Spell 16 - Final Hope
It’s showtime.
- Haruto Souma / Kamen Rider Wizard
TTTTTTTT
Spell 16
Final Hope
TTTTTT
Twilight was horrified to see her friend just laying there on the ground, Haru’s body burned and bruised with his chest rising and falling slowly. Haru was alive, but in the condition that he was in, only Celestia knows how long that would last.
While five of the six mares were looking over their wounded friend (for some reason, Fluttershy kept her distance from Haru), Applejack told them all of Phoenix’s appearance and how the Phantom had defeated the magical dragon rather easily. Not even managing to even really hurt the Phantom at all, Haru really got injured by blocking an attack that the Phantom launched at Applejack and Fluttershy.
Twilight stood there for a few seconds soaking in all of the information before she turned to her friends, “Girls, we have to get Haru back to Ponyville, and fast.”
“Would he be okay on the trip back?” Rarity questioned, nopony realizing that Pinkie Pie had trotted over to Haru and reached into his jacket, ruffling her hoof through it. “With how he is, I doubt that Haru would be able to last too long.”
“Not a problem!” Rainbow Dash proclaimed as she brought a hoof to her chest. “I’ll just fly Wizard to Ponyville, drop him off at the hospital and zip right back here! It’ll only take me ten minutes! No wait! I can do it twenty percent cooler! It’ll take seven minutes!”
‘That math is wrong,’ Twilight thought to herself.
“And if ya’ll were going that fast, what do ya think would happen to Mistah Souma?” Applejack questioned with a slightly raised brow. “Sides, do ya really think ya’ll can even lift the dragon? He’s not exactly the lightest thing around.”
“He should probably cut out some of the doughnuts every once in a while,” Pinkie stated nonchalantly as she pulled out a crumpled, emptied bag of doughnuts from Haru’s jacket and tossed it out to the side.
“Yeah, well, we gotta do something!” Dash retorted to Applejack before she pointed a hoof at the growing smoke overhead. “Every second we waste here, Wizard’s getting worst and the smoke above us isn’t making this situation any better.”
“And we can’t disappoint Princess Celestia,” Twilight mumbled before she looked at Haru. “But we have to help Haru…”
“Ooh, then you can use this,” Pinkie Pie announced as she pulled a ring from Haru’s jacket and held it towards Twilight, surprising the unicorn. “This should be the right deus ex machina!”
Twilight blinked a few times at the ring that was being held in front of her, the ring itself showed a rather calm looking dragon carved into it with a nurse’s cap atop its head with a cross in the hat. “A Magic Ring? Pinkie Pie, I know how to use his rings, but if I were to use his Connect Ring, I don’t know where he’d go.”
“Well duh!” Pinkie Pie replied. “Of course you don’t know how to use his Connect Ring, that’s why I got one of the newer rings he made – The Recover Ring!”
“Recover?” Twilight questioned as her horned glowed brightly. “I’ve never seen him use that ring before.”
“Of course, he didn’t see a need for it,” Pinkie Pie answered with a bright smile on her face. “He usually never takes a hit when he fights a Phantom, but he’ll use it for other things! Didn’t you ever wonder about those times he went to get those Magic Stones but didn’t use any new rings?”
Twilight had to concede those points.
“So, this ring can fix up Wizard?” Dash asked looking over Twilight.
“Pinkie Pie, did you see Mister Souma use this ring before?” Rarity asked.
Pinkie Pie shifted her eyes left and right for a second before she kicked a beaten up black notebook that had the words ‘Friendship is Showtime Outline – For MangaKamen’s Eyes Only’ off of the side of the cliff. “Yeah, let’s go with that. I saw Haru use this on a filly who scrapped her knee, maybe it’ll work on him?”
Twilight eyed the ring for a second before she closed her eyes, ‘I did this once before… I’m sure I can do this! For my friend!’
Taking a deep breath, Twilight began to focus her magical energy into the ring. For a moment, nothing happened, at least until the ring glowed a bright purple. Twilight kept surging her magic through the ring as a large purple, moon-adorned runic circle appeared over Haru’s body. “RECOVER – PLEASE!”
The circle began to turn quickly, allowing several purple sparks to slip from the circle and float down into Haru’s body. As the sparks flowed into the dragon’s body, the burns, bruises and cuts began to fade away and his breathing began to return to a slower, more normal pace. When the circle disappeared, Haru looked back to full health, to the fact that he almost looked like he was just sleeping.
And by the fact that he was snoring slightly, that was probably the case.
Twilight sighed loudly as she slumped to the ground, the ring falling to the ground and bouncing a few times on the rocky ground. ‘W-Wow… That took a lot out of me. The last time I did that, I barely used my magic that day, but that nearly wiped me out. Either Haru’s got a lot more mana to him than he lets on, or using one of those spells just takes more than he shows.’
“Alright! Great job Twi!” Dash yelled out as she landed next to Haru and poked his head a few times with her front hoof. “Now all we gotta do is wake him up and we can get him to follow us.”
“As much as that plan would work, Rainbow Dash,” Rarity pointed out as she helped Twilight to her hooves. “From what Applejack told us, I think it would be best for Mister Souma to get his rest.”
“Ah agree with ya, Rarity,” Applejack sighed as she pulled her hat down. “It took almost everything Ah had just to drag Mistah Souma. So, until he can move on his own, Ah doubt we can move.”
“But come on!” Dash groaned loudly. “Couldn’t we just have Twilight lift him up with her magic? Then we could just continue on the paths here on hoof… Well, you girls can, I can fly.”
“I… I guess I could try,” Twilight sputtered slightly as she stood up straight and took a deep breath. “We do have to continue with this quest from Princess Celestia.”
“Nonsense Twilight,” Rarity stated as her horn began to glimmer a bright blue. “You’re not the only unicorn in our little group. And while I’m not accustomed to levitating something as big as Mister Souma, I’m sure it won’t be an issue.”
The same blue aura slipped over the knocked out dragon, and slowly he began to lift off of the ground, his limbs dragging against the ground. Rarity took a deep breath as she began to trot off with Haru floating behind her. “Well, shall be going then?”
“Finally!” Dash sighed as she flew overhead, taking every few seconds to tap Haru on the face with her hoof in an attempt to wake him up.
Pinkie Pie, Applejack and Twilight followed their friends, however, Fluttershy had been completely silent and kept her distance from Haru. There were so many scary things on this mountain – Two dragons and that Phantom monster that all her friends seemed to know about.
Her wings had locked up and snapped to her back, and no matter how hard she tried, the young pegasus couldn’t spread her wings. It was a nervous little tick she had when she was really frightened by something – And one of those ‘things’ was right next to her friends.
But, the thought of being left behind by her friends on this mountain with that fiery Phantom walking about wasn’t appealing. So, with a slight gulp, Fluttershy slowly trotted behind her friends.
TTTTTT
“Alright, what ya got there?”
“Um, Reach out to the truth?”
“Nope.”
“Uh, Wyld Stallions?”
“Tartarus no! That’s a first print!”
“The Bat-Stallion soundtrack?”
“TOSS IT!”
Near the cave atop of the mountain, a sleek, vinyl record flew through the air until a bird made of flames crashed into it, sending shards flying through the smoky air. Hellhound whistled as he watched the charred remains of the record fall to the ground. “Nice shot Master Phoenix!”
The fiery Phantom waved his right hand, making a few embers float from his hand. Phoenix was laying atop of one of the rocks near the cave and sighed loudly, “Enough of the praise, kiddo. What’s the next record ya got?”
“Uh, Pony in Pink?” Hellhound stated as he placed a hoof on the record.
“PULL!”
With a quick twist, Hellhound spun the record through the air as Phoenix snapped his hand towards it and shot another fiery bird of flames. The flame crashed into the vinyl record and made its broken shards fling through the air. Hellhound shook his head before he turned towards Phoenix who threw his arms over his head. ‘Master Phoenix, didn’t you get to fight that Ring Mage? I know Master Phoenix is known among the Phantoms as the Dreaded, but even he should’ve had a hard time against that masked dragon.
‘The Ring Mage destroyed at least two Phantoms, laid the smack down to Minotaur – Even when he did have Master Phoenix’s power – And only Lord Hades knows what else this Ring Mage did!
‘Master Phoenix… You’re much scarier than I thought…’
Phoenix sighed loudly as he sat up and rolled his head about. “Oi, Kiddo.”
The pony disguised Phantom gulped audibly as he nodded, “Y-Yes Master Phoenix?”
Phoenix lifted his hand up to his face and clenched his fingers tightly as flames flew from in between his fingers. “Did you see something when you were awakened?”
“Uh, you mean when I woke up this morning?” Hellhound questioned with his head tilted slightly.
“No, dingus!” Phoenix growled as he jumped off the rock and walked over to Hellhound. “I meant when you became a Phantom!”
“Uh, I… I can’t remember,” Hellhound stated with his head lowered and his ears drooping. “I can remember a few things about what my life was before this, but… some things are fuzzy.”
“I see, well, I can remember what I saw when I was awakened,” Phoenix stated as he lifted his arms up. “When I awoke, I had one vision – The world set ablaze. And do you know what I saw there?
“A fury. It was a great and terrible fury – The flames of Tartarus engulfing anything and everything that I come across. As I stumbled across the land for those first few days after the Sabbath that vision was burned in my very eyes – Even when I wasn’t in my Phantom form.
“But that fury, that fire soon drew its way into my very core, creating something within me. At first, I didn’t know what it was – Until that fateful day.”
Phoenix turned his head up to the dark clouds above and chuckled, “Ya know, that day was as cloudy as it is now. On that day, I was in my Phantom form when a platoon of Canterlot’s Noble Soldiers crossed my path. Something about Canterlot Nobles just rubs me the wrong way, but I didn’t pay them any mind…
“But they surely paid attention to me – I guess they never saw a creature like me before, doesn’t help that I was still experimenting with my powers on a nearby forest – So they decided to attack me.”
Phoenix lifted his arms up clapped his hands together, “Of course I fought back – But, when I did, that flame in my very being grew. The intensity of it became stronger and stronger with each soldier that I cut down, and suddenly that vision made sense. I was reborn to fight.
“I found that out when a white stallion with a shield-like cutie mark confronted me in that group – He was stronger than the rest of them. He even managed to stop my attacks with his surprisingly strong defensive spells, but I knew he wouldn’t last long against me.
“If Medusa hadn’t shown up and stopped me, I would’ve taken that stallion’s life along with his comrades.”
Taking a moment to take a deep breath, Phoenix turned to the cave where the smoke kept pouring out from it. Then after a few moments, he looked over his right shoulder pad and turned his gaze towards Hellhound, “Defeating the strongest around, that’s what the flames meant to me. They are the flames of battle that demanded to grow with stronger and stronger opponents!
“And that’s why I wanted to face this Wizard – I thought he’d be able to make the flames grow stronger…”
Phoenix lowered his arms and shook his head, “Ya know what, never mind – What else we got in that box of records I can burn?”
“Uh, give me a sec,” Hellhound muttered as he shuffled through the box of vinyl records. “Uh, let’s see, would this Daniel Ingram record do?”
“That all depends,” Phoenix stated with a shrug.
TTTTTTT
“Your turn Fluttershy,” Twilight called out to her friend.
Fluttershy gulped as she looked to the rest of her friends on the opposing cliff. Having found a rather convenient flat path, the group of ponies and knocked out dragon had reached a portion of the path that required them to jump across to another ledge.
All of the ponies save for Fluttershy had easily made the jump to the other ledge, and Haru was still asleep on the same ledge as the young pegasus. Before the group made their daring leaps, Twilight wanted to make sure that they were all on the other ledge before they moved their dragon friend.
Although, Fluttershy had some reservations about this idea – The fact that the fall between the two ledges was really high, the sleeping dragon that was waiting for them at the top of the mountain, the sleeping dragon that was just a few feet behind her, and that mean Phantom that was wandering about on the mountain itself.
In short, there were a lot of reasons why Fluttershy just wanted to go back home, grab her covers and hide under the bed. “B-But, I… It’s so… Wide…”
“Once again, you can fly!” Dash pointed out with a roll of her eyes as she flew over the gap.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of!” Pinkie Pie announced before she leapt through the air and landed on the ledge near Fluttershy. “It’s just a hop, skip and a jump! See!”
Pinkie Pie then took a deep breath, preparing to sing a song to raise Fluttershy’s spirits. But just as the first note was about to be sung, a loud roar-like yawn echoed through the air, making Fluttershy yelp and leap over the gap to hide behind her friends.
Pinkie released her breath with a deep sigh and turned her attention towards the origin of the yawn, seeing Haru sitting up with his claws in front of his mouth. “I had the weirdest dream… I dreamt of a world where doughnuts didn’t exist…”
“Haru!” Pinkie announced, making the dragon jolt with his arms lifted up. “You’re awake! But you ruined a perfectly good chance for a song!”
“Huh?” Haru questioned with his head tilted slightly. “I, well… Wait, what?”
“Haru!” Twilight called out to the dragon.
The sleek dragon turned his attention towards the mares on the other cliff and then lowered his head with a sigh following. The dragon slowly got to his clawed feet and reached into his jacket, “Well, it was nice seeing you ladies, but if you excuse me…”
Haru’s eyes widened when he realized something was very, very, VERY wrong. Pulling the jacket up, the magical dragon saw that all of the pockets inside the jacket were completely empty, “My rings! Where are my rings?!”
A coy whistle caught the dragon’s attention to see that Rainbow Dash was flying over him with the Flame Style ring held in her hooves. “Sorry Wizard! But we had to make sure you didn’t run off again.”
“Rainbow Dash, give me my rings,” Haru growled as he jumped up trying to grab Dash, only to miss as the pegasus kept flying, just out of his reach. “This is not funny!”
Dash flew away from Haru, making the dragon throw his arms up into the air before he stepped over the surprisingly small gap between the two ledges and then began to chase after the pegasus. “GET BACK HERE!”
Twilight shook her head as she watched her dragon friend go after Rainbow Dash, without his magic rings he didn’t have a chance to catch the speedy pegasus.
“Should we tell him that Rainbow Dash doesn’t have all his rings?” Rarity suggested as she used her magic to pull out a few of Haru’s rings from her saddlebags.
“Nah, if Mistah Souma got his claws on the rings,” Applejack stated as she calmly began to follow the dragon and Pegasus. “He’d just up and disappear on us ‘gain.”
Twilight nodded in agreement as Pinkie leapt over the gap and the ponies continued on their path, following the brave pegasus. Fluttershy on the other hoof was still shaking slightly, not wanting to follow the red dragon that was up ahead. But being alone was worse, and thankfully, her friends were with her…
TT ~ A good half hour later… ~TT
“D-Dash! Give… Give me my…” Haru wheezed before he doubled over to catch his breath. “Oh, forget it!”
The dragon fell to the ground and wiped some sweat off of his brow as Dash floated about him, “Not bad, but c’mon Wizard, you’ve got more in ya than that!”
“Get… Off my back,” Haru retorted as he lifted his head up at Dash.
The rest of the ponies were able to catch up with the tired out dragon and speedy pegasus, with Twilight leading the group and Fluttershy way behind the others. Twilight trotted a little faster so she was able to reach Haru first, and looked him right in the eye. “Haru…”
The dragon turned his head away from Twilight, shifting his gaze away from the mare. However, Twilight lifted her hoof up to Haru’s chin and forced his attention to her, “Haru!”
“Oh! Hello there Twilight,” Haru chuckled sheepishly with his eyes turning away from Twilight’s.
There was an awkward moment of silence as the rest of the ponies reached them, Fluttershy still keeping her distance. It wasn’t until Haru realized he was surrounded before he lowered his head once more. “What?”
“Haru, about last night…” Twilight started.
However, Haru slammed his claws into the ground and lowered his upper body towards the ground, “I… I’m sorry! I… I didn’t want to attack you Twilight!”
“Haru! It wasn’t your fault!” Twilight snapped back at the dragon, her hoof still under his chin as she tried to make him look up (but he wouldn’t have it). “I know about that Phantom you have within you! He spoke to me before he tried to attack and…”
“That doesn’t matter!” Haru shouted as he shook his head. “It was still my claws, it was still my body, it was me who tried to attack you! It doesn’t matter if I wasn’t in control! I don’t want you Twilight, or anyone I care about to be hurt! Especially with my own claws!”
Haru placed his head into his claws and shook his head, “Don’t you see? I ran so I couldn’t hurt anypony… I don’t know if I’ll be in control and... And I’m scared. I’m scared of ponies dying, of seeing those I care about disappear before me.”
“Then what the Tartarus did ya think would happen with ya’ll pulling that disappearing stunt last night?” Applejack countered back with her eyes narrowed.
“At least you’d be safe from me…” Haru mumbled.
“Oh c’mon Haru,” Pinkie chuckled as she patted Haru on the back. “Sure you get a little crazy when you ingest all that sugar, but you’re hardly a danger.”
“Besides, you need to cut this emo stuff!” Rainbow Dash barked as she crossed her hooves over her chest. “It’s twenty-percent less cool than how you usually are! The Wizard I know wouldn’t be like this!”
“Nopony is perfect, Mister Souma,” Rarity stated with a nod. “We all make mistakes, and sometimes they are out of our hooves – Like that one time there was a mix up in my supply orders and I received these three weird coins with animals on them. Sure, I didn’t get my proper materials, but you have to work with what happens – The good and the bad.”
“Haru, you can keep beating yourself up,” Twilight added as she used her magic to lift her dragon’s head up. “But we’re your friends, we understand that some things happen that are out of your control. You don’t have to run Haru.”
The dragon didn’t say a word, however, a familiar red jeweled ring was lifted in front of his face, his attention drawn to Rainbow Dash. The rest of the mares began to place the many rings on the ground before the dragon, until Twilight placed the Flame Style Ring in front of him, which made Haru raise a brow in confusion. “Haru, we have to continue on our mission for Celestia, but here. We’ll be following this path if you want to find us.”
Slowly the mares began to pull away from their dragon friend and continued on their path. Fluttershy was the last to pass Haru, with her looking at the saddened eyes of the magical dragon. For a moment, Fluttershy lowered her head slightly at him before she trotted to catch up with her friends.
Rarity trotted a little faster to catch up with Twilight, “Darling, are you sure that was a good idea? Won’t he just run away again?”
“Don’t worry Rarity,” Twilight replied with a smile on her face. “I’m confident that Haru will do the right thing and…”
“CONNECT – PLEASE!”
At that moment, all of the mares turned around to see a familiar tail slip into the large red runic circle. All the rings were gone, along with the present, all pulled away in the fading rune. Twilight lowered her ears with a sigh, “Haru…”
“Mistah Souma,” Applejack muttered under her breath.
“Oh come on, everypony!” Pinkie Pie stated with a bright smile. “I’m sure he’ll be back! He probably just went to get some doughnuts.”
“Oh yeah right!” Dash barked as she flew up through the air. “He just up and ditched us!”
With their spirits slightly sullen, the mares continued on their trek through the mountains. However, they were unaware that a familiar red jeweled bird was following them from high overhead.
TTTTTT
More than half a day went by since Master Phoenix had taken Hellhound with him to aid him in his plans, and Harpie was actually enjoying the quietness as she tended to Minotaur’s wounds. Both were in their pony forms, just to make sure that no other ponies would come to mess up Minotaur’s recovery.
Of course, even with his pony form bandaged up and him resting, Harpie was still concerned for her fellow Phantom’s wellbeing and what the higher Phantom, Phoenix, would do to him. Phoenix was known for two things – His reputation as an enforcer of the Phantoms, and his unpredictability. Whether he still thought Minotaur was the one who stole one of his feathers was a mystery to Harpie, and if he was going to do something to the wounded Phantom…
“Hello!”
Harpie jumped into the air before she fell to the ground in surprise. She lifted her head up and looked about the clearing in the Everfree Woods, trying to find whoever had just spoken. Aside from the still sleeping Minotaur right next to her, the pony-disguised Phantom didn’t see anypony. “Who’s there?! Show yourself right now!”
“Aw, but where’s the fun in that?” the voice called out cheerfully. “Doesn’t everypony like a game of hide ‘n seek? Besides, all work and no play make Sora a dull colt!”
“Sora?” Harpie questioned with her head tilted slightly. With a shake of her head, Harpie’s pony body began to glow brightly. “Whatever! Show yourself right now before I’ll make you regret it!”
“Psst! Want a hint?”
“What?!” Harpie hissed as her body slowly began transform into her feathered Phantom form.
“Look down!”
Cancelling her transformation, Harpie looked down to realize that she was within breathing distance of a familiar green pegasus who was on the ground. “Hello!”
Harpie leapt backwards and fell to the ground with a rather loud slam with dust flying from the ground. Sora giggled as he pushed himself off of the ground, “Ah, what a nice happy reaction. Just what I would expect from Miss Hoofdini.”
“It’s… It’s Harpie!” The surprised Phantom wheezed out with her eyes narrowed down at the gleeful pegasus before her. “And now I remember you – You’re Gremlin!”
“Nope!” Sora chuckled as he trotted around Harpie. “It’s pronounced So-Ra. Sora! Not that hard to remember four little letters in that order, right?”
“Whatever you want to call yourself, I guess,” Harpie growled as she rolled her eyes. “Now what are you doing here?”
“Awe, no need to be all defensive against little ole me,” Sora pouted as he lifted up a hoof. “After all, I’m just here to help!”
“Help? How?” Harpie questioned, getting back to her hooves and got in front of the still sleeping Minotaur. “And more importantly, why?”
Sora waved his hoof in front of his face with a bright smile on his face, “You shouldn’t be so mistrusting. After all, isn’t he part of your family?”
Harpie’s eyes widened as Sora turned his head back and reached into his saddlebags. A few seconds later, Sora pulled out a few large leafs and such, and placed them on the ground. “You’d be surprised of the plants in this place. A lot of herbal and unique plants around here, and a good portion of them can be used for natural remedies.
“I’m not a doctor, just a traveler. Hehehehe.”
Sora sat down on the ground as Harpie looked at the herbs in front of her. For a moment, the disguised Phantom turned towards the smiling pegasus in front of her and then back at the herbs. With a sigh, Harpie used her hoof to take the herbs and draw them closer to her. “Why are you bothering to help?”
“Oh, cause ya know,” Sora replied as he pulled his fedora from his head. “I can’t ignore a Phantom with a Pony’s heart.”
Harpie’s eyes widened and she quickly lifted her head up. “Wait, what?!”
However, Sora was nowhere in sight. Just as quickly as he appeared, he disappeared. Harpie looked around the clearing, but there was no trace of the weird pegasus – Only the herbs that he brought for her was the only indication that he was around.
‘Just what the Tartarus is he after?’ Harpie thought to herself before she began to tend to the wounded Minotaur.
Meanwhile, Sora was sitting atop of one of the smoke clouds with a smile on his face. “Ah, how intriguing – Wife, husband, brother-in-law and daughter, a family of Phantoms and only one of them remembers the truth. These are odd times indeed.”
Sora then turned his head towards the mountain, watching as more smoke continued to pour out from the top of it. ‘I wonder how Mage-Kun is doing, hehehehehe.’
TTTTTT
It wasn’t long for the ponies to reach a rather daunting path on the mountain, but it certainly felt like a lifetime to Twilight with her head lowered down. But she kept her head up so she could keep her attention on the path before her. Most of the trip was quiet, most of the mares being quiet, save for Rainbow Dash who kept complaining under her breath.
Using her magic to pull the map from her saddlebags, Twilight looked at the paper and lifted her head up. Then with a calm and rather quiet voice, the young unicorn turned her head towards the others, “Let’s keep it down, according to my map we’re entering an avalanche zone – The smallest peep could cause a rockslide.”
Fluttershy stopped in her tracks, “An… Ava… Ava…”
Twilight quickly shushed her before the six mares continued onward, all of them being quiet and with Fluttershy taking up the rear. The mares cautiously trotted on the path (Rainbow Dash just taking her time by flying over), with Red Garuda slowly descending and landing on Fluttershy’s back.
Needless to say, Fluttershy wasn’t expecting that.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!”
All of the other mares jumped up and turned towards the yellow pegasus who had quickly brought her hooves up to her mouth. For a moment, all was still.
But when the mares all sighed in relief, the ground began to quiver before many countless boulders of many shapes and sizes fell from the nearby cliff side. All of the mares galloped as fast as they could as the boulders fell fast towards them.
“MULTI CONNECT – PLEASE!”
However, before the boulders even reached halfway down the mountain, several red runic symbols appeared high above the mares, each of them absorbing the boulders into them. All of the mares stopped and looked as the runes saved them. Twilight’s eyes widened at the familiar red runes. “This is…!”
“Doughnut?”
Twilight jumped when she realized that Haru was standing next to her with a box of doughnuts, one in his claws that he quickly took a bite from. “W-What the?! Haru?!”
The rest of the mares turned to see that indeed it was the magical dragon himself. The boulders had stopped falling and the runic circles faded away. Pinkie Pie cheered before she hopped over to the dragon, “See! I told you all! He just went on a doughnut run!”
With an audible swallow, Haru lifted his partially eaten doughnut and waved, “Uh, yeah… I hadn’t eaten in the last twelve or so hours, so I…”
Before Haru could even finish speaking, a familiar purple aura surrounded the box of doughnuts he had and it smashed into his face, powdered sugar and bits of doughnuts flying about from him. When the box fell to the ground, the red dragon’s face was completely covered with sugar and he even had a doughnut sitting atop of his nose, his blue eyes were dulled slightly. “I deserved that.”
“Yes, yes you did,” Twilight replied calmly as she trotted past the dragon with her eyes closed. “But you’re forgiven and thanks for that save.”
The rest of the mares slowly trotted past him, with Rarity’s horn glowing a light blue to have a cloth brought up to the dragon. “Here you go Mister Souma, you should clean yourself up.”
Haru took the cloth as Rarity trotted past him, with Pinkie Pie bouncing up next, “Yay! Now we can really have a fun time!”
The dragon shrugged as he took the doughnut from atop his nose and was about to take a bite out from it, until a familiar blue blur snatched the doughnut from his claws. Haru didn’t even need to turn his head to know what just happened. “Nice dramatic entrance by the way. But, for being so emo, I’ll just take this as compensation.”
Haru just clamped his claw tightly in frustration before he wiped off the powdered sugar from his face with Rarity’s cloth.
“Mistah Souma,” a familiar southern voice sounded, making the dragon pull the cloth down slightly to see Applejack in front of him. “If ya’ll pull a stunt like running away ‘gain, Ah won’t hesitate to kick ya’ll into another wall.”
“Good to know,” Haru chuckled sheepishly with a bead of sweat rolling down the side of his head.
However, Haru realized that Fluttershy didn’t move an inch since he appeared, so with his head tilted slightly, the dragon slowly walked over to the quiet mare. “Are you okay?”
Fluttershy turned her head so she wouldn’t look at the sleek red dragon in front of her, and she was visibly shaking. “I… I…”
The magical dragon knelt down so he could look Fluttershy in the eye, “Are you still scared about falling rocks? Don’t worry, they aren’t a problem now.”
“Um, w-well,” Fluttershy mumbled before she looked past Haru and quickly trotted past the dragon. “W-Wait up girls!”
Haru blinked a few times as he watched Fluttershy catch up with the others. Then with a shrug, the dragon began to follow the ponies. ‘… What’s up with her?’
TTTTTT
It didn’t take long for the mares (plus one dragon) to get near the cave where the smoke was originating from, following an odd, well-crafted path to the cave. But on the path were several broken shards of vinyl records that were randomly strewn about the rocky path.
“Anybody else notice all the trash around here?” Haru questioned as he knelt down and picked up a piece of the vinyl.
“I know, it’s simply dreadful,” Rarity added as she used her magic to levitate a number of pieces. “What sort of pony would be so disrespectful to nature?”
“We’ve got bigger problems,” Twilight stated as the group reached the top of the path.
The area before the cave was large, with many boulders and trees lining the cliff’s edge. The mouth of the cave was huge with thick, black smoke pouring from the roof of the cave and into the sky. However, while the smoke was eye catching, there was something outside the cave that drew the attention of all the mares and the dragon, a red and golden being who was seated atop of one of the large rocks outside the cave…
“Ah, I was wondering when somepony would show up,” Phoenix announced with a wave of his hand. “And it’s a bunch of mares. Nice.”
“Phantom,” Haru growled as he stepped before the mares, placing a familiar ring on his claws.
Phoenix tilted his head slightly as he chuckled, “Oh, this is a surprise, you must be made of tougher stuff to be able to walk around. You look like you don’t have a scratch on ya, Haruto Souma.
“And by the way, my name’s Phoenix we went over this already.”
Phoenix pushed himself off of the rock and landed on the ground, lifting his arms up as embers began to float off his body. “I took the effort to remember your name, Haruto Souma. I would think my name would’ve been burned into your mind just as my blade was burned into your chest! I am Phoenix! The dreaded enforcer of the Phantoms and I…”
“Ooh! Question!” Pinkie Pie announced, appearing right next to the fiery Phantom with her hoof waving in the air.
Reeling back at the sudden appearance of the pink mare, Phoenix blinked his soulless blue eyes at the mare. “Uh… Sure? I guess?”
“Can we call you Feenie? Or Nick? Or Xin Eohp?” Pinkie Pie asked as she hoped around the Phantom.
“Listen here, mare,” Phoenix growled loudly as he crossed his arms over his armored chest. “I don’t particularly care for you calling me any of those. How would you feel if I were to call you, uh, um, Pinkie? Yeah! How would ya like that, Pinkie?”
“I’d love it!” Pinkie Pie cheered loudly as she bounced around Phoenix. “That’s my name! How’d ya guess it?!”
“I… I uh…” Phoenix stammered as he scratched the side of his head.
Then Phoenix began to laugh as he doubled over with his arms at his stomach, “Whahahahahahaha! Oh, that is priceless! Just for that, you can call me whatever you’d like, Pinkie.”
“Yay!” Pinkie Pie cheered loudly.
“Pinkie Pie!” Twilight shouted with her eyes widened. “He’s dangerous! Get away from him!”
“Oh just relax, Purple Unicorn,” Phoenix replied as his laughter died down as waved his hand at her as Pinkie Pie trotted back to the group. “None of you are on my list – Save for Haruto Souma, but technically he’s off it when I took him down. I don’t take pleasure in picking on weak, little ponies unless I have to.”
“Weak?!” Rainbow Dash growled as she flew towards Phoenix, who didn’t react as she flapped her wings to be right in front of him. “Listen up Phantom, do you know who you’re talking to?!?”
“If you were worth remembering, then you wouldn’t have asked that question,” Phoenix replied as he threw his arms behind his head. “Besides, I’ve got a bad taste in my mouth from that last fight – I don’t need to make it worse by bullying a bunch of mares.”
“Oh yeah?!” Rainbow Dash snarled as she pointed a hoof at Phoenix. “I’ll knock you off this mountain so hard that you’ll…”
Before Rainbow Dash could continue, Applejack grabbed the pegasus’ tail and pulled her to the ground with her mouth. When the pegasus was grounded, Applejack released her tail, “Don’t antagonize the Phantom that defeated Mistah Souma!”
“Thanks Applejack,” Haru sighed loudly as he slumped forward. “That boosted my confidence.”
Phoenix snickered before he leapt to the rock he was originally on and laid down on the rock with his arms pillowing his head. “What a funny little group. So, I’m guessing that you’re all here to stop that dragon in the cave, right? Well, feel free to do so. I’m sure as Tartarus not gonna stop ya.”
“Wait, then why are you here?” Twilight asked, still keeping her distance from the Phantom.
“It was a plan I had,”Phoenix answered with a shake of his head. “I did all this to try to get a half-way decent fight out from the infamous Ringy Mage – Who defeated a number of Phantoms, and he even managed to best a Phantom who had a taste of my power. I was trying to force him to not hold back – Putting all of Equestria in danger felt like good fodder for him to go all out.
“Of course, if that’s not going to be enough to get a half-way decent battle, then nothing will. So, I don’t care. You wanna stop my plan? Go for it, not like anything you do will actually work.”
“You’re going to just stand there and let us stop your plan?” Haru questioned as he lifted his hand up.
“Did you become deaf when I knocked you around?” Phoenix questioned with a roll of his eyes. “I had my fight with you already – It doesn’t matter if this plan is foiled or not. And I don’t have any more interest in fighting you anymore. Knock yourselves out.”
The mares looked to each other before they trotted towards the cave, Haru on the other hand kept his attention squarely on Phoenix. This didn’t go unnoticed by the Phantom who tilted his head at the dragon, “I know I’m a handsome devil, but could you please not stare? I don’t like it when guys stare for too long.”
“What are you after, Phoenix?” Haru asked with his eyes narrowed.
“… To fill a void,” Phoenix simply replied with a wave of his hand.
When Phoenix stopped speaking, Haru shook his head and turned towards the mares who were lined up in front of the cave. ‘… I’ll keep an eye on him.’
“Alright,” Twilight stated as she used her magic to get her saddlebags off of her back. The young unicorn turned towards Rainbow Dash. “Dash, you’ll use your wings to clear the smoke.”
The blue pegasus saluted to Twilight before she zipped up into the cloudy air.
Twilight then turned her head, “Rarity and Pinkie Pie, you two will create a diversion to distract the dragon if things get hairy.”
Pinkie Pie squealed as she reached into her saddlebags to pull out a rubber chicken that she waved about with it squeaking loudly. Rarity just shook her head with a bewildered look plastered on her face.
“QUACKY!” Phoenix called out as he waved his hands about.
“You are… A really confusing Phantom,” Haru admitted with a flat look in his eyes as he looked at Phoenix.
The Phantom just shrugged his shoulders in response.
Twilight looked at Phoenix for a second before she shook her head, “Applejack, get the apples ready in case he decides to attack.”
Applejack had already pulled another pair of apples from her saddlebag and tossed them up into the air before she kicked them, sending them through the air before they slammed into a dead tree near the edge of the cliff.
“Wow! Apples as ammunition?” Phoenix cackled loudly. “Oh yes, that’ll be really effective against the fire breathing dragon that’s twenty times your size and could eat you all in a single gulp.”
“Are you going to keep giving peanut gallery commentary?” Haru questioned as he leered at Phoenix.
“I’m bored, so yeah,” Phoenix sighed, shrugging off Haru’s question. “I certainly can’t fight you, you’ve lost that spark that made you interesting. I can’t fight the dragon in the cave since, well, this plan is going so well on its own so I’d be stupid if I messed that up.”
“Aren’t ya’ll doing that though by letting us stop the dragon?” Applejack asked with her head tilted at the Phoenix.
“Nope,” Phoenix answered bluntly as he sat up straight on the rock he was on. “Cause I know that nothing that five mares and a Ringy Dragon can do will make that dragon leave this cave.”
“Five?” Twilight stated. “There are six of us, and one dragon.”
“Huh, then I must have another finger on my hand,” Phoenix replied as he lifted his hand up with all of his fingers stretched out. “Cause I see the same number of mares equal to the number of fingers I’ve got. Stallion, I love having fingers, they sure as Tartarus make things easier.”
Twilight looked around the area, and much to her shock, Phoenix was right! Fluttershy was nowhere in sight! “Where’s Fluttershy?!”
All the mares and Haru looked around the area while Phoenix just hummed a happy little tune to himself. It didn’t take long to find the shy pegasus, especially since her long pink tail was sticking out from behind one of the larger rocks, and it took Applejack to drag the mare out of her hiding place. Twilight trotted up to her friend, “Fluttershy, what’s wrong? We need your animal expertise to make this work.”
“I… I can’t go in the cave,” Fluttershy stated as she looked away from Twilight.
“Are you afraid of the Phantom?” Twilight questioned, turning her attention to Phoenix who was still humming his tune. “I can understand that but Fluttershy, we need you to help and…”
“It… It’s not just that,” Fluttershy mumbled as her voice began to waiver even more. “I’m… I’m… I’m scared of… dr…s…”
“Could ya’ll speak a little louder?” Applejack requested, getting closer to her friend.
“I’m scared of… dra…” Fluttershy muttered, slightly louder.
“Darling, you’re going to have to speak up,” Rarity stated.
“I’M SCARED OF DRAGONS!” Fluttershy blurted out loudly.
The ground then shook as the dragon in the cave snored loudly, a larger cloud of smoke shooting out from the cave and covering the group of mares and sleek dragon. When the smoke cleared, all the mares were coughing and Fluttershy was hiding behind Applejack.
Twilight zipped to look at her hiding friend, “But Fluttershy, you’ve got a great talent dealing with animals!”
“Yes, because they aren’t dragons,” Fluttershy explained with her head drooping down.
“Oh come on!” Rainbow Dash called out as she threw her front hooves into the air. “We’ve seen you go right up to a huge Manticore like it was nothing!”
“Yes, because it wasn’t a dragon,” Fluttershy corrected.
“Spike is a dragon, you’re not scared of him!” Pinkie Pie stated with a bright smile on her face.
“Yes, because he’s not a huge, gigantic, enormous, sharp teeth barring, horn wearing, smoke snoring, could eat a pony in one bite, totally all grown up dragon!” Fluttershy explained, taking a few moments to catch her breath as the dragon snored loudly once again.
Phoenix’s blue eyes widened slightly, “Huh, with a description like that, even I might be hesitant to fight this dragon. Maybe.”
Fluttershy fell to the ground quivering.
“But, Fluttershy, what about Mister Souma?” Rarity questioned as she comforted her friend. “He’s a dragon as well but…”
“Y-Yes,” Fluttershy stated, keeping her eyes closed. “B-But t-there’s just something I… I can’t help but feel scared around him!”
Haru closed his eyes and leaned up against the rocky wall.
‘Hmmm, hahahaha, looks like the mare can sense me… How intriguing.’
‘Dragon,’ Haru spoke in his head to the inner Phantom. ‘How?’
‘I don’t see the harm in telling you. Some ponies can sense sources of powerful magic – And even though you’re a shell that dampens my magic, even then others can sense it. It would make more sense why she’s afraid of the Phantom who kicked your tail a couple of hours ago.’
‘Gee, thanks…’
“But, if you’re so afraid of dragons,” Twilight stated. “Why didn’t you say something before we came up here?”
Fluttershy looked away from her friend, “I… I was afraid to.”
“Bwahahahahahaha!” Phoenix laughed loudly, holding his sides. “Priceless!”
Twilight leered at Phoenix who just keep laughing.
“All of us are afraid of the big dragon in the cave, Fluttershy,” Applejack stated as she helped her winged friend to her hooves.
“I’m not!” Rainbow Dash proclaimed with a smug look on her face.
Applejack rolled her eyes at her friend, “Well most of us are scared of that dragon, but we’ve got a job to do. And Mistah Souma’s not so bad, he helps us out whenever he can. So, c’mon girl, git in there with Twi, and show us what yer made of.”
Fluttershy lowered her head, “I… I… I’m sorry, I just can’t.”
With that, Fluttershy trotted towards a nearby large rock and hid behind it.
“Awe, that would’ve brought a tear to my eye, if I could cry,” Phoenix mocked as he brought his hand up to his eye.
Haru narrowed his eyes at Phoenix and then turned towards the cave.
A few moments later and explaining that bringing another dragon in the cave would end with bad results, Twilight carefully trotted into the cave. “Okay, time to do this… I’m sure he just doesn’t know what he’s doing.”
The other four mares tried to sound confident to back Twilight up, but with them hiding behind the cave wall, that didn’t have much of an impact to the studious unicorn.
Phoenix’s comments weren’t helping either, “This will be funny.”
Twilight turned her attention back to the cave before her and stopped when she saw the dragon herself – It was a huge behemoth of a monster, red scales, huge wings, spines jutting from its head and down its back, and the huge monstrosity barely fitted in the cave, especially with it resting on its jewels. From the large dragon’s nostrils, black smoke floated from its sleeping form.
Twilight gulped loudly, especially considering she was only a few feet from its mouth, which was about four times her size! “Um, excuse me, Mr. Dragon?”
The dragon was still sleeping and turned onto its back to scratch his underbelly. Twilight took a deep breath and spoke a little louder, “Mister Dragon?”
That got the dragon’s attention as he opened his eyes and leered his bronze eyes down at the small pony before him. Twilight chuckled sheepishly, “Oh, g-good you’re awake. Please allow me to introduce myself – My name is Twilight Sparkle and…”
At that very moment, the dragon yawned loudly, with a visible air of stinky morning breath that Twilight had the misfortune of being right in front of. When the morning breath subsided, Twilight’s eyes were watering, her mane was standing on end, and some of the smell stuck with her. Took her a few moments to compose herself, “… And my friends and I are residents in Equestria, Ponyville to be exact. We’ve come here to ask that you find another spot to take your nap. You seem to be doing a lot of snoring and every time you snore, more smoke is billowing the sky.
“Equestria simply cannot survive in a dark haze, you understand don’t you?”
The dragon’s response?
He blew a large amount of smoke onto Twilight, forcing her out of the cave, completely covered in soot. “W-Well, that didn’t work like I planned.”
“Denied,” Phoenix stated with his arms crossed.
While Twilight was using her magic to clean herself off, Rarity stepped up towards the cave, “Obviously this situation requires a little pony charm. Allow me ladies!”
“Heh,” Phoenix scoffed as he watched Rarity trot inside the cave. “So the Marshmallow Pony’s up to bat? This should be interesting.”
It was then that Rarity just stopped and turned her attention towards Phoenix, “Excuse me?! What did you just call me?”
The Phantom waved his hand slightly, “I called you Marshmallow Pony, Marshmallow Pony.”
“Oh my!” Rarity gasped as she trotted up towards Phoenix. “Have you no manners?! I am not ‘Marshmallow Pony’! I am Rarity, or Miss Rarity, or Madame Rarity! Have you no idea how to talk to a mare, Mr. Phantom?”
“Meh, you fancy types always get under my skin somehow,” Phoenix scoffed to the side. “Don’t get all out of shape, Marshmallow Pony… Although, that might just be a little too late to say that. After all, you do kinda look like the Stay Puff Marshmallow Pony, all puffy and such…”
Rarity’s eyes widened before she narrowed them down at the Phantom, “OH! IT. IS. ON!”
Rarity’s horn began to glow brightly with blue magical energy, all the while, Phoenix jumped to his feet and waved his arms slightly, “Bring it on, Marshmallow Pony! Give me a reason!”
Rarity was about to go on the attack, if not for the fact that Applejack pulled on her tail and dragged her away from the Phantom. “WHOA THERE NELLY! We don’t need another problem on our hooves!”
Phoenix laughed as Rarity tried to break free from Applejack.
“I thought you didn’t want to fight?” Haru questioned with his eyes narrowed.
Phoenix dropped back to his backside to sit back on the rock, “So sue me, I’m bored.”
Haru lifted his arms up and then just dropped his arms in frustration.
That’s when a loud whistling sound echoed through the air, drawing everyone’s attention towards Pinkie Pie who was dressed up with a large box with colorful wrapping paper, a bright and large bowtie, flippers on her hooves, oversized sunglasses on her face, balloons and balloon animals tied to her mane and tail.
Phoenix tilted his head, “Uh, how did she fit all that in her saddlebags? It’s way too…”
“It’s Pinkie Pie,” Haru replied. “I stopped questioning what she can do ages ago.”
“That’s just ridiculous,” Dash sighed with a roll of her eyes.
“Exactly!” Pinkie Pie exclaimed as she slowly waddled into the cave. “Sharing a laugh is a surefire way to get someone on your side!”
A few seconds and many comical noises later, Pinkie Pie slowly inched out of the cave with her goofy costume completely ruined. “Apparently, he’s not a big fan of laughter.”
“Okay! That’s it!” Rainbow Dash shouted, flying up into the air. “It’s time to stop wasting time! I’m going in!”
“Rainbow! No!” Twilight called out before Rainbow Dash flew into the cave at high speed.
“Oh my Kida,” Haru muttered with his eyes widened. “She went in!”
“LLLLLLLLLLLLLLERRRRRRROOOOOOOOOOOOOOYYYY JEEEEEENKINS!” Phoenix called out through his laughter.
A loud ‘WHAM’ sound echoed from the cave, immediately followed by a loud roar that sent Rainbow Dash spinning out of the cave and into the other mares, knocking them over.
“STTTTRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIKKKKKEEEEEE!” Phoenix yelled loudly.
The mares got to their hooves as the large red dragon appeared at the mouth of the cave, slamming his large claws into the ground before he stepped from the cave. The large dragon roared loudly while Phoenix just laughed loudly. “Simply priceless!”
“DRIVER ON – PLEASE!”
Phoenix turned his attention towards Haru who was running in front of the five mares who were cowering with each other. “… Hmm…”
“FLAME – PLEASE!
“Hii Hii Hii Hii Hii!”
The large red runic circle appeared in front of Haru as he ran through it, immediately transforming into his usual red Wizard attire with him skidding to a stop before the mares. The large red dragon snorted loudly as it drew its head back.
Wizard slipped a ring over his right claws and threw his hand over his belt buckle. “BIND – PLEASE!”
Several red runic circles appeared around the large red dragon’s head, with many chains wrapping around the larger dragon’s mouth, binding it shut. The dragon tugged at the chains while Wizard turned towards the mares, “Get outta here! I got this!”
Phoenix chuckled as he leapt from the rock, “Well now… Looks like there’s a spark left after all.”
The large dragon ripped the red chains and snarled loudly at Wizard and the group of mares. Then the dragon blew a large cloud of smoke that crashed into Wizard and the five mares, forcing them into a large boulder. The boulder cracked before it shattered into pieces, revealing that it was the same boulder that Fluttershy was hiding behind.
The young mare looked to her dazed friends, watching as Wizard got to his claws and reached for his chain of rings. However the larger of the dragons snarled loudly.
Fluttershy narrowed her eyes. “How dare you… HOW DARE YOU!”
Everypony turned to see Fluttershy flying up to the dragon and land on his nose, trotting up to his eyes, making the dragon’s eyes widen in surprise as he looked into Fluttershy’s. “Listen here, Mister! Just because you’re big doesn’t mean you get to be a bully! You may have huge teeth, sharp scales, snore smoke, breath fire and may have just woken up, but that is no excuse – I repeat – That is no excuse! TO HURT! MY! FRIENDS! YOU GOT THAT!?!”
Much to Phoenix’s surprise, the large dragon whimpered loudly with his head lowering, making Fluttershy fly to keep her gaze down on him. All of the sudden, the huge dragon didn’t seem so big. “Well?”
“But… That rainbow kicked me,” the dragon replied as he pointed to Rainbow Dash. He then turned his claw to point at Phoenix. “And that red and yellow one stole my treasure from my usual napping place.”
“And I’m sorry about that,” Fluttershy replied with a nod of her head. “But you’re bigger than her, and you should know better. You also should know better than to take your nap where it won’t be a health hazard to others. As for the red and yellow one…”
“WHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Phoenix laughed out as he grabbed his sides. “Are all dragons this pathetic?! This is bucking hilarious!”
“And you!”
Phoenix’s eyes widened when he realized that Fluttershy was now flying in front of him. The Phantom shook his head, with a slight laugh following, “Oh no, are you going to tell me off now? Oh please, spare me!”
However, when Phoenix looked right into Fluttershy’s eyes, his laughter died down and his soulless blue eyes flashed slightly. Fluttershy tapped her front hoof into Phoenix’s chest, making the Phantom flinch slightly, “You should know better than to pick on others! You can’t go around stealing things, using foal language, threatening to destroy towns or hurting my friends just for your kicks!”
Phoenix leaned back as Fluttershy loomed closer to him, the fiery Phantom mumbling slightly, “B-But I… I was just…”
“There’s never a good reason to hurt others!” Fluttershy retorted as she intensified her stare on the Phantom. “I don’t know what a Phantom is, but you should also know better than to act this way!”
Phoenix whimpered as he fell backwards, landing on his backside as he tried to make a coherent sentence.
Wizard just stood there dumbfounded as he watched Fluttershy fly back to the dragon who was sniffling slightly. “I… I have no idea how to react to that.”
“There, there,” Fluttershy comforted the larger red dragon. “No need to cry. You’re not a bad dragon, you’re just a victim of a bigger bully. Now, please go gather your things, you just need to find a new place to rest, that’s all…”
The dragon stifled some of its crying and was about to say something as a powerful bright, fiery light erupted drew everyone’s attention towards Phoenix who’s body was producing a large amount of flames around him. “Nobody… And I mean, NOBODY looks down on me!”
Phoenix drew the flames into his right hand and immediately flung his hand towards Fluttershy, sending countless fiery birds streaming through the air towards the yellow pegasus.
However, before the fiery birds reached Fluttershy, Wizard leapt in between them with his coattails intercepting the fiery attack, absorbing the flames. Phoenix growled as Wizard landed on the ground and turned his head towards the fiery Phantom. “And nobody hurts my friends! Phoenix!”
Haru lifted his left claw up to reveal the red ring on his claws, “It’s showtime.”
Phoenix laughed as he placed his hands on his hips, “Haruto Souma, this time you won’t be as lucky. You may have that spark in you again, but I’ll stamp out that flicker for good.”
“I have no intention of running,” Wizard replied. “I will defeat you right here.”
“Heh, bullplop!” Phoenix roared as he charged towards Wizard.
Wizard ran forward as well, and when the two magical beings met, Phoenix threw a right jab at the masked Wizard, who blocked the attack with his left hand. However, Phoenix delivered a powerful left hook to Wizard’s shoulder, knocking the dragon to the left a few feet.
Wizard stumbled about before Phoenix leapt into the air and plowed both of his feet into Wizard’s chest, sending Wizard flying off the side of the cliff.
“Yer not getting off that easy!” Phoenix roared as he leapt after Wizard.
“Haru!”
“Mistah Souma!”
“Wizard!”
“Haru!”
“Mister Souma!”
Fluttershy’s eyes widened as she watched the two magical beings land on the path that they traveled earlier. “He’s not a bad dragon either… Mister Haru.”
TTTTTT
Meanwhile, in the royal court of Canterlot, Princess Celestia was at her throne going over some important royal matters with her guards standing near her throne. The large doors to the throne room were flung open as a number of royal guards galloped in.
The lead guard ran up to the throne and knelt down, “Your majesty! The chamber for the Elements of Harmony! It’s glowing! Something is happening.”
Princess Celestia however just looked outside one of the large windows and smiled at the sky, ‘Shiroi… Looks like your pupil is about to evolve…’
TTTTTT
Wizard crashed on the ground, at another plateaued clearing on the mountain with Phoenix landing next to him. Phoenix quickly grabbed the masked mage up by the throat and then tossed him against the ground, however, the magical dragon used his tail to push him back to his feet.
Phoenix stretched his arms as Wizard fitted a ring on his left claws and threw it in front of his belt. “CONNECT – PLEASE!”
Wizard threw his hand into the runic circle in front of him and pulled out the familiar sword. The masked dragon charged forward and brought his sword down on the slowly walking Phoenix. The fiery Phantom lifted his wrist up and intercepted the blade with sparks erupting where the steel connected.
With a twist of his wrist, Phoenix grabbed the blade and pulled it away from Wizard’s claws, tossing it towards the side. Wizard was surprised and took a powerful jab to the gut which forced him to stagger backwards. “Your little tricks aren’t going to be enough, Haruto Souma!”
It was then that Phoenix slammed his fist into Wizard’s mask, sending the dragon spinning through the air and into a rock that shattered on impact. “You know what’s going to happen… I’ll break you again like I did before. And then I’ll break your little mare friends.”
Using whatever strength he had, Wizard pushed himself from the remains of the rock just in time to dodge a high kick from Phoenix. However, the fiery Phantom quickly spun around and slammed the back of his hand into the side of Wizard’s head, sending him to the side. “You said you’d defeat me right here, right now.”
Wizard struggled to get up, only to realize that Phoenix had summoned the flames around his right hand once more and threw countless fiery birds towards the masked dragon. The birds crashed into Wizard’s body, with several sparks and embers erupting from his body. A loud sigh of pain slipped from Wizard’s mouth as he fell to his knees.
Phoenix cracked his knuckles, “But look at what’s happening, I’m gonna smash that shiny head of yours to pieces!”
“HARU!”
Wizard lifted his head up to see the six mares standing on the path, watching the fight from a safe distance. Floating in front of Twilight was an odd, gift wrapped box that was levitated by her magic. “CATCH!”
The box flew through the air towards Wizard, with Phoenix not caring as the masked dragon caught it. Wizard quickly tore the box open to reveal a large red ring inside of it – Similar to the Flame Style ring he was wearing on his left claw, however there were more details to the ring than the one he was using. Wizard took the ring and then looked to the mares, “A magic ring? But… How did…?”
“Don’t turn away in a fight!” Phoenix called out as he charged towards Wizard.
Wizard quickly replaced the rings on his left claws just as Phoenix was a mere foot from him, and as the fiery Phoenix lifted his fist up into the air, Wizard threw his claw over the belt buckle.
TTTTTT
Everything was dark.
Once again, Haru found himself surrounded by darkness – His Wizard garb gone.
“Mom… Dad…”
The dragon turned around to see a small red colt standing next to a pair of hospital beds, two very bandaged ponies laying in the beds as the colt fell to the ground crying loudly.
Haru’s eyes widened, “This is…”
“Nostalgic, isn’t it?”
Haru turned to the side to see… Himself watching the seen before him, a cruel smile on his face. The cruel Haru chuckled as he watched the small colt cry loudly. “Your moment of greatest despair, where your life began to fall to pieces.”
Haru turned away to watch the scene, “Yeah, it is.”
The cruel Haru laughed as he lifted his arms up into the air. “Everything around you is falling apart – Your new life is about to shatter like your old one.”
“But,” Haru replied.
Cruel Haru turned towards the sleek dragon as he lifted his left claw up to reveal the newest ring he was just given. “This was the moment that I received the hope from them. Their hope lives on within me.”
“You’re a stubborn fool, Haruto Souma,” the cruel dragon scoffed as its body began to transform, turning more metallic until it formed into the Inner Phantom – Dragon. “You desire to use my power with me still trapped within your pathetic body. However, my power will draw you closer to despair, and you alone cannot hope to contain me.”
“You don’t get it, Dragon,” Haru replied as he kept the ring lifted. “I am not alone.”
“What?” Dragon questioned.
It was then that six bright lights erupted around Haru’s body, making Dragon reel back. The Inner Phantom roared loudly as the light began to engulf him, and Haru smirked. “You may be my despair, but your power is my hope.”
When the light died down, six bands of light were coiled around various parts of Dragon’s body. The inner Phantom snarled and tried to break free of the mystical binds, “I am hope!?”
Dragon looked at his bindings and laughed loudly, “Amusing! You wish to use my power? Very well, use it to your heart’s content! But these chains will rust away eventually, and I shall be freed from this prison one day!”
“And when that day comes,” Haru replied as he casually lifted the ring in front of him. “I’ll be sure to hold you back again, stronger than before!”
A powerful flame erupted around Haru’s body as Dragon flew towards the sleek dragon.
TTTTTT
Flames pour out from Wizard’s body as Phoenix was about to throw his final punch, with the flames actually blinding the fiery Phantom. Wizard’s belt glowed a bright red as a large runic circle erupted from the belt and crashed into Phoenix, sending the Phantom spiraling backwards.
“FLAME!
“DRAGON!”
Wizard stood up as the runic circle began to engulf him. When the ring passed over him, a large fiery dragon erupted from Wizard’s chest and flew around him, engulfing Wizard in a towering inferno. “BOU BOU BOUBOUBOU!”
The six mares watched as the flames began to peel off some of Wizard’s armor until the flames exploded with shards of jewels and black armor flying through the air. When the flames disappeared, standing tall was Wizard, now dressed in a more ornate version of his Flame Style – A long, gleaming red coat with a fancier dragon face-like chest armor, his shoulders were covered with silver pads with rubies in them. Wizard’s tail was covered with the same red material with a black band around them, and his mask had a pair of silver horns from the top of it with golden material at his forehead.
“Whoa, that’s awesome!” Dash called out.
“Simply fabulous!” Rarity added. “Red is definitely Mister Souma’s color!”
“Amazing…” Twilight mumbled.
Phoenix, however, wasn’t as impressed. “Heh, a palette swap? That’s your answer for this? You tried that last time and it won’t work now!”
Wizard didn’t say a word as he slowly walked towards Phoenix, the Phantom however, charged forward and threw a powerful punch towards Wizard’s new head – Only to have his hand deflected by the masked dragon’s claw, allowing the masked dragon to spin past Phoenix.
Phoenix growled and turned around to backhand Wizard, only to have his hand caught by Wizard’s tail, “Phoenix – You’re strong, and you seek to find strong opponents to fill that void of yours. Me?”
Wizard spun around, pulling Phoenix with his tail into a powerful round house kick that sent the Phantom through the air. When Phoenix crash landed into a large boulder and shattered it, Wizard lifted his left claw up to show off the ring on his claws, “I’ve got a different problem.”
Phoenix quickly got to his feet and summoned his large broadsword with his flames, charging towards Wizard. When Phoenix slashed at Wizard’s head, the masked dragon easily ducked down and dodged the attack, spinning past Phoenix’s second attack. “Ever since I got these powers, I felt like I lived in a world made of cardboard.”
When Phoenix did a low sweep at Wizard’s feet, the masked dragon leapt into the air and spun around to slam his tail into Phoenix’s face, making the Phantom stagger backwards with a loud yelp. When Wizard landed on the ground, he used his tail to grab his WizarSwordGun and lift it to his left hand. “Taking care not to not break something, break somepony. Never allowing myself to slip to Dragon’s control, even for a moment otherwise somepony could get hurt.”
Wizard lifted his right hand up to reveal another ring on his claws. And holding the ring over his sword’s hand symbol, the blade glowed brightly. “COPY – PLEASE!”
Holding out his free hand, a second sword appeared in Wizard’s hand, and he held the swords up. “But you can take it, Phoenix. What we have here is a new opportunity for me to cut loose and show you a real SHOWTIME!”
Phoenix roared as he brought his broadsword down on Wizard, who caught the blade with one of his swords, and sidestepping the rest of the attack, Wizard drew his other sword across Phoenix’s stomach, sparks erupting from the fiery Phantom’s body. Phoenix turned around to slash at Wizard’s back, only to have his blade to be caught by Wizard’s tail.
The phantom was stunned to see his attack blocked so easily that he didn’t notice Wizard spin around to slash both of his swords across his stomach once more. And while Phoenix was still recovering from that attack, Wizard ran past Phoenix and brought both blades down on Phoenix’s right shoulder. After the sparks flew, Wizard slammed his foot into Phoenix’s back sending the greater Phantom stumbling forward.
Phoenix took a deep breath and turned around, “How? How did that little spark of yours turn into an inferno!? I can’t believe this!”
The phantom charged forward once more, his blade raised up. However, Wizard calmly slammed both of his swords into the side of the blade and knocked it away from Phoenix’s hands. The fiery Phoenix roared out as he tried to throw a punch at the Wizard, only to have his fist blocked by one of Wizard’s swords. The other sword promptly stabbed at Phoenix’s chest, making sparks fly from the Phantom’s body and sending him flying backwards.
Wizard dropped both of his swords into the ground, allowing them to stab into the dirt. “I told you. I’d defeat you right here and now.”
That was when Wizard reached for his belt of rings and pulled a bright red ring, “Its time I break out something special for this occasion.”
Fitting the ring in on his right claws, Wizard immediately threw his hand in front of his belt buckle. “VERY NICE – SPECIAL!
“THE BEST!”
A familiar red runic circle appeared on Wizard’s back as a large fiery dragon flew from his belt buckle, flying around the masked mage as he was slowly lifted off from the ground. The dragon flew into the runic circle and the dragon head on Wizard’s chest transformed into a large metallic dragon head that roared loudly. “The finale.”
Phoenix slammed his fist into the ground before he charged forward, throwing an extremely large fiery bird towards Wizard – Only for it to be engulfed in a powerful surge of fire that the dragon head on Wizard’s chest spewed out. The flames crashed into Phoenix, causing the Phantom to roar our in pain. “This… THIS IS NOT OVER! D-DON’T THINK IT IS! GARGH!”
Phoenix exploded into the flames as Wizard’s runic circle appeared in his place, absorbing the flames as Wizard landed on the ground, the dragon head on his chest fading away. Wiping the top of his helmet, Wizard turned towards the six mares on the mountain path. “Whew.”
“Still think Mistah Souma is scary?” Applejack asked, lightly jabbing Fluttershy in the side.
“W-Well, a little bit,” Fluttershy stated as she looked down at the masked dragon down below with a warm smile. “B-But the good kind of scary.”
Meanwhile, hidden behind the rocks, Hellhound watched the entire fight with him in his Phantom form. ‘HOLY LORD HADES!! HE DEFEATED PHOENIX!!! JUST WHO THE TARTARUS IS THIS DRAGON!?!’
TTTTTTT
With the sky now being cleared of smoke by the local weather pegasai, Ponyville was back to its cheery disposition. The group of mares plus one dragon were just outside the outskirts of the town, seeing all the ponies enjoying the sunlight that had returned. When the tired group reached the entrance to the town, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie and Rainbow Dash went their separate ways to rest at their respective homes.
Twilight and Haru were about to head back to the library, when Fluttershy trotted in front of Haru, “Mister Haru?”
“Yes?” Haru replied.
“I… I wanted to say thank you, and sorry,” Fluttershy stated with her head lowered slightly. “You helped us and I’ve been scared of you this whole time… I… I’m sorry.”
“It’s alright,” Haru replied with a smile. “I should thank you, you were the one who actually scared Phoenix and gave me the courage to defeat him.”
Fluttershy smiled brightly with a slight blush to her cheeks, “T-Thank you. I’ll see you later Twilight and Mister Haru.”
And with that, the yellow Pegasus began to fly off, heading towards her home. Haru sighed as he threw his arms behind his head, taking note that Twilight was looking at him. “Well, this has been a crazy couple of days.”
“Yeah, it has been,” Twilight replied as she nervously turned her head. She hadn’t told Haru how she acquired the Flame Dragon Ring, nor did she tell him that she and the other mares knew of Haru’s past. She didn’t even tell him about the fact that the White Wizard had visited her the last night – It had been a long day and she had one other issue on her mind. “Um…”
“So, Twilight, is that couch still available?” Haru asked with a nervous smile on his face.
Twilight smiled brightly.
A few minutes later, the two had reached the Golden Oaks Library – noticing that Trixie’s wagon wasn’t there anymore. Haru rubbed his chin as Twilight trotted towards the door, “Huh, Ponyville must have some really good carpenters – Wasn’t a wagon in the side of the library last night?”
Twilight whistled slightly as she noticed that there was a note taped on the door, using her magic, Twilight pulled the note off and began to read it in her mind…
Dear Lesser Unicorn and Number One Assistant,
If you’re reading this, then the Great and Powerful Trixie has already left town. To Trixie’s number one assistant, thank you for your assistance and the Marvelous Trixie hopes that you return to this town at some point. When the Amazing Trixie returns, the Spectacular Trixie shall be requiring your assistance once more, for when the Magical Trixie returns, she shall become an even greater Unicorn.
To the lavender unicorn, Twilight Sparkle – The Fanatastic Trixie rented a book from your library and shall return it when Trixie returns. It was the book that had a weird runic symbol on it.
- Here’s your free Autograph,
Trixie Lulamoon
Twilight’s eyes widened as she stuffed the letter into her saddlebag, ‘D-Did she take the book that the White Wizard gave me?!’
“Everything alright there, Twilight?” Haru asked as he stepped next to the unicorn.
“Oh… N-Nothing’s wrong,” Twilight sheepishly chuckled as the door opened up. “N-Now let’s head inside, I need to send Princess Celestia a letter about our mission, and I’m sure Spike will be glad to see you.”
TTTTTT
Dear Princess Celestia,
I’m happy to report that the dragon has departed our fair country, and it was my good friend, Fluttershy, who convinced him to go. As it turned out, it wasn’t his fault that he had to sleep there, a Phantom was the cause of the dragon taking a nap there, but thankfully, another one of my friends, Haruto Souma, was able to take care of that dreadful Phantom.
This adventure taught me that you can never lose hope in your friends, they can be an amazing source of strength, and with their help anypony can overcome the greatest of trials.
Always your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle.
P.S.
Princess Celestia, do you know a character by the name of the White Wizard? He told me that he owed you a couple of favors and I was just curious about how he knows you.
Princess Celestia giggled as she read the letter from her student, furling it up with her magic as she carefully placed it with the others. With a sly smile on her face, Princess Celestia used her magic to bring up another parchment and quill pent up to her. ‘I think it’s about time that I meet this Haruto Souma. I’ll just have to prepare some things before that happens though…’
TTTTTT
Night had fallen over Ponyville as an single stallion stumbled down the path that lead from the mountain. He was a lean red pegasus with a wild black mane, his body covered with a bright, ragged and large vest that had several burn marks on it. The stallion’s cutie mark was a fiery red wing that had a sword behind it. “D-Damn it…”
The stallion fell to the ground and took a couple of breaths. When he had caught his breath, the stallion lifted his head up to look at the moon with a smile on his slightly bearded face. “I can’t believe this… I really can’t believe…
“Haruto Souma… You’ve lit an inferno in me…”
Meanwhile, just outside Carousel Boutique, a tall, winged figure stood in the moonlight as it held up a shining silver coin up into the air. The coin itself had a hawk like design on one side while on the other was an ‘X’ symbol. “I can sense it… Such a wonderful source of desire!”
TBC
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Sees update.
Has this reaction:
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I will now proceed to read!
Damn. Totally worth it.
First, Pinkie Pie gives us a Deus Ex Machina, which she Lampshades, by pulling out the Recover Ring so Twilight can use it to heal Haru!
Then, we find out that Shining Armor is a total Adaptational Badass, to the point that in his Early-Bird Cameo during Phoenix's Flashback, he was able to stop Phoenix's attacks with his shield spells.
Then we find out that Rarity got some OOO Medals in a Noodle Incident.
Then, during the climax of Dragonshy, Fluttershy was able to scare Phoenix with The Stare, indicating that she is also an Adaptational Badass! Fluttershy was able to scare one of the Greater Phantoms! Beware the Nice Ones, indeed!
Then, to help make sure that Dragon can't break free when Haru uses its power, the Elements of Harmony are used to bind him! Something tells me those binds will only go away when it's time for Infinity Styles to make its debut!
Then, right after going into Flame Dragon Styles, Haru gives not just a "World of Cardboard" Speech, but his own version of THE "World of Cardboard" Speech!
And it looks like the next arc will have Eiji play a fairly major role, since the Kaijin we saw at the end was holding a Cell Medal! Can't wait for this to continue!
And Trixie just had to take the book that the White Wizard gave to Twilight, didn't she? Well, that means that when she returns, we'll get to see how she Took a Level in Badass, since she needs a way to keep up with Twilight, who is the Element of Magic and has Haru, who uses a completely different form of magic, living with her.
Great chapter! Here, have all of the Elements of Harmony badges!
BADGES – PLEASE!
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[img][img]http://fc00.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/345/0/9/fluttershy_approved_by_ambris-d4ivleb.png[/img]
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fc02.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2011/282/4/e/rarity_approved_by_ambris-d4cdq6y.png
MOAR – PLEASE!
awesome, and a greed now. hmmm I wonder how powerful a greed made from a phantom with such a big desire will be. and yes! ooo incoming.
I felt at points that sometimes it stuck a bit too close to the show but I can see why, other then that great chapter, the dragon styles have been a long time coming
Just have to find the right theme music...ah, he we go!
Two questions though: 1 - Sora said the family of phantoms consisted of four. I assume Harpies the mother, Minotaur the father and Hellhound the brother in law...so who's the daughter? 2 - By any chance did Rarity happen to keep those "three weird coins with animals on them"? Cause I think a certain Zebra with a disembodied arm following him around would be mighty interested in those...
I wonder if Trixie will be Beast in this?
2663172 I asked the same question, and this was the response I got.
Word of God has said that someone else will be Beast instead.
...I am so PUMPED!!! Seriously, this chapter not only fleshes out this world just that little bit more. But we also get the Haruto/Dragon scene that not only does justice to the show, but also gives it just the right touch for this world. Throw in how Shining was given a mention, and at the end we have an intro of OOOs to the dynamic of this massive wonder I'm proud to call one of my favorite fics all ALL TIME!!!
Kinda curious if Trixe will be our Kamen Rider Beast...if so, I'll be laughing so hard!! Not to mention it'd give her and Haruto a major Dynamic shift. Then there are the other mage types shown recently in the show and upcoming movie. I wonder if those will get a mention.
Though now, I just want to see a Pony version of Kogami and his company!! A pony Birth and OOOs will be too much awesome for me to wait long for. Plus, with all this going on, I can't help but feel there are Gaia Memories lurking about as well.
Sorry, but once more, my mind is blown and my smile is Pinkie Wide!! Well done, and keep up the excellent work!
2667144 Afraid the author has already shot down the idea of Trixie as Beast. Someone else is going to get that belt, I'm afraid.
2667751
No worries, we DO know in the source material there are OTHER Magic users of that type, with Rider-like forms even. Throw in that in the coming movie the support characters get their own Rider forms for that adventure...I still have hopes for our Showmare's Showtime!!
2667144
"Though now, I just want to see a Pony version of Kogami and his company!!"
You mean like this?
fc08.deviantart.net/fs70/f/2011/167/7/4/my_little_pooony_by_egophiliac-d3j1oko.jpg
2672608
...my dear friend...in a word...YES!!!
THIS IS MY NEW WALLPAPER!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
>>Isumo1489
No problem my friend. Happy to assist!
You're including OOOs in this too.... I don't know if I should praise you or kill you... And I thought you were going to break out Infinity Style....
Carranger was fine... Just promise me you won't include Decade....
Only just saw the update. The Greeed are here too? Now I gotta go back and grab my OOO stuff. And it's 2 years old so it's not as good.
Hehe, if Phoenix still gets a Rider Kick into the sun by All Dragon Style, I wonder how Celestia's gonna react to that...
2702822 She'd probably make sure he gets sent to the very hottest part of it. Especially if he does to Twilight what the canon version did to Rinko.
You hear that, MangaKamen? Have that be his punishment for daring to hurt the Princess's personal student!
Hey, MangaKamen? FlairNightz just completed the picture of Flame Dragon Styles about to use the Special Ring!
th00.deviantart.net/fs71/PRE/i/2013/162/8/e/nice_choice__special__by_flairnightz-d68osqj.jpg
Think you could edit the chapter to include the image of it?
2710162 I'm aware. He just set over the modified pic. And its in it.
2711578 Well, he just completed another picture that this chapter needs.
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2721710
Oh really? Well, he already gave me the pic, and its there lol.
2723105 Wow, talk about fast work.
I'm pretty sure when I made that comment, you didn't have it there yet.
This seems to be updating a lot faster than the one on Fan Fiction...
2721710 Hands down the funniest part of the chapter... I had a mental image of that and nearly fell out of my chair while trying to be quiet, my mental image of the story though is playing it as an anime instead of a live-action series.
Was that a superman/justice league unlimited reference?
Oman Phoenix was given “The Stare" from fluttershy
that is so awesome.
Yeah, I had a feeling that was the case.
Awe, that would’ve brought a tear to my eye, if I could cry
But… That rainbow kicked me
With the sky now being cleared of smoke by the local weather pegasai
1. Aww.
2. That rainbow one kicked me. Unless that catchphrase Rainbow said earlier is now completely applicable. Taste the Rainbow, Feel the Rainbow and all that jazz.
3. Pegasi.
6074226
Yes it was, and it was totally overkill.
Is the Recover Ring canon? Again, it's been a while and I'm rewatching Wizard from square one
I never thought anyone could get on Phoenixs good side. Only Pinkie Pie, for sure