Episode 205: Back to Basics
Episode 205: Back to Basics
Their luck had held for most of the day. Amid the soaring caps of the fungal forest, awash with bioluminescence that filtered through every imaginable color, the party adrift in the depths of Svartalfheim had managed to avoid any significant danger. With provisions provided by the eager Diamond Dogs, happy to have anything resembling allies in their plight against the Dwarves, Sunset Shimmer’s group were able to cover a lot of ground on full bellies. To aid them in finding their way the group had also been given an exceedingly detailed map that showed precise locations of the Diamond Dog’s previous holdings, and the last known positions of Dwarven forces that had occupied them.
The plan was to bypass as much of that front line as possible and reach the stronghold of the Allhammer Clan, and find out the reason for their aggression against the Diamond Dogs, and hopefully cut off the issue at the source. Given time was of the essence for reasons beyond wanting to help the Diamond Dogs, the party had moved as fast as they were able to, the slowest among them being Wallflower, who rode on either Asena or Simurgh’s backs when possible.
Everything had gone well until the mushroom forest had thinned out, leading to a deep set of craggy valleys of sharp rock that stretched for miles across the terrain to the north and west. It might have been possible to skirt the mist veiled valleys, but doing so would have required passing close to another Dwarven Clan stronghold, and it was decided it was better to chance the valleys and their fauna rather than try to talk their way past the Dwarves.
Things had gone well for most the day, although ‘day’ was a relative term in a place that had no sunlight, just the endlessly shifting glows of natural gemstones or glowing plants, which were both fewer and far between within the misty valleys the group sought to traverse. For hours while passing through the cold and narrow valley spaces, fingers of mist ever coiling around them, Sunset had seen and felt the presence of creatures in the deeper corners of the broken cliff surfaces. Only a few at first, and always keeping at a distance, but as time wore on, she’d felt more of them gathering, following her and her friends in a stalking pack.
Asena had sniffed the air and twisted her wolfish lips in a predatory snarl, “Troglodytes. They must be desperate to stalk a group our size.”
“Are they dangerous?” asked Clover, and her hand reflexively went to a Zanpaktou that wasn’t there. She frowned, and instead readied her hands in preparation to cast Kido.
“To unwary travelers of conventional ilk, yes, undoubtedly,” replied Simurgh, spreading her wings a bit wider as she flew higher above the group. On her back, Wallflower clung to the bird’s neck tightly, eyes wide.
“Could you be more specific, maybe?” said Sunset, “I’m sensing a lot of them out there. Two or three dozen, at least, on either side of us. If this fog wasn’t so thick...”
“Relax, I’m sure we got this, no prob,” said Rainbow Dash, her aura blazing as she activated her Fullbring and flashed out her sparking dual lighting spear from the heart of her armored chest. Applejack sighed, not activating her own Fullbring yet as she eyed the towering, winding cliff walls of the valley around them.
“Ya ever gonna learn not ta git cocky? We’re powerful, sure, but even a big bull can be brought down by enough coyotes working as a pack. Especially desperate, hungry coyotes.”
“Hah, a fair comparison,” said Asena, giving the farm girl a grim grin, “But there is little to fear from the likes of troglodytes. They are no stronger than your Hollows, unless one or two of them has sharpened their Anima.”
By now Shining Armor and Cadence had summoned forth their respective bows, the former standing protectively in front of the later as he narrowed his eyes and focused on his own spiritual senses, “How could you tell, either way? I can sense them like Sunset, but I can’t gauge how strong their reiatsu is. When you say ‘no stronger than Hollows’ are we talking basic, garden variety Hollows, or any of the evolved types? Because three dozen lesser Hollows is a whole different story from three dozen Adjuchas-class.”
Granted, Sunset herself felt fairly confident in being able to take on three dozen Adjuchas, if it really came down to that. After her tussle with Tirek, she felt like she had a handle on her own strength, including how far she still needed to improve. It wasn’t her own safety she was concerned with, but rather the possibility that if they were attacked, Wallflower might get injured. Just about everyone else in the group was battle tested and proven. Spike, in his Gunwolf, had certainly shown he could handle himself. Wallflower might have had the power of some ancient goddess buried inside her, but Hel’s power wasn’t something the girl could command at will, and honestly if a fight broke out there was the possibility that the stress might bring Hel’s personality up to the surface.
But whether it was the drive of starvation, blind overconfidence, a lack of familiarity with the spiritual pressures of Sunset’s group, or some other motivation that was beyond reckoning, the troglodytes attacked not long after, just as the group was reaching the rise at the end of the valley that would lead up out of the fog.
While not at all like Hollows, the creatures certainly howled like them. Sunset, even confident in her power and fighting skills, felt a greasy chill as the hairs of the back of her neck rose. Those shrill howls echoed off of the valley in a chorus that spoke of little but ravenous hunger and mindless violence. Earlier in life, before she’d learned to face down monsters, the sound would have frozen Sunset in place.
Now it just resolved her to the battle to come. And a quick, brutal one it was.
They came fast, faster than Sunset had been expecting. They weren’t truly moving at the super-speed possible with Flash Step or Sonido, but the shadows that burst from the depths of the fog were still moving at the kind of fluid speeds that dominate normal human reflexes. Fortunately no one present save perhaps Wallflower was relying upon normal human reflexes.
One came at her, leaping out of the billowing mist like a flying pile of fangs and dripping, ten-inch claws. Sunset caught the sight of its form, nose wrinkling in reflexive disgust at not only its sour, fish-guts smell, but at its bloated maw of needle teeth in a mouth too wide for comfort. Its body was lean and long, like a man stretched too far beyond human capacity, its arms lanky and scaled, its feet and hands alike ending in claws dark as granite and thick as a butcher’s cleaver. Its eyes were milk white, lacking any pupils, set in a face wrinkled with filth and covered in coarse gray fur. Some mad part of Sunset’s brain immediately thought of a mutant, stretched out pug and the absurdity almost caused her to forget herself.
But reflexes now long honed kicked in and she side-stepped the troglodyte’s grasping claws and gnashing fangs, sweeping her Zanpaktou out in a single, flashing arc as it flew past her.
The stink of the beast was now joined by the copper scent of blood and other bodily fluids as her strike cleaved it from head to groin, its two halves flying apart in a bloody mess.
Before she could take a second to even contemplate if these creatures were sapient and if she should be killing them out of hand, another four came at her in a wall of slashing claws, jumping from the mists like crazed murder monkeys, howling all the louder. For a second or two of pure, slow motion adrenaline, Sunset could only focus on the moment. Her emotions fell to a swift, focused edge, the heat in her heart burning away hesitation and fear. Claws sought her flesh, swiping with animal ferocity, and Sunset stepped among the beasts like a flickering mote of flame. With neat, precise strokes her blade separated arms from torsos, legs from hips, and claws fingers from hands, all in one blurring whirlwind of arcing steel.
Crippled and howling, the troglodytes that didn’t die or fall unconscious from blood loss crawled or scampered away from her, even as more of their comrades boiled forth from the shadows of the valley... far more than just three dozen.
For a moment, Sunset checked on her friends, still at the ready for if another creature came at her in the meantime.
Rainbow Dash had charged off into the fog, her presence marked only by the brilliant blaze of lightning, the coursing flow of wind, and the girl’s adrenaline fueled, daredevil laughter. Sunset saw the dark silhouette of Rainbow with each stroke of her lighting spear, the double edged weapon exploding out blinding arcs of electrical power that speared through transfixed troglodytes in photo-flash moments. She had at least a score on her, flailing and howling for the girl’s blood as Dash laughed and led them about, a one-woman storm in the contained valley.
Applejack was being much more deliberate and defensive, although no less aggressive and brutal. To Sunset’s interest, Applejack didn’t even summon all of the components of her Fullbring, cladding herself solely in her golden armor and leaving out the gunlance of the Honest Heart Regalia for now. It wasn’t as if Applejack’s fists and feet weren’t more than up to the task of dispatching any troglodyte that was brave enough to come leaping at her. There was mechanical efficiency to the way Applejack blasted one troglodyte with a rocket powered heel kick, and with the very same kick drove the body of that troglodyte into one of its companions, folding both of them practically in half before smashing them to the ground with a hellish impact. Then, without so much as slowing her spin, she jackhammered another that came clawing at her back, using her elbow alongside a boost of thrusting energy from her palm to snap the monster’s head clean around in a shower of broken teeth.
Clover was keeping everyone covered, filling in the middle range between the group, her palms sweeping left and right as they were extended to either side of her. Sunset couldn’t even hear the incantations of Clover’s Kido, the casting so fast it was like the Soul Reaper’s palms were machine guns, blasting out azure waves of power from Sokatsui, or harsh red energy spheres from Shakkaho, interspersed with the blinding white lighting spears form Byakurai. Clover’s Kido blew apart or pierced through troglodytes that were trying to slip in at the group’s backs, preventing the monsters’ lager numbers from being fully brought to bear.
Asena and Spike were fighting back to back at the rear of the party, holding back a large surge of the troglodytes that were pouring in from the valley behind them. Asena’s entire body was awash with a deep, scarlet glow as the giant wolf’s fur sharpened and extended into an array of curving blades. Troglodytes were all by skewering themselves trying to leap upon her, their claws unable to find purchase on the massive wolf’s fur, now hard as metal. Her jaws did savage work, snapping like a pair of executioner’s axes to bite heads clean off. By comparison Spike was being more clinical and precise with the Gunwolf’s ordinance. Fortunately because the robot’s weapons were fueled by spiritual energy and the special combination of Twilight’s understanding of Quincy techniques and magic, the Gunwolf wasn’t about to run out of ammunition anytime soon. Accurate laser fire from the barrel on his tail combined with short bursts of missiles from his shoulder mounted launchers were quite effective, for Spike had a very target rich environment where he practically couldn’t miss. Troglodytes were being flung about by explosions or cut down by thin laser beams by the handful, although there were so many crowding forward that Spike was still forced into melee before long, troglodyte claws scraping at his robot suit’s armor as he laid about with the mouth blade of the Gunwolf.
It was painfully clear that their initial estimation of these things’ numbers had been woefully underestimated. There were hundreds of these creatures, Sunset started to realize, pouring out of holes and crevices in the cliffs and valley floor that had been utterly obscured by the mist. She quickly understood that the reason they couldn’t sense the troglodytes numbers was because the reiatsu they exhibited were all blending together. What had felt earlier like one troglodyte had likely instead been a pack of a dozen or more. And the creatures had waited until the party had gotten to a place in the valley where they could be fully surrounded before striking.
Sapient or not, the troglodytes were smart enough to know they needed to hit Sunset and her friends with their full numbers and try to overwhelm them.
It was just that as much as the group may have underestimated the numbers of the troglodytes, the beasts in turn had underestimated the strength of their intended prey.
Before even half a minute had passed after the battle was joined, there was a bright flash of pale blue light from above, and a sound like great metal walls slamming down. Shining Armor, flying high above with swift motions of Hirenkyaku, fired arrows from his bow in specific patterns. As each arrow landed, a barrier of blue Quincy reishi would form, slicing through troglodytes unfortunate enough to be caught in their path, but also creating a wall of solid spirit power on either flank of the group that now cut off the troglodytes from being able to surround them. The creatures howled and slashed at the tall energy fields formed by the Bastion, but couldn’t hope to penetrate barriers that Shining Armor had once used to briefly contest Tirek himself.
Then, upon the outside rim of these barriers, a pale pink form moved like a wraith. Cadence fired careful shots with her arm mounted crossbow, small pink arrows with heart-shaped heads hitting troglodyte after troglodyte. With each one struck, the power of the Lust flowed through them and Cadence’s whispered command filled their minds with fresh bloodlust... for the flesh of their comrades. Sunset shuddered a bit, seeing the troglodytes now rip into their fellows, glad for the obscuring fog hiding at least some of the visual carnage, if not the gory audio of it all.
She herself had not ceased to cut the beasts down as they came at her, all but holding the very frontline of the group at the head of the valley’s exit. Shining Armor’s barriers didn’t fully extend to here, so many of the troglodytes were now funneling towards this front area, pouring in by the score. Sunset felt increasingly aghast at just... how mindlessly determined these beasts were. How many had been killed before even a minute had passed. The ground was slick with so much blood she felt it soaking her damn shoes! She hadn’t even activated her Shikai yet, having smoothly hacked her way through at least two dozen foes, and they still kept coming as if the only thing they could think of was to attack, attack, attack.
Something inside her was disgusted by all of this needless bloodshed. At the same time something else inside her was starting to let out a piercing cry of supreme ire. Without even really knowing it, her hair had started to flicker with sanguine flames, feathers of several shades of red and pink growing amid her hair as she stepped forward to meet the next wave of troglodytes.
“Will you damn idiots just give up already!?” she shouted, leaping forward and giving a long, horizontal slash with her blade at the front row of troglodytes. To her surprise, despite not activating Shikai, a burst of feathers made of ruby flame flew from her strike and zipped forward like flechettes from a shotgun. Ten or so troglodytes went tumbling to the ground, shrieking as the feathers of red flame pierced their bodies like incendiary rounds. Then each feather proceeded to explode like a triggered mine, hammering the troglodytes and sending dozens more scattering like kicked rocks.
“...The hell?” Sunset blinked, looking at her Zanpaktou. Then she gasped, noticing that her left hand had changed, feathers sprouting from the cuff of her arm, her fingers growing into scaled orange and red tinted talons. The sensation of something screeching in her head intensified, the echoing cry of an avian predator.
“Sunset, watch yerself!”
While she’d been briefly stunned by the sound in her head and her confusion at her changed hand, the mindless troglodytes had leaped over the blasted bodies of their fallen kin and rushed her. With the power of a dropping anvil, Applejack landed with a heel kick that squashed one like a watermelon, and she threw a hand out to eject a stream of blasting orange energy as she swept a beam across the charging monsters. While she incinerated many, several still loped through and slashed at Applejack. She readily adjusted her stance to dodge, claws sparking as the troglodytes tried and failed to pierce her armor. But one got a lucky blow in, slipping past her guard to catch some of her hair, and her stetson hat.
Seeing the beloved hat take a ragged cut across its brim, Applejack’s green eyes grew furious and a snarl escaped her lips that didn’t sound entirely human. Sunset, still reeling a bit from her own physical changes, now saw Applejack’s body get outlined in a strange, dark blue aura unlike the usual gold she tended to sport. She cocked back a fist to smash forward at the troglodyte that had slashed her hat, and in mid swing the gauntleted hand became incased in cobalt, translucent bear claw that proceeded to turn the troglodyte into mincemeat before smashing into the ground, which then in turn generate a shockwave through the earth that erupted into flying chunks of rock in a lone line that devastated the troglodytes gathered in front of the group and shook the entire valley.
Applejack, breathing hard and still snarling, looked left and right for more enemies, her mane of golden hair having grown more shaggy as gold fur markings grew across her face.
Sunset felt a pulsation in her chest like a heartbeat, and glanced down to see a faint light emanating from the Hogyoku. She felt it slowly absorbing energy from the mass of dead troglodytes, and from herself, and then passing along that energy to Applejack. Focusing for a moment, Sunset also felt a thread of that energy snaking its way out towards the direction Rainbow Dash had gone, where in the distance she could still hear thunder strikes.
“Applejack,” she said, reaching out to touch her friend’s shoulder.
Applejack flinched and whirled on her, hand raised, a faint image of the bear claw forming around her gauntleted first. Sunset could see that Applejack’s eyes took a second to focus on her, and that the girl’s teeth were showing sharp fangs where there hadn’t been ones before. Yet Applejack got a hold of herself. The troglodytes were regrouping for another charge, but there was a brief respite as Applejack took a deep breath and looked at her hands.
“What’s goin’ on...? Is this them changes we was warned about?”
Sunset held up her left hand, now much more akin to a bird talon than a human one, “Take a guess. I have a feeling the Hogyoku Discord gave us is accelerating the process. C’mon, we need to go help Rainbow Dash, because I think it’s about to-”
Suddenly from the general area Rainbow Dash had gone, there was a echoing feline howl, like some giant jungle cat letting out a hunting call.
“-happen to her, too.”
----------
Rainbow Dash really didn’t get why everyone else was being so cautious about things. This was barely a fight! Sure these trogwhatevers were nasty looking and maybe if she and the gals had run into this many of them way back when they first got their Fullbrings, this situation would’ve been bad news... but c’mon! She was untouchable by now! Practical light speed combat, baby! She could tap dance on these fools heads, literally count their nose hairs and ugly teeth one at a time and still be able to lazily slip past their gangly strikes like taking a casual jog through the park.
It isn’t arrogance if you’ve got the stuff to back it up, right?
Really she felt sorry for the beasties. It wasn’t like she had to even try, here. The raw lightning that surged from her double headed spear could readily blast through whole groups of them at once, each twirling swing sending arcs of power that sizzled dozens of foes and left them smoking heaps behind her prismatic streak. She could have blasted out more energy using her wings, really gone to town and taken hold of the local weather to summon up a few tornadoes, but that would have just been overkill.
Dash knew that she’d gotten a good distance from the group, having assaulted the troglodytes along the winding and splitting ravines of what looked to be a maze of side paths. To her perspective she was all but just walking like an afternoon stroll amid scores of leaping monsters that filled the foggy terrain around her, spinning her energized spear around in flaring indigo arcs without putting much thought into it. She just wanted to get rid of all of these guys fast enough so they could get on with their journey already! She wanted to see what was up with the Dwarves of this Allhammer Clan, then hopefully once that was taken care of they could get to the surface and move even faster.
To Alfheim for this Convocation of Whatever, then presumably Equestria. Rainbow Dash was just eager to move ahead. It was a heck of a lot easier than dwelling on the past. Failing to save Rarity from Hell’s grasp. The sting of her aunt Windy’s hidden identity. The looming unease about what she’d do when she saw her mother again in Equestria.
Frying troglodytes and having this weird Beast Realm adventure was a bit of a breath of fresh air compared to having to deal with all of that.
And the thing about speed, even ludicrous speed that’s all but untouchable under normal circumstances, is that its no proof against an object in place that one doesn’t see, and Rainbow Dash was taking things so casual to the point that her mind had started to wander to things other than the fight in front of her. So when she ran face first into a series of nearly invisible and thick strands like wet, sticky tissue paper, but the size of stretched out trampolines that crisscrossed the narrow ravine, all her speed did was ensure she was thoroughly wrapped up before she had a chance to even blink.
“Pffwwah! Huh!?” she shook herself, her limbs entangled at awkward angles. She still had her spear held in her right hand, its electrical arcs buzzing and sparking about to keep the troglodytes at bay for a moment, but she had to use that moment to work out what had happened to her as she looked around with confusion.
She’d run smack dab into what looked like a thick series of massive cob-webs, but ones many inches wider than anything she’d seen before, and covered in a dripping and sticky fluid that hardened on contact with her skin and clothes, not to mention her hair. She pulled and tugged at it, and her strength being not inconsiderable she was able to start tearing at it... but then more of the sheets descended onto her and she looked up to see that there was a troglodyte on the walls above her that wasn’t like the others.
This one, while just as horrific looking as its brethren, also was covered in a coat of coarse, spiny black fur that seemed to grow from it in an unnatural mass. Rainbow Dash could feel the sudden burst of energy from this troglodyte, and saw the fur on its back shudder, then an opening appeared, like a slit vertically appearing across the creature’s spine. A mouth! Its whole back became one big mouth, and the thing’s spiritual pressure flowed out with a sharp, hungry intent as the mouth let out an ear rending screech. To Rainbow Dash’s confusion, she saw shapes emerge from the walls around the troglodyte, ethereal and white, but with conical red heads. She briefly recalled seeing these things back in Canterlot City. They’d been floating around all over the place when Jormungandr and his dragon posse had attacked. What had they been called...? Blanks! That was it.
As Dash still struggled to pull free of the webs, she saw at least half a dozen Blanks float towards the troglodyte with the mouth on its back, and the ghost-like figures in white twisted and stretched like pieces of chewing gum until they went right into the troglodyte's mouth! She felt its spiritual pressure rise higher then, right before it spat a thick stream of webbing out in a globy mass right onto Rainbow Dash! Whatever the Blanks had done when they’d been absorbed by its mouth, it was like they’d enhanced the web, making it even stronger and stickier! It occurred to Rainbow that all the web here must have been enhanced in this fashion, which was why it was harder than she would have expected to break free!
“Ugggh! Okay, gross as hell! Pfft, ugh, it got in my mouth!”
Spirit energy permeated the webs, and she couldn’t tell how much of it was from the troglodyte or the Blanks, but either way Dash struggled against them. Tearing the webs was possible, and once she got her wings into gear, she was able to start firing swift beams of prismatic power out of them to burn through the webs even more. However, this did take a second or two, in which time the rest of the troglodytes had time to group up and rush her like a pack of starving rats. The web was slowing her down, but even so she sliced about with her spear, generating sizzling arcs of electricity that burned through the beasts one after another.
However, one among scores of assailants did manage to get close, and even as lightning fried the troglodyte its claws sliced at Rainbow Dash’s legs and she felt a sharp bite of pain in her right calf. It wasn't a deep wound, but for an instant, surrounded by salivating monsters, covered in webs restricting her movement, and realizing she was far away from any help, there was an instinctive fear that any human might feel in that situation. Inside Rainbow Dash, the fight or flight response was always, always fight. And in the Beast Realm, that instinct brings out the animal in us all.
It began as a rumble in the back of her throat, rising to a tingle across her spine and the back of her neck. Rainbow Dash stopped thinking as her mouth issued forth a throating noise that soon rose to a full blown growl. Suddenly her nose was filled with even sharper scents as the stink of the troglodytes around her mixed with the smell of her own blood, and before she knew it she was clawing at both herself and them. Her spear wasn’t forgotten, but it was being used with one hand now like a sparkling bludgeon as her other hand clawed and clashed recklessly around her. Webbing was torn from her, even if she had to wound herself to rip it off. Troglodytes had throats torn out in mere flashes of motion and Dash felt blood on her claws. It wasn’t enough. These prey things had cornered her, and would learn she was the predator, not they!
She howled again, and electricity flew from her in bolting arcs, while she slashed with the claws of her left hand, bisecting one creature and then hurling the bloody corpse at the one that had dared tried to cage her.
The troglodyte with the mouth on its back was impacted by the shredded remains of its kin and was knocked off the wall. Dash could have pulverized with energy blasts or torn it apart with cutting bursts of wind, but she wanted to rip into it more personally. Scattering dozens of other troglodytes in a headlong charge, Dash rushed the Anima using troglodyte. It rose to face her, opening its strange back mouth and shooting a thick wave of webbing at her, but Rainbow howled again and tore through it with wild abandon. It stuck to her, but she kept clawing, and letting thunderous lightning blast from her wings and spear to incinerate the sticky substance.
Then she had the troglodyte in her left paw, claws squeezing onto its shoulder with the crack of bone. She heard it howl and felt her mouth water as she saw its neck, feeling her fangs ache to rip into it.
Before she could, something unbelievably strong grabbed her from behind, pinning her arms to her side. Rainbow Dash howled louder, seeking to turn her head and bite at the interloper interfering with her kill. Green eyes filled with concern looked at her in the dark, a voice calling, heard as if from far away even if the mouth speaking was right in front of her.
“Godrammit, Dash! Calm down! Git a’ hold o’ yerself! It’s me!”
Pure, animal instinct railed against being restrained, and Dash thrashed and clawed at the arms holding her. She felt hard metal resist her slashes, and she couldn’t get her spear around to stab, so instead she let electricity course through her body in a thunderous bolt of power. Lightning flashed up and down, spearing through the dark cavern sky, millions upon millions of volts. Yet her foe held on tightly, grunting in pain but refusing to let go! Rainbow howled and her wing flared, prismatic energy burning brightly as she flew back at near light speed to slam into the cliff wall back-first, crunching her captor into it.
“Gh! D-Dash you damn idjit, don’t make me get rough with ya!”
The one holding her, with indomitable strength, adjusted her grip expertly on the struggling Rainbow Dash, getting one golden armored arm under Dash’s chin for a choke hold. Nearly feral, Dash bit down hard with a pair of thin, but sharp fangs. She couldn’t get through the armor, yet by now something else was trickling into her mind as she finally started to catch the scent of the one holding her.
This scent was familiar. It was a pleasant, earthy smell of grass and sunbaked dirt. Memories of a farmhouse, a friend’s abode. It reminded Rainbow Dash of warm summer days on a farm, reluctantly helping that friend pick apples so they could do more fun stuff in town later. It was the scent of comfort and safety. Her heart still thrashed in her chest, but Rainbow Dash started to slowly come back to herself. Applejack... it was Applejack who was holding her, powerful arms keeping the squirming Dash pinned. The cliff side was cratered by Rainbow having slammed Applejack into it, all but indenting them both several meters into the rock wall, but Applejack had held on. She was singed from the raw bolts of lightning Dash had slammed upon them, but the insanely tough farmgirl had withstood it to keep Rainbow Dash held down.
Now that she was slowly calming down, Rainbow Dash stopped struggling and also took note of the sensation of heat in the ravine, along with the bright ruby glow of flames.
Sunset Shimmer was there in the ravine as well, her Zanpaktou alight... wait, no, Rainbow Dash just saw the katana of Hokori no Hikari’s sealed form. Where were all those flames coming from, so bright, red, and flaring also with strands of pink and orange? It was like Sunset was surrounded by a ghostly aura of those flames that grew from her shoulders like the phantom image of wings, which then flowed in the wake of her sword strikes until they coalesced into feathers, which in turn flew out to pierce troglodytes and explode with crimson intensity.
The troglodytes were finally retreating, what few of them remained. The one with the mouth on its back had crawled away even further, making an undulating call to its kin as the mass slowly faded back into the dark walls of fog they’d attacked from. In unsettling fashion the valley and ravines went still and quiet, almost as if the monsters had never been there at all. Yet the ground was carpeted with their remains, testament to the bloody if brief fight that had taken place.
And Rainbow Dash, now finally getting her senses back, looked at herself in bewildered wonderment. Her hands were covered in fine, black fur, ending in incredibly sharp, faintly purple shaded claws. She touched her face carefully, feeling more fur there, and a twitching sensation on her head as she realized her ears had tapered to fuzzy points, becoming black cat ears.
All it took was one look to tell her friends had also undergone changes, with feathers flowing through Sunset’s hair and her left hand now akin to bird’s talon. Applejack was showing fur lining her own features, a rich brown, and her lips were somewhat parted by prominent fangs.
Breathing hard, trying to slowly calm herself, Rainbow nodded at Applejack, “I’m... I’m good. You can let go now.”
“Ya sure?”
She wasn’t sure, which was only further emphasized by the fact that an irrational urge to bite Applejack surged up inside her as she literally growled, “No, but if you don’t, I’m not totally sure what I’m going to do.”
“AJ, it’s okay, let her go,” said Sunset, and Applejack, wearing a pinched look of concern, went ahead and did so, stepping back from Rainbow Dash and holding up her hands. Hands that Dash could now see were also covered in thick brown fur, and showing black, curved claws like those of a bear.
“Are you all unharmed?”
This call came from above. Rainbow Dash and the others looked up to see the air light up with a soft emerald glow from the wings of Simurgh. The bird was slowly hovering downward with large flaps of her wings, barely able to fit into the narrow ravine that Dash had run off to. Wallflower clung to the bird’s back, peering over at them with wide, worried eyes, “When you all ran off, I asked Simurgh to follow you. Are you all okay? What happened?”
“I dunno...” said Rainbow Dash, cringing in upon herself as she looked at all the burned webbing on the floor and felt a cold rush of embarrassment as she understood she’d screwed up, “I got a bit carried away, and then... I was trapped for a sec, then its like I lost my head or something. And, apparently, I’m a freakin’ cat now.”
“Only a tad,” said Applejack, managing a relieves smile to see her friend was at least back to acting normal, “Shame we ain’t got Ditzy Doo with us ta give ya some pointers. As fer me...” she held up her hands, wiggling her claws, which extended past her golden armored gauntlets, “Give me a smack upside the head if I start tryin’ ta raid picnic baskets.”
“Hardy har har, Yogi, but this is serious!” Rainbow Dash said, looking up at Simurgh, “Was this supposed to happen so fast? And you didn’t say anything about us going literally feral on our own friends!”
“That is weird,” said Sunset, coming over to Rainbow and offering a comforting if brief touch on her arm, “Neither me or Applejack went that berserk. Felt a little funny in the head, but that’s it so far.”
“Same,” said Applejack, frowning as she went to Rainbow’s other side, “Got a bit growly, but I was still thinkin’ like myself. Fer a sec, there, ya looked like ya wanted to bite my throat out.”
“It sucked. I couldn’t even think straight. Is this how this crap is supposed to work?” Rainbow Dash asked.
Simurgh lowered her head, allowing Wallflower to climb down, although the girl stayed very close to the huge avian while giving a gulping look towards the troglodyte bodies. Meanwhile Simurgh looked at the three partially transformed girls, tilting her head to examine them closely with one eye. A soft blue glow emanated from her wings and long tail feathers, and a gentle rain of blue droplets of energy floated down from her wings. Where the droplets touched, and soothing aura left a calm, cooling feeling of refreshment and restoration through Rainbow Dash’s body. She saw Applejack and Sunset also let out relieved breaths.
“No, the changes should not be happening quite this quickly, or as intensely,” said Simurgh, beak clacking briefly in an expression of consternation, “Nor should it be possible for you to use Anima this early. Sunset Shimmer, I am sensing a concentration of Anima upon you especially...”
“It’s probably this,” she said, reaching into her Soul Reaper robes to pull out the Hogyoku, “It’s something Discord made. Might take awhile to explain what it is and what it does, but the short version is that it makes it possible for souls to absorb energy from each other and... I don’t know, sort of evolve from it?”
“Why would he give you something like that? It sounds potentially dangerous.”
“Long story. But its something that could help me and my friends get stronger in the long run, so I’ve been keeping it on me. I just also noticed it was connecting my spirit energy to AJ’s and Dash’s during the fight, so I think that’s why these changes triggered,” Sunset said, “But I’ve got no idea why Dash reacted more severely than me and AJ did.”
“That is simple,” said Asena, the wolf padding incredibly silently for something her size as she joined them from the direction the rest of the party had been. The wolf eyed Rainbow Dash meaningfully, jaws still slick with troglodyte blood as she panted, “It is because Rainbow Dash is, among the three of you, the most in tune with her inner beast.”
“Huh?” Dash cocked her head, “The heck does that mean!?”
“It means that you think less and act more on instinct. For us of the Beast Realm, it is an admirable trait,” said Asena, to which Simurgh made a clucking noise.
“Perhaps to those of the Land Tribe. Some of us do value intellectual pursuits over simple savagery.”
Asena’s teeth showed in an accepting smile, “That is why the Land Tribe is relied upon by you of the Sky for protection. Hah! Come, noble Rainbow Dash, do not look so worried. This is a good thing! You and your companions are stepping upon the path of the Beast!”
“Yeah, let’s just try to remember that we don’t actually want to become Beasts,” said Sunset, “We need to get a handle on this Anima stuff, ASAP, otherwise its not going to be any use to us. Did the troglodytes run on your guys’ end as well?”
Asena gave a firm nod, still grinning with bloodied lips, “Indeed, they broke upon the bulwark of your Quincy friend’s barriers, then were torn asunder by my and Lord Fenris’ combined might. I suppose your little Soul Reaper friend helped, too. She is quite skilled with those spells of hers. Between all of us, hundreds of our foes carpet the battlefield with their corpses! A great victory for our warband!”
“Don’t celebrate too much,” said Simurgh, “I’m concerned-”
“My shock shall ever be eternal,” deadpanned Asena, and Simurgh continued as if she hadn’t heard the wolf.
“-I’m concerned that not only has this scuffle given away our position due to the amount of energy we expended, not to mention Lady Dash’s lightshow with the lightning, but that it is extremely uncharacteristic for troglodytes to hunt in so large a force or to retreat once battle is joined. Nothing about this makes sense to me.”
“Hmph, the bird thinks too much,” said Asena, “Perhaps the trogs usual hunting grounds have been disrupted by the Dwarven armies marching about! Perhaps, for once, there was a troglodyte among them smart enough to call a retreat when it was plain they could not win. Do not overthink it, Simurgh. Besides, we have work to do. We must find a good, defensible camp for the night, so we might begin instructing the young ladies on the finer points of Anima use.”
“...Very well,” said Simurgh, but the look in her eyes said the Sky Tribe herald was still uneasy about the strange nature of the troglodyte attack. She lowered her head and wing again, “Lady Wallflower, shall convey you once more?”
“Um, that’s okay. I think I’d like to walk with the others for a bit, if that’s fine?” Wallflower said, stepping a little closer to the girls.
“As it pleases you. I shall search from the air for a suitable place to make camp. With luck, there will be no more trouble this night.”
----------
Camp turned out to be a pleasantly comfortable spring located at the base of a small waterfall near the top of the valley edge. They were out of the dark and fog and now were on the highest ridge of the slanted valley terrain which overlooked a huge rock plain covered in stalagmites of so many varied shapes and sizes it was like gazing upon a city of conical stone. In the very far distance Sunset could make out the lights of what might have been severale villages or small towns, and Simurgh, checking their map from the Diamond Dogs, explained that those were likely small communities of Svartalfheim races mixed together. While the Diamond Dogs and Dwarves were the major players of this part of the Beast Realm, smaller ‘Clans’ of various species still made common cause for survival. Sunset would’ve been curious to see these villages, but both Asena and Simurgh agreed it was best to avoid them to try and keep a low profile.
It had been hours since the fight with the troglodytes, but Sunset still couldn’t get the smell, sounds, and imagery of it out of her head. Asena had laughed off any of Sunset’s voiced concerns, assuring her that the troglodytes were little more than ravenous and near mindless predators. Sunset supposed she’d slain plenty of Hollows, so this shouldn’t really feel that much different. It did make her briefly wonder how the reincarnation cycle worked for denizens of the Beast Realm. Did each dead troglodyte equate to a reincarnated animal from the living world? How did that all work, exactly?
“Your guess is as good as mine,” said Clover, when Sunset asked as the pair sat by the edge of the waterfall, near the spring pool its gentle waters formed, “The Beast Realm remains a mysterious place for we of Soul Society. In theory, the path of soul reincarnation is not terribly different here. So any slain in this place should pass on to be reborn in the human world. But given the possible connection to Equestria as well, it may be there is a rate of rebirth in that realm, too.”
“Kind of makes my head hurt trying to get it all sorted,” Sunset said, tapping her head with a claw, wincing a bit as she wasn’t used to having her fingers be sharp. She frowned at the talon her left hand had become. Thankfully its shape was stilly mostly human, but the feathers and faint, bird-like scales felt odd to her, not to mention the slightly curved, short talons at the ends of her fingers. At least it wouldn't interfere with her holding her Zanpaktou. “You think this looks alright on me? The talon and feathers?”
Clover smiled and let out a small laugh, “That’s what you’re worried about? You look fine, Sunset. Honestly the feathers suit you. They blend in with your hair nicely, and the lighter pink and red shades compliment the rest of you quite nicely, I think.”
“Well... good. I don’t want these changes to be permanent, but if they end up being so its at least nice to know I don’t look too goofy,” Sunset said, smirking a little at her friend, “Wonder what kind of animal you’d end up as if you start to change.”
“Hmm, a part of me would like to go owl, like my Chishiki. But I could also see myself as... a turtle.”
“A turtle?” Sunset blinked several times, to which Clover just offered a shrug.
“Slow, yet dependable. Green, like my hair. Not remarkable, but ever determined and resolved to move forward. I think I would make a fine turtle.”
Sunset could feel some of the tension that had built up in her slowly seep out of her as she exhaled a light, breathy laugh. “You know, I could see it. You know Dash has a pet turtle? Adorable little dude.”
“I didn’t, and I have to say I’m a bit surprised that out of all animals, she’d have a turtle as a pet,” said Clover, looking over her shoulder back towards where the majority of the group was gathered around a small campfire, where dinner was being cooked by an attentive Cadence. They’d managed to snag some berries and mushrooms that Simurgh assured them were of the safe variety to complement a small stew of preserved meats given to them by the Diamond Dogs. Sunset was doing her best not to think too hard about the meat itself. She’d kind of broken with her pony inclination towards vegetarianism some time ago.
Applejack and Rainbow Dash were both sitting together on a set of rocks brought over to be seats, talking quietly with one another in much the same way Clover and Sunset were. While Dash was smiling and from the sound of things was being her usual joking self, Sunset could read the stiffness in her friend’s shoulders and the nervous way Rainbow’s eyes would flick towards her altered hands. The fur Dash now sported was at first glance black, but in the light of the campfire Sunset could make out shades of dark purple. The hair was fine, like that of a panther. Quite the contrast with Applejack’s coarser brown fur. Both girls still looked like themselves, really, just as if someone had taken an artist's brush and expertly added the starting touches of animal features.
“Yeah,” said Sunset, “The way things have gone since you met us, you haven’t had a lot of chances to just hang out with everyone.”
“That’s life as a Soul Reaper,” Clover said, her voice holding a note of sadness coated heavily with resigned duty, “Even more so, now that I’m to be a Captain.”
Her eyes shifted to the scroll case at her side, and Sunset gave Clover a serious look, “You working on those spells again tonight?”
“I have to,” Clover stated, taking a deep breath, “If I don’t master them, I won’t be able to keep pace with the rest of you. I’m not going to be the one that holds you back, Sunset.”
“Hey, we started this whole thing together when we first met you,” Sunset said with an emphatic nudge of Clover’s arm with her own, “And I know I’d never have gotten this far without your help. Don’t do this because you’re afraid of holding me or any of the other girls back. Do it because you want it for yourself.”
Clover clutched the scroll case tighter in her small gray hands, and nodded slowly, “Yes... I will.”
“Dinner is just about ready, you two,” called Cadence, “Why don’t you come over and get warmed up by the fire?”
As Sunset and Clover came over, Shining Armor, who was standing watch by the other side of the waterfall, gave them both a nod, “Go ahead. I’ll eat after. I want to make sure this barrier is adjusted properly.”
When they had made camp the Sternritter had made use of his Schrift to craft a reishi barrier around the camp that was an effective stealth camouflage. Sunset recalled Twilight had used devices capable of something similar to disguise her field lab back at Everfree, but it seemed Shining Armor could do the same with the Bastion. The more she saw of his Schrift the more she understood just how versatile and potent an ability it was, and was just glad that she and him were on the same side now. For now. Hopefully long term.
Dammit, she hoped that the Quincy King was on the level, and that maybe, just maybe, there really would be a ceasefire with the Soul Reapers. It was killing Sunset, a little, not knowing what was going on back in the living world.
Dinner was brief, and shockingly tasty, given the limited ingredients. Cadence simply smiled through the meal, clearly pleased with herself.
“Man, beautiful, plus awesome cooking skills?” Rainbow Dash grinned and called out to Shining Armor, “Hey man, you got any idea how much you scored with landing this chick?”
“Oh believe me, I know,” Shining Armor said, smiling at Cadence, who smirked back at him with a loving wink.
“So, um... are you three feeling... you know, better?” asked Wallflower quietly, having sort of slowly nursed her food while gazing at Sunset and the other two girls who had undergone partial Beast transformation. Applejack blanched a bit, while Rainbow scratched the back of her head.
“I mean, I haven’t felt like clawing anyone’s throat out... again,” Dash said, frowning as her cat ears twitched, “Still annoyed I ended up as a cat. Why wouldn’t it be something like a badass hawk, or at least a wolf.”
Asena gave a rumble of approval, “To desire to be a wolf shows great taste. But hunting cats are capable predators as well. Inferior to us canines, of course, but acceptable.”
“Hell, it isn’t even that I’m worried about,” Rainbow said, shuddering, “I’m just dreading the hairballs. And the joke references. I swear the first person that tries to call me a ‘Thundercat’ is going to get a bolt of lightning shoved straight up their butt.”
Applejack snorted, almost choking on her stew, “Oh God, I ain’t even made that connection! Hahaha! Now I ain’t gonna be able ta git it outta my head! Dash, ya got any idea how hard it’s gonna be ta not rib ya over that one?”
“You better not!” the other girl warned.
“Sword of Omens, give me sight beyond sight...” whispered, strangely enough, Wallflower, to which Rainbow rounded on her.
“Don’t you start! Dang it AJ, look what you’ve done, you’ve corrupted our innocent Wallflower with terrible references!”
“Hey, ya’ll started this, not me,” said Applejack, and Wallflower, with what Sunset could swear was a moment of genuine amusement and a smile, whispered further.
“Thunder, thunder, thunder!”
“Lightning!” Dash warned, “Up the butt!”
Wallflower relented, giggling a little as she went silent. Sunset could only smile at her, and felt even more relaxed, hearing Clover, Applejack, and Rainbow join in the relieving, if brief bout of laughter.
“I see you are all in good spirits,” said Simurgh, who was perched on a smaller cliff outcropping about a dozen feet up, acting as a secondary lookout, “Perhaps now would be a good time to begin your lesson on Anima, now that you are all fed and rested.”
“I’m all for that,” said Sunset, glancing at Applejack and Rainbow Dash, “I think we’re all on the same page, as in ‘Page 1: We Don’t Know Anything’.”
Applejack chuckled, patting her stetson, which still had a nasty tear in it that they couldn’t repair, given nobody had exactly been packing needle and thread when Jormungandr had so rudely given them an unwanted vacation to Svartalfheim. “Makes me feel like we’re right back at Discord’s shop, gettin’ our first lessons on our Fullbrings.”
“Kind of nostalgic, huh?” said Rainbow Dash.
“Nah, more like I remember being just as confused an’ scared back then, an’ didn’t like how little we know ‘bout what we was gettin’ into. Only now it feels worse ‘cause we’re down Rarity, Fluttershy, an’ Pinkie Pie.”
Dash gulped, looking away, “Yeah, hope they’re all okay. Especially Rares. Wonder what she’s dealing with right now.”
“Nothing we can do about it without first taking care of what’s in front of us,” said Sunset, wanting to keep her friend’s focused on the situation before they dwelt too much on things they couldn’t affect. As if she was one to talk. It was hard for her own mind not to wander to the same places Rainbow Dash and Applejack were.
“Your leader speaks wisdom,” said Asena, settling her huge, furry bulk down on the opposite side for the fire from them. “You will do well to cleave to what lessons I and Simurgh can impart to you, and sharpen the new fangs you’ve been granted. Learn to add the strength to Anima to your already impressive skills, and perhaps even the likes of Jormungandr will fall to you, as shall your future enemies, which I understand you have many.”
“Ya ain’t makin’ no understatement there,” said Applejack, holding up her fingers one at a time, “We got Jormungandr, Tirek n’ his Hollow armies, Starlight Glimmer n’ her crew, then the whole Zero Division ta knock outta commission. So if this Anima and Beast stuff will give me n’ the other gals an edge, then ya got an eager student with me.”
“Yup, let’s do this!” Rainbow Dash said, slapping a fist into her palm, and then wincing as her cat claws made this a tad awkward as she poked herself, “Ouch... okay, so, seriously is there a way for us to turn this stuff on and off?”
Asena’s throat rumbled with a deep laugh, her tail swishing like a giant brush behind her, “Not as such. Once you are free of the Beast Realm your bodies should return to normal, assuming you escape in time. Fortunately you will still be able to use Anima, regardless, although your bodies will likely change with Anima use if only temporarily once outside the Beast Realm. Now, before we begin... Lord Fen- I mean, Lord Spike, shall you join us?”
Spike had been napping nearby, resting atop the head of his Gunwolf. At Asena’s call the dog’s ears perked up and he raised his head to look over at them, yawning, “I guess I could. I mean, I don’t have any of this Anima stuff yet, so not sure how much good this’ll do me. Besides, me and the Gunwolf have been doing alright.”
“I understand, my Lord. The weapon fashioned for you by your human companion is marvelous indeed, but it is inevitable that while you remain in the Beast Realm that your old powers will either reawaken, or be reborn anew into a shape suited to your present incarnation. Knowing the basics of Anima will be useful for you, and best to learn them now,” Asena said, patting the stone next to her, “Come, Lord Spike, attend to my words. I swear on my honor that they shall prove valuable to you in due time.”
“Okay, okay, I get it. Heh, not like I’m not used to listening to lectures,” said Spike, hopping down from the head of the Gunwolf and padding over to them so he could lay down on the stone next to Asena, “Twilight can talk for hours on pretty much any subject you can think of, and for a lot of years I was her only real study buddy.”
“Wait, but you couldn’t talk back then, right?” said Dash, to which Spike smiled with a fond look in his eyes.
“Yeah, so what? She just needed someone to listen to her while she went over lessons in her own head. I never understood even a fraction of what she talked about, but I liked listening to her all the same.”
“You were the goodest of good boys,” Applejack said with a wink, and Spike beamed, tail wagging.
“Damn straight I was. Still am.”
Asena and Simurgh exchanged mortified looks, the big wolf exhaling a large sigh, “I am not sure how I feel about the reincarnation of the Beast Realm’s great High Chieftain of the Tribe of Land being referred to as the ‘goodest of good boys’. Is this a Midgard title of some manner? One of great honor?”
“Oh yes,” said Sunset, trying not to laugh and look deadly serious, “No greater honor.”
“Hmm,” Asena rumbled, “Then I shall not question it. Now, let our lecture begin...”
----------
“The first thing I shall tell you of Anima is that it is born of one’s soul, but also of the energy inherent to all things that you would call ‘magic’. From this, the beast spirit is born, dormant in many, but it awakens in all who call the Beast Realm home. All of us have our Inner Beast. This Inner Beast is expressed outwardly through a power we know as Anima...
Spike glided on wings far vaster than he’d ever imagined himself once having just a few days ago when he’d still been a ‘baby’ dragon. It was still hard for him to fully accept that he’d transformed into such a humongous and, in his estimation, fairly handsome dragon. If only it didn’t come with a whole host of weird memories and emotions that he knew weren’t actually his, but some previous version of himself. Fafnir, one of the first dragons to come to Equestria from another realm, and one of the progenitors of dragonkind on Equestria.
How wild was that?
“Hey, focus!” Ember gave his snout a flick with her tail. She might have been a lot smaller to him, now, but her tail still packed a wallop and Spike snorted and adjusted his course before he hit the side of a mountain. There was a whole range of ice capped peaks sprawling out beneath him and Ember, the far northern range of the Frozen North. They’d been scouring this area for the past day in search of Nidhogg.
Almost every dragon under Torch’s command was either helping with reconstruction efforts in the Crystal Empire, or searching for the mysterious interloper who’d attack Spike and Ember and who’s attack had resulted in Spike activating the power of the ‘Relic’ within the Dragon Lord’s Scepter.
Several scouts from Yakyakistan had reported seeing a huge, black dragon flying among these ice peaks, and so the search had shifted and now dragons flew in small flights or pairs to look high and low for any trace of Nidhogg’s presence. Spike had wanted to join the efforts for pretty obviously personal reasons. After all, this Nidhogg was claiming to be his brother. Or Fafnir’s brother. Spike wanted to know what his deal was and why he’d come here to attack him. Or ‘bring him back’ as Nidhogg had claimed.
Ember had insisted on being Spike’s search partner, to keep an eye on him and ‘protect’ him, which Spike thought was a tad absurd given the size difference now. But then again, Ember had enough attitude to make up any size difference, Spike thought with a smile grin.
“What’s that goofy grin about?” Ember asked, eyeing him as she flew next to his head.
“Nothing,” Spike said, glancing away and hiding his flushed face scales by pretending to examine the ground terrain. There were a lot of caves and deep, dark ravines amid the frozen mountain landscape. So many places to hide.
“The forms Anima expresses itself in are as varied as the vaunted Zanpaktou powers of the Soul Reapers, capable of taking on any number of vastly different capabilities depending on the one who uses them. That said, Anima has eight distinct aspects, and each user has an affinity with one of these aspects. The Eight Aspects are-”
A sound suddenly hammered Spike and Ember as they passed between two narrow mountain peaks. The sound reverberated in their ears like an earthquake, a roar so loud and potent that it disoriented Spike, causing him to lose all track of where he was flying. It was beyond just the jarring jumble of the roar itself, it was as if the sound had somehow reversed his sense of gravity.
“Howl; the aspect with the longest range and with powers often specialized in debilitating a foe or empowering an ally. Howl users are most dangerous when fighting at long distance.”
Spike did his best to right his course before he slammed headlong into the mountainside, and did manage to at least get his shoulder in place to impact instead of his head. Still he felt the immense, jarring crash as his body tumbled into the snowy side of the peak on his left, sending icicles of sharp pain into his side. Groaning, he dug his claws into the mountain and shook his head, trying to get his senses back. He still felt like gravity was somehow reversed, like up was down, but he used the feeling of his claws on the rock beneath him to help ground his senses and he looked around for Ember.
“Ember! Ember!?”
Where was she!? Had she been hit by that weird roar, too? And who-?
Before he could complete the thought he saw the ground above him quake, and it was as if the mountainside itself exploded outward, the ice and snow that had caked the stone now falling away to reveal a hulking draconic body of midnight black scales. Nidhogg was larger than Spike, and even gave Torch a run for his money on sheer size. Huge, thick backwards curving horns curled into a spinning shape like an over exaggerated ram-head, and Nidhogg’s jaws were thick and jutted outward with downward curved tusks, as if stone had formed a spiky beard on his chin.
“Brother! You come back to me! Now we shall go back to our Lord Jormungandr, together!”
Nidhogg’s roaring, baritone voice was followed by him raising up on his haunches and extending his huge, dark scaled limbs. Emerald green energy coursed up his arms and gathered in his claws, which began to distort the air around them with pulsating waves of force.
”Claw; the aspect considered most common, and most potent at close combat. Claw users can create any number of deadly effects up close, so it's rarely wise to engage one face to face unless you have an equivalent close range power.”
Spike threw himself backward, down the slope of the mountain. He felt those deadly, green glowing claws pass by his scales, missing by only a meter, a short distance at his and Nidhogg’s comparative sizes. Yet the distortion in the air that surrounded Nidhogg’s claws seemed to vibrate the very air for at least five meters around the claws, and so even as Spike dodge he felt his scales crunch as if under a great impact. He nearly lost his balance sliding down the slope, but he ignored the pain and let out a roar of his own, letting his anger explode out of his throat in the form of a blast of hellish green fire directly at Nidhogg.
“Then there is Hide; this aspect is also close range, but more defensive in nature. Hide users often develop powers that harden or otherwise enhance their own body, making it useful for both defense and offense, depending on the shape the Anima takes.”
Spike watched as his billowing flames flowed over Nidhogg, and he felt his heart drop as Nidhogg let out a hearty laugh. The emerald aura of power that started with Nidhogg’s claws now extended across his whole body, his scaly hide lighting up green and that same distortion in the air now encasing his whole body like a shield. Nidhogg looked at Spike with a pair of dark orange eyes showing a strange mixture of amusement and sad disappointment.
“You have grown so... lesser than you once were, my brother. Once your flames would have baked through my Hide Anima like the fragile shell of a hatchling! My Claw Anima could never penetrate your Hide, only my Howl ever could, and yet... oh well, I suppose you’ve lived this new life of yours ignorant of your true self. But fear not, beloved sibling, I shall not allow you to wallow in this ugly, weak, ignorant state a moment longer! I may need to beat you bloody first but I shall drag you home and reawaken you to your true self, I swear it.”
----------
“Hold up, question, teach?” Rainbow Dash said as she raised a hand. Asena looked at her, but nodded.
“Go ahead.”
“These aspects or whatever, can you guys use more than one of them at once, or just the one you got an affinity for? Because i’ve seen you and Simurgh do your things, and you’ve got the metal blade fur, and she’s got this, like, healing rain stuff from her wings. Are those both just one aspect?”
Asena tilted her head, then glanced up at Simurgh, “Shall you take this one, oh ‘intellectual’ Simurgh? You may be better at explaining the finer details rather than the broad strokes.”
Simurgh gave a curt nod, remaining on her higher perch on the cliff, but speaking clear and easily enough for everyone to understand, “But of course. You ask an apt question, young Lady Dash. Indeed Anima users can use more than one aspect. We all have an affinity for usually just one aspect, although rarely potent users might have two affinities. However there is not restriction in using all of the aspects, and indeed the most skilled and powerful Anima users combine aspects together to generate their unique powers. Recall the hydra you fought in Midgard.”
“Yeah, he made this magic snake things that attack me and Applejack and, like, melted stuff like acid,” Rainbow said, giving Applejack a questioning look, “I’m remembering that right?”
“Sure are, sugarcube. Was a right pain ta deal with.”
“From your description that sounds like a combination of Venom and Tail Anima,” Simurgh said, and Asena nodded agreement.
“Yes, I thought the same.”
“Oh, did you now?”
“Silence. Now, the Venom aspect is most deadly. It is not as long range as Howl, but it is an aspect that specializes in breaking down and negating whatever it comes into contact with, and is exceedingly hard to defend against. Tail Anima is also known to be difficult to counter, not due to outright lethality like Venom, but rather how versatile Tail users are and how surprising their powers can be-”
----------
Spike didn’t bother responding to Nidhogg’s mad rant. He didn’t care what this nutbar of a dragon thought, there was no way Spike was going anywhere with him willingly! It bothered him that he still couldn’t spot Ember anywhere, and he was starting to feel a genuine current of fear running through him at the thought that the young female dragon might be hurt. In response to this fear, there was also a hot, fresh anger burning in his chest.
So his fire wasn’t strong enough to burn this guy? Fine! He’d just have to grab something big and do this the old fashioned, blunt force trauma way! Nobody messed with Spike’s friends and got away with it!
As if in response to this hot wave of instinctual, protective anger, he felt his tail slam up and down, smashing into the ground with tremendous force. He’d meant it simply as an intimidation display to let Nidhogg know he wasn’t about to back down, but to Spike’s, and more importantly Nidhogg’s shock, the moment Spike’s tail hit the ground it sent a trail of sparkling green energy into the mountain itself! Spike felt as if for a moment he was connected to the earth of the mountain, and felt the mountain respond almost like it was itself alive and feeling his anger.
A replica of Spikes tail forged out of mountain stone rose up like a battering ram and smashed into Nidhogg’s side. While the distortion in the air from Nidhogg’s ‘Hide Anima’ blunted some of the impact, the replica tail of Spikes was immensely large, easily more than half Spike’s own mass and Nidhogg was bowled over and sent sprawling about fifty meters.
As Nidhogg grunted and picked himself up, he looked at the stone tail with a curious expression, “Tail Anima? That was not your previous affinity, brother. How strange. Has this realm of Asgard changed even your very nature?”
“Got no idea what you’re talking about, and reaaaaaaaly don’t care!” Spike growled as he stepped forward, huge taloned feet slamming into the mountain side as he readied himself to charge. He lashed his tail behind him, and the stone tail towering next to him mimicked the movement, “Whatever it takes, bringing you down!”
“Good, very good, brother, your spirit at least retains some of its old spark. Let us see if you can reawaken the strength to back it up!” Nidhogg said with a roar of challenge, and both he and Spike charged one another at the same time, making the entire mountain side shake in the process.
Stats
Page generated in 0.04 seconds
Total duration
707 users online
686,490 hits today, 2,244,100 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
Ha, it appears that the girls know about the Thundercats, so the story take place, at least, in the 2000s, probably late 2000s or very early 2010s, otherwise, I don't think they would know, or use the thundercats as reference, mmmm, or I could be wrong, anyway, good chapter here.
Hell yeah this is a nice setup for Dash vs Catrina, battle of the speedsters (dont know if it will happen but this feels like its going to that direction)
Spike thinking Rarity's gonna be REAL impressed...
I agree, making your own power system is fun! So far we have Howl, Claw, Hide, Tail, and Venom anima, leaving three affinities unnamed. My guess is that one of them has to be Wing, which is Sunset's affinity and probably also very common among the Sky tribe, with a specialty in projectile attacks ala Quincy. The remaining two I'm less sure on. Some possibilities I can think of include Fang, Eye, Fin, Nose, and Heart.
Loved the chapter! Interesting stuff. The Beast Realm is fun in general.
But damn, I hoped for Cow girl jokes. Well, I guess, I'll have to settle for Goldilocks references. The animal fits her. And it looks like Dash has awakened her Yoruichi side. Wild tendencies aside, cat Dash is cute. When Fluttershy sees it! Actually, thinking about it, since Hogyoku makes their souls connected, then, at some point at least, Rarity might develop her own Beast form (guessing a Raven or snake; Big friendly wollf or playful monkey for Pinkie), while the rest of the girls will get Hell Powers. Heck, they might even start using Blut Vene. Ahh, the protagonists getting all the upgrades. A Bleach signature.
A bit surprising Proudfang didn't send any Dog with the group to act as a representative.
He fought Tirek? I remember him dealing with Torch but Tirek?
A bit ironic for someone whose main thing is flying.
Funny thing, horses and many other equine DO eat mean from time to time. Mostly when there's little other food or they lack proper nutrients.
It might with using your phone, tho.
And just for cool music:
Hey, no laughing. It's a very serious title, that every dog takes a great pride in.
Anima is looking interesting
I wonder if it will or can be more fully connected to their other powers
I can’t wait to see them reach equestria
Now this chapter was awesome, and rainbow Dash's Spear is now the Spear of omens and nobody can change my mind,
11829133
You're correct in that Shining Armor's actual battle during that arc was against Torch. However, at the start of the Quincy invasion, it was Shining Armor and his Bastion powers that protected the army as a whole with a barrier, and this barrier did, if only briefly, stand up against Tirek's opening Cero. This is what bought Sombra time to go engage Tirek and sequester them both away in that prison sub-space realm to fight. Granted, it wasn't as if Tirek's Cero was at full power, and Shining Armor's barrier did break after tanking the hit, but it did tank the hit and kept the regular Quincy forces from behing wiped out wholesale. That's what this line in this chapter is referring to.
11830762
Just got around to reading this chapter. So if Sunset’s friends are connected to the Hogyoku around her neck, what are the limitations to those connections? Will Fluttershy, Pinkie, and even Rarity be affected by the Beast Realm’s anima? Also will Rarity’s time in hell effect Sunset and her other friends?
I can not put into words how exited I am to finally get details about how Anima works. The system you have created seems really interesting. 10/10 please give us more 🙏
11833899
I don’t think it’s sharing their powers as they gain them, but rather making their powers grow stronger far faster than normal, perhaps acting on Sunset’s subconscious desire to grow strong enough to protect her home and stop Zero Division.
Discord even said he didn’t know exactly how his second Hogyoku would function, nor how it would manifest those abilities (though it will be interesting to see what additional powers Pinkie and Fluttershy will get in the near future, as they are, arguably, the strongest out of all them, though in unconventional ways).
11833899
Hmm, not sure how much I should say on this topic that would constitute spoilers, but to try my best to answer the question; the Hogyoku's ability to allow souls to essentially share energies with one another, even energies of usually incompatible types, has both an effect that works primarily when the girls are in each other's physical presence, but also has a secondary effect that works in each girl even when not around each other or the Hogyoku. I'm not sure precisely how to best explain it, but... hmm... think of it like a "hidden stat" in an RPG. There's a Hogyoku Stat that goes up when the girls are around each other, fighting or training or just bonding. That stat only goes up when they're around one another with the Hogyoku present, but the stat and what it does for them remains active for each girl no matter where they are in relation to one another. Make sense?
11834970
Yeah that makes sense. My question now is, how many of the characters have this Hogyoku stat? Is it just Sunset and the girls? Or is even Spike and the Sirens like Adagio affected by it? I'm also that guessing Starlight's only works on herself and does not affect those connected to her. With Discord being inspired by the girls to add that function in his newest version.
11834979
I'll hold off on saying who else may or may not be connected to the Hogyoku for now, but I suppose even by saying that much you could guess the number isn't zero. As for Starlight's Hogyoku, it does function differently due to it being the earlier version and the fact that its fused to her physically. She has to actively choose to use it on others to create the energy transfer (this is how Ditzy, Screwball, and Screwloose all got infected with Hollow energy to become Vaizards, and also how Starlight cured Pipsqueak of his illness).