> KONO DIO DA: 『Over Friendship』 > by DIO Brando > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > Prologue > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Equestria nears an event well-revered across the nation. An annual celebration of the sun, taking place on the summer solstice, the Summer Sun Celebration. It was in two weeks' time. With four humans and a killer roaming around, it was surely going to be quite different from the other years. The unexpected deaths, unfortunate circumstances, and, most notably, the presence of nonmagical power. Not only this, but for the first time in Equestria, there was pure hatred without chance for recompense. Indifference for life with knowledge of the pain it caused to take. For many, it was nothing more than underlying events that didn't do so much as to change the direction of the wind, but for the select few it had directly affected, it was quite well the nearing of the end of Equestria as they knew it. Here, on this day, fate challenges friendship, hate challenges love, and indifference challenges compassion. On this day, a battle between not two men, but between two souls will take place. DIO had gone outside, as it was nighttime. It was June 8th, and, oddly enough, rather cool on the summer night. The skies were clear, allowing DIO to see the many constellations arranged thousands of years ago by Luna. It gave him sorrow, in fact. A feeling he didn't recognize, but for his mother, who had died a death by mercy. However, that was not the only thing on his mind. 'Jotaro Kujo.' This child who he had fought with using all of his might, spiting him even after death. He was sure that if he saw him again, he would spare no time to kill him. No words, no taunts, not even a gesture. Just a quick, quick fight. What now, however? Would it be his demise once more for showing friendship? To these equines, it was a perfect compromise of power, and for his betterment in fact. He knew this to be inherent, yet what would it be to a Joestar? A bloodline destined to destroy him? He thought of Josuke, having no thought of attempting to kill him after figuring out his true identity. Could fate have changed, or was it just an illusion? It was right there, the opportunity to kill a Joestar outright! But he didn't take it. He let Josuke live. Why? Interrupting his thought, a drowsy Rainbow Dash walked out, taking a seat beside him. "You don't come off as much of a Star Gazer," she said with a chuckle. DIO blinked for a moment, shaking his head lightly to depart from his thoughts. "Oh, I do enjoy to admire nature from time to time," he said, "though reasons might vary. . ." "Everyone has their reasons," Dash replied, "though, for me, it brings me back to the old days, before the elements." "How so?" "I always dreamed of being awesome. My goal in life was to be respected, a part of the Wonderbolts, who are the coolest fliers in all of Equestria! I wanted to be seen as the most awesome pony ever!" DIO glanced over, not sure where she was going. "Of course, that was me as a kid, but after I did a sonic rainboom, it really started to get to me. Nopony else thought it was possible, but I, Rainbow Dash, had just proved them all wrong! I didn't know that I was actually intertwining the fates of the mane six! I was all concerned about myself, nothing but me. I was the only person who was important, and I should be on top." 'Not an entirely flawed way of thinking. . .' DIO thought to himself quietly. "Though, when I look up at the stars, I see something awesome, as awesome and even more than I wanted or ever could be. But they all look the same! Scattered around in no particular order, just spat out across the sky like an abstract painting. It's kind of chaotic to think of how they got there, with no obvious pattern besides a few constellations some serious star-gazers thought to point out. I wondered, how could they be so awesome when they all looked the same?" Dash sighed, taking a brief pause as she continued to look at the stars, attempting to count them with futility. "That's when I realized something. Equestria, us, the ponies, we all might look the same from a distance, but when you get up close, you see that we all have our differences and something that makes us individual, and far, far away, when you look down on us, you see that we work together with no obvious pattern. That's what holds us together, friendship. No order, or government or anything is gonna keep peace in the world, and definitely not as well as friendship can." DIO was silent, pondering this. "But, like Luna putting the stars there, our, forefathers I guess is the word, put us here, and Celestia and Luna both hold us together under a powerful leadership fueled by friendship. It's cliche, I know, but I guess truth has a place to be repeated a lot, doesn't it?" DIO was still quiet. "The stars are awesome because, even being individual, they still work together, and every now and then, a star will shoot across the sky, standing out, but still it contributes to the entire night sky. It's the same for us down here. Took me a while to understand that." BWOWOWOWOWTiktiktiktik. . .tik ‘Could this be what I had missed, or is it just a result of this world being different from my own?’ DIO jumped up, taking flight with The World as he looked over the sleeping town, a mere hour before dawn. With one minute of stopped time, he was able to quickly fly around the town as he thought about what the equine had said. It appeared to him that there was a parallel between the two worlds, and not an inherent difference in their workings besides the circumstances. These creatures were all dependent upon their companionship to one another, something that humans seem to be unable to manage. Perhaps it was a chain reaction that could make that change in his own world, something more than just empty power over reality. With his power, he could enforce friendship. But it wouldn’t be that simple, would it? No, friendship doesn’t work like that. It can’t be forced, it just has to develop. But how? He’s known nothing but cruelty and fear, would it be worth trying? Perhaps this world was only an exception to his true nature, perhaps he just needed to get back to his own universe after making sure that no one else from it would appear here. He was stuck between two alternatives, and realizing that fifty seconds had passed, he flew quickly back to the equine. To Dash, it seemed only as if he had suddenly appeared on the other side of her, standing up and looking down with a menacing glare. “You bring up an interesting point,” he said softly, “I’ll have to think about it.” Rainbow Dash wasn’t sure to what to think as he walked back inside without another word, lying down on a couch and sleeping as the others were. “Huh, went to bed early,” Dash thought aloud, “that’s weird.” She only continued to watch the stars, drifting off to thoughts about strong cider and Daring Do books. Kira’s eyes were wide open, not getting a wink of sleep in his equine form as he thought constantly of the mere possibility of Josuke’s presence. It loomed over him like a towering authority ready to penalize him for every lowly sin he had ever committed. It was taking a toll on his sanity, he thought. He began to bite his hooves, as he obviously had no nails, a bit of blood seeping out as he did so. The loud sound of gnawing woke Lyra, who was right next to him, having taken rest together in order to solidify their friendship. “Kira, are you alright?” she asked, leaning over before she gasped lightly, seeing the blood. “What are you doing?” “I can’t sleep, it’s looming over me like death itself, the thought of—” before he could say something else, the wound on his hoof had healed by Lyra’s magic as she nuzzled him lightly. “Shouldn’t you save the problem-solving for when the problem arises?” Lyra pointed out, “Everyone has a bad thought from time to time, like nightmares every night or so. You just have to relax and let it pass. Besides, you wouldn’t want to let it ruin our peaceful life, would you?” Kira sighed, taking a deep breath and scooting back a bit into her embrace. “You’re right, it’s just. . .stress,” Kira said with a sigh as she nuzzled him gently, “I shouldn’t be so concerned with the past, this is a new life, and there is no need to be afraid of what happened then.” Lyra smiled, looking at the clock beside the bed. “Breakfast time, you stay here and relax,” she said, getting up and walking towards the door, “I’ll fix something up for you.” As she walked out, Kira closed his eyes and began to relax. He suddenly jumped when he heard a light thudding across from the room. When he attempted to summon his Stand, it wasn’t there. In a sudden panic, his shrunken pupils darted side to side to scan the room, seeing Killer Queen. . . . . .playing with a ball of yarn. “N. . .nanda kore wa?” > What is Power? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ". . .and like, he just appeared there and was all serious like 'That's a really good point', and then went to sleep!" Rainbow Dash finished explaining, slightly mocking DIO's voice unintentionally. "Strange, he doesn't typically go to sleep until the sun is really bright out," Fluttershy said, with a bit of a worried tone. "He has only been here for a little over a week, perhaps it's regular for him in the other world!" Twilight replied, attempting to keep an optimistic tone. Unfortunately, Fluttershy is able to read anyone and anything quicker than anybody, so what she says about people is quite truly based on some kind of psychological fact that was just impossible to understand aside from the fact she was the element bearer of Kindness. The three were conflicted in thought, sitting in silence until Josuke walked in. They all stared at him, making him a bit anxious. "O-oh, am I interrupting something?" Josuke said, smiling awkwardly. The three in unison shook their heads, realizing how accidentally awkward they just made it. "Oh, no please, take a seat!" Fluttershy said with a warm smile. Josuke nodded, looking at the others as he took a seat. The seat, of course, not being made to withstand the weight of a human, snapped underneath him. Fluttershy let out a gasp as she quickly jumped forward to see if he was okay. "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry!" she said, "that chair was really weak, I should have told you!" "I-its fine, I just need to. . ." Josuke said, summoning his Stand as the chair was restored to perfect condition. He took a seat in it after brushing himself off. "There, all fixed." "Can Lord DIO's Stand do that?" Fluttershy asked with awe. Josuke looked at the other two, who were also amused. "W-well, I'm not sure, you'll have to ask him," Josuke replied a bit nervously at the fact that they seemed to be totally aware and okay with the fact he had a Stand. Were they all Stand users too? He hadn't thought about it before, but come to think of it, they were all totally aware of both his and DIO's Stands, it was certainly uncanny. "Can yours stop time?" Twilight asked, lighting her horn to teleport a paper and quill. Josuke hesitated a moment before answering. "Well, no, but it does have the ability to repair anything except for me," he said. "Short range, immense power and precision?" Twilight followed up. Josuke hesitated once more before answering. "Yes. . ." "You're not uncomfortable are you?" Twilight asked, looking up with a bit of concern. "A little bit. . ." Josuke said with an awkward smile. "She likes learning things at nearly any cost," Rainbow chuckled. Twilight's eyes widened as she turned around suddenly. "Rainbow Dash! You're making it sound like—" Twilight said suddenly before stopping as she realized everyone in the room was staring at her. Feeling her face begin to flush from embarrassment, she growled writing down notes as she quickly walked out of the room. Rainbow Dash started to laugh a bit as she turned her attention to Josuke. "So, you're part of some family line that DIO was sworn enemies to? What a coincidence," she said with a grin, taking a swig of apple cider. "I did not know, I was only told that DIO was a long-gone threat," Josuke replied, a bit at ease with the more down-to-Earth talk. "How does friendship work in your world then?" Fluttershy asked. Josuke thought for a moment. "Well, if you do something good for somebody, and they do something good back, you become friends, and if you get along very well, you remain friends or become close friends." Josuke said. Fluttershy scratched her head. "So like, no magic or anything? Everyone has a Stand instead I guess?" Rainbow asked. Josuke shook his head. "Stand power isn't all that common, unless, of course, you find yourself in some odd circumstances," Josuke said, "and, magic is typically just illusions and tricks, or some absurd practice of 'dark arts' that some questionable people go into. Other than that, it's not real." "Well, Friendship can't work without magic, how is that possible?" Fluttershy asked. Before Josuke could answer, Luna stepped in. "Fluttershy, would you kindly fix a breakfast for us? It is quite late in the morning, you know," Luna said with a smile. Fluttershy shook her head immediately as she got up. "Of course, Princess!" Fluttershy said with a smile. As she did, Rainbow Dash, feeling awkward, got up, following her to the kitchen. Luna took a seat, looking at Josuke. "I understand you have no ill will towards us, which I greatly admire of you," Luna said, "but I do not believe that the minds of my subjects are prepared for the atrocities contained within your world." "Y-yes, of course, your highness," Josuke replied, not exactly sure how to address her. "You can call me Princess Luna," she said with a warm smile, giving Josuke a bit of comfort, "I've seen a bit of your world through DIO, but I’m still curious to know more about it.” “With all due respect, Princess Luna,” Josuke said carefully, “if it is too much for them because they don’t live in that world, would it not be too much for you?” “It’s my duty to understand these things, even if it would cause me pain,” Luna replied, looking down, “if your world threatens ours, then I must know how to combat it.” Josuke nodded, beginning his explanation. Kira stared blankly at his Stand, as it tossed a ball of yarn back and forth. Lyra came in with a smile, placing down a tray of food onto the table beside the bed. “There you go, I fixed your favorite!” she said, before noticing his blank stare, “What’s wrong?” “Killer Queen. . .is not supposed to be doing that,” he said slowly as his expression changed to an unamused frown. He lifted his hand, clicking his thumb down like a button as the yarn suddenly vaporized. Killer Queen’s eyes widened as it looked back at Kira with a comically large frown. Lyra couldn’t help but to chuckle, trying to silence herself at the sight of Yoshikage’s visible frustration. “Well, it does look like a cat. . .” Lyra pointed out. Kira glanced at her, then back at Killer Queen. “KIRAKUIN! RETURN!” he shouted. The Stand slowly got up, fading away with a frown. “Does this Stand suddenly possess sentience, or is it something with this world?” “He doesn’t seem to be harming us, and it is kind of cute,” Lyra pointed out, “who would suspect something so cute to be ‘evil’? If you think about it, wouldn’t it help?” Kira thought silently for a moment, before nodding slowly. “That’s an incredible point. . .but it’s admittedly painful to my ego. . .” he said quietly. Lyra chuckled. “Awh, don’t be so silly,” she said with a gleeful smile, “in your world it might be different, but here you’re more a badass than anypony I know.” Kira smiled a bit, his confidence being restored at the remark of someone he had at least some slight concern for. Though it was conflicting, the development of their ‘relationship’, he dare say. Would he truly just begin to care about somebody? An equine, at that? Perhaps it was just advantageous to have her as a companion, and nothing more. He dismissed the thought, taking a bite of his food. “Oh, by the way,” Lyra said, “I’ve figured out a very complicated spell to block my dreams from Princess Luna.” “Very complicated, you’ve found it out rather quickly, then,” Kira said, looking up at her as he took a sip of coffee. “I’m a bit of a conspiracy theorist, so I always figured that the Princesses were up to no good, snooping in my dreams. . .either way, I’ve put it off out of laziness but upon finding you, I really wanted to learn it so we’d never be caught, I even kept myself up for a few nights!” Lyra said with a smile. Kira nodded. “But, if you hide your own dreams, won’t she notice?” Kira asked, looking at her. She thought for a second. “That. . .is a fair point. . .” she said quietly, a bit embarrassed. “It’s a perfect start,” Kira said quickly, taking note of her embarrassment, “perhaps you should modify the spell to disguise your dreams instead, that way they don’t stick out.” Lyra smiled a bit, nodding. ‘What am I thinking?’ “Y-you’re really smart!” she said suddenly with a smile. “Perhaps, but I’m not the one who came up with the spell,” he smiled back. ‘Why am I doing this?’ Lyra blushed, suddenly hugging him. And he hugged her back. . . . “Are you purring?” Kira’s eyes widened, as he turned around to see Killer Queen purring delightfully. “GHCK!” He poured some water on the Stand, causing it to make an angry cat noise and fade away again. Lyra just chuckled. Blackness, this time. Like that long century of sleep underwater; it was just blackness. DIO sat, hovering in the midst of an empty dream world. Thinking, thinking still. He lifted a hand, as he watched back over a few memories. "I once studied that there was a way to speak to your own consciousness within the confines of a dream," DIO said aloud, recalling the bits of recreational reading he had done in his own world during his stay in Egypt, "if that is so, do come forward." DIO waited for a moment, lowering his hand as the screen went away. As he turned around, it seemed like a mirror, a reflection of himself, even in the blackness. When he turned to the side, his reflection following, he exposed the Joestar mark on his neck, but the reflection did not have the same mark. Suddenly the reflection grinned. "Clever," it said, taking a seat on the air as DIO had prior. DIO kept a straight face, never having done such a strange thing before. "A part of the brain that creates dreams, personified within those dreams," DIO recalled, "a self-aware, direct conduit of information." "Yes, it seems you've spent too much time fighting in the conscious realm to solve the wars in your own mind," the reflection said, keeping a relatively light tone and direct eye contact, "perhaps it's good for all of us that you're here now." "I've also read where particular humans would ask to see images of God, or to unlock memories, and answer questions, how much of this is possible?" DIO asked. The reflection chuckled. "I'm not sure how you got this information, it's ahead of your time," it replied, "however, I can tell you that all of this is possible in a way. However, in your recreational time, you can do what you like. Right now, there's an important issue that I've noticed that you've been prevented from noticing." "And that would be. . ?" DIO asked, raising a brow. The reflection became more serious, with a much darker tone as it leaned forward. "There is something wrong with this land," the reflection warned, "something large, a force you or I have never witnessed before. There's a reason that Stand users alone are being taken in from another world into this one." "And that reason would be?" DIO asked. The reflection shook it's head. "I do not know," it admitted, "all I can do now is make you aware, so that it doesn't continue to deceive you." DIO remained silent for a moment. "Yes, deceive you," the reflection continued, "this power works in the mind, but only on a conscious level. Here, you're totally protected by it, with the exception of. . ." They both turned to see Luna, who was standing in awe of something she had never seen before. DIO grew a frown, glaring at Luna. "What have you hidden from me?" he asked. Luna sighed, shaking her head. "Only what I know," she admitted, hanging her head. The reflection vanished as DIO and Luna carried on their conversation. "And that is?" DIO demanded, becoming impatient. "These 'Stands' that you have, they're not limited to your world alone," Luna explained, "it was said that there were only two creatures in all of Equestria with the ability to manifest their psychological energy into a physical form with unique abilities, but we never found out who the second one was, or what they could do." "And the first? Who would that be?" DIO asked. "Me." > The Moon's Stand > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today is June 9th. The summer sun celebration is in thirteen days. "Fine! You can forget about friendship anymore!" a mare shouted obnoxiously at a stallion, who looked around with a blush on his face at the equines staring at him in such a public area, "I was talking to a stallion better than you anyway!" The stallion looked like he was about to cry as she stomped away, purposely brushing dirt into his face. On her way out, she bumped into a certain stallion with a blonde mane. "Out of my way!" the mare shouted. That stallion was Kira, who had watched the events unfold in quite an utter distaste, but who was accountable? The other stallion looked down, eyes wide as he seemed confused. "That's Cocoa," Lyra whispered to Kira as she leaned over, having stood beside him the whole time, "I know he wouldn't hurt a fly, why would she do such a thing to him?" Lyra approached the stallion to console him while Kira looked back towards where the mare walked, following her subtly from behind. "The Stand's name is 『Solitude』, representing the individuality and self-reflection of a sentient being," Luna explained, "it's ability is to modify dreams and hold together the mind of an individual who is alone." "Implying that an individual could not do so on their own?" DIO asked, raising a brow. Luna sighed. "They are only animals," Luna admittedly stated with almost a feeling of defeat, "without my ability, they wouldn't be able to hold themselves together on the inside, causing them to break down to the way things were long ago." "The conflict between the three races, the feeding of the sirens?" DIO asked, recalling some reading he had done in Fluttershy's cottage. "Yes," Luna affirmed, "my Stand allows them to live, but I understand it so little." "This, other Stand user," DIO said, "perhaps their ability, or even their lack of knowing their ability, is what's causing Stand users to enter into this world?" "You bring up a good point. . .But it requires complicated magic to do such a thing, I can't even fathom it!" Luna replied. It was true, that kind of magic is heavily forbidden due to it's immense power and ability. Discord could access different dimensions with his chaos magic—the most powerful magic of that nature I can currently ponder—but this was an entirely different universe." "In that case," DIO thought for a moment, "it would have to be some powerful creature working in conjunction with Stand Power in order to permit such a thing." Luna only pondered the implications. "Lord DIO! Wake up!" Fluttershy said, gently tugging at DIO's jacket as he slowly opened his eyes. "What. . ?" He asked. He saw that the room was full of stressing equines. Luna soon stepped in the room as well, having exited the dream. "There's been another killing. . ." Twilight said quietly. The room fell silent as discomfort arose. DIO quirked a brow. ". . .and?" "Well, nopony knows who it was, and I have a feeling had it been human. . .they would have seen it," Twilight forced out. DIO nodded. "What of the body?" He asked, before Twilight began to shake her head. "No body. Just a body of magic floating around the home like some kind of residual energy," she replied, "I don't know if we have mages in Ponyville capable of deciphering memory from residual magic." "Oh, why does this person have to be so mean!?" Fluttershy blurted out, earning the room's attention, "At least Lord DIO was nice and didn't kill anyone!" Twilight began to raise her hoof slowly. "Except for those people in Sugar Cube Corner that one time, but other than that he was nicer than this person!" Twilight slowly put her hoof down. "It's Yoshikage Kira," Josuke suddenly said, coming out from behind a door. Everyone turned to him attentively. Kira walked up to Lyra's house, noticing that the door was left slightly open. Cautiously, he walked in looking around before he heard talking. "Ah, she's just been sick lately!" Lyra said, sounding nervous. "She's been sick for nearly the last week without going to a hospital?" Another mare questioned with an audible doubt, "I'm going to go see her." "Wait, you can't—!" Lyra shouted. About that time, Kira walked in. "Who the hell are you?" The mare asked, before gasping and standing back, as Killer Queen manifested behind him. "My name is Yoshikage Kira. I've killed fifty-one beautiful women up until now." "You will be fifty-two." The mare tried to let out a scream before Killer Queen threw a fist into her face, muffling her shout before blowing her up entirely. "Kira," Lyra said, breathing heavily, "I think people are starting to get suspicious." "Let them," Kira said, "They'll only become so suspicious until they realize it's too dangerous." Lyra nodded, hanging her head. "Was killing Bon-bon the wrong thing to do?" She asked quietly. Kira sat down beside her. "I would not say it was wrong, or right," He explained, sitting close enough to give her a kind of physical comfort, "But it was a decision you made, and a decision you made for yourself, therefore you should live with it regardless and be proud of it." "You're right, I shouldn't go back on what I've decided," Lyra said proudly, lifting her head with a motivated smile, "And if anypony gets in our way, we'll just show them to Tartarus!" "There you go," Kira said with almost a bit of enthusiasm as he smiled brightly, wrapping a foreleg around her and patting her side. "I appreciate your train of thought." "And I appreciate your help, Kira, very much," she replied, nuzzling his neck lightly. He smiled again, feeling less conflict of thought this time. As long as she thought like he did, was there really any harm in having a friend, or even a love inter— He shook his head, not willing to think that far yet. DIO turned to face Josuke. "Is this name supposed to mean something?" "He was a serial killer of my old town," He said, "He had a Stand named Killer Queen, and it was capable of turning anything into a bomb." "So you mean that he's detonating ponies?" Twilight said, tilting her head with an expression of disgust. "Yes, the bombs leave no trace," Josuke said, "after Killer Queen has touched something, anything, it is capable of exploding whenever Kira wishes for it to." "And how are you so sure that this, Kira is the culprit?" DIO asked, placing his hands on his waist with a quirked brow. "Because he has a pattern," Josuke said, "It would take a while to explain, but with Stand users coming from our world, this has to be the case!" "it is worth considering, then," DIO nodded, "We should look for him, perhaps starting with the same area we had appeared." Josuke nodded, looking at Twilight, "You can keep managing the records to see if any more Stand users arrive, we'll start searching now for him. It's important we find him as soon as possible!" "Right!" Twilight said, "Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, I want you to get the rest of our friends here so that we can be prepared to assemble the Elements if necessary." The two nodded, hopping up and dashing off immediately. They were sure they could take care of this threat with no problem, but, with the exception of DIO, nothing had ever been this serious. Luna stayed quiet in the background, using her own Stand to avert the amount of stress on the equines that this would have caused otherwise. Later that night, Kira had woken up suddenly beside Lyra, gasping as he felt his body. Still equine, still real. Lyra rolled over slowly, groaning quietly. "Are you okay Kira. . ?" She muttered, laying a hoof over him. He shook his head a bit. "Yes. . .I had a strange dream." "What was it?" Lyra had a voice of concern as she opened her eyes wider to observe him. His expression almost screamed with how deep in thought he was, and how worried he seemed. "I saw two large figures, and they had these spirits behind them. One was white, and one was black, and white one's spirit was much larger. It stepped on the black one, then looked at me and pointed, before it let out a terrible sound and the world was torn apart," He explained. Lyra shared the worry, having never seen anything like that in her dreams before. "Even if. . .for some reason. . .the spell didn't work," Lyra pondered aloud, "I've never seen anything like that, nor has anypony else—at least that I've spoken to. What could that mean?" "I'm not sure," Kira said, "But I'll need to return to sleep regardless; I can't stay up all night because of a simple nightmare." "Yes, you do," She leaned into him a bit, "See you in the morning, goodnight." "You as well," He said quietly, closing his eyes. > Hey! Remember that time I hit you with a steamroller and made a chess reference? > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- "DIO, take a look!" Josuke pointed at a figure sitting under a tree in the distance dressed in white. DIO looked, nodding. "That's definitely a human," he replied, walking closer. Josuke followed, and, as they approached, the figure lifted a very familiar looking hat. DIO squinted his eyes. "Is that. . ?" Josuke said, stopping for a moment as DIO continued to walk slowly forward. "It can't be. . ." DIO said, clenching a fist. "Wait, DIO, what are you—" Josuke said, before DIO started to fly in that direction. The figure stood up, a long, white coat with a dolphin pin flowing in the wind as he kept the hat over his eyes with a pointer finger and thumb. His black hair, tall stature, there was no mistake who it was. "Yare Yare Daze. . ." the figure said, looking up at DIO, who was now five meters away. "Oh no," Josuke said, "It is! Don't fight!" "DIO!" the figure shouted, the vampire landing on his feet and looking towards the figure. "Jotaro," DIO said, summoning The World behind him with clenched fists. "This won't end well. . ." Josuke said quietly, remaining hidden as he knew that there was nothing he could do. "You seem to have a very long list of people. . .ponies that you want gone," Kira noted, quirking a brow as Lyra had finished discussing her personal "hit list". "Well, you see. . ." she explained, looking away and scratching her head, "if you compare that to the list of ponies who have such a fascination with humans. . ." "I see," Kira said, understanding her point, "so they've bullied you in some way? How evil. I assure you, we can take care of them." Lyra smiled, nuzzling him. His conflicting emotions had been festering for a while now, and he was not sure what to do. After a few moments, Lyra looked up. "Why are you so conflicted?" she asked. Kira was taken aback, thinking he was doing a well enough job of concealing it. Unfortunately, he didn't do a good job of not feeling it. I'm sorry. ". . .why would you say such a thing?" Kira asked, nearly baffled by her intuition, and still trying to play it off. "It seems humans and ponies are very similar in how they act," Lyra said, "you can notice the patterns. I understand, of course, I'm not mad. I'm just curious, you know? I'd. . .really like to make something. . .you know, work?" Kira's eyes widened a bit; Lyra's voice had gotten a bit timid. It was obvious what she was implying. "Perhaps we should talk about it later," Kira said suddenly, getting up from the bed they had been sitting on, "we have a long list to go through." "Right!" Lyra said with excitement, seeming not to have been gravely affected by his sudden change of subject. She hopped up, walking out as Kira followed, heading to their next victim. The air was torn by the thundering of clashing fists. The once beautiful forest area had been nearly decimated as the two formidable stand users fought, neither showing relent as they both showed equivalence of power to one another. Even Jotaro, with his five seconds of stopped time against the several minutes that DIO had, still managed to match up by sheer power and endurance. "You surely cannot win, Jotaro! I have more power than ever before!" DIO shouted, hurling fists faster than light. Jotaro kept up with him, having a grimacing face as he began to feel fatigued. "Power? Is that what you call breaking my dolphin pin?" Jotaro shouted back. "What does your dolphin fetish have to do with anything?" DIO said, more casually as his punches slowed down, before he took a heavy hit to the chest. "Hmph," Jotaro said, walking towards DIO again as he had been knocked through a tree, "what kind of power are you talking about that makes you endure getting rammed through a tree?" "Jotaro!" Josuke suddenly said, "you need to stop fighting! He's changed now!" "Josuke!" Jotaro replied, turning towards him before DIO swung a kick into his face. After minutes of more fighting, and Josuke trying to stop them, the gang of ponies showed up to see what all the commotion was. As they arrived, they were baffled by the destruction of the two creatures. "Is that Kira?" Twilight asked Josuke, gesturing to Jotaro. "No, that's my nephew," he sighed, having given up on trying to stop the two. The ponies exchanged looks as it sounded like a bad punchline. "Why are they fighting?" Dash asked. Before Josuke could answer, another loud bang with a bright light interrupted the combat. "STOP." All was silent for a moment, as both DIO and Jotaro looked up at the glorious figure, Celestia herself, standing amidst them with a stern expression. Squee. Celestia dropped her expression, as her and everyone looked at DIO, and I honestly have no clue what to describe the emotions they or I am feeling right now. "Did Lord DIO just. . ." Fluttershy said softly, before Celestia shook her head and spoke up. "This one is not the culprit!" Celestia said suddenly, "he was here far more recently than the other, so why are you two fighting?!" "He started it!" DIO said with a frown. Jotaro looked at him with a confused expression, as DIO had obviously done so. By this point, Jotaro had noted DIO's very strange and bizarre change of character. It was almost frightening; in fact, Jotaro was starting to wonder if he had actually gone into some kind of coma entering the new world. "DIO, you bastard," Jotaro said, "what has happened to you?" Fluttershy trotted up to DIO now, comforting him; Jotaro was only more confused. "Friendship," Twilight said, "he learned friendship." Instead of having a typical d'aw moment, Jotaro simply refused to believe such a thing; however, he still retracted his Star Platinum and decided to stop fighting, as DIO had obviously a vastly alternative demeanor from before. Celestia sighed, opening her wings again. "There's been another killing. I'm going to set up a patrol around Ponyville's borders so that we can closely monitor who goes in and out. This killer cannot be let loose in the rest of Equestria. Now, work together and find him!" She suddenly launched into the air, leaving a cloud of dust behind as she left. There was a long pause. "While you two were fighting, we found out there was another killing," Twilight said, breaking the silence, "it seems to be of a mare that really didn't get along with Lyra specifically. I remember hearing her gossip constantly about her obsession with humans." "Are you implying she might be working with Kira?" Fluttershy asked, looking concerned. Twilight shook her head. "No way," she said, "Bon Bon went missing, I'm assuming she was one of the first victims of Kira." The few were silent for a moment, as most of them had known Bon Bon rather well. "Then why would Kira kill one of the ponies she isn't fond of, or do you think it was a coincidence?" Dash replied. "Could it be Stockholm's, maybe?" DIO suggested, "Perhaps her obsession with humans increased the likelihood of her finding him, and maybe she's deluded after the traumatic experience?" "That's plausible," Twilight said, "but that must be terrible." "I couldn't imagine losing one of my friends like that," Fluttershy said quietly. DIO petted her mane slightly, looking at Josuke. "What do you think?" DIO asked. Josuke thought for a moment. "He has a pattern of going after people who are. . .for lack of better word, 'deserving', in his eyes," Josuke said, "perhaps he feels some kind of twisted sorrow for the pony?" "Perhaps," DIO looked at Jotaro for a moment, Jotaro returning a sour expression before DIO spoke up, "Will you help us find the culprit?" The group all looked at Jotaro. He reluctantly closed his eyes. "Good grief," he said, before nodding, "fine." The ponies, as well as Josuke, all smiled with glee. DIO kept a straight face, as he himself still had a bit of resentment for Jotaro. It was quite obviously returned. "This is too bizarre," Jotaro pondered to himself as they began to walk back to Twilight's home. > The Dreams of a Killer > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today is June 11th, twelve days until the Summer Sun Celebration. Kira opened his eyes suddenly, turning towards Lyra who was roused from her sleep as a result of his jumping. "Another nightmare?" she asked, rolling over towards him. He was silent for a moment as Lyra leaned up, looking at him with a more concerned expression. "Kira?" "I saw a large figure," he said slowly, "it was controlling other figures, and suddenly it broke in two and the other figures began to kill each other." "That's abnormal. . ." Lyra said, "it must mean something." Kira got up, looking at the time to see it was about five o'clock in the morning. Figuring it wasn't too early, he decided to dress himself. "Perhaps it does," he pondered aloud, "I've never had nightmares like this in my life, let alone having a nightmare more than once or twice a season." Lyra, with her still concerned expression, kept quiet as she couldn't make much sense of it herself. She got up as well, using her magic to assist Kira. After doing so, she walked ahead of him to fix breakfast. Unlike Bon-Bon, Kira wasn't picky at all with his food. He would eat whatever Lyra set out for him, even if she had forgotten to buy food, and it wasn't much. There would be an hour of silence between the two, as the nightmare had implied some fateful event happening. It was enough to make them think about their future, their actions, and how everything would come together. But Lyra wasn't focused on that. A conspiracy theorist, perhaps, but no end-of-the-world enthusiast. She was more focused on the here and now, more focused on Kira. A human, the species she adored so much, coming in and being a pony that she could adore. Offering a kind of comfort that her deceased friend could not. Her sense of morality was not absent, as she understood and even felt a portion of guilt for enabling the killer. At the same time, however, she figured that it was natural. If such a person would step into her life, as opposed to any other equine on the planet, especially in her little town of Ponyville that was so insignificant to the world. . . Wouldn't she have a right to choose who lived or died? More importantly, she thought about Kira, not as a human, not as a murderer, but as a companion. Someone—somepony—she felt affection for that she never felt towards anypony else. She smiled at the thought, a smile that Kira caught in the corner of his eye. "What's on your mind?" he asked in curiosity. Lyra blushed for a moment, walking to his side, looking into his eyes. After a moment of silence, she answered. "You." Kira only stared back, unsure how to respond. Lyra leaned closer to him, her face flushed red as she seemed to lose control of what she was doing. Kira, while confused, did not budge, allowing her to do whatever she may. As she inched closer, he felt her warm breath brushing across his skin, until— THUD THUD THUD She leaned back suddenly, her heart dropping at the sound. Kira looked in the direction of the door. "I-I'll answer it. . ." she said, clearing her throat and walking towards the door. Kira, however, had a very solemn feeling about who was at the door, and, more importantly, why. The door slowly creaked open, as Lyra peered out to see. . . "Hey Lyra!" a mare said with a smile, "how've you been lately?" Kira turned back to look towards the door, still out of sight. He figured it was just a friend of hers, curious about what was going on with Bon-Bon. It wasn't until Lyra began to speak that he realized the grave error in his thought. "Oh, Twilight," Lyra said nervously, "I didn't expect to see you here so early in the morning." Kira's eyes widened, it was the element bearer of magic, and he was certain she wasn't just there to "check up" on Lyra. "I know, it's been a wild few days," Twilight said with a chuckle, "do you mind if I come in? It smells like you cooked some wonderful—" "Uh, yes, actually," Lyra said suddenly, cutting her off, "I would mind. It's really early. . .you should come back later." "Are you sure?" Twilight said with a frown, "your mane is fixed up all nice and you seem to be fully awake. . ." "Look, just, not now, okay?" Lyra said, with a bit of frustration in her tone. Before Twilight could respond, another voice came from behind the door. "Lyra, we need to come in, I'm afraid this isn't optional," a male voice spoke. Another human, accompanied by a much larger human. Lyra turned back to Kira, who's expression showed rage and fear. 'Higashikata Josuke!' He thought to himself, before the door was forced open by DIO himself. Twilight, DIO, and Josuke all locked eyes onto Kira, who stood up from the table. "What's your name?" DIO asked, staring the strange equine in the face. Kira froze, unsure of what to say. "His name is Golden Glaze!" Lyra said suddenly, "he's been around since Bon-Bon. . ." Lyra seemed to be unable to complete the sentence, allowing the tears from her thoughts of losing Kira to flow as if they were for her deceased friend. Josuke and Twilight immediately felt terrible, thinking they had intruded on her residence for nothing as her show was certainly believable. Her tears were genuine, but not for the purpose they believed it to be. A world of guilt flooded them, the thought of having barged in and scared the poor pony without any real evidence. Sure, the stakes were high, but in hindsight it seemed unnecessary to do things that way. DIO, however, kept his stance, not phased in the slightest by the remarks. "Shit. . ." Josuke said, "We won't find anything here." As they turned away, DIO stared at the so-called 'Golden Glaze'. Before Josuke and Twilight could walk away, DIO held his hand up. "Wait. Tell me what you see." He said. Twilight turned around with a worried expression, thinking that DIO was going to be unnecessarily mean. "Come off of it DIO," Josuke said quietly, "her loss is unrelated." "Then why does that fully-grown equine lack a mark on it's flank?" he pointed out. "Every other adult equine has one, from what I understand, it's a critical part of childhood development in every equine." Both Lyra and Kira looked at each other with fear as Twilight and Josuke made the realization. As Josuke looked closer, however, he saw the eyes of the killer. The unmistakable glare of hatred and immorality. "Yoshikage Kira!" Josuke shouted, summoning Crazy Diamond immediately as DIO also summoned The World. Kira saw no choice, he knew Lyra would be held accountable for his killings, and for some reason, that was all that was on his mind. Rather than combating the feelings he had, he lunged out of the seat. "KILLER QUEEN!" the Stand came out, much more powerful than it had ever been. DIO began to walk forward before Josuke stopped him. "No, this is my fight, this is why I'm here!" Josuke said, "I will finish this, once and for all." DIO stepped back, grinning at Josuke's determination, before uttering a good wish to him that DIO never thought he would speak in his life. "Fight well, Joestar." > Make a 『Stand!』 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The house was a mess now, Twilight and DIO watched as the old rivals fought once more. With every thundering clash of the Stand's fists, every shaking of the ground, it seemed almost futile to watch. The length of the fight, and the unrelenting force of both stand users was a grim reminder of the nature of the human world. The cruelty of the everyday, the thoughtless conflict, all manifested into a single moment, a single battle; a battle between an otherwise normal teenager, and a heartless serial killer. But was he heartless? All this time, Kira thought not of himself, but of Lyra. He had no time to question the feelings any longer, he decided he had an attachment to her. Her strange, and possibly deranged compassion for him, it gave him strength. Strength to fight Josuke with a power he never had before. Something even the Arrow couldn't accomplish. He didn't need Sheer Heart Attack, he didn't need Bites the Dust, all he needed was that feeling of compassion that he was so new to. That gave him strength, and as he thought of what he was fighting for, he began to overwhelm Josuke. Josuke, noticing his sudden strength, refused to let his pride fall before the monster, continuing to fight until he could no longer. With several minutes of wordless combat, determination on both sides, Kira's newfound feelings had given his stand the strength to overcome Crazy Diamond. As Kira noticed his imminent victory, he looked into the eyes of his rival, and asked him a simple question. "What do you fight for, Higashikata?" he shouted, continuing to dodge the blows of Crazy Diamond, and landing a few of his own, "Do you fight for your own sense of morality? For an ambiguous law decided by people above you? You may know how to fight for the dead, but can you fight for the living?!" "Don't bring gramps into this!" Josuke shouted, landing a heavy blow to Killer Queen's chest, knocking Kira back a bit, but Kira was not phased. His expression, filled with a stern and unstoppable determination, was held perfectly in the moment as Kira struck back with a single shout. "FALL!" Killer Queen launched a single punch, not at Crazy Diamond, but at Josuke himself, closing in on his face. For a moment, Josuke saw his death in front of him, the end of everything. To Kira's confusion, however, this did not happen. The fist of Killer Queen instead met the bare palm of DIO. The striking force capable of knocking a human skull straight off the neck wasn't enough to even break the skin of DIO. "Humans talk too much," He said, crushing the fist in his hand. Kira retracted his stand, looking at his hoof which was now shattered and bleeding. "Kira!!" Lyra shouted suddenly, tears building up in her eyes again as DIO approached Kira. "Perhaps it was a mistake to trust a Joestar to get the job done," he said, feeling at home with his sense of cruelty as he planned on making quick work of Kira's life. Kira looked up to him with a hateful glare, knowing he could not combat this monster that, even without stand power, was surely not human. "Do what you must. . ." Kira said quietly, before looking at Lyra. "I've found my resolve." "As you wish," DIO said, rearing back a fist. Kira turned back, closing his eyes as he accepted his fate. "NO!" Lyra shouted. As DIO began to throw the fist forward, an object flew past his hand. Before he knew it, his hand was laying on the floor, blood spurting out of his arm. Kira opened his eyes, wondering what strange fate had come upon him to cause such a thing. Both DIO and Kira expressed confusion, turning to see Lyra, who had something behind her. Her expression was changed, the tears nearly evaporated from the anger she felt. A non-magical aura surrounded her, as the figure behind her began to manifest. "No way. . ." Josuke said, looking in awe as Twilight stood beside him, looking away from tending to his wounds. "Lyra. . ." Kira said slowly, observing the towering figure behind her. It's appearance was feminine, having an equine-like head with a chain wrapping around the neck several times. It had no legs below the fading torso, but four arms each with a hand that had a different symbol on it. One of a clock, one of an X, one of a Y, and one of a Z. It was surprising to all, and nearly impossible, but Lyra, in that moment of stress, had developed a very powerful stand. "Two against me," DIO smirked, as his hand simply grew back, "then the fight is a fair one." Lyra looked at him, narrowing her eyes. "You talk too much." Without warning, a barrage of objects with impossible geometries appeared from thin air, launching DIO out of the side of the house. Kira quickly retreated behind Lyra. Before anything else could happen, a shout could be heard from the other side of the house. "ZA WARUDO!" BWOWOWOWOWTiktiktiktik...tik DIO got up from the rubble of the house around him, stepping back into the now-ruined building as he walked towards Lyra and Kira in frozen time. While he had many questions of the stand's abilities, he didn't want to give her a chance to strike back. The World drew back a fist, throwing it directly towards Lyra's face before it was caught. "What?!" DIO said, looking to see that Lyra's stand had caught it, and that, in fact, Lyra was not frozen at all. "What do you think?" Lyra asked with a smirk, "I think I should call it. . .Forthcoming." "Impossible!" DIO exclaimed, looking at the hand that had caught The World. He noticed the Clock, and the letters. "This stand is far too powerful for an equine like you!" "In that moment that it appeared, it seemed to stop time for an eternity," Lyra admitted, "and as it did, I began to realize all that it could do. I began to see it's full potential, something that wouldn't just defeat you, but anypony in my or Kira's way. Something that could give me anything I wanted." "So you're the one with the stand power," DIO said, "the one that Luna spoke of!" "Oh, no," Lyra laughed, "That's somepony else, but I figure you will never find out." A fist was driven through DIO's chest, as time resumed. Forthcoming withdrew it's hand, allowing DIO to fall onto the floor in defeat as a small gateway opened behind Lyra and Kira, allowing them a swift escape. No one could have predicted it, but the influence of stand power in Equestria was beginning to cause normal ponies to develop stand power for themselves. Lyra was the first, but surely not the last. > The Ground Rules Have Changed > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today is June 12th, eleven days until the Summer Sun Celebration. DIO opened his eyes to the sight of Crazy Diamond slowly fading away. Josuke stood beside Twilight, both looking down at DIO as the others arrived. How could he have lost? How could a stand of such power suddenly manifest? He shook off the questions, as it was surely no time for curiosity. DIO slowly lifted up, as Josuke's stand had healed him completely. "What happened?" Dash asked, looking at the amount of blood and ruin that covered the once-normal home. Twilight and Josuke were silent, leaving only DIO to speak. Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Princess Luna and Jotaro. All that hadn't seen his defeat, but for once he had to admit to it. "I was defeated," he said, simply. Fluttershy ran to him as Dash exchanged a look with Twilight. "Since when do you admit defeat?" Jotaro asked, looking down at DIO. DIO shot him a hateful glare, choosing not to respond. He got up, petting Fluttershy as she hugged him as best she could. "That Equine, Lyra," DIO started, looking at Luna, "she has a stand." "Is she the—" Luna began to ask, before being interrupted by DIO. "No," he said, "She's new. Her stand is immensely powerful, however. I assume that her mortality would make wielding it constantly a very difficult feat." "What makes you say that?" Twilight asked. Before DIO could speak, Jotaro spoke up. "If her stand is able to stop time, then it must be taxing," Jotaro said, "I can only stop time for five seconds, no matter how well-trained my stand is. It takes a monster to stop time for any longer than that, regardless of the stand's ability itself." "Along with that," DIO continued, "even if she knew more about her stand from it's birth unlike most who awaken their ability, she still hasn't trained it's usage. Her power wasn't even conditioned, it was luck that allowed her to wield it so powerfully." "And if she's powerful enough to stop DIO without even trying," Josuke said, "then god only knows what kind of power she would have once it was trained." There was a moment of silence, as the group thought about what this meant. DIO, having been the only one to hear her true intentions, thought back to what she said before tearing a hole in his gut. "I began to see it's full potential, something that wouldn't just defeat you, but anypony in my or Kira's way. Something that could give me anything I wanted." "She called it Forthcoming," DIO said suddenly, "To me it sounds like a reference to a Fourth Coming." "The three princesses," Twilight said, "Cadence, Luna, Celestia. . ." "Lyra." Josuke finished, his expression turning stern, "It's going to take all of our effort combined to stop this." Josuke looked at DIO, and then Jotaro, before reiterating. "ALL of our effort." They both grunted in response. Kira sat down beside Lyra, attempting to comfort her. Her breathing was shallow, and her heart beating slowly, but still, she smiled. "We did it, we escaped," she said softly, her eyes barely open as she looked up at Kira. Kira shook his head. "You did," he corrected, "but it almost killed you. You'll need to train with your stand before doing anything crazy." Lyra coughed, attempting to sit up, but Kira quickly stopped her, laying her back down again. "You need to rest," he said. Lyra chuckled. She leaned back and looked up at the sky. She thought of her new power, of how she could use it for her own benefit. This wasn't about simple day-to-day life anymore. Fate had chosen her, it had chosen her to lead Equestria into a new age, she thought. Her fantasies went further, imagining how she could merge universes together, bringing the human world into the Equestrian one. Then, no one would call her crazy. With the last bit of strength she had, she summoned her stand. Kira stood back as it hovered over Lyra, a bright glow emitting from her. Kira covered his eyes, before realizing he was human again. He looked at Lyra to see that she was as well. And a beautiful human she was, Kira thought. Hands almost perfectly molded, a figure that could be envied by models, and hair that flowed like a powerful river. Her eyes, a golden, glowing yellow, looked into his. Kira was taken aback, not having thought of the implications of this stand's ability to manipulate small things. Lyra smiled, holding her hand out to Kira. "Would you like this form better~?" she said, smirking. Kira only stared, before a smile spread across his face, then he looked down. "Are you sure it's good to walk around naked like that?" he asked. Lyra's eyes popped open as her face flushed red. "Oops." Today is June 15th, eight days until the Summer Sun Celebration. The group was back at Golden Oaks library. Luna, DIO, Rainbow Dash, Jotaro and Josuke sitting still and thinking, while Fluttershy stayed by DIO and Twilight paced back and forth. Twilight sent an urgent letter to Princess Celestia, awaiting her arrival. It was taking her a while, and they weren't sure why. Finally, there was a knock at the door. Twilight opened it with magic, seeing that it was the Princess they had waited on for so long. As she walked in, the equines bowed with the exception of Luna. "Princess Celestia, you're here!" Twilight said with a smile. Her smile quickly faded as Celestia showed no response, not even a smirk. She looked down at the floor as the equines rose up to look at her. DIO quirked a brow as Celestia looked up once more. "The entire Royal Guard employed to secure Ponyville's border was slaughtered this morning," she said with a grim tone, "not a single one of them remains." Fear covered the faces of the present equines. In the time they waited, Lyra had gained the strength back to take out the entire royal guard, leaving Equestria completely defenseless. While the equines were sad, and Josuke was concerned, DIO just felt anger. "Where were you for those last three days?" he asked, approaching Celestia. She quickly noted the anger in his voice before replying. "You wouldn't understand," she snapped back, "this isn't easy for me to deal with! Thanks to your stand abilities coming into our world, this is all happening!" "You think this is MY fault?!" DIO shouted back. In his anger, DIO took a chair and hurled it towards her. The equines all gasped in fear, as Jotaro and Josuke summoned their stands ready to fight DIO in case he went too crazy. Then something strange happened. In her stress, Celestia did not think about consequences, before another ghostly figure appeared and broke the chair into splinters. Everyone was in shock, even DIO. "Sister. . ." Luna said slowly, "what is that?" Celestia looked at her sister, her anger suddenly changing to a worry as she had unintentionally revealed something that would have most possibly destroyed the trust she had developed with her subjects. The figure she had summoned, the Stand she had summoned, it was all white with a humanoid appearance. The top of it's head was wrapped with wires, and its face had eyes like the sun and moon. On it's back were pipes emitting small flames, and on it's chest were the symbols of a sun, a star, and a moon. It wore a belt fastened by a sun, and other straps wrapping around the thighs from the belt buckle. On it's knees were stars, and on it's wrists very decorative bracelets. Taking in the sight of such a well-manifested stand, DIO stood back, glaring at Celestia. "It was you," he said, "You are the one who brought these powers to the land." Celestia was silent, as the other equines were in awe of what had happened. Twilight slowly walked up to her. "Is it true. . .princess?" Twilight asked, slightly choking on her words, "is this why all of these things have happened?" Celestia looked at all of them, before her stand faded away. She slowly nodded. "Yes. . ." she said, "Luna and I were the first to gain these powers, thousands of years ago, in all that time, we knew not how to train them. When Princess Cadence also showed her ability to gain this power, I granted her the abilities of a princess, in exchange that she would keep quiet about the ability and use it only to help her subjects. We didn't think another user would develop so soon, and we surely did not believe that it would cause a breach between the fabric of worlds. I am sorry." "You too. . ?" Twilight said, looking over towards Luna. Luna nodded. "I did not know of my sister's ability," she admitted, "but I knew well of mine, and used it to the best of my ability to keep all of equinity safe. I figured it was happenstance that I would have developed it, as well as Mi Amor Cadenza. . .Celestia's ability is just as much a surprise to me as it is to you." "Then what are they used for?" Dash asked suddenly, with a bit of frustration in her voice, "If you had these superpowers all along, why did my friends have to put their lives on the line to keep Equestria safe with the elements?" "Because these abilities are not for combat," Celestia answered, "Luna's capability allows her to enter dreams, and to stabilize them in such a way that ponies like yourself could stay held together individually. Cadence was only capable of affecting the love of individuals, spreading it like a wildfire to keep the Crystal Empire from falling into hatred after the events of King Sombra's reign." "Then that leaves you," DIO said, looking at Celestia, "what is your ability?" "The stand's name is Friendship," Celestia said quietly, "it controls the bonds of animals and allows them to think and speak as sentient beings." "You mean. . ." Fluttershy said quietly, "we're just animals without it?" Celestia was quiet for a moment, as the room filled with tension. She slowly nodded her head. "Celestia," DIO said suddenly. Celestia looked up at him, "come with me. We need to talk." > Confrontation > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As the doors closed, Celestia wasn't sure what to expect. DIO had been taught the power of friendship, but he still wasn't all that forgiving. Considering what happened last time, as well as his newfound knowledge of the Equestrian world, it was quite possible that he would go rogue and attempt to kill her again, or perhaps succeed. She wasn't sure which she preferred most, yet she kept attention to whatever he was going to say. "You've done something good," he said. Celestia showed a tremendous amount of confusion. Was he so morally-deranged that he thought lying to an entire population of equines for thousands of years was good? Did he truly believe they were just animals and that it was okay anyway? Or was she the morally-deranged one for actually having lied to them for all that time? "What do you mean by that?" the princess asked, voicing confusion in her tone, "how could that be good in any way? I lied to them, I. . .I. . ." "No," DIO corrected, "You lied and that was wrong. Evil, even. But then, you told the truth. That was good." The princess lowered her head. This being who came from a world of hatred and warfare was somehow more capable of moral understanding than she was. "What am I to do?" she asked quietly, "how am I to fix the trust that I've just severed with them? I can't simply make them forget, then go back to lying again for a thousand more years. I can't just—" "Don't focus on what you can't do," DIO said, "focus on what you can do." "What would that be?" "You can lead them again, under truth. You can allow their minds to adapt, slowly withdrawing the power of your stand to allow them to figure things out on their own. Your world will perhaps be more chaotic, there will be conflict, but in the end you will have a race that you can rule without force. A race with loyalty towards you that is genuine." Celestia thought about that for a moment. She had lied for thousands of years, a bit of conflict is the least she felt she would have to pay for it, but would the three of the Mane six who knew forgive her for it? It didn't matter, she would have to face the consequences regardless. "You're right," she said, "I can't lie any longer. Equestria must know what has happened, and they must learn from my mistakes, even if it costs me." DIO smiled. "But for now, that is not our worry," he said, "we need to take out a threat that is much larger than anything we have ever fought." Meanwhile, inside, Luna and the others were speaking amongst themselves. Fluttershy was relatively quiet, and Twilight was stuck in thought while Rainbow Dash was battling a small amount of anger towards both princesses. Josuke, being somewhat of a peacekeeping type, decided to offer his say. "She might have made a mistake," he started, "but maybe that's all she knew. She wasn't a long-living princess all of her life, surely. She had to have made some mistakes, and being so powerful those mistakes would inevitably be massive." "It's still terrible to think about," Dash retorted, "the princesses we trusted lying to us for that long, to the entire world?" There was a moment of silence. "Josuke is right," Fluttershy said, breaking the silence, "they might be princesses, but they're not perfect. It's hard to keep a bunch of ponies like us in order without some kind of power like that." "That's not the point," Twilight said, looking at both of her closest friends, "it's not like the princesses hid anything from us, and it's not even their fault. It's just the fact that without those abilities, we're just animals. We don't even have the ability to consciously think for ourselves. Was anything true to begin with? Our friendships, our conflicts, our thoughts, our sorrows, our joy. . ." Tears began to flood Twilight's eyes as she pondered the implications. It was the existential nightmare nopony expected. A harsh reality that stood in the face of everything they believed in. Friendship, magic, harmony. All of it was simulated. Josuke wasn't sure what to say, as he was not facing the same problem whatsoever. He looked at Jotaro for input, but noticed he was at the window listening. The expression on Jotaro's face was. . .odd. Something Josuke had never seen before. Jotaro was a very calm, and very stern man. He never beat around the bush, and he was straightforward with anything he dealt with. Someone who wasn't afraid to kill a man, either. Had Josuke not dealt with the conflicts he had to with other Stand users, he probably would have felt fear from that fact. Deep down, however, Josuke was capable of that to. That aside, to see such a ponderous expression on such a man, it confused Josuke. He was almost scared to ask why. Fortunately, he didn't have to, as Jotaro turned around to face him and the equines. "You're wrong, Twilight," he said bluntly. Twilight looked up at him, wiping her tears away. "Wh-what?" she uttered. "From being in this universe, from seeing whatever you taught him," Jotaro said, "DIO, a heartless, menacing vampire who knew nothing but conquest, murder, manipulation, and cruelty. . .has turned into someone more human than I could ever be. Something about this world is more powerful than whatever ability your princesses have. To some point, it wasn't just them making the decisions. It was you." The insight was very soothing to the equines, as it offered some hope that their lives were not as fake as they had assumed. Shortly after, DIO entered in the room with Celestia. Celestia hadn't a clue what to say to them, thinking they were just as angry as before, but to her surprise she was greeted with a hug from all three of the present element bearers. "It's okay Celestia," Fluttershy said, "we forgive you, no matter what." "You're still our princess," Twilight said, "even if you made some mistakes, you still tried to do what was best for us." "Our friendship is more than stand power," Dash finished, as the three let go. Celestia was still taken aback, with no words to say. DIO gave her a friendly pat on the back. "Not as hard as you thought," he said, "now lets deal with this threat before it's too late." The group shortly got back to friendly conversation, getting along once more as if nothing had happened. DIO, while happy that everything had worked out, was still confused by how easily the conflict was resolved. He turned to face Jotaro, who was staring at him. Seeing that he was apart from the crowd, DIO approached him. "I don't understand it," DIO said, "it's like they have an innate sense of care and compassion that our world lacks." "Yeah," Jotaro said, "one I thought someone like you could never have." DIO quirked a brow. "But it appears I was wrong," Jotaro continued, "maybe you're not innately evil. Maybe it's all you knew, and no one had the time to show you otherwise." "Are you apologizing?" DIO asked with a smirk. Jotaro frowned. "We're not there yet," he said with a grunt. DIO laughed, and, strangely enough, Jotaro did as well. What a bizarre story, but there is still one last fight to be fought. One last test of friendship. While the group were sorting out their differences, and celebrating the unnatural perseverance of friendship against all odds, Lyra was plotting something catastrophic. > Lyra's World Part 1 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Today is June 22nd, one day until the Summer Sun Celebration. Several days had passed. No hint of where Lyra and Kira could be, and no one, nor pony, had a clue where to start looking. Days and days of pondering, and thinking, and nothing surfaced. A worry grew among the group, as the equines saw a possible end to their lifestyles as they knew it, and the humans and vampire saw no return to their world. DIO sat, thinking to himself as the equines chattered in another room. Josuke entered, giving a light knock on the short door. "Come in," DIO said quietly. Josuke slowly crept in, taking a seat in a chair close to DIO. DIO opened one eye to look at Josuke, "Have you something to say?" "After some thinking, I've had a bit of an epiphany," Josuke said, "I think I know where Kira might be hiding." DIO quirked a brow, leaning forward to listen. "Kira would usually hide in a place where he could be disguised to fit in with society," Josuke explained, "there's a chance that, with Lyra's stand ability, they could have gone to someplace else in Equestria and tried to fit in like everyone else." "It would explain why Lyra took out the Royal Guard, aside from just a show of power," DIO mused, "but wouldn't there be heavier security measures for newcomers after such an event?" "That's the thing," Josuke said, "from what I've read over the past few days, the cities in Equestria are vastly different from one another in culture, technology, and even architecture. Surely, Canterlot was blocked off, as well as Manehattan and several other cities. If I were to take a guess, they've made their way into Appleloosa. It's the only place that would be easily caught off-guard." "It's a good start," DIO said, "Tell the others, we'll start to venture there." The squealing sound of brakes pierced the air as the Mane Six, DIO, Jotaro, and Josuke all prepared to board a train to Appleloosa. As the got on to a very special part of the train, the Mane Six began to talk. "Ah, geez. . ." Applejack said slowly, "I hope my family down there's okay. . ." "I'm sure they'll be fine dear," Rarity replied, "after all, it wouldn't be much of a disguise if ponies started dying would it?" "I guess you're right Rarity," Applejack replied again, "it's still gutwrenchin' to think that they're just trottin' about." "Well, if they see us, they might take hostages," Rainbow Dash pointed out, crudely unaware of the insensitivity of that statement. Applejack only looked in horror as the rest of the mane six gave an angry look to Dash. "She's right," Jotaro said, "we'll need to disguise ourselves somehow to find them or they'll get violent out of desperation. The last thing we need is more people to get hurt because the 'bad guys' think they're going out with a bang." Everyone looked at Twilight. "What are you looking at me for?" "Good grief. . ." Jotaro said, looking at his hooves. "You were the one who wanted a disguise," Twilight said, "I did the best I could." "It's definitely going to take some getting used to," Josuke added, stumbling a bit in his equine form. The former humans and vampire were now equine, and the mane six appeared completely different from what they normally were. All equipped with the Elements of Harmony that were cleverly disguised as necklaces. After a few minutes of adjusting to their new appearances, they started their search for the killer couple. Appleloosa wasn't as densely populated as Ponyville was, but it was close. There'd be a lot of equines to look through, and they definitely couldn't just ask around. They relied on DIO's ability to read people, hoping that their search would be swift. However, it was anything but. Hours of searching, looking around housing areas and restaurants for any odd behavior. Everything seemed perfectly in place. Applejack specifically felt bad not being able to speak to any of her relatives, but she knew it was for a better cause. After a lot of time coming up with nothing, the group considered abandoning the search until a peculiar couple was detected. "Them," DIO said quietly, glancing in the direction of the two. The group all turned their eyes towards a couple of equines who seemed oddly overdressed for Appleloosa, and definitely not as social as many of the Appleloosans. After a few minutes of observation, it seemed the two were definitely reasonable candidates for the disguised villains. "I don't really care for this place, but you were right," Kira said quietly, "this is definitely the last place they would think to look for us." "I know right?" Lyra replied with a chuckle, "Nopony would think to come here, and with these disguises we look just like any Appleloosan." "We might be a bit overdressed," Kira said, looking at his very cliche'd cow-boy appearance. He struggled to keep the slightly oversized stetson out of his face. "The Summer Sun Celebration is tomorrow," Lyra assured, "it won't be long before my plans can come to fruition." "About that," Kira said cautiously. Lyra quirked a brow, "I'm not sure you should really invest in such a. . .large scale plan. Why not just sit back, live a quiet life and wait until they inevitably leave? You said these disguises can be permanent, and we could always go to another world anyway." "I like Ponyville," Lyra retorted, "and I like being me, or a human version of me. I'm very picky about that, but I understand what you're saying. I assure you, when all of it is over, you will have the quiet life you want, and you can do whatever you want. Doesn't that sound good?" Kira nodded. It did sound great, a life where he could do anything he wanted without conflict, but with this newfound compassion for Lyra, it seemed odd. He didn't have the same desires to kill, or at least not as much as he did before. He seemed to find contentment in Lyra, and unlike other women he had encountered, she was pretty when she talked. He was slightly concerned with her ambitions, however. Mainly because he wasn't sure she could handle the stress of using that much power at once. He wasn't going to stand in her way now, though. He was sure he felt something for her, whether that was love or just a general closeness that came as a side effect of being in this universe, he wanted to support her desires anyway. After a while of sitting at the saloon, Kira looked at Lyra. She locked eyes with him, ears perking up to hear what he might have to say. "Lyra, I need to tell you something," he said. Lyra tried to force away a smile, but as she knew what he could be saying, she couldn't help but to lose her straight face. "Hmmm~?" she said, leaning a bit closer. Kira paused for a moment, glancing around before speaking up once more. "You make me feel something I've never felt before," he started, "something I don't understand. . .but something I want to understand." "What would that be?" Lyra asked, leaning a bit closer as her face started to turn a bright pink. "Compassion," Kira said, a genuine smile spreading across his face as he looked at her once more, "love, I dare say. Love, yes, love. I love. . ." He paused. Lyra frowned a bit. "Wh. . .what is it Kira?" she asked, laying a hoof over his. "I think we were followed," he said grimly, darting his eyes towards a suspicious group of nearby equines. "Kira," Lyra said with a chuckle, "you're just over-worrying. I know you're paranoid, but—" "No. . ." Kira interrupted, "I know my instincts. . .I was right the last time, that group of ponies over there have been eyeing us for the last fifteen minutes now." Lyra glanced over, and sure enough, some of them had darted their eyes away just late enough to where she could see. Lyra's heart began to thump. "Wh-what are we going to do?" she said, before Kira took her hooves. "Nothing." Her eyes lit up, as he looked into them. She couldn't help but to smile, feeling something so strange but so warm from him. It was like the world didn't matter to him, even in the face of conflict, in the face of death, all that mattered was her. Before she knew it, he leaned closer to her and gave her a kiss. "Surely that's not Kira, he'd never kiss somebody," Josuke said quietly, looking back at DIO. "How can you be sure?" DIO asked, glancing back over at the overly-romantic couple. "Kira is heartless," Jotaro said, "but he's good at blending in. The problem is he wouldn't be the one to initiate something like that, it'd be the other way around and he'd just roll with it. To me it looks like he's really into it, so that can't be Kira." "Reasonable," DIO said, "but this world does change people." Everyone looked at DIO. "There's no need to rub it in my face," DIO said with a frown. "They're leaving," Josuke said, "it's now or never, what do we do?" "I have an idea," DIO said, "Jotaro, stop time and don't move. They'll think it is me, and they'll try to find me before the timestop ends." "And you're sure they won't know to stop moving as well?" Jotaro countered. DIO shook his head. "If they are suspicious of us now, they'll think we're nearby and want to see," DIO replied, "but if they believe we are somewhere else, Lyra will continue moving without realizing it." "I hope you're right, DIO," Jotaro said, before saying as quietly as he ever would, "Star Platinum, The World." BWOWOWOWOWTiktiktiktik...tik Lyra turned around, seeing that time was frozen. She immediately summoned her stand, looking directly towards the group of suspicious equines that Kira had pointed out earlier. None of them were moving, and The World was nowhere to be seen. Little did she know Star Platinum was hiding underneath the table of the equines. She did know, however, that it was no accident that time was stopped. After five seconds, time resumed, and Kira saw that Lyra had changed position with her Stand out for everyone to see. Several Appleloosans gasped in awe of the strange sight, some running away, but the group remained. Knowing that all had been revealed, the disguises of the group, and the villains all faded away. All stands were out, and the Elements of Harmony were ready for use. Lyra gritted her teeth. "Damnit!" she shouted, looking at Kira, "we're doing this here and now!" "Agreed," Kira said, his Killer Queen readying into a battle stance. On the other side, DIO, Jotaro, and Josuke in their normal bodies summoned their stands all the same, ready to fight to the death if necessary. DIO looked over at Jotaro. "I never thought I'd be fighting alongside a Joestar, let alone two of them," DIO said with a smirk. Jotaro shook his head. "Good grief," he said, attempting not to crack a smile, "I guess people do change." The element bearers stood behind them, all connected with a magical aura with Twilight at the center. "Girls, whatever happens today, we do by our own will," Twilight reaffirmed, "and we do it for the sake of harmony, to end this string of evil that's been hurting ponies everywhere." "Right!" the rest replied in unison. It was time for the final battle. > Lyra's World Part 2 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- There was an eerie silence across the the sand-laden field. Every civilian had exited the area in fear as the battle-ready equines, humans, and vampire alike were at a standstill. All ready to fight, but none knew who would make the first move. After what seemed like an eternity, DIO and Jotaro approached Lyra, who began to walk forward. Meanwhile, Josuke and Kira approached each other on the other side of the battlefield to make a final standoff. The Mane six stayed back, waiting to reinforce when called upon, as they didn't want their human and vampire friends to be caught in the crossfire of the Element's power. Giving each other plenty of space, Kira and Lyra fought their separate battles apart from each other. "Kira, did you really think you could bring your terror to another world and get away with it?" Josuke asked with anger in his voice, "did you think you wouldn't be caught?" Kira's eyes showed a determination that wasn't seen before. His face shadowed by the light of the sun behind him, and his stand hovering at his side more menacing than ever. He remained silent, only wishing to end this battle once and for all so that Josuke would no longer appear to interfere with his quiet life. "The silent treatment, huh?" Josuke observed, "fine, let's see how your Killer Queen fights without your sweetheart's help!" Kira kept calm, though the statement invoked a bitter rage within him. He controlled his rage, focusing it on the battle at hand. And then it was, the first strike, Killer Queen lunged forward throwing a fist towards Crazy Diamond. Josuke smirked, preparing to block before he saw Kira kicking a few loose rocks from the ground towards them. All had been touched by Killer Queen. Josuke quickly retracted his Crazy Diamond towards him to dodge the explosions, but his timing was only slightly at error. The explosions that came after as Kira pressed Killer Queen's switch blew Josuke back onto the ground. He immediately got up, however, feeling Twilight's magic healing him immediately. "It's going to take more than that to kill me, Kira!" he shouted, lunging forward with full force as his stand made an impact on Killer Queen. Kira was prepared, however, taking the blow and moving with it to prepare a swift counterattack, punching Josuke's stand in the gut. Josuke, after spitting up some blood, didn't stop, throwing another punch towards Killer Queen. It was a clean hit, knocking Kira back a few feet, but not enough to put him off balance. Josuke noticed that Kira's stance was different, and just like before, he had power coming from something else. It was then he realized that Kira, after being in this world, had learned compassion. As twisted as it was, Kira was able to manifest an exponentially stronger fighting spirit through it. "So you finally learned what it's like to be human," Josuke mused, wiping some blood from his mouth. "No," Kira said quietly, "I learned what it's like to want more than just a quiet life." "Yet you'll use something as beautiful as love as a means to justify murder?" Josuke shouted back, throwing a barrage of punches with his stand. Kira didn't do so much as crack a smile, staying focused on the fight and blocking every one of Crazy Diamond's punches with Killer Queen. Kira knew Josuke was trying to shake him with some dialogue, trying to provoke an angered response, and while Josuke made Kira furious by his very appearance, Kira wasn't going to be fooled. He had more than his own life to lose, and he wasn't going to give up what he just discovered in the name of pride. Josuke understood good and well that he was going to have to kick his psychological warfare up a notch. Even with the speed and power of Crazy Diamond that he dare say exceeded that of Star Platinum, Kira was able to keep up without so much as breaking a sweat. Somehow, in this world of love and friendship, Kira had found a way to weaponize those very emotions to give himself an edge in battle. As he was thinking, Josuke didn't notice Killer Queen slipping a counterattack in, taking a blow to the face that knocked him back. Once again, Twilight healed him immediately with her magic. Kira shot a glare at the purple equine, using Killer Queen to pick up another rock from the sandy ground and throwing it at such an angle that Josuke could not have caught it. The rock landed directly in front of Twilight. "NO!" Josuke screamed, before jumping towards Twilight, but it was too late. The bomb detonated as Kira, for the first time in this encounter, let a smile break loose on his face. Twilight was blasted back, as her friends were knocked down. Her friends quickly scrambled to help her as Josuke looked back at Kira with anger. "Let's see how you do without your sweetheart's help," Kira said, beginning to laugh. "You bastard!" Josuke shouted, he turned to the mane six. "Keep her breathing, I can heal her!" "Just make it quick!" Applejack shouted, she looked towards Rarity, "Rarity, do you know anything about healin' magic?" "No. . .no no no I don't. . ." Rarity said, slipping on her words as she wasn't sure how to deal with such a situation, "I can try to close her wounds but I'm not sure how long we can keep her alive. . ." "Long enough," Rainbow Dash sternly remarked, grabbing some fabric from the disguise clothes and fashioning a poor but somewhat effective bandage over Twilight. "It's okay, I can make it. . ." Twilight said, "and I'm sure they'll make it too. . ." She closed her eyes with shallow breath as Pinkie's eyes widened. "Oh no don't you close your eyes on me Twilight!" Pinkie said, attempting to keep her tears from flowing. "It's okay Pinkie, she. . .she needs rest," Fluttershy said, "she wouldn't give up on us, she never has." Meanwhile, Josuke was still exchanging a barrage of blows from Kira. He wasn't sure how long he could keep it up, but he'd be damned if he didn't defeat Kira again. He didn't have Sheer Heart Attack, and he didn't have Bites The Dust. All Josuke had to do was corner him, and he couldn't fight back. However, Kira was making that incredibly difficult as his stand was intensely more powerful. "You can't win, Josuke," Kira said, "all I have to do is knock you down a few more times and you'll be out of our way." "Like hell I can't!" Josuke replied, throwing a single punch towards Killer Queens arms. Once more, he blasted Kira back a few feet but Kira held firm, coming back immediately with a blow just as powerful to knock Josuke back down. He clenched his teeth, looking up to see Killer Queen's foot stomping on his face. "You're the same child you were then," Kira said, "but I'm not the same man I was then. It seems all you know is punching, and that alone will not win your battle." Kira began to laugh as his victory was assured. Then something clicked in Josuke's mind. Kira was right, punching alone wouldn't win this battle. "Aaaargh!" Josuke threw Killer Queen off of him, jumping back to his feet and suddenly throwing a punch towards Kira. Kira simply moved out of the way as Crazy Diamond's fist hit the ground causing it to shake. Like clockwork, Kira sent a kick to Josuke's side, knocking him back. "Punch punch punch, is that all you can do?" Kira said, mocking his enemy as his pride began to get the better of him. Josuke smiled. "Good point," he said, as Crazy Diamond's ability suddenly caused the bits of ground to fly upwards in a barricade, knocking Kira several feet into the air. As he came back down, Crazy Diamond sent a final punch towards his gut, sending his body flying into the Saloon. While he knew Kira wasn't down for the count, he at least bought some time to get back to Twilight. He quickly ran over to the mane six, stooping down to see how Twilight was doing. "I. . .I think she stopped breathin'. . ." Applejack said with a bit of panic. Several of the mane six were in tears, but Josuke wasn't going to take any time thinking about it. He quickly held Crazy Diamond's hands over Twilight, healing her wounds. She seemed unresponsive. Josuke heard a rustling from the saloon; a very angry Kira began to walk out, covered in splinters as his Killer Queen hovered beside him. Josuke looked back at the mane six, then towards Kira again. "I'll deal with him," Josuke said, "you keep by Twilight, she's not dead yet, I'm sure of it." Josuke could only hope that Jotaro and DIO's fight was going better than his. > Lyra's World Part 3 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lyra looked up at DIO and Jotaro, who were standing ready to fight. Figuring she'd be on equal ground, she summoned her stand and changed her appearance to that of a human. Her attire was very peculiar, something akin to what DIO would wear. At this point, DIO felt in the back of his mind that she was just copying him. "Good grief," Jotaro muttered, "are we going to have a fashion show or are we going to fight?" Lyra smiled, lunging forward in an instant and driving a barrage of punches towards Jotaro. Fortunately, Star Platinum was able to capture the assault of Forthcoming, but it wasn't fast enough to counter four fists at once. Before Jotaro could be overpowered however, the familiar golden shine of The World entered his vision, holding off the punches as well. DIO looked at Jotaro, who glanced back as they both nodded. Both slipped a single hand of their stand, catching Forthcoming off-guard on both sides before launching the other fist directly into it's face, knocking Lyra back several feet. DIO chuckled a bit, looking over to Jotaro. "It seems you learned a few things from me," DIO said. "Know your enemy," Jotaro snapped back with a smirk, before they turned their attention towards Lyra, who wasn't there. Both of them frantically looked around for her, before noticing a shadow on the ground. Before they could move out of the way, Lyra's Forthcoming plummeted into the ground, sending a shockwave powerful enough to blast both the vampire and Jotaro back. They were separated, but with still one enemy it would have been an advantage for them, or so they thought. They both got up, looking directly at Lyra from opposite sides. DIO began to laugh. "You've only set yourself up to be attacked from two sides," he said, "have you trained with your stand at all?" "Oh, I have," Lyra retorted, "Maybe you should know your enemy a bit better." DIO frowned as Lyra's stand duplicated itself into two. Both Jotaro and DIO assumed it's power was halved between the two copies, and lunged forward towards their respective ones. Quickly, however, as The World and Star Platinum threw their fists, both copies of Forthcoming negated it with one punch that shattered the punching fists of both stands. "How the hell does she do that?" Jotaro shouted, clenching his now bleeding fist in pain. DIO thought back to when Lyra first used her powers, how much she was able to use before running away. She had well exceeded that, except there was only one difference. "Jojo!" DIO shouted. Jotaro looked towards him. DIO lifted up, taking flight with The World. Jotaro quickly followed with his Star Platinum. Lyra simply looked up at the sky. "You want an aerial battle?" Lyra said with a maniacal chuckle, "Interesting." She jumped upwards, hovering in the sky covered by the aura of her stand, the duplicated Forthcoming still guarding her on two sides. DIO and Jotaro simultaneously flew in, being more careful with their punches but still using as much force as they could. Lyra held them off easily, occasionally getting the better of them with a punch to the gut or face. Jotaro looked at DIO, suddenly catching onto what DIO was implying. "DIO!" he shouted. DIO looked up, trying to focus on not getting the shit beat out of him while still being attentive to Jotaro. "She hasn't stopped time!" DIO nodded, looking at his former rival and smiling as he swung his arms out. "Star Platinum," Jotaro shouted, before making eye contact with DIO and simultaneously finishing the sentence. "ZA WARUDO!" BWOWOWOWOWTiktiktiktik...tik. Time was frozen, and just enough worry surfaced on Lyra's face to be noticeable. Jotaro grunted in response, grabbing his hat and lowering his head. "Good grief," he said, "You thought fighting two time-stopping stands was a good idea when you were trying to avoid it?" Lyra suddenly began to laugh, a concern grew over both the vampire and the Joestar as Lyra no longer seemed worried. "Oh no," she corrected, "I was only avoiding it because I wanted to save it for the grand finale, but seeing as you've ruined my show, I'll just have to ruin yours!" Both copies of Forthcoming launched towards their respective oppressors, almost faster than they could interpret, leaving their stands to automatically take self-preservative action. While both fighters were consciously focusing on their stands, doing their best to counter the overwhelming power of Forthcoming, Lyra was instead laughing to herself, seeming to pay no attention to the battle. It seemed her stand was purely working of its own will, as if Lyra wasn't controlling it at all, just leaving them be. Both Jotaro and DIO made this connection and decided to fly upwards. However, Jotaro had run out of his two seconds of stopped time, and could only look on in a moment of fear as Forthcoming merged into a single stand again and lunged toward him. DIO looked down, seeing that Jotaro was in danger and reached into the sides of his belt. When Jotaro saw the shine of several kitchen knives, he almost cracked a smile in frozen time. DIO and The World launched dozens of knives toward Forthcoming, with that all-familiar cry. "MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA MUDA! TOKI WO UGOKIDOS!" As suspected, the stand being operated on such a level wasn't prepared to dodge the knives; as it was thrown off by the sheer force of the objects, Lyra sustained multiple stab wounds around her body. Letting out an agonizing cry that quickly turned to anger, she withdrew her stand towards her and lunged at DIO, realizing that they had figured her out. Before she could reach DIO however, she felt a bulky hand grab her angle, before it threw her down into a ground with a thundering ORA! The ground shook as she left a crater in the sand, covered in bruises and gashes, but still able to move. However, when she stood up, she noticed both DIO and Jotaro standing in front of her. "RRAAAHHH!!!" she let out a scream of frustration, launching her stand towards the two of them. They only looked at each other with a smile and a nod, before simultaneously shouting their stand cries, for the first time, being on the same side. ORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORAORA! MUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDAMUDA! The wall of fists was too much for Forthcoming to handle, as Lyra was blasted back into the ground, seemingly motionless. DIO looked at Jotaro, who kept focused on Lyra. "Not bad, Joestar," DIO said, nudging Jotaro. "Hmph," Jotaro huffed in response, "I suppose the same type of stand makes a good team." "Still working on forgiveness aren't you?" DIO said. Jotaro grunted. The two turned to see Kira barely holding up against Josuke before a final blow was delivered, knocking the killer on his back. This time, Kira was down for the count. Josuke, DIO, and Jotaro all rushed back to the Mane six. Twilight still made no response. It seemed like all hope was lost for her. "I've already healed her. . ." Josuke said, "I'm sorry, there's not much else I can do." In the moment of sorrow, DIO felt something he hadn't yet felt, at least not to this extent. He felt sadness, but it didn't last long as he noticed that time had stopped once more. Before he could look behind him, he felt a kind of power he'd never felt before. But unfortunately, one he recognized. > Lyra's World Part 4 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- DIO turned around slowly to see Lyra hovering in mid-air with a different stand behind her. No, not a different stand, it was the same stand. DIO was confused until he saw a horrific sight. A stand arrow in her hand, one unlike any he ever saw. He recognized the power as something he wished to achieve long ago. It struck a genuine fear in him, as there was nothing greater than the stand evolution that Lyra had suddenly attained out of nowhere. "Forthcoming. . ." DIO said to himself slowly, ". . .Over Heaven. . ?" Lyra laughed maniacally as the four hands of Forthcoming withdrew four massive swords, all with the similar engravings and designs to the respective hand holding them. "You seem to really want spoilers for my final show," she shouted, looking down at DIO, "I was saving this peculiar artifact for later. See, I found it near Kira in the woods and decided not to mention it. I figured it was just a random circumstance, but when Kira told me of Bites the Dust, I learned of how powerful the arrow could be. After achieving my stand power, I went to Zecora's while Kira was asleep and forced her to enchant it, before quickly disposing of her." "So you achieved Over Heaven in mere minutes, while I spent my life working towards it!" DIO shouted angrily, "You cheated!" "Ho ho," Lyra laughed, looking down at him with a quirked brow, "The morally-insane vampire says I cheated. How about you, killing the amount of people you did in cold blood, ruining that poor boy's life, Jonathan?" "Don't bring Jonathan into this," DIO said, gritting his teeth. "Oh, he was weak," she said with a chuckle, "but nowhere near as weak as you. What got me was how he had this silly little sense of honor and—" "WRRRYYY!!!" DIO cried, lunging forward at a speed unheard of, and for the first time in over a hundred years, using his vampiric abilities. Two beams of vampiric essence shot from his eyes, severing Lyra's body clean in half. This didn't phase her however, as her stand simply put her back together. DIO paid it no attention, as he was still flying forward, he didn't even summon the world before throwing a barrage of punches at her. She, too, kept her stand behind her as she used her own arms and speed to dodge the punches of DIO. She smirked, grabbing both of DIO's wrists and headbutting him to the ground. His body hit the hot sand with a crash, leaving a much larger crater than the few that were already left around. Lyra flew down, delivering a punch to DIO that crushed his chest entirely, leaving his lungs and heart a visceral mess. Lyra stood above him, wiping her hand. "You lose," she said, "I know you're not dead, but since you are the most powerful of all my oppressors, I will make you watch everything that you learned to love fade to dust. This is MY world! No one dare enters MY WORLD!" Lyra began to laugh as time resumed, Jotaro looked up, seeing DIO completely incapacitated. "DIO!" he shouted, running towards Lyra before she blasted him back with a punch from her stand. Josuke ran forward as well, Lyra using her stand to thump the air, causing a shockwave that forced Josuke several feet back and face-first into the ground. The equines stood in fear as Kira's weak body hovered towards Lyra, and she healed all of his wounds. "My sweet Kira," she said endearingly, "we've won." Kira looked up, smiling as he felt his health return to him. "We have," he said, taking a look at their defeated foes. Lyra laid a hand on his shoulder. "Would you like to do the honors?" she asked. Kira turned to her, summoning Killer Queen once more with a grin. "KiraKuin, dai ichi no bakudan," he said, lowering the hand of Killer Queen to DIO. Before it could make contact, however, there was a bright light. "What?" Lyra and her lover both looked up, seeing Twilight Sparkle, hovering upwards with her Element of Harmony glowing brightly. The rest of the Mane Six followed, putting their elements back on and wielding them in a bright display of sheer power. Lyra only laughed. "You're going to threaten Over Heaven with rainbows?" she scoffed, "Go ahead, do your best." Instead of a rainbow, the combined Elements created a beam of pure white which went into the ground. Lyra stood in disbelief, all of that show and. . . "You missed!" she said, beginning to tear up from her laughter, "you had one shot and you missed! Maybe you just new that it was worthless and gave up, but you wanted to tell Celestia that 'you tried'! Ha! Don't worry, you won't be telling her anything. You'll be dead and so will—" "LYRA!" Kira shouted, she suddenly stopped and turned to him to see an unwarranted terror on his face. "What is it, Kira?" she asked. Kira pointed at the ground. "They weren't aiming for you," he said, and as Lyra turned, his unwarranted fear quickly became reasonable. They weren't aiming for her. It wasn't even an offensive blow. They were aiming for DIO. Lyra stood back, feeling a power radiating from DIO that she feared might have even surpassed her own. Something greater than Over Heaven. She stood back, shaking her head as she observed The World, or something more powerful than it, hovering above DIO at such a size that the very appearance of it struck fear into her heart. "What is this?!" she shouted in a frightened rage. DIO didn't even smile, he only looked down at the two. "I thought Over Heaven was the greatest power," DIO said softly. He let out a genuine smile, "but this world is different from my own. In this world, Over Heaven is meaningless. Behold. . ." "『The World Over Friendship』!" Lyra tried to force a laugh, but for some reason her fear remained. "No. . .no that's preposterous!" she shouted, "after all this power, of all things, FRIENDSHIP is the answer? Something so petty and ridiculous! Impossible, take this!" She summoned Forthcoming, who threw all four swords at DIO. DIO didn't do so much as move, the swords simply dropped. Lyra screamed in rage, lunging towards DIO and launching punch after punch that was simply negated as each time she made contact with DIO, it only felt as if she were tapping him. The fact that it wasn't using any offensive ability, the fact that it wasn't even MOVING. Her power, all of it, nothing to this force of stand power and Equestrian magic. It drove her mad. She had clenched her teeth to the point that they were bleeding, her eyes were bloodshot and her face sweating, she eventually gave up with her stand and kept punching DIO with all of her human might, but it was like punching a pillow. "FIGHT ME," she demanded, "JUST END IT, KILL ME!" "No," DIO said, "I won't." Lyra stopped, looking up to him. "You think I'm so little of a threat now that you don't even have to kill me. . ?" Lyra said, feeling so much rage she couldn't interpret it anymore. "You miss the point, Lyra," DIO said, "the power of this stand is not one to kill, but one to unite. There are no offensive capabilities. Not even timestop. It simply negates all violence, stops it entirely. It's power surpasses any stand, as it can cease any ability whatsoever without exception. It's sole purpose is to promote unity, peace, harmony." Lyra felt her eyes filling with tears, as she dropped to the ground, burying her face in Kira's chest. "It's all gone!" she said, "everything is gone!" Kira was silent, looking at DIO. "What does this really mean for us?" he asked, before getting an answer from another authoritative voice. "You will be punished," the voice said. Kira turned to see Celestia herself, standing aside her sister Luna, and even Princess Cadence, "but you will not be killed. Equestrian law would never take an eye for an eye. In fact, I'm even merciful enough that I will imprison you in the same place." "Where will that be. . ." Kira said quietly as Lyra continued to sob uncontrollably. "The moon," Celestia said. Kira looked at Luna, who had a wide eyes and an expression of 'Oh Boy'. Kira nodded, as Celestia lit her horn, causing the two villains to vanish. She turned back to DIO, who returned to the ground. "DIO, I can't thank you enough," she said, before looking at the rest, "nor any of you. Josuke, Jotaro, Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, you stopped what could have been the greatest disaster in all of Equestria, and all of you learned a lesson or two of your own in friendship." The equines all cheered, Josuke joining with them as DIO and Jotaro kept a silent smile on their faces. Luna turned to the humans. "You are free to leave whenever you like, but we invite you to stay for the Summer Sun Celebration tomorrow," Luna requested. DIO, Jotaro, and Josuke all exchanged looks with one another, before all nodding. "I think that would be appropriate," DIO said. > The Summer Sun Celebration > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Several hundreds, even thousands of equines had gathered around, all celebrating the summer solstice. There was a massive stage and after lots of celebration, Celestia landed on stage. All of the ponies cheered wildly for their princess as she opened her wings and lit her horn, putting on a show of magical fireworks that only warranted more cheering. Soon after, Luna landed beside her, and Cadence beside her, both opening their wings and creating the same fireworks. When they had finished, all closed their wings and Celestia began to speak to the masses. "Today's celebration is far different from any other we have had. For the last thousand years and more, today's celebration is not only of the summer sun, but of Equestrian life. Many of you know about the tragic events that occurred in Ponyville, many of you lived in fear of what was to come. Today, however, I tell you that there is nothing to fear! These villains were defeated and banished to the moon, but they could not have been defeated without the help of our heroes who I will introduce now!" The Mane Six stepped out, as the crowd roared in excitement and applause. "You all know them, Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity. It was not only their efforts that saved Equestria, but the efforts of three others not from our world." The audience grew quiet, wondering what that could mean. There was a bit of gasping as the towering DIO and Jotaro came out, as well as Josuke. All summoning their stands above them with gasping and woahs from the crowd. Celestia looked at DIO, gesturing towards the audience. He nodded, stepping upwards with The World behind him. "Equestria!" he shouted with a powerful voice, "It was with the power of this world that I learned what it was like to be kind! It was with the companions I met that I learned the faults of cruelty, of pride, of malice, and of hatred! These equines, these wonderful friends taught us all something valuable. The world, any world, can be evil. In fact, many worlds are by nature, but that is all but naught! It only takes the kindness of one, to another, then to another, and then to many more to change any world, any soul, any heart! Feel pride in your world, as it is the one to lead by example to other worlds, to show them the way things should be!" The crowd roared in applause. Celestia walked back up to the center of the stage. "There is one thing I must reveal to all of Equestria," she said, "something I have kept hidden for a while, something we all have." The crowd went quiet again, a bit of chatter all around. Celestia closed her eyes, summoning Friendship. As she did, Luna summoned Solitude, and Cadence summoned Love. The crowd was taken aback, a lot of oohs and aahs, some gasps, and otherwise silence. "These powers came into this world because of our misunderstanding of having them ourselves," Celestia said, "for that, I am truly sorry; however, credit belongs to our humanoid heros for showing us the secrets of these abilities, these 'stands', and with that Equestria shall have a brighter future than ever!" The crowd all cheered again, before Twilight walked up to Celestia, whispering something. As Celestia listened, her eyes widened. The rest of the Mane Six, and the stand users turned to look at Celestia, who slowly rose up. "Well, an unexpected announcement from Twilight Sparkle," she said, stepping aside. Twilight walked forward, a figure appearing over her covered in symbols of the Elements of Harmony, with a band around it's head of the star on her cutiemark. The crowd cheered, seeing the equine-like entity in a beautiful array of purple and pink shades. "I call it Harmony!" Twilight said proudly, "And that is it's purpose, to promote harmony! I vow to do that so long as I wield the element of magic, and longer! With the help of my friends, and with the help of all of you, Equestria will be able to face any chaos that arises in the future!" The crowd continued to cheer as Twilight smiled. "I don't know," Jotaro said with a bit of tenseness in his voice, "it seemed a little too. . .lovey-dovey to me." "Oh, come off it," DIO said with a laugh, "you just aren't used to me being nice." "That's also true," Jotaro replied. DIO glanced over at him. "Jojo," he said. Jotaro faced him. DIO held out a hand, as if to offer a handshake, "A very, very late, proper apology." "Hmm. . ." Jotaro hesitated for a moment, before taking his hand and giving him a firm shake, "accepted." "It's good to see you two getting along finally," Luna said as she approached the two. They were all back at the library, having their own celebration before the Joestars returned to their homeworld. For once in the time of being there, there were no troubling thoughts, no philosophical dilemmas, no moral conflicts, no death, no danger, no destruction, no fear. There was just joy. Joy in it's purist form, shared between a group of unlikely friends. "Well, I could have never predicted it," Jotaro said, "but if DIO can be changed, surely anyone can." "You're still good at hiding an insult," DIO scoffed, Jotaro gave a smirk. "Well, I believe it's time to let our human friends go," Celestia said, "It's nearly time to open the portal." Jotaro nodded, shaking DIO's hand once more. "It was nice knowing you as a friend rather than an enemy," Jotaro said. DIO patted his shoulder. "Likewise," he said. Celestia smiled, lighting her horn in conjunction with Luna as the portal opened. Twilight and her friends came up to them, bidding Josuke and Jotaro farewell as they walked through. Luna looked at DIO for a moment. "You're hesitating," she said, "why?" "Well," DIO said, as he knew the brief moment of joy had come to an end, "my world is not as forgiving as yours, if I head back, I'll already be dead." "What?!" Fluttershy exclaimed, running up to DIO and hugging him, "But you became such a good person!" "It's okay," DIO said, wiping away her tears, and stooping down to return the hug, "I have to speak to an old friend in the afterlife. . ." Fluttershy hugged him tighter as Twilight joined, then Pinkie, then Applejack, Rarity, and finally Rainbow Dash. The joy came back for just a moment more, and it was more than the once heartless vampire could ask for. This journey, it had taught him more than his one hundred and twenty plus year life had ever taught him about the world. As they all let go, DIO stood up once more. "Thank you," he said quietly, "for everything." He waved one last time as he walked into the portal, and everything faded to white. Dio Brando looked down, he wasn't sure where he was, but he had his original body. He felt his teeth, noticing that there were no fangs. He was human again. In the distance, he saw a figure standing and looking out on what seemed to be an entire universe. He walked closer, recognizing the blue hair and proper attire immediately. The boy turned around, and sure enough. It was Jonathan Joestar. Dio smiled, running up to him. Jonathan showed a bit of fright, as he thought this was supposed to be heaven, but was surprised when Dio gave him the manliest and most menacing hug possible. "D-Dio? What are you doing?" he said, "Aren't you supposed to be. . .uh. . .in hell?" Dio laughed, Jonathan cautiously laughed as well as he was more confused than ever. Dio shook his head. "Jonathan, I learned friendship," he said, "I learned the error of my ways, and I'm so sorry for everything, I wish I could take it all back, I wish—" "Dio," Jonathan said quietly, "it's okay. I've seen it all from up here. I have no idea what happened after your death, what world you went to, but in this world, I've seen everything. Because of you, the Joestar family continues to fight evil to this day. You've done a lot of terrible things, but in a way, they were necessary. You essentially molded the Joestars into what they are today, and you've even had the opportunity to learn that." Dio smiled, after everything, the power of forgiveness in that world was enough to provide him the redemption he needed to see peace. Jonathan was his brother, and they were able to spend an eternity together, watching over the world they had set into motion. "They also have wifi," Jonathan said suddenly. Dio made a confused expression. "What's wifi?" Meanwhile, on the moon. . . "What a beautiful Duwang, Chew." "Kira, you're not making any sense." "Sorry, it's been an eternity." "We've only been here for five minutes, Kira." "Well at least it's peaceful." "Just a thousand years to go." ~The End~