Uchu... Kita? Blood on the Home Turf, and Heroes of Space Team Up?!
A quick warning here, folks... This chapter's gonna be a bit graphic for a short bit. It's no slasher-fic level of detail, (in fact, it's practically tame,) but therecs always some extremely squeamish folks who might get triggered, so... I'll leave a warning before it starts, and a note for when it ends, so you can kinda skip over the worst of it. Hopefully, this is the greatest portion of the dark and/or gore tag...
Ian wasn't sure what to do, given his current position. Held captive by a group of Chrystalla's Shardlings, with no clue how to control his powers, his mask taken from him, and no one else in the castle knew he was even in trouble.
Oh, and he couldn't seem to summon anything from his Sylladex or Strife Deck. Maybe this was the end, for him...
"Wow, no wonder you metal monstrosities wear masks; your faces are a mess!" Exclaimed the Shardling holding Ian's mask. If he remembered correctly, they were one of the two who had first ambushed him... Yes, it seemed the group holding him down were all of the host-held-hostage variety, led by the two who had disguised themselves as guards.
"Yeah, they sure are," the other free-minded 'ling said, agreeing with their compatriot, "but not as much of a mess as his is gonna be shortly."
"Heh, yeah, good point." The first 'ling frowned then. "It's weird, though... He didn't put up that much of a fight. You sure this is the same guy that sucked the power out of all our forces in the castle yesterday?"
"Yup, the resonance tracking spell led us right to the room he was in, and he matches the description she gave us." The second 'ling replied, then stabbed a foreleg at Ian's right forearm. "Yeah, see? The energy's already making its mark on him..."
"Mmh-mmmmph?" Ian gurgled next to them.
"Jeeze, isn't he unconscious yet?" Asked the first of the two speaking Shardlings, (which Ian decided to call "Commanders,") and the non-speaking 'ling who had a hoof to Ian's throat merely shrugged in response. Ian decided that, assuming he survived, he'd start calling those ones "Shells".
"Huh," the second Commander said, thoughtfully, "normally that works... Ah, forget about it, we can just warp back to the hive, with him in this condition. Let him breathe."
The Shell that had been half-trying to throttle Ian finally relented, removing its foreleg from his neck as it chose to sit on his chest instead. This allowed him to speak at last.
"W-what d'you want with me...?" He gasped, though he was pretty sure of the answer he'd receive.
"Well, for one," said the second Commander, off-handedly, "you messed her up a bit more than she'd ever like to admit, so she wants revenge for that, and she'd like to do it personal-like, ya know?"
"Also," added the first Commander, "nopony's ever been able to remove the shardling influence once it had been bestowed upon somepony. As such, we're all pretty curious how you, of all folks, were able to do it. And none are more curious than Lord Somn--hrrk!"
The Commander's throat suddenly convulsed as his jaw snapped shut, and his already huge eyes bugged out from his face. "No..." he choked out, as his companion's expression went from worried to pained and fearful, "I didn't mean -- I wasn't -- please...! Don't kill--!" His cries, whomever they were directed at, apparently fell short of sympathetic ears, as his crystalline horn suddenly became engulfed in a green aura, and then shot backwards through the Shardling's head with a crunch, and a splash of green fluid. His companion suffered the same fate not half a second later, and both their "bodies" collapsed into twin piles of black crystalline shards and green goo.
Ian was stunned. What the heck had just happened? One second be was being threatened by those two, and suddenly they were pleading for their lives before virtually exploding. Was he somehow responsible, or was there another party involved? Were they being watched, even now...? His musings were cut short as he realized that the Shells around him were now acting quite frantic, and as his attention returned to them, things began to take a turn for the worse.
This is where the worst of it starts...
As Ian looked on, one of the panicking Shells stumbled sideways a few steps, then began pawing at its face with its forelegs, apparently trying to remove the crystals there. It didn't gain much progress, however, before it's entire torso suddenly imploded, collapsing in a violent spray of blood and bits of viscera as the rest of it began thrashing. Shortly afterwards, a second, less fortunate Shell had its entire head crushed in an instant, like a submarine that had dived too far below the ocean's surface, followed by a shower of blood, bone shards, and bits of grey matter.
The Shell sitting on Ian's chest took this opportunity to roll sideways off of him, and joined the others in attempting to paw uselessly at their crystalline bodies. This one, however, started off by slamming it's head against the floor a few times, until a small chunk fell off its face. Ian, meanwhile, had scrabbled over to his discarded mask as soon as he was free of them, but once he'd donned the Kanohi and looked back at his former captor, he was shocked at what he saw.
The mare, (for a mare she definitely was,) who had locked her one now-free eye with him, was highly reminiscent of Rainbow Dash, in that her coat was the same baby-blue hue, and the iris of the lone visible eye was that same iridescent magenta. What little of her mane hung out from beneath the crystals on her head was an orange-ish shade of salmon, with streaks of peach peeking through here and there, all of it cut straight and almost boyishly short. Her expression was one of desperate pleading, asking for Ian to help her remove the crystals from her body.
Ian was spurred into action by the death of a third Shell, whose head suddenly spun a full 360° on their neck, sending them into spasms as they collapsed. Ian, for his part, darted forward and began to cautiously (yet still frantically,) pull at the crystals on the mare's head and shoulders. Unfortunately, they would not come off easily; in addition to the almost magnetic attraction that held the crystals together, they also seemed to have partially fused themselves with patches of her fur, making it that much harder to remove them without causing some discomfort to the unwitting "host".
"Please..." The mare gasped, once her mouth was free of obstructing crystals, "do hurry... I'd rather not end up like--" Her soft plea was interrupted by one of the nearby shells suddenly being brutally vivisected, its short-lived cries of anguish greatly muted by the crystals covering its face.
"Like that...?" Ian asked, shaken, and the mare before him nodded, obviously reluctant to speak, lest she lose her lunch as soon as she opened her mouth. Ian couldn't blame her: he was half-feeling the same urge himself. Nonetheless, he decided that things weren't going fast enough, and that some other method needed to be employed for this situation. Closing his eyes, he thought back to the previous day, trying to remember what sensations he'd been experiencing shortly after arrival, when his arm had seemingly acted on its own to release Lyra, absorbing that weird green energy in the process.
That, paired with what he could remember of the conversation he'd had with Twilight about basic spellcasting after Pinkie's party, was apparently enough to get things working. This time, however, his arm itched and burned under the armor, though he tried not to let it bother him, for the mare's sake. "What's your name?" Ian asked her, a slight grimace flitting over his face as he raised his now-glowing hand to her clavicle. The crystals, thankfully, began to fall off of her of their own accord, the energy that otherwise bound them together now being absorbed. He'd have to figure out what was going on with that sooner or later...
"W-windy..." The mare stuttered, rubbing at one slightly bloodied nostril before she returned to scraping crystals off herself. "Windy Whistle. I-I'm from... What used to be Cloudsdale, I guess, before they trashed it. Oh, one of those rock thingies went up my nose about an hour ago, by the way: might wanna take a look at that later..." The two of them winced as another Shell became a short-lived hybrid between Swiss cheese and a pincushion.
Ian tried to push himself harder, and accellerate the separation, but anything beyond the level of effort he was currently putting into the situation caused the painful sensations in his arm to skyrocket almost beyond his tolerance level. "Must go faster..." He muttered to himself, trying to keep calm and push through the pain. "Must go faster...!" As if to emphasize the point, the last remaining Shell (aside from the mare in front of Ian,) had its legs slowly and painfully crushed, one by one, before its head suddenly rolled free of its neck amidst a fountain of crimson blood. "Not to worry, miss Windy: this may look dire, but million-to-one odds like this crop up nine times outta ten, and things always pull through just as they look bleakest."
Windy smiled faintly. "Oh, you..." She said with a short chuckle, placing a hoof on his arm, "you know, you remind me of my daughter, to an extent. From what I've seen, you share the same drive, the same determination to make things happen once you've set your mind to it. And, just like with my Rainbow, I have the utmost faith in yo--" A sharp popping sound interrupted whatever Windy was going to say next, right as her head suddenly turned about an inch to her left. In that moment, her left eye had gone wall-eyed and heavily bloodshot, whilst her right had rolled back slightly, and was already starting to cloud over as her hoof slid off his arm.
Ok, the graphic stuff's over. For those who read it, I'm sorry. For those who didn't, in sorry as well... Read on, and you'll come to understand why.
A faint trickle of crimson was now visible making its way out of the bloodied nostril that Windy'd been rubbing, and the flow of energy between the two of them was almost forcibly severed. As Ian took this in, her body now sagged, lifelessly, and he barely was able to catch her before she hit the ground. Her frame, already small by nature of being a Pony, somehow seemed even smaller now, as he held her in his arms.
"No..." Ian breathed to himself, not wanting to believe what he was already sure had happened. He pressed two fingers to Windy's throat, quickly finding her already faltering pulse. Within seconds, it had entirely faded into nonexistence. "No... No, no, no...!" His arms dropped to his sides in despair, letting Windy's body rest on his knees as his head rolled back.
"FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!"
~~~~
Elsewhere in the castle...
Celestia sighed, and dragged a forehoof down one side of her face. "Alright, now that that's over, do any of you have anything more to ask or say on the subject...?" She asked tiredly, looking Fluttershy, Pinkie, and each of the Toa Mata in the eye. The two Elements had been helpful in educating the Toa in the intricacies of intimacy, allowing for multiple viewpoints on the topic. "I mean, I highly doubt anyone could possibly come up with something that would be worse than anything you all have in the last three quarters of an hour..."
"Oh, silly Princess," Pinkie replied with a chuckle, waving a hoof in her direction, "there's always something that can be taken to eleven, especially when you say something like that...!"
As if to emphasize her point, a lone, drawn-out curse was carried to the ears of everyone present from somewhere else in the castle: "FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!!!!!!!"
"Well, if they say-command it, who am I to resist-fight?" Lewa quipped from on top of a dresser, earning a few nervous chuckles from the other Toa.
"...I stand corrected, then," Celestia sighed, as the head of a now semi-familiar biomechanical reptile pushed itself out from under the table. It was soon followed by the form of a medium-sized bird with flame-colored plumage, and the two shared a glance. "Oh, Philomena, there you are. I see you've made friends with young Caldoric's compan-- where are you two going?" The Phoenix and the Hikaki had rushed through the door and into the hall while Celestia was talking, and the two were soon gone from sight.
"Well, that was unexpected..." Pohatu said, only for Pinkie to suddenly gasp and clasp a hoof to her barrel, just above her heart, then begin shaking and shuddering from head to toe like she was having a seizure. It was over just as quickly as it had started, however, allowing the party planner to collapses to the ground before anyone had a chance to get to their feet.
"Pinkie, are you alright?" Celestia asked as everyone began to gather around her, but Pinkie ignored her. Instead, she leapt up and grabbed Fluttershy by the shoulders and stared into her eyes.
"F-fluttershy...!" She gasped. "My Pinkie-senses are going off the deep end again, and it's worse than that time when Twilight finally decided to stop investigating my Pinkie-sense!"
"Uh, what's going on here?" Onua asked, hand raised in the air.
"I dunno!" Pinkie replied, her head flipping almost completely backwards to face him. "But whatever it is, it's a doozy, it has something to do with that swear a few seconds ago, and it's about to happen right now!" With that, she zipped out of the room, followed by the Toa Mata (using their Masks of Speed,) then by Celestia and Fluttershy.
As they ran, there was a faint BAMF of displaced air, and suddenly Luna was traveling in her elder sibling's wake as well. "Sister!" Celestia exclaimed, glad to have her sister by her side. "Any any idea what's going on? Do you know who yelled a minute ago?"
"Nay, sister," Luna replied, shaking her head. "I know not who, and must assume we both know equally little of the situation, save for this: I feel a familiar darkness growing, even now, and we are presently moving towards it."
"D-darkness...?" Fluttershy squeaked, nearly freezing mid-flight.
"Indeed. It is one I myself have succumbed to twice before, but never have I ever felt it in another pony... not until Celestia and I were overpowered 'ere a week ago."
"You can't mean...?" Celestia gasped, the sentence dieing in her throat as everyone came to a stop at a hallway intersection, shocked into stillness by the storm of darkness filling the passage before them all.
"I'm afraid it is as you think, Celestia." Luna said, a touch of sorrow in her voice. "Somepony else has gone... Grimdark."
~~~~
A few minutes ago...
Ian knelt in the hallway, clutching the lifeless body of Windy Whistles to his chest, slowly rocking back and forth on his knees. Why...? he thought to himself. Why did this have to happen? Why couldn't I save her? All his self-doubts from when he arrived on Mata Nui to now began to coalesce, pressing down on his spirit with a greater intensity than ever.
Who did he think he was, anyways? He was only a Toa in name, and nothing more. Not even as threatening as a Matoran masquerading in Toa armor; he was but a young man, playing at war and trying to imitate his childhood heroes. The "powers" that he was "supposed" to have rarely worked properly, assuming they even worked at all! Yes, he'd been able to hold his own in melee combat during the previous day's fight in the streets of Canterlot, but only barely, and not through much of his own skill. For all intents and purposes, Ian had been practically useless, except when he'd done that stupid energy-sucking thing... And then there was that whole thing with the Piraka, and the fight against Ahriman--
Hold on, that's not me thinking those things...! Ian realised, lifting his masked face from where he'd buried it in the dead mare's fuzzy shoulder. As he looked up, he became cognizant of a deep, resonating laughter permeating the hall around him. The various crystals attached to the dead Equestrians around him finally parted company with the corpses, shattering into a fine powder that quickly gathered into a small cloud of darkness with glowing green eyes. Each eye had a red iris, and a trail of purple smoke emanating from their outer edge.
<Oh, how far the mighty have fallen...> a deep, unfamiliar voice said in Ian's mind, seeming to bypass his ears and implant itself directly in his immediate memory. <I could kill you right now, interloper, but I think I'll offer you a choice instead. Come over to our side, willingly; join our forces, and we can give you power like you've never dreamed of. We could show you... eternity...>
"And if I don't?" Ian asked, glaring at the strange cloud. He could swear, from the way the eyes changed shape right then, that the controlling force behind the cloud would've been smiling if it had a mouth.
<Well then... it's your funeral, isn't it...?> The voice asked, before the cloud of crystal dust abruptly surged forward and enveloped Ian completely. In seconds, everything around him seemed to fall away, and he found himself in a dark expanse that was somehow also well lit, for a given value of "lit." He could just make out something beyond his current range of vision, but nothing beyond the fact that there was something out there to be noticed.
"Where the hell...?" He muttered, looking around, but his attention was soon drawn back to his immediate vicinity as now-familiar cloud of darkness swirled into existence nearby. It quickly condensed, solidifying itself into a crystalline figure that Ian only partially recognized.
The newcomer was definitely a pony, with almost Alicorn-like attributes to its frame, though unlike all other Alicorns that Ian had seen before, this one was thicker-built, indicating to him that it was masculine. It wore a brilliant red cape with ermine lining over its back, accompanied by a spiked metallic circlet on its head. Its mane and tail consisted of slow-moving black flames, which nicely offset the purple smoke leaking from its emerald-green eyes, whose crimson pupils were locked hungrily on Ian.
"S-sombra...!" Ian exclaimed, a bit confused. "But... I thought you and Chrysalis-- I mean, Chrystalla, had, like, fused or something!"
"Two things, whelp." 'Sombra' snarled. "First, what made you thing we'd fuse? As if she could stand me permanently inside her head, or I her. Second, call me 'Sombra' again, and it'll be the last thing you do. He died in the Northern wastes... And I was reborn. I am... Lord Somnus. Chrystalla and I share control over our glorious, nigh-perfect army, and we are here to usher in an age of prosperity for our new Empire."
"Your new Empire?" Ian asked, half sarcastically, as they both began to circle each other. "Please. Empires rise and fall at the drop of a hat, and yours is no exception."
"And who's to say that it's not time for Celestia's little hoof-built society to finally come crashing down around her? She and her blasted sister should've just laid down and let me claim what was mine by right."
"Who the hell do you think you are, that you can just declare Equestria's current age of peace to be over?" Ian demanded. "I mean, I may not be fond of this world's normally over-cheerful setting, but at least it was better than what I had..."
"Enough!" Somnus dispersed in a burst of crystal fragments, and reformed about a foot in front of Ian half a moment later. "You have a choice to make. Join us, or die, and allow other innocents to die with you."
"No matter how the wind blows, the mountain does not bow." Ian stated simply, crossing his arms as he took a step back. "My will is as strong as yours, my kingdom as great: you have no power over me."
~~~~
Somnus was shocked. That this... this strange creature had the audacity to not only refuse his goodwill, but to then treat Somnus as an equal, or even an inferior, was nigh unthinkable. So much so, that Somnus actually stepped back a few yards from the sheer shock. "Y-you can't be serious..." He muttered, only for the strange being before him to smile faintly.
"Yes I can," it said cockily, "I just choose not to. Well, usually."
"You fool!" Sombra exclaimed, still slightly off-balance. There was something... off about the mental landscape which Somnus had found himself after invading Caldoric's mind. "You would choose to test yourself against Chrystalla and I? You, who know nothing about war?"
The figure standing before Somnus, the one that called itself "Caldoric" in the outside world, gave a single snort of laughter and allowed its head to drop to its chest, their form shimmering and changing for the umpteenth time since Somnus had arrived. Each time, Caldoric's form had retained a bipedal nature, though the form itself had ranged between organic and synthetic, armored and unarmored, child-like to young adult. But there had always been some level of concealment to Caldoric's shape, as if it were hiding something about itself.
"Heh, typical Disney villain lingo... I don't need to know anything about war on a personal level. My species has perfected war, and turned it into something of an art form. Equine species, like yourself, are descended from prey animals, and lack the natural urge, the primal instinct to kill for your food. But humans, like me? Our ancient ancestors were primates. Apes. We, too, had some of that prey instinct, but we were also predators in our own right. Ponies like you are creatures of light: you merely adopted the darkness of war. But humans?"
Caldoric's head snapped up at this, his eyes now blazing orange instead of the green they had previously been. "We've been living in the shadows between light and dark practically since day one. We've had generations of practice to refine our hand at war. I am personally descended from the Vikings of old, who would plunder and raid costal villages and inland cities alike." His form shimmered and changed again, and this time, something about it seemed more truthful than all the others. He now looked something like a Minotaur in upper body shape, but not as stocky. His legs were straight, his face between the simplistic nature of a wild ape and the more refined, intelligent nature that Somnus had come to see in modern ponies (though it was distinctly flat-ish by comparison). And he was still talking.
"Ponies may have better speed and strength than humans, -- hell, you guys even have magic, -- but can you hope to match our intellect, our durability, our endurance, our drive, or our determination? After all, we can do just about anything we put our minds to, given the right motivation. And given that you and/or Chrystalla killed someone I was trying to save while they were in my arms, I'd say that I'm pretty motivated to kick your collective asses!"
Somnus could see something forming out of the subconscious materia behind Caldoric, and it was large. "Now," it said, as "Caldoric" vanished into nothingness, "get out of my head, you bastard, before I dot your eyes and cross your fucking teeth...!"
~~~~
Canterlot hallway, right now.
"Grimdark?!" Several voices demanded at once, Celestia's being quite prevalent among them.
"Yes," Luna admitted, "a seed of darkness has found root in some poor pony. A seed that, if left to fester without guidance or oversight, could give a new Nightmare the chance to awaken."
"A n-n-new n-nightmare?!" Fluttershy repeated fearfully, then stiffened and fell over with a faint "eeep!"
"Yes, but it should be fine for now. It should, with all probability, never develop into a fully-fledged Nightmare. Not unless the negative emotions that give it life are given an external target upon which to focus, and then driven to conflict with said focus..."
Just then, the storm of shadows and dark particles before them abruptly collapsed in on its center, then seemed to divide into two parts that began fighting each other: one side was compromised of tiny crystalline shards mixed with black smoke and a faint reddish energy at its core, while the other consisted of both shadowy clouds and strangely-shaped "holes" in reality that offered a shifting view of an unfamiliar starscape. In response, everyone backed off several paces, and Rainbow Dash gave Luna a look that practically screamed "you mean, like that?"
"I'll go get the others..." RD said in a hurry, and zipped off, with Pohatu hot on her tail. The other Toa followed suit shortly after.
"Sister, what is--"Celestia began, only for Luna to cut her off.
"This-- this isn't right... There's two sources now, but they're both fighting over something...?"
"What?!" Nothing more could be said, however, because the two warring energies suddenly increased the ferocity of their attacks upon each other, taking on new forms in their intensity. The smoke and grit formed into a large wolf's head, while the shadows and stars gathered themselves into the shape of a distinctively reptilian head bearing draconic accents in places.
There was a brief flurry of blows between them before the wolf's head backed off, momentarily dispersing into its original cloud-like shape and reforming further down the hall as an extremely familiar, and rather unwelcome, figure.
"Fine then!" The Sombra-shaped entity shouted at the remaining cloud of energy in the hall. "You may have gained the upper hand in the subconscious realm this once, but your luck won't hold. If you want your revenge so much, you'll come to Ponyville and face me there!"
"And if I beat you again, Somnus...?" Asked the star-clad cloud of darkness, in a voice like a mausoleum door slamming shut and trapping a living occupant inside.
"Somnus" chuckled darkly. "If you win, I'll surrender, no strings attached. But when you lose... I'll have you as the latest member of my army, fighting for our Empire of Shadows. But know this: if you don't come alone, or if you fail to show up, I'll consider it a forfeit, and collect my winnings myself."
"You can certainly try," the larger entity replied. "Alright, then, it's a date, you fucking murderer. Loser goes home with Destiny." With that, the entity calling itself Somnus dissipated again, moving towards a shattered window, only for the dragon-headed portal to the stars abruptly lunged forward and snapped up the cloud in its jaws. Only a small portion of the dust remained free, floating off in the wind, whilst the rest merely dripped from the remaining creature's jaws.
It, too, began to dissipate a few seconds later, the field of stars and tendrils of darkness shrinking and compacting into the silhouette of a familiar biomechanical figure before going "poof". The figure now standing there in the hall sagged to their knees, hunched over, before slowly allowing themselves to fall over onto their side.
"C-caldoric...!" Celestia exclaimed, as the Toa's pet robo-lizard scurried up to him and began nuzzling him worriedly. Celestia and Luna took this opportunity to look around at the carnage that was now visible in the wake of... whatever had just happened.
"What... is the meaning of all this, Toa?" Luna asked, her words slow and deliberate. "What transpired within these halls?"
"It wasn't me, if that's what you're asking." Caldoric responded. His gaze was directed at the Hikaki by his side, hands idly stroking its neck, though his eyes were unfocused, making it seem as if he were looking through the reptile. "It was a failed kidnapping attempt that, I think, turned into a show of power. These... people, I guess I could say... they were collateral, caught in the line of fire, as it were. After one of the Shardlings commanders almost said Sombra-- I mean, Somnus'-- name, they all started dying. The captive ones seemed to regain their free will, and began trying to get the crystals off themselves... and that's when the crystals started acting on their own, doing what you see here. I t-tried to help one, but... b-but..."
Caldoric turned away from the princesses, taking a few steps towards the closest body to him before falling to his knees and gently lifting its head. "I f-failed her... She d-died in my arms... Look upon my works, ye mighty, and despair..." He then bowed his head over the mare's body and began muttering something that neither Princess was able to make out.
"Caldoric, what did you--" Celestia began, only for Caldoric to throw up a warding hand in her direction and continue muttering. Seconds later, he lowered the hand, closed the fallen mare's eyes, and laid a single golden Bit over each eye. He then followed these strange actions with an unfamiliar gesture from his hand: he held the index and middle fingers straight up, in front of his face, then moved the hand and fingers in front of his sternum, followed by his left and right shoulders.
"Perhaps it's some sort of death ritual, where he's from?" Luna suggested softly, leaning towards her sister. Celestia merely shrugged, then turned her attention back to Caldoric as he carefully laid the mare's head back on the ground. The Toa had barely finished standing up, however, when he was abruptly rammed into by a streak of blue with a Technicolor trail. There was a loud CLANNNG! upon contact, after which Caldoric was slumped against the far wall of the distant T-intersection at the end of the hall, while a very angry-looking Rainbow Dash was now crouching where he had just been.
~~~~
Rainbow Dash zoomed through the halls of Canterlot Castle as fast as she dared, desperate to get back to where she'd left Fluttershy and the Princesses to gather her friends. She knew Celestia and Luna could handle themselves, but she still had this awful feeling that something bad was about to happen...
Of course, her fears seemed to have realised themselves while she was gone: as she rounded the corner to the hallway, her eyes were treated to one of the more graphic sights she had seen in her life: there were close to ten bodies strewn across the hall in various states of desecration, and there were splashes of blood in several places. Her friend, Fluttershy, was just rousing herself next to the Princesses, who had both taken rather guarded stances. Caldoric was also there amidst the bodies, carefully lowering one to the ground and accompanied by his Hikaki. She wasn't sure why her attention suddenly snapped to the Pegasus mare's body, but when Rainbow saw her face, her vision became momentarily tinged with red, and her mind cleared of all but a single thought.
Mom...!
Suddenly, she found herself hunched over her mother's limp frame, hugging Windy Whistles' face to her chest and slowly shedding a few tears. Seconds later, the fastest flier in the nation was immobilized inside a familiar golden aura, warm and comforting, but also gently confining her as her mother slipped from her grasp.
"N-no, no...! Mom!!!" Rainbow cried, trying vainly to reach her mother once more as she was lifted away.
"Rainbow Dash, please restrain yourself," Celestia's calm voice asked, as the Pegasus was gently enveloped under one of the Princess' wings. "She's gone, Rainbow. As much as it pains me to say it, there's nothing more to be done for her now."
"Indeed," Luna added, stepping closer and leaning against the two of them. "Not even 'Tia and I, with all our power, could return somepony from the great beyond. Death waits for no mare, and doth not return that which she hath claimed."
"Yeah? Well, what about him?" Rainbow demanded, jerking her head in the general direction of Caldoric, who was just now staggering to his feet and blinking heavily.
"Augh..." He groaned. "Sorry... I do Space, not Life. Besides, as a Knight, I'm a fighter class, not a healer like Sylphs would be. Even then, you'd heed a Hope player on hand to even think of pulling it off with any degree of success..."
Luna and Celestia looked at each other and came to a silent agreement. "I'll take care of him for now," Luna stated, "you comfort her, and get her caught up." With that, she enveloped Caldoric and Jinka in her thaumic grip, and the trio teleported away before Rainbow could begin to object.
"U-um... Your h-highness, what happened here...? I-if you don't mind, that is..." Fluttershy squeaked out at last, visibly at the verge of tears at the sight of so much apparent pain and suffering. Only the Phoenix at her side kept her from turning into a fountain of tears.
"Hey, if anypony needs to be asking that question right now, it should be me!" Rainbow nearly shouted. "Not to step on your tail, Flutters, but I'm the one who just found their mom's corpse on the floor with somepony I thought we were supposed to be able to trust standing over her, and I'm just a little bit ever-so-slightly completely livid!"
At the word "livid," Fluttershy went "eeep...!" and fainted again, whilst the Toa Mata and the rest of the element bearers finally joined the present clusterfuck that the hallway had become. As they all gave their exclamations of shock and subsequent denouncement of whoever had caused the relative massacre, Celestia sighed and closed her eyes. It was going to be a long day...
~~~~
Meanwhile, in an undisclosed location...
Darkness. That was all that was visible to the naked eye, for those whose vision was suited to sunlight. For those with nocturnal vision, however, it was an entirely different story: shadowy figures moved slowly throughout a network of tunnels and caverns. In a smaller cave, about the size of the average living room, a figure that had previously been motionless chose this time to move once more.
His head lifted from where he'd let it droop in concentration. His eyes snapped open, revealing his sclera to be a brilliant emerald green, with irises of crimson red. Indigo smoke began to leak from the outermost corners of these eyes as a smile split is otherwise stone-like complexion.
"Well, well, well..." Said Somnus, slowly chapping his forehooves together as he sent a ping through the hive's mental network. "I can see why you like him, my Queen. He may just be the last piece of the puzzle, and be the key to our victory in this war."
«This harebrained little mission of yours cost us several good drones, my "King." Dispensable though they technically were, you didn't need to kill any of them. We're spread thin enough as is right now...»
"Oh, just wait till you hear what I've learned straight from the source, Chrystalla. This will more than make up the loss..."
Silence. And then...
«Well...? I'm waiting...»
Somnus chuckled and smiled, then began relaying everything he'd found to his partner in darkness. As he did, he could sense her beginning to smile as well. Today had just taken a turn for the better...
~~~~
Canterlot Castle
Ian found himself and Jinka cocooned within a field of Luna's magical power, and had one last look at the distraught figure of Rainbow under Celestia's wing before everything went white and fell away...
With the clatter of metal on stonework, Ian was thrust forwards onto his elbows and knees by an unseen force, with Jinka arriving at his side. He gasped and sucked in a long, slow breath as a sudden chill embraced his form, then slowly faded. His vision was foggy, yet was definitely clearing up as time passed.
"Princess...!" Two voices called out, and there was the sound of armored forms moving to stand at attention.
"At ease, you two." Luna said, from somewhere nearby. "I have business beyond: Caldoric and I must-- Caldoric, get ye up to thine feet."
"Sorry, I've never been subjected to side-along teleportation before," Ian countered, shakily standing up. Jinka's hazy form struggled to its own feet, momentarily looking around before leaning against Ian's hip. "You could at least warn someone before you drop them through a wormhole like that. And, judging by how rough my ride was, your mass calculations or something need some re-working before our next trip." He got a sharp whack on the top of his head for his troubles, though. "Ow...!"
"You will speak with respect when addressing one of the Princesses, you impudent--" one of the guards began, brandishing a long pole-like weapon in a field of orange magic, only for Luna to cut him off.
"True though your intentions are in this matter, Final Sight, his words had a point: in a bit out of practice with multi-entity teleportation." She said. "Also, he is technically an ambassador of his species, seeing as he is one of the only members of his kind we have yet met. Yes, he looks similar to the ones known as the Toa Mata, but he comes from a separate reality than theirs. As such, I would advise you not to strike him again unless circumstances truly require it. Now, please step aside."
"Uh, not to disrespect you, m'lady," said the second guard, "but your sister said nopony was to open the vault unless it was her or under her authority--"
"I am her sister, and fellow diarch...!" Luna cut him off. "As such, I have equal authority to her, and I will be entering the vault. Now stand... aside."
Ian sighed. "It's no use, Princess. Lemme try." With that, he pulled out his Zat gun and zapped both guards. "Fortunately, I'm no pony: I'm human."
"Caldoric, what are you--?" Ian cut her off as he equipped his sword, gave it a couple flourishing swings, and then inserted it for the second time into the hole in the vault's door.
"Alohamora..." he muttered as he twisted the blade, and a faint surge of green energy splashed across the door, leaving behind a few arcs of lime electricity. Just like last time, the door split into six wedges and retracted into the doorframe as he removed the blade. With another flourish, he stowed the blade against his back, where it vanished into wherever it went when not in use, then turned around to smile at Luna. "Just call me the doorman... Wait, what's with the weird look?"
"How came you by that blade...?" Luna asked, her face a mix of many subtle emotions. "And what else aren't you telling us?"
"Um, I bought this from the Merchant, shortly before being dropped on Mata Nui. As for the second question... do you really expect me to just stop and tell you my entire life's story right here and now? I mean, there's a lot of things you all dont know about me or my world. Entire libraries' worth, in fact."
"Caldoric, I'm trying to have a serious conversation here. The very least you could do is try to do the same."
"Oh, believe me, I'd more than love to, but you see, I've got a couple problems." Ian replied off-handedly. "First, I'm firmly situated somewhere on the AD/HD spectrum, so my attention varies wildly in any given circumstance. Second, my life has been flipped upside-down repeatedly over the last, what, day and a half? I dunno, but in that time, I've nearly died at least once, and had to see some serious shit that most normal folks shouldn't have to experience even over several lifetimes. I'm just a civvie, I'm not cut out for this shit! Yes, I wanted magic and adventure and stuff instead of the same boring old shit I had to deal with back home, but I didn't ask to be pulled from the fringes of one war and then dropped into the center of an even worse one as a major player! Which reminds me, why the hell are we up here again?"
Luna stood there with her ears pinned back, slightly shocked at the minor tirade, whilst trying to parse the information contained therein. "Erm... I... My sister and I had decided that, perhaps, it might be prudent if thou werest to attempt to, say, figure out what has been changed about the mirror portal, and return it to a viable condition of operation."
Ian had been already walking into the vault, his eyes on the device in question, but he stopped at the mention of possibly fixing the mirror. "Psssh, who the hell do you think I am? Twilight, or maybe your precious Starswirl?" He asked, hands on his hips. "No. I'm neither of them. Yes, I have working theoretical knowledge of a similar device to this, (which, I'll admit, only existed as an occasional plot device in a work of fiction that I followed,) as well as a decent enough idea of Multiverse Theory and alternate timelines (which probably has more holes than the plot of the average work of fanfiction). Yes, I want to get the hell outta Dodge, despite how nice it's been to hang around here. Yes, reality-manipulation and control over physics are powers I'm supposed to have, if I'm not wrong about how classpects work.
"But I haven't got a single clue as to how things work here in this magical world of yours. Magic isn't a thing where I come from, as I believe I told you all last night. Your best bet would be for you lot to have Twilight get on this, since she apparently got it to work beforehand with nothing more than what she had lying about in her fancy-schmancy crystal-castle-tree thing, in a backwater town no less. This is Canterlot City, the Capitol of the nation, with some of the best materials that money could make and buy just waiting to be salvaged from the wreckage outside, and currently the residence of choice for not just one, but three of the most powerful magic users in the entire nation! I mean, seriously, couldn't you just bamf into Ponyville and grab whatever you left behind when you brought the mirror here?"
"Caldoric..." Luna began, her voice low and steady as she took and aggressive stance and tone, causing Jinka to whimper momentarily. "Get thee into yon vault of thine own volition, forthwith and with haste, 'ere we art made to utilize force, so as to lay restraint to thee and place thee there within."
"I-it's probably best if you just do as she says, man," said one guard, shakily getting to his hooves. "I heard that, last time she got this prolific with Olde Equuish, she nearly tore a while regiment in half, pony by pony. Or, was it, 'tore nearly a whole regiment in half'? I can never remember."
"I heard it was nearly three, and they were completely decimated." Supplied the other. Final Sight, most likely, seeing as he was the only unicorn of the two stallions.
"Wait, we talkin' the old-style definition here, or the more modern one?" Ian asked, only to get blank looks from the guards. "Old-style meant 'to brutally reduce by one tenth,' usually in reference to the ancient punishment for mutinous legions, where they'd kill one in every ten soldiers as an example... Modern dictionaries define it as 'the destruction of a large portion of something'."
"Caldoric! Get. Into. The vault...!" Luna demanded. "Now!"
"No...!" Ian said as he walked around her and away from the vault, to everyone's shock. "I have to go to Ponyville to fight Somnus as soon as possible, or he and Chrystalla will take over everything."
"Thou impudent, ungrateful whelp!" She replied, seizing him in her magic. "Thou willst do as we request like the rest of our little ponies, or thou willst suffer the consequences for thine actions. I am Princess Luna Selena Nocturnes Stellarum, and I command thy respect!"
"No, you demand my attention." Ian said flatly, and the guards swiftly backed into the vault, trying to hide behind various things within. "I am neither yours, nor little, nor a pony. I am also not neither native to, nor a resident of, any of the nations of this world/plane of existence, nor do I hail from any of the adjacent planes or demiplanes thereof. As such, my state of origin falls under the description of "free peoples," meaning that I am allowed to roam wherever I see fit and do as I wish, without being subject to any set of laws belonging to the land(s) I am in at any given time. I've only been cooperative thus far because I'm not genocidal, and said cooperation has been mutually beneficial."
"Aaaaaaauuugh! Enough of thy bile, Knave! Get in the gods-damned vault!" Luna yelled in frustration, before hurling him bodily into the chamber, followed more gently by Jinka as the guards extricated themselves and the vault door began to close. "It's for the best of all that thou remain'st there 'til further notice, mark my words! We will take care of that shadowy bastard and that chitinous witch! And then, there are things we must discuss upon our return!" With that, the vault had finished closing, and Ian was left in semi-darkness. In a flash, he was back on his feet and banging on the flat, featureless inner surface of the vault door, Jinka hot on his trail.
"Oh, yeah?!" Ian shouted. "D'you not like what I said? Or do you just not like me?!?" At this point, faint yet familiar music began to play in the enclosed space, and Ian broke into his first situationally triggered song since his arrival (the songs played at the previous night's party didn't count). It was one he'd heard before, back on Earth, and would occasionally listen to on loop when he was upset with someone: "I'm Just Your Problem" from Adventure Time, as sung by Marceline, the vampire queen. Of course, he decided to change some of the lyrics to fit the situation, and accommodate for the lines he'd forgotten.
♪Well, I'm sorry I don't treat you both like goddesses,
♪Is that what you want me to do?
♪I'm sorry I don't treat you like you're perfect,
♪Like all your little loyal subjects do.
♪Yeah, I know I'm not made of sugar,
♪So of course I ain't sweet-e-nough for you!
♪Is that why your ponies avoid me?
♪It must be so damn inconvenient to all of you.♪
Ian paused his singing, and dropped to his knees with his arms by his sides. Jinka's head butted under his arm, trying to comfort the former human, and the Hikaki started to drool tiny streams of lava as Ian pulled him closer and began idly petting him.
♪But I'm just your pro~blem,
♪No, I'm just "a pro~blem"
♪You've shown that I'm... Not even a person, in your eyes.
♪Because... I'm just "your pro~blem"...♪
Ian paused again, searching fruitlessly for the next line. He nearly gave up, only to decide that he might as well wing the next verse, and work with the moment. Not like anyone else was listening, anyways...
♪Well, I~ don't have to be who you want me to,
♪And I~ ain't gonna just blindly bow to you.
♪I'm forgin' myself from pure nothing,
♪Tryin' so hard to be something,
♪And I~ shouldn't have to do anything for you...♪
Ian stood up and walked over to the defunct Mirror Portal as he finished the hastily improvised lines. If anyone were to be in the room, watching him, they would've seen his entire posture droop as his head came to rest on the upper edge of the mirror's ornate lavender frame.
♪But... why do I want~ to...?
♪Why feel the need to...
♪Seek vengeance for her... mother...
♪But should I try to...?♪
Ian could feel his conflicting emotions shredding the underpinning structure behind the song, bringing something that might've been halfway good to an early close. He placed a hand on the Mirror's flat surface and tried to squeeze out a few more bits of ad-lib music, for better or worse.
♪Ba-dum dum da-dum...
♪Just wanna go back home...
♪Ba-dum dum da-dum...
♪Should leave y'all to your o-o-own...
♪If I could fix this thing, I'd be on my merry way,
♪If I... If...♪
"Fuck... No, no, that's it: it's dead. The moment's passed." He said at last, stumbling to a halt on the musical front. "Seriously, how do these Ponies do it? How do they just ad-lib entire songs at the drop of a proverbial hat? Let alone have it turn into an unscripted Thanksgiving Day parade through the middle of town...!"
Jinka looked up at Ian in confusion, and let out a concerned burble.
"No, no, you're right, Jinka. I need to try and get this piece of shit running again, seeing as it's probably my -- er, our -- only way outta here... No inner lock on the door, no windows or vents to speak of, and no way of forcing myself to be 'summoned' elsewhere. And I'd rather not add additional counts property damage to the probably already growing list of grievances against me..."
Ian glared down at the mirror intently, as if willing it to give up its secrets. When nothing of the sort happened, and Jinka had apparently become distracted by something somewhere else in the vault, Ian started muttering to himself in frustration. For the most part, it consisted of lamentations about: A), his lack of pertinent magical knowledge (or any magical knowledge whatsoever,) B), his additional lack of knowledge about both theoretical and quantum physics, beyond what he'd gleaned from the internet and works of science fiction or fantasy (most of which was probably bullshit, to be fair,) and C) pretty much everything in general.
As was usual for him, he started talking to himself as he looked around, thinking aloud as he tried to piece together some sort of solution.
"Like, seriously, how the fuck am I expected to deal with this shit... Assuming this even functions the same way as the Quantum Mirror, which it probably doesn't, knowing my usual luck, there should be some sort of absurdly hard-to-use remote to change which reality it connects to... If anything, Twilight should be the one dealing with this, since she got it to work outside the normal schedule..." He ran a hand through the wires, cables, and chains that comprised his "hair," and idly wished he had something to tie the stuff back with. "Damnit, I even said as much to Luna just now... I'm going in mental circles here, and it's pissing me off."
Ian shifted his glare to the window-like apparatus mounted above the portal. He found it unsettling how often he was reminded of his new height by everyday situations now: even at around 7.2 feet tall, (which was the average height of a Toa, if he remembered correctly,) the ornamental extrusion was slightly above eye level for him.
The mirror itself was one of those slightly-bigger-than-full-length kinds, just tall and wide enough to squeeze the average person through, or even a pony if they were so inclined. Add to that the two-tiered circular base, with untold quantities of horseshoe icons plastered all over it, the whole thing came off as gaudy and excessive, and if it weren't his only possible way home, Ian would have given some serious thought to just smashing the damn thing out of frustration and spite.
Oh, and despite being an inanimate object, it had this strange air of smugness about it that definitely wasn't there the last time he had visited.
"Damn useless piece of junk, this is..." He grumbled, stowing his hands in his armor pockets as he settled for giving the base a good, solid kick. "...Just like I am, I'd reckon." He stopped his complaining immediately, however, when his eyes caught sight of the almost cartoonishly slow quiver spreading out from where he'd kicked the mirror's base, before it began traveling at a more modest clip up the mirror itself.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me..."
The quaking of the mirror finally reached the peak, before it caused the window-like thing at the top (and the short bar connecting it to the mirror,) to start vibrating right up out of the socket it had probably been placed into when the whole ensemble was crafted. It's a shame they didn't manage to weld it on or something, so this wouldn't happen... some part of Ian's mind thought, as the rest of his attention became focused on catching the small part before it could make a break for... well, breakage, one might say.
After almost comically bobbling it about for several seconds whilst trying to keep it from smashing on the flagstones, Ian finally managed to get a safe hold on the... thingy. I can't just keep thinking of this as a window, He thought to himself, as he noted the Bionicle symbol fading from its surface, in fact, it looks kind of like a hand mirror now, with this little bar thing attached. Yeah, that could be the handle, and the rest is like a mini version of the larger mirror... Gods, this thing is so tacky. Wait, what's this at the base here...?
Turning the mirror part over, he noted something oddly familiar, though he couldn't quite place where he'd seen it before for a second. It's like... like a rectangle overlayed with a block-text letter "X", if the silhouette's anything to judge by... But these odd grooves all up and down the side are just so-- wait. Ian suddenly dove his left hand into the corresponding hip pocket in his armor, bending over so that his arm went in well past the elbow as he reached into the deepest recesses of his "inventory". Seconds later, he pulled something out of his pocket with a cry of triumph that startled Jinka.
Ian had pulled out the brassy switch from --oh, what was it, yesterday? Earlier today? Eh, questions for later -- from whenever he'd found it, and compared it to the other item he was holding. It was a complete match.
Rrrrr? Jinka inquired, suddenly at ian's side, almost startling the Toa into dropping what he was holding.
"Oh, hey there boy..." He said, reaching down and giving the Hikaki a scratch or two on the back of the head. "Nevermind that moping I was doing a bit ago, we're back in business! I may have found something to get us out of here. Or, someone, more like. All I gotta do is just plonk this switch thingy in the hole, flip it, and we should hopefully have company... I think."
"Kraaaaa!" A small voice cried from off to one side. Ian turned to find an airborne Imp headed right towards his face, snarling and primed to attack on contact. A quick dodge and two shots from the Zat gun later, and all that was left was a pile of multicolored gem-like game constructs that Ian knew as "grist", which Jinka was more than enthusiastic enough to pick up.
"Damn Imps..." Ian muttered, as several others stepped out from behind the mirror. "Sucks that Homestuck never covered how and where they spawn..."
A few seconds later, and they, too, had been reduced to grist and collected. There was also a small surprise for Ian.
"Huh, it looks like one of them tried to weaponize a frying pan..." He said, picking up the item in question, along with the corresponding strife card, which read "pankind". "Really? Pankind? I didn't think that one was canon... or, at least, I assumed that frying pans would fall under club- or jokerkind... meh, questions for later. Right now, I should get back to sticking the thing in the other thing, and... stuff. Gods, I'm tired. But, no rest for the wicked, as they say." With that, he reached over and carefully inserted the switch into the slot on top of the mirror.
"Und now, ve flip ze svitch." Ian said with a faux German accent, more to himself than anything, and toggled the lever with a click! But nothing happened. "Oh, vat? Vell, perhaps it must go ze ozzer vey... Nein, es ist not verking in eizzer direction. Vat am I doing wrong?" Ian then tried toggling it back and forth multiple times, in increasingly rapid succession. When next he spoke, he'd dropped the horrible accent.
"Seriously, what am I doing wrong here... I'm sure I'm missing something, but what is it? A power source? Hidden on/off switch? Blood sacrifice to some heathen god? Maybe a secret code word? I dunno..." He scratched the back of his head for the umpteenth time. "Alakazam...! Abracadabra...! Open Sesame. Alohamora? Swordfish! No, wait, that one's too obvious, everyone uses 'swordfish' as the secret password... By the power of Greyskull! To infinity and beyond! Augh, I'm getting nowhere..."
"If you need aid, call on the stars and Switch On!" Said a voice in Ian's head, delivering a familiar message.
"Call upon the stars...?" Ian muttered, confused. "I wonder... Does it mean, like, space stars, or celebrity stars, or something else entirely? Doesn't hurt to try, I guess... Pisces, Aquarius, Capricorn, Sirius, Polaris, Ursa Major and Canis Minor, and anything else along the way that may be listening: I beseech thee, open yon portal, that I might be aided in righting what hath been made wrong!"
Nothing happened. And it continued to not happen for several seconds.
"Gods damn it! Work, blasted thing!" Ian commanded. "By the Green Sun and the Red Star, I demand that you function!" With that, he attempted to swat the gilded switch that seemed to mock him so, only to inadvertently toggle the lever at its top with a more-audible-than-normal click.
Ian barely had time for a hurried thought of Oh, shit...! before the mirror portal suddenly began emitting the sort of rapid-paced, multi-tone beeping sounds one would hear in cartoons shortly before a given device was about to comedically explode in someone's face. As this happened, each of the eleven gems set into the mirror's frame began flickering through an untold number of color combinations. Ian continued to stand there, stunned, like an idiot.
There was a snap-WHIRRR! followed by the two gems at the bottom-left-most corner (at about the 7:00 & 8:00 positions,) locking onto a deep navy color. This was immediately followed by a slightly higher-pitched snap-WHIRRR! as the two gems at 10:00 & 11:00 caught and lingered on a bright orange. There was a pause, succeeded by an even higher-pitched snap-WHIRRR! as the gems at 1:00 & 2:00 settled on a deep obsidian color, closely tailed by the ones at 4:00 & 5:00 becoming bright yellow to the tune of the highest-pitched snap-WHIRRR! yet.
Arcs of electrical energy had begun crackling all over the mirror by now, and still Ian stood in front of it, dumbstruck. It occurred to him, now, that he should probably take a few steps back... Or even sideways...
THREE...! a deep, sourceless voice proclaimed in a horrible Japanese accent, accompanied by a horn-like sound, while the gem at 9:00 glowed orange, then silver, and finished with a brilliant white.
TWO...! the voice said again, with a deeper horn, as the 3:00 gem mimicked its predecessor.
ONE...! the voice concluded, though it was followed up with a double klaxon sound Ian was all too familiar with from watching Stargate. As such, he instinctively dove to the left, and was soon glad he did. As the gem at 12:00 glowed orange, then silver, and then white, a ball of energy comprised of every color imaginable (and a few unimaginable ones,) formed in front of the . mirror, only to suddenly lance out almost to the door.
For half a second it stayed like that, before falling back to its point of origin, and then the whole thing "splashed" outwards along a vertical plane that ran parallel to the mirror: there was now what appeared to be an active, swirling Technicolor vortex larger than a car hovering in midair, and Ian had no idea what was to happen next.
He certainly didn't expect a giant yellow... thing, which vaguely looked like a cross between heavy construction machinery and the Batmobile from The Dark Knight to come barreling out of it, only to smash into the vault door and break it into countless pieces across the hall outside.
The machine quickly rolled to a stop, and Ian was keenly aware of the faint plink-plink-plink sound of cooling metal that came from its general direction as he and Jinka tried to extricate themselves from the other's grip. As they did, some part of the machine's topmost armor finally opened, and out stepped... Well, to be honest, Ian wasn't sure what it was, but it was definitely humanoid, and human-sized. It also looked like a Power Ranger that'd barely survived wandering through the wrong side of space camp.
Ian turned to Jinka and knelt in front of the smaller Rahi, carefully cradling its head between his hands. "Alright, boy," he said softly, "I need you to stay here for the time being. I'll be heading into danger and I don't want you hurt, 'kay?" The Hikaki emitted a faint rumbling in its chest, then nosed once at Ian's mask and sat down. Ian patted him on the head, then turned back to the new arrival, who was looking around dazedly, and hurried over to them.
"Oi, you. Power Ranger guy." Ian said to the stranger. "Not to be rude, but let's get going. They'll've heard that, most likely, and will probably be on their way here. I've got a dictator to kill, and I can't do that if I'm in a cell for imagined slights against the crown..."
The figure perked up at his words, then turned its teardrop-shaped head to face him, revealing two bug-eyed, fluorescent orange lenses on its dark face. "Ok," the stranger said, it's voice that of a young man somewhere in his 20's, "before we go any further: I'm not a Power Ranger, I'm a Kamen Rider. Kamen Rider Fourze, to be exact!" He then put his fists on his hips and struck a dramatic pose.
"...'Common' rider?" Ian asked with a faint smile, slightly confused. "What, are there 'uncommon' or even 'rare' riders I should look out for too?" Fourze merely sighed and facepalmed, shaking his head at what he could only presume was a terrible joke.
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Originally published 9/20/17
Christ, Luna was an absolute bitch in this chapter.
Good God....
8440058
Not by intent... Equestria is essentially at war, remember, and it's something they're not as used to as we humans are, so everyone's kinda stressed. Then, to have folks from two different realities show up, (one of whom seems intent on annoying everyone around him,) plus the fact that Luna's from a time more akin to our dark ages, where folks were more apt to do what royalty told them without question... I think it might be a bit justified for her to lose her cool a bit.
Sorry if you don't like it, though.
8440619
I know, but seeing as how they need all the help they can get, she's taking an awful risk. He may seem annoying to them, but he's still their best chance. And Luna just essentially botched that one up big time.
So many Hellsing abridge refense, so little time. Also, that song is going to stuck in my head for a while. Now, I'm going to guess and say that the shadow thing that Lan became has something to do with him being human, part toa, and in Equestria? If so, I can see you doing a Ying and Yang thing going on during the battle between him and bitch face mc fee.
8441511
Ah, the shadowy thing is more of a Homestuck thing, to be honest. It's called "going Grimdark," when someone goes completely and totally off the deep end (usually with grief). However, funny you should mention the Yin-Yang idea... Caldoric/Ian (capital "i" there, btw,) will have something like that to deal with, in the future. And, "bitchface McFee"? To whom might you be referring? Somnus/Sombra? Chrystalla/Chrysalis?
8441685
Ok, I see what I did with Ian, sry was late here when I write that. Also, to the question of who, Yes.