Hùndùn

by LoZLttP13

II-V. Rainbow's Master

When Scorpan materialized over the Teleportation Circle in his camp for the last time, his followers immediately noticed how rageful his expression was as he gazed at Scootaloo, the little Angel he was suspending in the air. Like all the children before her, Scorpan was gripping Scootaloo by her throat, but his hold on her was tighter than it had been for all his other captives. Scootaloo was choking and struggling to breathe, and so she kicked and clawed at Scorpan's fingers in the hope of loosening them, if even slightly.

Scorpan's followers were frightened at how frigidly silent the Prince was as he continued to glower at Scootaloo, maintaining the tightness of his hold. Onyx, a follower of Scorpan who was standing behind him and so had an unobstructed view of Scootaloo's face, saw that her strength was weakening and that her eyes were beginning to lose focus, and he knew that she was losing consciousness.

"Um... My Lord?" Onyx said nervously. "I'm sure you know this, but she's gonna pass out...."

At this, Scorpan loosened his grip just enough that Scootaloo could breathe again. The young Angel immediately gasped for air, then began coughing before she let her arms fall to her sides, motionless. She had surrendered.

"This is one of the three that the heiress told us of," Scorpan said, not breaking his glaring eye contact with Scootaloo. "As she said, there was an apple orchard with a tree clubhouse, where this girl and two others were holding a meeting. And as the Baroness promised, they were indeed all beautiful."

Scorpan's followers burst into laughter, but Scootaloo did nothing in response, except to narrow her eyes in deep, blazing anger. So it was Diamond who had sent Scorpan after them....

"However," Scorpan continued, his tone suddenly becoming quite harsh, "as it turns out, that spoiled little whore lied to us. She claimed that the clubhouse was at the eastern end of town, when it was in fact in the west. I have no doubt she hoped to warn them of my imminent arrival once I released her, as she believed I would."

At this, Scootaloo's eyes widened, and she spoke for the first time. "W-what?" she said, her voice a little raspy. "Diamond-?"

Before Scootaloo could continue, however, Scorpan tightened his grip again, causing her to choke and lose the ability to speak.

"Another word out of you, brat, and I'll have my men all rut you right here and now," Scorpan growled.

Any other time, Scootaloo would have begun flinging insults and throwing punches at her captor in response, but the sheer tempestuous fury in Scorpan's dangerously soft voice and shockingly blue eyes caused her courage to falter and fail her; she closed her eyes and whimpered, but obeyed. She said nothing more.

"When I found them," Scorpan continued, as though he hadn't been interrupted, "I nearly captured all of them. But this little rat attacked me. The others escaped in our scuffle, but she didn't."

Scorpan brought Scootaloo closer to his face and bared his teeth at her. "You attacked me, you little bitch," Scorpan growled, even more softly and dangerously than before. "You struck the face of the Lord of the Heavens. You attacked the very God of Storms, the Prince of Lightning and Spirit of Typhoons, himself."

Scootaloo glared defiantly up at Scorpan. Though she continued to remain silent, her expression made it clear that she did not regret attacking him in the slightest.

Scorpan smirked, though the burning malice in his eyes remained. "So..." he muttered, belittlement dripping from every syllable he spoke, "you still refuse to submit to me, girl? Oh, this is just rich."

Scorpan turned to his followers. "It seems we have a little warrior on our hands!" he cried, every one of his words filled with sneering sarcasm. His followers burst into mocking laughter, and Scootaloo felt her stubborn defiance falter a little. Scorpan continued, "This little knight fought so bravely to defend her friends against an immortal Deity! I'm trembling just to be in her presence!"

Scorpan then suddenly grabbed Scootaloo's wing with his free hand, causing her to flush and cry out in protest. She struggled and jerked her feathered limb in an attempt to pull it out of Scorpan's grasp, but the God's hold was too firm.

Scorpan then roughly forced Scootaloo's wing open, displaying it to the brothers of Alpha Supreme. As the men whistled and hooted in approval, Scootaloo's eyes watered as her cheeks burned with shame. It was hard to explain to wingless Beings, but touching an Angel or God's wings was considered to be a deeply intimate gesture, due to their extremely high sensitivity. Holding and stroking a Being's wings was nearly universally considered to be an erotic activity to be kept largely to the privacy of the bedroom, much in the same way that nipple-play or heavy petting were. Furthermore, wings were also generally regarded as organs of high aesthetic sexual appeal, much like a woman's legs or breasts were. This was partially because of their high sensitivity, but also because of their tendency to unfurl when their owner was sexually aroused. For this reason, it was generally considered bad taste to stare lingeringly at a Being's wings, particularly when they were opened.

Hence, by forcibly opening Scootaloo's wing to be ogled at by his disciples, Scorpan was violating her in a manner roughly equivalent to if he had pulled Scootaloo's jeans down, drawn his followers' attention to her panties, and groped her inner thigh as he did so.

"What adorable little wings!" Scorpan cried, grinning delightedly at the humiliated tears welling in Scootaloo's eyes. "Why, they're almost broad and powerful enough to allow a chicken to fly!"

As Scorpan released her wing and his followers burst into mocking laughter again, Scootaloo glared up at him, trembling in rage and hatred as tears poured down her flame-red cheeks.

"What a stupid little girl," Scorpan scoffed. "Even by the standards of mortal girls, you are remarkably foolish."

Scorpan brought Scootaloo's enraged face close to his own as he continued softly, "Oh, I am going to so very enjoy playing with you, fairy girl. So much spirit and will to fight.... I cannot tell you how much I look forward to pounding it out of you. No matter how strong you think you are, no matter how indomitable you believe your will to be, you will learn your place. Know this, Angel: you are nothing more than a frightened, helpless, weak little mortal girl. You are not a boy, nor a man, nor a God; you are not. Worth. Anything. And the only purpose you serve is to serve us, who were made to be your masters."

Scorpan then lowered Scootaloo, allowing his followers access to her. "Restrain and silence her," he commanded, though he did not release Scootaloo as his disciples shackled and gagged her.

Scorpan personally carried Scootaloo to the door of his prison-shed, which he opened. Before him was a rough stone staircase, which descended deep beneath the earth into a passage of darkness which didn't have so much as a torch to light it. It was clear that the tunnel had been dug very recently, and that its use was meant to be only temporary.

Scorpan stepped down the stairs, continuing to hold Scootaloo up by her neck as he held up and cupped his free hand. His Marks and eyes glowed, and a small, blue fireball materialized over his palm, lighting his way into the dusty earthen passage.

A few seconds later, Scorpan reached the bottom of the stairs and came to the end of the tunnel, where a massive iron cage stood.

This cage looked just like a tall, ornate hanging birdcage, except that it was as tall as two men and rested on the ground on a circular, solid floor that was nearly two meters in circumference. The entire structure was built of pure etherial iron, and a Ritual Circle was laid upon the cage's floor in an embedded mosaic of colored glass. Sitting over this Circle was Scorpan's collection off ninety-nine mortal children, who were all still bound, gagged, and huddled fearfully against the bars farthest from the door.

After pulling a key from a hook on the passage's wall, Scorpan knelt down and unlocked the cage door. As he did so, the kidnapped children whimpered and shrunk away in terror, and Scootaloo immediately recognized all of her missing peers among them- including Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Dinky Do, and Pipsqueak. She also saw that Rumble, Aura, and several others she'd met at school that day were among them, as well.

Scorpan roughly tossed Scootaloo into the cage, causing her to slide painfully into the other children. As she sat up, she looked at her arm, which had sustained a friction burn from it.

Scorpan slammed and locked the cage's door again, then he smiled amusedly at his young, terrified prizes. "And with her, my doll collection is complete," Scorpan muttered, smirking. "Thank you all for your patience; it will be just a little longer, and then we'll be ready for you," he added. He then spun around, climbed back up the stairs, and closed the wooden shed door, plunging the chained, weeping children back into complete darkness.

---

Twilight encountered Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom as she ran to their clubhouse; they were sprinting over the dirt orchard path, as well, in the opposite direction: towards the farmhouse.

Upon seeing them, Twilight immediately gasped as she relievedly came to a stop. "Sweetie! Apple Bloom! You're safe!" she panted as she knelt down. Both girls ran to Twilight and caught her in a tight embrace, which Twilight enthusiastically returned.

The three girls' fierce hug was short-lived, however; Twilight quickly pulled away from them and asked worriedly, "Where's Scootaloo?"

"S-Scorpan took her!" Sweetie cried. "H-he-!"

Sweetie's stuttering became so bad that her next words were incomprehensible, however, so it was clear that the shock was still very fresh in her mind. However, Apple Bloom nodded vigorously and shouted frantically, "Y-yeah, Twi! Ah'm sure it was Scorpan! And he-!"

At that moment, however, Twilight's own shock had subsided enough that she could begin acting again. She placed her hands on each of the Crusaders' shoulders and interrupted Apple Bloom, saying, "Alright, but you're gonna have to tell me later. First of all, let's go to the house; I've gotta make sure you girls are safe before we do anything else."

Nodding, both girls took Twilight's hands as she stood and briskly led them to the Apple farmhouse.

Though Twilight was outwardly quite calm, she was mentally frantically panicking. Scorpan had kidnapped Scootaloo. He had almost certainly also kidnapped all the other missing children, as well. This was very, very bad. Twilight could imagine only one or two things that could even possibly be worse than this situation. She wanted desperately to rush to the clubhouse to search for Scootaloo to find and rescue her there, but she knew that Scootaloo would be long gone by now, and so she couldn't. There was nothing else she could do for her, either. At any rate, the safety of the other two Crusaders had to come first.

The moment Twilight and the Crusaders crossed the threshold of the Apple house's entrance, Apple Bloom immediately released Twilight's hand and ran further in, crying tearfully, "Applejack! Big Mac! Granny!"

Apple Bloom found her big sister in the kitchen; Applejack cried "What in tarnation-?!" before she grunted as Apple Bloom rushed at her, colliding with her as she tightly grabbed her waist.

Applejack was silent in astonishment as Apple Bloom sobbed into her shirt. As she did so, Twilight knelt before Sweetie as and said, "Take a breath, then tell me exactly what happened."

Sweetie obeyed Twilight, taking a few calming breaths, before she began, "We were just playing some games in the Crusader Clubhouse, but then Scorpan appeared out of nowhere!"

"WHAT?!" Applejack shouted, her eyes wide with terror. "Ya'll girls saw SCORPA-?!"

"Please be quiet for a minute, Applejack," Twilight said patiently. "Sweetie's telling us what happened."

Though she was still gaping in fearful shock at Twilight, Applejack nodded. Twilight returned her attention to Sweetie and said, "Can you describe him?"

Sweetie nodded. "Yeah!" she said. "He was really tall and tan, and he had this long silver hair and an enormous pair of silver wings!"

"Did he have pointed ears, too?" Twilight said.

Sweetie nodded. "Uh-huh!" she replied. "He also had blue lightning Marks on his shoulders, hands, and arms!"

So there was no doubt. It really was Scorpan. Shaking her head to clear it, Twilight continued, "So what happened after he appeared?"

Sweetie continued rapidly, "He tried to capture us! He caught us in telekinetic Ether, and I'm sure he would've taken us all away, but Scootaloo kicked him and broke his nose before he could!"

Twilight's eyes widened with amazement and shock. Sweetie finished, "She told us to run while she held him off. We wanted to help her, but she insisted we leave without her. So we did, and then we ran into you."

Still stunned, Twilight said, wanting to ensure that she had heard correctly, "Scootaloo... was able to save you two from being captured?"

Sweetie nodded.

Twilight wasn't quite sure she believed it. Scootaloo had actually prevented her friends from being captured by the God of Storms himself. Granted, she had been captured herself in doing so, but what she had done was still extremely impressive, especially for a nine-year-old girl.

However, Twilight's amazement at the magnitude of Scootaloo's accomplishment quickly made way for tremendous, panicking worry again; in saving her friends, Scootaloo had injured a God. Not just any God; one of the Dark Sealed Gods, who had been damned to an eternity of imprisonment in Tartarus precisely because of his complete lack of mercy for any mortal, including children.

A bit of Twilight's psyche broke under the ramifications of what Scootaloo had done, and what Scorpan was likely to do to her in retaliation. If she was lucky, she was already dead, having had her neck immediately snapped in a fit of animalistic rage by her captor. However, Twilight knew this to be unlikely, and that Scootaloo almost certainly had something far worse in store for her, if it wasn't happening to her at that very moment already.

Before Twilight could descend even deeper into her horrific, vivid madness of fear for Scootaloo, however, her line of intensely panicked thought was broken by the sound of Apple Bloom sobbing. Twilight looked up and saw that Apple Bloom was weeping very, very hard into her hands.

"It's all mah fault!" Apple Bloom cried. "Ah shouldn't'a left her! Ah- Ah should'a stayed with her, and helped her get away from him! If she didn't d-do that, Scorpan would've gotten me and Sweetie, but Celestia knows what he's g-gonna do ta Scoot...!"

"Hush, now, Apple Bloom!" Applejack cried with equal parts hysteria and annoyed anger. "Ah won't hear another word o' that! This ain't your fault, y'hear?!"

After a moment of tense silence hung in the air, Apple Bloom hesitantly nodded.

Knowing what she had to do now, Twilight said to Applejack, "Can Sweetie stay here with you for a while?"

"'Course," Applejack replied. "Mac 'n me'll keep her safe. Ah swear on our parents' graves."

Twilight nodded, then knelt and said to Sweetie, "Can you stay here until I send Rarity to pick you up?"

Sweetie nodded.

Standing back up, Twilight said, "Thanks, Applejack. Stay safe, girls," before darting out the door and sprinting to the Sugar Shack.

In minutes, Twilight burst into the bakery, where she startled the Cakes, Bon-Bon, and Pinkie with her sudden and loud arrival.

"Hi, Twilight," Pinkie said concernedly. "Is something wrong?"

After panting to catch her breath for a few moments, Twilight replied urgently, "I need your help, Pinkie; Scorpan's in Avalon, and he just kidnapped Scootaloo."

There was a moment of absolute, horrified stillness in the bakery, then several things happened all at once: Mr. Cake dropped the box he was carrying, causing a loud squelch to resound from it; Mrs. Cake fainted, though fortunately she was sitting in a chair, so she merely slumped limply against it; Bon-Bon gasped and went whiter than snow, and Pinkie shouted so loudly that Twilight was sure that she could be heard a mile away: "WHAT?!?!"

Twilight nodded, then continued as Mr. Cake and Bon-Bon rushed to Mrs. Cake's side, "Yes, Pinkie. You heard me correctly. Can you help me?"

Twilight was stunned at how quickly Pinkie's fearful shock turned to grave determination. "Yes, Twilight," she said, her eyes narrowed angrily. Twilight was a little taken aback, as she'd never seen Pinkie be so deathly serious before. Pinkie added without a hint of the playfulness that had always laced her voice every time they'd previously spoken together, "Tell me what to do."

Now fully confident that she could trust Pinkie completely with the task she was about to receive, Twilight said, "I need you to find Fluttershy, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, and gather them to the Golden Oak Library. In the meantime, I'll help Applejack escort the Crusaders there, as well. From that point, we'll devise a strategy to ensure Sweetie and Bloom's continued safety while we search for Scootaloo and the other missing children."

Pinkie nodded. "Got it. Break," she said.

Pinkie was out the door faster than even Rainbow Dash might have been able to, leaving Twilight dazed for a moment. However, she then shook her head to clear it and ran out, as well.

It wasn't escorting Applejack, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom safely to her home that was the most difficult part of the next hour for Twilight; it was encountering Stephen, who was frantically searching for Scootaloo, as he had expected her to return home several hours ago. Nothing Twilight had done before was even close to as difficult as breaking the news to Stephen that Scorpan had captured Scootaloo, and that he had also likely killed her.

Twilight choked the words out, and she felt no relief once they left her lips; Stephen was reduced to a broken, hysterically weeping mess, and Twilight could think of nothing to console him. She felt a few tears streak down her own cheeks, as well; however, she had to move on. She offered her deepest sympathies to Scootaloo's father, then led her friends the rest of the way to the library.

To Twilight's shock, upon opening the library's front door, Pinkie had already gathered together all of the other girls in her living room. Twilight's eyes widened and she said, "Wha- already?!"

Pinkie nodded.

Rainbow, who had been restlessly pacing, immediately rushed to Twilight. "Twi!" she cried. She seemed very nearly as distressed as Stephen had been. "Is it true?! Is it really fuckin' true that Scorpan got his hands on Scootaloo?!"

Twilight nodded. "Yes, I'm afraid so," she said.

After a moment of stunned silence, Rainbow's eyes narrowed with fury as she turned and began walking towards the door. Twilight laid her hand on her shoulder, stopping her, however. "Where are you going?" Twilight said.

"I'm gonna find her," Rainbow said, so softly and chillingly that Twilight flinched in fright. "And if that worthless piece of dogshit has made so much as a scratch on her...!"

"Just wait a minute, Rainbow," Twilight said. "We're gonna help you look for Scootaloo. But we have to make a plan first."

Without another word, Rainbow nodded and sat in one of the armchairs. Twilight than sighed and said, turning to the others, "You will, right, girls?"

They all immediately agreed.

Twilight smiled. "Wonderful," she said. She then turned to Applejack and Rarity and said, "First of all, we have to make sure your sisters are safe. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom can't stay in Avalon. Do you two know anywhere we can send them for now?"

With a glance at each other, Rarity and Applejack nodded. "We both have family in Athens," Rarity said.

Applejack nodded. "That's right," she said. "My Aunt Orange is there, and so are Rarity's folks."

Twilight nodded. "Alright," she said. "Can you two write down their addresses and give them to Spike? We'll tell them that we're sending them over."

Rarity and Applejack agreed without argument, and so Spike penned letters to their relatives informing them of the Crusader's situation, and requesting their aid in sheltering them. As he did so, Twilight said, "If it's acceptable to you two, I'll send Spike to bring them to the train station while we're looking for Scootaloo."

Rarity's eyes widened. "W-what?" she said disbelievingly. "Spike?"

Twilight raised a brow. "Well, yeah. Don't you trust him?"

"Well, of course I do, but... just Spike?" Rarity continued.

After a moment of surprised silence, Twilight smiled. "Don't worry," she said. "Trust me; Spike will be enough."

Rarity stared blankly at Twilight, then Applejack interjected, "Against Prince Scorpan?"

"Yeah," Spike said, smirking at them. He pointed his thumb at himself as he added, "I might not look like much, but I promise you two that your sisters will be completely safe with me."

Though quite taken aback by Spike's tremendous confidence, especially since Twilight seemed to concur with it, Rarity and Applejack ultimately agreed to it. Twilight noticed with a small smile that Sweetie and Apple Bloom were both blushing a little as they followed Spike out the door.

"Sucks that they're gonna miss their first week of school," Rainbow noted.

Twilight nodded, but replied, "It does, but we have more important things to deal with. Here's what I suggest we do: we go to town square, and then we split into two groups of three: I'll take Rainbow and Fluttershy, and Pinkie will go with Rarity and Applejack. She and I will lead our groups in a search for Scootaloo, and we'll look as long as it takes until we find her, or at least what happened to her. We'll meet up back at Town Square at nightfall, and we'll make any further plans from there. Agreed?"

Met with a chorus of affirmation, Twilight led her friends out of the library to the town square. Once they reached it, however, Twilight began: "Alright, girls. Stay together, and stay safe. Let's-"

However, she was interrupted by a booming male voice from directly above them.

"Greetings, pitiful little mortals!" the voice cried. The girls all looked up, and saw that Scorpan was crouching on one of the clock tower's gargoyles.

As the girls fearfully gasped, along with many other citizens who were out and about, Scorpan continued, "I imagine you're all wondering where your precious little offspring have disappeared to. Well, wonder no longer; I have them."

There was an even louder gasp from the Beings crowding around the tower, and Rainbow's eyes blazed with rage as she took a trembling step towards it. "Why, you...!" she growled.

Fluttershy grabbed her wrist, however, and Rainbow calmed a little as her demure friend said, "Don't, Rainbow. We don't know what he's going to do."

With a frustrated sigh, Rainbow obeyed.

Scorpan continued, "I assure you that none of them have been harmed in any way. However, it is up to you to decide whether it stays that way. Gather at the fields to the north of the town; I will be waiting there for you. However, I warn you not to provoke me, as the safety of your brood hangs in the balance."

With a cruel smirk, Scorpan vanished, leaving the crowd to begin panicking.

"WHERE'S MY DAUGHTER?!" Twilight heard Filthy Rich shout. "SOMEONE GET THE GUARDS!"

"TO THE NORTHERN FIELD!" someone else shouted.

"THAT MADMAN MUST BE STOPPED!"

"SOMEONE SEND A MESSAGE TO THE HIGH PRINCESS! SUMMON HER HERE!"

Twilight and her friends were swept along by the mob to the field at the north of town, though they offered no resistance; on the contrary, they rushed to that very place, as well.

---

It didn't take long for the citizens of Avalon to find Scorpan again; as he promised, he was in the northern field. However, he was simply standing there, completely still, holding his hands behind his back while wearing a very nasty triumphant smile.

Twilight, her friends, and the Town Guard all rushed to the front, though the entire crowd kept a distance of several meters all around him. The guards drew their swords and pointed them at Scorpan, then their captain cried, "Surrender now, and tell us where the children you've captured are, in the name of our radiant High Princess Celestia!"

To this, Scorpan was silent for a moment, then gradually began chuckling before breaking into booming laughter. "Ah, you simpletons!" he cried once his laughter had faded. "Pointing your little steel sticks at me, and threatening me with the wrath of my hysterical, weak-willed trollop of a sister! No wonder civilization has become overflowing with flouncing, weakling sodomites in my absence!"

"We will not say it again; surrender yourself and your hostages!" The captain repeated, jabbing his sword at the God for emphasis.

With a contemptuous snicker, Scorpan replied, "Oh, it seems there has been a misunderstanding. What exactly is it that brings you to believe that it is yours to make the commands?" He then raised his hand; tapped some of his Chi, causing his Marks and eyes to glow with Ether; then he snapped, activating a spell.

The snap was as loud and sharp as a whip-crack, and the instant it sounded, the ground began to faintly rumble beneath the crowd's feet. Murmurs of fear rose from the mortals as they backed away from Scorpan; however, Scorpan remained utterly still, maintaining his smug smirk as he continued channeling Ether into some unknown incantation.

A woman cried out, pointing at the ground before Scorpan; it was dividing into several triangular slices, which seemed to be mechanically sliding under the grassy ground beside it to create a massive, gaping, hexagonal hole lined at the walls with sheets of steel.

The citizens of Avalon then saw something rise up from the hole; a circular construct of black iron bars, which they all quickly realized was a tall, ornate metal cage.

As the cage emerged completely from the earth, the crowd saw that it was surrounded by several unsavory-looking young men, who all stood on the rising platform it rested upon. However, when Scorpan's followers stepped away from the cage, the crowd gaped in shock as they saw what it held:

It was all of the missing children, still chained but no longer gagged.

The children were the first to react; they all began shouting tearfully to their parents, to which several mortal Beings began to move upon the cage. However, they suddenly stopped when Scorpan raised a chiding finger and said to them, as though scolding a misbehaving dog, "Ah, ah, ah! Do not come any closer!"

His malicious smile widening, Scorpan pointed at the floor of the cage, saying, "Do you all see that? That is a mosaic of shards of stained glass, arranged in the shape of a Ritual Circle. A rather simple one, of course, but we really need nothing more."

He raised his hand again, showing the crowd the Mark on its back. "I've already channeled Ether into it, so it is half-complete," he said. He positioned his fingers for another snap as he continued, "I need only make one more small motion of my thumb and second finger to complete this Ritual. If you wish to see its effects, by all means, continue approaching me."

In terrified silence, the crowd and guards slowly backed away from Scorpan.

Scorpan chuckled. "That's what I thought," he said.

Grandly clearing his throat, Scorpan began a speech he had obviously spent an enormous amount of time preparing to deliver, and was relishing every moment of it: "I, Prince Scorpan, Regent of Asgard, Lord of the Heavens, and God of Storms, hereby declare myself to be above and beyond the supposed authority of my sister, High Princess Celestia." It was clear that he spoke the official title of his elder sister with the deepest, mocking contempt. "I also hereby reaffirm my lordship over all mortal Beings; to all of you, I give three commands.

"First, none shall attack me, or my disciples, or attempt to aid our prisoners in escaping our custody.

"Second, my disciples and I hereby demand a tribute of ten thousand gold pieces every day. Decide yourselves how it will be paid; for each day it is not granted to us, in its complete sum, a child will be selected at random and executed."

Several crowd members were now panicking and weeping at this point, though this utterly unfazed Scorpan, who concluded his list thusly; "And third, I hereby establish a new Kingdom, upon which I bestow the name Sparta, City-State of the Truth and the Heavens. As my Kingdom is above and beyond the influence and laws of my hysterical sister, along with those who bow to her will, those who enter it are subject to my laws, and my laws only; even after they leave again. Any action performed within Sparta, so long as it is permitted under my law, will be regarded as lawful within all other kingdoms. Should my wish be dishonored, the penalty will be the same as for failing to give us our tribute."

Scorpan then made a wide, unhinged smile as he shouted, "And should any of these commands, or any other I make, be disobeyed, I will snap these fingers... and all of your children WILL EXPLODE!!"

The panicking and weeping was now uncontrollable, and several crowd members had begun shouting enragedly at Scorpan. However, none made a move to defy him; in fact, the guards all crossed swords, forming a barrier between Avalon's rioting citizens and the arrogantly smirking God of Storms.

---

As Twilight, Spike, and their friends all sat or stood around the fire at the Golden Oak Library, each one of them was utterly silent, though they were all filled with overwhelmingly turbulent emotion.

None of them could forget the despairing, terrified looks in the children's eyes- particularly those of Dinky, Rumble, Pipsqueak, and Scootaloo, who had locked eyes with them throughout the entirety of Scorpan's speech.

Spike, trembling with rage, said softly, "What... what is his plan, Twilight?"

Twilight, who was leaning against the fireplace, said gravely, "I think you know the answer to that, Spike."

Rainbow looked up, pulling her head out of her arms, which were folded over the coffee table. "What. Is. His plan, Twilight?" she said. It was clear that she knew, as well, though she still wanted to hear it.

"He plans to keep them imprisoned forever," Twilight said. "He plans to use the tribute he's extorting from us to build his kingdom."

After a few moments, Rainbow demanded, "And...?"

Twilight took a deep breath, then continued, "He... he doesn't plan to just hold them as hostages. He plans to use them...."

"What. Is. Scorpan. Going. To. Do. To. Scootaloo, Twilight?" Rainbow said.

Twilight's chin began quivering as a tear streaked down her cheek. "He's going to sell them, Rainbow," she said, her voice cracking with nearly every word she spoke. "He's going to sell Scootaloo. And... and they'll eventually pay for themselves. They'll also... they'll also provide him with replacements. Again and again it'll repeat...."

Twilight sobbed, then turned to gaze with complete despair at her friends. "And there's nothing we can do about it," she said. "I'm so, so sorry, girls. I-"

"It's not your fault, Twilight," Fluttershy said, though she was weeping just as hard as her.

Twilight crouched down and hugged her knees, to which all of her friends except Spike and Rainbow slowly began tearfully walking to her one by one to comfortingly hug her. "We can't stop him...." Twilight whispered. "He won. He won...."

Spike and Rainbow were both bowing their heads, clenching their fists, and gritting their teeth. "He. Can't. Get away with this," Spike whispered. "He must suffer for this...."

After Spike said this, Rainbow stood up. Spike and his friends all looked up surprisedly at her, and watched as she spun around and strode briskly out the door.

Once she was outside, Rainbow Dash took to the sky. She flew for her home. She flew for Asgard.

Rainbow's livid fury didn't soften even slightly in the several hours it took for her to fly to her father's mansion. Never before had she been so utterly filled with such burning determination in her life. When she reached the vast, shining ancient Dragon Imperial temple-style mansion that she had grown up in, Rainbow rapped smartly on the door. It was promptly answered by Matt, her father's butler.

As he always did, Matt was wearing a shell necklace, sandals, khaki shorts, and a loose flower-print shirt. Upon seeing Rainbow, he grinned and said, "Hey, Dash! Long time, no see, huh?"

However, Rainbow was able only to give a small, highly forced polite smile back to her old servant. "Hey, Matt," she replied.

Matt's face twisted in concern. "What's up, sis?" he said. "You've got a ton of negative energy right now...."

Rainbow pushed past him, saying, "You got that right, shit-for-brains."

Not at all offended by the offhanded insult (it was clear that it was a term of endearment between them), Matt followed Rainbow as she marched to her father's parlor.

Rainbow Dash found Rainbow Blaze lounging on a sofa, drinking champagne with his newest girlfriend. It was uncanny how much Blaze resembled his daughter; he was much taller, but he had the same tanned skin and prismatically-colored hair as Dash. He had a short, messy mop cut, and wore a highly overpriced designer t-shirt and pair of baggy, pre-torn jeans. His Mark was a literal rainbow, with a golden arrow being drawn from it.

When Rainbow Dash entered the room, Rainbow Blaze turned to her and immediately grinned. "Hey, Babe!" he cried. "What's the occasion?"

"Hey, Dad," Dash replied. "Who's this?" she said, gesturing to her father's companion.

Blaze grinned lustfully at the busty, redheaded Elvish woman sitting beside him. "What, this chick?" he said. "Ah, she's nobody. We met just yesterday."

The woman smiled kindly and said something in a foreign language to Dash.

Dash said curiously, "She doesn't speak East?"

"Nope," Blaze replied, laughing. "I think she's from the south end of the West Pillar somewhere. She doesn't need words, of course, though...." he chuckled, running his hand down her thigh. The woman giggled and stroked Blaze's chest in response, muttering another sentence in her unfamiliar tongue.

"That's great, Dad," Rainbow said impatiently. "But I need to talk to you. Right now."

His expression immediately becoming one of concern, Blaze immediately turned to his companion and said apologetically, "Sorry, Babe... we'll have to do this some other time."

Giving her a short-but-still-somehow-quite-unchaste kiss, Blaze set his glass on his table and stood up.

Though the Elf woman looked quite distressed at his leaving, Blaze casually stepped up to Rainbow Dash and said, "What's up, D?"

"Can we go to the dojo?" Rainbow said.

Though quite surprised at this request, Blaze shrugged and replied, "Sure, Babe."

As they began walking to Blaze's private studio, he called back to their butler, "Yo, Matt! Give that bitch a slice of the cake, will ya? I could tell she really wanted some when we were in the kitchen, but she was afraid to ask."

In less then a minute, Rainbow Dash and her father arrived at their dojo. It was much larger and somehow even more extravagantly ornate than Dash's personal one; the pillars were made of a steel-gold alloy, and were wrapped around by stone dragon statues carved of extremely rare red jade. The floors were of the very highest-grade bamboo, and had been given a costly alchemical treatment to permanently prevent them from becoming worn or dirty. Though only a handful of people ever got to train in a studio such as this, it was the dream of every martial artist to.

Once they were in the dojo, Blaze said concernedly, "Is something wrong, Babe?"

Rainbow was very blunt; "I have a friend named Scootaloo," she said. "She's just nine and her wings are disabled, but we're just like sisters."

Blaze nodded, listening closely. "Has something happened to her?" he said.

Rainbow nodded. "Yeah. Scorpan came to Avalon, and kidnapped her," she said.

Blaze's eyes widened with shock and terror. "W-what?!" he cried.

"And that is why I have come here," Rainbow continued, undaunted.

Rainbow climbed down to her knees, then bowed formally to her uncomprehending young father. "I must save her," Rainbow said, with a single-mindedness and ceremoniousness that she had only ever shown to her kung fu teacher. "I will fight Prince Scorpan. I implore you: teach me how to defeat him, Master."

Comments

[He23t]

This is going deadly for them! hope Twilight and Spike have a plan to end Scorpan.

Really glad this story continues.

[ElCazadorDeHistorias]

Martial arts training montage!

[VampDash]

I tried going through this....... I-I'm sorry but this got really depressing and seemingly overly dark for my tastes.

[Atlantis Productions]

I still maintain my stance that Rainbow's mother was right and Blaze is a cheater. And now seeing this, I officially dislike him. And I'm pretty sure Rainbow is overestimating his abilities when she asks him to train her to beat Scorpan, unless he too is a god, or he knows some sort of god-slaying magic. And how the heck is he rich enough to have a needlessly over-decorated mansion? I get that he was a Wonderbolt, but you don't see Spitfire or Soarin living in a mansion. My guess is he won the lottery.

Also, is Matt really Rainbow's brother? If so, why is he his father's butler? Is he the least favorite child? If so, that just reinforces my disliking of Blaze.

[VampDash]

7360193
The Norse were one of the few who managed to blend their mythology with that of Christianity. On top of that.... dude you must be reading a very different Bible from me because Angels are utter badasses in the ones I've read.

[LoZLttP13]

8238629 Aww, that's a shame. Probably a good call, though, because it gets even worse.

All I can say is thanks for reading, and I advise you not to watch Elfen Lied or Madoka Magika either.

[VampDash]

8238695
I fucking hate Homura. I have watched both. I have nearly had my humanity die from watching them both.

[LoZLttP13]

8238696
Same here. Never got why people heap so much praise on them...

I think the witches are really, really cool, though.

[VampDash]

8238702
OH HELL YES. Anyways. Sorry but I don't think this story's for me..... really.... really depressing. I do have one hope though. That Gilda does get redeemed later down the road.

[LoZLttP13]

8238703
Well, if it helps at all, I have the entire story planned out, so I can tell you exactly where all the depressing bits are gonna be. Or I can just tell you when Gilda's gonna show up again.

[VampDash]

8238706
PM me when she'll show up again.

[LoZLttP13]

8238708 Will do.

[DullMobbins]

Fuck this story is depressing. I love it but fuck....

[LoZLttP13]

8238726 Mood Whiplash, thy name is Morgan Hess.

[LoZLttP13]

8238640 Awesome. Rainbow Blaze really is a tremendous douchebag, isn't he?

However, though it doesn't make him any less of a sleazy dick, he still has quite a bit of hidden depth. At the very least, he's a very good dad and really loves his daughter, and he wouldn't even dream of being a misogynistic, predatory piece of shit like Scorpan or his followers are.

He is also one of the only mortal characters who can compete with Twilight Sparkle in terms of sheer intellect. You wonder how he became so absurdly wealthy? It's because he's an utterly ingenious self-marketer, businessman, and investor. He's essentially Michael Jordan if he had acted as his own agent and marketer, and so was able to become a full-fledged billionaire rather than merely a millionaire. I mean, Twilight doesn't even follow sports, but even she knows Rainbow Blaze's name. His tremendous intelligence is also largely responsible for his remarkable competence as a martial artist, particularly for his young age. You'll just have to see if it's enough to coach his daughter to victory.

I was quite confused when you said you thought that Matt was Rainbow's brother. So I re-read it and found the passage that must have tripped you up:

Matt's face twisted in concern. "What's up, sis?" he said. "You've got a ton of negative energy right now..."

Now I see. Rainbow isn't literally Matt's sister; she's just that close to him. He calls Blaze "bro" by the same token.

[Jet Lignite]

Wow. So that happened.

Scorpan is one crazy ass villain. What was that bit about Spike? Twilight holding out on us?
Rainbow dash is gonna whoop a god's ass?👍

[Atlantis Productions]

8238778
Oh, and one more thing I forgot to ask: Would Scorpan really blow up the children he captured? It would have been a waste of time he did mean to do that. And, if he is bluffing, well, he's too powerful for any mortal being to really do anything. Which is why I ask if Blaze knows some sort of god-slaying magic. There is no realistic way for Rainbow to beat Scorpan using martial arts, unless you using some sort of Avatar-type martial arts. Even then, how would Rainbow be able to use magic martial arts? You made it explicitly clear that only Elves can use magic. See, this is why I created a rule in my system of magic (Deq) that allows all Konoran races to be able to use magic, but unless they are a Deqling, they have to use a magic conduit (wands, staffs, glyphs, etc.).

[LoZLttP13]

8238997 O ye of little faith.

How can Rainbow defeat Scorpan without using magic? I've already laid the groundwork for it. Just remember: "Pride cometh before the fall."

[LoZLttP13]

8238997 Regarding the Ritual, it's essentially his equivalent of a nuclear arsenal; though it is fully functional, it is meant to act only as a deterrent, and he has no intention to actually use it. Of course, as you've observed, he is almost certainly right in assuming that it won't be necessary.

[Atlantis Productions]

8239494
I know it.

On a different, completely unrelated note, I just reached the top of Mt. Ironforge in World of Warcraft. Guess what's at the top.

[Yami Vizzini]

Welp... at least it's not likely things can get much worse, even if it's not clear how they'll get better.

[DullMobbins]

After a moment of surprised silence, Twilight smiled. "Don't worry," she said. "Trust me; Spike will be enough ."

Hope we get to see some of spike kicking ass soon like Zuko in avatar. Though scorpans already been beaten, maybe next time.