//------------------------------// // Ch.1 Darkness Rises // Story: Strange Yet Wonderful // by Bionic Slime //------------------------------// Strange yet Wonderful Chapter 1: Darkness Rises I just wanted to start off this new story with this tidbit: it's my first MLP story ever! I've been mega addicted and in love with the series but never had enough ideas to cook up a good story for it and now, hopefully with this one I do. It's mostly romance with action/adventure mixed in and getting heavier down the line. Will features OC's for Twilight, Rainbow, AJ and Fluttershy (Sorry pinkie!). Plus Spike X Rarity! This first chapter is purely story set up so none of the lovey dovey stuff will show up til after this chapter. Anything you think needs fixing/improving let me know ASAP! I want to make this a great story for ALL so tell me what I'm doing right/wrong so I can make the best fic possible. I don't own MLP: friendship is magic or any of it's characters, terms etc. I do own my OCs: Moonstruck, Chimera Khan and Crowe. Now that that's covered, enjoy the story! Every day… Every day I wake up and I keep hoping… I keep hoping this is some sort of terrible dream… The trembling pony lay slumped across the cold, chained floors of Tartarus; covered by a shabby hooded cloak that was black as coal. The pony sighed heavily with his head slumped down.  …the most Hellish dream ever. His voice trembling with shivers every time he lifted his chained limbs. The sound of the clanking restraints could be heard from every direction of the dark prison. No one but the worst of the worst ended up in this soul crushing world of never ending darkness, so it’s only natural to hear the clanking sound of metal rattling against restricted flesh. This is Tartarus after all. Ever since the Two sisters used their magic to guide Equestria into a more peaceful and prosperous place, there have been creatures who wreaked terrible destruction and darkness across the land. Creatures that have proven time and time again that they belong no other place than to be shackled and cut off from the rest of the world for all of time. The pony cowered into his cloak like a turtle shell. Every time he peered his silver eyes across the endless dark halls of the shadowy prison, he is reminded of the monsters that are the closest thing he has to friends. “I swear when I get out of these wretched, vile chains; I will show those accursed ponies what REAL power looks like.” Doesn’t that whiny old goat ever shut up? “Those princesses…they think they’re so smart with their magical powers. They’d be nothing but glorified swine without their precious magic.” Tirek. That’s the name of the cantankerous creep shackled right next to my cell. Every day and night he goes on and on about planning his revenge against Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. If I had any means or purpose to keep track of time in this place, I could set my watch to Tirek’s complaining. Sometimes I feel being forced to be “neighbors” with him is a far worse punishment than anything this dungeon could concoct.  I often find myself wondering… Do I really deserve this? Does Celestia enjoy torturing an innocent soul? The pony closed his eyes and sighed heavily, feeling the comfortless touch of his tears trickling down his heaving chest. The tears softly splash against the cold metal around the pony’s hooves. He opened his eyes slowly; the sound of growling and grunting alerted his senses. Looks like Cerberus is making his rounds. The monstrous 3 headed dog padded his gigantic paws past each and every cell; no criminal escaped those 6 blood red eyes. Cerberus snarled and bared his fearsome fangs from each head to each prisoner. Every crook, creep and creature froze dead in their tracks once Cerberus stomped past them. Tirek snickered softly “I can sense it; there’s a definite change in the stream of energy surrounding this place.” He rubbed his hands together menacingly. “It may have taken countless years but finally, my dream of vengeance upon those pathetic little ponies will finally be realized.” The hooded pony rolls his eyes at that obnoxious creep. Being here for so many years must have driven him crazy with delusions about escaping this place. I haven’t even been in Tartarus that long and even I know that escape is impossible. BOOM! A massive explosion erupts from the front gate of the prison. Blaring alarms begin screaming out like howling ghosts, the prisoners begin to panic and call out for answers as to what was going on. The pony’s eyes bulged with intense shock. A large dog shaped hole was seen in the now busted front gates of Tartarus; Cerberus had left his post! The pony quickly darted his eyes to Tirek’s cell; it was empty. Tirek is gone too! Every muscle in the pony’s body froze with paralyzing shock. I can’t believe it, that old goat guy was right! I can finally escape and leave all these nightmares behind once and for all! Maybe I can even clear my name… The pony shook his hooded head. Even with the gaping hole in Tartarus’s entrance, there was still the matter of the shackles attached to the pony’s hooves. The hooded pony pulled as hard as he could to slip his hooves out of his restraints. The pony grunted and groaned loudly, fiercely thrashing his purple furred legs against the clanking chains. Come on come on! I’m not going to get another chance like this; I have to get out of here NOW! The prisoner pushed and pulled with all of his might against the chains. Screams erupt from the pony’s snout; he felt his hooves finally slip out of his chains. The pony dropped to the ground. No time to rest, I can gather my strength back up AFTER I escape. The hooded pony leapt to his hooves and charged towards the exit, his legs pumped with all the might he could muster. His joints racked with pain due the pony’s lack of proper exercise in prison. But the pony knew freedom was just a few gallops away; so he pressed on through the pain. The pony passed the front gate and shouted for joy at his newfound freedom, he skidded his hooves to a halt and turned around to look back at the gate. I might be out now but as long as that gate is left open, any one of those villains can make a break for it just like Tirek did. I’ve got to patch up the hole until Cerberus returns! I just hope the spells blocking my magical powers won’t stop me from fixing this. The pony closed his eyes; focusing all of his energy to cast a spell from his hidden horn. Red colored glows surged from the pony’s horn. The red glow was faint and dwindling but it was there. Being imprisoned had exhausted the pony’s magical powers; he was straining all of his muscles just to keep the glow going. Formless blobs of shadows were rapidly approaching the exit. The pony bit his lip nervously, he could already see the shadows glowing eyes and the sound of monstrous snarls getting louder and closer. The hooded pony expanded his horn’s red glow into a towering mass of shapeless magical matter. The crimson energy formed into a colossal tombstone, its height and width matched the hole left by Cerberus near perfectly. The inmates rushed towards the gate with greater speed. The pony gasped; he forced his aching horn to position the tombstone correctly before he was overrun by the prisoners. The pony was sweating furiously, the weight and pressure from carrying the massive hunk of stone was putting a tremendous amount of strain on his head and horn. WHAM! The tombstone fell to the ground with thunderous force; the pony felt the Earth beneath his hooves tremble like a vicious Earthquake. The former prisoner turned and ran, he ran as fast as his aching legs could carry him; never looking back and never stopping. After running for what felt like an eternity, the hooded pony collapsed to the ground almost instantly. His lips slacked wide open; desperately panting for air. The pony wiped his brow clean from sweat with a trembling hoof. That tombstone blocker is a crude fix but the important thing is it works. That wall should keep Tartarus secure until Cerberus or Princess Celestia comes around, of course I’ll be long gone by then. Sigh…I just wish I could have stopped Tirek from escaping. I sense he’s going to be a pain in the flank in the future. After a few minutes of resting, the hooded prisoner finally regained his strength. He stood up and slowly removed his shadowy hood for the first time since he was locked up. The pony’s silver eyes shined like ground up diamond dust, his fur was a deep shade of dark purple; almost as dark as Twilight’s mane. The pony’s mane popped up from the hood like a bouquet of spiked flowers; it was spiky, dark jade green. The tail mane looked like two green colored scythes poking out of the back of the cloak. A curved unicorn horn sparked weakly amongst the spiky locks; it’s magic still recharging. No time to worry about that Moonstruck. I’ve got to find a safe place to hide until I can find a way to clear my name in Equestria, so that Princess Celestia doesn’t hunt me down and send me back to that monster pit. Moonstruck looked to his horn and winced at its feeble attempts to spark more magical energy. He looked to his back and winced, feeling some sort of strange pain across his back but he wasn’t sure what it was. Moonstruck looked towards a hill and started walking towards it; hoping it would lead him to the nearest town. He flipped his hood back on and stayed off roads and any other paths marked on maps to avoid being spotted or detected. I have no idea how long I was in Tartarus, time felt like nothing in there…but it must have done something to my magic because I can’t use all of my abilities for some reason. Maybe I’m just too drained from the escape and need to rest for a while. Hopefully it’s not the former because if it is, I’m gonna have to find someone who knows strong magic AND is willing to help an escaped convict. Either way…I’ve got to still have hope…hope that my world will change for the better. Somewhere in the jungle… The jungle was a beautiful scene of emerald colored plants, exotic wild beasts and a creeping sense of dark mystery that seemed to lie in wait behind every bush and boulder. A lone, looming shadowy figure stood at the center of a clearing. The figure was a mixture of shades of blue, jackal like in design; his eyes had a glare that possessed years and years’ worth of greed unsatisfied. His name is Ahuizotl. The jackal like creature had spent months desperately rebuilding his forces after his most recent and humiliating of defeats at the hooves of his most wretched arch enemy: Daring Do. Ahuizotl loathed feeling this way; feeling defeated, powerless and humiliated. Despite ages and ages of untold treasures collected by his ruthless exploits, that wretched author not only continued to take every treasure and trinket from his paws; but turned him into a mockery in her insipid book series. His ape like paws paced in circles within the secluded jungle spot, Ahuizotl’s mind filled with nothing but memories of past defeats to fuel his rage and pass the time. Where is that mysterious dealer? He should have been here by now, Ahuizotl slowly brought his pacing to a halt. His dark yellow eyes slowly falling onto a black metal box he held in his paws. If it hadn’t been for this pony’s ridiculous promise and all the trouble I went through to secure this item…I would have left already. Thinking back on the promise this mysterious pony had made, Ahuizotl growled fiercely. He clenched his paws so tightly; he practically crushed the box under his paws. The deal the pony spoke of was a bold one and it brought such painful memories of her back to Ahuizotl. He took a deep breath and relaxed his crushing paws before denting the box any further. “If everything goes as planned and this strange pony can actually do what he claims to do; I’ll be rewarded a treasure no golden trinket could EVER measure up to.” Ahuizotl lifted the box towards his face and opened the lid; examining its contents. “All for a hard day’s work,” his low voice grew into a booming laugh. “Even if this was hard to come by; it’ll be truly worth it!” “What would you know about a hard day’s work Ahuizotl? Stealing doesn’t count you know.” Ahuizotl quickly closed the box. His head darted left and right, “Curses! Where are you? I know it’s you Daring Do.” Ahuizotl looked everywhere but saw no sign of the adventuring author. “HERE I AM!” Daring Do flapped her tanned gold wings, bursting from a trio of palm trees in her traditional “grand entrance” style. Daring Do looked exactly as Ahuizotl had bitterly remembered her: light green explorer shirt, iconic hat, black mane and a shimmering pair of fuchsia colored eyes, complete with a compass cutie mark. The adventurer landed before Ahuizotl, confronting her arch enemy. “Don’t you ever learn Ahuizotl? I won’t let you rob Equestria’s of its treasures just so you can misuse them for your own greedy purposes; not now not ever!” “HA! These treasures are rightfully mine for the taking; they’d be nothing but dust collectors sitting behind glass cases if it were up to you Daring Do.” Ahuizotl snapped his tail hand; Daring Do immediately flinched and scanned all sides for possible attackers. Daring Do was a sharp mare; she knew Ahuizotl always had goon ponies or wild animals to his dirty work. The tanned Pegasus had always managed to overcome any obstacle Ahuizotl had thrown her way but she refused to be cocky and risk getting caught off guard. Did he snap his fingers just to trick her, or was he signaling someone else nearby? “All right, so where’s your goon squad?” Daring Do looked behind her flank. Her eyes scanned to the left, to the right and then up to the trees and cliffs. “I know you got some muscle lurking around here somewhere, probably another pack of wild cats just lying in wait to rip me to shreds.” Eventually, Daring Do ceased looking around frantically; her golden muscles relaxing slightly as gaze slowly fell back to Ahuizotl. Something about this whole situation felt off and she didn’t like it one bit. “This isn’t like you. You’ve always got some pack of hench ponies or wild animals ready to jump me. What gives?” Ahuizotl frowned, refusing to answer the explorer pony. Daring Do spotted the dented metal box in the jackal’s paws. “Or…is it that you don’t need them around because of that thing you’re holding there?” “THAT thing as you so crudely put it does not concern you.” Ahuizotl hid the box behind his back and placed it in his tail paw, “It’s an item that means absolutely nothing to everyone…except to the one I am trading it with.” “You expect me to eat that load of hay?” Daring Do leapt forward, trying to grab the box. Ahuizotl swiftly dodged the Pegasus and laughed at her futile efforts. Daring Do growled fiercely and flapped her wings hard. “I could never let a valuable piece of history be misused by the likes of you. So why don’t we just skip to the ending we all know is coming and you drop the item before-” “Before you write the final chapter on our little adventure Miss Do? I think not! It’s far too early for that; after all, we still have a twist ending that we’ve been dying to share with you!” The dark mysterious voice came from behind Daring Do. She flinched in fear at the sound of such a twisted voice, her tanned fur rippled with goose bumps. Daring Do turned around to face this new presence. Ahuizotl rubbed his paws together and cackled. “Oh how rude of me; I didn’t tell you that we had company coming Daring Do. Allow me to introduce my new partner and trading associate.” A shadowy figure emerged from the blanket of darkness provided by the jungle trees; he approached Ahuizotl and Daring Do. The figure was a pony, a male unicorn to be exact. The pony’s body was completely covered from head to hoof in armor; armor that was unlike anything Daring Do had ever seen before. The armor was blood red; it shimmered dimly against gold colored markings that curved out like blades on the tip of each hoof sleeve. The markings almost looked like they were some sort of virus or thorn vine strangling the armor sleeves. The chest plate sported a strange logo at its center: a chrome pony skull with curved fangs, fractured halves of a sun, a moon and a heart with wings circled around the skull. Inside the chrome skull’s eye sockets were two small emeralds that glowed with electrical energies. The armor completely covered the pony’s flank; hiding his cutie mark and making it impossible to see a trace of fur or flesh on his body. The tail was covered by a spike coated shell that looked more like a morning star than a tail. The back of the pony’s helmet and neckline featured a straight line of different gems, bone fragments and half melted jewelry. “What’s the matter Miss Do? Does my appearance disturb you?” Daring Do swallowed hard at the pony’s question. Yes, it disturbed her immeasurably; everything about this pony disturbed her. But what truly terrified her about this pony were his eyes…the only visible part of the pony’s true appearance. The eyes were black, soulless, nothing but a pair of inky orbs with dark neon orange irises that surged like little lightning bolts inside those pools of never ending darkness. The eyes contrasted with the cold, dark red helmet mask that covered his entire head and face; adding a creepy echo effect to his already intimidating voice. Daring Do spotted a slot for the unicorn’s horn at the top of the helmet; though oddly enough there were rows of Phoenix and Griffin feathers grafted across the top and back of the helmet in a Mowhawk like style as well. Daring could feel every muscle in her toned legs quaking with fright, everything about this pony made her feel uneasy. She’d survived poisonous snakes, crushing spiked walls, flesh tearing carnivores and ancient booby traps…but none of those ever produced the same kind of dread and fear she was experiencing when she looked at this armored abomination. The armored pony chuckled “Yes, I tend to have that effect on everyone.” The armored pony approached Daring Do, she slowly inched back every step he took towards her. “Or...could it be that you notice something very familiar about my armor?” He stopped in his tracks; smirking wickedly at the frightened mare. Daring Do gulped “T-t-t-that’s the helmet of Diabolikuff your wearing and…and THAT there; that’s the iron tail shell of Hannibal hooves.” Her eyes continued to notice the pony’s armor sections; she pointed a hoof at each one in alarm. “That’s the Ghoulock braces of Baltimare’s forbidden chasm. And along your back…that…that looks like scales from a sea serpent, a dragon’s spinal bone AND Manticore talons?” The armored pony smirked “Such a clever little mare, aren’t you?” He pointed to his helmet, followed by his chest plate. “Don’t forget the ancient thunder claw cuffs from the leader of the legendary cursed Reaper stallion clan AND the indestructible Star swirl center plate; crafted and empowered by the great one himself: Starswirl the bearded.” Daring Do kept her distance from both Ahuizotl and this metal masked maniac, everything about this situation had gone from bad to lethal! I can’t believe this. How did this guy get ahold of all those powerful pony artifacts? Any one of those items alone would make some pony a force to be reckoned with, but this nut case has made an entire suit of armor out of them! I’ve never heard of anyone ever doing that before. Heck, only a small few ponies in all of Equestria know about some of those artifacts; so how did this guy know about them and what kind of magic can he wield with them all put together? I’ve got to tell some pony about this. The princesses must know! “So who the hay are you, what’s this trade you’re doing with old jackal jaws here? And furthermore, how did you get all those priceless pony artifacts together like that? THAT kind of power has been unheard of for centuries. Even I don’t know everything about them and no pony in Equestria knows more about artifacts than me.” “My name is Khan…Chimera Khan; soon to be KING Khan as a matter of fact. As for my business with Ahuizotl, it does not concern you but it DOES concern my ruling of Equestria.” Daring do frowned and scoffed. “Oh please! Equestria is already ruled by Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Not to mention Princess Cadence and Princess Twilight and I don’t see any of them giving some metal faced freak like you a crown anytime soon.” “HA! Those pathetic peace spreaders will be nothing but piles of dust and bones once I reach FULL power.” The armored pony’s eyes surged with glowing orange sparks. “My mastery over the ancient magic’s of these combined artifacts will leave me with no equal; I will crush and conquer each and every town, village and kingdom until MY kingdom is the only one left standing. Every Stallion, mare and foal will obey me or be obliterated by me.” “You’re insane. Nothing but a sick, heartless monster messing with forces you can’t possibly control!” Daring Do positioned herself into a tackling position; ready and willing to slam this psychopathic pony down with all her might. Khan shook his armored head and laughed at Daring’s intensely driven face. Ahuizotl remained on the sidelines; snickering with dark delight at this sudden turn of events. “Come now Miss Do, you can’t possibly be this stupid and arrogant to believe you stand a chance against the likes of me. You said it yourself; you know better than any pony what these items can do, so surely you must know you can’t win.” The masked pony was right. No matter how fast she was, how clever she was or how many dangerous situations she had wriggled her way out of…Daring Do can’t stop so powerful an evil on her own. Daring Do chuckled softly. “Your right actually…that’s why I decided to take a page out of your book.” The Pegasus bolted towards Ahuizotl; her hooves quickly snatched the metal box from his paws before the cowardly villain could even blink. He blinked in shock at his own empty paws. Daring Do soared high above both villains, raising the box above her head. She knew that with all that magical firepower Chimera Khan was packing; the only way she could hurt him is to keep him from getting what he wants. Ahuizotl’s rage turned his face from blue to bright red. Khan stared intensely at Daring Do. “Clever girl, I can see why you’ve been giving my trading associate here so much trouble.” “Curse you Daring Do!” Ahuiztol growled; raising his fist in the air. “Trouble is exactly what you got yourself into Khan. I don’t know a lick about you but I DO know that whatever’s inside here is valuable, and unless you want me to drop this into a quicksand pit or an active volcano; I suggest you back off and let me fly on out of here.” Khan’s burning gaze never left the skies; completely devoid of any visible emotion under all that armor. Daring hated to admit it but this creep had her spooked, so much so that she’d rather run and tell the princesses about this new threat than worry about sticking around to maintain her pride. All I need is to keep this guy back as long as possible. Once I get far enough, I'll head to Rainbow Dash and have her friend Twilight contact the princesses. Whatever's in this box can't be good if guys like these are after it. Ahuizotl started heading towards a tree, no doubt trying to find a vantage point high enough to reach Daring Do. Khan raised a spiked knuckle hoof; ordering Ahuizotl to stand down. The jackal creature hesitated but eventually obeyed his armored ally. “You know you’re quite lucky Miss Do.” Khan glared fiercely at Daring Do, dark magic circling his armored body like cyclone of electricity and raw power. “I could just blast you right out of the sky and put you into permanent retirement right here, right now!” Daring Do sweated furiously but remained stern in her appearance and her threat. “You could…but,” she raised the box high above her head. “You’d risk vaporizing this item along with me and something tells me you’re not willing to risk that.” Khan powered down slowly; his dark voice chuckling softly. “Quite right my dear; quite right. What’s say we dispense with the threats and violence and get right down to the business I came here for in the first place: trading.” “There’s nothing you could offer that would convince me to give you what you want.” “Are you so sure?” Daring Do looked at Khan inquisitively, she didn’t like the sound of confidence in his voice. The author clutched the box to her chest and remained in the air. Khan turned his head towards some bushes on the right. “CROWE! Get your worthless flank out here now, and bring our special guest.” Khan’s evil gaze turned back to Daring Do. “Miss Do needs to see what we brought to trade.” The bushes quaked and the faint sound of grumbling and whimpering could be heard coming from them. A lone Earth pony colt emerged from the bushes; carrying the tied end of a burlap sack in his teeth. The colt had a pale vanilla colored coat, dirty blond colored mane and royal blue colored eyes. The colt’s cutie mark was that of a long dagger; the blade was wrapped in a binding of barb wire and rose thorns. Crowe was silently muttering how annoyed he was having to put up with the squirming sack. The colt brought the bag in front of Chimera Khan; who glared scornfully at Crowe for taking so long to bring the bag out. Crowe gulped and bowed submissively, fearful of his master’s wrath. The colt slowly backed away from Khan and stood behind him quietly. “I’m sure you recognize this particular mane Miss Do” Khan said, pointing at the bottom of the bag where a single mane tail poked out of a hole in the bag. Daring Do gasped as she recognized the tail, even from high above she could clearly tell who that mane tail belonged to: Rainbow Dash! “Ahuizotl told me ALL about your number one fan here, so I took the liberty of acquiring her in order to make sure this transaction went smoothly.” Daring Do looked in utter horror as her cyan colored friend struggled uselessly in that bag, at the mercy of this monster of a pony. How dare he use one of her friends as a bargaining chip like that! The tanned Pegasus felt her stomach churn, her blood boiling with furious anger at this masked stallion. “Let her go RIGHT NOW!” Khan raised his hoof above the bag, clearly threatening to crush the squirming pony inside. Daring Do clenched up; nearly falling from the sky from the shock of seeing Khan’s murderous threat. “It’s quite simple Miss Do: surrender the item to me and leave us in peace and I will release your Pegasus friend unharmed. Refuse or try to snatch her from me and I will crush her head like a melon! This is a one-time offer and it’s non-negotiable. So, what’s it going-” “All right, I’ll do it. Khan, Crowe and Ahuizotl blinked in unified shock. None of the villains expected Daring Do to give in; at least not that quickly! Daring Do sighed softly and dropped to the ground. The tanned Pegasus approached Khan and set the box down in front of him, Khan remained stunned in silence. “What? Aren’t you happy you got what you came for you sick freak?” Khan frowned at Daring Do’s cold response but quickly dismissed it. “Indeed I am, I’m just a bit surprised at how quickly you surrendered.” Khan motioned for Crowe to push the bagged Rainbow Dash towards Daring Do. Crowe groaned as he nuzzled the bag towards the Pegasus and took the box, he immediately backed away from Daring and presented the box to his master. Khan smirked at Daring, “I would have expected someone of your reputation to resist or at least make it seem like it was a hard decision.” “Before Rainbow and her friends came to see me, I probably would have. But after they helped me defeat Ahuizotl I knew that my whole loner routine wasn’t going to work for me anymore. I realized how special and precious a good friend can be. No matter what evil purpose you plan to use this item for, no matter how much jeopardy Equestria is put into because of it; none of it is worth risking a friend’s life over.” Ahuizotl and Chimera Khan looked at each other before simultaneously bursting with maniacal laughter. Crowe waited until his master laughed before he joined in; nervously chuckling only after his master gave his approval. Daring Do frowned with disgust at the villains mocking her heartfelt sentiment and decided she should just take Rainbow Dash and go. “Don’t worry Rainbow; I’ll get you out of there. Just hold still a minute.” Daring Do wrapped her hooves around the bag and quickly untied it, desperate to get her flying friend out of that filthy bag. However, once Daring Do removed the sack completely; she discovered that it was not Rainbow Dash at all. The squirming being was green, scaly, sporting reptilian bat like wings and a red spiked lizard tail. It seems the rainbow mane tail was merely a fake attached to the creature’s real tail. The creature also had the legs of a chicken and the head of a chicken too, plus blood red eyes and fangs inside the beak. Daring Do gasped as the chicken reptile creature stared right into her eyes with a glaring flash. “Oh no! It’s a cockatr-” The author’s words trailed off as her lips suddenly turned to solid stone. Daring Do’s body froze all over, everything from her hooves to her wings turned to rock in a matter of seconds. The Pegasus dropped on her side, forever frozen in stone in a state of shock at the true creature stored inside the bag: a cockatrice! Chimera Khan generated an energy glow around his enchanted armor, the cockatrice responded to the glow as if hypnotized by it. The cockatrice closed its eyes, bowed its head and obediently backed away from the armored pony. Khan approached the petrified Pegasus and placed his metallic hoof upon her head. “HA! Just look at you now miss Do. So helpless…so lifeless…so pathetic, you never stood a chance against my intellect; let alone my power.” Khan reared back his hoof and kicked Daring Do to Ahuizotl. The armored pony smirked; though it was hidden due to his mask. “As promised, Daring Do put out of commission permanently; in exchange for the item we discussed. I take it you are satisfied?” Ahuizotl stared in awe at Daring Do; he was completely flabbergasted at how easily she was defeated. The blue jackal had tried to take out the annoying author for months but was met with failure every time. His paws poked Daring Do nervously, like a child poking a dead body with a stick; trying to confirm she was indeed frozen. “I can’t believe it; I just simply cannot believe it! Daring Do is FINALLY out of my fur. I knew you said you could deliver her to me on a silver platter, but I had no idea you could actually pull it off so easily!” Khan silently scoffed at Ahuiztol’s lack of faith. “If you are quite satisfied, I suggest we continue the deal now? I fulfilled my end of the bargain Ahuizotl; now show me what you brought me.” Shaken out of his state of shock, Ahuizotl quickly composed himself and picked up the metal box off the ground with his tail paw. The armored pony widened his eyes with ravenous interest. Ahuizotl slowly opened the box; revealing a broken blood red unicorn horn with grey coloring at the bottom of the broken base. Khan smiled a most sinister and wicked smile. “As promised; for delivering to me my most hated enemy, I give you the horn of the darkest unicorn that ever trotted across Equestria: King Sombra!” Khan’s horn beamed with dark orange energy. He used his magic to lift the red horn from the box and place it across the horn holster where his own horn jutted from his mask. The horn clasped onto Khan’s own horn; like snapping a jar lid shut. The horns sparked a powerful surge of black, red and orange energy upon contact. Ahuizotl backed away nervously from Khan. “Yes….yes….YESSSSSSS! I can feel the dark unicorn’s powerful magic surging in me, feeding me, making me stronger than ever.” Khan’s body became fully charged with the red, black and orange glow; electricity and sonic vibrations pulsated off his armored body. Both Crowe and Ahuizotl watched nervously at the armored pony’s dark aura. Khan turned his gaze to Ahuizotl and chuckled “Congratulations Ahuizotl, you’ve done well. This horn is indeed the genuine article.” Ahuizotl nervously gulped “W-w-w-w-why of course Chimera K-k-khan, I wouldn’t dream of giving you a f-f-fake. It wasn’t an easy item to get my paws on you know. I had to scavenge around the outskirts of the Crystal empire for hours; remaining hidden as b-b-best I c-c-c-could. There wasn’t much left of Sombra after he was d-d-destroyed.” “This was all I needed. Already I feel my armor and my magic increasing a hundred fold thanks to the dark powers of Sombra’s horn.” Khan suddenly became silent, his eyes squinting into an intensive glare. “But…it’s still not enough. I will need to acquire more magical items if I want to fully control the forces of nature.” “Is that how you were able to control the Cockatrice so easily?” “Of course you jabbering jackal!” Ahuizotl flinched at Khan’s sudden outburst, he quickly motioned his lips being shut and nervously nodded. Khan looked to Crowe and motioned for him to follow him. The armored pony began exiting the clearing, Crowe and the cockatrice followed their armored master with their heads hanging down. “Our business is concluded Ahuizotl. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m on a bit of a scavenger hunt you see and the sooner I add these items to my collection….the sooner all of Equestria will be mine!” To be continued…