> AlakaZam ! Majins Dimensions ! > by Zephyr Fiels > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue: The Rituals! Born to Fight Evil! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Universe Nine, an eternity ago… Centuries before the Equestrians started to take over their world, a civil war was raging between the Shinjin and the ones among them that were born evil, the future Makaishin, as they fought to either protect or seize the universe. Sadly, the latter clearly dominated the struggle by their sheer power, not limited by moral, where the Kaioshins were able to hold their ground only thanks to the strength of their teamwork and number, their pure hearts preventing them from using their full powers to retaliate. But this status quo couldn’t be allowed to carry on much longer, rumors were heard that an alliance between the Makaishins and the race from the demon Realm. So, the Eastern Kai decided, with the help and support of the three other supreme Kais of that time period and the Daikaioh, to summon a stronger warrior that would help them fend off the attackers. Using magic learned from some wizards living in the mortal realm, the five Supreme Kais gathered on what would become the Z-sword’s Plateau in some universes and started the ritual. Taking a deep breath, the Eastern Kaioshin, a red headed man with pink skin displaying an iroquois hairdo, extended his arms in front of him and started to pour his ki in one of the Kaiju’s fruit picked up earlier by the Daikaioh. As he started the ritual, the man looked over the fruit to see his sister, the Kai reigning over the quadrant opposed to his own, a blond woman that was used to bear her hair as some braided ponytail, doing the same thing as he was. On his left was standing a rather fat Kaioshin, completely hairless except for his beard, a white goatee, charged of managing the southern quadrant of the universe. But He knew better than to judge his capacities solely on his physical body, as in fact his ki was the strongest of them all. So when the bearded kai started to pour his own ki into the fruit, it suddenly got bigger, pulsating from the power that dwelled into its core. The Eastern Kai then looked to his right with a smirk, the Northern Kai biting her lips as the power they were using started to oppress her . Her pink twintails mistreated by the wind that rose from the combined powers of her fellow Kais, she sighed and extended her own arms, unable to just sit back and let the others take all the risks for themselves. Once the four supreme Kais were all feeding their ki to the fruit, the Daikaioh picked up his sword, his towering stature allowing him to use the weapon despite its size equal to one of a standing Kai. The blade held above the fruit, he imbued the sword with his own energy, ready to strike the thing that would be born from the ritual if it proved itself to be too dangerous to handle. After all, he reluctantly picked up a fruit from the World Tree, killing the Kai destined to be born from it, on the account that the ritual would give them an asset over the evil Shinjins and their allies from the demon Realm. So he was understandably on edge, hoping it the ritual would work and prove itself to be of use…. But just as the Fruit stopped glowing and its pulp and skin started to dissolve, blasts of ki collided with the plateau, projecting dust up in the hair, blinding the Kaioshins. But, as they weren’t fully focused on the ritual, the Eastern and Northern Kais were able to react at the last second, shielding the group from any incoming attack. With a swift backhand, the Daikaioh cleared the dust, pushing it against the shield so it would still conceal their positions. But, dumbfounded by the sudden attack, he dropped his sword and cut the fruit in two… Allowing two creatures to come into this world. Their looks, however were the most surprising part of their being: the “things” indeed possessing a peculiar body as it looked like some kind of goo-ish matter, assembled to look like two childish creature. The one on the right, closer from the Northern and Eastern Kais and colored in a light shade of blue, tilted its head as it looked at them before to smirk, showing some sort of fangs. Though, it didn’t looked like it was about to attack, simply watching their glowing hands. The other one, more sluggish turned its faded green head up to the shield, yawning before to scratch its butt. Amazed by what they created –and a bit shocked by the lack of manners- the Supreme Kais were suddenly pulled back to reality as the shield started to crack under the attacks thrown by the half-dozen of evil Shinjin flying above them. Grunting, the Daikaioh picked up his sword and swung it over his head, slashing the air as it created huge blades of ki that headed straight for the enemies, scattering them as they dodge for the most part. One of them falling into the lake as the blade exploded to his face, knocking him off the sky. The blue creature, sensing that manipulation, turned its head and mimicked the gesture, but no blades appeared, much to its dismay. A loud cry was suddenly heard as the Western Kai clutched her size a red strain quickly spreading on her waist. Looking around to see how his sister got hurt, the Eastern Kai charged up his hands, ready to blast off the culprit with his ki. Not that he needed to wait that much as the shield was suddenly pierced by a rain of dark ki constructions. Luckily, no-one got hurt by the attack, the Northern Kai only collapsing from the strain put on her by both the ritual and her efforts to protect the others. Enraged by both her exhaustion and his sister’s status, the Eastern Kai rushed upward, his hand covered in white ki sparks of power sometime crackling around them. -“SHOW YOURSELF COWARDS!” he shouted as he couldn’t see anyone around him aside from his allies. Looking around like a madman, he jumped a bit when a sultry voice was heard, thundering from every directions at the same time. -“I am not hiding, I’m merely making sure insects like you can’t gaze upon their new mistress!” Ticked off by such cockiness, the Daikaioh joined his fellow Kaio in the sky, leaving the girls under the Southern Kai’s protection, the creatures having disappeared, much to their dismay. Steadying his sword, he then puffed: -“You dare think you’ll beat us into submission? You’re too cocky!” -”My, my… you’re the one that is arrogant... allow me to correct that… Paporina? Show them how they will soon come to bow to me, the most powerful sorceress of the New Shinjin, Pirikala the great!” Suddenly, a pink mist appeared around the two Kaioshins, closing on them as the Daikaioh had just enough time to throw the Eastern Kai out of the area, soon enclosed in the same gooey matter that composed the creatures from earlier. As he tried to cut through it with his sword he soon realized he couldn’t do that, the “flesh” of the entity known as Paporina being too resilient for him. Suddenly, he cried in despair as he understood the source of the beast’s power, on its way to the plateau it absorbed a massive majority of their people, Shinjin, evil or not, it has been no difference for the creature. Starting to despair, he was about admit his defeat when his arms were grabbed from outside of the cocoon he was in. Indeed, the creatures summoned by the Supreme Kais had just enough power to pierce through their older “sibling’s” skin. But the massive blob wasn’t about to give up, trying to expand itself on them… “No more holding back! Gekiretsu Shin'ou'hou!!!” roared the Eastern Kai, stopping it as it was about to encase the three of them with a huge blast of ki that hit the goo, vaporizing a massive part of its mass. But such and effort took a toll on him, leaving him with very little part of his strength. The Goo, simmering in anger, suddenly seemed to contract itself, letting go of the Daikaioh and the creatures as it suddenly took a more feminine form then the two that were just summoned. Paporina, adapting to a form more suited to fight, created herself a face with two green eyes encased in a black sclera, a mass of goo amassed on the top of her head to form some weird looking ponytail, more akin to an antenna than real hair. Her body was covered by a dark purple fighting outfit close to the ones than some of the Demons would sometime wear, even if she seemed to have added a white piece of clothes around her waist... And, as off-putting as it was, this outfit sported some pink hearts on it. Once fully reformed, the creature dashed forward so fast on could think she teleported herself, suddenly firing two ki blast, one for each of her look-alike. But, as the Daikaioh put himself back together, he punched her across the face, sending her flying away. Grunting, he then flew back to the others to get an evaluation of their status… It wasn’t that bright: the Western Kai was hurt and it seemed the wound was starting to rot at an alarming speed, the Northern and Eastern Kais were exhausted, only standing thanks to the ki the Southern kai was providing them. And the creatures, while able to fly still weren’t ready to fight… So the Daikaioh took a decision and, crossing his arms, started to create a shield around them, closing his eyes as he shared his plan with his fellow Kais. The plan was simple, the Southern Kai would give all his power to him and let one of the creature absorb him while the Northern Kai would do the same with the other one. Once inside them, they needed to give them as much knowledge as possible so they could be of use while the Daikaioh and the Eastern Kai would go out and fight, trying to seal the Makaishin and their demonic allies away. Once their mission accomplish, they would come back and help them un-fuse from the creatures. -“Can’t we name them? It’s weird to always designate them as ‘it’ or ‘the creatures’” the Eastern Kai said before rubbing his neck: “I learned the ritual from the Majins, maybe we should name them like that?” the Daikaioh then sighed, still wary about them: -“As long as no one give them any true name… they are golems we invoked, not pets or sentient beings for Zen-oh’s sake!” Once this point made clear, the Eastern Kai and the Daikaioh flew off, leaving the Majins Sibling with the other Kais. Devoted to their task, they both jumped on the creatures, rising their ki to look menacing, thinking maybe the absorption could be a reflex and then triggered by a sudden shock… And it didn’t failed, surprised by the sudden aggressions, the blue one grew larger before to suddenly close around the Northern Kai, absorbing her with a loud yelp as she went through years of training and education in a few second, falling on her knees as her body grew more feminine, the clothes the Shinjin was wearing moving to cover her. But where their fusion went nicely, the other ones went through some troubles as the Makaishin that hide earlier attacked, unleashing a devastating amount of ki blasts at them. Disturbed by the pain, the Southern Kai wasn’t able to give the Majin the brain that went with the techniques he knew… so, while the Majin adopted the Kai’s built, he didn’t grew much, still as childish as earlier. Not that he had time to use any techniques, as they saw the creatures regenerate despite their efforts, the Makaishin holding their hands to create another circle, their eyes glowing before to shoot beams at the siblings, forcing them back together before to seal them in an egg like container… the effort then showed to be too much, the four evil doers too weak to evade the remaining Kai’s last attacks. They all fell as she crawled to the cocoon, resting her forehead against it as she cries the loss of their world and her own weakness. -“I-I’m sorry… t-that spell is way out of our league without you two… m-may you find a peaceful place to break free if the seal ever wears off…” And with her last remaining power, the Kai teleported the cocoon far away, on another planet. Many years later, Equestria -“And that planet is our?” asked a white alicorn with a flowing mane to her friend, a grey unicorn stallion that wore a magician's hat sporting as many bells as his cape. -“That’s what the legends says, to know if the thing you found next to the Tree is the Kai’s last residence or not is yet another question”. -“And what if it is? Would they be friendly or seek to harm our little ponies? Maybe Discord left a trap for us in this cave!” inquired a dark blue alicorn as she stepped in with them, a scowl on her face. -“From what the legends tell us, they should be pacifist or at least friendly, the Kaioshins were known for their love of peace, even if their history has been soiled by this civil war. And Discord can’t possibly get that close from the Tree of Harmony. So Princess, don’t worry they shouldn’t…” He suddenly stopped his sentence as a sharp noise echoed around them, like steam escaping from a pressure cooker. Worried, the three magical beings teleported themselves in the cave, only to see the cocoon split open, its halves resting on the ground behind the tree. But there was no sign of any being other than the three ponies in the cave… > Friends or Foes! The Majins’ return! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The three equines stared in shock as they saw the opened cocoon, the blue Alicorn clearly more distressed than the others since she was still worried their mentor and friend’ tale could have been false. -“What? H-how did that thing opened ITSELF? When we found it, it was sealed shut and even together we couldn’t force it!” The dark Alicorn shouted, aghast by the spectacle. The white Alicorn then took a step forward, putting a fetlock on her sister’s withers in an attempt to calm her. -“Luna, please. Calm down, even if your assumption is right, fear won’t help. Although I’m sure Starswirl’s right and the things in that pod are friendly.” -”But what if it isn’t?! Who know what” - turning her head, Luna asked Starswirl - “ did you say years or centuries ?-” once their old mentor answered, she then pursued “So Celestia, as i was saying. Do you know what centuries of emprisonnement in a cage so small could do to one’s psyche ?” Taking a step back, Celestia bite her lips a bit as she didn’t know the answer to that question. But Luna, as she saw her sister back away from her, softly joined her again to rub her head against Celestia’s chest to show her everything was still fine. For some reason, ever since Discord has been defeated the sisters has slowly started to drift apart, much to Starswirl’s chagrin. The Spirit of Chaos really struck a nerve when he teased them about how the ponies of the Realm reacted to Luna and her night. With Luna questioning how much she was loved by their subjects and how much her own sister cared about her, the Palace of the two sister was bathed in a very gloomy mood. Even with Celestia and Starswirl’s support the Princess of the night slowly started to question her presence on the throne. But the sisters soon needed to part from that hug as some noises were heard, coming from the heart of the cave, a bit deeper than where the Tree of Harmony stood, radiating with magic. Flicking their ears in that direction, the equines soon could recognize a rather loud yawn that echoed a weaker one. Slowly trotting to the source of these noises, they bluntly fell on their rumps, even the Princesses. And they had any rights to be surprised, in front of them, bathing in some sort of blue mist on the other side of the rockslide they used to conceal their existence, stood -or at least tried to stand- the Green blob from the legend. Calling him like that, while not really nice, was at least descriptive. Shaped like a pear and following the same color scheme -aside from the brownish spots that the fruit sometimes bore- of very clear green mixed to a tiny hue of blue, it possessed something akin to a tentacle on top of his head, reinforcing the parallel with a pear. All around that “stem”, were sitting holes, as if his head has been punctured by some kind of needle, and, from what they could see, the Majin’s upper arms were showing the same holes. Since its eyes were still closed, the observers were able to take a better look at the blob’s face. Strangely enough, its muzzle was completely flat aside from the huge chin and cheeks it possessed and since the area where the head was supposed to join the body was hidden by a flashy green scarf, they couldn’t see if he has a neck. Out of his round body grew twisted limbs reminiscent of the one the minotaurs had, but instead of four fingers, the Majin’s hands only got the “thumb” and forefinger, as the other two fingers were merged together. Or, as Starswirl noted, at least seemed to be merged, the hands hidden in some sort of yellow gloves. But, before they could take a better look, the blob opened its eyes, showing off a black sclera encasing a green iris… and forcing the Equestrians to get back behind the rocks. Yawning again, the Majin scratched his belly and looked around him, surprised by the place he woke up into. Suddenly jumping on his feet now that he was awake, the creature then stretched her body as to warm himself up. Luna, hidden behind one of her invisibility spell decided to leave their hiding place to get a bit closer so she could study the creature. Much to her surprise, the Majin was much taller than herself or even Celestia as, from her estimations and excluding the tentacle thingy, he was as tall as Discord… give or take a few inches since the Trickster always seemed to bend his neck a little bit. While Luna was taking a better look at the Green One, Celestia and Starswirl were still trying to figure out the best course of action. Were they supposed to simply walk on the stranger ? Or get out of the cave and wait for him to come to them ? Their questions were soon revealed to be useless as someone spoke behind them “Hm… Hello, you two. Are you lost ?” A bit shocked by the being’s sudden arrival, Celestia and Starswirl could only stare as the other Majin, a blue biped as high as the court’s wizard, smiled and reaching her hand forward, started to pet their heads, hovering above the ground since the princess was a bit too tall for the Majin to reach her mane . While still flabbergasted, Starswirl couldn’t help it but note that the female -or so it seemed from the tone of her voice- got, unlike the other one, five fingers that ended with very small claws, not unlike the minotaurs’ fingernails. And by Faust, were these fingernails a delice to feel in his old mane! Celestia, split between the nice feeling she received from being petted and the fact that she was still supposed to be a princess, hesitated a few seconds before to lit her horn, encasing the Majin’s hand into a very light shade of yellow as she pulled it away from her head. -”We’re not lost. At least not literally, i mean.” Celestia smiled while the female Majin took a step back, surprised in turn. “May i ask if you have any idea what you’re doing here ?” -”E-errh... sorry but i.. kinda just woke up. My mind is still blurry; Although maybe you could help by-” Then she seemed to notice the crown Celestia was wearing, her purple eyes circled by a black sclera widening as she stopped levitating and dropped on her knees. Her head now only reaching under Celestia’s chest, she stopped and stammered “-S-sorry your Highness, i didn’t realized you were royalty…” -”Shshh, rise my little pony, It’s fine. So, how could i help ?” chuckled Celestia as she used her forelock to softly push her chin back up. -”R-right..” -she cleared up her throat before to ask- “Do you know where we are ? On which planet i mean, i know we’re in a cave.” -”You’re on Equis, i hope it will help you; Miss... ?” Celestia inquired after answering the question. But, as waited for her response, she saw the Majin was starting to grow uncomfortable. So, smiling, the princess extended her hoof and pursued “It’s okay if you don’t want to tell it. Oh and sorry for calling you “my little pony”, it’s the force of habit.” Shaking her head, the Majin stood up and scratched her cheek, a soft blush on her cheekbones : “It’s not that i can’t tell, your Highness.. I mean, i can but… oh boy it’s embarrassing… I don’t know what my name is…” The princess tilted her head on the side, a bit surprised “You… don’t know your name ?” -turning her head, she looked at Starswirl, the old stallion as surprised as her -”If you need any help we’d gladly help you, and your bro-” Suddenly, a loud yelp was heard, stopping Celestia mid-sentence. As they turned around, they could see the origin of that sound : Luna, focused on her study of the Majin, didn’t realised he has been staring at her for a few minutes, guided by the aura she was radiating. Then with a huge smile, he picked her up and pulled her in a bone-crushing hug, rubbing her back between her wings while holding her to his neck, her nose pushed in his scarf. -”Pony thingy is cute ! Am gonna keep it and become great friend !” he said despite Luna’s horn poking his cheek and her efforts to break free. -”Sister! Starswirl! Help me!” Although, with her head stuck in the scarf, her words were distorted and pretty unintelligible… not that it stopped the three other people in the cave to rush to her side, the Majin trying to talk her brother into freeing his new “friend”. -”Hey buddy, do you think you could let go of the princess ? I don’t think you want to antagonize her by invading her personal space.“ with a smile she then flied up a bit before to put an hand on his shoulder “Soooo how about you let Luna go ?” the mountain of pudding smiled back after turning his head to look at his sister, spreading his arms to let go of the princess. Which, after gasping a bit for air, rose her head up to them: -”T-thanks, your… brother is very strong.” standing back up, she trotted to Celestia and Starswirl’s side. The former, smiling, then offered the Majins their hospitality. -”You know, we could get acquainted at our castle. And maybe Starswirl and Luna will be able to help with your memory loss.” After a small hesitations, the siblings agreed and Celestia lighted up her horn, warping them all back at the castle she shared with her sister ever since they got their crowns. Although, focused on either the teleportation or the situation, none of them paid attention to the pink drop of goo on Luna’s coat... > Interlude: Starswirl’s notes > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Report on the Majin situation : First entry - Day one As the Princesses oldest friend, and after following them during most of their life -and i intend to stay with them until my old body finally gives up- I saw quit my share of oddities. But nothing prepared me to what we met this morning. The creatures that i knew as an old legend, almost only a rumor at this point, have revealed themselves to be real. I wonder how many legends we know could contain some kind of truth… Now, to those who’ll read my notes in the future, let me share with you my notes on our strange guests : But that’s not the point of this entry. After Celestia transported us all to the castle’s entrance, our new “friends”, unlike most ponies that experienced teleportation, didn’t seem to get any trouble, only looking around a bit confused. Then the bigger one’s stomach growled, making his sister and Luna chuckle, prompting Celestia to invite everyone to head to my tower since the kitchen was closer from my laboratory than the rest of the castle… What ? Some ingredients are both useful for magic and cooking… and i may sometimes need a small snack… A-am i really writing that on my report?! And of course i forget to buy more...Sorry my dears Back to the task at hoof. Once the five of us sitting in the library, we then tried to see what they do remember and how we could help. As it turned out, the female was the smartest, since -if the legend was accurate- her fusion has been the most successful. Able to keep a perfectly sound conversation with us despite her somewhat exuberant personality, she also seemed to be a rather big eater. Side note - That might be troublesome as the food is still scarce after the winter that the windigoes brought on us; although, thanks to Clover, Smart Cookie, the private Pansy and their influence on their respective leaders, the hatred between the tribes finally got put to rest. Her brother, on the other hoof, was very foalish, using short sentences and showing a tendency to give petname to everypony… After he called the princesses “Woona” and “Tia”, he looked at me and dubbed me “Jiji” - with my lack of knowledge about the Kaioshins, i have no idea where that came from. During the tea, i witnessed some strange phenomenon, while sitting in the sofa, the sister wanted something i left a bit out of reach and just stretched her arm and took it. And her brother just ate the biscuit case, literally ate the case. So, after we were done with that and with the Majins’ consent, i casted a few diagnosis spell to analyse them. And their results surprised me: each of them was filled with both powerful magic and an unknown source of power. Even if from what i could see from other informations, they couldn’t tap into that potential fully yet. Another scan revealed that their flesh, while perfectly tangible, was also composed of a huge amount of magic. In a sense, it’s almost as if they were like Discord, beings born of pure magic. Although, unlike the spirit of Chaos, the Majins didn’t seem to be hostiles. Side note - Discord, despite his malice never seemed to really aim to hurt anypony, his creations were chaotic but weren’t meant to hurt… Although, his sense of humor was special to say the least… But if we could channel his impulse… I need to talk to the Princesses about that. Once the scan done and with the fact that they were magical being, an idea appeared in my head since they didn’t have any names, and it would be rude to keep referring to them in any other way. So, i asked them if they would be mad, should i name them myself. Then, since they gave me they consent, i dubbed the female Alaka (tho she shortened it to Aly for her brother and the three of us) and the male was now known as Zam. Side note - I decided to keep it short since with his mind i wasn’t sure how much he could remember. Plus, as they were mostly magical beings, it seems fitting to name them after an old incantation Since they seemed to like their new names, we all smiled and as i guided them to the part of my tower they could take as their room. teleporting one of the guest room's bed, i transformed one of my study room into a rather nice makeshift bedroom. Side note - I wanted them into my tower just incase Luna was right and they were just misleading us with their innocence. Report on the Majin situation : Second entry - Eighth Day Today marks the end of the first week of cohabitation between Equestrians and our Majins friends. Despite a few harmless pranks, our guests doesn't seem to hide any ill intents. Even if, for some reasons, Luna and I show slights headaches ever since we went to the cave. And,despite all my efforts, i can’t seem to find the cause… So i think i’ll add my notes on these headaches after my report of the week. The Majins are definitely full of surprises. At dinner, after he saw that the limited reserves of food forced us to give him less than usual, Zam started to throw a tantrum. Even his sister, that until now always knew how to calm him down, was unable to stop his anger… Until Luna, tired cause of the headaches, scolded him. Shocked, our guest stopped and turned his head, looking at the window. Just as Alaka was about to say something, Zam frowned and vanished. Aside from Aly, we were all shocked to see him teleporting away since he never used magic before. and even then, his spell didn’t release any kind of magical energy. Then, Aly disappeared too, leaving me with Celestia and Luna. Worried, Celestia flew out by the window while Luna and i searched the castle. Hindsight - I never mentioned any staff members because, while the princesses indeed were crowned a few weeks before the Majins were released, it took time for the administration to get started. I will not describe our frenetic chase since it isn’t the more interesting part of the incident. The most attention-worthy event came when Celestia flew back to us a few minutes later and guided us to the bottom of the crack in front of the castle, where the Cave was. There, we saw the Majins - or at least Zam - changing the rocks around him in pastries, cakes and others sweets with a flick of the tentacle on his head. Despite our surprise, we quickly recovered and stepped forward, the big child turning around to smile, visibly calmed down by the sweets he made. Aly, on the other hoof seemed pretty distraught by her brother’s antics, as we found her staring at him, her eyes sometimes darting to her bangs, as if she wondered if she could do the same. As we approached her, she sighed and bowed her head, asking us to forgive her brother’s behavior. Celestia quickly dismissed her request as, for her there was nothing to forgive, on the other hand, Luna, a bit embarrassed by her outburst, stood silent, watching Zam fire another of his “Chocolate Beam”. Sidenote : That spell could be useful with the food shortage, even more so if he can change anything into any kind of food… I just hope there is no time limit on the transformation. On a Majin, with their magical bodizs it won’t do much but one a pony... hrmmm This calls for some researches ! Aside from this event, the week went pretty well, Aly being rather interested in learning the story of our world and study under my tutelage. Her brother on the other hoof seemed to be content with just spending time in Luna’s room, serving as a companion during the night. And, despite her growing headaches, she seemed to take a liking for Zam, his company helping her fight off her dark thoughts; as she even started to warm up to us once more…. > The North’s Empire! Alarming News! > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the sun rose on Equestria, starting the second week of cohabitation between the Majins and the Princesses, a lone unicorn came bang on the castle’s door, her eyes filled with tears. Luna, on her way to sleep almost shrugged it off but, shaking her head, she jumped off Zam’s belly; as she got used to lay on the big tummy as she found it rather comfortable... and, she would never admit it but his hands going through her mane were delectable. While Luna left Zam on her tower’s balcony, Celestia, once done with the sun, headed for the castle’s hall. As her golden aura took a hold of the doors, she curved her lips in a soft smile since, with how frantic the door’s knocker was used, the pony waiting for her seemingly distraught by something of great importance and might need to be reassured. Pulling the door to her, the alicorn smiled and welcomed the newcomer, a purple unicorn with light blue mane and tail her blue eyes reddened by the tears that ran down her cheeks. The mare, when she saw Celestia open the door, dropped forward in a respectful reverence, words flowing out her muzzle as if a dam broke in her mind : -”Princess Celestia, i beg you to help my people! Sombra’s gone crazy! He stole the Crystal Heart and hurt Princess Amore! We need you and your sister’s help… please, i BEG you!” Celestia, taken aback by the pony’s tale, took a few seconds staring at the youngling before to softly shushing her by brushing the tip of her wing on her muzzle : “Please my little pony, calm down, we can’t help you if you don’t get a hold of yourself. Although, I promise we will help you.” While the princess tried to calm their guests, Aly appeared out of thin air in the room, Starswirl in tow as they had been experimenting on the Majin’s way of teleportation since the day before. After rubbing his horn to chase the small nausea he got out the experience, Starswirl approached, wondering why this mare came to them. But his question quickly received an answer since Celestia calmed down their guess just enough for her to keep her thoughts coherent enough : “I-i’m Radiant Hope.. y-you sent me an invitation to study under you a week ago...“ Luna entered the room as she finished her phrase before to sit next to her sister, looking at the poor thing and invited her to continue her story with a nod “S-so when we received the letter, i ran to announce the good new to my best friend, since i thought he might be happy for me and we could celebrate it together. But… when i told him, he just... freaked out and ran away…” -”And then your friend ran into that Sombra guy ?” threw Aly as she floated above the group, her arms crossed over her chest, listening too since she hadn’t been able to pick up the whole thing earlier. -”S-Sombra IS my friend…” pausing after she corrected the… “thing” floating above her, the mare, instead of asking what it was, focused on finishing her story “i-i don’t know what changed him but.. When a week ago, the same day as i announced him i’d come here to study, i found him standing next to the Crystal Heart’s altar, a bag across his back as he stared down a black statue… W-when i got closer, i-i couldn’t believe what saw. H-he changed Princess Amore into a statue ! And when i… when i tried to restore her, Sombra taunted me and shattered the statue, sending the shards all around Equestria… That is if his words can still be trusted.. But even i am not sure if my friend is still in there… But i needed to protect the others ! So i came here, hoping you and your sister might be able to help us.” -”At least someone remembered my sister and I work together !” Everyone turned their head as they saw Luna clamp her mouth shut with her hooves, her cheeks getting a bit red as she realized she just snapped at Hope with no reason. But before she could explain herself, or try to flee, Zam appeared behind her and surprising everypony present, scooped her up and hugged her like a big puppy. -”Woona not mad, Woona sad.” said the towering “monster” to his sibling, who simply nodded, pushing Celestia to gloss over the incident to focus on Hope’s problem. The princess, despite her worry for her sister, smiled gently to the unicorn, “So you were saying that you came here right after your “fight” with your friend. Who know what he did during that week.. We need a plan…” Starswirl, rubbing his forehead since Luna’s outburst, finally drew a connection between these bouts of anger and the lingering sensation that pierced through his brain every now and then. As he scrunched his muzzle, the mage wrote himself a mental note to investigate that as soon as they were done with Sombra. -”I’m not sure the Elements would be the best weapon to counter this Sombra, since we don’t know what his power comes from. So maybe should deal with him head-on. Until now the only foes that couldn’t be dealt with that way were the Windigoes and Discord, and i doubt this colt would already be on their level. And even then, my comparison is pretty weak, how could that "Sombra" match the spirit of Chaos and Disharmony or the immaterial entities that fed from hatred ?” stopping there, he then looked at Aly and her brother, still trying to understand where their powers would place them. After he took a deep breath, the old stallion smiled and tilted his head in direction of the Majins “I guess we could take them with us, if not to help, at least to make sure they don’t stay alone or push us to divide our troups.” Radiant Hope stood there as they talked, unsure if she was supposed to participate that debate or just sit back as Luna’s ears perked, kicking the air as she tried to evade the hug she was currently held in. -”WHAT ?! Starswirl ! Are you serious ? You really want to take them with us ? What if they get hurt, or worst impact our mission ?” if Luna’s diatribe has been heard, the mage didn’t show it as he looked up to the blue Majin, smiling gently. -”Aly ? Do you think you and your brother could help us ? We never went to the Crystal Empire so our Transportation Spell won’t work. And simply fly might take a toll on Celestia and Luna. Your way of appearing and disappearing at will doesn’t seem to be limited by such a thing. So, i ask again, can you two help us ?” Aly didn’t even took a second to think, throwing her arms around Celestia and Hope’s barrel. the fact that they suddenly got longer and wrapped around them made the mares, flinch, in Celestia’s case, and yelp, in Hope’s. Zam, who understood the request, move one of his arms from Luna’s belly to Starswirl’s head, resting it on his forehead. And, as if guided by the same mind, the siblings disappeared with the ponies they were touching, leaving the castle’s hall empty.