//------------------------------// // Crossover part 2: Calling down the thunder. // Story: Of Lightning and Lassos // by Darth Pestilence //------------------------------// The three of them ran through the town, following the two Alicorns all the way to the edge. When they got there, they were greeted with the sight of a large group of snow-covered ponies coming through the barrier and being tended to by a large crowd of townsponies. "The group we saw leave the town was three times this big," Solar Flare muttered. Midnight spread her wings and flew past the crowd so that she could get to the new arrivals. She walked up to one of the healthier looking ponies, who immediately bowed upon seeing her, and asked, "What has happened to the others that were with you?" "After you and Sir Solar Flare fled, our group was ambushed by a large amount of Dark Soldiers. Most of our group was either killed, taken prisoner, or..." the stallion trailed off for a moment before resuming, "converted." "How many were converted?" Midnight asked, her voice taking an even more serious tone. "I'd say about...50," the stallion said somberly. Midnight grimaced. "That many?... I'm sorry about your friends." "It's alright, m'lady. My daughter escaped with me. I'm just sad that she'll never see her mother again," he said sadly, pointing to a little filly that was asleep on his back. "I'm so sorry. What's her name?" Midnight asked. "Buttercup," he replied. "A fine name. I hope she'll grow up without something like this happening again. You may tend to yourself and your daughter," Midnight said, patting the filly on the head. "Thank you, m'lady," he said as Midnight flew back to the others. "What's the damage?" Solar Flare asked as Midnight landed. "About 50 were converted. The rest were either killed or captured," Midnight answered. "Oh no..." Solar Flare said, putting his head into his hooves. By now, the three humans were quite confused. Alice stared at Midnight and Solar Flare for a moment with her brows furrowed. "I'm going to go out on a limb here and say you have an enemy of some kind and you just received news that they just decimated your former party by killing, capturing them, or using some kind of mind control to make them join your enemies' side. Am I far off?" Alice guessed. "Well, it's a bit more complicated than simple mind control, but you were right for the most part," Midnight said. "I was simply using the easiest analogy. Not everyone is as smart as me," Alice said, pointing at Tom and Angela, who both scowled. "No offence," she quickly added. “Even so, I wish Flare and I hadn't been so careless. If we had paid attention, then that village would have remained hidden," Midnight lamented, looking over at the group of survivors. "I hate to think of what is happening to those prisoners." "Don't blame yourself Midnight," Angela comforted. "You couldn't have known you were being followed." "I know. I only wish that the prisoners could escape their fate. The Queen is the definition of sadism," Midnight said grimly. "Snrk." Alice briefly sniggered before catching herself and started whistling a tune, trying to look as inconspicuous and innocent as possible. Thomas glanced over at Alice, seeing through her attempts at being inconspicuous almost instantly. 'Looks like sadism is something she's familiar with. Maybe I'll talk to her about it later,' he thought. "I'm afraid to ask, but what does she do to her prisoners?" Angela asked. "Sometimes she tortures them, other times she converts or transforms them, and she'll leave them to rot in their cells on rare occasions. What happens to prisoners depends on what mood she's in," Solar Flare explained, disgust clear in his expression. "That's horrible!" Angela said, disgusted that someone could be so cruel. “Do you know why she does this? What made her so cruel?” Thomas asked. Solar Flare shook his head. “No one knows for sure. Some say she went insane, others say she is possessed by some kind of demon, but the most common theory among the ones who fled from her is that she was corrupted by the dark magic she practiced.” "Well, it sounds like..." Thomas trailed off when he noticed a single cloaked pony making its way over to them. He walked until he stood directly in front of them. "Um, can we help you?" Thomas asked. The stallion remained silent, choosing instead to look the three humans over. He remained like this for a couple seconds before breaking out into a large grin. Before anyone could react, the mysterious stallion shot a red ball of magic upwards, out of the barrier's reach, revealing its location to anyone who might be outside it. He followed up by shooting a scarlet beam of magic at Thomas. Thomas raised an eyebrow. To him, the blast didn't even tickle. The pony looked shocked for a moment, before getting blasted in the face by Solar Flare, killing him instantly. Thomas and Angela grimaced. “That can’t be good,” Thomas muttered. “Thanks, Captain obvious. We could never have figured that out without your help!” Alice exclaimed sarcastically. “Now is not the time for jokes!” Angela scolded. Midnight stared up at the sky for a moment, blanching at the red orb that was shining above the town. "EVERYPONY!" she shouted with a magically amplified voice. "GET AWAY FROM THE TOWN BORDERS! GUARDS, PREPARE FOR BATTLE!" She then took to the air, her husband following behind. Queen Mors sat on her throne, eagerly awaiting the news her scouts would bring back to her. To her immense satisfaction, the throne doors opened, and one of her most experienced scout ponies came into her presence. "Your majesty, the Alicorns’ hidden village has been located and your troops are prepared to attack," the mare said. The Queen smiled widely. "Very good, Admiral. Give them the signal to attack immediately." The mare bowed. "Of course, my Queen," she said as she prepared to teleport back to the battlefield. "Oh, and Admiral?" The Queen said, pulling a small metal crate out from behind her. The scout stiffened. "Yes, my Queen?" The evil Alicorn used a spell on the box that caused the lock on it to open. She opened the box, pulling a small, dark blue stone out of it. "I heard reports that the two creatures that managed to defeat ten of my strongest windigos are in the village as well. So, I'd like to see just how powerful these creatures are." She used a dark spell on the stone, causing it to glow. The Queen followed up by channeling dark magic into the stone. The stone began shaking wildly and sending waves of ominous feeling magic through the throne room. Then, a beam of dark blue energy shot out of the stone, hitting the scout. The scout gasped as she felt raw power flood through her. Her appearance also changed, her eyes turned the same color as the stone, and all the veins in her body began to glow the same color as well. "Now," said the Queen, "seek those creatures out yourself, and kill them for me." "As you wish," the scout said, disappearing in a flash. The Queen gazed at the stone with a smirk, allowing some of its power to enter her own body as well before putting it back in the box she had gotten it from. "Ah, the power of Envy is always refreshing," she said to herself. "What do you think that pony was trying to do to me?" Thomas asked as he, Angela, and Alice flew around looking for Midnight and Solar Flare. "By my guess, he was trying to kill you," Alice said simply. "Yeah, but why me? Why not one of the two Alicorns they're trying to kill?" Thomas pointed out. "Sure, I'm different, but they don't know how powerful this form is, and even then, I'm not as big of a target as them." Alice facepalmed. She had to remind herself that Tom was still a kid and not everyone could be as intuitive as her in order to not insult him. "Because he probably knew he couldn't harm them. But, since he doesn't know you, and also since, physically speaking, you’re the bigger target out of the it two of us, it was natural he shoot you.” "That is true," Tom conceded. "But still, I think it's likely that that spy had orders to target the alicorns, and I doubt he would go against his orders. But hey, that's just me." "Hey, it looks like the guards are gathering near the edge of town," Angela pointed out, interrupting the argument between the two. Sure enough, a group of about two hundred armored ponies stood near the borders, various weapons in their hooves. "I don't think those guards will be enough to stop an army from razing the town," Thomas said. "Looks like we're going to have to help them if we want to keep this town safe. You up for a fight, Alice?" Alice grinned. "Always." Thomas grinned too. "Well, that's good to hear. Make sure not to cause too much damage, and, uh, try not to kill anyone." "No promises," Alice answered. "I expected as much," Thomas responded, thinking that she was joking. "Now come on. It looks like the party’s already started." Sure enough, a horde of soldiers had already made their way through the barrier, quickly overwhelming the guards. "I wonder what form I should use?" Alice wondered. Thomas and Angela separated themselves from Alice, diving right into the fray. The soldiers turned their attention away from the guards and onto the two creatures that were decimating their ranks, giving the guards plenty of time to make a tactical retreat. A stallion attempted to impale Thomas with a spear only for the weapon to break in two; he received a nice kick to the snout for his efforts. Thomas grimaced as he felt the soldier’s head explode from the force behind his kick. “Darn it! I’ve got to hold back a little more so I don’t kill these guys.” Another soldier swung at Angela with her sword, but the Amazonian dodged effortlessly and caught the soldier in her lasso. Then, she proceeded to swing the soldier in circles, using her as a makeshift wrecking ball of sorts against many more soldiers. "Oh! I know exactly what form to choose!" A green ring appeared on Alice's middle finger. She then used it to create a massive, armored car made of emerald energy and let loose a barrage of green, hard light bullets against the enemy soldiers. 'Rubber bullets. Honest,' Alice thought to herself. “MINDLESS DRONES! SURRENDER OR BE DESTROYED!!” Alice's voice blared out from her makeshift Batmobile's speakers. All of the soldiers who were not dealing with Thomas and Angela looked at the green Batmobile in fear, backing away from the mighty vehicle. "Looks like someone's been reading, 'The Dark Knight Returns'," Thomas muttered under his breath as he lightly flicked a soldier that had attempted to tackle him, knocking him out cold. The soldiers were silent for a moment before one of the braver ones shouted, "NEVER!" which caused the others to roar in approval and charge the vehicle. "Sit back, mom! You're in for a show," Thomas said with a childish grin. Angela nodded and floated up into the air alongside her son. Inside the batmobile, Alice frowned. "I knew they'd say that," she said before firing a rocket aimed at the soldier who had spoken up, killing him on impact, much to Thomas’s chagrin. A second batmobile materialized next to the one Alice occupied. This version was much smaller in comparison, but just as deadly. In an instant, the Batmobile began to transform and soon was no longer just a car, but a Giant Robot. “ANYONE ELSE GOT SOMETHING TO SAY!? GO AHEAD! MAKE MY DAY!” Alice demanded. The soldiers were torn. On one hoof, they knew they would be killed if they ran away, and it would likely be a rather gruesome death. On the other hoof, they were also afraid that Alice would blow them up if they fought back. In the end, the army was split into two. One half decided to die fighting for their queen, and the other half decided it would be wise to turn tail and run. "Tch. As if I'd let them escape." The robot batmobile fired a missile that flew at the escaping soldiers, ready to blow them sky high. However, this never happened because of Thomas, who crashed through the missile before it could make impact with them. However, the force of the explosion and Thomas’s landing was enough to knock all of them unconscious and even kill a handful of them. “Welp, looks like the kid is still too soft to kill anyone yet,” Alice scoffed. “Now… how do I deal with the remaining soldiers? Oh! I have an idea!” From out of thin air, an emerald batplane materialized. The plane flew toward the remaining soldiers and dropped two bombs that, once they reached a low enough altitude, exploded, freezing all of the remaining soldiers instantly in place. Alice pushed a medium sized button, and instantly, an electronic voice cried out, “THAT WAS EASY!” Alice then smirked, raising her hand as if she were holding a wine glass and toasting herself. Suddenly, a horde of about thirty Windigos came rocketing through the barrier. Then, in a flash of magic, they merged together, forming a Windigo the same size as the giant robot batmobile. The monster roared and kicked at the Batmobile that Alice occupied, sending it flying into the mountain that the village had been built beside. Luckily the construct was strong enough that it took the worst of the damage and still held strong. However, the attack was so sudden, it broke Alice's concentration and shattered along with the rest of the constructs Alice had created sending her flying into it without much to protect her. "Looks like that's our cue, Mom! Let's take this guy out," Thomas said. He and Angela took to the sky, preparing to do battle with the creature. Thomas struck first. Channeling his magic into his hands, he shot blasts of magical lightning at the monster. The windigo roared in pain and lashed out at him with his front leg, sending him flying back a short way. "This guy looks pretty tough, maybe I shouldn't hold back as much," he thought as he came to a stop in the air. Angela flew behind the Windigo and wrapped her lasso around its jaw. The creature began flying around wildly, shaking the woman off of his back. With its owner not there to wield it, the lasso loosened and fell to the ground. She retrieved her lasso and flew back, ready to try attacking alongside her son. They flew forward together before splitting up as soon as they got close. They began delivering rapid punches to the monster's exterior as they flew around it, causing the monster to roar in agony. The roar was cut short as both of them delivered an uppercut to the beast at the same time, sending it up in the air for a few moments before it came back to the ground with a crash. Meanwhile, Alice groaned in agony. This was the first time she'd actually felt extreme pain in a battle. She opened her bleary eyes and looked around, spying a strange shape. Feeling too woozy to stand, she simply laid there and stared at the object, which for some reason, seemed to be calling to her. Alice slowly crawled towards it, and as she did so, Alice heard herself in the middle of uttering a familiar passage: "--if he be worthy, shall inherit the power..." Dark clouds began to gather and surround the entire area, the side of the mountain exploding to reveal a figure of divine power: "OF THORDIS!!" Alice shouted to the heavens. The air crackled with energy as the mystical hammer, Mjolnir, spewed lightning. Twirling the mighty hammer by its cord, Alice launched into the air and sped toward the Windigo for some much needed payback. When Alice arrived, she saw the Windigo on its back, in pain from what she assumed to be attacks from Tom and Angie. But that didn't matter. All that mattered was revenge. Alice rocketed toward the creature, lifted Mjolnir behind her, and with one mighty roar of, "Hiiiyaaaah!!!” brought the hammer crashing down upon the beast's skull, utterly obliterating it. Alice then shot powerful lightning at the creature, disintegrating what was left of it. Thomas and Angela stared at where the body of the Windigo had disappeared for a moment. "Wasn't that a little bit overkill?" Angela finally asked. "For destroying my batmobile construct, I'd say he got off light," Alice answered cheerfully as she landed. Their talking was interrupted when each of them heard the distinct sound of hooves hitting the ground. They looked down and noticed a lone pony walking up to them. She looked distinctly different from the others. "I'll admit, I'm impressed," the mare said. "You three are more powerful than I anticipated. However, I am more than just a mere soldier. I am Admiral Sharp Blade, and I will put you three freaks down!" she announced, charging up as much magic as she could. She then shot three piercing spells, one for each human. All three of them took the blasts, confident that their forms could easily withstand a standard blast from a powered up unicorn. As such, they were shocked to find that they actually felt the blasts. "Ouch! That actually stung a little,” Alice stated, wincing slightly before looking directly at Sharp Blade. “If she has that kind of power…” "What!? Not even a small wound?! That's imp-!" Sharp Blade began before a blast of raw, alicorn magic threw her back. Alice pouted. “Awww… I was gonna kill her.” Midnight landed in front of the humans, her horn still glowing. "That blast should have killed her, but let me check first," she said, trotting over to Sharp Blade's body. "Well, she's dead alright," Midnight announced after she finished examining the body. “Hey Tom? Why didn’t you let me kill those guards?” Alice asked, already anticipating the answer. “I want to keep my kill count as low as possible,” Thomas answered, confirming Alice’s suspicions. “Thomas,” Midnight said, getting his attention. “These are bloodthirsty soldiers that will kill as many ponies as they can if their Queen orders them to. I know it must bother you, but sparing them will not change their mind, you must kill them.” Thomas sighed, “I’ll… I’ll try. I’m just not used to the idea of killing.” Angela began to comfort Thomas, as Alice turned to look at Midnight. "So, Midnight, how are the others doing?" Alice asked. "Well everypony is doing relatively fine. Aside from the enemy soldiers, there were few casualties thanks to you three," Midnight thanked. "Honey!" Solar Flare shouted as he touched down beside Midnight. "Some of the soldiers damaged our house in the attack, so I brought Luna and Celestia here so they don't get hurt by any debris." He set the alicorn fillies down. Luna took the opportunity to trot up to Alice with a big smile. "It's the funny lady!" she squeaked. "You kicked those soldiers' flanks! I want to be just like you when I grow up! A big, strong warrior!" Alice snorted. "Well study hard, train, say your prayers, take your vitamins, do a hundred push-ups, sit-ups, squats, and go for a ten kilometer run every day, and I guarantee you’ll turn out strong. Not as strong as me, but a pretty close second." Alice hugged Luna before turning to Celestia. "As for you, look after your younger sister, listen and consider what she says and how she feels, and lay off the sweets." Alice then hugged Celestia. "Welp, it's been real, but I must go. Solar, try not to be so serious all the time. Midnight... you keep on doing what you are doing." Alice turned toward Tom and Angela. "Tom. Angie. Take care of yourselves. When there's trouble, you know who to call. Black Alice!" "Awww! You do care!" Thomas joked. "But seriously, you take care of yourself too. Maybe we'll see eachother real soon." "It's been… interesting. But it's also been wonderful meeting you, Alice!" Angela said. Alice gave Tom a quick peck on the cheek before tearing open a whole into the void and jumping in. "WAIT!" Thomas shouted, just remembering one final thing he wanted to ask the girl. Alice poked her head through the tear in space, "Yes?" "You said that other Displaced summon you sometimes, right? Well, I'm pretty sure that my brother ended up being Displaced too. So on the off chance that you meet him, I'd like you to tell me. Here, let me show you what he looks like. SHAZAM!" Thomas was struck by the lightning, turning him back into his twelve year old form. "He looks like me, except taller and no glasses. Could you tell me if you run into him?" "Yeah, sure. Do you know what he might be Displaced as? If I knew that, I could go and search the multiverse easily," Alice replied. "Well… he wasn't really wearing a costume… although I vaguely remember him buying a batarang from the merchant we got our stuff from." "Why type of batarang?" "I didn't really get a good look at it, but I think it was the Dark Knight movie version." "Of course it was. Yeah, I'll be on the lookout," Alice assured Tom before disappearing. "Well, she was nice… for the most part," Midnight commented. “Well that’s one way to put it… Anyway, let’s gather up the villagers and form a plan, I doubt the Queen will leave us alone for long,” Solar Flare said. High above the clouds, in a realm that no mortal had knowledge of, a being of immense power sat on a throne, watching curiously as the three magical beings tore apart the troops of his most devoted worshipper. This being was humaniod, wearing black and indigo battle armor, and his face was hidden by a black Attic helmet. To complete his intimidating appearance, his eyes glowed a bright red color, and a battle axe was held in his right hand. “Hmmm… These beings are quite powerful. Not as powerful as me, but still enough to defeat my servant if she doesn’t find all of the Dark Elements in time,” Ares said. “They could prove to be problematic if they are not dealt with, I must inform my servant.” Ares sent a mental signal to his worshipper and descended down to the secret room in her castle. As expected, Queen Mors was already there, kneeling before him. “Rise,” Ares commanded. She obeyed, getting to her hooves. “What is it, my lord?” Mors asked. “The creatures that defeated your windigos are far more powerful than you think. At your current state, not even the Envy stone could grant you enough power to defeat the one who wields the lightning or the warrior.” Mors frowned. “Is that true? Could they undo the plans we have so carefully laid out?” “While I doubt they possess the power to defeat me, the fact still remains that you will not receive what you have been promised if you do not destroy the Tree of Harmony.” “Do not worry my lord, I will command that my scouts double their search for the other five dark elements.” “I hope so. Remember, if you receive power from the Tree of Chaos before someone locates the Tree of Harmony, then you will become powerful enough to stand by my side. You will receive your wish, and become that which your family said you would never become.” “A goddess,” she muttered. “Correct. Now go, and carry out that which I have commanded,” Ares commanded as he disappeared from her sight. Queen Mors exited her secret chambers and ordered that the search be doubled, no matter the cost. She would not let two creatures destroy that which she had so carefully planned alongside the god she worshipped. She would fulfill the prophesy her family had mocked. The student of a powerful magic user that would change the world, she would become Magic Incarnate.