Six Manipulations, Six Heroes

by Matthew Stone

Rise of the Daywalker

Midnight fell upon Vanhoover now, and the gang rests inside the abandoned building. Discord sleeps by his companions Spike, William, Skull, Leo, Ian, and the Foxes. Blade keeps guard outside the building to make sure no dark magic invades their area. Mokuba rests near Gilda, Trixie, Sunset Shimmer, and Storm. Thanor is nowhere to be seen; yet Kaiba is also awake. The changeling assumes that the spirit rests in it’s own heaven. The changeling decides to take a walk around the abandoned building, going up the stairways and walking to the balcony. He can smell the damp air coming from the distant atmosphere of the mist of the desert. The moon shines bright as if it’s a curse breaker to destroy all the darkness. Kaiba liked that. He wanted some light over where he’s resting, just so he doesn’t feel fear. Leo eventually got up from his rest, and explored the building as well, along with the historical paintings made by other ponies. After a while, he saw Kaiba is still looking off the balcony when he enters.

“You can’t sleep either?” Leo asks.

“I wasn’t really in the mood.” Kaiba admits.

Leo then comes over to stand by Kaiba, having his arms lean on the rails. The gnome looks at the mountains they just entered through, and the distance that’s different from what they traveled.

“Something was troubling you when…” Leo started to say, but then catches himself when he sees Kaiba’s dreaded face. He didn’t want to force him to reflect on his past.

“Don’t be ashamed.” Kaiba soothes, “I just feel bad for Mokuba, that’s all.”

“I’m just happy someone like you is learning sympathy.” Leo said, “No other changeling can do that.”

Then, there was a three minute silence.

“Listen, I didn’t just run away because I was enslaved and abused by Chrysalis and Volucris.” Kaiba said to the gnome, “I also… I… ran away from my guilt.”

“Guilt?” Leo asked in confusion, “What of guilt?”

“When Mokuba said to you that a changeling separated him from his parents, Shinning Armor and Cadence, Yes. It was by order of Chrysalis, and….”

A first tear came into the changelings cyan eyes. It was clear of sadness mixed with telling the truth.

“It was I…” Kaiba faintly said.

Leo just looked at him. Not angry, just normal.

“I separated Mokuba from his only…” Kaiba shuddered.

Then the changeling growled and sobbed, having such hatred for Chrysalis, forcing him to do something so dreadful. Leo didn’t know if he was supposed to feel the same pain Kaiba has, but he calms him down anyway. The gnome rubs the changeling’s shoulders and holds them steady.

“Damn me…” Kaiba shook.

“Maybe should go back to sleep.” Leo suggested.

Kaiba nods. He still feels terrible, but he feels relief for telling his past to a new friend he can trust. He only fears what will happen if he admitted it to Mokuba.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are in the middle of their rest as well. However, Tiara couldn’t sleep. The fact that she’s separated from her parents is very frightening to her. Such a relationship with a mother and father isn’t easy, but it doesn’t mean that a family’s love is so weak. Love in a family is pure happiness, and that’s also what Tiara enjoyed. It’s sometimes different from the possessions she owns at her mansion. It’s just not the same that loving something or somepony that is alive. Alive. That’s how she wants her mom and dad to be when she finds them.

Diamond Tiara tosses upward to face the ceiling. She closes her eyes once more, just to try and sleep for once. Then, heavy breathing is heard. The breathing becomes louder until it floats over Tiara. She opens her eyelids.

“Oh Diamond Tiara, WE FOUND YOU!” a sinister voice over her whispered.

Diamond Tiara is now awake and petrified. Silver Spoon wakes up, and gets held down by unknown intruders in the process. The DARK CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS HAVE THEM TRAPPED.

“HELP US!” Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon screamed.

The hapless screams were loud enough to go through the Vanhover buildings. When it reached the building that the gang was sleeping in, it woke them up. Discord rises up instantly, twirling his head to see where the sound is coming from. Kaiba and Leo also get up, despite their limited rest. William wakes up by Spike, Ian, Tails, and TJ. Mokuba then wakes up with the rest of the gang, wondering whose voice that plea belongs to. Then, he knows.

“DIAMOND TIARA! SHE’S IN TROUBLE!” Mokuba screams, “SHE’S SOMEWHERE IN THIS CITY!”

“How do YOU know?” William asks.

“I just know!” Mokuba shouts.

Thanor then appears in a sudden poof.

“I sense them too.” he said.

“Well, looks like that brat and her whiny friend Silver Spoon are getting what they deserve.” William snickers and yawns, “I’m going back to sleep…”

Discord then grabs William by his squirmy torso, and brings his face close to his.

“Listen here you WORM!” Discord scolds, “Tiara may be a bully, but she’s also A CHILD! A young filly that’s on a ordinary guide to LEARN to be nice and correct her mistakes. Allowing her to die is CERTAINLY NOT the answer to teach her a lesson! Now I’m going to rescue her, and YOU’RE GOING TO HELP!”

Spike then hugs Discord for his forgiving spirit and bravery.

“I’m with you 100% on that, buddy!” Spike agrees, “We better find Tiara and Silver Spoon, FAST!”

“Not without us!” Tails said, as TJ comes beside him, “You’ll never know how many changelings are surrounding the fillies.”

“No, wait, don’t go…” Thanor cautions, envisioning his future, “There’s tactics that the changelings are planning, and since you’re new to this world, there’s no chance you’re all the way prepared for their newest weapons and movements they created. You need more training for that.”

Tails and TJ shook in surprise. They had no idea.

“Well William, Discord, and Spike can’t be the only ones to go fight.” TJ points out.

“Then Storm, Mokuba, and I will go with them.” Blade volunteers.

“Will you be okay?” Tails asks.

“Every changeling should fear me!” Blade grins.

Then, the six heroes went out the building for their rescue mission.

At the crumbly building that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon are caught in, she fights Apple Vine with her throwing punches for the first time. Yet, she is no match for Apple Vine’s buck kicks. Eventually, a mighty kick sends her to the ground next to Silver Spoon. Then, the dark crusaders have the vines from the walls tie them up. Tiara and Silver Spoon are now helpless.

“THAT’S FOR ALL THESE YEARS OF BEING MEAN TO US!” Spice Belle screams.

“NOW HOW DO YOU LIKE IT WHEN WE’RE MEAN TO YOU?” Apple Vine asks.

“LET’S SAY WHAT GOES AROUND, COMES AROUND!” Darkness Scootaloo laughs, “AND NOW, YOU TWO WILL DIE!”

Darkness Scootaloo then creates a sword with her darkened hoof. The hoofed sword then raises to strike Tiara and Silver Spoon. The two fillies whimper in horror.

“I DON’T THINK SO!” a voice erupts in the room.

A boomerang-like sword then flashes past Apple Vine and Darkness Scootaloo as it cuts and slashes Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon free from the vines. The dark crusaders then turn to see Discord, Spike, William, Storm, Blade, and Mokuba in the room. They’re standing on top of a crumbled pyramid of rocks that fits the room’s height.

“GRRRR! SINCE YOU WANT TO GET IN THE WAY, FINE!” Apple Vine snaps, “BUT REMEMEBER THIS, WE WILL FIGHT YOU LATER!”

“AND ALSO, we know…” Spice Belle coos.

Discord, Spike, William, Storm, Blade, and Mokuba look at them in terror.

“Volucris told us to sneak behind you guys unknowingly.” Spice Belle said casually, “She figured you’ll be finding these weapons that stupid ghost Thanor told you about.”

“NOW, we know where the Lights Swords are, and what cave they’re in.” Darkness Scootaloo huffs, “And since we don’t need more of your help, CHAGNELINGS! ATTACK THEM!”

Then the Dark Cutie Mark Crusaders disappeared with their magic, as ONE HUNDRED CHANGELINGS came out of their hiding places in the room.

“NOT GOOD!” William screams.

“You’re right about that!” Discord squeaks, “Now our brainwashed friends will make sure we’ll never get to…”

“Never mind that! Right now we have to fight!” Blade shouts, as the changelings pace closer to them, “Mokuba, take Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon out of here! WE’LL DEAL WITH THE CHANGELINGS!”

The filly prince nods, and grabs Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

“What now?” Tiara asks Mokuba.

“Easy.” Mokuba replies, “My teleportation powers I learned in my training.”

With that, he teleports himself and the other fillies out of this building.

“HE HAD TELE-“ William stammers.

Discord prepared himself with Spike and Storm. He even notices Blade. That pony has been wearing sunglasses for quite some time now. It was then that Blade took his sunglasses off. Then, the changelings were shocked, as some begin to shout.

“IT’S THE DAY WALKER!” one changeling said.

“HELL! I DIDN’T KNOW WE WERE GOING TO FIGHT HIM!” another stammered.

“Day Walker?” Discord asks.

“Blade has been nicknamed that because of his mixed martial art moves he’s been trained. They have been absolutely forbidden to be used by every other pony.” Storm explains, “He’s been notable for using his moves ever since when fighting his enemies.”

“Well, there’s five of us, so….” William stammers.

“FINE! Get out or hide! Selfish moron…” Discord said in frustration.

“YAY!” William said as he hides behind the pyramid.

“So, want me and Discord to take fifty, then you and Blade take fifty?” Spike asks Storm.

“Fine by me.” Storm nods.

The fight then begins, as Blade uses his sword to slash through the first ten changelings. Storm defends himself with his shield from the next ten changelings coming at him. Discord then fights and knocks out ten more changelings with karate moves, while Spike burns ten changelings and severely injures them for the right purpose.

Storm then jumps through the air, and flies past ten more changelings as he slashes and kills the bloodthirsty beasts. The griffon also lets out a battle cry as he lands. Blade then has a tiny trick up his sleeve. With a gadget he made a while back in his personal time, he initiates hidden blades to come out while connected to his tail. Using that, she slashes through ten more changelings with his dangerous tail.

“Fifty more.” Spike pants.

“GET THEM!” one changeling said, “Don’t let them win!”

Storm then makes a yoga pose as he prepares for the next ten changelings to charge at him. The griffon than slings his blade, and slices through the enemies. He stood still, and can feel the circles of bloody ooze slowly splashing onto his face like rain water. The feeling of this disgusting pleasure to fight is so beautiful to the griffon.

The griffon then snaps out of it, and slashes three changeling’s heads, along with their arms, legs, and bodies. As for the other seven, his sword moves went so fast in random, diagonal moves. This sends the seven changelings to their ultimate death.

“Thirty more to go.” Storm whispers.

The thirty changelings then stand still. They stay in their places looing at Discord, Spike, Blade, and Storm. William stays hidden, seeing how this is going.

“GANG TOGETHER!” a changeling suddenly screams.

It was then that the thirty changelings pushed themselves tightly together in a pack, and morph. The shape shifting and melting combination is grotesque, as their faces and bodies become distorted with the mutation. The body they’re making with themselves altogether became bigger and bigger, until it’s ONE GIANT CHANGELING itself. The monster grins, as it leers over the four fighters while fitting the room.

The giant changeling then stomps his hoof down, having Discord dodge the attack with Spike. Blade then jumps into the air as the giant changeling has it’s wing turn into a rotating blade that expands by size, nearly making a cut near the rim of Blade’s mane and neck. Storm flies past the changeling’s teeth, as the monster tries to bite at the griffon to eat it alive. Discord looks up and down at the giant creature. He knows there must be a weak spot to destroy that monster. Spike looks with Discord too, and then notices something out of order with the changeling.

“The heart is distorted!” Spike said to Discord in observation, “The open hole is revealing it on it’s chest. If we go inside the changeling and straighten out it’s heart to be stiff, we may have a chance destroying it.”

“Sounds like a perfect strategy.” Discord agrees.

He then grabs on to Spike, ready to shrink himself and his friend.

“Keep him occupied, will you?” Discord asks Storm.

The griffon nods, and Spike and Discord become tiny enough with a magic poof. Discord then flies himself and the dragon through the giant’s mouth, dodging the slimy acid with an essence of smoky sulfur. The flight was almost smooth when they got close to the heart, until something knocked them down, sending them to land on the ground of the giant’s lung. The lord of chaos and dragon then see that miniature changelings close to their current size, are surrounding them.

The fight to get to the heart starts, with Discord using an “Evil Dead” reference by having his circular saw cut through the killer beasts as he flies. Spike stands on Discord’s head, and breathes huge balls of green fire from his mouth as much as possible. From the outside, the giant coughs out smoke. Smoke and Blade can see that Discord and Spike are making progress.

Inside the giant, the two companions are nearly there to the heart. Then, three bigger (but still miniature) changelings jump in front of Spike and Discord. They hiss, as they spit dangerous acid from their mouths, attempting to strike them with the painful liquids. Spike almost got hit, but Discord protects him as being a shield. He keeps going, though he cringes and cries as the acid sank through his fur a tad bit. The injury wasn’t serious, but if a huger pour of acid came at him, he wouldn’t be lucky.

The big mini changelings nearly corner Discord and Spike, until the draconequus throws the dragon in a straight line. When flying in the air, Spike extends his legs as he nears the heart.

“Love is magic, you beast!” Spike roars.

With that, the dragon’s mighty kick pushes the heart in perfect place. The body soon rumbles, having the inside changeling demons melt into black goo. Discord then grabs Spike, as they try to hurry out with his flying speed. The giant starts to squeal as Spike and Discord become big again after leaving the beast’s mouth. Blade and Storm look at interest as they see the beast dying. It doesn’t explode or melt, but it crumbles. The beast crumbles into tiny specks of ash real slowly as it makes it last breath. Then, all is calm, for the rest of the enemies are no more.

“You did good.” Storm congratulates Discord and Spike.

“You’re welcome.” Discord said proudly.

“It had it coming.” Spike said in defiance.

William than comes out of his hiding spot.

“It’s… it’s gone! YOU GUYS ARE AWESOME! You are like CLASHING, and then they were like LOSING, and then you were INSIDE GOOING, and they were MELTING! WOOO! I CAN DO THAT ANYDAY!” William cheers.

“You’re annoying.” Discord mumbles.

“And there’s nothing to celebrate either.” Spike said, “Our brainwashed friends told us they know. They might destroy our chance!”

“Volucris might get to the swords before we do.” Blade moans.

The five heroes think about this horrid scenario. What should they do?

“We better explain this to Thanor when we get back.” Storm said, “He’ll figure it out, I know. Now we have to go, NOW!”

Back at the Crystal Empire, Apple Vine, Spice Belle, and Darkness Scootaloo came back to Volucris as she sits at her skeleton throne, and bow to her.

“We did what you asked us to do Queen Volucris.” Darkness Scootaloo said.

“We found out that they are going for the twelve Light Swords that can destroy you.” Apple Bloom warned.

“But it’s in a cave that’s ten miles near Vanhover.” Spice Belle added, “We almost killed Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon too, but that pony that looked like Shining Armor or Cadence got in our way!”

Dark Vine Cadenza who was in the room, widens her eyes.

“WHAT? You say there’s a pony that looks like us?” she asks.

Shadow Armor was in the room as well, and becomes unpleased.

“Does this pony have a name of… say… MOKUBA?” Shadow Armor bursts.

“YES! He does.” Darkness Scootaloo answers.

“Guess your son is still alive.” Volucris sighs, “either way, we can always turn him into one of us. Or, if you like, you as his parents can kill your son if he doesn’t want to join.”

“Time to discipline or son with tough love.” Shadow Armor snickers.

“Yes, love. Because he needs it.” Volucris chuckles.

“There’s also a pony with sunglasses, and a sword cutie mark.” Spice Belle continues.

Queen Volucris heard this, afraid.

“A sword cutie mark?” she stammers, “NO! IT CAN’T BE! HOW?”

Queen Chrysalis then magically appears in the room after enslaving more ponies. She hears her sister a tad bit about a pony.

“WHO? My dear sister, who are we talking about?” she demands.

“BLADE! I SENT MY CHANGELINGS TO KILL HIM! HOW IS HE STILL ALIVE?”

“Who is Blade?” Chrysalis asks.

“HE IS A DAYWALKER, A VAMPIRE PONY THAT LIVE IN THE SUNLIGHT. THEY GET THEIR STRENGTH AND HAVE NO WEAKNESSES. VAMPIRES ARE ALSO THE TOP DOGS IN THIS WORLD. I REMEMBER WE CHANGELINGS WENT TO WAR WITH THE VAMPIRES AND KILLED THEM ALL! So I guess he survived that feud.”

“He’s still a weak pony.” Chrysalis huffs.

“DON’T UNDERESTIMATE HIM!” Volucris shouts, “HE IS CUNNING AND DEADLY! HE CAN TAKE OUT THRITY CHANGELINGS WITH ONE SLICE!”

“We ALSO saw Gilda, Storm, Trixie, and Sunset Shimmers” Apple Vine added.

Rainbow Briar, Fireburn, and the evil Twilight are also in the room, and scowl when they hear those names.

“GILDA AND STORM!” Rainbow Briar and Fireburn roared at once.

“TRIXIE AND SUNSET!” evil Twilight screams.

“Oh, such ponies like them deserve to be in hell.” Chrysalis coos.

“And I know Sunset Shimmers has some darkness inside of her.” Volucris said, “We can tempt her. LET’S GO TO VANHOOVER NOW!”

The dark ponies prepare themselves.

“You have bigger chances on revenge my dear Twilight.” Volucris laughs.

“Do me a favor.” Twilight said, “Please call me TWIVINE from now on...”