Chapter 1
"C'mon, Crusaders!" Apple bloom called to her friends, galloping down the pathway. "We've got work to do!"
Sweetie Belle huffed, having to slow her pace to reply. "I don't know, Apple Bloom. I mean-do we really need to be going into the Everfree Forest to help ponies with their cutie marks?"
"What if somepony lives in the Everfree, and they need our help?" Apple Bloom called, back, not slowing her pace.
"And it's not like we haven't gone in before," Scootaloo chimed in. "And if we get caught by something, Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash can totally save us! Just like the last time we were in here!"
Sweetie Belle bit her lip as she picked up her pace, wanting to speak up further, but at the same time not wanting to be left behind. Ever since they had gotten their cutie marks, the three had been on a mission to go and find ponies that don't understand their cutie marks. Today, Apple Bloom had had the bright idea of checking the Everfree Forest. While Scootaloo was right, Sweetie still felt anxious going in. Something about the prospect of it was unnerving.
The afternoon light darkened as the trio entered the infamous forest. Fog slowly thickened, and the plants and trees gradually became darker, more angular, and just overall more creepy, especially in the fog. Soon, they could barely see a few meters in front of them with the lack of light and fogginess combined. Sweetie Belle wasn't sure they'd be able to find their way back this far in. After a time, even Scootaloo cast her a concerned glance.
All the while, Apple Bloom continued to charge forward. If her Granny Smith could travel in here when the forest was more wild, she could, too!
Slowly, surely, the very ground beneath them began to change. It took on a dark shade of violet as well as a slick texture. It wasn't slippery and sticky like slime, but it wasn't rough like dirt or paved stone, either. The animals, from what they could see through the fog, gradually changed as well. They all became darker. Birds looked to be longer with funny shaped heads, squirrels and other rodents slowly became more slender and lanky. Sometimes they seemed to have three eyes, even. Vines reached down at random, obscuring their path.
Even the mushrooms changed appearance. Many of them glowed blue or purple. Some twisted around on themselves, others bent at odd angles. A few looked to have spider-like legs growing off their bells. One even looked like it had eyes.
Suddenly, Apple Bloom leapt back, nearly crashing into her two companions. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle shoved their hooves into the dirt, forcing a quick stop. "What? What is it?" the two piped up.
"A snake! There was an eyeless snake!" She pointed towards a hole in the ground. "Right there!" Hastily, she jumped to face the others. "Let's get out a' here before we're eaten!"
Scoots cast her a condescending glare. "That would've been a great idea when we could tell which way we came from, Apple Bloom." She motioned behind herself. "I don't know if you can tell, but we can't exactly see the entrance anymore."
Apple Bloom thought for a moment. "Well, I'll lead the way out, then. Zecora taught me a thing or two about The Everfree when Ah' helped her whip up that potion for Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity, and the others after they got inta poison joke." Without waiting for the answer, Apple Bloom began to trot in one direction. When Sweetie Belle cast Scootaloo another concerned look, Scootaloo simply shrugged and followed. Sweetie sighed, and followed as well.
The group had been walking for what felt like hours in the foggy, unnerving, ever-watching forest when a sudden tune greeted their ears. It sounded like singing, but they couldn't tell what exactly was being sung. Apple Bloom perked up. "You guys hear that?" she asked as she turned to glance at them. "It's a pony!"
"Yeah, but-" Scootaloo had barely started talking before Apple Bloom raced off once more. Sweetie gave an irritated sigh as the two were forced to follow. As they ran towards the sound of the singing, it became evident that it was the voice of a stallion, yet the words were still indistinguishable.
Then, the trio suddenly burst into a small clearing. There was no fog in the clearing, giving The Crusaders a clear look at just how big the clearing was. Scoots guessed it would take at least an hour to walk around it. It also allowed them a good view at the sky, revealing the fact that it was now maybe two hours before sundown. Weeds grew around the outside of the clearing, but mysteriously stopped a meter in.
But the most interesting thing was the supposed source of the singing. Off several meters to their left, staying just inside the circle of weeds, was a tall, violet cloak, floating figure with what looked to be a black fluffy mass at the top.
Hesitantly, Apple Bloom called out, "Mister?"
This prompted the singing to stop as the figure turned around. When he did so, it was very evident that the figure was not a pony, but something similar to a monkey. His tan face was completely furless, save for a patch of black fur that grew down just below his neck. His eyes were entirely blue, with the sclera being a slightly lighter color, and glowed. Adding to that, there was a violet vertical slash over each. The figure also appeared to wear a scarf over his lower face.
The figure floated towards them, speaking more words they couldn't understand. Expecting the figure to float right up to them, the three took a step back. To their surprise, he stayed inside the ring of weeds, waiting. "Uh," Apple Bloom began, "who are you?"
The figure gave a one word answer in response, but his voice was so distorted that she couldn't understand it.
"What was that?" she prompted.
The cloak parted as as the figure drew out what looked to be a very lanky paw covered in a long purple boot-like thing and placed it just below his neck, clearing his throat. The parted cloaked allowed the three fillies to get a better look at the figure and see he was also bipedal like a monkey, and that, much like ponies, he wore clothes. He appeared to wear some sort of blue vest and pants, as well as a purple cloth just below his stomach, and purple boots on his hind paws, too. And he really was floating.
Once his throat was clear, the figure spoke again, saying, "Malzahar," in a much less distorted tone.
"Malzahar?" the three repeated in unison.
The figure nodded, now pointing to himself, and repeated, "Malzahar." It then clicked that that was his name he was speaking. It also clicked that this creature understood them despite not seeming to know their language.
Scootaloo was the one to pose the question. "Wait, you can understand us?" Malzahar nodded. "Can you talk like us?" He shook his head. "Well, why not?" At that, he tapped his throat.
"Are ya sick?" Apple Bloom prompted. Malzahar thought for a moment before shaking his head again. "Well, why can't ya talk?" Once more, he pointed to his throat, this time speaking more words they couldn't understand.
Scootaloo turned to the others, shrugging. "I guess he just can't."
This time, it was Sweetie Belle's turn to pose a question. "Why don't you come a little closer?"
At that, he pressed one toe of his forepaw against the air in front of him, causing a ripple to travel around the circle. The three gave an "oh" of understanding. There was a shield keeping him in the circle. With that, they were all silent for a moment. The CMC awkwardly looked around while the other patiently waited for their next question.
"So," Scootaloo finally prompted, "what are you?"
Malzahar descended to the ground, taking a step back before kneeling. With one toe of his forepaw, he began to write in the dirt, slowly spelling out "HUMAN". Funny, how he also knew their writing language.
Scootaloo stared at it, trying to pronounce the word."Huuu-hyo-hew-"
"Hew-man?" Apple Bloom interrupted. At that, the other nodded.
"Hewman," the others repeated.
Apple Bloom pointed to his paws. "So, hewmans have paws like monkeys?"
At that, he shook his head. Malzahar swiftly erased the previous word and began writing again, this time spelling out "HAND". He then removed the purple boot-thing, revealing strange blue patterns on his lower foreleg, and pointed to his paw. Apparently it was called a hand. Odd.
Scootaloo pointed to the boot-thing. "So, what's that?"
Once again, he swiftly erased the word and wrote a new one, "GLOVE". The three glanced at each other. Again, they were silent. After all, what was there to say to that?
Again, Scootaloo was the one to break the ice. "How long have you been locked in there?" He wrote "AGES". "How do you eat? There's not exactly any food growing in that circle, not that I can see." Malzahar's response was to simply shrug his hands and arms.
Apple Bloom gripped Scootaloo's cheeks. "We have to help 'im! With no food in there, he's gonna starve! We can't let him starve!"
"What about Twilight and the others?" Sweetie proposed as Scoots shoved Apple Bloom's hooves off her face. "I mean, their spell can fix anything. I'm sure it could break the shield holding him here."
It took a moment for the three to realize Malzahar was staring at them with a very confused look in his eyes. Sweetie continued, "Twilight and her friends, Rarity, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Fluttershy. They were the new bearers of these magic stones called The Elements of Harmony."
Before he could respond, Scootaloo jumped with excitement. "Oh, this is gonna be so awesome!" With that, she leapt towards the other. His eyes opened wide with shock, and he suddenly backed up, one hand outstretched as he shouted something. A dark purple miasma enveloped Scootaloo's head. Her smile disappeared.
She smacked into the shield, fell to the ground, and screamed. Scoots flailed as small blood welts began to appear on her body. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom glanced at each other wish shock before looking up at Malzahar in sheer horror.
Malzahar himself watched Scootaloo writhe, his hand curling up. His eyes were still wide, and his body looked rigid. Tense. Something about his stance reminded Sweetie Belle of the animals the three had terrorized at Fluttershy's during their sleepover. For Apple Bloom, it reminded her of a frightened pig that had been cornered.
Which meant he was ready to strike again. And judging by what had just happened to Scootaloo, he wasn't above attacking them. They were in no position to try and test their luck. One of them had just been rendered to a helpless, screaming mass of blood welts. It'd be a trial to get her back in one piece through this nightmare of a forest; they couldn't risk one of both of them being made helpless as well. This thing was mean and cruel, and would watch them suffer for doing whatever it was Scoots had just done.
Which meant they had to run. Run and hope his magic wouldn't affect them, either.
Frantically, the pair picked up their screaming friend as the welts began to leak, settling her on their backs. Without waiting to see the other's reaction, they bolted back into the everfree. They had no idea where they were headed, they only knew they had to get Scootaloo to someone who could help. There was only one pony they could think of that would be close enough to help.
"ZECORA!" they screamed, hoping the zebra was nearby.
Suddenly, something tripped them. The two fillies stumbled forward, somehow keeping Scootaloo still on their backs. They stood up and turned in unison to see a large slender snake-like monster staring at them through the fog. It looked to be made of bark, but it was purple. It reared itself up, mouth parting to reveal strange multi-pointed teeth.
A sudden sound similar to rippling and scraping metal came from its mouth with enough force to pin the two fillies in place. It pulled its head back to strike.
Something jumped in front of them. The figure shook their head, creating a jingling sound. The slender creature backed up, offering shrieks of protest as it shook its head. The figure continued to make the jingling sound, and the creature finally slinked back into the fog.
The figure turned around, revealing the face of a familiar zebra. Zecora lifted one hoof to slip two of her leg rings back on. "What-" she began, cutting herself off when she saw Scootaloo. Her mouth fell open. "Oh my dear, what has happened here?!" Zecora frantically looked between the three fillies. By this point, parts of Scootaloo's legs were beginning to rip open.
"We saw this thing in the forest and stopped to talk to it! It seemed really nice up until Scoots tried to hug it, and then it hurt Scootaloo! We need your help!" Sweetie stamped her hooves impatiently.
"Fillies!" Zecora gave them an incredulous glare. "Did you not think the creature you now detest was one of the many dangers in this forest?"
"We were scared...You can help her, though, rah't? You got somethin in yer house for her?" Apple Bloom pleaded.
Zecora shook her head. "I have not seen this magic before. There are no cures inside my door!"
"Then we have to take 'er to Princess Twilight!"
"Follow me! I can take you to the new castle-tree!" With that, Zecora leapt over the three fillies and galloped away. Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom, with Scoots still on their backs, wasted no time in following.
Zecora skirted around lakes and stones in the fog. She rounded around patches of poison joke. She led them past stumps covered in strange, glowing mushrooms. As they ran through the forest, the other two crusaders felt Scootaloo's wings bend, followed by a cracking sound under all her screaming. If only they could run faster. If only Twilight were here. If only they had never gone into this stupid forest! Ponyville couldn't come soon enough.
Finally, they broke through the trees. The small group headed right for the castle.
All Scootaloo's screaming, however, attracted the attention of another pony. A certain blue pegasus had been flying overhead when the sound of her little buddy's screaming caught her ears. When she looked down, she couldn't believe her eyes. Scootaloo was covered in sores, wounds, and her own blood. Her eyes were bleeding. Her wings were broken. And her head was surrounded in some translucent violet aura.
Rainbow nearly vomited. The sight was too horrible. Immediately, she flew through one of the castle's windows into the throne room. "Twilight!" she screamed out, distracting the princess from the tree's map as she briefly landed on it, "You have to come down, now! Scoots needs your help!"
Twilight stared in shock a moment, but had no time to ask questions as Rainbow had already turned to fly out. Twilight followed as swiftly as she could. Rainbow lead her right to Zecora. The two airborne ponies lighted down in front of her. "What's with all the-"
Zecora stepped aside to reveal the horrible sight to Twilight. "I found these two in the woods, but I'm afraid this one is in your hooves," she said gravely.
Twilight stepped forward. "Oh my Celestia-what happened?"
Sweetie Belle was quick to explain. "We found this thing in the Everfree that cursed Scootaloo!"
"Celestia sent me a lot of books about the Everfree Forest, but I don't remember if any of them explained something with this kind of magic." It certainly wasn't unicorn or alicorn magic that plagued her, and it didn't look like Discord's. The princess couldn't even be sure it was magic.
"We don't have time to go through books, Twilight!" Rainbow angrily pointed a hoof to the screaming filly. "Scoots needs help now!"
With that, Twilight firmly planted her hooves and bowed her head towards Scootaloo, attempting to cast a cure-all spell. The strange magic ailing Scootaloo churned under the spell, slipping under and around Twilight's own magic. The spell couldn't get a firm grasp on the invading magic to purge it. She tried again, but the magic slipped away once more.
Twilight shook her head. "I can't get a grasp on it. I-I don't know how to treat magic like this!"
"What!" Rainbow's voice nearly cracked. "You're the princess of magic! What do you MEAN you can't fix this? You're just going to let her die?!"
"I mean I don't know how to fight this! It's like fighting a disease that's never been seen, Rainbow!" Twilight shook her head in frustration. "I don't know how to counter it!"
The Crusaders looked between the two frantically. "What about Celestia?" Sweetie suggested.
"Yeah, didn't she used to live in that castle?" Dash pointed towards the forest.
Twilight looked towards the forest. "That's right, she did!" She nodded towards the others. "I'll bet if anyone can help, she can!" With that, Scootaloo levitated off her friends and came to rest on Twilight's back. A flash of purple, and a couple strings of yarn secured her to Twilight's back. "I'll take Scootaloo to Canterlot."
"I'm coming with you." Twilight was about to object, but the stern look of determination from Rainbow silenced her. Rainbow would see Scoots cured of this curse, no ifs, ands, or buts.
"Shouldn't we come too?" Sweetie's voice caught their attention. "We could tell Princess Celestia what we saw!"
"Alright." Dash lowered a wing for them. "Hop on!" The two remaining Crusaders climbed onto the pegasus's back. "Hold on, girls!" Without further hesitation, Twilight and Rainbow Dash leapt into the sky towards Canterlot.
The mares crashed through the doors to Canterlot's throne room just before sundown. They landed together in the middle, one with a barely-moving Scootaloo on her back, the other with two scared fillies clinging to hers. Along the way, the two fillies had thought that they couldn't hear Scootaloo's screaming due to the noise from flying, but now they knew it was because she had actually stopped screaming.
They'd caught Celestia going over something with her castle guards. The moment she saw them, however, she gasped.
"Princess-" Twilight had barely said the word before the sun princess had come galloping over. "This filly needs your help!"
"Indeed she does. I know this magic." Without another word, Celestia pointed her horn towards the bloody filly. The magic afflicting Scoots slowly slinked away from her head towards Celestia's horn. It slowly absorbed into her horn until all it had left Scootaloo, to which Celestia proceeded to shudder. Finally, Scootaloo stopped thrashing. The others only hoped that meant something good.
Turning back towards the mares, she demanded, "How did he find you?" Rainbow and Twilight gave her perplexed looks.
It was Sweetie that answered. "He didn't find anyone. We found him!"
Celestia's gaze filled with horror. "What?"
This time, Apple Bloom answered. "We thought that, since we got 'er cutie marks, we should go 'n help other ponies. I thought we should look in the Everfree Forest, so the three of us ran in there and found this...hew-man thing that called itself Malzahar."
"I saw them-"
"YOU SHOULDN'T HAVE GONE IN THERE!" Celestia's voice bounced off the walls of the throne room, her uncharacteristic outburst cutting Dash off. Stunned, none of the other ponies moved.
A door on the left opened. "Sister? Are you alright? I heard shouting."
Celestia slumped a little, suddenly looking much older. "Your timing is impeccable. I'm alright, but a young filly here needs your help. I've," she paused momentarily, "expended my strength curing her of dark magic. She needs to be healed."
Luna diligently leapt over to the others, wasting no time to harness her magic once she saw Scootaloo. She flared her wings as she focused. Slowly, Scootaloo's injuries began to heal. Bones maneuvered themselves back into place. Muscle regrew. Broken tendons and ligaments fused back together. Skin stretched over open sores. Feathers fixed back into place. It looked and sounded disgusting, but it was better than seeing her mutilated.
Luna straightened back up once Scootaloo was healed. "She is alive, but she will need to rest. And she will need to be cleaned. She should stay here with us. My only question is what happened."
The two fillies went to reply, but Celestia cut them off. "They ran into a dark mage." The others stared at her.
"Care to explain?" Rainbow asked, more than a little suspicious.
Celestia closed her eyes and turned away, taking a few steps. She then looked out through one of the windows at the sun hovering just above the horizon. "There's a mage in the Everfree Forest named Malzahar."
Luna arched an eyebrow. "Why don't I know of him?"
"He arrived nearly five hundred years after Nightmare Moon's banishment. At first, we couldn't understand him since he speaks a language unknown to Equestria, but we were able to communicate through writing, as his world shared the same written language as ours. He eventually picked up on Equestrian, but he was never able to speak it. Apparently his vocal cords can't make the same sounds."
Celestia took a moment to breathe before continuing. "He stayed here in Canterlot. While here, Malzahar told me that he had come to warn us that Equestria would soon fall victim to an entity he served known as The Void. It had taken over and destroyed his homeworld, and now it was to come here. When I asked why he was being so diplomatic about it, he said that he was only there to be a messenger at the time, and so he had no reason to be hostile as long as we were kind to him.
"Eventually, he maneuvered to start bringing that entity here. He declared war on us. Alone, we couldn't push back his forces, so I had to banish him and his Void to the Everfree Forest with The Elements of Harmony. I thought that, since we no longer used the castle there, he could be restrained there in peace."
"So that's why everything's so weird there!"
Celestia nodded to Rainbow's question. "Yes. I didn't realize that this Void that he serves would influence the area around it."
She then turned back towards them. "Throughout his war with us, he always seemed to let the foals alone. It doesn't seem that's the case anymore."
"Well...why don't we go talk to him?" This time Twilight spoke up. "We can try and solve this diplomatically. Maybe we can even make him our friend, like Discord! If it doesn't work, we can always try and reseal him."
"I don't know, Twilight. Malzahar is a very formidable and clever person. He won't likely fall to the same attack twice."
"Uh, you mean pony, right?" Rainbow prompted, lifting a hoof.
Celestia shook her head. "Malzahar is no pony. He's a species called a human. Similar to an ape or monkey, but not quite either. A mage is one of his kind that can use magic."
"Pony or not, I'm sure we can solve this, princess." Twilight smiled.
"I suppose I can't dissuade you, Twilight. But, dear sister, I must ask you travel with them on my behalf. I don't have the strength right now to face him should something go wrong." When Luna nodded, Celestia turned back to Twilight. "I must caution you, however, on using your combined power. The spell's strength may have been sapped by The Tree of Harmony over the years it hasn't had the elements, and using your power might cause the tree to sap more power from it. Furthermore, I don't doubt he's been trying to test or weaken it over his years of imprisonment."
Twilight nodded. "We won't let you down, princess!"
Celestia watched as the group raced out of the hall before taking off for Ponyville. Once they were gone, she cringed in pain, prompting the guards' concern. "Princess, are you alright?" one of them asked. She nodded.
"Fine. Continue without me. I'm going to give this young filly a bath." She levitated the semi-conscious filly onto her back and began to walk towards the castle's royal baths.
Back at Ponyville, Rainbow, Twilight, and Luna returned as the sun was setting to find Zecora standing at the start of the path that lead to the Everfree with the other four.
Applejack stepped up. "Zecora gave us a brief rundown of what happened. What else do we need ta know?"
"The creature we'll be looking for is named Malzahar. Celestia banished him here five hundred years ago, and that's why the forest's so weird. We're going to try and solve this diplomatically."
"Are we comin', too?"Apple Bloom's ears folded back.
"Oh, no no no no." Rarity shook her head. "You and Sweetie Belle will stay here in Ponyville. You two aren't going anywhere near that ruffian."
"Uh-huh. You just let yer big sisters take care of this one."
"You two have already been through enough," Fluttershy added.
"If you want, you two can stay at Sugar Cube Corner!" Pinkie leaned in. "I can show you where the secret snack drawer is!"
"Uh, Pinkie? You'll have to come with us," AJ reminded her.
"Oh, that's right! I almost forgot!" She leapt up enthusiastically. "Are we leaving now?"
Twilight glanced at Luna, who nodded. With that, she turned back to the group. "Yup. Zecora, will you be kind enough to lead us?"
"I will lead you as far as I can. After that, I'm afraid it is up to your own plan."
Twilight nodded. "Alright then, everypony. Let's get going."
"Before ya go-he was in a clearin'."
"Got it-"
"Hey, maybe I can fly up and direct you guys to the clearing once Zecora has to call it quits," Rainbow suggested.
"We'll see. Now then, lead the way, Zecora."
Without further ado, Zecora began the trek into the Everfree Forest. She lead them deep into the fog, past the hideouts of sleeping monsters, past fields of poison joke. She lead them carefully through shallow sickly-green swamps that felt more and more like sludge than water. The group trudged past mushroom-covered stumps and strange trees, slick earth and glowing foliage. At least once, she had to use her rings to ward off one of the beasts.
Eventually she stopped. "This is as far as I can lead, for past here I did not see. I bid you now good luck, for I hope in here, you do not get stuck." With that, she turned and headed for home.
Without waiting for a command, Rainbow Dash immediately leapt up and flew up into the trees. The group waited for a few moments before a voice called to them through the fog. The muffled voice called out, "Can you guys hear me? I think I found it!"
"WE HEAR YOU, RAINBOW!" Pinkie screamed back, causing the other ponies to fold their ears back. "KEEP DIRECTING US THERE! MARCO!" A faint, "Polo!" greeted them back.
The ponies trekked through the forest, following the sound of Dash's voice. Occasionally, one of them would call out "marco" to be sure they were on the right track. Gradually her voice grew louder. Eventually, they heard some sort of singing. It grew louder with Rainbow's voice.
Night had fallen once the group came close to a clearing. Rainbow descended in front of them before motioning a hoof towards the rest of it. It was larger and circular, with the outer meter or so filled with weeds. A figure floated just inside the circle, wearing a violet cape and hood. Whatever it was, it certainly wasn't a pony. It seemed to have its hind legs crossed.
Luna was first to walk forward. She looked towards the sky when she stepped into the clearing. Night had certainly fallen, the sun had slipped behind the hills, but the stars and moon had yet to show. Celestia had done her part, now it was time for Luna to do hers.
The night princess closed her eyes and rose her head. Dark blue magic surrounded her horn as she called forth the elements of the night. The stars winked in one-by-one, shedding their subtle dazzling light onto the world. Once they were all in attendance, the moon-her moon-strode forward to meet Luna's call. It followed her beckon, peeking above the horizon.
She lifted her forehooves off the ground, standing up on her hind legs as she poured more of her magic forth to guide and raise the moon. It climbed high into the sky, pushed by her spell. Soon, it was several hooves above the horizon.
And once it was, Luna set her hooves back on the ground. Her duty done, now she could focus on the task at hand. Deal with this Malzahar. With the others trotting into the clearing behind her, the seven could finally put this threat to rest.
"It seems we're here, girls." Twilight walked up beside Luna. "There's only one way to be sure. Are you Malzahar?"
The figure opened its glowing blue eyes. The singing stopped, and the figure nodded. It was him. He unfolded his hind legs, watching the group.
"And this circle," she motioned to the ground in front of him, "is the spell keeping you here, isn't it?"
Again, he nodded. He then made a scribbling motion with his hands. Luna stepped forward. Without even a blink, a stack of paper and a quill appeared inside the circle next to him, enveloped in Luna's dark blue magic. That glow was overtaken by a violet miasma, presumably the other's magic. Immediately, Malzahar took one sheet and wrote something down before offering it to Luna.
The paper vanished and appeared in front of Luna, now held by her magic. It read, "How do you say 'fuck you' in pony?". The night princess gave a frustrated growl before balling up the paper and tossing it. "You don't need to know that."
His response was to toss his head back and laugh. Fluttershy turned to Luna. "What did he write?"
"Nothing worth reading," was her answer.
Twilight stepped forward, lifting her chin lightly in an attempt at formality. "Since you seem to understand us, I believe introductions are in order. I am Twilight Sparkle, The Princess of Friendship. These are my friends, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and-"
"Princess Luna," she finished for Twilight, "Princess of the Night."
Twilight hesitated before nodding. "Yes. We are here on behalf of Princess Celestia because you supposedly," she paused, trying to think of a better word that curse, "afflicted a young filly with a magical sickness. Do you deny this?"
Again, he took a sheet of paper and a quill, and began to write. This time, he wrote for several seconds before offering it to Luna, which she read aloud, "You would not believe me if I said no. What do you intend to do about it?"
"Well, we intend to be diplomatic-"
He cut Twilight off by holding up a toe on one hand before scribbling something down. Malzahar once more handed the sheet to Luna. "And what would that entail? Telling me to change my ways? A reformation? A hug?" At the last word, he placed his hands on his shoulders in a mock hug. The paper shuddered, and it looked for a moment as if Luna might crumple up the sheet again.
Applejack stepped up, pointing a hoof at him. "Now, look here! Y'all better start bein' nice, and civilized!"
His response was to write, "Or what?"
Rainbow immediately jumped up and flew to the barrier, causing Malzahar to tense visibly. "Or we'll kick your flank," she yelled, holding her hooves up. "And we'll MAKE you be nice!"
"Rainbow Dash!" Twilight enveloped her hot-headed friend in magic and pulled her away from the barrier. Rainbow slumped in annoyance. "Calm down! We're here to talk, not fight. Besides, we shouldn't get too close. We can't risk having the same thing happen to us that happened to Scootaloo."
Dash turned to Twilight the moment the magic wore off and threw her hooves in the air. "What he did to Scoots is exactly why we're here! If he's gonna be so coy and smug about it, he obviously doesn't feel guilty about it, so I say we give him the beat down right here, right now!" She smacked her hooves together for emphasis.
"I hate to say it," Rarity added, raising a hoof, "but I must agree. That ruffian scared the daylights out my dear little Sweetie Belle!" Then she set her hoof on her chin, getting a better look at the man. "Although, he does have an excellent sense of color coordination."
"Um, I'm in favor of trying to talk," Fluttershy piped up.
Pinkie bounced up beside her. "Yeah! He may be a bit of a party pooper, but we can still try and fix that. And who knows, maybe he'll even tell us why he's so angry with everything!"
Applejack snorted in irritation. "I reckon we oughta give this talkin' thing one more try, too." Then she glanced at Princess Luna. "What'a you think, Princess?"
"Whichever gets this over with the quickest," was her sour reply.
Malzahar uttered something in reply, which caused Fluttershy's ears to perk. "What was that?" she asked, filled with disbelief. Malzahar repeated it, causing Fluttershy to place a hoof on her mouth. "Well, this is unheard of!" He arched an eyebrow.
The others turned to her. Twilight was the one to voice their concern. "Fluttershy? What's wrong?"
Fluttershy removed her hoof as she turned to Twilight. "I think I can understand him, but I've never even heard his language before. I don't know how this can be; it normally takes me a few weeks to learn an animal's language the first time."
They were all silent for a moment before Rainbow spoke up. "Well, what'd he say?"
"I think he said something about submitting being the quickest way." She glanced up at Malzahar to see his reaction. To everyone's surprise, he nodded. Fluttershy gasped. "Then I can understand you! How is this happening?"
"Who cares how it's happening, Fluttershy?" Rainbow flew closer to her. "Just go talk to him and sort this whole mess out!"
"Indeed, darling. If you can understand him," Rarity pointed towards Malzahar, "then you can sort this out on our behalf better than any of the rest of us could."
"And don't worry, the rest of us 'er right here."
"Yeah!" Pinkie leapt up. "Just think of it like a friendly chat with a new pony!"
Fluttershy glanced down. "Um." She sheepishly smiled back up at Pinkie. "Thanks, Pinkie Pie. I'll try."
Then she stepped up towards Malzahar. The two stared at each other in silence for a moment. When it was evident he wouldn't be the first to speak, Fluttershy tried to think of what to say first. Considering the circumstances, it was rather difficult. What could she say to someone threatening their world and willing to hurt foals?
She started with, "Um, hi. I'm Fluttershy." He nodded in response. She tapped a hoof to her chin for a moment before continuing. "Um, I know you said we should submit, but I was wondering, isn't there a way we could coexist? I mean, I know you kind of corrupt the land around you, but I'm sure there's more than enough land in Equestria for all of us to share."
Malzahar responded by shaking his head and saying something only she could understand. This prompted a, "Why not?" from Fluttershy. He then beckoned her forward. As Fluttershy stepped up to the edge of the barrier, he knelt down, his hind paws finally touching the ground. He began to whisper gently to her, which was surprising for someone with such a distorted voice. With how quiet he was, it almost sounded like he was whispering sweet nothings to her. The only thing that would betray this thought was Fluttershy's uncomfortable expression as she folded her ears back.
Suddenly, Malzahar slammed his hands against the barrier. It rippled as he began to scream, and Fluttershy squealed as she leapt back in fear. Pinkie, Rarity, and Apple Jack trotted up to console the yellow pegasus, who promptly started to cry. Tears streamed down her face as sobs wracked her body. Her breathing was rapid, as if she'd just run a marathon.
Malzahar, in turn, only laughed.
Dash grit her teeth. She flew right into twilight's face, forcing the alicorn to crane her neck back. "It's time to ditch the nice act, Twilight! He's intentionally trying to mess with us! Let's give him the smackdown already!"
"I haft'a agree, Twilight," said AJ, garnering Twilight's attention as she looked up from rubbing a comforting hoof on Fluttershy's shoulder.
Rarity nodded, adding, "Indeed. Obviously whatever he told Fluttershy wasn't very kind at all, and that ghastly laugh of his means he thought scaring her was funny."
"Yeah! Only a big meanie would enjoy scaring somepony this bad, especially Fluttershy!"
Twilight turned her attention from the four to Princess Luna. Luna didn't add anything; she looked to be thinking. Twilight decided not to bother her. She'd made up her mind anyway.
She turned back to Malzahar, who was back to floating. "I take it you're not going to be cooperative, are you?"
He wrote on another piece of paper. He then flipped it around for them to read. "I have no more reason to be civil than you do".
Twilight offered a glare in return. "Then we have no choice but to use force." Then she glanced over her shoulder. "Can you handle that, Fluttershy?" The yellow pegasus took one last sob before looking up, wiping tears and drips of snot off her face. She nodded before putting on a brave scowl and standing up.
The others took their places beside Twilight as she looked at him again. Malzahar held his hands out and motioned for them to "come at him". The six steeled themselves, each taking a moment to reassure themselves of the bond they shared. Light began to waver around them as power from their friendship started to well up in them each.
Meanwhile, Luna stood several paces away, silent. She couldn't make sense of it. Malzahar knew they were powerful. He'd been banished here, after all. Why was he being so coy and antagonistic? He might consider them at war, but war was no reason to belittle and annoy one's enemy to the point of making them show force. It was foolish, and Celestia had assured he was no fool.
Light surrounded the other six as their element necklaces, and crown in Twilight's case, appeared. It clicked. He knew the elements of harmony. He'd seen them once before. Even if they changed, their colors were the same. Celestia said he'd likely been testing the barrier, and he'd had nearly half a millennia to try and mess with it.
"DON'T-" she began to cry out, holding a hoof out-stretched towards them.
It was too late. Light flooded from them. The rainbow shot out towards the barrier. Luna, once again, had to shield her face with a wing from the blinding light.
The sound of shattering glass filled the air. Something moved. The rainbow split, flying all the way across the clearing until its two ends tore apart trees on the other side.
And then it was over. The six ponies grinned. Then, as the light faded, their grins faded to looks of horror.
Pieces of the magic barrier floated down through the air and burned up into nothingness. The human himself was floating in a thick, purple, diamond-shaped shield with his forelegs over his chest. The shield faded, revealing him completely unharmed. He hadn't been stripped of his power, or torn to pieces, or turned to stone. He hadn't been touched by the spelled. And now he was free.
The grass underhoof was already starting to wither. Malzahar cackled, holding out a hand glowing with writhing violet magic. The air behind him tore open, showing only darkness behind it. The tear pulled itself open until it was several feet wide and at least a dozen feet tall. Howling twisted creatures that could only vaguely be described a bug or snake-like at best flew from the hole like a reverse waterfall. Some dashed through the air while others shot past the ponies into the forest. The smell of rot filled their noses.
A large black manta-ray thing flew down from the flood of monsters. Scales covered its back, with something resembling a dorsal fin on the very middle of its back. Two stocks sat on its head, yet it had no eyes nor mouth. Its tail looked like a hard braid of wood stocks.
Malzahar sat himself on top of it as he took one last piece of paper and scribbled something on it. Then he tossed it. Twilight grabbed it with her magic as it floated down.
It read, "Give Celestia my regards."