*Location: Secret Area under Castle of the Two Sisters, Everfree Forest, Equestria, Equus, now...*
“Another one of these,” I said as I pulled the loose torch. As before, a portion of the wall slid back to reveal another secret passage. The metal grate over the door we’d come through before also receded, which meant we could go back to the main chamber if we wanted.
“After you good sir,” I said to Jason as I moved to allow him to enter.
“Better get it over with,” he said as he pushed the door open, peering inside.
I followed him through and we eventually came to a corridor that couldn’t have been more than eight feet across, which wouldn’t have been so bad if not for the fact that it was about twenty feet from one end to the other.
At the other end of the room I could see another door. There was something else odd about this area.
It was dominated by two suits of armor.
They were centered directly between the two side walls and lined up so that there was perfect symmetry between the suits and the walls. I turned to Jason and said, “Okay, now THIS I definitely remember.”
“Explain,” he said.
“I’m pretty sure there’s something in that room at the other end of this corridor,” I said to him, “Something important. But right as we’re about to go through the door, we’ll get locked in here with something very annoying and very deadly. At least, in a room like this,” I continued.
“Well what would you suggest we do?” he asked, looking the room other, stroking his beard.
I thought about it for a moment before speaking again. Finally, I looked at him and said, “One of us could distract it while the other goes behind it and attacks its weak spot.”
“Works for me,” he said, starting to move toward the armor, sword drawn.
Jason stood in front of it, but nothing happened. “Maybe it isn’t here after all,” I said, walking toward the other door. “Maybe we got lucky.”
“What are you mumbling about?” he asked, raising his eyebrow.
“Nothing, forget it,” I said to him. “I guess it isn’t here. Let’s keep going,” I continued.
Jason shrugged, continuing on into the next room, Elusive on his heels. We were about to go through the doorway when suddenly it was blocked by another metal grate. I didn’t need to turn around to see that the other doorway had one just like it.
At the same time, I started to hear a metallic *whoosh*. It kept on repeating, as though someone was swinging a chain around. Then, it stopped.
I tackled Jason and Elusive to get them out of the way, just as a massive, spiked, gleaming ball-and-chain smashed through the set of armor closest to us.
“This is why I dislike Zelda,” Jason sighed, looking rather annoyed.
“Yeah, I hate this guy too,” I said to him as I equipped my helmet. “Got any ideas?” I asked.
“We skip him completely.” Jason said, getting to his feet, “Omnitrix, Ghostfreak,” he said. Suddenly, he shifted into a one-eyed ghost creature. Then he turned to phase through the door.
When he got to it, however, he was repelled by a strange electricity that gave him a rather painful jolt.
“Okay, seriously hate this place now,” he said, glaring at the door hatefully.
“Well since we apparently can’t just skip it,” I said to him as I dodged the creature’s weapon, “do you want to be the distraction or should I?” I asked.
“I will,” he said sighing, floating over to the armor.
Taking this as my cue, I teleported to the other end of the room and began firing salvo after salvo of dark magic blasts at the creature’s one weak point--its distinctly reptilian tail, which stuck out from the armor. The pain stunned the beast, and after moment of keeping up the assault, it fell. The beast that had caused me so much trouble in Twilight Princess had fallen in a matter of minutes.
I looked across the room to Jason and said to him, “That...was a lot easier than I remember.”
“Lucky,” Jason said, as he looked at the body, watching as it, like its predecessors, dissolved into mist. “Let’s go, I need to get home at some point,” he said.
I teleported back to where he and Elusive were. The grate was gone, so we were able to get through unmolested.
This new room was apparently a dungeon, but it was odd in that it only had one cell. It was a circular room, divided in two by a malefic-looking wall of what looked like a heat haze with some odd yellow diamond patterns here and there. But that wasn’t the most interesting part.
On the other side of the strange barrier was a pony.
Judging by the appearance it was a mare. She had a dark grey coat and a short, light pink mane and tail. The bangs of her mane partially obscured her blood-red eyes. On her flank was a crimson outline of a hand. She couldn’t have been more than eighteen. She was just sitting there on the ground, her back to the door.
I looked to Jason, who had reverted to normal, hoping to get some idea as to what I should do. Figuring it would be a good idea to look as non-threatening as possible, I unequipped my helmet.
“Who are you?” Jason asked the mare, walking up to the cell. “Hmm? Why are you here?” he continued as I followed him over.
Suddenly, the mare looked up. She looked at the three of us, a despondent look on her face. She stared at a moment, then went back to looking at the floor. “Go away…” she said, almost inaudibly. “He...He’ll do terrible things to you if he finds you here…” she sounded as though she hadn’t spoken in a while--her voice was low and almost raspy.
“He can try,” Jason said, looking the cell over, tapping the transparent barrier.
“Don’t worry,” I told her. I teleported into the cell, laid a hand on her, and teleported back out, taking her with me. “He won’t bother you anymore, whoever he is,” I said, doing my best to sound reassuring.
“Who is he anyway?” Jason asked, looking the mare over.
“The worst kind of monster,” she said, contempt and rage working their way into her voice. It was only then that I noticed something unusual about her: She had two triangular white horns emerging from her skull, each rather small. With how they were shaped and positioned, they almost looked like cat ears.
“Who exactly are you?” Jason asked.
Elusive looked up at her in awe. “You’re like me,” he said softly.
She looked at him, a mixture of sadness and some emotion I couldn’t place in her eyes. “Maybe once I was like you,” she said to the colt, “But not anymore.”
“That didn’t answer my question,” Jason said, raising his eyebrow.
She turned from Elusive to Jason, her expression returning to how it had been before. She stared at him for a moment before speaking again. “Lilium,” she said softly. “Before he took me, that’s what I was called,” she continued.
“Is he here now?” I asked Lilium.
“Yes,” she replied. “I can sense him. The dark one. He’s here,” she said, a small hint of rage sneaking into her voice.
I turned to Jason and said, “He’s probably in the one room we haven’t checked. What say we see who this individual is, and what his insides look like?” I asked him.
“Let’s go,” Jason said, looking at Lilium. “You okay by yourself?” he asked her.
“Don’t worry about me,” she said. “I’d go with you, but as much as I’d love to rip him to pieces, I don’t have the energy right now,” she continued, sounding rather disappointed that she was missing such an opportunity.
“We’ll be back,” Jason said, moving out of the room, Elusive following him.
The three of us went back to the main chamber and continued through into the final chamber, the doors still somewhat scorched from Jason’s highly unorthodox method of lockpicking, if it could even be called that. Once inside, I saw the being that would eventually become my most hated enemy.
The being that Lilium apparently despised so was a unicorn. He was taller than usual, just slightly shorter than Princess Luna. His coat was light-grey, his mane and tail stark white. His horn was long and came to a vicious point. One of his brown eyes, highlighted by purple makeup, was hidden by his mane. The side of his face that wasn’t hidden had a black diamond mark on it. In his left ear he wore a rather large blue diamond earring. He also wore a crimson cloak that was yellow on the inside. It was secured around his neck by a gold chain. On his flank was a red diamond with a yellow outline.
“Hm? Visitors?” said the strange stallion in a voice that simply oozed condescension and insanity. “I do so rarely get visitors. Normally they’re all ripped to shreds by my...companions, shall we say. Now, who do I have the pleasure of addressing?”
“The name’s Zant,” I said as I equipped my helmet, my rage growing. “I’m the one who’s going to make you wish you’d never been born,” I continued, a lethal edge in my voice.
“Name's Jason,” Jason said simply, looking the unicorn over, “You look like some kinda rejected Final Fantasy villain.”
“Final Fantasy?” the stallion said. “I’m afraid I have no idea what that is. I am no reject, however, nor do I consider myself a villain. I am but the humble servant of my Mistress. Allow me to introduce myself,” he continued. “I am the Demon Lord of this land the foolish ponies so fear. You may call me Ghirahim.”
I sighed inwardly. “Not THIS idiot,” I thought.
“But in truth,” said the demonic stallion, “I prefer to be indulged with my full title: Lord Ghirahim.”
“Hah! Fat chance, asshole. Not after what you did to Lilium! We won’t let you hurt her anymore!” I said.
“Hm? You actually managed to set that accursed mare free?” said Ghirahim, a wicked snarl forming on his face. “Do you have any idea how that makes me feel inside?!” The room actually grew darker as his rage built. “Furious! Outraged! Sick with anger!” As he finished this statement he teleported away, vanishing in a flurry of yellow diamonds.
“Your foolish actions have left me with a strong appetite for bloodshed,” said Ghirahim. We could hear him, but we couldn’t see him, which indicated he was still in the room.
I turned around to see him standing in front of the door. With a flash of his horn he summoned a wall of yellow diamonds made of energy in front of it, effectively locking Jason, Elusive, and myself inside. “Considering my position, it would be quite rude of me to take out my frustrations on you,” he said, sounding insane, cordial, and murderous all at once, “Which is why I promise up front not to kill you.” He teleported again, this time directly behind me.
I could tell because he stood up on his rear hooves and brought Jason and me close to his face with his front hooves. “No, I’ll simply beat you within inches of your lives!” he said, sounding like he meant it. Then he opened his mouth and stuck out his tongue, which was rather long and serpentine. It was a move that would’ve made Gene Simmons jealous.
He teleported back in front of us and started to laugh. “Heheheheheheh…” Then he dispelled his cloak, making it dissolve into red diamonds. I was starting to sense a theme here…
He looked back up at us, a murderous look in his half-lidded eyes, and with that, the battle began.
Immediately I fired a barrage of dark magic at him. He blocked each and every projectile with his horn, which was glowing with a similar energy.
“You’re rather annoying,” Jason said from behind the unicorn. He looked down at him, holding his hand out, charging up a spell.
Before he could fire it, the so-called Demon Lord summoned five knives, glowing crimson with demonic energy, and sent them flying towards him.
Jason easily ducked, the blades missing him completely, throwing another spell into the ground as he did so, causing a minor earthquake and splitting the ground beneath them.
At the last second, the unicorn teleported away, winding up back on solid ground.
“Enough is enough!” I said, through with Ghirahim’s antics. I teleported from where I was into mid-air in the center of the chamber. I focused on where I wanted us to be, even though I wasn’t sure that location existed, and began the teleportation sequence. “Hnnnnnnnn...HAAAAAAAH!”
The room around us faded to black, and when it returned to normal, we were in a large, roughly circular room that appeared to be made of tree roots. There was moss in between the roots, and there were holes in the roof here and there that allowed sunlight to seep through. In the center of the room were nine totem poles, eight of them making a circle around the other, and some parts of the floor had a light covering of dead leaves.
“Okay, I’m confused, what just happened?” Jason asked, looking around. “You know...I’m starting to regret not taking this seriously.”
“Yeah, given who this is, you should,” I said. “And to answer your question, I gave us a terrain advantage.” I teleported on top of the center totem pole and looked for Ghirahim.
“A clever trick,” he said, revealing his location as he did so. He was at the far end of the chamber, his back to the wall. “But nothing more," he continued. “I see I underestimated your abilities. However, now the true battle shall begin!” With that, he summoned a blade that radiated evil. It was a metallic grey and had a razor-sharp edge.
From my vantage point, I let loose another volley of dark magic. Predictably, Ghirahim teleported out of the way before they struck him.
“He’s rather annoying isn’t he?” Jason asked, messing with the device on his arm, “Keep him busy for me will ya?”
“I’ll do my best!” I said as I tried to grab Ghirahim in my telekinetic hold. Unfortunately, he slipped out. Deciding to change tactics, I teleported myself into the air right in front of him and then used my magic to drastically increase my gravity and density, which allowed me to slam into the ground hard enough to create a shockwave but keep my legs intact. It had the desired effect, disorienting Ghirahim long enough for me to conjure up my scimitars and get a couple of hits in. Strangely, he didn’t bleed. Rather, small yellow diamonds flew from the point of impact, almost like sparks.
There was a flash and a moment later Ghirahim was on slammed into one of the totem poles. Jason had shifted into a strange black-suited velociraptor-like creature. “I hate teleporters.” he spoke with a raspy voice.
“Wait a sec...Dude, do you have the OMNITRIX!?” I asked, astounded that such a thing could exist. Maybe suspension of disbelief was that powerful.
“I turned into Ghostfreak and Four Arms earlier, where the hell were you?” Jason asked, before charging at the unicorn, laying blow after blow into him, creating a torrent of yellow diamonds.
“...True,” I said after a moment, mentally slapping myself for not realising it earlier. “Erm, anyway, I believe you were pulverizing him?” I continued, looking to Jason.
“In all honesty, ever since that thing with Odin, most of my power is dampened when out of my universe. It’s rather annoying,” Jason said, dragging Ghirahim along a wall, running as fast as he could.
Suddenly the demonic unicorn seemed to regain his focus as he teleported behind Jason and brought his blade down right where he’d been mere seconds before.
“Miss me?” Jason asked from behind him before punching him in the horn.
“Gah! Pesky mortals!” said our opponent. Apparently having had enough, he teleported away and used his own powers to revert the room back to normal. When he reappeared, we were in the center of the room we’d first found him in and he was halfway between the wall in and us, facing us, holding his blade, point almost touching the ground, in his magical grasp.
He used a hoof to wipe some debris too small for the naked eye to detect from his chin before saying, “Well...it appears you put up more of a fight than I expected of mere mortals,” he said, smug as ever. “But don’t congratulate yourselves just yet,” he continued. “We’re far from through. The next time I see you, there shall be no taunting or teasing or playing as there was today,” said the demon as he looked from us to his blade, which he raised a bit. “My work here is done, and so I depart. Farewell, mortals. For now you run and live another day of your pathetic lives.” He turned from us and said, “But get in my way again,” his voice deadlier and sharper than one of his conjured blades, “and you’re dead.” After he’d finished speaking he brought his blade around in a wide arc, bringing it up and around so that it was pointed toward the ceiling, and teleported away in a cloud of white diamonds.
“Great,” I muttered after a moment. “Now I’ve got HIM to deal with. Twilight won’t be happy when she hears about this.”
We made our way out of the room, back to Lilium, in silence. When we got there, she seemed shocked that we were all relatively unscathed. “You’re...alive?!” she asked in her quiet voice.
“Well I am a Jotun, it’d take a lot more than that guy to kill me,” Jason said, letting out a laugh.
“Yeah, don’t sound so surprised,” I said to her. “I may be new to this whole hero thing, but I’m not a total invalid,” I continued. “Come on, let’s get out of here,” I said to the others.
We led her out of Ghirahim’s secret lair and back outside without any further excitement (thank God). When we were back out in the open, Lilium’s eyes went as wide as dinner plates. She even shed a tear. “Daylight…” she said, her voice full of amazement.
I dispelled my helmet and looked around. We were back in the clearing where I'd first met Jason and Elusive. “Thanks for the help,” I said to Jason. “Without you, who knows what would’ve happened?”
“You're welcome,” Jason said nodding his head, “Sorry about the whole... threatening you thing,” he said, with a sheepish smile.
“No prob,” I replied. Turning to Lilium, I asked, “You okay?”
“Yes,” she answered. “Much better thanks to you two. What did you say your names were?”
“I’m Zant,” I answered. “Pleased to meet ya.”
“I’m Jason,” he said, “and this is my son Elusive,” he continued as he motioned to the colt.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you all,” said Lilium, “and thank you again for freeing me. But…” she stopped suddenly, looking all sad again.
“But what?” I asked, concerned. “What’s wrong?”
“I…” she paused for a moment. “I have nowhere to go…” she said at last.
I immediately knew what to do. “You can stay with me!” I said. “Granted, I’m staying with someone else at the moment, but it won’t be long before I have my own place! I’m sure it’ll work out!”
Lilium looked up at me, her mood obviously brightening. “Really?” she said. Before I knew it her forehooves were wrapped around me in one of the best hugs ever. “Thank you!” she said.
“Don’t thank me yet,” I said. “Remember, it’s not up to me at the moment. It’s up to the pony I’m staying with.” Her look became dark again. “But I’m sure she’ll say yes,” I added hastily, not wanting to burst her bubble.
“Well...I guess I’ll take that then,” she said, sounding satisfied.
“Sorry to ruin the moment,” said Jason, “but Elusive and I need to be going.”
“Oh, sorry,” I said as I turned to him. “How do we do that?” I asked.
“Simple,” he said. “Just hold the Unitrix in front of you and say ‘Jason, our contract is complete’.”
I did as he said, and without warning, the same portal that had deposited him here reappeared. He turned to me and said, “Well, it’s been fun, but we’ve gotta get going.” He picked up Elusive and turned to go into the portal. “Actually... give me a moment,” he said. He put two fingers to his forehead and suddenly vanished. “Okay…?” I said. This new development had me thoroughly confused.
*Location: Inside Twilight's Castle, Ponyville, Equestria, Equus, now...*
Jason reappeared next to Twilight, startling the poor mare rather fiercely. “I know you don’t know me but I wanted to make sure this got to you personally,” he said as he pulled out the journal, holding it out. “I think a Nightmare Moon cult is conspiring against you.”
She stared at him in shock for a moment before finally saying, “Well...Thank you, I guess…” She took the papers in her magical grasp, and with that, Jason vanished again.
*Location: Outside the Castle of the Two Sisters, Everfree Forest, Equestria, Equus, now...*
“Alright now that’s taken care of, I believe we were saying our goodbyes,” Jason said, moving over to me. “You mind if I grab a scan of you?” he asked.
“Not at all,” I replied. He held up his Omnitrix arm, the device letting out a beep once he'd done so. “Uncatalogued DNA detected,” it chirped. Then it passed a strange yellow beam of light over me.
“Thank you kindly,” he said with a smile. “I believe it’s time we went home.” He walked over to the portal before pausing and looking back, “One last thing Zant.”
“What is it?” I asked him.
“I overreacted when I got here, it’s a long story, but I meant everything I said. If I catch wind of you trying to bring Equestria to ruin, I will kill you.” With that he picked up Elusive and stepped through the portal.
“Uh, yeah, see ya Jason,” I said. His closing remarks had left me mortified. I certainly didn’t want to get on his bad side. “He was...confusing,” I said to no one in particular.
With nothing else to do in the area, I turned to Lilium and said, “Well then, shall we be off? We still need to introduce you to Twilight after all.”