//------------------------------// // Heroes of Destiny // Story: Spike's Doom and/or Destiny // by terrycloth //------------------------------// After a few very confusing seconds, during which they flashed through several seemingly random destinations, including a snowy mountain pass, a darkened war room complete with sinister generals hunched over a table covered with maps and papers, and what looked like a busy intersection in midtown Manehattan, the ponies (and Spike) found themselves sprawled on a chilly tile floor. Around them was inscribed a faintly glowing magic circle, and around that hovered a quartet of giant crystal prisms. Around that, bookshelves and tables full of alchemical equipment lined the walls. Everything was brightly lit and neatly arranged – Twilight would have been proud to call this her laboratory. “I don’t suppose this is your basement?” Spike asked. “No,” Bon Bon said. “At least, I hope not. My basement isn’t usually full of wizards.” There was no mistaking the stallions that surrounded them for anything else – a group of unicorns, dressed up in robes and pointy hats, and lacking only the bells to be mistaken for Nightmare Night Starswirl the Bearded costumes. Most of them even had beards. “It worked!” said one of the wizards without one, gleefully. “We’ve summoned the five heroes of destiny!” “All four of them,” said an earth pony who’d been standing in the back, dressed up as a jester with face paint and everything. The wizard made a show of counting the new arrivals. “Well… perhaps four will do.” “Maybe the fifth is Lyra?” Derpy asked. “She was supposed to be meeting us here. I mean, not here here, but there here before we got taken here.” She paused as the wizard and fool stared at her. “She was going to be our dungeon master.” “Perhaps, perhaps,” the wizard responded absently, turning towards the door and motioning for them to follow. “Now that we’ve finally summoned our heroes, we must present you to the king at once!” “What makes you think we’re heroes?” Moondancer asked. “Maybe you should send us back and try again. I’m sure Twilight and her friends would be happy to hero for you.” “Who?” the jester asked. “You’ve never heard of Twilight Sparkle?” Spike asked. “How about Rarity? Fluttershy?” Seeing no recognition, he tried, “Princess Celestia?” The jester shook his head. “Can’t say I’m familiar. We did mention that we summoned you, right? From another world?” “Can you unsummon us, then?” Moondancer asked. “Oh no, no no no!” the wizard said, eyes wide. “We used up our very last magic crystals summoning you!” Derpy drooped, her ears flattening. “But we’re not actually heroes.” He laughed. “Nonsense! If you weren’t heroes, you never would have survived the spell. Now come! It’s time for you to see the king and receive your quest!” “And maybe some clothing,” the jester added, giving them one more look over, then politely averting his gaze. Once he’d drawn attention to it, they noticed that the other unicorns in the room had been carefully not looking in their direction. As they emerged into the hallways of the castle, and saw guards, maids, courtiers, and other denizens all carefully covered neck to ankle, their own state of relative undress was thrown into sharp relief. Spike cringed and brought his claws down to cover his crotch. Moondancer and Bon Bon kept their tails carefully lowered to cover themselves from anypony walking behind. Derpy was oblivious, but everypony was doing their best not to look, so it was probably okay. === “Ah! The five – the four heroes of destiny, at last!” exclaimed the king, as they were brought before his throne. He gave them a closer look, then turned aside to his wizard. “Are you sure these are heroes?” “They were summoned by the last of our crystals,” the wizard replied. “They’ll have to do.” “They don’t really… look the part,” the king said, still in a low voice. “They’re a little…” “Naked?” suggested the fool. “We can fix that,” Bon Bon said. “You can give us clothes.” The king looked shocked at the suggestion. “Is that allowed?” The wizard frowned, and stroked his chin where a beard would be if he’d been old enough to grow one. “Well… to get them started on their quest, you could give them enough golz to buy some clothes.” “Ah! Of course, of course. That makes sense,” the king said, instantly relaxing. “Just get on with it,” Moondancer said. “I’d like to get this quest over with as soon as possible, so that we can go home.” The king nodded. “Then I’ll get right to it. I am King McGuffin, ruler of Castle Town, a town steeped in history as the birthplace of many a heroic quest! Even the great Heroes of Legend had there start here, in this very throne room! Time after time, when evil threatened the world –“ “Can we skip to the quest part?” Moondancer asked. “Aww, come on,” Derpy said, flopping a wing over her back. “Let him have his speech. He must have worked on it really hard!” “Yeah,” Spike said. “I mean, he’s not using flash cards or anything.” “Ahem,” said the king. The four ‘heroes’ quieted down, and he continued. “Time after time, when evil threatened the world, our great Immortal Emperor, Destiny, would come here to summon the five Heroes of Destiny – random warriors from across the cosmos, who would face trial after trial, travelling the world and righting wrongs, facing down evil, and ultimately defeating whatever villain was threatening his peaceful reign.” “And then they went home?” Moondancer asked. The king raised a hoof and tilted it back and forth. “Sometimes. Others, like the Heroes of Legend, had forged bonds with the ponies of this realm, and decided to stay. Either way, Destiny would give them a just and fitting reward for their heroic service.” Bon Bon looked at the wizard, and then at the fool. “So,” she asked. “Which of you is Destiny?” The fool laughed. “Destiny does not yet smile upon this endeavor, but we endeavor to change that, do we not my king?” “Indeed,” the king said. “This time, you see, Destiny has held back. The nameless one –“ “Seriously?” Moondancer asked. “Is that his actual name?” The king shook his head grimly. “Of course not, but none may speak the name of the dark lord.” “I bet it’s something really embarrassing,” Spike said. “Like, Grimdark Shadowborne.” “Oooh, or Spiketooth Ripsaw!” Derpy suggested. Bon Bon smiled a bit. “Iceheart Coldfingers?” “No, no, I think Spike was on to something,” Moondancer said. “I bet it’s ‘evil something’ or ‘dark something’, or something like that.” “Please stop,” the king said. “Look – he’s worried,” Moondancer said, pointing at the king. “He got this really worried look on his face when I guessed ‘Dark Something’. ‘Dark Lord’? ‘Dark Raven’? ‘Dark Ice’?” “Please stop trying to guess the cursed name.” Moondancer grinned. “I’m close, I know it.” “He’s King McGuffin, right? They seem to be using griffon names here,” Bon Bon noted. “Ah! ‘Dark Ivan’! No? ‘Dark Isaac’? ‘Dark Eidous’?” Lightning crashed, flashing down from the ceilings, and one of the guards in back cried out as he was struck, and collapsed to the floor. “That was it?” Moondancer asked. “Dark Eidous?” Again, a flash of lightning, and the guard gave out another cry as he was struck a second time. “Stop! Stop saying the cursed name!” the king bellowed. Moondancer opened her mouth to say it again, but Derpy’s hoof silenced her. “Please, Moondancer, stop. That poor guard gets hit by lightning every time you say ‘Dark Eidous’.” Lightning flashed, and Derpy eeped. “Sorry!” Moondancer lifted her staff and removed Derpy’s hoof from her mouth, but although she rolled her eyes she stopped tormenting the poor guard. “Go on,” she said. “You were telling us about – him.” “Yes,” the king said. “The nameless one is gathering his forces just to the north. My kingdom – no, all the world is in grave peril, but for some reason Destiny will not act. So we have no choice but to take matters into our own hooves. I have summoned you four to be the next heroes sent forth from Castle Town. Once you prove your heroic nature, Destiny will surely recognize you as the Heroes of Destiny and set you on the quest to stop the nameless one, once and for all!” “So, wait,” Bon Bon said. “This whole thing you’re doing with us is illegal?” “Not… technically,” the wizard said. “Just a bit unconventional, is all.” “The Immortal Emperor has always had a great love for heroes,” the king explained. “I have no doubt that when he hears of your deeds, he will be more than willing to recognize you as his agents!” “So… how do we prove that we’re heroes?” Spike asked. “With a quest in the grandest tradition of heroic quests, of course!” said the king, smiling. “You must rescue my daughter from the dungeons of Lord Orcus!” “And if we don’t want to do any of these quests?” Moondancer asked. “But you must!” the king said. “You are our only hope!” “We’ve sacrificed so much just to bring you here,” the wizard added. “We literally won’t let you leave the throne room until you agree,” the fool pointed out. “Ugh!” Moondancer cringed. “Fine.”