> The Sun is in Your Hoof > by Animegx43 > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > The Messenger > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Equestria: a magical land where the forces of evil are poorly tolerated and nearly non-existent. The citizens of this land, full of hope and love, have constantly worked to unite their nation, bringing peace and happiness to all who step foot there. It is a true paradise. Another land however, one of another world, is not as lucky, for the forces of evil have had the stronger grip on the world, and only in recent times has the side good been fighting back successfully. Even then, the demons that live there, known infamously as the Immortals, fight with a nearly endless army of undead minions. Had they been ignored, they would've already brought Hell to their world. A world of love and justice. A world of hatred and evil. Two separate worlds that have gone through dire times. In addition, thanks to a group of Immortals from the world of evil, the world of good had faced an evil that had never been seen before. Only one who firmly believed in hope, magic, and love was able fight back to save her world from such evil, and even then, she needed the help from the representative of the Sun itself. Together, they fought to save the world of magic from facing eternal darkness. This is their story. The team up of Princess Twilight Sparkle and Master Otenko. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- A typical day in Equestria's Ponyville would include a sunny sky to prevent cold weather, but also partly cloudy to prevent hot weather. In short, beautiful weather. One day, however, was not by any means typical. The weather in Equestria is normally controlled by the pegasi, as they are able to manipulate the clouds to their whim. Therefore, it was odd when clouds started to form all on their own over the skies of Ponyville. When the pegasi found they couldn't move the mysterious clouds, the entire town got worried. As the weather ponies had no idea what was going, they quickly turned for alternative help. As it so happened, the most magically gifted pony in Ponyville, and possibly even all of Equestria, the alicorn Twilight Sparkle, was studying the unusual weather. As she was a recently coronated princess, as well as already being well-loved in Ponyville, everypony depended on her to figure something out. With the help of three of her friends, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity, she brought a number of high-tech equipment outside of her home to study the weather. "Temperature: Normal. Wind: Slightly windy. Humidity: Non-existent." Twilight said out loud. "Hmm. If it wasn't for those dark clouds, I'd say this was a pretty normal day." "Normal my flank!" Rainbow Dash the pegasus said. "I'm the best cloud clearer in Ponyville, yet those things won't even budge. If today was normal, I'd be able to cause a drought by now." "Yeah...I think I'd rather stick with the cloudy...WAIT!" Twilight said as she turned her head to a monitor. "That's funny. I'm picking up something odd." "OOH! How funny is it?" Pinkie Pie the earth pony asked. "Is it haha funny, strange funny, or funny that Rainbow Dash still sleeps with a teddy bear?" "PINKIE! You promise you'd tell nopony about that!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "No, it's strange funny." Twilight answered. "My equipment normally tells me if anything is unusual about the weather, but I'm picking up some strange signals. Something unnatural. The problem though is that I have no idea what it could be." "Well, surely you'll be able to figure out something, right darling?" Rarity the unicorn asked. "Why you're the only one in town with this much fancy science stuff." "It's a shame too. So much goes on in this town, and between the evil enemies, the occasional monster attack, and Pinkie Pie's weekly parties, I'm surprised Ponyville is still standing. It especially didn't help that she invited DISCORD last time!" "Now don't you lie, Twilight. He was fun!" Pinkie Pie said with a smile. As much as Twilight enjoyed the company of her friends, she was too concerned with the clouds to add anything else into their conversation. She figured that the sooner she got her work done, the sooner she could hang out with her friends. Then, on one of her monitors, she found more strange signals. "Ah ha! Here's something. It seems that there's some kind of dark, maybe evil, energy in the air." Twilight said out loud, but then grew confused. "But...it doesn't seem entirely magic based. If only I could see what exactly this is, maybe I could understand it better. What do you girls think?" As Twilight turned to her friends for their opinions, she found that Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, and Rarity were all looking up to the sky in horror. Twilight looked up as well and saw what they were all looking at. Up in the sky, in the middle of the dark clouds, was a big swirl with a big black void of darkness in the very middle with blue lightning blasting its way through. As Twilight said, it was not a natural occurrence, as the look of it alone felt evil to the mares. "Oh my GOSH! SOMETHING IS BREACHING THE FORTH WALL!" Pinkie Pie screamed in terror. "TAKE COVER! "Hold it, dear." Rarity said as she stopped Pinkie Pie from running away with her unicorn magic. "I know it's scary now, but we've faced scarier things then this before." At that moment, Pinkie Pie's tail began to twitch. While not common knowledge throughout Equestria, when Pinkie Pie's tail twitches, it would mean some would fall. The mystery is what would fall. "Okay, now we can panic." Rarity corrected herself. "Twitchy tail?" Twilight asked. "Are you honestly telling me that something is about to-" BOOM! Out from the darkness in the clouds came a giant ball of purple energy, which began falling toward the ground. However, seconds after appearing, the energy had split in two, which formed one small wave of yellow light, and formed one giant wave of black light. Both went into separate directions, but Twilight found the yellow one would land closer to where she was. "Okay girls, this is what we've been waiting for!" Twilight said. "I need you to tell everypony to stay inside and not to panic! Whatever it was that just fell out of the sky, I will be sure to figure out what it is! Be sure no pony goes near the other...thing." "Hold on! These things look cool. Why should we run away?" Rainbow Dash asked. "If you'd rather stay outside and risk getting flattened by them, be my guest." As she wanted to investigate what had caused so much fear, Twilight opened up her wings, took flight, and began following the yellow light. As Twilight ordered, Pinkie Pie and Rarity returned to town to make sure everypony was safe. Rainbow Dash, however, had other plans. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Much to her surprise, Twilight made a minor miscalculation, as the wave of yellow light flew much father from Ponyville then she expected. She hoped to see it land, mark its location, then do the same thing with the second falling object, but she was not that lucky. Eventually, just outside of Ponyville, the wave of light made a crash landing. She quickly concluded that no pony was around at the time, so there were thankfully no injuries. Instead, there was a crater that was 6 feet in diameter. In it was the object of light. Twilight Sparkle went into the crater to examine it, but she became dumbfounded by what she found. When it was falling out of the sky, it looked big, but after seeing it up close, it became just a small yellow orb. Despite the size, Twilight was very curious about what the foreign thing was. "Alright, time to study." Twilight said with a smile, summoning a quill and scroll with her magic. As she analyzed the object, she wrote her thoughts down. "Let's see...Life form: Unknown. Alien object: Unknown. Magical object: Unknown. Okay, I'm stumped already. This will be a productive day." She said sarcastically to herself. "Well...this is interesting." Said an unknown voice. "EEK! IT TALKED!" Twilight said as she teleported out of the crater in fear. Much to Twilight's surprise, the object that was in the crater was alive. The orb then levitated off the ground before taking a new form. While retaining the same small size, the orb morphed into the shape of a sunflower, having a yellow face with two white eyes and a long nose, orange petals, and a green stem with two leaves. The small being began to check his surroundings to see where he was, but after a quick look around, he couldn't figure out where he was. "Hmm...this is new." The sunflower creature said to himself. "I'm sensing so little dark matter. I'm not sure whether to take that as a good sign or not." "Oh my gosh! A talking, alien sunflower!" Twilight said. The sunflower heard Twilight talking and looked up to find the alicorn flying in the air. Twilight and the creature both kept a safe distance from the other, fearing what was unknown to them. As they each found that the other was afraid, they both concluded that neither of them meant any harm. As a result, Twilight slowly flew down to try to speak to the sunflower creature. The sunflower creature backed off a little as Twilight came closer, but after realizing that she didn't mean any harm, he took the chance and got closer to Twilight as well. "Umm...hi? Twilight said. "Well I'll be. A pegasus. And a talking one at that. I suppose I've seen stranger creatures before. Hello there." "Oh...excuse me, but I'm actually an alicorn. Half pegasus, half unicorn. Mostly unicorn for me." The yellow flower being floated closer to Twilight to take a better look, being unfamiliar to the likes of Twilight. He was still convinced that Twilight was a pegasus, but he didn't want to risk angering her. "So you are. Tell me Miss Alicorn, but I need to ask you a dumb question. Could you tell me where exactly you and I are at this moment?" "Where we are? Well, we're in Equestria. Where else could we be?" "Equest...oh my..." The yellow being said with a concerned look after losing interest in the alicorn. "Could it be that...? No...No, this is not good. I've traveled the world and never found such a place like this, nor have I seen a pegasus that could talk." "Excuse me, but I'd prefer if you'd call me a unicorn more than anything." Twilight tried to say. Although Twilight claimed that she wasn't simply a pegasus, the yellow being didn't listen. He was processing too much information in his head and was too worried to actually care who or what Twilight was. "If I'm in a world I've never heard of before, then that must mean...oh no. Lady Gungnir must've succeeded. I must..." As the yellow being constantly paused to think, Twilight tried to find a good time to say something, only for the being to think of something else to say. "Miss, do you know if anything odd has happened around here lately?" "Yes. You and some black ball of darkness came falling out of the sky!" Twilight said, who was happy because she was finally able to say something. "WHAT!? WHERE!?" "Well, I guess it landed on the other side of Ponyville." Twilight answered. "I was actually planning on checking it out myself." "In that case, we'd better hurry. We can't let anybody near the landing site, or the sisters will get away" "The sisters?" The being wasn't sure how to explain it. A threat was about to rise and he knew that Twilight wouldn't have understood what it was. As he found very little time to explain everything, he decided to give her a short, simple explanation. "I'm afraid that an evil force has entered your world. If left ignored, they will bring chaos to this world and destroy every living life-form. If you really are a pegasus, you must bring me to where the darkness landed." "For the last time, I'm not a...never mind." Twilight said, as she was tired of arguing. "Alright, but afterwards, you have to tell me what's going on. Until then, let me introduce myself. I am Princess Twilight Sparkle." "Ah! Of course. I am Otenko, Messenger of the Sun. From now until we get to the bottom of this, you shall be my temporary student. For that, you shall address to me as Master Otenko. Now let us head to the other landing site, shall we?" "What? Hold on there,, I'm not your student! My only teacher is Princess Celestia, and she's the one who told me to study you and that other thing! So if anything, I'm in charge!" Otenko found that Twilight raised a good point. She had every reason for not wanting to follow him, but because he knew more about what was going on, he had to call the shots. That said, he thought of a more subtle way of putting it. "How about this then. You and I shall work together equally. With the knowledge I have, I will help you to protect your home from the evil that awaits us. How does that sound?" "Actually, that does sound a lot better. Alright. Promise me you'll answer my questions later and you have a deal." "Very well. Until then, let's get going!" A sneaky move made by Otenko. Twilight didn't realize at the time how much knowledge Otenko had on the evil she was about to face. While they would treat each other as equals, Twilight would have to follow everything Otenko would tell her to do in order to succeed in her goals. In other words, Otenko really was in charge. As Twilight Sparkle and Otenko were finally focused on the task ahead, Twilight once again took flight and flew toward where she figured the other wave of light landed with her new accomplice following behind. As Otenko had been very vague, she had no idea what she was about to happen in Ponyville and what evil was about to scourge the land. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At that time, at the other landing site, Rainbow Dash managed to clear the area of any pony whose curiosity brought them to it, using Twilight Sparkle's royal name to keep the area safely secured. That said, she took advantage of the moment to check out what it was that landed. The crater it left was massive, being big enough to bury a small house, but what actually caught her attention was what was inside. In the crater was three orbs, one blue, one purple, and one yellow, each one giving off a mist of the same color. Rainbow Dash found it strange how a giant black ball of death falling out of the sky would create such different colors. She didn't think too much into it though as it was the blue orb that caught her attention the most. "Neat. This one's my favorite color. I wonder what it is." Rainbow Dash asked herself. "Maybe I should have waited for Twilight to come." Suddenly, the blue orb changed, losing its form and became mist entirely, catching Rainbow Dash off-guard. Before she could react, the mist charged toward Rainbow Dash and entered her body. "Hey! Where did that thing just-UGHH!" Rainbow Dash felt a sudden pain as she quickly lost control of her body. Her limbs and wings began spazzing out of control, as well as losing her ability to breath. The lost of breath and body spasms caused even greater pain, so much so that she screamed at the sky in agony until she lost consciousness.. She had no idea what it was that happened. All she knew was that she was thankful that the pain only lasted a few seconds. After the whole thing ended, she began to move again, but her movements were odd. As she came to, she looked around and checked her body. She took a look at her front and back hooves, her mane and coat, and even took a long gander at her wings, as if it was her first time seeing them. As she looked at her body, she smiled with a sense of satisfaction. She was happy. Very happy. "Not bad a body. " She said to herself with a slightly altered voice. "Not bad at all." > Invaders > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Immortals: Dark, evil creatures who can't raise their numbers, but can live on for an eternity using their power source, dark matter. Only the life-giving energy of the Sun itself has any chance of destroying these undead monsters. There are many clans of Immortals who work to cast the world into eternal darkness and rule the new world. The clan that infiltrated into Equestria are known infamously as the Dusk clan, a trio of Immortal sisters lead by the eldest sister, Lady Gungnir. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As they traveled to the landing site of the Dusk clan, Master Otenko gave Twilight Sparkle a rough idea on who he was. He claimed that he was the terrestrial embodiment of the Sun's will and wished to destroy the evil in his world. He went on about how he and the Immortals are from another world, possibly even another dimension, and made their way into Equestria to resume a battle. After a short and vague explanation, Twilight was left surprisingly unfazed. "You seem rather calm after what I told you." Otenko said. "I'm not too sure how you ponies work here, but in my world, people probably would've panicked if they saw something they've never seen before, such as a talking, magical pony like yourself." "Well Otenko, I've actually seen a lot of crazier things in my life then a talking, floating flower falling out of the sky." "FLOWER!?" Otenko shouted with anger. "I am the terrestrial embodiment of the Sun's will! The Messenger of the Sun. I am...NOT...A SIMPLE FLOWER!" "Alright, alright. Sheesh. Don't burn out on me." Twilight responded. Otenko looked as if he was about to have an aneurysm, but it could be debated if he even had blood at all, but after blowing off a little steam, he managed to calm down. He also knew that there were more important things to talk about then his titles. "I certainly hope you've been through as much as you said you have, because without my real partner, Django The Solar Boy, we're already at a severe disadvantage. How strong is your magic?" "Well, I don't want to toot my own unicorn horn or anything, but-" Twilight said with a smile. "Good enough. I'm pretty desperate, so you'll have to do. Now then, I'm sensing that the Immortals are just ahead of us. Let's move forward." Satisfied by Twilight's answer, as he was willing to take whatever help he could get, Otenko pressed forward with Twilight following, not being happy with the idea of Otenko calling her a desperate choice, not being able to talk about her skills in magic, and of course, her new partner overall. She also wanted to tell him a bit about Ponyville and Equestria, but had to put that on hold until she could find the proper time. What probably bothered her the most though was that she still knew hardly anything about what was going on or who exactly Otenko was, but because there was clearly immediate danger, she knew she had to wait a while longer before sharing and learning anything else. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At the other landing site, the purple and yellow orbs of light rose up in the air as they saw the blue one enter Rainbow Dash's body. However, it was no longer Rainbow Dash that was even there. It was one of the three Immortals. "Hasty as always, huh Mjolnar?" The purple light said, which was followed by a deranged laugh. "Nah, I only pick the bodies that appeal to me, and I just happened to of liked this one." Mjolnar said, still gazing at her new body with pride. "The ponies of this land must be beautiful. I feel really strong in this body too. Great for destroying things." "Now now. Don't do anything reckless yet." The yellow light said. "We still have a lot to prepare for. Me and you're younger sister still need bodies of our own, and I don't think they will be walking right up to us like yours did." "Hehe. That means I can destroy the village over there ALL by myself." "Calm yourself. I will let you destroy it, but in an organized manner. There's a difference between causing chaos and being stupid." Mjolnar made Rainbow Dash look calm and collected in comparison. She loved nothing more than to break and destroy things, preferring to mindlessly obliterate everything in site than to think about her actions. She was truly a trigger happy Immortal. Unfortunately for her, Gungnir, the yellow light, preferred organized chaos. "Now then, since we've entered this new world, Otenko likely did as well. He did follow us here after all.You are to lure him away from here so me and your sister can get bodies of our own without any threats. Once all three of us finally have physical forms, we can dye this land red." "So I can destroy Messenger of the Sun himself?" Mjolnar asked with a smile on Rainbow Dash's face. "That'll be better than destroying the village ten times over!" "That's not going to happen, Mjolnar!" Much to the Immortal's surprise, Twilight Sparkle and Otenko both overheard the sisters talking, since the two had arrived at the landing site. Otenko spoke out with fury as he challenged the Immortals, but what Twilight Sparkle saw left her confused, as she found it odd how Rainbow Dash was behaving. "Rainbow Dash! What are you doing? I thought I told you not to come here." Twilight said. "That's not a friend of yours, Miss Sparkle. At least not anymore." Otenko explained. "It appears that Mjolnar has taken over her body." "What? WHO!?" "The Dusk sisters don't have true forms. They live and fight by binding themselves into a mortal body and using that instead. Your friend has been completely taken over!" "And what luck, too." Mjolnar said. "According to the memories of this pegasus, I'm apparently one of her best friends. Hey Twilight, remember those times when I did my Sonic Rainboom?" Twilight was not at all pleased with what Rainbow Dash, or rather the one who possessed her, said. On top of that, Mjolnar tried to act as Twilight's old friend. Angered by how one of her best friends had somehow transformed into something evil, she charged in to attack Mjolnar horn-first. Twilight wouldn't normally be so brash, but after seeing her friend captured, she wasn't able to think rationally. The problem was that she didn't understood who she was facing. In response to Twilight's charge attack, Mjolnar opened up her wing, and with a single flap, created a mighty gust of wind which blew the off-guarded Twilight back several feet. Wind magic was a specialty of Mjolnar, and the body of the pegasus reinforced that strength. "Oooh, I see we have a challenger!" Mjolnar said with glee. "If you really want to start a fight with me, you have to catch me first!" Excited to have such a chance at destroying one of the sisters' most hated enemies, Mjolnar opened up her newly acquired wings a second time and took off to the sky with great speed. Twilight, refusing to let Mjolnar take her friend away, took flight as well and began pursuit. "Miss Sparkle, wait!" Otenko said as he chased after Twilight. And with that, the remaining Dusk sisters were alone. Alone to do whatever they wished without interruption. "Yes. YES! Time to cause absolute chaos and horror!" The purple light said with glee. "Calm yourself. We are to claim our new bodies and hide." Gungnir said. "The more we stick out, the less time we get to regain our full powers. Until we're at full strength, we can't defend ourselves against the ones we are after, nor can we succeed in our ultimate goal." "But, but, but...the pain and suffering!" "Will come later. Our bodies come now. If we have enough time though, I'll let you kill some people or ponies or whatever on our way out." "YAY! MURDER! I sure hope these ponies taste good." The purple light said. As they got their priorities straight, the lights of the Dusk sisters crawled their way out of the crater and made their way to Ponyville to get their new bodies while their middle sister dealt with Twilight Sparkle and Master Otenko alone. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Twilight, please slow down a bit!" Otenko said as he rode on Twilight's back. "We still have much to talk about." "Unless you want to talk about how to kick that friend snatchers' butt, I'm not interested." Twilight said. "As a matter of fact, that's exactly what I want to talk to you about." As she was pleasantly surprised by Otenko's answer, Twilight stopped her high-speed chase to talk to him. She also realized where she brought herself, which was by a large mountain. Twilight was once at the mountain with all of her friends when a dragon took residence there and caused trouble as it slept, but that's a completely different story. "First things first. I need to set up the Pile Driver." "Otenko explained. "Take us to a large clearing close to the mountain." "Pile Driver? What the hay is that?" Twilight asked. "The Immortals are powerful beings who can not defeated by ordinary means. For us to have any chance to purify and destroy Mjolnar, I'll need to set up-" "Whoa whoa! Wait a minute!" Twilight interrupted. "You want me to destroy Rainbow Dash?" "Hmm...yes and no." Otenko answered. "It's true, we will have to place your friend into the Pile Driver, but it's only expected to kill off the Immortal." "EXPECTED? Are you telling me there's a chance your pile-thing will kill Rainbow Dash? Forget it." Twilight said as she landed on the ground. Then, she used her magic to take Otenko off her back and dropped him on the ground. "You stay away from Rainbow Dash. I'm going to rescue her alone." As she hated the sound of the technique Otenko wished to use on Mjolnar and Rainbow Dash, Twilight abandoned Otenko and continued her chase after her friend alone. She was too worried for her friends' well being to risk killing her. "MISS SPARKLE! COME BACK!" Otenko shouted, only for his cry to fall on deaf ears. "Just my luck. There's probably a million ponies like her in this world, yet I got stuck with the stubborn princess. I think I've taken Django's quietness for granted. He never argued with me." As annoyed as Otenko was, he knew how important the Pile Driver and was perfectly aware by how it was the only way to save Rainbow Dash. He also knew that Twilight Sparkle would realize that she would have no choice but to use the Pile Driver to save her friend. After giving a quick check of the area he was in, he found that it was flat and wide enough for him to summon the Pile Driver. Despite Twilight's complaints about using something that's meant to kill, he intended on having it be summoned, then later used. "I'd best do it now before I lose Miss Sparkle." Otenko said to himself. Then, after glowing a bright light from his body, he lets out a mighty shout. "TAIYOOOOOOH!" -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At that time, the other Dusk sisters searched around Ponyville with great stealth to find themselves new bodies. They could've done what Mjolnar did and grab the first body they could find, but Gungnir was much pickier than that. "Filthy animals. That's what they are." Gungnir said to herself. "The humans back in my world at least had the dignity to cloth themselves, despite being lower life forms! I don't care what Mjolnar said earlier, these ponies are more hideous then...wait a moment... " As Gungnir searched the town for a host, she found a pony that managed to stick out of the crowd. A beautiful, white coated mare with a unique purple mane-style. She was with a filly that looked similar to her and a purple, baby dragon. The younger ones were carrying different types of fabric for the mare. "I'm very thankful for the help, you two, and considering that Twilight wants every pony to stay inside. It'll at least keep you two busy." "I'd help you even if it was the end of the world." Spike the baby dragon said with hearts in his eyes. "And I still think making clothes is my special talent." Sweetie Belle, Rarity's sister said. "Between the two of us, we'll make the best outfit ever!" After Sweetie Belle and Spike gave each other a high-five, or a high-hoof, depending on how you look at it since Spike has fingers, the two ran back to Rarity's clothing shop, her boutique, to get started on making their dress. Besides being happy with getting free labor, Rarity was happy knowing that the kids were being calm about everything that was happening in Ponyville at the time. "Well, at least the skies are starting to clear up a bit. Maybe Twilight already fixed everything." Rarity said to herself. "On the other hoof, I am a little behind on my orders and could use the help." As Rarity thought that there was nothing wrong happening, she smiled on her way home. Sadly, she was completely ignorant of the true danger ahead, or to be more precise, behind her. The yellow light of Gungnir took an immediate liking to Rarity's appearance, having the beauty and grace she desired. After finally making her choice, Gungnir quickly moved to Rarity to claim Rarity's body for her own. At that point, Rarity finally sensed danger, but with the little time she was giving, all she could do was turn around to let out a bloodcurdling scream. "AAAAHHHHHH!" > The Storm-brewing Immortal > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mjolnar: While she lacked mental strength, she exceeded with pure power. She was not an opponent Otenko wanted a newbie like Twilight to fight, but he knew he had no choice but to have her help him. Lucky for him though, Twilight was probably the best help he could've asked for. The only problem was that she didn't want his help at first. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- When Twilight Sparkle reached the base of the mountain that Mjolnar took herself to, she wisely looked up to check the weather. A wind storm was taking place around the mountain, which made it dangerous for her to simply fly up after the Immortal. Nonetheless, Twilight flew up cautiously. Whether there was wind or an earthquake, she wanted to rescue her Rainbow Dash. "MISS SPARKLE!" Otenko shouted as he caught up to Twilight. "If you want any hope in defeating Mjolnar, you will need my knowledge and experience on her if you want any chance to save your friend." "Save her? You were just telling me that you wanted to put Rainbow Dash into your pile-thing and kill her." Twilight said, who still didn't want Otenko's help. Otenko shook his head, or his whole body in a sense, to Twilight's comment. "The purpose of Pile Driver is to destroy dark matter, the source of the Immortals power, and destroy the Immortal itself. It is the only means we have to separate Mjolnar from your friend." "But will it hurt her?" Twilight asked. "I can't say that I know. I've never seen the Pile Driver used on an ordinary mortal before, so I'm not sure what long-term effects, if any, will occur. Suffice to say, we must fight her in order for us to save your friend and before Mjolnar causes any damage." "Oh, Otenko. You never let me be me." Just then, an incredibly powerful gust of wind blew at Twilight and Otenko, smashing them into the mountain side with great force. It was then that they saw Mjolnar, flying in front of them in Rainbow Dash's body. "Damn it. Had I have been at my full power, you two would've made a new tunnel in that mountain side." Mjolnar said in disappointment. "Oh well. At least I'm still powerful enough to blow this mountain to pieces, and you two along with it!" "Rainbow Dash, you have to fight her!" Twilight shouted. "We can't defeat her if you can't resist her!" "I'm sorry, Miss Sparkle." Otenko said. "Once one of the Dusk Sisters takes a body, it's theirs. Rainbow Dash's mind and soul is completely consumed by the Mjolnar. Your friend is completely helpless. Only you and I can save her." Twilight was still confused by everything that had happened. Around an hour before, Rainbow Dash was standing by her side as a loyal friend, but after the Immortals arrived, Rainbow Dash stood ready to fight Twilight to the death. Everything had went bad so fast that she didn't get a chance to comprehend it all. However, she knew that Otenko was right, and that the only way to help her was to defeat Mjolnar. "Hahaha! So the only way to stop me is with your friend's help?" Mjolnar asked. "Boy, are you in trouble. I guess I don't even need my full power to destroy you two, and as soon as I'm done, your little town will feel the deathly power of my new wings!" "You're not going to get away with this!" Twilight said. "Oh, come on! You had to go and say the most cliché line ever. No matter. You can say all the cliché lines you want in the afterlife with all of your friends, with the obvious exception of me, Rainbow Dash!" Mjolnar said to mock Twilight further. "Now then, bear witness the hammering power of Mjolnar, The Storm-brewing Immortal!" At that moment, Mjolnar had finally released her true strength. The earth shook up as she released her power, but Twilight was able to keep her ground, but she had to stop paying attention to Mjolnar and focus to do it, what with the earthquake and the powerful winds. After the shaking stopped, Twilight looked back up to the sky to see Mjolnar and saw the new surprise that came her way. As a result of Mjolnar releasing her power, Rainbow Dash's body transformed to match Mjolnar's needs. Growing twice the height and gaining extra bulk, as well as gaining a fluffier coat with large, razor-sharp horns on her head. Mjolnar's new form resembled more to a goat then a pegasus. After merging herself with Rainbow Dash, this became Mjolnar's new true form. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- At that time in Ponyville, Mjolnar was actually missing a lot of the destruction she wanted to cause. After Gungnir claimed the body of Rarity, another of Twilight's friends, she launched a brutal assault on Ponyville as her way of getting used to her new body. As she hid in the shadows, she conjured flames, lightning, and darkness to the buildings and structures of the town. She was really happy that she didn't lose her touch. "RARITY!" Spike shouted as he and Sweetie Belle ran to her. "Sis, you need to get inside! Something is attacking us!" Sweetie Belle said in fear. The poor children had no idea that they weren't talking to Rarity, but they did suspect that something was wrong when she turned her head. Spike and Sweetie Belle moved closer to her at first, but as soon as they were able to see her right eye, they jumped back in shock. Normally, Rarity has two beautiful blue eyes. But after being taken over by Gungnir, the entirety of her right eye became pure black. No white, no other color, just an unnatural black. Annoyed by the children, Gungnir unleashed a powerful wave of darkness from the black eye, repelling Spike and Sweetie Belle several feet away, knocking them out cold upon hitting a nearby wall. "I see. The little one is the mare's sister, and I guess the dragon was her slave. Well, now both are my slaves." Gungnir said to herself. Testing the new unicorn powers she obtained from taking a unicorn's body, she levitated the unconscious Spike and Sweetie Belle and brought them to her. Since it was just her and her sisters in Equestria, Gungnir figured the smart decision would be to find all the help she could get. "Oooooh! Little children! Are we going to eat their still beating hearts?" As Gungnir captured her new servants, a purple mist appeared from behind, watching her capture Spike and Sweetie Belle. "Dear, dear, sister. Why must you be so disgusting?" Gungnir asked. "Come on! All you're letting me do is mindless destruction. That's what Mjolnar likes. I want absolute chaos and evil! How often do I get to torture and murder someone as innocent as children?" "Speaking of our sister, do you have any idea who she's fighting right now?" "Huh? Oh. Some princess or something, right?" The purple mist asked. Gungnir shook her head. "Princess Twilight Sparkle, and judging by the memories of the pony I've taken control of, she seems very powerful. Here I thought we could revive Sleipnir without the Solar Boy fighting us, yet we just had to land in the home of one this land's most powerful unicorns. So troublesome." "Yeah, and probably doesn't help that Mjolnar is the weakest of us, not to mention that none of us are at full power yet. I bet her she's getting her ass kicked right now. HAHAHA..." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "...AHHHHH" Twilight screamed. Twilight ended up biting more than she could chew as she found herself running up the mountain with a giant goat/pegasus hybrid chasing after her tail. She ran faster than her legs could physically move, but she had to do everything she could to avoid Mjolnar's sword like horns. "Why can't I fly again?" Twilight asked while still running. "We have to stay on the ground!" Otenko answered as he followed. "If Mjolnar goes airborne, we'll have a huge disadvantage." "But we're already at a disadvantage!" After thinking quickly, Twilight looked up and saw the cliffs ahead of her. She recognized the area as an avalanche area, as she remembered a time when a friend of hers accidently caused one. In an attempt to lose Mjolnar, she aimed up and fired a beam of magic at the rocks. This move quickly started an avalanche, which started with a few small rocks, but then the big ones came. "Are you insane? You'll kill us both!" Otenko said. "Oh, really?" Before any rocks could come down and crush Twilight and Otenko, she used her teleportation spell to disappear from Mjolnar's sight, leaving the Immortal as the only one who got hit by the avalanche, which caused her to get knocked down and buried by hundreds of rocks. Twilight and Otenko both reappeared up at a higher point of the mountain, where they couldn't even see the avalanche. "See? I told you were alright." Twilight said with a smile. "Twilight, Mjolnar has the raw strength to pierce through iron like paper. That little avalanche will not stop her." Otenko explained. "Oh, you're exaggerating." But, as it turned out, Otenko was telling the truth, because when Twilight thought they were safe, she saw none other than Mjolnar herself flying in the air, completely unscathed by the avalanche. On top of that, she gave herself an aerial advantage the moment she started to look for Twilight. "Now you will see yourself impaled on to my horns!" Mjolnar said as she began to charge Twilight. "Her attacks are strong, but predictable." Otenko said. "Can you use that teleport spell again?" Upon Otenko's request, Twilight teleported herself and Otenko before getting hit by Mjolnar's skull bash. Despite missing, Mjolnar's power was proven to Twilight, for the skull bash attack had allowed Mjolnar to fly right through the mountain without losing any speed, digging a large hole through the mountain side. Twilight even had to take a close look at the hole just to believe it actually happened.. "I can't just stand here. I'll have to fly up after her." Twilight said. "You do, and you will die." Otenko said. "In addition to her brute strength, Mjolnar has the power to summon winds and lightning which will strike down anything that tries to fly after her. We need to get her grounded again." "And what's a better way of getting her grounded then chasing after her?" "Miss, Sparkle, digging underground would be a better idea then flying. Her control over the skies are absolute, but if we can keep her on the ground, then we'll only have to deal with her strength. Her speed is also an issue, but she was never this fast back in my world." The answer to Mjolnar's speed was simple. She was using Rainbow Dash's body. As the pegasus was among the fastest flyers in Equestria, Mjolnar became among the fastest after claiming her body. Twilight did find that Mjolnar was wasn't moving anywhere close to Rainbow Dash's full speed, most likely because the Immortal had fully mastered her new speed.. Twilight was smart, but even she had troubling thinking up a strategy to take down Mjolnar. She thought of it in steps. First: She needed to slow Mjolnar down, despite being unstoppable. Second: she had to keep her on the ground. Third: defeat her. Before Mjolnar found her way around the mountain and found Twilight and Otenko again, she came up with a plan. The only part of it that she didn't like was that it would use up a lot of her magic, but since her friend's life was at stake, she would've given it up twice if she could've. "HEY, MJOLNAR!" Twilight shouted as she used her magic to conjure up a large, metal wall. "BET YOU CAN'T SMASH THIS!" ' Oh, no?" Mjolnar replied. "Bare witness to the full might of the hammering storm! After accepting Twilight's challenge, she dived down and flew toward Twilight, who once again used her magic to teleport herself to safety at the last moment. Assuming Twilight went behind the metal wall, Mjolnar charged it, and... SMASH! Mjolnar pierced right through the wall with ease and appeared on the other side of it, feeling that there was no challenge to it. However, after thinking about what she did in her head, she noticed two problems. The first was that she had a sudden headache, despite smashing through harder things before, such as the mountain she went through a minute earlier. The Second, and this was what was more important, she realized that she stopped moving. After tackling the wall, she stopped flying and was standing on her four hooves. "Yeah, you may want to see this." Twilight said from behind. Mjolnar turned and saw the destruction she caused. She didn't just break through the metal wall. She broke through nine metal walls. She then turned in front of her and realized that she also unsuccessfully tackled a tenth wall, leaving a small dent in it. Twilight took advantage of the fact that Mjolnar wasn't at full power and stopped the juggernaut in her place by creating ten strong metal walls, barely stopping the Immortal in her place. "Unbelievable! To think this world has such resourceful magic." Otenko said, being impressed by Twilight's talent. "Now then, we need to keep her down!" "Got it! Now watch this. My friend Applejack taught me this trick." After casting another spell, Twilight created a rope made of magic,, and then hurled the rope at Mjolnar's wings, lassoing her. As Mjolnar's wings were binded, thereby leaving her grounded, Twilight fired a beam of magic directly on to Mjolnar's back, the spot where she was most defenseless. She kept the stream blasting at her enemy, which caused the Immortal to scream in agony. Normally, Twilight would've shown mercy at that point, but after what Mjolnar did to Rainbow Dash, mercy was the last thing Twilight wanted to give. "STOP THIS, YOU STUPID HORSE! STOP IT OR I WILL SLICE YOUR NECK WITH MY HORNS!" Mjolnar screamed. "Then give me back my friend!" With Mjolnar's body weakened, Twilight stopped her beam of magic and grabbed Mjolnar's whole body with her magic. She sent Mjolnar flying a hundred meters in one direction, then, using the full force of her magic, she sent the Immortal flying into the final metal wall with great speed and force. Upon impact, both of Mjolnar's horns got smashed into the tiniest of pieces as she let out one last scream of pain. That was the final attack. With her magic all but exhausted and her own strength gone, Twilight Sparkle had defeated the Immortal, Mjolnar. As proof, Mjolnar fell to the ground with no signs of getting up. "I don't believe it. You actually did it!" Otenko said. "Django, my real partner, couldn't defeat that Immortal under similar circumstances, and yet you managed to do it perfectly! Nicely done, Miss Sparkle!" "Oh...thanks, Otenko. But boy, that took it all out of me. If I had to fight her again, I'll probably be dead." Twilight replied. "Oh, that reminds. We're not done yet. We need to get her into a coffin ASAP!" Twilight only expected to save Rainbow Dash by forcing Mjolnar into submission. She had no idea there was more after the fight, nor did she had any idea what the coffin was for. "A coffin? Why do we need a coffin? Please don't tell me that I just killed Rainbow Dash." At that moment, an epiphany had struck Otenko. "That's right. I didn't tell you about this step yet, so of course you're not prepared for it." It was then that Otenko looked back at Mjolnar's body, which started to get covered in a black smoke coming out of her. Because Twilight was never actually prepared to battle an Immortal in the first place, a new problem occurred. One that would've made the entire battle Twilight and Otenko went through for nothing, all because they didn't bring a coffin. > Purifying Mjolnar > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- The Pile Driver: The ultimate weapon for battling the Immortals. Despite the restrictive requirements before even using it on the Immortals, it is the only way to truly destroy the dark beings once and for all. It was Twilight Sparkle's only hope to save her friend from Mjolnar's grasp. There was just one small catch to using it though: It required a coffin -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Miss Sparkle. With all of that crazy magic of yours, can you by any chance conjure up a coffin?" Otenko asked. "A coffin?" Twilight asked. "You mean...please tell me I didn't just kill Rainbow Dash!" Otenko shook his head. "We need it to contain Mjolnar before she gets away. Do you think you can make one up? If you can't, then all that fighting will have been a waste of time." "Well, I'm a little drained after that fight, but..." After Mustering as much strength as she could, even though she was left exhausted, she began conjuring a new spell. After her struggle with the Immortal, she was already left with little magic, but Otenko made it clear that their work wasn't done. That said, she poured in what she could muster and created a large, purple coffin. "Great. Now trap Mjolnar inside of it." Otenko ordered. As Otenko requested, Twilight used her magic to slam the open coffin directly on to Mjolnar and locked her inside. The coffin began to shake as Mjolnar tried to get out, but she couldn't escape. "Perfect. Now there's only one more step, Miss Sparkle. At the bottom of the mountain, I summoned the Pile Driver. To purify Mjolnar and save your friend, we'll need to bring the coffin down there." "Wait! Now I need to drag this thing down the mountain?" Twilight asked. "Well I certainly can't summon the Pile Driver up here. So unless you have a better idea, you've got some pulling to do." Normally, Twilight would've used her magic to lift the coffin into the air and bring it down with great ease, but the more things Otenko had her do, the more she found herself drained of energy. She wanted to bring the coffin down the mountain ASAP, but knew she couldn't if she were to use her magic alone, and although she's an alicorn, she doubted that she would've been strong enough to pick up the coffin and fly down with it either. After looking down the mountain and looking at the trail below though, she had an idea. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "YOU CALL THIS A BETTER IDEA?" Otenko screamed at the top of his non-existent lungs. "IT SOUNDED BETTER IN MY HEAD!" Twilight answered. Did Twilight Sparkle had a plan? Yes. Was it a good one? Probably not. Rather then lifting the coffin and dragging it down the mountain, she did something reckless, but she was desperate enough to try it. Using the coffin itself, she and Otenko had actually rode on it down the side of the mountain, moving down it at a tremendous speed. The terrain was rocky, but by using her wings and the little magic she had left, Twilight was able to steer the two of them down the mountain. The faster they went, the more Otenko wished he didn't bring Twilight with him on his quest. "Please tell me the Pile Driver isn't on the other side of the mountain!" Twilight said. "I know I'm going to regret saying this, but...make a harsh right turn! NOW!" Otenko ordered. On Otenko's request, Twilight made right a turn that almost made her lose her balance. Right when she regained her balance though, the coffin flew over an edge, sending it, Twilight and Otenko flying. Fortunately, they were near the ground. Ironically, that was also the unfortunate thing. CRASH! Both Twilight and Otenko made a hard landing at the base of the mountain, but they were both alright. They were both disoriented, but safe. The coffin also had a rough landing, but it remained shut. It was not the smartest plan Twilight had ever thought of, but it certainly worked. "Ow...you okay, Otenko?" Twilight asked. "Bah. I've suffered through worse." Otenko answered, not telling the alicorn that he was beyond scared by the experience. "More importantly though, the Pile Driver is just up ahead. Let's move." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As there was no mountain to slide on, Twilight had to use her magic again to drag the coffin to where Otenko guided her. They reached a flat grassy surface with strange markings on the ground. The markings formed a very large circle around the area. In addition to the four circles inside, there was also a fifth circle in the very center with a coffin-shaped mark inside. This was the Pile Driver. "Miss Sparkle, place the coffin into the center." Otenko ordered. On command, Twilight sent the coffin to the middle of the markings. Upon so, the coffin suddenly positioned itself to cover the coffin mark perfectly, turning the Pile Driver's markings red for a brief second upon so. A moment later, four green machines with flat surfaces emerged from out of the four circles, with the flat surface aiming directly up. "GAHH! What are those?" Twilight asked. "Those are the generators. They amplify the solar energy of the Sun itself and fires that energy at the center of the Pile Driver, incinerating the Immortal's dark matter and preventing any chance of them reviving themselves. As long as the Sun shines upon us, it will destroy Mjolnar." "But what about Rainbow Dash? She's the one I'm worried about." Otenko already said that he wasn't sure about what would happen to Rainbow Dash, so he didn't know what else to say. All he could do was give Twilight a worried look. "In any case, we need magic to activate the generators and to keep them running. Strike each one and we can get started." Trusting Otenko, Twilight fired four magical beams at the four generators, causing the flat, mirror-like surface to lower down and aim toward the coffin in the center. After firing the beams, Twilight lost her balance and almost tripped over her own hooves. "Whoops. I'm alright." Twilight said. "Hmm...Miss Sparkle, I've been meaning to ask you something." Otenko said. "What exactly is the source of your magic?" Twilight didn't expect to hear such a question. Of course, since Otenko was a guest to Equestria, she could understand if his magic worked differently. She found it odd of him to ask though since she was able to turn on the generators. "My magic? Well, it basically comes from within me. All ponies in Equestria have magic that come from their own beings. As a unicorn, I'm simply able to use that magic to their full potential. I guess you can say I'm my own power source." "Your own...oh my..." Otenko said as he deeply thought about what he learned. "This will not do. I can see this becoming a problem." "What? How come?" Just then, the coffin in the Pile Driver began to shake. After being trapped inside a coffin, being ridden on and getting a rocky ride down the mountain, Mjolnar wanted out. "Not important. Get in front of the Pile Driver now. We need to purify Mjolnar now." Otenko said. There was still questions Twilight wanted to have answered, but agreed that it wasn't the most important thing at the time. As Otenko had ordered, Twilight stood in front on the Pile Driver and was as ready as ever to destroy Mjolnar and reclaim Rainbow Dash. As she got into position, Otenko floated in the air and unleashed a mighty yell. "TAIYOOOOOOOH!" As Otenko's voice echoed throughout the area and the generators filled up with solar energy, the earth shook and the area grew dark, but the markings on the ground glowed bright enough to allow Twilight to see perfectly fine. All of Twilight's surroundings became invisible to her, allowing her give her full attention to the Pile Driver and Mjolnar. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- And thus, the purification began. When the Pile Driver was all Twilight could see, the four generators went to full power and fired four beams of yellow light directly into the coffin as it opened up, blasting Mjolnar from four directions. "HOT!" Mjolnar shouted in pain. "Alright! It's working!" Twilight said with joy. Sadly, the joy was short-lived. As she saw the Pile Driver purifying Mjolnar, the light started to get forced back by beams of darkness, which emanated from Mjolnar herself. Twilight saw this and knew it wasn't a good thing. "Quickly, Miss Sparkle!" Otenko said. "Blast the generators to reinforce the beams! If the dark matter reach the generators, she'll deactivate them! "On it!" Twilight said. To counter Mjolnar's defense, Twilight fired more beams of magic at each individual generator, causing them to become strong enough to push the dark matter back and continue purifying the Immortal. The longer the fight went on, the more pain Mjolnar went through, but she wasn't willing to go down that easily. "DARKNESS GALE!" To stop Twilight, Mjolnar unleashed a mighty wind from her coffin, sending Twilight flying. She was having a long day and didn't know how much more she had left in her. Despite the lack of strength, she knew that she needed to save Rainbow Dash and wouldn't let anything stop her from saving her friend, so she fought the powerful wind and marched forward, making her way back to the generators. "Mjolnar, I still don't quite know who your are, but no one, and I mean NO ONE, takes my friends away from me!" As she used the last ounces of her magic, Twilight fired one last beam of magic directly at Mjolnar herself, causing the dark matter countering the generators to weaken. Both the alicorn and the Immortal were greatly weakened and both were on their last legs. Due the stronger will-power that belonged to Twilight Sparkle, she able to keep Mjolnar at bay long enough for the Pile Driver to finish the purification. The dark matter became too weak to fight back, resided back to Mjolnar, and after what felt like forever, the Pile Driver delivered the final blast of light into the Immortal's body. "Stubborn ponies! Just like the worthless humans, you try to stop the destruction I bring! Now my sisters will get to watch your world crumble without me! I hope you're happy! I sure know Missel Tow will be." With her final speech, the dark matter of the Storm-brewing Immortal turned into light and lifted from Rainbow Dash's body. The dark matter was finally destroyed along with Mjolnar, and thus, the purification was successfully completed. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shortly after getting back Rainbow Dash's body from Mjolnar, Twilight brought her under the shade of a nearby tree. The first thing Twilight noticed was how hot Rainbow's fur was, so she wanted to get her friend out of the Sun. Rainbow Dash was unconscious and was breathing weakly, but was very much alive. "You did well, Miss Sparkle." Otenko said. "Now there's only two of the three Dusk sisters. The bad news is that the remaining two will be even harder to destroy, as Mjolnar was merely the soldier of the three.." "I'm not worried." Twilight answered. "If I was able to beat Mjolnar by myself, then I won't have any problems if I fight with the rest my friends. Believe it or not, me, Rainbow Dash and my other four friends have been able to defeat bad guys much stronger than Mjolnar." "I sure hope you have, Miss Sparkle, for the worst has yet to come. For now, we must return to your home to track down Gungnir." "But what about Rainbow Dash?" "She'll be fine. We can get help once we go back. For now, staying here is pointless." Twilight wanted to stay by Rainbow Dash's side after all she went through, but she knew that Otenko was right. For Rainbow Dash to get the right care, Twilight had to go back to Ponyville to bring her medical attention. She would've used her magic to help carry her friend, but that was out of the question since she had none left. Twilight had no idea what Gungnir was doing while she was away from home, which gave her another reason to return home as quickly as possible. Since she didn't have any other options, Twilight opened her wings and took flight to Ponyville, not knowing what to expect to happen next. She knew one thing that was for certain though: It was only the start of something big. Something REALLY big. > The Beast of Chaos > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Mjolnar was no more, one threat was down. Alas, there was still two more Immortals that were more powerful than her, and Mjolnar alone wore Twilight Sparkle down completely. With all of her magic and energy drained, Twilight stood no chance against who she faced afterwards. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After defeating the Storm-brewing Immortal, Twilight and Otenko returned to Ponyville as quickly as they could to find help for Rainbow Dash, but instead of finding help as they hoped, they found only destruction. During that morning, the town of Ponyville was as bright and colorful as it always had been, but after returning from her struggle with Mjolnar, Twilight found houses damaged or destroyed, fires being fought, ponyfolk running and screaming and fear getting the best of everypony. Chaos and fear had taken over Ponyville. "Oh my gosh!" Twilight said in shock. "What happened?" "I didn't think they could do so much damage so fast." Otenko said. "Keep alert, Miss Sparkle. The other two Immortals are likely still here." Taking Otenko's advice, she began walking through her home town with caution. She tried to stay calm, despite the panic in the town, because she had to hide her worries for the sake of everypony. As all of Ponyville was in a state of fear, they needed to see their princess with a brave face on. It wouldn't have been so bad if Twilight only knew what was causing all the destruction, or at least that's what she thought. Otenko knew exactly what was causing the madness, so he was most scared of all. After a walk into town, Twilight finally found a familiar pony. One with a white coat and a purple mane. "Rarity! I'm so glad I found you!" Twilight said with relief. "Tell me what happened to Ponyville while I've been gone. What caused all of-" "TWILIGHT SPARKLE! DON'T ANY GET CLOSER TO HER!" Twilight paused when she heard Otenko's scream, not to mention that he suddenly referred to her by her full name rather than Miss Sparkle. After stopping, she felt a powerful surge of dark energy blowing her back. She flew back a few feet, but was able to keep standing. It took her a moment to realize it, but she found that the energy came from Rarity herself. "You can't hide your presence from me, Gungnir." Otenko said. Recognizing the voice, Gungnir, controlling Rarity's body, turned to look Twilight and Otenko in the eyes. The sight of Gungnir's black right-eye caught Twilight by surprise. Not only that, the black eye itself scared the alicorn as she stared into it. The fear she tried to hide from Ponyville for everyponys' sake was suddenly unveiled. "Ahh, Princess Twilight Sparkle. At last, I get to see you with my own eyes." Gungnir said. "Or I guess I should say I'm using your good friend's eyes. Tell me, did my sister give you too much trouble?" While Twilight didn't expect to see Rarity to get taken over by the Immortals as well, she knew she had to accept it quickly in order to help her friend the best she could. "I-I got Rainbow Dash back, so don't think you can get away with Rarity's body too!" "Oooh, so Mjolnar kicked the bucket after all? Called it! I knew she wouldn't last five minutes here." Twilight and Otenko turned around to see where the new voice came from. Floating in the air was a purple mist that covered a small area behind Twilight. It gave off an evil presence like the other Immortals did, but Twilight was a bit more scared of this new one, sensing a more psychotic evil coming from it.. "Missel Tow, please show some respect for your fallen sister." Gungnir said. "In any case, with the time she gave us, we now have our new bodies and can move on with our plans. You know what to do now, Missel. Let's get going." "Fine. These ponies are no fun to me anyway. They just won't die." Missel said. Bored of the chaos and destruction she was causing, Missel Tow and her mist vanished from sight and Gungnir was preparing to do the same, but Twilight went through a lot of effort to take Rainbow Dash back from the Immortals, so she had no intention of letting them take Rarity too. "You're not going anywhere!" Twilight shouted. "Miss Sparkle, you are in no shape do be doing anything now." Otenko informed. "You're far from your full power, and we need to help your other friend." "You said it yourself. They aren't at full strength either, and that's all I need to know." Ignoring the obvious danger, caring more about Rarity's safety than her own, Twilight flew up in the air and charged toward Gungnir to take her down, but Gungnir was by no means intimidated. Without moving so much as a hoof, Gungnir fired a wave of darkness from her black eye, only with much more force than the first one, launching Twilight in the opposite direction until she flew through a nearby building. She tried to use her teleport spell to avoid the impact, but she used up every drop of it in her last battle. As a result, nothing stopped Twilight from smashing through a brick wall, knocking her unconscious. "Miss Sparkle..." Otenko said in horror. "Gungnir! Just how far are you willing to-" But as Otenko turned to talk to Gungnir, she was already gone. Otenko couldn't share another word and was left with an injured companion, a wrecked Ponyville, and dwindling hope. "Without the Solar Boy, you are no real threat to us, Messenger of the Sun." Gungnir's voice said to Otenko. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Twilight's eyes opened up, she saw something rather curious. Darkness. The last thing she remembered was taking a hit from Gungnir after discovering what she did to Rarity. She had no idea where she was at that moment, nor did she know how she got there. "Hello? Anypony here?" Twilight asked, hearing nothing coming back out from the darkness. "Rarity? Otenko? Anyone? Please tell me I'm not dead!" The idea of being alone in the pitch-black darkness scared Twilight. She took a step forward to try to explore where she was, but stopped as soon as she took her first step. She quickly realized after walking that she standing in something wet. The liquid she was standing in looked black, but that was because of the darkness. After smelling a slight scent of it, and judging from how thick it was, Twilight had an idea about what she was standing in. "I-is this...blood?" She asked in a worried tone. STOMP! Eventually, she heard something else besides herself, but it wasn't anything she was hoping to find. She heard something huge taking a step forward. From the sound it made, she figured it was an Ursa Major, one of the largest beasts in Equestria. After looking around in the darkness, trying to find what it was, she noticed something that stood out in the darkness. While it was barely visible and rather far, Twilight saw something hiding in the darkness lying on the ground, giving off a faint, dark-red glow to provide the only source of light in the area, but all it really did was make Twilight more nervous. After getting closer, she saw it was a large creature as she predicted, but it was much scarier then an Ursa Major "W-who are you?" After remembering that she could use magic, Twilight used her magic to create a glowing aura around her horn to see what the creature was. She immediately regretted doing so as she let out a horrible scream at what she saw. There before her was what appeared to have been a giant horse skull laying down in front of her, but after shining her light at it, the monster became alerted of Twilight's presence. The beast raised its head and revealed its red fleshy body with red-dyed pony skulls covering it. The size of the beast was tremendous, appearing as if it was over a mile long since Twilight couldn't even see its hind legs. The front legs were visible however, with two large bones for front legs, but rather then having a hoof on each leg, these had two hooves, each floating nearby the actual leg, the left leg having a blue and red glowing hoof while the right leg had a green and purple hoof. It was the largest monstrosity Twilight had ever seen. She felt nothing coming from the beast other than pure evil. She didn't know what it was, but she knew it was scarier than death itself. As it unleashed a loud, demonic neigh-like screech, Twilight was left completely paralyzed in fear, unable to move as the monster lunged its head forward to devour the little pony. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "Come on, Sugarcube. Wake up." "YAAAARRGGHH!" Twilight quickly opened her eyes and unleashed a mighty scream, on the verge of hyperventilating from the horrible nightmare she had. She found it hard to focus on where she was, not just because of the trauma she endured, but also because of a splitting headache she had from hitting a brick wall earlier, but after hearing an all-too familiar voice... "SHE'S UP! YAY!" Pinkie Pie screamed out loud. "TIME TO CELEBRATE!" The crazy pink pony, Pinkie Pie, went on to play with noisemakers while throwing confetti and balloon animals, being overjoyed that her friend was alive and well, all while making Twilight's headache worse. Had she of started singing, that would've knocked Twilight down for the count. Fortunately for Twilight, it made her forget about her dream for a moment. "PINKIE-OW!" Twilight screamed, only to cause herself more pain, but the pain eased down a bit after taking a good look at her friends, happy they were all there for her. In addition to Pinkie Pie, two of her other friends, Applejack and Fluttershy, were there when she woke up. It was also then that Twilight realized where she was: A hospital bed. There were, however, a few friends of hers that weren't there. "Rarity! Rainbow Dash! Where are they?" "Your little friend told us about Rainbow Dash. She's recovering in another room." Fluttershy said. "He was so nice." After turning her head, Twilight saw who it was that Fluttershy was referring to: The strange being, Otenko, who was also waiting for her to wake up. "After Gungnir fled, I searched around the town for some calm ponies to help. These three seemed to of known you, so I had them bring you and Rainbow Dash here." "But what about Rarity?" Twilight asked. Otenko shook his head. "The white one, right? I'm afraid she's been taken over like Rainbow Dash was. I've long since lost track of her presence." "And...Twilight?" Applejack said with a sad face. "I saw her take Spike away with her. Sweetie Belle too." This was heartbreaking news to Twilight. First she almost lost her loyal friend Rainbow Dash, then she lost her generous friend Rarity, as well as her assistant Spike. Since she wasn't strong enough, she allowed the Immortals to take away two close friends and a little filly. She finally stopped feeling the headache because she had felt an even greater pain in her heart, for the forces of evil had won the battle. And to make matters worse, she wasn't entirely sure who the forces of evil were. Luckily, the one who knew about them more than anypony was floating right next to her bed. "Okay, Otenko. I think it's time for you to tell me what's going on! Who are you, who are those Immortals, and why have they attacked Ponyville and my friends?" Suddenly, Twilight had a lot more energy, throwing Otenko off-guard by the sudden questions. He thought Twilight should've been saving her strength after being hospitalized, but he understood her completely. She risked her life helping him, so the least he could do was to enlighten her. "Very well, Miss Sparkle. To face the threat coming at us, I guess you need to know about who they are." -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Later that night, after Twilight released herself from the hospital, she and her friends returned to her home, or at least what was left of it after the Immortal's attack. Before, Twilight lived in a giant tree that Ponyville used as the local library, but in addition to the damage caused to the rest of Ponyville, the tree had all of its leaves burnt right off with the rest of the building burnt black. There must've been a fire there caused by Gungnir, but was eventually fought off. Twilight was lucky that the inside wasn't as badly damaged. After everypony got inside and sat around in a circle with Otenko being in the middle, he began to share his story to the group. "Now then, I am Master Otenko, the terrestrial embodiment of the sun's will, or at least I am in my world. In my world, I traveled together with Django the Solar Boy, a young but great vampire hunter who's fought and defeated some of the mightiest of the Immortals." "Vampires? Wait, are you telling me they can turn me into a vampire?" Twilight asked. "Not at all." Otenko reassured. "There's a difference between an Immortal and a vampire. Trust me, the last thing any world needs is a Twilight Sparkle vampire." Completely out of the blue, Pinkie Pie began howling in laughter at Otenko's comment. Almost as if she noticed a joke in their, but nopony could understand what it was. Yet again, nopony could understand Pinkie Pie, which was probably why they didn't question her about it. "So why are they here?" Twilight asked. To answer her question, Otenko began quoting a chant. "The gate will open when the Sun and Moon merge, but only discord can hold back the scourge." "Wait, now Discord is involved in this?" Pinkie Pie asked as she ate from a bag of popcorn. Again, nopony questioned her about it. "In my world, the sisters were trying to release Sleipnir, The Beast of Chaos. A mighty monster that can destroy any world if it were to be released. As a creature known as an Eternal, it is neither alive or undead. It simply exists to destroy whatever is sees. Gungnir wishes to free it to lay chaos and destruction to the world and conquer it. Once freed, there will be no hope for us all." The ponies listening to the story all reacted to it differently. Pinkie Pie ate the popcorn she mysteriously acquired faster, Fluttershy became horrified, Applejack tried to calm her Fluttershy down, and Twilight became more curious. "What does Sleipnir look like?" Twilight asked. "I'm not sure. I've never seen it before, but if it's anything like the other two Eternals I've seen, it will undoubtedly be bigger then life itself and induce fear simply by looking at it. They also lack any real instinct and act as if they were a mindless, feral animals." Twilight then remembered the dream she had. The one with the giant horse-like monster that lived in the lake of blood. She wondered if it was an Oman of some kind. She couldn't think of how her dream would've been useful knowledge at the time, nor did she want to relive the awful dream, so she asked something else instead. "What about that poem of yours?" "It's a clue about how to release Sleipnir. Gungnir was able to to find those that represented the Sun and Moon, which sadly, included Django, my partner. What has baffled even me though is that she was never able find the Eternal's seal. Based off of what I've learned, they may have to release Sleipnir from this world rather than our own, but to do that, they'll now need new keys." "New keys? You mean like your friend?" Fluttershy asked. "He didn't come here with me. Unless there's two more in your world who can represent the Sun and Moon, they may already be fighting for a lost cause." The mares began looking at each other with worried looks. It didn't take a great philosopher for help them understand who could fulfill the requirements to release Sleipnir. "Okay, Now it's my turn to ask something." Otenko said in an irritated tone, bothered by the silence. "They need somepony to represent the Sun and Moon, right?" Twilight asked. "That sounds like a dead ringer for Princess Celestia and Princess Luna." Twilight and her friends were still trying to figure out what exactly the Immortals and this new monster were, not to mention the floating sunflower thing that was explaining it all to them, but after seeing what they were able to do to their friends and town, they knew they were dangerous. Even worse though was that they would go after Equestria's rulers, putting their peaceful world into great danger. Twilight had a hard enough time fighting the weakest of the Immortals in Equestria, but after all she had just learned, she began to doubt if she had a chance to save her friends, the princesses, or even Equestria itself. > A Chaotic Connection > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- For the first time since Otenko arrived to Equestria, Twilight Sparkle was given an idea about what was unfolding. She knew that if what Otenko said was true, the Immortals would go after Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. Twilight knew that the Immortals couldn't be ignored. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As a lot had happened that day, such as the Immortals' invasion and the kidnapping of several of Ponyvilles' residences, Twilight's friends went home to get a good night sleep since they all had to pull their weight and repair the town the next day. Twilight couldn't sleep though. She felt responsible for letting the Immortals leave with Spike, Rarity, and Sweetie Belle. Instead, she spent the night trying to learn what she could about Eternal Beast, Sleipnir. "AGH! I CAN'T FIND ANYTHING ON THIS THING!" Twilight shouted in anger. "I'm sorry that I can't help as much as I'd like to." Otenko said with regret. "Even I don't know too much on Sleipnir. I've had first hand experience with two other Eternals, but the differences between them was so great that I doubt it could help us now." "What kind of differences?" "Well, I suppose the biggest difference is the way they've been sealed. The first Eternal, called Jormungandr, got sealed within the earth. The second, Vanargand, got sealed away on the moon. So unless Sleipnir is somewhere within your Sun, I have no idea where it is." Twilight took what Otenko said as a point in to a direction. Since the Immortals planned to break the seal on the Eternal, she figured it would make sense if she figured out where Sleipnir's seal was. That said, she decided that if she focused on finding the seal, information on the monster wouldn't be practical. Of course, figuring out where Sleipnir was seal was something equally as hard to learn about. She thought back to the chant Otenko taught her. "The gate will open when the Sun and Moon merge, but only discord can hold back the scourge." Twilight said to herself. "I wonder if Discord would know anything about this. He is the king of chaos after all." "Excuse me, but what was that about a king of chaos? Otenko asked. "I'm talking about Discord. He's arguably the most powerful individual in Equestria. Maybe even the world. He once tried to take over and plunge the world into chaos, turning places upside down, made clouds rain chocolate, and essentially changed all laws of physics. He's still somewhat evil, but he's on our side now. He sometimes comes to turn our water into wine for no other reason than to see all of us tipsy, but it could be worse." At first, Otenko didn't know what to make of what Twilight said, but after it became clear to him that she wasn't lying, he nearly had a stroke from the shock. He couldn't believe a word he heard. He didn't believe that there was someone who was literally called Discord. "ARE YOU TELLING ME SUCH A BEING EXISTS? THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING!" Otenko shouted. "So you think Discord does know something?" Twilight asked. "All this time, I looked at the word discord in the chant as just a word meaning chaos, so I assume it had something to the Dusk Sisters. I didn't realize Discord was the name of someone. We must see him right away!" After finally getting an idea on what to do, Twilight knew it was an important to see Discord as soon as she could, but she didn't actually like the idea. After all, it was Discord they were talking about, and while Otenko had personal experience with Eternals like Sleipnir, Twilight probably had even more experience when it came to Discord. "Oh! And I have another task for you." Otenko said. "Before we go out to find Discord, it's very important that we know who is in your town and who isn't." "Really? Why is that important?" "Think about it, Miss Sparkle. There are three Immortals in this world who can take over bodies. How many have we seen been taken so far?" A very scary thought went into Twilight's head. Mjolnar took over Rainbow Dash while Gungnir took over Rarity, but she had absolutely no idea who the youngest sister, Missel Tow, took. At that moment on, Twilight had more to worry more about than just Sleipnir's seal. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- The very next day, Twilight invited her friends back to her home to discuss her plans to deal with Equestria's newest threat. To figure out who else the Immortals took away, she sent the best pony to figure out who was in Ponyville and who wasn't. "Alright, Pinkie Pie. Is everypony still in Ponyville?" Twilight asked. "I just went all around town and talked to every single pony I knew." Pinkie asked. "I saw Vinyl, Octavia, Bon Bon, Lyra, Derpy and the Doctor, Carrot Top, Colgate, that white pegasus that looks suspiciously like me...OH, and Dinky! She was with Derpy and the Doc-" "Pinkie! Is everypony here?" Twilight asked with impatience. "Huh? Oh, yeah. Everypony but one is here. I looked all around with my list of names, but I can't seem to find Pinkie Pie." "Pinkie Pie, that's you." Pinkie Pie gasped in horror from what Twilight said. "OH NO! That can only mean...THE IMMORTALS GOT ME TOO! AAAHHHH!" In a state of panic, Pinkie Pie ran through Twilight's wall, leaving behind a Pinkie Pie-shaped hole, and ran down the street in a horrified state. Otenko and Applejack looked through the hole and watched the silly pink pony running away from nothing. "Is your friend always this bubbly?" Otenko asked. "Nah, this is what we call 'calm' Pinkie Pie." Applejack answered. Twilight took a look at the list of names Pinkie Pie had to make sure there were no names not accounted for. She was upset when she found that, if what Pinkie Pie said was true, every pony was still in Ponyville. She had no idea who else the Immortals took away. "Well, this stinks." Twilight said. "Now we have no idea who else is in trouble." "I was afraid of this." Otenko said. "Mjolnar and Gungnir are always easy to expose. Missel Tow, however, is a completely different story. In fact, she may very well be the most horrifying of the three." "How so, Mr. Sunshine?" Pinkie Pie asked after suddenly reappearing in the library. While surprised by Pinkie's return, Otenko nonetheless answered. "The Dusk sisters are famous for taking over the bodies of any ordinary mortal they wish, but only one mortal, and they can not take over another until something forces them out of their new bodies. Missel Tow is slightly different." "Different how?" Twilight asked. "With her shadow tendrils, she can take over multiple beings in addition to her actual host body. Rather then fighting herself, she will force allies to fight each other until they're force to kill each other." Fluttershy shivered when she heard what Missel Tow was actually capable of doing. "That sounds awful. Why would anypony want to do that?" "She is the most the most insane of any Immortal I have ever met. As chaotic as she is though, she is rather sneaky and stealthy, often acting as a spy of sorts, so it's no wonder that we can't find her. I was really hoping that she wouldn't be hiding so shortly after coming here." "Well, this is fantastic." Twilight said sarcastically. "We have an enemy who kidnapped Rarity and Spike, an enemy who can destroy the world, and now an enemy we can't even find." "Surely we'll be able to find your Discord friend, right?" "Of course." Fluttershy answered. "I'll have to show you all where he is though, since I'm the only one who knows where he lives." "OOH! Bring me too!" Pinkie Pie demanded. "He still owes me chocolate rain!" Twilight was thrilled when her friends volunteered to help her and Otenko find Discord. Right off the bat, she figured Applejack would try to come too, but Twilight had another idea. "Applejack, since I'm leaving Ponyville for a while, I will need somepony to stay behind and make sure nopony else gets taken away. Do you think you can do that?" "Well...if you think I should sugarcube, then...yes. My family definitely needs me right now, Ponyville could use some strong hooves and I'm betting Rainbow Dash will need to wake up with at least one of her friends by her side. "Thanks Applejack." Twilight said with a smile. "I know Ponyville will need me, but I need Discord. Can't believe I actually said that, but I digress. Until we come back, I'm trusting you to keep everypony safe." "You can count on me, Twilight. Honestly." Twilight smiled knowing that Ponyville was in good hooves. With one of her most reliable friends staying behind to keep everypony safe, she felt she could worry less about her home and more on her mission to save the rest of the world. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thankful for having a friend like Applejack to watch Ponyville, the two mares gave each other a quick hug before heading out. As they needed Discord's help ASAP, Twilight prepared a saddlebag, along with Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie, and the three mares made their way out of Ponyville together with Otenko. Twilight wasn't sure if she was making the right choice in leaving Ponyville, especially so soon after an attack, but because of the situation, she had no choice. She knew Applejack could be trusted, so that was one burden off her shoulders. On their way out, Twilight brought a letter to a courier pegasus who was standing right outside of a destroyed post office. She had a very important job for the stallion. "This is the letter I want you to bring to Canterlot." Twilight explained. "Since I don't have Spike anymore, I need you to bring this to Princess Celestia as quickly as possible. There's never been a time we need the Princess more than now." "Understood, your highness." The courier said before taking off to Canterlot, wasting no time to deliver the message. With Ponyville in safe hooves and an emergency letter sent to Princess Celestia, Twilight tied up the last loose end she needed to deal with. Twilight and the group gave one last wave goodbye to Applejack and made their way out of Ponyville to find Discord. "Psst. Twilight." Pinkie Pie whispered. "Five bits says that Applejack is the one the bad guys got." "Pinkie...please be quiet for a bit." Applejack knew that she had too much work to do, so rather than staying and watch until her friends were long out of sight, she ran back to town to help restore her home the best she could. Everypony knew that they had to do everything they could to help and Twilight's courier pegasus was no exception. He flew to Canterlot as fast as he could to deliver the most important message he ever had to deliver. Unfortunately for him, something didn't want him to leave. Down below, a large, black shadow rose from the ground and stretched up at an amazing speed and grabbed the pegasus before he could see what was coming at him. then, as quickly as the shadow mysteriously appeared, it disappeared as it brought the screaming pegasus back to the ground.