Chapter Six
"Aaand that should do it!"
A brown earth pony pushed a crate of supplies into a corner by some more large crates. Afterwards, he wiped the sweat off of his brow and sighed. "That's the last of the medical supplies from the recent delivery," he said to a young purple dragon with green scales.
"Okay, good," the dragon replied as he checked off a list that he was holding. "All of the meds are accounted for."
The earth pony nodded then started to make his way out of the warehouse; the dragon, who was named Spike, followed.
After the disaster in the Shang-Xiao Empire, Ponyville had become a hub for receiving relief supplies and distributing them to the affected region. Many ponies were milling about, taking care of their various tasks, which ranged from cataloging the incoming and outgoing supplies to actually delivering them to their destinations. A few refugee centers were set up here and there, identified by the tents that were pitched all around Ponyville, and some inns had converted into shelters for refugees.
Spike had volunteered for the cataloging job. Like most of the others who had volunteered for that job, he was swamped by the amount of supplies that came in at a rapid pace. There was a huge back-up when they came in, even though there were plenty of ponies who could catalog them. Only now - a good five hours later - was there a much-needed lull in the action as the flow of the large wooden crates slowed down dramatically; the young dragon mentally thanked the powers that be for the slow-down.
Spike walked out of the warehouse and was immediately stopped by a black pegasus with bright red eyes. "I'll take it from here, kid," she told him with a smile. "You can take a break. You look like you need it."
"Thanks, ma'am," he replied. He handed her the list and walked off towards a small refugee camp that was set up on the outskirts of Ponyville. As he entered, he noticed a familiar orange earth pony returning with two other ponies and an empty cart.
"Hey Applejack," Spike greeted as the earth pony got closer.
"Oh! Hello there, Spike! How's ev'rything goin'?"
"Well, pretty good, compared to a few hours ago. The income of supplies has slowed down a whole lot, thank goodness. What about you?"
Applejack nodded towards the cart. "Well, we jus' completed another deliv'ry," she replied. "The folks were mighty happy t' receive the supplies. They needed them pretty bad, too. The village was almost unrecognizable when we got there! That had to have been one heck of a 'quake!
"Anyways, we're through with our shift now," Applejack continued. "Where ya' headin'?"
"I was going to go check on the others," Spike replied. "Wanna tag along?"
"Sure thing. I was jus' wonderin' how the others were doin' as well."
"Easy now...easy... There."
Fluttershy had just finished wrapping up a young pegasus' wing which had been broken when some debris fell on her during the earthquake.
"Now be sure to not use that wing for a good while, okay?"
The young filly nodded. "Got it, Miss Fluttershy," she replied with a smile. Her parents walked up to Fluttershy and thanked her for her help, to which she modestly replied, "Oh, you're very welcome."
As the family exited the medical tent, Applejack and Spike walked in.
"Hey there, Fluttershy," Applejack greeted. "How's ev'rythin'?
Fluttershy looked in their direction. "Oh, everything's fine," she said with a smile. "I've fixed up a few hurt ponies, but there hasn't been any who were severely hurt, thankfully."
Spike looked around the medical tent. A few refugees were there getting examined and having their injuries tended to. One young colt had just gotten a few stitches on his chin, while his sister got her leg bandaged up.
"So, Fluttershy," Spike finally said, "have you seen Rarity or Pinkie anywhere recently?"
Fluttershy rubbed her chin as she thought. "Well, if I recall, Rarity and Pinkie Pie are doing a puppet show for the children in the middle of the camp..."
"Gain way! Comin' through!"
The three friends moved quickly out of the way of three unicorns and a stretcher. On it was an unconscious earth pony with a river of blood running from the top of his forehead. As they went by, the trio had got a good look at the injured pony.
"Oh dear!" exclaimed Fluttershy. She turned to Spike and Applejack. "They're probably going to need my help on that one. You two can go on and find Pinkie and Rarity."
"Alright," replied the purple dragon. "Good luck, Fluttershy."
The rumbling intensified. Now the small pebbles on the ground started to dance from the vibrations.
"What the hell are you talking about?" Windshield yelled. "Who's here?"
The cyan earth pony continued to gaze up into the sky, but replied, "They are here, colt. And they're coming fast!"
The party followed his gaze. At first the sky was, for the most part, clear, with barely any clouds dotting the great blue yonder. Then the wind slowly started to pick up until it was a violent gust - so violent in fact, that Rainbow Dash had to ground herself before she was blown away.
"Jeez!" the cyan pegasus exclaimed. "Why did it get so windy all of a sudden? Is there a storm coming?"
"There's barely any clouds in the sky," Big Macintosh yelled over the howling winds. "Can't be a storm."
"Look! Up in the sky at one o'clock!" shouted Windshield.
Then they saw it.
At first it was nothing but a small yellow streak breaking moving across the blue sky. One could have mistaken it for a meteor or some other extraterrestrial object burning through the atmosphere on its way to the ground, but it seemed to turn - slowly - until...
"H-hey, Princess?" asked Twilight as she eyed the object. "Isn't that thing aiming for us?"
Luna's eyes widened with horror as the object was now pointed towards them and approaching rapidly.
"Twilight!" she yelled. "You and I have to perform a shield spell before-"
"No!"
The party looked at the earth pony whose eyes were locked onto the advancing object.
"Are you out of your mind?" yelled Rainbow Dash. "If we don't put something up between us and that thing, then we'll get-"
"It's not going to hit us," the stallion replied. "Just wait."
Shadow looked at Princess Luna. "With all due respect, your majesty," he began, "I think that this guy is crazy. If we don't put something up between that thing and us, we're gonna get fried."
Luna observed the object more closely, carefully taking note of its trajectory. Afterwards, she stated her decision.
"We wait," she said. "No shield, but be prepared, Twilight Sparkle."
"Yes, ma'am," the purple unicorn replied as she took position beside the night princess. She looked at the burning object and readied her shield spell just in case; Luna followed suit.
The burning object sped towards the party, seemingly intent on crushing or incinerating them all, but suddenly nosed down and smashed into the rocky ground a few yards in front of them. A few flaming pieces arched into the air and came down all around the ponies and a thick blanket of smoke clouded their vision for a while.
Eventually, the smoke began to clear...
"We've got some comp'ny," said the rustic Big Macintosh. "A bunch of nasty lookin' fellas, too."
The smoke finally cleared to reveal two squads of rebel soldiers donning outdated leather armor and light weapons, mainly clubs and short swords. They growled and brandished their weapons at the party, who, in response, drew their weapons as well.
"Crap!" exclaimed Shadow. "Rebels!"
"But how did they manage to travel in a fireball?" asked Twilight.
"Now that would be my doing, young filly," a calm - but menacing - voice echoed through the air.
Suddenly, there was a bright flash as a column of fire descended from a harmless-looking cloud and smashed into the ground closer to Luna and company. The column dispersed to reveal something.
It was huge - even bigger than Big Macintosh! This beast had black, serrated hooves, a black mane with yellow highlights, a crimson red coat with black stripes all over it, two curved, wickedly sharp horns, two large black leathery wings, a black spade tail, and bright yellow eyes with a single black slit as their pupils. The monster grinned, showing its pearly white, pointed teeth, and a deep chuckle emitted from its throat.
A chill ran up Luna's spine as she realized that this was the beast from before, the same one that destroyed Yashimoto Village. Shadow and Windshield steadied themselves, as did the other escorting Shang-Xiao imperial soldiers.
"Who...or what the heck is this guy?" asked Rainbow Dash.
"I don't know," replied Twilight Sparkle, "but the energy that it's giving off...it's extremely powerful, that's for sure."
"It's him," said Luna. "The monster who attacked us in-"
"Yashimoto Village," the creature interrupted. "Why, yes, my dear princess. It is me. It's been a while, hasn't it?"
"Just who the heck are you, anyways?" Rainbow Dash yelled.
The red beast chucked, revealing its sharp teeth once again. "Oh! Feisty little thing, aren't you? Well, your friend over there can answer that question for you." He looked over at the cyan earth pony, whose emerald green eyes - burning with ultimate hate - were fixed on the beast.
"Isn't that right, Haku?"
The cyan earth pony took a step forward. "Fifteen years," he said. "For fifteen years, I have ruthlessly and tirelessly pursued you, hunted your hide across land and sea with only one thing on my mind. Revenge!"
Haku was yelling now, his voice full of rage.
"I have trained endlessly for this day to come, demon! Now I will avenge my clan and my sword shall rend your flesh and drink your blood!"
With a swift motion, he drew his sword - a short, well-crafted, single-bladed weapon. Its blade glistened in the sunlight. Holding the handle firmly in his jaws, he glared daggers at the red monster, who simply just raised an eyebrow.
"You actually think that that pathetic little butter knife is going to hurt me?" he asked. He threw his head back and laughed. "HAHAHA! You Soryuhazuke Clan ponies are truly foolish. I have grown more powerful than I have ever been, you fool! Your so-called magical sword is no longer a threat to me!"
He leveled his head and glared at the whole group. His evil yellow eyes were observing every pony. "I would go ahead and kill you all myself, but where's the fun in that? I'll just let my loyal followers slaughter you all. Soldiers! Attack! Kill them all!"
With a loud battle cry, the rebel soldiers charged their enemies.
"Protect Princess Luna and the civilians!" Shadow yelled. "Their safety is our top priority!"
The soldiers got into position, forming a wedge with Luna, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Big Macintosh behind them. Once again, weapons clashed against each other as both groups did battle.
Haku was moving with ease, bobbing and weaving through the enemies as he dodged their strikes and slashed at them with lightning fast moves and deadly precision. Shadow ducked as a rebel swung his club; a Shang-Xiao soldier struck the rebel down. One rebel managed to sneak around the wedge formation only to receive a swift kick from Big Macintosh, who had another rebel in a headlock. Rainbow Dash dodged a wooden club and headbutted the rebel who attacked her, then threw a quick one-two combo on another rebel, finishing it with a jaw-shattering uppercut. Twilight Sparkle and Princess Luna fired bolts of magic at the enemies, all the while careful not to hit their own escorts.
Windshield was knocked over. Before he could stand up, a rebel stood over him, raising his rusty blade.
"Now you die, kid!" he yelled.
Windshield closed his eyes; he knew that this was it...
THUD!
The young Guard opened his eyes when he heard that noise. The rebel was gone, kicked off of the cliff by Haku.
"Get up!" the cyan pony yelled through the sword handle that was clenched in his teeth.
Windshield wasted no time in doing so. "Thank you."
"Thank me later once this fight is over!"
Through their combined efforts, Luna and her escorts had begun to thin out the rebel troops, whose morale began to take a sharp drop. Some of them even began to turn and run for their lives. The red beast frowned and scoffed.
"Get back there and fight, you worthless pieces of pig manure!" he yelled; despite his menacing stature and voice, the rebels - his "loyal" followers - paid him no heed. Eventually, they all broke rank and ran away from the fight. In a rage, he used his dark magic to grab a retreating rebel and throw him aside off the cliff. "Fine! Since you all are too scared to finish these fools off, then I will!"
He closed his eyes. Suddenly, three small columns of fire erupted in front of him. When they disappeared, three heavily armored earth ponies stood in their place. They were clad in heavy scale armor which was colored dark purple and black. Their helmets had a pair of black horns on them which curved upward. Their faces were not visible; the only thing you could see was a wall of black, but six glowing red slits - their eyes - were clearly visible. They were completely silent. They didn't even appear to breath.
"Woah! What are those things?" inquired Windshield, a hint of fear was in his voice.
"Shadow Guards," Haku replied, readying his sword. "Stay sharp. These demons are extremely dangerous."
A Shang-Xiao soldier readied his blade. "Pfft! They don't look so tough."
As if on cue, one of the Shadow Guards disappeared in a puff of shadowy smoke, then reappeared in front of the soldier. It stabbed its sword into the soldier and pulled out in a flash. The dumbfounded soldier looked down at his wound, looked back at the demon, then fell down dead.
"Pony down!" Shadow yelled. "Holy crap! Here comes the other ones!"
The other two Shadow Guards charged at the formation, and steel clashed against steel once again. Even though Luna and her escorts outnumbered them, the demons were slowly devastating them.
"These monsters!" exclaimed a Shang-Xiao soldier. "T-they're actually holding us off!"
Shadow swung his blade and it chopped off one of the demons' left foreleg. There was no blood; only a black liquid squirted out. It stopped and glarred at it's attacker as its severed limb regenerated.
"They can regenerate!" he exclaimed.
In response, Twilight Sparkle fired several magic bolts at a Shadow Guard, blowing a hole in it's chest. As the hole slowly closed, she noticed how the demon's eyes were glowing more brightly as it repaired itself.
"Princess!" she yelled. "That one! Quick!"
The alicorn wasted no time. She fired a strong bolt of midnight blue magic at the Shadow Guard's head, blowing half of it's head off. It's glowing eyes dimmed until they disappeared, and the whole thing turned into a puddle of black liquid.
"Go for their limbs!" Luna yelled. "We'll have to blast their heads off with magic while they regenerate!"
That won't be necessary for me, Haku thought. He charged at the Shadow Guard that was attacking Shadow and Windshield. In two swift motions, he lopped off the demon's front legs. As it was regenerating, he stabbed it through its "face," expecting it to be the coup de grace, but it continued to regenerate its severed limbs.
"What!" the earth pony exclaimed. "But how? My sword should be able to defeat these demons!"
"Foolish Haku," the red monster said. "As I have said before, I have grown stronger than before. I have made my Shadow Guards resistant to the magic of your sword. It's nothing more than a mere toy now!"
Before the Shadow Guard had fully regenerated its limbs, Twilight Sparkle blasted a hole in it's "face" with a bolt of magic. It wobbled, then turned into the same black liquid as before.
Big Macintosh gave the remaining Guard a hefty kick to the chest. It only skidded back a few inches before charging forward and ramming the rustic pony, knocking him off of his hooves and down to the ground. The Shadow Demon slowly made its way to its downed victim, but Rainbow Dash karate-chopped it's helmet with a loud "HIYA!"
CLAAANG!
She instantly drew her hoof back, wincing in pain.
"Owowowowowow!" she cried. She did not notice the Shadow Demon slowly turning towards her; Twilight Sparkle did, however, and fired three bolts. Two blew off the demon's limbs, the other smashed into its helmet, blowing its head off and causing the demon to liquify.
"Whew!" Windshield sighed. He looked towards the crimson stallion. "Is that all you've got, punk?"
The red stallion snorted angrily, and began to make his way towards the ponies with an evil frown on his face.
"Is...ugh...is everypony okay?" Shadow asked.
"Yeah," Rainbow Dash replied as she nursed her hoof. "I'm all good...Hey! Watch it! Big n' Ugly's comin' right for us!" She pointed towards the beast as he approached.
"Watch it! Here he comes!"
Twilight Sparkle focused her magic into her horn; it began to glow brightly as more and more magic flowed into it. A few soldiers got out of her way as she aimed at the foe.
"Take this!" she yelled. Suddenly, a bolt of lilac magic flew from her horn and smashed into the beast's head. It exploded violently, causing him to reel back.
"Nice shot, Twi!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "You totally-"
"You call that a magic attack?" the beast yelled. Twilight and the others gasped. That blast didn't even leave a mark on him!
"THIS is a real magic attack! TAKE THIS!"
Suddenly, a horribly strong force smashed into the purple unicorn, sending her flying back and smashing into a rock. She bounced off and landed face first into the ground unconscious.
"Oh no! Twilight!" Rainbow Dash cried as she sped off towards her friend. Haku, on the other hand, charged directly at the monster. He jumped high into the air and swung his sword at him as he came down. Just as in Yashimoto Village, the blade stopped inches away from the beast. Then, Haku was suspended in mid-air by a dark force.
"Hahaha!" the red beast laughed. "I told you that your puny blade has no effect on me." He then spun around, smacking the earth pony in the gut with his powerful black wing and sending him flying into Windshield. He then turned towards Princess Luna and grinned.
"Now, it's your turn."
"Nope!"
Big Macintosh suddenly charged at the beast along with Shadow.
"You can take us out one-on-one," Shadow yelled, "but let's see if you can take out two at a time!"
The beast snorted. "Gladly."
Just as the two stallions were about to attack the crimson monster, a dark energy caused them to freeze in place. They were lifted up into the air and thrown back. They slammed into the ground on either side of Princess Luna. The beast then started walking towards the princess.
Luna gritted her teeth and fired a fury of white magic bolts at the beast. They did not even hit their target; the same dark force deflected the blasts in different directions as he advanced closer.
"It is futile to fight back," he said. "You will die here and no...wait. What is this?"
He stopped and looked at his body as a small shadowy aura slowly began to radiate from his body. He raised an eyebrow and looked at Luna. "What sort of trickery is this?" he asked.
Luna observed the aura, confused. "I-I don't know," she replied.
The beast snorted. "Hmph! Whatever this is, it's not doing anything," he said. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes." He began to walk towards Luna again. The aura slowly became darker and more pronounced.
Suddenly, he stopped and fell to the ground trembling and gripping his head with his front hooves as he screamed in severe pain. The others looked on in shock as he went through what could have been a seizure. The aura intensified, and occasionally, an orange trail would streak through the aura cloud like lightning from a storm cloud.
Rainbow Dash looked up from Twilight Sparkle at the suffering beast. "W-what's going on?"
Haku got off of Windshield. "His first form," he said. "It's dying."
Suddenly, the beast stopped and stood up, breathing heavily and looking at the ground. The aura slowly faded into nothingness. His eyes were wide with a mix of pain and fear.
"No! Not now!" he hissed. "Of all the times, not now! Damn! Damn! Damn! This changes everything..."
He looked up at the group and snarled. "Seems like fate has spared your miserable lives," he said to them. "Consider yourselves lucky today, for the next time we meet, you all shall burn! And so will the rest of this world!"
Suddenly, he was engulfed in a column of fire. Haku scrambled to a standing position. His eyes widened with horror as he saw the fire.
"No!" he yelled. He picked up his sword and charged towards the column, but just as he reached it, it disappeared, leaving no trace of the monster that stood at its center. An evil laugh echoed through the air.
Haku placed his sword in its sheath and stood there; Princess Luna and the rest of the party ran over to Twilight Sparkle, who was slowly coming to.
"Twi! Can you hear me?" Rainbow Dash asked her friend. The unicorn simply groaned in response.
Windshield took a quick look at her. "Her back seems to be intact, miraculously," he told the rainbow-maned pegasus.
Slowly, Twilight attempted to stand up, but she fell, groaning in pain.
"M-my leg," she said. "I-I think I broke it when I hit the ground...Ah!"
"Hold still," Luna told her. "Somepony help me make a splint."
"On it, your highness!" Shadow replied. He turned to Haku. "Oi! You there! Get over here!"
The cobalt earth pony turned his head to look at the pegasus. "No," he said coldly. "I will not waste time while a demon freely roams the realm of the living! I had him right there! Right during his moment of weakness! But he slipped right through the cracks and is gone again!"
"You found him once, you can find him again, colt!" Shadow yelled.
"You truly don't get it, do you?" Haku replied. "There might not be a next time with him! If he finds the orbs and reaches his final form, then it's all over for us all!"
"What orbs? What the hell are you babbling about, you idiot?"
"There's no time! I have to find him again. More than likely he would be heading in the same direction that we are, and in that case, I will have to explain everything to you later, when we meet again." With that, the earth pony bolted off down the path towards the border, leaving the group.
"Crazy colt," Shadow muttered as he made his way back to the group. He kicked a club in the direction he was walking in. Once he was close, he drew his sword and split it into two halves, which Luna picked up using her magic and placed them on either side of Twilight's left front leg. Windshield brought over a leather strap from a dead rebel's armor set and carefully wrapped it around her leg, completing the splint. Luna then used her magic to lift the injured unicorn up and set her on Big Macintosh's back.
"We have to get back to Equestria," she said, "and fast, before we encounter more rebels or that red stallion again."
"Couldn't agree more, Princess," replied Rainbow Dash as she flew up into the air and hovered at a low altitude. "I don't wanna end up fighting Mr. Big, Red, and Ugly again."
"Windshield!" Shadow yelled. "You're with me! We'll scout ahead of the group and make sure that the path ahead is clear."
"Got it, boss," the young guard pony replied. Both pegasi took off ahead of the party as they started off towards the border.
"When we do see that colt again," began Twilight Sparkle, "we'll take him to Princess Celestia. I'm sure she will want to know about this demon as well."
"Hay yeah," Rainbow Dash replied. "I'm totally confused here. And I bet that you guys are, too."
The remaining Shang-Xiao soldiers nodded in response, and Big Macintosh simply replied, "Eeyup."
"What I would want to know is why is this monster targeting me," Luna said, "and if he might target Celestia next."
"Wouldn't suprise me," Rainbow Dash added. "And what is this 'first form' 'final form' nonsense?"
Twilight shrugged. "Don't know, but I have a feeling that we'll find out very soon."
"As do I, Twilight Sparkle," the lunar alicorn replied. "As do I..."
To be continued...