quickly vanishing. She shook her head, knowing what the darkness meant, before looking back to the tracks, seeing the train approaching.




Gwen ran over to Allie as the giant F.O.E. started fading away into darkness, having been utterly decimated by the blast. She checked Allie's heart beat after canceling the Blood Surge with a well place nerve poke. Gwen smiled when she found everything to be normal. "Allie, you idiot." She brung up the healing spell from before and started fixing the internal wounds that Allie had suffered, both from the Blood Surge and the F.O.E.'s final attack.  

Gwen wiped her head, looking inwardly to see how much TP she had used in the fight and healing Allie. The Arcanist winced slightly as she notice how she only had half the normal TP so she was pretty low. She face palmed in irritation. "That prison messed us up pretty badly as well, Allie." Gwen started pulling her partner to a bench but stopped as she noticed who was already sitting there.

"Bravo, Bravo~!" Discord cheered, feeding some bird eggs to a Furyhorn. He was also holding a slushy cup that he gave off that annoying sound when he sipped on the straw. "That was a positively beautiful battle, full of such chaotic power~" 

She said nothing, holding her staff up with determination in her eyes.

"Oh, Gwen~ I don't want to fight, especially when I can make a deal with you two about this world you are from." Discord chuckled, taking a horn off the strangely passive F.O.E. and biting into it, releasing a few Venomflys. "And really, you can't deny me with how Allie almost died."

Gwen casually smacked the weak monsters down, destroying them. She looked back at Allie, noting that she was still asleep before looking to Discord. "I am listening."




Celestia ran onto the the war torn battlefield/garden, incredibly worried about Allie and Gwen. Twilight and her friends were right behind her with the elements on. 

The seven ponies stopped when they saw Discord in the middle of a large, juggling the beaten forms of Gwen and Allie. He seemed pretty roughed up but not as bad as the two adventurers. 

Celestia started tapping into her inner magic, furious as the defeat of her old friends. "Remember, Twilight, Discord is completely unpredictable so be ready for anything!" The princess growled, her mane and tail glowing white hot as she glared at the entity of Chaos.

What Discord said caught everyone guard, enough to cool Celestia's rage.

"I'll go back to the stone with no fight." Discord tossed Allie and Gwen aside, putting his arms behind his back. "Unless you want to hug the deer~" Discord pointed with a third arm to the grazing Furyhorn nearby. 

Applejack held Pinkie back from hugging the F.O.E. "Don't think about it."

"What are you playing at, Discord?" Celestia asked with steel in her voice. She couldn't believe that Discord would give up that easily.

"Oh, i made a deal with Gwen." Discord chuckled as Celestia's eyes widened. "It's nothing too devious." He snapped his claws, a bulky bag falling onto Gwen. "It's just something to keep me entertained."

Celestia glared at Discord as Twilight started using the Elements.

"Don't worry." Discord could feel the stone creeping up his skin. "If they are half as good as they were in the past, they will survive~"




Gwen stared at the white ceiling of the guest room she and Allie were staying in temporarily while they healed, watching the light from a candle dance up there. She could hear Allie snoring in the other bed.

She thought about the deal she had made with Discord and shuddered, thinking about what could possibly happen in the future. "Can we really do this without the others? Discord seems like a Tree Rat compared to what we have to do." 

Gwen rolled over to looked at the bulky bag next to the night stand. She reached over and pulled out the item, a small bundle of simple looking thread. She knew better as she had seen it a thousand times before.

It was Ariadne Thread. It was used to warp out of Dungeons and Labyrinths. 

Gwen knew what it meant. 

It meant trouble.

She grabbed her staff and poked Allie in the head. "Allie. I need to talk to you." 

The fluffy sentinel sat up, her head suffering from serious bed head. "Whaaaaaaaaaat? I was havin' a good dream." 

"Allie, what do you want to do now?" 

Allie went into a thinking pose, her hand to her doggy chin. "I dunno. I never really thought we'd be free and I really thought it would take longer to stone Discord again." 

"...Would you like it if we went back to Ponyville with these new Element weilders?" Gwen asked, looking at Allie with a serious look with the thread hidden. 

"Sure~" Allie answered without hesitation. "We can never have too many friends! Plus they might have pie! I love pie!" 

Gwen nodded. "There is something you need to know."

"Hm?"

Gwen revealed the Ariadne Thread, seeing Allie's eyes widen. "We will not be resting long." 

Immediately, Allie bounded over and took Gwen's hands. "That's brilliant!" Allie's tail was wagging furiously. "It means we won't get bored or rusty!" 

Gwen stared at her with a deadpan look. "No. It means any new friends we make will be in danger."

Allie looked back with a whine. "That's where you're wrong. They'll definitely be in danger if we don't go!" 

Gwen processed Allies logic before sighing internally. "You are right. I'm sorry." She flinched as Allie hugged her.

"I forgive you for being a downer~" Allie hummed, hugging Gwen tightly.

Then they looked to the bag, noticing the light coming from it. "Huh?"

Gwen reached over and took out the glowing Ariadne Thread, wincing as information went into her head. "Allie. Take hold of the thread." Gwen said in between the info pulsing in her head and the growing headache. 

Allie grabbed the other part of it and winced as well before meeting eyes with Gwen. 

As they put a portion of their power in the Ariadne Thread, they spoke their phrase. 

"We are Allie and Gwen, heroes of Tharsis and Equestria! If you are of noble heart and need assistance in battle, hold the Ariadne Thread close and call our names with pride in your heart! Together, we shall vanquish the evil in any form!" 

After the spoke, they tossed the thread aside and watched it go though a small portal, multiplying rapidly and going into a lot of other portals.

After the portals disappeared, Allie spoke up. "Well that was weird." 

"But it does mean there are others like us." Gwen laid down. "That thread is now our hope for the future." 

Allie nodded before going back to her bed, laying down as well. 

They needed the sleep, for tomorrow would be very busy.




In the Everfree forest, patch of earth collapsed, showing crudely made stairs going down into the darkness...