With all the restraint he could muster Thor tapped his knuckles against the door to Fluttershy's cottage, trying his hardest not to look at the section of the wall that still hadn't been entirely repaired. A smirk crossed Thor's face as he figured that perhaps he had not disposed of all of the rashness that he was known for as a child. He also knew that the being he was there to see was not in at the moment. But they would be soon.
"Yes, can I-" Fluttershy began as she opened the door, only for her eyes to shrink as she found herself face to waist with the god of thunder. Fluttershy slowly lifted her eyes up to look in Thor's face, causing her eyes to shrink even further. "I'm sorry, nopony is home right now. Please come back later."
"Nay, Fluttershy, Thor cannot. But he can ask if you would be willing to allow him into your home?" Thor asked the Pegasus as he placed his foot in-between the door and him, completely preventing it from moving. Fluttershy tried to push her door close only to find that it wouldn't move at all, getting her to sigh before motioning for Thor to enter her home. The god of thunder had to crouch down quite a bit to fit inside of Fluttershy's cottage, but once he made it through her door with minimal damage, he found that it was a cozy little place.
To Thor's surprise he found numerous assortments of animals scurrying around under his feet, making him have to move cautiously to avoid stepping on any of the little creatures. Fluttershy motioned him to her couch and he obliged her, sitting on it and causing it to squeak in agony.
"So, what can I do for you Lord Thor?" Fluttershy asked in a near whisper, forcing Thor to lean in closer to hear her. "I mean, I doubt that somepony with your stature would come to visit somepony like me without a good reason."
"Somepony like thee? You mean one of the six ponies that have defended this world from terrifying threats without the aid of a divine? Aye, I would make time to meet one such as yourself," Thor informed her with a smile as bright as a flash of lightning. Then he crossed his hands and leaned forward, getting another agonizing squeak out of the couch. "But thou are right, I have a reason for being here. I have been trying to get into contact with your friend that takes up residence in your home, but as of late he has been avoiding me. And I do not need to tell thee of how hard it can be to track a god of chaos?"
"So you're here to talk to Discord? He headed out to the Crystal Empire earlier today, but he didn't say when he'd be back," Fluttershy informed Thor as she walked into her kitchen, turning on the water and grabbing some tea bags from her pantry. "You can go there and see if he's still hanging around."
"I have been tracking him across Equestria for a few days now, but he is adept at avoiding me. He is crafty and slippery, but if I am correct he will soon return here," Thor told Fluttershy, who knew that Thor was right. "But I am interested in you as well. If what I have learned from Celestia is correct, thou are the one that is responsible for reforming Discord into a friend from a foe."
"Oh I wouldn't say that I reformed him," Fluttershy said with a shake of her head as she walked out with a tray of tea and crackers, which she laid down on the table in front of the god of thunder. "More like I helped him see how much more a life with friends is worth living. It was nothing much."
"Thou changed the ideas and nature of a god of chaos without the use of force or threats. What you did was no small feat, Fluttershy. In fact, only a handful of mortals across time can ever say they changed a god. And even less can say they did it for the better," Thor told Fluttershy, who hid behind her mane with a thin smile at the praise. "From what I have learned from my time upon Equis is that you and your friends are not to be underestimated. Even gods may find themselves unable to match your magic...the magic of friendship."
"W-well, it's like you said, it's only because I have my friends that I can do any of this at all," Fluttershy meekly replied while Thor took a sip of the tea. It took all of his godly might not to make a face at the bitter taste of the herbs and he forced a smile to his host before pounding the rest down in a single gulp. "Would you like some more?"
"Nay, but I would be grateful if you had any ale or rum. Perhaps a mix of the both?" Thor asked hopefully, only to smile when Fluttershy shook her head. "Tis a pity, but I have learned that the drinks of the gods are not to be found so easily on this world as they are on Midgard. But Thor has endured far worse. He shall endure this."
Fluttershy let out a small giggle at Thor's statement, before the door to the cottage was kicked open and a certain god of chaos slumped into the room. "Boy, what a day," Discord said with a sigh as he took off his hat and coat, throwing them onto a coat rack that had materialized out of thin air. "You would not believe the day I had at the office today Fluttershy, but I'm just happy to be home and-"
Discord came to a dead stop when he saw the god of thunder sitting on Fluttershy's couch, getting the god of thunder to raise his teacup in greeting to the god. To the surprise of both Fluttershy and Thor, Discord crossed his arms and turned on Fluttershy with tear filled eyes.
"So. I work my tail off all day at the office, slaving away in front of a cubicle, and what do I come home to find? My best friend hanging with...another god!" Discord sniffled before turning with a sob. "I thought what we had was special, Fluttershy! I thought that-"
"Cut it out Discord, Thor's here to speak to you," Fluttershy said in a firm tone, one that made Discord immediately stop sobbing and switch his face to a less than amused expression.
"Ugh, of course he does. Hello, Thor. Seems every god is going to visit this place," Discord grumbled to himself as he grabbed a teacup and started to sip something out of it, while Thor looked down and wondered where his cup had gone. "I am glad to see that this time you decided to talk like a civilized divinity instead of punching a hole through the wall and pulling me out into the cold air."
"Wait, you're the one who broke the wall?" Fluttershy asked Thor, who became very interested in the crackers on the tray. "Discord told me it was some dumb barbarian that tried to prove he was smart by bashing it in with his head."
"Fluttershy, there's no need to tell him all the details," Discord said with a nervous chuckle as he glanced over at Thor, whose expression was less than amused.
"What I am here to speak with thee about is the dark beast problem that has been plaguing this land," Thor continued on, figuring it was best to skip over best the wall and the how Discord had insulted him. "More specifically, something that I spied earlier in the day during my flight over the desert."
"What was that?"
"There was thousands of the dark beasts, all of them swarming as if their greatest foe was trapped within the center of the swarm," Thor informed Discord, who pushed down on his eyebrows to change his expression from bored to serious. "I know not why they are there, but I do know that the reason can not be good for any of us"
"So then why are you here? Why not just go out there and, for lack of a better word, go all Thor on them?" Discord asked Thor, who smiled as he placed his teacup on the tray, getting Discord to look down at his empty hands with shock.
"Simple, Discord. Yes, Thor could slay the beasts with ease. But what would that achieve? There would be more and we would remain stuck in the same position we are in now," Thor told Discord and Fluttershy, both of whom had to admit that Thor was right. "But if we could trap one of the beasts and perhaps convince it to lead us back to its master, then I can put an end to the true evil behind these attacks."
"Sounds like a plan. Why do you need me?" Discord asked, getting Thor to smile as he rose to his feet, bumping his winged helmet against the ceiling.
"I may be able to destroy these beast with ease, but god of traps I am not. I will need the aid of a being craftier than me and sadly my brother and I are not on speaking terms at the moment," Thor said as he extended a hand towards Discord once again. "So I ask thee, god of chaos, will you aid Thor in finally bringing an end to the beasts that have plagued this land?"
Once more Discord found himself not sure of what to do. He glanced down at his own hand and paw, before glancing over at Fluttershy. She gave him a meek nod and motioned her head towards Thor. Discord looked up at Thor with a sigh, before he extended his hand and grabbed hold of Thor's.
"Oh alright, I'm not doing anything this afternoon anyway. Let's go fight monsters made of shadows," Discord surrendered with a sigh.
"Excellent!" Thor said with a laugh before he wrapped an arm around Discord's shoulders and began to spin his hammer. "There is no time to waste! To battle!"
A moment later a smiling god of thunder and a screaming god of chaos burst through Fluttershy's roof, sailing into the sky and leaving a yellow Pegasus to stare at the new skylight she had. She let out a small sigh before she walked over to her closet, grabbing a broom and dustpan.
{([])}
"That's more than you said," Discord realized with a shake of his head as he gazed down at the sea of darkness that swirled below the both of them, with Discord having given up on counting how many beasts of shadows were covering the darkness. Thor floated beside him, spinning his hammer over his head to hold him in place. "But you're right in saying that something has them riled up. Here we are, middle of the afternoon, and yet all these little beasties are out. Whatever's down there has got to be good."
"Aye, but capture one of these shadow beasts will be worth ten of whatever they are after," Thor said as he begun to spin his hammer, summoning black storm clouds behind him as lightning began to flash from Mjolnir. Discord got some distance from Thor as the god of thunder's power grew, shaking both the land and the sky with his might. "Be ready, Discord. Once I scatter them, you will only have a moment or two to catch one of these beasts before they flee to the shadows!"
"Okay, but what do you mean by-"
"FOR EQUESTRIA!" Thor bellowed before he lifted his hammer into the storm cloud, summoning lightning bolts to strike Mjolnir and infuse it with the power of the storms. He then let out a roar as he hurled Mjolnir towards the sea of darkness, sending the lightning infused hammer right into the heart of the swarm. Mjolnir vanished into darkness for a moment, before a massive explosion of lightning tore apart the sea of shadows and sent black beasts raining from the sky.
"Dear god, I thought you were going to destroy the planet with that!" Discord roared as Thor as the entire planet shook from the impact, but the laugh Thor gave off was louder than even the roaring thunder.
"There is no need to fear Discord, I held back. Now go, catch one of these beasts while Thor deals with the rest of them!" Mjolnir returned to Thor's grasp and a moment later he flung himself into the beasts that lay scattered across the desert, while Discord glanced down and found a beast of shadow that had been flung further away from the rest.
"And there is my new best friend," Discord said before he snapped his fingers, appearing in front of the shadow beast a moment later. The beast weakly looked up at Discord, who pulled out a glass jar and pulled the top off of it. "Hey there. I know this is asking a lot, especially since we just met, but would you mind testing out this new genie lamp for me?"
The beast let out a snarl before it plunged into the shadows at it's own feet, but faster than most would give him credit for Discord shot down and scooped the darkness into the jar, along with the creature. He slammed the lid on top of the jar and sealed it with his magic, frowning at the beast of darkness within that was roaring as it tried to get free.
"Crafty little thing. If I didn't already know how to catch darkness, it would be nigh impossible to catch one of you," Discord admitted with a frown. "I can see why Thor needed my help."
Discord cast a glance over at where the god of thunder battled with the remaining shadow beasts, but aside from the ones that Thor had slain with his initial hammer strike the other beasts of shadows were choosing to flee rather than fight. Thor had only managed to strike down a few of the beasts before the two gods found themselves standing alone in the center of a desert, with the black clouds still rumbling overhead.
"Well, that went better than expected. Did thou catch one of the creatures?" Thor asked Discord, who smiled in reply as he held out the jar with the now tiny shadow beast trapped inside. "Excellent, I am glad to see that my plan worked. Sadly I could only slay a handful of the beasts before they managed to slip away. Yet the fact that there are so many of them concerns me."
"Do not worry, this one will not be escaping. But you were right, Thor. It is taking all of my magic to keep this thing from slipping into the darkness. If I were you I'd place it in a place where light constantly shines down on it," Discord said as he extended the jar to Thor. Thor reached out to take it, before something caught his eye and he stopped.
"Would thou mind taking this beast to the princess of the sun? Thor will join you shortly."
Discord shrugged and vanished with a popping sound, leaving Thor to walk into the crater that he had caused with Mjolnir. He reached the bottom of the crater and found something at the bottom that he did not expect to find. It was a box made of a metal that Thor did not recognize. He picked up the box and glanced at it, finding little interesting aside from the fact that the box had no way to open it.
"Who would create a box to put something inside, but no way to open it?" Thor muttered to himself as he shook the box once, just barely able to hear the sound of something rattling inside. Thor lifted Mjolnir and slammed the hammer of the gods into the top of the box, but to his amazement the box didn't shatter from the impact. Thor struck again with an even greater strength and this time he found that Mjolnir managed to cave in the side of the box. One more, stronger hit to the side of the box smashed it clean in half, allowing Thor to see what was within.
"What in the realms?" Thor asked himself as he dropped Mjolnir and reached inside to pull out a small sphere. The sphere was a silver color, but it was cracked and shattered to the point where it was hardly round anymore. A dim light glowed from within the sphere, but it's light was weak and Thor rubbed his thumb over it, feeling chips and cracks that went to the center of the sphere.
But there was something else about the sphere that drew Thor's attention. It almost felt like the sphere was alive, that it had a soul and life-force. But even if it did have one, Thor could barely feel it. He figured that perhaps the sphere had once been apart of a living being or perhaps that another had infused a bit of their life-force into it. But whatever it was, Thor had never felt another like it before.
"What manner of item are you?" Thor asked with a grim look, before he slipped the sphere into a pouch on his belt and extended his hand for Mjolnir. One his hammer was within his hands, he ascended into the sky and flew towards Canterlot. 'This den of snakes seem to go deeper and deeper the further in I go. What is this sphere? Who is behind the shadow beasts? And which of these gods of Equis will be the first to feel the wrath of Mjolnir?'
THE SPHERE! YOU BROUGHT HER BACK! YOU'RE GOING TO BRING HER BACK!
My money's on the bug getting hammered first.
What if these monsters were crafted with the stolen essence of Faust, Shadow of the Colossus style?
Thor and Discord in jolly cooperation!
Ohh, the spehere's back in the game. Now things are finally going to get interesting again...
The sphere must be faust
Silver Mare, long time no see! =)
Oh great it's part of the orb of creation, that means it's counterpart shouldn't be far behind. Let's see if Ryan and the Mare are going to be showing up.
Thor made a hole in Fluttershy's house, then he made a hole on the roof.
Next, he's going to make a hole in the ground.
Sunny!
She's back b!tches. Yes that means the silver mare shall live again. I wonder about Ryan though. Sunny will be very heartbroken when she finds out.
I feel I'm missing something really important here...
but I do agree with Thor...
8194516 thats what Iwas thinking!!
8194456
8194456 Give him a good pounding
Surprise the sneaky shapeshifter, take him from behind
Anal
Loved it, and I'm thinking that sphere has something to do with Faust.
As a suggestion, you could make a distinction between Discord's strength and Thor's, so that it isn't so cut and dry, such as when choosing the deadlier weapon, a sword or a crossbow. There both extremely dangerous, just under different circumstances. It's obvious Thor's strength lies in his offensive ability with little skill in subtler arts, while Discord's skills are much more varied. I figure this could be used to make Discord more of Thor's equal instead of someone beneath him. Maybe also have Discord's strength dependent on the amount of chaos around him, meaning he's quite weak in Equestria due to obvious reasons.
8194766
Leave a god, come back with a pantheon?
Curious. The life/energy/essence inside it didn't leak on breakage.
Either it's an extremely resilient phylactory, or Thor just found our MIA God.
Who's taking care of the others who's names i forget?
8194441
8194513
8194558
8194650
Am I missing something here?
8195064 uhhhggg, fuck. Yeah this is from his other stories. Uhhhhhhggggggy. I haven't bothered to finish them but yeah sphere of creation and Sphere of destruction. The Sphere of creation stops the Sphere of destruction from destroying everything.
8195064 it's a reference to onomonopia's previous "The War of Champions" series, which concluded with the story of the same name, and was the story arc prior to the meastro arc. the sphere and the events surrounding it were a pretty important element in those stories, and more or less the unifying factor between all his stories, similar as the maestro is the unifying factor in all his current stories. it's also very likely that the meastro's origin is directly linked to the events of that arc.
if you're curious about what exactly happened, you definitely should read it. personally, i found it rather entertaining.
8195148
Oh great, he's got his own universe which means I have to read all his stories in chronological order.
DAMN IT ALL
8195064
He first appearance of the items was in this story. The other story mentioned, War of the Champions, is the fallout from what happened here and this is the first appearance of both orbs. My advice start with the Batman story, A Dark Knight for Equestria.
8195291
I plan to. Chronological reading.
either the changeling god or the 2-faced one would be behind the shadow beasts. i also figure the sphere to be fausts. and what power remains could be a boon to whoever has it.
Until I read the comments, at first I had thought Thor wrecked the Rainbow Power box.
8195064 oh don't worry, if you read the following stories feature on my profile page, they should get you caught up on the orb that Thor found, just make sure to read 'The War of Champions' last because that's the end of said series.
I can't help but think that if Thor had with Twilight the same serious conversation that he had with Celestia and Fluttershy, he could avoid a lot of possible headaches that both sides don't need....
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Your profile page?
8198236 yeah I created a bookshelf with all the stories that I think people would like, and the 'War of Champions' series is one of them. All of them are featured on there. All the stories between 'In a flash of lightning' & 'A Dark Knight for Equestria' will be what you are looking for, though I will say this. They are not in order.
That sphere is connected to Faust, isn't it?
But good call on asking Discord to give the jar to Celestia. If she can't provide a shadow-less room, who else can? :rianbowlaugh:
Also, Thor has a habit of destroying Shy's house. Thor, what did Fluttershy ever do to you?
Also I have a feeling that, even though her meekness, Shy would be one to actually be able to lift Mjolnir. Just a hunch.
8195766 It ain't even that bad man, all his stories are great and the final one connecting the bigger universe is phenomenal
Oh shit! Did I guess right? Is the Ryan/silver mare ('Sunny' I think the name was) amalgam coming? Awesome!
8194456
When you said the bug is getting hammered first you made sound like the changeling god is going to get drunk.
silver mare?????????????
This is Faust herself condensed in a ball, I'm calling it right now.