My Little Pony: The Visitor

by Hopeful Soul

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Twilight turned her head to the side and glared warily at the towering rock troll as it emerged from the widening crater it had made, displacing tons of soil, grass, and rock with its gigantic boulder feet as it lumbered forward. Each step sent out sizeable vibrations in every direction that were nearly enough to make Declan and Spike bounce slightly off the ground as they hid behind Twilight.

“T-that’s a rock troll?” Declan stammered, trying to resist the urge to cling to Twilight’s neck and tremble like a leaf.

“Yes… it is.” Twilight answered with worried tension in her voice, not taking her widened eyes off the titanic creature as it slowly turned its gargantuan head to regard them with an odd sort of drowsy curiosity through a pair of beady, glowing blue eyes.

“Uh… that guy is staring at us…” Spike gulped, even more than Twilight and Declan combined. “I really don’t like that he’s staring at us!”

“You and me both.” Declan agreed.

Suddenly, the rock troll's curious expression turned to one of recognition, before darkening into yet another expression, one of hostile anger, as it emitted another ear-piercing roar and lumbered towards them. The troll's body language could not make its intent any clearer: ‘I’m going to crush you!’

“Uh-oh.” Declan said. “That’s not good…”

He and Spike began stepping slowly away from Twilight, who was already charging her horn, a worried grimace plastered on her face.

“Spike, Declan, get to cover!” Twilight ordered, preparing a destructive spell. “There’s no time to go get the girls, I need to stop this thing somehow before it hurts anypony!"

Nodding shakily, the duo quickly moved away from the alicorn and dived into the concealment of some bushes that lay near the entrance of the alicorn’s towering castle.

Declan held the Emperor’s Gem nervously, biting his lip as Twilight flexed out her wings and took flight, unleashing the first attack against the massive collection of animate stone and earth. A beam spell struck the rock troll square in its rough, huge eye-browed face.

To Twilight’s dismay, while knocking a small shower of pebbles loose, the attack only seemed to enrage the creature. It growled and hefted its four-fingered hand with a mossy palm outstretched into the air, ready and poised to swat the hovering alicorn down like a fly. With a gasp, she was able to easily dodge the sweeping hand, but the rush of wind it generated blew her mane and wings back, ruining the neat fringe of her hairdo and knocking her awkwardly through the air.

Twilight reoriented herself mid-air and smirked. “That's it, big guy. You want some of this?” she taunted.

The troll roared in response.

“Yeah? Well, and come and get me!" She paused for a moment, frowning. “Wow, I think all those flying lessons with Rainbow are starting to rub off on me…”

“Ya think?” Spike shouted back.

Twilight rolled her eyes, then had to swerve out of the way to dodge the troll’s fist as she charged another beam attack. This time, Twilight’s spell impacted the creature in the centre of its chest, to as little effect as it had the beast’s face.

Declan frowned in befuddlement and looked to Spike. “Rainbow? Who is that?”

Spike looked back at him with something that could pass for enthusiasm, were it not for the fear-inducing, towering rock monster that was a mere half-dozen meters away. “Rainbow Dash, one of my and Twilight's close friends.” The little dragon held up his talons and counted off. “Besides her, there’s Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity. Oh man, they’re a blast! I can’t wait for you to meet them."

The rock troll slammed its fist into the ground, missing Twilight once again as she responded with more magical bursts, switching to a new spell that fired pulses of magical projectiles. Declan and Spike bounced off the ground for a moment as the shockwave reverberated through the ground.

The frown on Declan’s face faded into a light smile, but his eyes were still wide with nervousness. “Cool, I always look forward to meeting new faces! Maybe sometime before Twilight gets me back home. But uh…” Declan looked over and watched as Twilight zoomed behind the troll and brought a rear hoof down on it with a solid kick, dislodging a few small rocks and initiating another shower of pebbles and loose soil plus a giant rock that landed dangerously close to them and made them yelp. “Let’s try not to crushed by falling troll debris.”

Spike nodded sheepishly. “Yeah, ditto.”

Nodding back once, Declan tried to zoom his eyes in on finer points of the massive beast that now threatened the entire area as Twilight attempted furiously to put it back into the ground. “But how?” After he adjusted his glasses he finally noticed something he found intriguing. “I got it!”

“What is it?” Spike asked. The boy pointed at the troll.

“You see the spots where the rocky joints meet the monster’s body and connect?”

“Yeah?”

“Twilight’s made some chinks in a few with her magic, and I think I can see something glowing inside of it that's now been exposed.” Declan rubbed his hair, unsure. “Could be a weak spot. If this thing were a video game boss, that would probably be it.”

Spike narrowed his eyes as he studied the troll, which was now chucking boulders bigger than him and Declan combined in Twilight’s direction, shattering upon impact with the outermost trees of the woods on the northwest corner of town.

“You know what? I think you're right!”

The duo briefly shared a smile, before Declan shot up and cupped both hands around his mouth to shout at the alicorn. “Twilight! You see those glowing spots in the rock troll’s stone joints?”

Twilight kept her violet eyes narrowed and focused on the troll, preparing to dodge yet another fist. “I do! What about them?”

“They could be weak spots! Aim for them!”

This caused Twilight to actually glance over to him and Spike briefly, her eyes wide with a realization. “Glowing spots…they must be energy filaments, of course! Declan, that’s brilliant!" Without further hesitation, Twilight primed another spell and fired it off at the closest exposed glow, in the troll's right armpit area surrounded by a tangled knotting of plant roots. The destruction spell hit home, causing an energized chain reaction that shook the beast's right arm apart.

However, in the time Twilight had taken to look over at the others and deliver her attack, the troll had shot out its left fist, and managed to strike Twilight in the side. The impact knocked her out of hovering with a yelp and sent her spiraling to the ground. Twilight managed to reorient herself before she hit the ground, crashing in the grass on her uninjured side.

“Twilight!”

“Princess!” Spike and Declan cried respectively, their faces visibly distressed as they darted out of the cover of the bushes and over to her sprawled out form. Her eyes were shut fast and her legs were splayed out, while her right wing was bent at a crooked, extremely unnatural angle.

“Twilight? Please Twilight, speak to me!” Spike said, fear creeping rapidly into his voice.

“Princess, can you hear us?” Declan breathed, as he raised her head. Fearing the worst, his heart felt like it was beating in his throat. The troll looked down at them, and seemingly satisfied with a job well done, let out a guttural chuckle that sounded like a glacier grinding against bedrock, before lumbering its way into Ponyville.

Somewhat to the relief of the duo beside her, Twilight soon answered their urgent calls with a heavy, drawn out moan, wincing as her eyes fluttered open. “M-My… my wing…" she groaned. “I think I hurt my wing…”

Her assessment seemed sound, for her wing had absorbed much of the troll’s kinetic force and now looked broken.

“We’ve got to get everypony together and to get you to the hospital, before the troll to can reach that part of town.” Spike urged. Twilight nodded weakly, trying to focus on her breathing. The punch had knocked almost all the air out of her.

“How can I help?” Declan interjected, twiddling his fingers in a gesture of his perceived powerlessness, but his tone suggested he was very eager to help.

Spike look from him to Twilight, and back. “Shoot, uh…see if you can help Twilight get back into the castle, ok? Look after her while I go and track down the rest of the girls! And stay out of trouble!”

Declan nodded nervously and looked down to Twilight, who was slowly trying to get herself up. “Uh, yeah, that I can do.” Before the human could reach out to help her up, the Emperor’s Gem seemed to take on a mind of its own, lighting up and casting the area surrounding himself and Twilight in a golden glow. The gem also became gold colored. Spike stopped in his tracks and turned to look on in shock.

“What the?”

Declan and Twilight mirrored Spike’s expression and watched in awe as Twilight’s own wing began to take on the glow as well and move off its own accord, the bone mending itself and readjusting into proper order. The glow spread into the young alicorn's shoulder and chest, repairing all damage that lay underneath the skin and fur. The gold aura then quickly dissipated as quickly as it had arisen, and the gem returned to being white also.

Twilight had an astonished look as she immediately shot back up on all fours, instantly revitalized. “Declan, that was high level restoration magic, just now…how did you…?”

The boy held up his hands in exasperation. “Hey, don’t look at me, I think it was the Emperor's Gem!” Declan looked at his necklace in a new light and gripped it in his hand. “Wow, Grandpa really wasn’t kidding about this being something special!”

“All the more reason why we ought to get this gem of yours to Princess Celestia.” Twilight replied, rubbing at her tousled mane.

Declan nodded. “If it means helping me getting home.” He shrugged. “And seeing as how you literally just took on a rock troll to protect the town of, uh…”

“Ponyville.” Spike offered.

“Yeah, that. I suppose I can trust you with it. You and Spike seem like a cool enough sort. Now, about that rock troll…”

Twilight’s ears perked up and she gasped. “Right, the town! We’ve got to take that monster down. You guys point out more of those weak spots, and I’ll blow them to pebbles!”

“Hm!” Spike and Declan both affirmed with huffs of determination.

All three of them broke into a run back into town. By now, the rock troll was currently busying itself with obliterating market stalls and all their contents, the owners having already fled for the hills the second the ground had begun trembling and they registered what had been the cause.

“Hay, ugly!” Spike shouted as Declan followed him while Twilight took to the air once more. The boy gave him a bizarre look.

“Uh, Spike? …are you making us the bait?" Declan said, incredulously.

“No, we’re just two mares trying to compete with each other for his date to the gala.” Spike deadpanned, increasing the pace of his jog.

“Oh, har, har… excuse me, I forgot to laugh.” Declan replied, his voice just flat.

The troll noticed both of them and turned his attention away from both Twilight and the poor marketplace. Spike gave him a glare.

“Ok, fine, good plan just try not to get us crushed, okay?” Declan said.

The rock troll growled, and pounded his remaining fist into the ground, sending out a short cascade of stones from the road in their direction.

“Sorry, can't make any promises.” Spike breathed.

The duo easily dodged it, and Declan perked up as he saw Twilight blast away another opening in the troll’s rocky hide. “Twilight, circle back around, left kneecap!”

“I’m on it!” Twilight replied, letting loose another spell straight into the exposed energy filament that helped hold the animate stone together as a single entity.

Roaring in rage, the troll flailed about and nearly toppled over altogether as it detected its left leg crumpling apart into so many shattered bits of stone and dirt. It now had to hop about on only one leg, creating quite an awkward situation for itself and making the ground shake with every hop he made, making them jump.

“Ha-ha! Yeah!” Declan cheered. “We got it!”

Twilight started chuckling, and Spike began smirking beside Declan as they all watched the troll hop about in a blind fury, damaging little more than the cobblestone road beneath it, now.

Spike’s smirk quickly fled from his face when the troll got its bearing and started hopping angrily in their direction, its massive maw wide open in a scowl, exposing massive, mossy pointed stones for teeth. “Aww, man!"

Twilight gasped as the troll readied its remaining fist to crush the young human and dragon. In the blink of an eye, she zoomed forward in between them and the fist, projecting a magical bubble shield around their spot in the market about a meter and a half in every direction. The princess grimaced with effort as the fist pounded against the shield repeatedly, each impact more forceful than the last.

“Now what?” Spike questioned, scared

“I’m thinking!” Twilight told him, stressed.

“Better think fast, your majesty!” Declan told her.

Before either of the trio could process what to do next whilst under their protective shield, the Emperor’s Gem once again seemed to have its own ideas. The amulet lit up again on Declan's chest. The boy yelped as it lifted itself up and pointed upward. The gem fired off rainbow-coloured energy this time, striking the shield and coalescing around it the entire bubble flashed with many colours.

“What the…” Declan uttered, dumbstruck while his irises glow briefly.

“That gem, I can’t believe the power it's putting forth…” Twilight said.

“Whoa…” Spike gasped.

In an instant, the rainbow shield pulsed outward in a powerful feedback loop, producing enough kinetic energy that the rock troll was blasted apart where it stood, reducing its remaining hulking mass into little more than a hulking pile of boulders, shattered bark, and soil.

“Whoa…” Spike repeated. “Man, Ponyville’s seen some action-packed days, but this one might take the cake this year.” He paused and looked around, surprised that a particular pink pony didn’t materialize out of nowhere upon saying that.

“Huh, she must be really busy, or something,” he muttered to himself.

“Come again?” Declan questioned, scratching his brown hair with confusion.

Spike waved it off. “Oh, never mind. Probably best if you didn’t ask.”

“Okay…”

“Right…well, thank goodness no buildings were demolished or ponies hurt.” Twilight sighed. She gave the town market a cursory analysis. “Minus the marketplace anyway….” She turned Declan. “Now, we really need to get you to Celestia, just in case those tremors and troll might have had something to do with that gem of yours.”

Declan nodded. “Fine. No argument. I’m just glad I didn’t screw up anything too much. I’m kinda useless here…”

Spike patted him on the back. “Ah no worries. Unless you summoned the troll yourself, and I mean c’mon, what are the chances of that, you did alright by us. Good eye on those weak points, I doubt anypony would have thought to point them out.”

Twilight nodded. “Indeed, I don’t know much about this Emperor’s Gem, yet, but I’m glad it did what it did for us, today.”

The boy smiled warmly at Spike. “Hmm, thanks Spike, Princess. That’s uh, good to know.”

“Please, just call me Twilight.” Twilight insisted.

“Sorry, Pr…Twilight.” Declan said. He surveyed the town and the damage around them, then turned back to Twilight, rubbing his palms nervously. “Um… shall we go meet this Celestia now, or is their damage to repair, first?”

“Best we get moving, I’m sure somepony else can handle it, besides… we don’t want to attract any more attention than we already have now…” Twilight advised, a bit nervous.

“Good idea.” Declan said as he and his new found friends began to run off away from the destruction.

---

Meanwhile, far from Ponyville, the hidden evil responsible for the rock troll, stirred restlessly in her confinement. She still seemed to be aware of what was happening and what had just happened and it seemed to infuriate her greatly.

“Another human?” Sibrella hissed in surprise. "Here? And he has my amulet!?"

A chalky, withered hand balled into a spiteful fist in the darkness of the coffin and hit the wall of it hard and fast.

"Heresy! I shall correct that once and for all, and soon…” she said, as her eyes glowed.

Comments

[zeldawolffang]

oh shit he just pissed of demon lady

[Wildcard25]

Good job here

[Andy Ray]

The gold aura then quickly dissipated as quickly as it had arisen and the gem returned to being green also.

But... the gem was reported to be... white!.. initially...

[Luckyfanisaac]

“Uh… that guy is staring at us…” Spike gulped, even more than Twilight and Declan combined. “I really don’t like that he’s staring at us!”

Twilight kept her violet eyes narrowed and focused on the troll, preparing to dodge yet another fist. “I do! What about them?”

“We’ve got to get everypony together and to get you to the hospital, before the troll to can reach that part of town.”

And stay out of trouble!”

“Now what?” Spike questioned, scared.(——