My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Heart of Friendship

by ShadowDurza

Chapter 15: Darkness Matters

The Underworlder Boss made his first move with a leaping downward slash. “Nightmare Slasher!” Following this statement, a solid-black wave of energy erupted from the path his blade cut through the air. The ponies were forced to scatter as the attack gouged out the floor where they used to be standing.

Rainbow Dash took the initiative and flew in at an angle to strike from the side. However, the Underworlder Boss released one of his hands’ grip on his sword as he stood up straight after his jump and pulled it back with an open palm. “Touch of Evil!” On that note, his hand became shrouded in a solid-black undulating aura which extended ten times its size. Rainbow Dash was forced to barrel roll out of the way while he swiped at her.

Applejack and Pinkie Pie tried to rush him from the front from two points, charging in with determined looks. However, the Underworlder Boss raised both his arms horizontally as a curtain of black energy appeared behind him. Thrusting his arms forward, he cried “Dark Impale!” and from the curtain erupted countless rope-like tendrils who’s sharp points undulated through the air towards the two earth ponies. The two of them were forced to break off their charge as Rarity tried to deflect the strikes with a shield of ethereal crystal, only for the tendrils to bury their tips in the wall as the crystal lost its shine and decayed to nothing, dispersing like a cloud of salt.

The ponies regrouped as the Underworlder Boss took a stance before them. As the combatants started each other down, the tension was broken by a hollering from the stands. Katrina stepped forward making a time-out gesture. “Hold it! Hold it! Time-out! Time-out!”

The Ponies dropped their stance as the Underworlder Boss sighed and sheathed his sword. “What is it now, Katrina?”

Katrina closed her eyes as she took a deep breath for a moment. “We all respect you and think you’re cool, boss, but the truth is… nobody’s called out their attacks in over thirty years.”

The Underworlder Boss went rigid. “Really? You mean it’s old-fashioned?”

Katrina held up her hands and shrugged. “Yeah, and despite how awesome your darkness element is, it just makes you look really lame with all that hollering and screaming.”

The Underworlder Boss sighed and gestured to the rest of his Administrators. “Joe, is this true?” Crazy Joe nodded his head and made an affirmative-sounding grunt.

Mort raised his hand. “I think it makes you look cool, boss. Kicking it old school and all that.”

The Underworlder Boss just shook his head at that. “Nobody likes a kiss-up, Mort. When will you learn?” At that, Mort made an awkward laugh and hung his head even lower with a sad look.

Twilight got an awkward look on her face and started gesturing with her hoof. “Are we fighting or what? We’d much rather get going, especially if you’re just going to talk!”

The Underworlder Boss scoffed and drew his sword with both hands once again. “Oh, I intend to finish what I started! Let’s resume the fight, okay?”

The Underworlder Boss then extended his arms to point his weapon directly at the ponies. The tip of his sword flashed with a black and purple light and with a recoiling motion launched a swarm of missiles of darkness that briefly spread out before hurling at the ponies. Twilight extended her wings and put up an extra-large barrier around her friends. However, as the initial missiles made contact with the barrier, they burst on contact and somehow began drawing in and eroding the magic.

Twilight, with a look of alarm, turned back to her friends and shouted “Scatter!” When the barrier came down, the ponies rushed in all directions as they were chased by the missiles of darkness. As Fluttershy tried to escape with a look of panic, the Underworlder Boss came bearing down on her from the front. However, as he drew his sheathed blade to strike at her legs in the one motion, Fluttershy leaped out of the way and kicked the Underworlder boss to the floor as she vaulted off him to ascend into the air.

Almost immediately after he hit the ground, the Underworlder Boss rolled to his feet and made an upward diagonal slash with his weapon, releasing a crescent-shaped flying slash of darkness that cleaved one of Pinkie’s party cannons in two and forcing Pinkie Pie herself to bounce out of the way.

The Underworlder Boss stood straight up and turned towards Twilight, who was concentrating a massive amount of magic above her. Suddenly, the Underworlder Boss released one of his grips from his sword and started making motions with his free hand. From the path of his spinning palm appeared a series of black and purple glyphs which arranged to form a small circle overlapping the bottom half of a larger circle.

Twilight launched her bomb of magic at the Underworlder Boss, but the smaller circle started spinning and as soon as the bomb made contact with the array, all the magic got drawn in. Then, the larger circle of the array started spinning and suddenly released a wave of pure magic, several times more intense than the magic that was drawn in. Twilight had to teleport as the blast blew a hole into the side of the room. However, Applejack, who thought to take advantage of the concentration needed for such a complex spell, bucked him in the back and sent him flying to the ground once his guard was down.

However, once again, the Underworlder Boss immediately rolled back to his feet after colliding with the ground and pointed his darkness-enshrouded hand at Applejack. From his palm, a vortex erupted with a howl. Applejack found herself being drawn towards the Underworlder Boss and was suddenly sent flying toward him. He grabbed her mane in hand with an iron grip and reared back his sword, aiming the tip at her neck. However, both Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy zoomed down from above and kicked him on the back full-force, the shock of which allowed Applejack to get away.

The Ponies moved in formation to surround the Underworlder Boss and braced themselves. However, he just sat there, crouched and hunched on the ground. Then, he started laughing, to the confusion of the ponies. He continued laughing as he stood straight up and sheathed his sword, which disappeared in another glimmer of darkness. “That was a fight for the ages! That’s your win, you little ponies you!”

At first, the ponies were shocked, looking at one another in confusion. Twilight tilted her head. “Wait, you started this fight and declared it over, just like that?”

The Underworlder Boss gave a hearty laugh and shook his head. “I suppose since you were basically fighting for your lives, you didn’t bother to count your score, is that it? First, the pink-maned pegasus’s unwitting counterattack had me on the ground, so that was three points to you. Then, that kick from the earth pony in the hat gave you another three points, totalling to six. And finally, that combo attack from the pegasi interrupted my counterattack, which counted as a two-pointer critical hit for both of them. That’s ten, and by league rules, that’s a win by TKO.”

Twilight raised her head in surprise. She then looked at the underworld grunts surrounding them, who despite their brief looks of disappointment, broke out into a hearty applause, cheering the ponies names. The Administrators just sighed and shrugged at one another, then held their thumbs up at the ponies.

The Ponies grouped back together and started waving at the onlookers (especially Pinkie, who did so with great enthusiasm). Then, the Underworlder Boss approached them, which abruptly silenced the applause. “I’ve come to a conclusion.”

Twilight raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

The Underworlder Boss cleared his throat. “Through battle, I have examined your hearts and found them to be overwhelmingly strong and pure. It’s the kind of strength that can only emerge after being honed by facing countless forms of adversity from truly formidable opposition. And yet, your codes of honor are not only intact, but have been further tempered by facing countless perils and the threat of great loss. I believe that you mean the best for the human race and are willing to accept and personally mitigate the consequences of unleashing a tremendous change upon both my people and yours.”

Twilight turned her head and frowned on that last note. “What do you mean, ‘consequences’?”

The Underworlder Boss shook his head and gestured. “To accept humanity into your world means accepting both the best and the worst of it. I’m not exaggerating when I say that there are criminals in Core Metro so vile and dangerous that I would never allow them into my gang of underworlders. If we do go back to the surface, odds are your people and others will never know another day of peace.”

Twilight looked at each of her friends and they all nodded and smiled. She turned back towards the Underworlder Boss with a grin. “We can’t let your people suffer just because we’re afraid of the consequences, we deal with problems all the time, they’re a part of life. Darkness will always exist in the world, but we and our light will always be there to stand against it!” Then, she turned her head and gave an awkward smile. “Um… no offense.”

The Underworlder Boss broke out laughing once again. “None taken! None taken! The darkness element has always had a bad reputation, but without its ability to draw in and erase everything, especially other magic, you’d probably have to deal with the sky falling on your heads every other Tuesday!”

At that, the ponies erupted into laughter, and all the underworlders awkwardly followed along. The Underworlder Boss gestured to Durza who walked to the ponies and held his hands up towards them. “Durza’s shadow magic will put you all back where you belong. But before you go, a little word of warning from a street-smart old man…”

Twilight frowned and leaned her head forward. “What’s that?”

The Underworlder Boss cleared his throat. “Whatever you do, when you meet him, don’t trust the High Director.”

Twilight looked taken aback. “W-w-w-what do you mean, sir?”

The Underworlder Boss shook his head. “We humans have a saying: Those that are most worthy of power are those that don’t seek it. That also means that those that do seek power are the ones least worthy of having it. This is a reflection of how we used to run things.

“You see, long, long ago, thousands of years before we went underground, humans waged countless battles with one another for supremacy. Chaos reigned, then one day, the best and brightest among them started gaining mysterious marks on their bodies. After this, they found that their magic had become inexhaustible, they no longer aged, and that no wound or ailment could claim their lives.

‘These warriors decided that they were given these abilities for a reason, and used them to bring harmony to the chaos. The humans realized that these new kinds of beings were worth obeying and bowed down to them, proclaiming them immortals. Each one worked to maintain a different aspect of human life and the natural order, issuing commands and offering mediation between disagreeing parties when needed. There were still fights, as we are a warrior race, but it was for the sake of honoring both themselves and their opponents.

“It is said that for a human to become an immortal, three conditions must be fulfilled. First, a human must hone their magic and whatever skills they specialize in to perfection. Next, they must take up a resolution in their hearts. Finally, they must perform a great deed worthy of being proclaimed a leader.”

Twilight held her hoof to her chin with an inquisitive look. “Well, if the immortals were so great, why aren’t they in charge of the city? And as far as I know, most of the city considers them a myth by this point, why are you different?”

The Underworlder Boss sighed and clapped his faceplate in his gauntleted hand. “Well, nobody knows exactly why, but when we went underground, they didn’t follow. If you ask me, it’s a sign that we weren’t meant to live like this, so you ponies better hurry up and set things right at the Central Administration, and don’t take no for an answer from anyone! And as for why I believe, let’s just say… I once had undeniable proof right in my hands”

Suddenly, Durza coughed. “Um… sir? I don’t mean to complain, but my arms are getting tired.”

The Underworlder Boss made an awkward laugh. “Alright, send ‘em home, Durza.”

Durza’s shadow extended from under him and encircled the ponies. As they sunk back into darkness, the Underworlder Boss called out. “You won’t be getting any more trouble from us! Oh, and remember: don’t trust the High Director! I can’t deny he has good intentions in his own way, but we humans have another saying about good intentions that’s best left unsaid!”