HALF-DEMON INUYASHA

KOGA LEAPED OUT OF THE WAY OF INUYASHA'S SWORD, THE TETSUSAIGA. Despite the sword's massive size, Inuyasha was able to swing it with ease – being a half-demon, he was bestowed with the superhuman strength of a demon, but also the personality traits of a human. And this sword, Tetsusaiga….It was a sword that he had inherited from his late father, the Great Dog Demon, who perished on the night Inuyasha was born, nearly two centuries ago.

"Get out of here, you scrawny wolf," Inuyasha growled. "Leave Kagome alone."

"Geez, you make it so that I'm not even allowed to drop by for a visit," Koga said. He turned to Inuyasha's female companion, Kagome. Despite her…odd attire – she claimed to be from a different time period – and the fact that she was human, while he was the leader of the Wolf Demon Clan, Koga found her to be the loveliest, most beautiful girl he'd ever seen. "Don't know why you put up with this mutt, Kagome. Why don't you just ditch him and tag along with me? I'm sure I'll be much better company."

"Uh…." Kagome hated being in the middle of these squabbles. On the one hand, she was sort of flattered that two boys were fighting over her – any other girl would be in her glory. But then again, Kagome always found herself having to choose a side, and she didn't want to seem like she favored one over the other.

Besides, she'd been traveling with Inuyasha for so long that she couldn't even think of tagging along with someone else. After all, she and Inuyasha had a similar goal – gather the shards of the Shikon Jewel. She wouldn't even be here in the Feudal Era, tracking down the shards, if she hadn't accidentally shattered the jewel with an arrow.

"Look, Koga, you're a good guy, and a really good friend, but to be honest, I kind of have to stick with Inuyasha," she said.

"Yeah, she's the one finding all these Jewel Shards," Inuyasha added. "So unless you got something better to add – besides what I think you do – then get lost, ya rabid wolf. Unless you want me to put you down."

Koga just crossed his arms and stared at Inuyasha with a smug smile. "Half-breed, I would love to see you try."

Inuyasha tightened his grip on the sword and hoisted it above his head. "You asked for it, asshole! Wind – "

"Inuyasha…." Kagome said in a threatening tone. Inuyasha turned to her, his eyes wide with fear. As much as he wanted to cleave Koga in two, he knew what Kagome could do to him – the beaded necklace he wore wasn't for show, it was part of a spell the priestess Kaede placed on him, allowing Kagome to subdue him whenever she felt he was getting out of line. And the last thing Inuyasha wanted was to end up face-first on the ground.

"Look at that, mutt, you're whipped," Koga taunted. He walked over to Kagome and took her hands. "Don't worry, Kagome. I would have gone easy on him."

"Just so you know, Koga, I didn't do it for him," Kagome said. "Look, shouldn't you be with Ginta and Hokkaku? They're probably looking for you."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Koga said. "Don't you worry, Kagome. Next time we meet, I'll have Naraku's head on a stick."

You say that all the time and yet you still haven't delivered, Kagome thought. She would never tell him to his face; she didn't want to hurt his pride.

"Well, I'm off. Maybe next time I'll actually slap you around, mutt," Koga said as he turned to leave.

He was gone in a flash, a whirlwind following behind him – the result of his legs being empowered by Shikon Jewel Shards. Inuyasha just glared after him, his teeth glared in a deep snarl. He hated that wolf, always bragging that he was going to destroy their mortal enemy – a demon named Naraku, who was created when a bandit named Onigumo allowed his body to become host to hundreds of demons – and how he was always flirting with Kagome. Kagome had made it clear to both Koga and Inuyasha that she only saw the wolf demon as an acquaintance at best and had no romantic feelings towards him.

The Tetsusaiga returned to its inert form, which resembled a rusted and beaten-up katana, and he slipped the sword into its sheath. "Have I mentioned that I hate that guy?"

"You just let him get under your skin way too easily," Kagome said. She adjusted her backpack on her shoulders; despite being filled with only two textbooks, one notebook, and an extra change of clothes, it was starting to weigh her down a little bit.

Inuyasha scoffed. "Whatever. Let's get going. Everyone else is waiting for us."

#####################

They headed for the village they used as their home base in silence. As they went, Kagome couldn't help but think about Inuyasha's past. She wasn't there to see it – she hadn't been born at the time, and besides, that was nearly 200 years ago, 700 in her time – but from what little Inuyasha had said, it wasn't a pleasant childhood. Besides the fact that his father died the night he was born – he died protecting Inuyasha and his mother from a Samurai named Takemaru – the fact that Inuyasha was a half-demon caused a lot of animosity between him and not only humans, but demons as well. The only person who showed him any love was his mother, a woman named Izaiyoi. But she died when Inuyasha was just a child, leaving him to fend for himself in an incredibly dangerous world.

Over the years, Inuyasha developed a rather brash and anti-social attitude, which only began to soften after he met a priestess named Kikyo, who had been tasked with keeping the Shikon Jewel purified. Over time, the two developed romantic feelings for each other and met every chance they got, while at the same time Kikyo was caring for Onigumo, who had been severely injured in a fire.

Onigumo had become lustful of Kikyo, and the Jewel, but there wasn't much he could do with his broken body. That was why he summoned the demons to take control of his body, and thus Naraku was born. Through Naraku's manipulations, Inuyasha and Kikyo turned against each other, which ended with Kikyo dying from severe wounds she received from Naraku – who had disguised himself as Inuyasha – but not before she sealed Inuyasha to a tree, where he would be freed by Kagome fifty years later.

Kagome reached under the collar of her sweatshirt and looked at the small glass bottle she wore around her neck, which was filled with small Shikon Jewel shards. It was thanks to Kagome accidentally shooting the Jewel with an arrow while trying to get it back from a crow demon that the Jewel was shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces. Naraku had already gathered a large amount of shards and put them back together.

The Shikon Jewel….Even one tiny shard was enough to enhance a demon's powers ten-fold. The entire Jewel would increase the demon's powers exponentially. And if Naraku were to gather every shard….

Well, we won't let that happen, Kagome thought.

"Inuyasha! Kagome!"

The young fox demon, Shippo, leaped into Kagome's arms. He had been travelling with Inuyasha and Kagome ever since they helped him avenge his father's death at the hands of two demons named Hiten and Maten – the Thunder Brothers. He and Inuyasha tended to argue about the smallest of things, but Kagome could tell that Inuyasha looked out for the little kitsune as though he were a younger brother.

The Demon Slayer – Sango – and the monk – Miroku – weren't too far behind. Sango was the last true survivor of a clan of Demon Slayers – the rest of her clan being murdered by Naraku, directly or not, while her younger brother Kohaku was Naraku's undead puppet thanks to a Shikon Jewel Shard embedded in his back – and despite Miroku's…questionable actions, he was very good at what he did, being a monk who exorcised demons.

"How was your stay in your world, Kagome?" Sango asked.

"It was nice to get back there for a little break," Kagome said. "But we've got some important things to do here, don't we?"

Inuyasha crossed his arms and turned away. "Hey, as long as Koga stays away from me, I'll be happy."

"Had a run-in with Koga, didn't you?" Miroku guessed.

"Yeah."

"And let me guess," Sango added. "Inuyasha and Koga got into another cockfight."

"Yup."

Inuyasha growled. "Don't we have some jewel shards to find? Let's just get going, already."

"Geez, someone's cranky," Shippo said.

Inuyasha responded by slamming a fist into the top of Shippo's head.

JURORENMARU THE HUNTER

HE HAD BEEN WALKING FOR NEARLY THREE DAYS STRAIGHT, STOPPING ONLY to eat or relieve himself. During those three days, he had passed through several villages, many of which he had visited before. He recognized many of the people, people who had hired him before for different jobs.

Jurorenmaru was considered an oddity among demons; besides the fact that he lived by a certain code of honor – he never attacked civilians or children, be they humans or demons – and he worked for the highest bidder. He had worked for humans and demons alike, and had done so for nearly three hundred years. He had no home, he lived off the land, and he couldn't even begin to count how many wonderful nights he had with human women.

The sash he wore over his shoulder was filled with what was left of the wild boar he slaughtered last night for dinner. He was saving it for later, when he needed to eat again or in case he had to bargain for more supplies. He had already given most of the boar to a group of children he met in the woods yesterday, before he escorted them back to their village. Just because he was a demon didn't mean he had to be hateful of all humans. It helped that he looked like a human – he was wearing a green kimono with two broadswords strapped to his belt. He was wearing a pair of black boots on his feet, which he had bought off of a peddler five years ago; they had been worn down with all his walking and were in need of being replaced. Also strapped to his belt was a pair of small knives, which he primarily used for cleaning his meals, but he wasn't afraid to use them in a fight. Also hidden in his kimono were a number of items and weapons, including a set of shurikens he had gotten off of some ninja, along with a rope for various uses – climbing, fishing, or a tourniquet if the need were to arise. His white hair had been cut short a few weeks ago.

Jurorenmaru stopped at a small creek. He stopped down and scooped some water into his hand and took a drink. It was his first drink in two days; his canteen had run dry after he met those human children. The cool liquid felt good against his dry throat. He took another drink, before refilling his canteen. The water was surprisingly clear and clean, despite the fact that there was a battle just a few miles away; he could smell the blood in the air.

Humans and their wars….Jurorenmaru had gotten involved in one of their wars, and it was one of the ugliest experiences of his life. Humans, with no regard for the lives of others, be they man, woman, or child, sometimes killing simply for the sport of it all rather than for any good reason. But he fought in the war; he had been paid for it, after all.

Besides, despite how he may have felt towards humans in general at times, he had to admit that he felt a certain thrill whenever he went into battle. The adrenaline, the thrill, the excitement, it was what a bounty hunter lived for.

The last war he fought in was ten years ago, where he had been paid by a young daimyo to aid his armies in the hunt for a group of mercenaries known as the Band of Seven. The Band of Seven had slaughtered hundreds of innocents and soldiers alike with no remorse. Jurorenmaru took great pleasure in watching their heads fall from their bodies. And not only was he rewarded handsomely for the role he played in stopping the Band of Seven, but he also enjoyed the night he spent with the daimyo's harem.

Jurorenmaru stopped walking; he thought he heard something behind him. He took out his swords and turned around, but there was nothing there.

Must be imagining things, he thought. But what's this strange smell? It smells like a human, but a demon as well. A half-demon?

"You must be the bounty hunter I've heard about. Jurorenmaru, am I right?"

That voice….smooth. Suave. Smug.

And it was coming from behind him.

He turned around, keeping his swords out, to meet the owner of the voice. It was a white baboon – or rather, a white baboon pelt. There was a man underneath, a man who clearly didn't want to be seen clearly.

"Tell me I'm right," the man said.

"That depends," Jurorenmaru said. "Who are you? And how do you know my name?"

"I already said," the man said. "I've heard about you. I've heard about the wars you've fought in, I've heard about the bounties you've collected, and I would like to hire you to destroy my enemies."

"I don't work for just anyone, my man," Jurorenmaru said. "Especially if I don't know their names. Now, I ask again – who are you?"

"Of course. Call me Naraku."

"Naraku….Your name sounds familiar."

"You may have heard of me. I was once a bandit named Onigumo, who had been severely injured in a fire. I'm the result of Onigumo allowing hundreds of demons to take control of his body."

"That explains why I smelled a half-demon," Jurorenmaru said. He used one of his swords to move the pelt away from Naraku's head, revealing the face of a young man, his pupils red, his face stern. "You look more human than demon, other than the eyes."

"So I've been told. Now, Jurorenmaru, as I've said, I have a proposition you may be interested in."

"Proposition? Well, I'm willing to listen to anything, but I'll only accept if I feel that it's worth my time. What is it?"

Naraku finally removed his pelt, revealing his long black hair and his dark blue kimono with green and yellow designs stitched into it. He said nothing, just smiled.

"I'm waiting, Naraku," Jurorenmaru said; he was starting to get impatient. He was willing to hear any proposition, but if the prospective employer didn't talk, then he wasn't worth the time. "Are you going to speak, or should I continue on my way?"

"Yes, of course," Naraku said, not once losing that hint of smugness in his voice. He reached into his kimono. Jurorenmaru tensed up, not sure if Naraku was reaching for a weapon or not.

Instead of a weapon, Naraku produced a small, magenta crystal. "You know what this is, don't you?" he asked as he delicately held the crystal between his thumb and index finger.

"That's a shard of the Shikon Jewel, isn't it?" Jurorenmaru asked. He relaxed a little bit. "What makes you think I'd want that?"

"I have nothing else to offer you besides the Jewel," Naraku replied. He reached into his kimono again, this time pulling out a magenta sphere with a large chunk broken off of it. "Consider the shard a down payment. You'll get the rest of the Jewel once you finish the job."

"You still haven't said what this job is."

"There is a group of…bothersome troublemakers who have been giving me problems," Naraku said. "And I'd like you to get rid of them. There are three humans in this group – a monk, a Demon Slayer, and a young priestess – as well as a fox demon child and a certain half-demon. Don't take them lightly, Jurorenmaru. They're skilled."

"How skilled are we talking?" Jurorenmaru asked, his interest piqued.

"You don't have much to worry about the kitsune, other than his powers of deception and trickery. The half-demon is armed with a powerful sword that can slay a hundred at once. The priestess, she can purify any demonic aura, no matter how powerful. I'm sure you've heard of the Demon Slayers."

"They made a living doing that sort of thing," Jurorenmaru said. "I've dealt with them in the past, both as allies and enemies. What about the monk?"

"Beware the Wind Tunnel."

"Wind Tunnel?"

"A void in his right hand. It pulls everything in, and once it goes in, it doesn't come out. Oh, and I almost forgot about the Demon Slayer's nekomata."

"A Demon Slayer traveling with two demons and a half-demon? Seems a bit contradictory."

"I'll second that one," Naraku said. "So, do we have a deal?"

Jurorenmaru wasn't entirely sure. He knew nothing about this Naraku fellow, nor did he know anything about his enemies. But he knew about the Jewel, how it enhanced a demon's powers. But he also knew how it corrupted one's mind, how it sometimes turned a person or demon to insanity. Even so, it was too good a prize to pass up, but he still had his reservations.

"I'm a little wary, knowing that at least one of my targets is a woman."

"If you're uncomfortable, I can always take my services elsewhere," Naraku said.

"I never said I was uncomfortable," Jurorenmaru retorted. "I've hunted women before, in more ways than one, for various reasons – I'm sure you can think of a few. I'll take out however many women are in this group." He reached out for the Jewel shard. "You said this is just a down payment, right?"

"That's correct," Naraku said as he pulled the shard back, away from Jurorenmaru. "But you won't be going alone. I'll be sending my…colleagues along with you."

"I don't need any help," Jurorenmaru said.

"I never said they were going to help you," Naraku said. He reached into the sleeve of his kimono and pulled out a brown ball. "Take this hive of Saimyosho. They will be your eyes and ears."

"Spies. I see."

"Also…." He pointed. Jurorenmaru followed Naraku's finger; standing nearby was a beautiful woman with short black hair and wearing a white kimono with red highlights, and a young boy in black armor with blue shoulder and knee pads.

"A woman? And a little boy?"

"Kagura, Kohaku, go with Jurorenmaru," Naraku said. "Keep an eye on him." He handed the shard to Jurorenmaru. "Make sure he doesn't run off with this shard."

"You don't trust me, am I right?" Jurorenmaru. He put his swords away and took the shard from Naraku. "Well, not that I blame you. It's wise to not trust anyone you don't know." He glanced over to Kagura and Kohaku. "That boy….He's a Demon Slayer, isn't he? I'd recognize that armor anywhere."

"Oh, this boy?" Kagura asked. Like Naraku, her voice was smooth and smug, and rather seductive. "Don't worry about him; he doesn't remember any of that."

Amnesia? Jurorenmaru silently wondered. Or perhaps Naraku's manipulating his memories somehow? Either one is certainly possible. He turned back to Naraku. "I'll expect the rest of the Jewel once I've completed the job."

"You'll get the Jewel when you show me evidence of my enemies' demise," Naraku said.

"How about their heads? Or their weapons as trophies?"

"Their heads will do," Kagura said. She tapped her folded fan against her shoulder. "What do you think, Naraku?"

Naraku nodded. "That will do, Jurorenmaru. That will do."

Jurorenmaru nodded. "If you'll excuse me, my friend, I'll get to work." He pushed past Naraku, taking the hive as he went, and began to mentally prepare himself for battle.

FOLLOW THAT JEWEL SHARD!

DESPITE THE SETTING SUN, HEAT WAS STILL VERY SWELTERING. IT WAS unusually warm for this time of year; it was the middle of autumn, and yet the leaves on the trees were still very green, and the thermometer Kagome carried with her – when she looked at it earlier – showed the temperature to be in the mid-seventies. It made Kagome wish she had worn a T-shirt instead of her green and white school sweater.

She wiped some sweat from her forehead as she laid out her sleeping bag. Once again, they would be sleeping outside. Kagome had been doing this for so long that she didn't mind anymore – unless she ended up sleeping on a rock or a tree root that was digging into her back. Inuyasha and Miroku had gone off to gather some firewood while Sango and Shippo prepared some fishing line. Once Kagome finished setting out her sleeping bag, she would join the older woman and the young fox in trying to catch some dinner.

If there was one thing Kagome could say about this period of time, it was that the water wasn't as polluted. The only thing they had to worry about was disease from dead bodies courtesy of the wars, and while it was unlikely that there would be any battles this far out, they were still going to make sure to cook the fish thoroughly – after all, raw fish had other diseases and parasites that they didn't pick up from corpses.

With her sleeping bag set out, Kagome took a moment to stretch before going to join Sango and Shippo at the river. She took a line from Shippo, baited it, and cast it into the river.

"Warm weather we've been having lately, isn't it?" Kagome asked, trying to start a conversation.

"It was never this warm last year," Sango said. She brushed her silky black hair off of her shoulder. Her pink, white, and green kimono belied a strong-willed woman, whose strength rivaled that of the strongest men – in fact, it took two men to carry her primary weapon, a large boomerang called the Hiraikotsu. "Actually, it was right around this time when we started getting some snow."

"I remember that," Shippo said. "I would always stay snuggled up in Pa's fur when it got really cold." As he spoke, his voice started trailing off.

Poor kid. He really misses his father. I don't blame him. I've been missing my father too, after that car accident.

"Hey!" Shippo cried as something tugged on his line. "Hey, I've got a bite!"

"Pull it in, Shippo!" Kagome cheered. "You can do it!"

Shippo started losing his footing on the sand. "I think it's a big one!"

Kagome dropped her line and grabbed Shippo. "I've got you, Shippo!" She started pulling, Sango joining in a second later. "Holy cow, it IS a big one!" The three of them pulled as hard as they could, Shippo pulling on the line while Kagome and Sango pulled on Shippo.

"I think I've almost got it!" Shippo said.

The three of them fell backwards as the line snapped, breaking the stick in half. They sat up and looked at the river, watching in dismay as the stick floated downstream.

"Well, so much for that fish," Shippo said.

"Don't worry, Shippo," Sango said. She looked over to her line. "Looks like I've got something." She started pulling on her line. After a few minutes, she pulled a nice-sized trout – a fish about eight inches long – onto the shore. "Um….Anyone want to split a fish?"

##############

Nearly two hours had passed, and they were all gathered around the fire, cooking their fish. There was one fish for each of them, a total of six – Sango had caught a second one so she could feed Kirara, the two-tailed demon cat that traveled with her. Kirara scratched at some fleas – Inuyasha couldn't help but wonder if one of those fleas was Myoga, Inuyasha's self-proclaimed vassal – while everyone else did their own thing. Inuyasha and Miroku monitored the fish; Shippo was playing with one of the little toys Kagome had given him; Kagome was reading one of her school textbooks – she still had to stay on top of her studies, even while playing superhero in the Feudal Era – and Sango scratched Kirara behind her ears.

Miroku took one of the fish from the fire and examined it. "I'd say they're done," he said.

"Good," Inuyasha said as he took his fish from the fire. "I'm starving." He hungrily dug his teeth into the fish.

Kagome took two bites of her fish, but stopped; she felt something in her mind, drawing her attention to the north. She looked, but all she saw was the dark forest. But there was something back there, she knew there was something approaching.

Whoever or whatever it was had a shard of the Shikon Jewel.

"Guys, I'm sensing a shard of the Shikon Jewel," she said. She pointed. "It's coming from that direction. And I think it's getting closer."

Inuyasha looked in the direction Kagome was pointing. "Well, that's a first. The Jewel shards never come to us." He stood up, his hand grasping the handle of the Tetsusaiga. "How close is it, Kagome?"

"It's getting closer by the second," Kagome said. "It'll be here any minute."

"Wait a minute," Miroku said. He stood up, holding onto his gold staff. "Kagome, Sango, do you feel that demonic aura?"

"Yeah," Sango said – as a Demon Slayer, she was trained to feel demonic auras, as was Miroku; as for Kagome, that skill just came naturally thanks to her spiritual powers. "It's stifling."

Inuyasha sniffed the air. "Smells like Naraku."

"Dance of Blades!"

"Oh shit, watch out!" Inuyasha cried. He leaped over the fire, throwing Kagome out of the way, and everyone else dived away, as several stark-white blades made out of wind slammed into the ground around them.

They all looked up. Floating in the sky, a good fifty feet above them, was a large feather, and sitting atop the feather was one of the several people Inuyasha absolutely despised.

"Kagura. What the hell are you doing here, bitch?"

Kagura leaped off of her feather, landing gracefully in front of them. "Do I need a reason to visit my friends?"

"I wouldn't call us friends," Inuyasha said. He pulled the Tetsusaiga out of its sheath; it grew into its powered state, a much wider sword with a tuft of fur on the handguard. "Unless friends cut each other's heads off." He charged for Kagura, who easily leaped out of the way. "Running away? You just got here."

"Your fight isn't with me, Inuyasha," Kagura said. She put her thumb and index finger in her mouth and whistled. "Jurorenmaru! It's your show!"

"Who is she talking to?" Sango asked.

"I think we're about to find out," Miroku said. He prepared to unwrap the rosary beads off of his right hand.

Someone stepped out of the darkness and into the light of the fire. He looked human, with his green kimono and short white hair. He had two broadswords strapped to his belt, one on each side, along with two knives next to them. There was a sash slung over his shoulder, two ends tied in a knot in front of his chest. He crossed his arms in front of his chest as he looked Inuyasha over.

"You're the one my employer wants dead? I was expecting someone….Well, I was expecting more."

Inuyasha tightened his grip on the Tetsusaiga. "Who the hell are you?"

The man lowered his arms and placed them on the handles of his swords. "My name is Jurorenmaru. I'm what you may call a bounty hunter. And I take it that you are the half-demon Inuyasha. It's nothing personal, but I have to take your head to my employer. Again, nothing personal – it's just business. You understand."

"Naraku hired you, didn't he?" Kagome asked.

Jurorenmaru turned to Kagome. "It's a pity that you're on the hit list as well. I would really hate to have to kill a beautiful girl like you. But maybe we can have a little bit of fun before I end it."

I don't know what he means by that, but I don't want to find out, Kagome thought in disgust.

Inuyasha put himself in front of Kagome. "You're not laying a hand on Kagome, you son of a bitch. You hear me?" He raised the Tetsusaiga above his head; wind started swirling around the blade. "I'll kill you first. Wind Scar!"

He slammed the Tetsusaiga into the ground, sending out a massive blade of wind. It dug up the ground, creating a deep gorge as it headed right for Jurorenmaru. Jurorenmaru leaped out of the way, landing on the branch of a nearby tree.

"Hey, Inuyasha." He took out his broad swords. "You missed."

"Hey! Asshole!" Sango yelled, catching Jurorenmaru's attention. She shifted her weight, getting ready to throw the Hiraikotsu.

"You're a lucky man, Inuyasha," Jurorenmaru said as he leered at Sango. "You've got two gorgeous girls traveling with you. I can just imagine the wild time's you've been – HELLO!" He leaped down from the branch, barely a few seconds before the Hiraikotsu shattered it. "That would have been bad."

Sango caught the Hiraikotsu as it came back at her. "You're lucky I missed."

"I know. If that had hit, I'd be dead right now."

"Jurorenmaru," Kagura said. "Stop toying with them and just kill them."

"All right, fine," Jurorenmaru said. "Besides, the sooner I kill them, the sooner I get paid with that jewel."

"Wait, you mean the Shikon Jewel?" Inuyasha asked.

Jurorenmaru put one of his swords into the ground, tip-first, and reached into his kimono, pulling out a small magenta stone. "Right now I've just got this little shard. It's a simple down payment. Once I deliver your heads to Naraku, I'll get the rest of the jewel. Or at least what he's gotten so far. I'll probably have to find the rest by myself."

"I was wondering why I felt that jewel shard getting closer," Kagome whispered.

Jurorenmaru, having heard her, turned his attention to her. "You can detect Shikon Jewel shards? I might keep you alive until I find the rest of the shards. And we'll have plenty of fun in the meantime."

Inuyasha charged for Jurorenmaru. "I don't think so, asshole!" He got ready to cut Jurorenmaru down. "DIE!"

Jurorenmaru quickly blocked Inuyasha's attack with one of his swords as he took the other sword out of the ground. He got ready to cut into Inuyasha's waist. Inuyasha quickly moved out of the way and punched Jurorenmaru in the face.

"Ouch! Okay, that hurt," Jurorenmaru commented as he took a step back.

Kagura unfurled her fan. "Geez, he's not taking this very seriously." She got ready to wave the fan. "Dance of – "

She was interrupted by an arrow flying past her face.

An arrow fired by Kagome.

"The next one won't miss, Kagura," she said as she notched another arrow on the bowstring.

"You're right," Kagura said as she turned to Kagome. "It won't." She got ready to wave her fan again.

Oh boy. Kagome quickly leaped out of the way as Kagura waved her fan, sending her wind blades in Kagome's direction. She felt the breeze off of the wind blades, telling her that they were missing her by just a few feet.

Sango threw the Hiraikotsu at Kagura. Kagura waved her fan, creating a huge gust of wind that blew the massive boomerang back. Sango caught it as it flew back at her.

"Looks like I get to take care of the Demon Slayer," Kagura said as Sango ran at her. She stepped out of the way as Sango swung the Hiraikotsu at her, before throwing a punch. Sango blocked the punch, and countered with a roundhouse kick to the side of Kagura's head.

Kagura quickly righted herself and charged at Sango again. She leaped over Sango's leg sweep and kicked Sango in the face. Sango quickly leaped back to her feet and glared at the female demon.

Inuyasha and Jurorenmaru's weapons met. They stared at each other through their crossed blades. Inuyasha bared his teeth and growled as he struggled to push back against Jurorenmaru. Jurorenmaru was surprisingly strong. Inuyasha dug the balls of his feet into the ground as he tried to gain the upper hand.

"I'll admit, you're tough," Jurorenmaru said. "But honestly, I've faced tougher. You're nothing special. But I'd be lying if I said I've faced a half-demon before. You're the first."

"You know what your problem is?" Inuyasha asked. He kicked Jurorenmaru back and swung at him again; Jurorenmaru blocked the Tetsusaiga with his swords. "You talk too much." He kicked Jurorenmaru back as the wind started swirling around the Tetsusaiga again. "Wind Scar!" Jurorenmaru leaped out of the way of the Wind Scar and landed behind Inuyasha. "Damn it! I missed!"

"Don't you have any new tricks up your sleave?" Jurorenmaru asked.

Inuyasha brandished the claw-like fingernails of his free hand. "Try this. Iron-Reaver Soul-Stealer!" He slashed at Jurorenmaru with his claws. Jurorenmaru ducked out of the way and punched Inuyasha in the knee. "Ah! Shit!" Jurorenmaru got ready to kick Inuyasha in the face; Inuyasha grabbed Jurorenmaru's foot. "I don't think so, dick head." He threw Jurorenmaru to the ground as he stood up. He tightened his grip on the Tetsusaiga and raised it above his head. "You're going down!"

Jurorenmaru flipped out of the way, just before Inuyasha's sword hit the ground. "Whoa! Okay, this is going to be more difficult than I first thought."

"Jurorenmaru, you know that if you don't kill them, you don't get the Shikon Jewel," Kagura said as she grappled with Sango.

"I've got her, Sango!" Shippo cried. He held out his hand. "Fox Fire!" A small green fireball flew out of his hand and headed for Kagura. Kagura kicked Sango back and flipped out of the way; the fireball went harmlessly past her. "I missed!"

Kagome aimed another arrow at Sango. "I won't." She let the arrow fly. As the arrow streaked through the air, it was surrounded by a bright aura. Kagura quickly moved out of the way. "Shoot." She looked over to Jurorenmaru, who was now fighting both Inuyasha and Miroku at the same time – Miroku was using his staff to fight. Jurorenmaru kicked Miroku back, giving Kagome a clear shot as she aimed another arrow. "Hey! You! What's your name!" She let the arrow fly.

"Oh crap!" Jurorenmaru cried as he put up one of his swords to block his face. The impact of the arrow knocked the sword into his face. "Ouch!" He looked at the other side of the sword; the arrow had left a scorch mark on the metal. A sacred arrow? Then that girl's a priestess! He flicked his sword, throwing the arrow off, before putting his swords away. "You want this jewel shard, Inuyasha?" he asked. "Then come and get it."

"Gladly," Inuyasha said. He charged for Jurorenmaru. Jurorenmaru leaped out of the way. "Hey! Hold still, you son of a bitch!"

"You're going to have to follow me if you want this shard," Jurorenmaru said as he sank into the darkness of the forest. "Kagura, we're leaving."

"Suit yourself," Kagura said. She flipped away from Sango. "See you around." She followed Jurorenmaru back into the forest.

"Hey! You're not getting away!" Inuyasha cried. He hurried after them.

"Inuyasha, wait!" Kagome cried after him.

Inuyasha stopped and turned face Kagome. "No time to wait, Kagome. Kagura and that bastard are gonna get away with the jewel shard! We have to follow them! If you idiots don't want to follow then you can just wait here!" He hurried into the dark forest.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried. She stomped her foot on the ground. "That idiot. He doesn't even know where he's going." She reached into her backpack and took out a flashlight. "Come on, guys. He's going to need our help." She slung her backpack over her shoulders and, turning on the flashlight, headed into the forest.

###################

The beam from Kagome's flashlight illuminated the forest around them. Inuyasha had gotten down on all fours, forced to sniff our Jurorenmaru and Kagura.

"Do you have anything yet, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked.

"Get off my back," Inuyasha snapped. "There's a lot of forest scents to go through."

A whistle from up ahead caught their attention. They looked in the direction the whistle had come from, saw Jurorenmaru, Kagura and someone else standing at the entrance of a nearby cave. That someone else blended in with the darkness thanks to his black armor and blue shoulder and knee pads.

"Is that…." Sango started. Her voice caught in her throat as the beam of Kagome's flashlight illuminated her younger brother, Kohaku.

"Dragging the kid into this too, Kagura?" Inuyasha asked as he stood up.

"You want this jewel shard?" Jurorenmaru asked. "Well, come and get it."

"You're asking for it!" Inuyasha yelled as he ran at Jurorenmaru. Jurorenmaru, Kagura, and Kohaku, slipped into the darkness, disappearing into the cave. "Damn it!" He ran into the cave. "Get back here!"

"Inuyasha, wait!" Shippo called after him. "We don't know what's in there!"

"Too late," Miroku said. "He's already in."

"Looks like we're going in too," Kagome said. She took a deep breath. "Let's go, everyone."

####################

Inuyasha stopped running as he neared the exit of the cave. Looking around, he saw he was back in a forest, only things were looking different than he remembered. The canopy was thicker, the trees looked like they had monstrous faces built into the bark, and the scents and sounds were foreign to him.

"What the hell is this?"

"Inuyasha!" He looked behind him as everyone else came running out of the cave. "Are you alright?" Kagome asked between breaths.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Inuyasha replied. "But I lost that asshole Jurorenmaru. Kagura and Kohaku are gone too."

"What do we do now?" Sango asked.

Inuyasha turned to Kagome. "Can you feel the jewel shard? How far away is it?"

Kagome pointed to the north. "Somewhere that way. It's getting further away. They must be on one of Kagura's feathers."

"Well ain't that just peachy," Inuyasha hissed as he kicked at the ground. "Well, let's get going. We'll catch up to them eventually." He started walking down the trail.

Kagome and the others hung back. They were worried about what was lying ahead.

This was some place they didn't recognize. Maybe it was just another part of the same forest, maybe it was something else entirely.

Either way, they didn't want to take any chances.

THE CHANGELINGS

THEY HAD BEEN BUNKERED DOWN IN THIS SMALL VILLAGE FOR SEVERAL months. Judging by the fine layers of dust covering everything, it was clear that the inhabitants of this village had left some time before the Changelings arrived.

The village was small, just one street with two rows of houses. Each house was built exactly the same; the only differences were the exterior paint jobs and the interior decorations. It appeared as though everypony who lived here had just dropped what they were doing and left. The only house that had a different structure was the house at the end of the street. Why anyone had built this village in the middle of the desert, far away from any source of water, was a mystery to many of the Changelings. They had been resorted to drinking the stagnant water from the well that had been drilled on the north side of town; the only reason they hadn't gotten sick from the water was because of their digestive systems, which were designed for digesting raw meat and bad water, even though their primary diet was the emotions of ponies.

The Changelings had been resorted to scrounging and foraging to survive, ever since their queen was killed – No, not killed, Carapace thought as he dragged the remains of a desert goat towards the town. My sssissster wasss murdered. – and even before that, they had been struggling to survive, ever since they were defeated after the failed takeover of Canterlot. Princccesss Cadanccce and Shining Armor started the chain of eventsss that led to the death of my beautiful sssissster. And then she wasss killed at the Cryssstal Empire lassst year by Equessstria'sss newessst princccesss, Twilight Sssparkle. Of course, Twilight wasn't a princess at the time; that event happened a few months after Chrysalis's death.

Many of Carapace's subjects were scrounging the town for what little scraps of food and drops of water that were left. It hadn't surprised Carapace that many had already starved. Despite the fact that Changelings were known to be flesh-eaters, they would never eat their own kind, no matter how desperate they were. They were above cannibalism; even to them, it was taboo. Instead, the Changelings simply moved their dead to the outskirts of the village to allow them to return to the earth in peace.

Carapace dropped the bloodied remains of the goat on the ground and let out a loud roar, signaling his subjects to come before him. Slowly, his fellow Changelings came out of the cottages and huts. They were so…skinny. So malnourished. Carapace could tell that it was taking everything they had to hold back the urge to just rush in and start tearing the goat apart.

But they knew better than that. Carapace didn't see much in his subjects, other than their sheer numbers; the only ones who showed any intelligence above hunting for food were his generals, Thorax and Arachnae, the two Changelings who were now kneeling before him on their front legs.

"I sssee that your trip wasss sssuccesssful, My Princcce," Thorax said.

"About asss sssuccesssful asss it could have been, General," Carapace replied. "Addresss the troopsss. Tell them that it isss time to feed."

Thorax and Arachnae gave a light nod of their heads, before standing and turning to the other Changelings. They hissed, signaling the Changelings to begin feeding. The generals would wait until their soldiers had eaten their fill before they would feed, though they doubted there would be much left of this goat after the soldiers had fed.

Arachnae turned to Carapace. "If I may be ssso bold asss to sssay, My Princcce."

"Yesss, General Arachnae?"

"My Princcce, we cannot continue to live like thisss," Arachnae said. "We were onccce a powerful empire. And now we have been reduccced to ssscavengersss. We were never meant to live thisss meager exissstenccce. Thisss isss unacceptable. We mussst find another way to live."

"We will, General," Carapace said. "Do not worry. I have already decccided what we will do. And it ssstartsss with…revenge. Twilight Sssparkle dessstroyed our beautiful queen. I will make her pay. Should the other princccesssesss get in our way, we will dissspossse of them asss well." He glanced back over to the Changelings feeding on the goat. They were fighting for position, each one trying to get at the carcass, trying to get their fill of flesh. "My sssubjectsss, your sssoldiersss, will no longer ssstarve. We will have plenty to feed on, asss Equessstria will be oursss onccce the princccesssesss have been ssslaughtered."

The Changelings dispersed; there was nothing left of the goat, save for the bones, which were still slick with blood and slime. General Thorax lowered his head – he had hoped to get at least a little bit of food in his stomach, but the morale of the soldiers was more important than him silencing his growling stomach.

Carapace leaped up to the roof of the tallest cottage in the village to address his subjects. "My loyal sssubjectsss, I have an announcccement to make! Come the end of the week, we will no longer be ssscavengersss! We will have food enough to lassst a cccentury! Beginning thisss evening, we ssstart moving towardsss Canterlot! We will dissspossse of the princccesssesss, we will take Canterlot, and Equessstria will be oursss! You may have Cccelessstia and Luna, and perhapsss Cadanccce if she isss there, but leave Twilight Sssparkle to me. The Princccesss of Friendship will die, and I will be the one to dessstroy her."

One Changeling spoke up. "Canterlot isss the capital of Equessstria. It will be heavily defended."

"We are Changelingsss, are we not?" Carapace asked, slightly annoyed by the stupidity of the Changeling's statement. "We can change into anything we wish. And that will help usss to take Canterlot."

"How?" another Changeling asked. "The Canterlot Royal Guard will have learned after our lassst invasion."

Carapace rolled his eyes. I'm sssurrounded by foolsss, he silently groaned. "Let me ssspell it out for you," he said. "We can turn into trollsss, cccyclopesss, sssatyrsss, all sssortsss of creaturesss. Creaturesss powerful enough to dessstroy the Guard and take the cccity. And we will do it without fail."

He leaped down from the roof, softening his fall by flaring his wings, and started walking amongst his subjects.

CARAPACE: I know that your powersss of retention

Are asss wet asss a hydra'sss backssside

But denssse asss you are, pay attention

My wordsss are a matter of pride

He stopped in front of a Changeling, who was still licking his lips from feeding on the goat.

CARAPACE: It'sss clear from your vacant expressionsss

The lightsss are not all on upstairsss

But we're talking revenge and retaliation

He turned and fired a blast of magic between two unassuming Changelings.

CARAPACE: Even you can't be caught unawaresss

He leaped up to the roof of a nearby cottage to get a better view of his subjects.

CARAPACE: Ssso prepare for a chanccce of a lifetime

Be prepared for sssensational newsss

A shining new era

Isss tiptoeing nearer

One of his subjects spoke up.

CHANGELING: And where do we feature?

Carapace couldn't help but chuckle. How could these fools not see that they were a major part of his plan?

CARAPACE: Jussst lisssten to teacher

I know it sssoundsss sssordid

But you'll be rewarded

When at lassst I am given my duesss

And injusticcce deliciousssly sssquared

Be prepared!

He looked over to his generals. "Thorax, Arachnae, you and I shall lead the main asssault. It will only take a few hoursss at the mossst for Canterlot to be oursss."

"My Princcce," Arachnae said. "If Canterlot isss taken, and the princccesssesss deposssed, wouldn't that technically make you the ruler of Equessstria?"

Carapace rubbed his chin with his hoof. "King Carapaccce. It doesss have a niccce ring to it. I will be the King of Equessstria, and you, my loyal sssubjectsss, you shall never go hungry again."

CARAPACE: Of courssse, quid pro quo, you're expected

To take cccertain dutiesss on board

The future isss littered with prizesss

And though I'm the main addresssee

The point that I mussst emphasssize isss

He leaped down from the roof to speak with his subjects directly.

CARAPACE: You won't get a sssniff without me!

Ssso prepare for the fight of the cccentury

Be prepared for the bloodiessst battle

Meticulousss planning

Tenacccity ssspanning

Yearsss of denial

Isss sssimply why I'll

Be king undisssputed

Ressspected, sssaluted

And ssseen for the wonder I am

Yes, my willsss and ambitionsss are bared

Be prepared!

CHANGELINGS: Yesss, our willsss and ambitionsss are bared

Be prepared!

"My sssubjectsss!" Carapace called out. "We move out now!"

They would be at Canterlot in the next three days.

RUNNING OF THE LEAVES

THE SWEET SMELL OF MAPLE AND PINE FILLED THE MORNING AIR. IT WAS THE first day of autumn; that meant that it was time for the annual Running of the Leaves, a festival that ended in a race throughout the woods surrounding Ponyville. The vibrations of the nearly one hundred ponies galloping through the woods caused the leaves to shake off of the trees.

Fluttershy found autumn to be one of the best seasons of the entire year. The temperature was neither too hot, nor too cold, but rather, just the perfect blend. At the same time, though, she didn't like how the animals she tended to in the meadow used this time to prepare for hibernation, three months in which they slept, until the first signs of spring during Winter Wrap Up. She also felt incredibly sorry for Rainbow Dash, who was fretting about her pet tortoise, Tank, preparing to sleep.

She supposed that that could have been one reason why Rainbow Dash signed up to compete in the Running of the Leaves. Then again, she was also the most competitive Pegasus in all of Ponyville. Even during Summer Flight Camp back in Cloudsdale when they were just fillies, Rainbow Dash was incredibly competitive. She loved to win, but hated to lose.

Because of Rainbow Dash's competitiveness, last year's Running of the Leaves almost turned into a disaster. It all began when she got into an argument with Applejack, and to settle it, both mares put on an impromptu Iron Pony competition, which Rainbow Dash won – mostly because she used her wings in a majority of the events. To be fair, Applejack never said that Rainbow Dash couldn't use her wings. Either way, Applejack didn't take too lightly to what she considered cheating, so she challenged Rainbow Dash to a grudge match – the Running of the Leaves. Even Twilight Sparkle joined the race, if only to compete for fun – this was right after Twilight had moved to Ponyville, on behest of Princess Celestia.

Rainbow Dash and Applejack spent more time tricking each other than actually racing, which led to them tying for last place. They were even beaten by Twilight, who had never run an actual race before.

Perhaps this year, it would be different. Rainbow Dash and Applejack weren't competing for anything, so it would hopefully be a good race.

And who knows, Fluttershy thought as she filled her hummingbird feeders with new nectar. Maybe this time, one of them will win. But it's not about winning, right? It's about knocking the leaves off of the trees. I just hope Rarity won't mind the mud and dirt in some places.

She was incredibly surprised to hear that Rarity, of all ponies, had intended to run the race. Perhaps swapping places with Applejack to race alongside Sweetie Belle during the Sisterhood Social changed her mind about physical activities such as races. Then again, Rarity wasn't afraid to get her hooves dirty if she had to.

This included dappling into horse fu on occasion.

With the hummingbirds fed – Hemmingway hummed her a little "thank you" – and the water troughs refilled, all that was left was for Fluttershy to head for the race course. She would be watching along with Pinkie Pie and Twilight who – as Ponyville's resident princess – had been making sure that everything was running smoothly and that there would be no problems before, during, and after the race. Fluttershy didn't care much for physical activity – she didn't like being among crowds, for that matter – and besides, she wasn't that great a runner, just like how she wasn't that great of a flyer.

She saw the hot air balloon floating in the sky above Town Hall, the starting point of the race. Sweetie Drops – who usually went by the nickname Bon-Bon – was sitting in the basket, with her megaphone by her side. Bon-Bon had volunteered for the role; last year the role was shared between Spike and Pinkie Pie, though they – like the rest of Ponyville – were focused on the grudge match between Rainbow Dash and Applejack.

At least this year would be different – there were no grudge matches to be fought, no Iron Pony competitions, just a friendly race that would also knock the leaves off of the trees in the forests surrounding Ponyville. Unlike Equestria's capital city, Canterlot – where the weather was controlled through a combination of magic and the weather managers from Cloudsdale – everything in Ponyville had to be done by hoof, with little magical help; the most help the ponies of Ponyville had was from Cloudsdale.

Fluttershy arrived at town hall, where the first racers were just starting to line up. The race was set to begin at about ten o'clock; it was now approaching nine. The other racers should be arriving soon.

She could already spot Rainbow Dash in the small crowd.

"Rainbow Dash!" she called out to her as loud as she could, though even at her loudest her voice was still quiet. "Rainbow Dash!" she called out again, raising the volume just a little bit.

Surprisingly, Rainbow Dash heard her. She turned to face Fluttershy as she stretched her front legs.

"Hey, Fluttershy," Rainbow Dash said. She started stretching her back legs. "You're not racing, are you?"

"Oh, no," Fluttershy said. "I'm just watching. But I'll be rooting for you. And Applejack. And Rarity. Good luck and have fun." She made her way over to the stands where the spectator ponies would watch the race and stood next to Lyra Heartstrings. The mint green unicorn was bouncing up and down, not quite on the same level as Pinkie Pie – who was the most energetic pony Fluttershy knew – but given that Lyra was incredibly hyper to begin with, that didn't come as much of a surprise.

"This is going to be so exciting, isn't it?" Lyra asked.

"Oh, yes," Fluttershy replied. "Who are you going to be rooting for, Lyra?"

"I don't know," Lyra said. "I'm just jealous that Bon-Bon's the one commenting."

Fluttershy just smiled at Lyra. She had always been excitable, especially when it came to her roommate. Even moreso when humans were involved. Ever since humans first showed up in Equestria just over a year ago, Lyra had had an odd fascination with them, almost to the point of an obsession. She had even joked about wanting to become a human once, though – at least according to Bon-Bon – it wasn't a joke, as Lyra had actually tried it. This just resulted in Lyra turning herself into an orangutan.

"Who are you going to be rooting for, Fluttershy?" Lyra asked.

"Rainbow Dash," Fluttershy said without hesitation. Lyra couldn't help but smile – Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash had always been the best of friends. "And Rarity," Fluttershy added. "And Applejack."

"You're rooting for three ponies?" Lyra asked, confused. "Why not just one?"

"Oh, um, I don't want anypony to feel left out," Fluttershy replied. She looked over to the crowd and let out her loudest – yet tiniest at the same time – cry: "Go Rainbow Dash! Go Rarity! Go Applejack! You rock! Woo-hoo!"

################

Rainbow Dash and Applejack finished stretching their legs and started taking their places at the starting line. Rainbow Dash looked back to see Rarity a few rows behind her. She waved a hoof at the pearl white unicorn; Rarity waved back.

Rainbow Dash still couldn't believe that Rarity had decided to run in this race. Even more surprising was that she didn't dress in some ridiculously formal outfit for the occasion. When she was given wings thanks to Twilight and decided to partake in the Best Young Fliers Competition in Cloudsdale – the same day Rainbow Dash perfected the Sonic Rainboom – she had dressed herself in some ridiculous outfit, complete with over the top makeup. She had also worn a long gown and cape when they went to watch the dragons fly over Ponyville during the Great Dragon Migration. Yet here, she just came as she was. The only thing resembling an outfit she was wearing was the number card on her flank – the same as all the other racers.

She turned to face the starting line and looked at the first leg of the race – a straight stretch of open ground that headed towards Thoroughbred Pines, a small pine forest that eventually connected to the Everfree Forest, just like all the other forests around Ponyville. After that would be another stretch of open ground, before they hit Clydesdale Creek, an estuary of the Ponyville River. Following that was Whitetail Wood, the largest forest in Ponyville. Whitetail Wood was connected to Froggy Bottom Bog, home of the dreaded hydra, though the hydra – like the rest of the creatures from the Everfree Forest – rarely came into Ponyville. The last time a creature from the Everfree came into Ponyville, Spike threw a pebble down its throat, choking it.

After Whitetail Wood, they would come to the maple farms, where tree sap from the maple trees was harvested to make syrup. One year during the race, Rainbow Dash stopped to lick some of the sap off of a tree, and got stuck because of it, causing her to lose the race. She would have stayed stuck, too, if the maple farmer Sappy Horseshoes didn't help her.

The maple farms would be the last forested areas of the race; after that, it was the home stretch to the finish line. Normally, Rainbow Dash – as well as most of the other racers – would be completely worn out by the time they got to the end of the race. But this year, Rainbow Dash was going to take Twilight's advice and pace herself. She would still make sure that none of the other racers would pass her – not even Rarity and Applejack – but she also didn't want to wear herself out before she got to Clydesdale Creek.

She turned to Applejack and held out a hoof. "Let's do this thing, A.J."

Applejack put her hoof against Rainbow Dash's. "Let's have a good run now, y'hear?"

They turned their attention back to the starting line, just as Bon-Bon raised the megaphone.

"Racers, on your mark! Get set! GO!"

The ground shook with the thundering sound of four hundred hooves. All that remained of the crowd at the starting line was a cloud of dust.

"And they're off!" Bon-Bon announced. "Their first destination is Thoroughbred Pines. They won't be there very long, it's a pretty small area – and speak of Tartarus, they're already moving towards Clydesdale Creek. It looks like Rainbow Dash is in the lead, but – what's this? Of all the ponies, Rarity is pulling up behind her. Rarity is now in third place, right behind Fast Track! Who knew that the fashion pony could run that fast?"

Given that we've had to run away from evil humans and alien robots, I'm not surprised, Fluttershy thought. And I'm glad that Rarity has finally moved on from her experiences with Megatron.

"The pack is moving into Clydesdale Creek," Bon-Bon reported. "Rainbow Dash is still maintaining a strong lead, but Fast Track is quickly approaching. She'd better watch out for that stallion, he's pretty quick on his hooves.

"They're now approaching Whitetail Wood, the longest part of the race. Fast Track has just passed Rainbow Dash, and he's pulling ahead of her. She's really going to have to get those hooves moving if she wants to catch up. Looks like Applejack and Rarity are coming up right behind her. And there goes Flash Step, speeding past them and quickly catching up to Fast Track. And look at that, we've got twin brothers Fast Track and Flash Step leading the pack as they run past Froggy Bottom Bog."

There was a loud crash.

BATTLE IN THE BOG

THEY HAD BEEN WALKING FOR HOURS, AND THEIR LEGS WERE STARTING TO GET sore. But Inuyasha had insisted that they keep going, despite how tired his friends were getting, and the fact that Kagome could barely sense Jurorenmaru's jewel shard any more.

He was starting to get irritated.

"Damn it!" he growled. "Where the hell could that son of a bitch have gotten to?"

"Inuyasha, calm down," Miroku said. "We'll find him soon. I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, you say that," Inuyasha snapped, looking over his shoulder to face the monk. "If you're so sure, then tell me where he is."

"If I knew that, we'd be going in that direction."

Inuyasha snarled, but kept walking, balling his hands into tight fists.

Damn that Jurorenmaru, showing up out of nowhere, taunting Inuyasha with the jewel shard, challenging him to a fight, and then leaving, along with Kagura. He said that he had been hired by Naraku to kill them, and that the Sacred Jewel was his payment – the jewel shard he had on him at the moment was just a down payment. Inuyasha was going to make sure that Jurorenmaru didn't walk away from their next encounter, at least not with the jewel shard.

Still, they had been following him since that cave, which led out into this odd forest. Inuyasha didn't bother looking at the scenery at first – besides the fact that it was the middle of the night, making everything pitch black – but now that the sun was out, he could see the forest much more clearly. Other than the oddly proportioned trees and the thick canopy, it looked like any other forest.

Even so, there was something about this forest that just seemed a bit off.

"This forest is giving me the creeps," Shippo said as he clung to Kagome's shoulder.

"I know what you mean," Kagome said. "This forest feels…evil."

Inuyasha scoffed. "Please. It's just some dumb forest. I'll be we'll be out of here in no time."

"Hold on, Inuyasha," Sango said. She pushed her way forward, past Inuyasha. "Wait a minute."

"What's wrong, Sango?"

Sango knelt down to get a better look at the ground. Inuyasha knew right away what she was doing – tracking. Something had been here before them, and she had seen its footprints. That was one of the many things he could give the Demon Slayers credit for – besides their bravery and skills in combat, they were excellent hunters. Sango herself had been trained by her father, whom many had said was the greatest Demon Slayer in the land.

She was quiet for a moment as she observed the prints that not even Inuyasha could see.

"Something was here, I'd say about a week ago."

"A week? That doesn't help us. Why couldn't it have been a couple of hours?" Inuyasha asked, almost like he was whining about it.

"They look like horse tracks," Sango said. "But they're a little small to be full-grown horses. Must be juveniles."

"Yeah, well, we don't have time to look at a horse's footprints," Inuyasha said. "Kagome, can you sense Jurorenmaru's jewel shard yet?"

Kagome shook her head. "No. Nothing. He must be too far away."

"Well that's just freaking great," Inuyasha huffed as he pushed past Sango. "Well, guess all we can do is keep walking. We're bound to catch his trail sooner or later."

"Can we at least take a break first?" Kagome asked. "My feet are killing me."

"She's got a point, Inuyasha," Miroku said. "We have to stop for a little bit. If we keep going, we're going to collapse."

Inuyasha hated to admit it, but Miroku was right. Even he was starting to get tired, despite his higher level of endurance, granted to him by his demon blood. It was still a hindrance, but one that he had started to overlook in the past several months, ever since Kagome freed him from that seal.

They all sat down on logs and the ground, resting their tired and aching legs. Kagome started passing out small packs of peanut butter crackers for everyone to eat. It had been nearly twelve hours since their last meal, and they were starting to get hungry. She also passed out some juice boxes; just something to keep them hydrated. They'd gone through all their water during the trek through this forest, and unless they found some place to resupply soon, this was all they had to work with.

Inuyasha quickly drank his juice, washing the taste of peanut butter out of his mouth.

"That stuff in the wheat squares sticks to my mouth," Shippo said.

"It does that," Kagome replied.

Inuyasha sniffed the air. "Anyone else smell a swamp?"

"Now that you mention it," Miroku said, "I DID notice this musty smell."

"I'm going to go check it out," Inuyasha said. He started walking towards the thicket.

"Why would you want to do that?" Sango asked. "There's no reason to."

Inuyasha stopped. "You might be right, Sango, but maybe Jurorenmaru's there."

"I doubt it," Kagome said. "I don't sense his jewel shard. And besides, why would he and Kagura be at a swamp? That just doesn't make a whole lot of sense. Then again, neither does this forest."

"He's not listening," Shippo said; Inuyasha just kept walking into the thicket, disappearing into the thick trees.

"We'd better follow him," Sango said. Kirara leaped up onto her shoulder. "Who knows what he's going to be getting himself into?"

##############################

Inuyasha used the Tetsusaiga to chop through the foliage. The whole time he went, he couldn't help but notice this thundering sound, like hundreds of feet running along the ground. He decided to ignore it, thinking it was just part of the forest or the surrounding area.

The Tetsusaiga cut through a tangle of vines, and maybe it was his ears playing tricks on him, but it sounded like the vines cried out in pain.

Nah. I'm probably just imagining it. Now where's that swamp? I'm curious.

He cut through some more foliage, finally revealing the source of the smell – the swamp. The trees surrounding the muddy pool looked dead and dying. The pool itself was a massive lake of brown, bubbling water, with a terrible smell coming out of the hundreds of bubbles popping at the surface, a smell not unlike that of Naraku's miasma – only this smell wasn't poisonous. There were frogs hopping here and there – on logs, on stumps, swimming in the water, jumping off of roots.

But it wasn't the frogs that caught his attention.

There was something else moving in the muddy water.

Something large.

Something reptilian.

"Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha held up his hand, signaling Kagome to stop as she and the others came out of the trees. "Quiet. There's something in the water."

"Uh, yeah, frogs," Kagome said. "See? There's one on that root, there's one swimming right there – "

"No, there's something bigger," Inuyasha said. He tightened his grip on the Tetsusaiga.

Kirara leaped off of Sango's shoulder; she started growling, and her fur stood up on end. "What is it, Kirara?" Sango asked.

Miroku adjusted his grip on his staff. "Be ready for anything, everyone. I have a feeling we're being watched."

The frogs scattered. The water began to bubble and ripple.

Something was moving, and it was getting closer.

Kirara was surrounded by a ring of fire, and when it died down, she was no longer a small kitten. Instead, she was now a massive tiger with sharp fangs coming out of her mouth. She growled, her fur standing on end.

Sango adjusted the grip on her Hiraikotsu. "Wish I'd known about this so I could suit up."

"No time for that," Inuyasha said. "Here it comes!"

Something rose out of the water, something large. Standing nearly twenty-five feet tall, half of that its plump, bipedal body, the other half its five long necks, each neck ending with a lizard-like head, it towered above some of the nearby dead trees. Its scales were a light brown in color, with bumps and ridges all over the creature's body. Its long tail dragged the ground, and its back and tail were covered in sharp spines.

"Is that the Orochi?" Miroku asked.

The creature roared.

##################################

Even through her steady, yet heavy, breathing, as well as the sound of her heart pounding in her ears, Applejack heard the hydra roar. Given how close they were to Froggy Bottom Bog, she wasn't surprised.

Hey, as long as that Hydra stays over there and doesn't come over here, I'll be happy. Now, I got me a race to win.

She picked up the pace a bit, galloping faster than she was just a moment ago, until she had caught up with Rainbow Dash, who was – as expected – at the front of the crowd. Rainbow Dash was huffing slightly, mostly from the exertion of trying to stay ahead of everypony else. Not only that, but Rainbow Dash rarely competed in hoof races, preferring to stay in the air. She was, without a doubt, the fastest flyer in all of Equestria, and though she was quick on her hooves, it was clear to Applejack that her Pegasus friend was out of her element.

"How you holdin' up, Rainbow?" Applejack asked.

"Worry about yourself, Jackie," Rainbow Dash huffed. She sped up, speeding past Applejack.

"Aw, no ya don't!" Applejack called after her. She started galloping faster, her leg muscles burning from the exertion.

#############################

The creature's five mouths roared. The roar shook the entire area, causing the animals to scatter and knocking down a couple of dead trees.

Inuyasha held the Tetsusaiga out in front of him, the tip of its blade pointed at the creature. "The Orochi, huh? Could have sworn I'd killed that thing before. Oh well, guess I'll just have to kill it again!" He ran towards the creature.

"Inuyasha, wait!" Kagome called after him. "That idiot! He's going to get himself killed!"

Inuyasha leaped at the creature. All five heads lunged for him, and each one was chopped off with a swift swing of the Tetsusaiga. Two of the heads hit the muddy water with a loud SPLASH, the other three landing in the mud with a soft PLOP.

Inuyasha landed on the ground and turned to face the still-twitching creature, resting the Tetsusaiga's blade on his shoulder. "That was a lot easier than last time. This thing looks goofier, too. Wait a minute, what's it doing?"

The creature's five necks split down the middle. Skin quickly grew where just a second before, there had been just skin, muscle, and bone. The stubs of the necks seemed to bubble and pulsate as, one by one, a head popped out of each of the necks.

Where before there were only five heads, now there were ten.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" Inuyasha cried. "Since when could the Orochi do THAT?"

While most of the heads had their attention focused on Inuyasha, three of the heads turned to everyone else. Their mouths opened, letting out low, rumbling growls, before they lunged.

Kagome and Sango climbed onto Kirara and took to the air, getting out of the way less than a second before one of the heads bit a chunk of dirt and mud out of the ground. There was a puff of smoke, and Shippo was now a bird, flying high over the creature. Miroku leaped back, smacking one of the creature's heads with his staff and drawing some blood.

"Hold on, Miroku!" Sango cried. Kirara banked left, descending towards Miroku. Sango held out her hand. "Grab on!" Miroku leaped up, grabbing onto Sango's hand. "Kirara, climb!" Kirara began to ascend, just barely getting out of the way of the creature's jaws.

"I've never heard of the Orochi growing its heads back," Miroku said as he tried to catch his breath. "Let alone doubling its heads."

"I don't think that's an Orochi," Kagome said. She looked down to see Inuyasha cut off another head, before using the Wind Scar to destroy three more. Once again, more heads grew to replace the ones that had been cut off, bringing the total head count of the creature up to fourteen. "Inuyasha!"

"I'm a little busy right now, Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled as he leaped out of the way of one of the heads. A quick swing of the Tetsusaiga cut the creature's head in half.

"You have to stop cutting off its heads!" Kagome called down to him.

"Not gonna happen!"

"Inuyasha, listen to me! That's not an Orochi! That's a hydra! Every time you cut off a head, two more grow in its place!"

"Yeah, well, this thing's gonna have to run out of heads sooner or later!" Inuyasha yelled as he got ready to swing his sword. "Wind Scar!" The Wind Scar hit, obliterating all fourteen heads….

"See, no problem," Inuyasha said. His voice began to trail off when he saw the heads he had just destroyed grow back, accompanied by fourteen more – twenty-eight heads in total. "Come on, seriously?! Doesn't this thing ever run out of freaking heads!" He leaped at the creature, raising the Tetsusaiga above his head. "Wind Scar!" This time, the creature ducked out of the way, but that didn't stop the blade of wind from tearing into its back. "Son of a bitch!" He caught a glimpse of the Wind Scar knocking over some trees, before the creature rose up again. "Crap." He held the Tetsusaiga in front of him. "Come on, you overgrown bastard. Keep coming at me. I'll chop off all your heads if I have to. You'll run out eventually."

Kagome took an arrow out of her quiver, notched it in her bowstring, and took aim at the hydra. Before she could let her arrow fly, one of the heads reached up and snapped at Kirara, causing Kirara to quickly fly higher into the air. Miroku and Sango managed to hang on, but Kagome lost her grip and started falling towards the open maw of one of the hydra's heads.

Inuyasha could only look on in horror. "KAGOME!"

Shippo swooped down, flying as fast as he could, flying beneath Kagome so that she landed on his back. He pulled up, his tail feathers just barely avoiding the hydra's mouths.

Kagome took several deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. "Thanks, Shippo," she breathed. "I thought I was going to be breakfast."

"We both will be if I don't keep climbing!" Shippo cried. "Hold on, Kagome!"

Sango took aim with her Hiraikotsu and threw it. The massive boomerang hit the hydra's leg, causing it to trip. It hit the ground with a loud thud.

Inuyasha leaped at the hydra, wind swirling around the Tetsusaiga's blade. "Wind Scar!"

The Wind Scar tore into the hydra's back, making a huge gash down its body, and continued on to the nearby forest.

################################

There was a loud crash as a large tree collapsed. Rainbow Dash skidded to a stop as the tree crashed to the ground in front of her. Applejack joined her after a few seconds, with Rarity arriving a moment later, even as the rest of the racers swerved to avoid the tree.

"Why are we stopping?" Rarity asked. "Let's just go around the tree."

"Rarity, this is a pretty healthy looking tree," Rainbow Dash said. "The thing just fell over right in front of me!"

"And this thing don't look like it were cut down by a lumberpony," Applejack said as she examined the tree. "It's like something hit this tree hard enough to rip it out of the ground." She stopped and listened, the sounds from the bog reaching her ears again. "And y'all hear that? There's something going on at Froggy Bottom Bog."

"And let me guess," Rarity said. "We're going to go look into it?"

"Count me in!" Rainbow Dash said with no hesitation. "Here we come, Froggy Bottom Bog!"

Applejack grabbed Rainbow Dash's tail in her mouth before the cyan Pegasus could take off. "Hold on, Dash," she said, her voice muffled by Rainbow Dash's tail. She spat Rainbow Dash's tail out. "We ain't goin' nowhere until Twilight gets here. You heard the Mayor – if anythin' happens during the race, talk to the princess. And you're the fastest here, so you go get her."

"Okay, fine," Rainbow Dash said. "Back in a flash!" She flew off as fast as she could, Whitetail Wood zipping past her, a blur of orange, yellow, red, green, and brown. In less than thirty seconds, the stands came into view. Twilight was sitting above everypony else on what looked like some sort of throne, though even from here Rainbow Dash could tell she was feeling a little uncomfortable. Ever since Twilight was crowned a princess, she had become very self-conscious about her new role, wanting to do a good job as the Princess of Friendship but also not wanting to be viewed any differently than she had been when she first moved to Ponyville nearly two years ago.

Rainbow Dash stopped, hovering in front of Twilight. "Twilight, we've got a problem!"

Twilight quickly stood up on all four hooves. "What is it, Rainbow Dash? Did somepony get hurt?"

"Applejack says there's something going on at Froggy Bottom Bog and she wants us to go check it out."

Twilight cocked an eyebrow at her Pegasus friend. "Really? It's Froggy Bottom Bog, what could be going on there?"

"Explain how a perfectly healthy tree fell right in front of me without a lumberpony to chop it down."

Twilight cocked her head to the side. "Okay, that's interesting." She looked to the Mayor, who was sitting nearby. "Mayor, I'm going with Rainbow Dash to investigate. I'll be back soon." She then looked into the crowd. "Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, maybe you should come along. We might need a couple extra sets of hooves, just in case."

"I don't know, Twilight," Fluttershy said. "It's at Froggy Bottom Bog. That's where the hydra lives."

"Yeah, so? What's one hydra?" She put her foreleg around Fluttershy's shoulders. "Come on, Flutter."

"Me too, me too!" Pinkie Pie chirped. She happily bounced along while her three friends took to the air, flying in the direction of Froggy Bottom Bog.

################################

Kirara flew down near the hydra's legs. Miroku swung his staff, the sharp, circular ornament at the top tearing into the hydra's scales, causing it to lose its balance. Sango threw her Hiraikotsu; it cut off one of the hydra's heads, only for two more to grow in its place.

"Thirty heads. This is getting us nowhere," Sango said as she caught the Hiraikotsu.

Kagome took aim with an arrow and let it fly. As it flew, it became surrounded by a bright light – a physical manifestation of Kagome's spiritual powers. The arrow hit the base of one of the hydra's necks. It exploded, blowing a massive hole into the hydra's neck. Blood poured from the hydra's wound. Its neck fell limp, its head causing the hydra to trip and fall into the mud, tearing the neck off of the hydra's body in the process. The hydra climbed to its feet, snapping at Inuyasha with one of its heads, even as two more heads grew out of its body.

#################################

The forest began to thin out as the six of them arrived at the bog. They stopped short at what they saw, their mouths dropping open at the spectacle before them.

There was the hydra, with more than thirty heads, snarling and snapping at the four humans near it; one of the humans, wearing read and wielding a massive sword, was swinging at the hydra, cutting off its heads, only for two more to grow in place of the one it had lost. Two more humans, a man and a woman, were riding what looked like a flying white lion with two tails, and the fourth human, a young girl, was riding a large bird, an arrow notched in her bowstring.

"What in Tartarus are we looking at?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"You mean besides a bunch of humans who don't know how to defeat a hydra?" Twilight asked.

The human with the sword leaped at the hydra. A good kick from the hydra sent him flying towards them. He slammed into a tree, hard, hard enough to smash through it before landing on the ground.

The six of them gathered around him, all concerned for his well-being. "Oh my gosh, oh my goodness, are you all right?" Fluttershy asked.

The man sat up, supporting himself with his sword. "Just having an off morning, that's all." He stood up, holding his sword out in front of him. "Everyone get out of the way!" His sword began to crystalize. "Adamant Barrage!" He swung his sword, sending hundreds of crystal shards towards the hydra. The shards tore into the hydra, cutting into its body and its legs, tearing holes through its necks and heads. The hydra's blood spilled into the muddy water, turning the brown liquid a darker shade.

More heads grew from the hydra's body, bringing the total number of heads to forty.

###############################

"Son of a bitch, this is getting old," Inuyasha growled.

"Stop cutting off heads," one of the horses – the pink one with the poofy hair – said. "It will just keep growing more heads if you do."

Inuyasha turned to face the horses. "Yeah, well, if you dumb horses have any better ideas, I'd love to hear them."

"You have to cauterize the wound," the purple horse with the horn and wings said.

"I have to what now?" Inuyasha asked.

Shippo landed on the ground a few feet away, allowing Kagome to climb off his back before transforming back into his normal child form. "She's saying that we have to burn the wound closed after we cut off a head."

"I guess that's my cue," Shippo said. "But how – "

The blue winged horse scooped Shippo up and placed him on her back. "Don't pull out any of my fur or feathers. Got it, kid?"

"Alright, Shippo," Inuyasha said. "Let's do it. Miroku, Sango, Kirara, get out of the way!"

"Hold on, Inuyasha, let me try something," Miroku called down to him. He held his right hand towards the hydra. "I don't know why I didn't think of this before." He undid the beads around his wrist. "Wind Tunnel!"

Water, rocks, and even a few frogs were pulled into the void in Miroku's palm. The hydra itself – Miroku's target – held its ground, barely being moved by the massive wind pulling everything else towards Miroku's hand.

"Stop it, Miroku!" Shippo called up to him. "You're just getting swamp water!"

Miroku replaced the beads on his wrist, closing the void. "Wonderful. Now what?"

"Just let me, Shippo, and this horse handle it," Inuyasha said.

"My name is Rainbow Dash," the blue horse said. "Got it memorized, pal?"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever, let's just do this." He raised his sword, before bringing it down. "Wind Scar!"

The Wind Scar hit, destroying six heads. Rainbow Dash took to the air, trying to give Shippo a clear shot while avoiding the hydra's remaining heads.

Blue fireballs appeared in Shippo's hands, and he threw the fireballs at the stubs of the necks. "Fox Fire!" The fireballs hit the stubs of the necks, instantly burning the wounds closed.

"Nice shot, short stack," Rainbow Dash said. "WHOA!" She pulled up, just barely avoiding one of the hydra's heads. "You doing okay?"

"I'm fine," Shippo said. "Inuyasha, you're up!"

Inuyasha leaped at the hydra, cutting off five more heads while avoiding the rest, which snapped at him, but he remained just out of reach. Shippo quickly burned the wounds closed. One of the hydra's legs came dangerously close to biting into Inuyasha's leg. A quick swipe of the Tetsusaiga cut off its top jaw. Another swing cut off the head. Shippo quickly threw a fireball, burning the wound closed.

The remaining heads started snapping at Inuyasha. He had little time to react; all he could do was back away.

"I could use a little bit of help here!"

Sango threw the Hiraikotsu. The massive boomerang sliced through several heads before they could deliver a devastating bite to Inuyasha. Shippo quickly burned the wounds closed.

"We're getting there," Shippo said. "Just a little bit longer."

####################################

They could only watch as Rainbow Dash helped these humans battle the hydra. Pinkie Pie was staring wide-eyed and slack-jawed. Rarity had gone slightly pale, though it was hard to tell thanks to her pearl-white fur. Twilight winced at the sight of the hydra's heads getting cut off. Fluttershy had lowered herself to the ground, covering her eyes with her hooves. All Applejack could do was watch, whishing that there was something – anything – that she could do to help.

But what? The last time they encountered a hydra in Froggy Bottom Bog, all they could do was run from it and hope that it didn't eat them in one bite – which it came dangerously close to doing several times. But now there were these humans, and that flying tiger thing, fighting a hydra, and though it still had nearly twenty heads on its body, they were putting up a good fight and doing some serious damage.

Still, she felt like she had to do something besides stand here and watch.

Then again, she thought, this IS a hydra we're talkin' 'bout here. Ain't exactly like I can walk up to the thing and give it a good buck in the shins. She looked around. There's gotta be something here I can – She spotted a vine dangling from a nearby tree. Ain't no rope, but better'n nothin'.

She pulled the vine from the tree and fastened the end into a loop, forming a makeshift lasso. Holding one end in her mouth – and making sure she didn't trip over the vine – she galloped towards the hydra, spinning the lasso as fast as she could.

"Applejack, what are you going?" Rarity asked.

"Helpin' out," Applejack said, her voice muffled by the vine in her mouth. She threw the lasso, the loop wrapping around the hydra's nearest head.

Applejack dug her hooves into the mud and pulled as hard as she could. The hydra pulled back. Applejack could feel her hooves sliding in the mud as the hydra pulled her forward, trying to pull her off the ground. She dug her hooves deeper into the mud, knowing that if the hydra won this little game of tug-of-war, she was going to be one dead pony.

"Applejack, let go!" Twilight cried. "Just let go!"

"Nothin' doin', Twi!" Applejack shouted. She felt her hooves starting to give out and dug them even deeper into the mud.

The man in red – the one with the sword – looked over to her. "What are you doing, stupid? That thing's gonna kill you if you don't let go of that vine!"

"I know what I'm – " Applejack began to say.

The hydra pulled its head back, pulling Applejack off the ground and sending her into the air. Another head opened its mouth, ready to swallow her.

####################################

"Damn it! You idiot!"

Inuyasha ran to the hydra as fast as he could, hoping he could save that horse before the hydra swallowed her. Despite how idiotic that horse had been, at least she had tried to help.

He leaped at the hydra, cutting off the head before it could snap at the horse. Kirara flew past, Miroku and Sango still riding on her. Sango reached out, grabbing the horse.

"Gotcha!"

The horse used a foreleg to wipe her forehead. "Thanks."

"Now if you idiots could do me a favor and stay the hell out of the way, I'll kill this thing in no time flat!" Inuyasha said. He raised the Tetsusaiga above his head. "Wind Scar!" The blade of wind streaked towards the hydra. A direct hit severed the remaining heads; the heads hit the ground with a soft PLOP. "Shippo, now!"

"I'm on it!" Shippo shouted. He readied his fireballs. "Fox Fire!" He threw the fireballs as fast as he could, each one burning the wounds closed.

All that was left of the hydra was its writhing body, walking around in circles with no direction.

"Alright, time to finish it," Inuyasha said. He charged for the hydra. "Hey, you ugly bastard! Grow this back! Wind Scar!" The Wind Scar hit the hydra's body, blowing through it, sending pieces of flesh and gore flying through the swamp and leaving a massive, gaping hole in the hydra's body. The hydra's body collapsed into the mud, and twitched for a moment before going limp.

Inuyasha took several deep breaths, trying to calm himself down. He hadn't expected this morning to be so…frantic. As he looked at the hydra's corpse, he found himself waiting for it to get back up. Yet at the same time, he remembered that one horse's advice, that with the wounds burned closed, the hydra wouldn't be able to regenerate.

The Tetsusaiga turned back into its inert form, that rusty katana, and he put it back into its sheath.

"Well, that went well," he said.

Kirara landed nearby, allowing Sango and Miroku to climb off of her back, the orange horse leaping off at the same time. The blue horse carrying Shippo – earlier it had identified itself as Rainbow Dash – landed a second later.

"That…was…AWESOME!" she cried, rearing up on her hind legs and kicking her front legs in excitement. Rearing up like that caused Shippo to fall off her back. "Whoops. Sorry, shorty."

"I don't think 'awesome' is the word I'd use," Kagome said. "Tense is more like it."

"I really must agree with the young lady," the white horse – who for some reason had a horn on its head – said. "Hydras aren't exactly the friendliest of creatures."

"And there's bound to be more of them showing up soon," the purple horse with the horn and the wings said. "We'd better get out of here before they do."

Inuyasha tapped the handle of the Tetsusaiga. "Bring 'em all on. Now that we know how to beat them, that'll just make killing them much easier."

"No! You can't do that!" the yellow winged horse shouted. "Hydras are part of the natural ecosystem!"

"The what?" Miroku asked.

"She's saying that those things help keep nature in balance," Kagome said. "And I think they're right, we'd better go."

"Besides," Rainbow Dash said. "I've still got a race to win."

########################################

Rainbow Dash, Applejack, and Rarity galloped as fast as they could, trying to catch up to the other racers. Going to help those humans had caused them to fall so far behind that they were tempted to just have Twilight teleport them to the finish line. Applejack had talked them out of it, saying that even if they finished in last place, they were going to finish the race without cheating.

The finish line came into view, just as the last of the racers crossed it. The three of them picked up the pace, galloping as fast as they could. Hearts pounding, lungs burning, all twelve legs pumping for speed, they finally crossed the finish line.

Rarity collapsed to the ground. "We did it! We finished."

"But we…lost," Rainbow Dash panted.

"But at least we finished the race," Applejack said. "That's all that matters, ain't it?"

"Applejack's right," Twilight said as she, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy joined them; they had asked the humans to wait near the forest so as not to distract anypony from the race. "What's important is that you finished the race together. Besides, we got to help some folks out with their problem. That should be reward enough, don't you think?"

They looked over to the nearby forest. The man in red – he had identified himself as Inuyasha – crossed his arms. He looked impatient.

"Didn't they say they were here for something?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"I'll go see," Pinkie Pie said. She happily skipped over to the forest. "Hello."

"Oh joy, the pink one," Inuyasha sighed. "What do you want now?"

"Be nice, Inuyasha," Kagome berated. "Sorry about that. What's up?"

"Oh, nothing much. It's just that Rainbow Dash wanted to ask you guys something." She looked back at her friends and pulled a megaphone seemingly from nowhere. "RAINBOW DASH! WHAT WAS YOUR QUESTION?"

"Why are they here?" Rainbow Dash called back.

Pinkie Pie threw her megaphone aside. "She wants to know why you're here in Equestria?"

"I don't know what this Equestria is," Inuyasha said. "But we're looking for someone. Someone dangerous."

"Dangerous like how? Bad cupcake dangerous? Angry timber wolf puppy dangerous?"

"Get real," Inuyasha growled. "They're demons, alright?"

Pinkie Pie's face turned white almost instantly. "D-d-d-d-demons?"

Demons in Equestria? She'd heard the stories about demons, about how evil and dangerous they could be – possessing ponies, hurting ponies, sometimes even killing ponies. And now Inuyasha was saying that there were real demons in Equestria?

This could be a problem.

VILLAINS OF A SORT

KAGOME DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO MAKE OF THESE CREATURES. THEY RESEMBLED horses, but she had never seen horses quite this colorful. And the only horses she had ever heard talk were demon horses. But there was no demonic aura coming off of these little horses. And unlike most of the demon horses that she had seen, these little horses, these ponies, they were so friendly.

They had been introduced to them after their encounter with that creature, that hydra, in the swamp. The lavender one was named Twilight Sparkle, and she called herself an "alicorn". Kagome had never heard of an alicorn before; unicorns, Pegasi, and kirins, yes, but not alicorns. She looked like a cross between a Pegasus and a unicorn – a unicorn's horn and a Pegasus's wings. And she also referred to herself as a princess, one of four ruling this land they called "Equestria". She seemed pretty intelligent – she even said that she used to live in a library, before it was destroyed by an evil centaur named Tirek. And there was a marking on her flank, a light purple star surrounded by several smaller, white stars.

One of the Pegasi, the light blue one, was named Rainbow Dash. Kagome could tell how she got the name, what with her rainbow-patterned mane and tail. And judging by the storm cloud with a rainbow-colored lightning bolt mark on her flank, she liked to go fast. Another thing that gave away her speed was that race; sure, she may have been galloping like all the other ponies, but she was so much faster than them. That, and the way she was flying around that hydra earlier, zipping around it so fast she could barely keep up. Even though she'd only known the blue Pegasus for just a few hours, Kagome could tell that even though Rainbow Dash was arrogant and a bit of a braggart, she was also steadfastly loyal to her friends.

The other Pegasus, whose name was Fluttershy, was the total opposite of Rainbow Dash. Like her name suggested, she was timid and shy, and hardly spoke. When she did speak, her voice was no more than a tiny squeak. Kagome had to admit, she thought that was kind of adorable. Her marking was three light pink butterflies, the same shade of light pink as her mane and tail. Her fur was a creamy yellow, sort of like vanilla pudding. She mostly kept her head down and walked on the ground, unlike her fellow Pegasus, who was flying high in the air, doing all sorts of flips and tricks.

The orange pony, Applejack, resembled a regular horse, barring the tattered brown Stetson she wore on her head. Her marking was three bright red apples. Her accent was…odd. The only place she had ever heard an accent like that was while watching those movies that poked fun at the stereotypical southern American. Applejack's voice wasn't quite that exaggerated, but it still caught Kagome off guard. She was the only one in this small group of six ponies who was wearing anything resembling clothing – her hat – and when she spoke, Kagome could tell that she was speaking her mind and being honest about whatever she was talking about.

And then there was Rarity the unicorn. Even Kagome had to admit that Rarity was beautiful – pearl-white fur coat; stylish, elegantly curled royal purple mane and tail; a marking of three bright blue diamonds; sapphire blue eyes. There was something about her eyes that instantly caught Kagome's attention – they looked like they had once been bright and cheery, but now were dark and saddened, as though Rarity had recently suffered through a horrible, life-changing experience. Kagome had been exposed to enough sadness and despair to see through Rarity's smile, no matter how sweet and friendly it was.

The same could not be said for Pinkie Pie, the other normal horse – normal, that is, except for her pink fur and poofy pink mane and tail. And the marking of three party balloons on her flank. She was smiling, giggling, and bouncing like she had just drank an entire gallon of caffeinated coffee. Shippo seemed to enjoy it – he was happily riding on her back, laughing and enjoying himself. In fact, just looking at Pinkie Pie brought a smile to Kagome's face.

"Okay, so what was all this stuff about demons and monsters?" Rainbow Dash asked. "All I got out of it was that they're bad. Not that you needed to tell us that, but hey, enlighten us."

"We're looking for a guy named Jurorenmaru," Inuyasha said.

"Jurorenmaru? That's a mouthful," Applejack said. "Can't y'all just call him 'J' for short?"

"But then there's also Kagura and Kanna," Sango put in. "They're helping him."

I wonder why she didn't mention Kohaku? Kagome thought. Then again, I'm sure she has her reasons.

"They've got something we've been looking for," she said. She reached under the collar of her sweater and pulled out a small glass bottle attached to a string. Inside the bottle were three magenta crystals.

Rarity's eyes were drawn to the crystals. "Ooh, pretty. Can I get a closer look? Please please please please please?"

"Sorry, Rarity. The Shikon Jewel is too dangerous."

"The what jewel now?" Twilight asked. "I've heard of several types of jewels and medallions – the Elements of Harmony, the Alicorn Amulet, the Crystal Heart, the wish-granting Dragon Balls. But what's this jewel all about?"

"The Shikon Jewel – also known as the Jewel of the Four Souls," Kagome said as she put the bottle away. "A long time ago – "

"You mean a few months ago," Inuyasha said, crossing his arms.

"The jewel was a complete sphere guarded by a priestess named Kikyo," Kagome continued, ignoring Inuyasha. "She died protecting it, and it was lost until I brought it back – long story short, I'm Kikyo's reincarnation. I know, odd. Well, let's just say that there was a centipede demon, and then a crow demon, and then an accident, and – "

"Dipshit here broke the damn thing," Inuyasha growled. "Shot it with an arrow."

"Excuse me, it's not like I WANTED to shatter the jewel!" Kagome yelled. "It was an accident! They happen sometimes!"

"Yeah, well, most accidents don't make demons more powerful than they already are, you moron!"

"You two seem to be getting along just fine," Applejack snarked.

"I know, right?" Pinkie Pie said, oblivious to Applejack's sarcasm. "They're the best of friends!"

They kept walking, heading towards a tall crystalline structure on the east end of the small village called Ponyville.

"Okay, so Kagome accidentally shattered this jewel," Rarity said. "Bummer. I'm sure it had quite the luster." She quickly cleared her throat. "Anyway, jewels break all the time. I know I've broken my fair share more times than I wish to admit. But what's the harm in it?"

"Did you not catch the 'makes demons stronger' part?" Inuyasha growled.

"That's usually bad," Miroku added.

"Oh. That does sound bad."

"Demons and monsters are already scary," Fluttershy said. "I don't think they need to be any scarier."

"I'll agree with you on that," Sango said. "I'm a Demon Slayer, and I've seen a few demons that have managed to send chills down my spine."

"So who are they, exactly?" Twilight asked.

"Jurorenmaru said he was a bounty hunter," Kagome replied. "You know, someone hired by someone else to find somebody and they get paid a lot for it – in his case, the rest of the jewel."

"But I thought – " Applejack started to say.

"A demon named Naraku's been gathering up the shards, and he's already got most of them," Inuyasha said, interrupting her. "There's only a few shards left, including the ones Kagome has around her neck."

"And Kagura and Kanna are two of his incarnations," Shippo said. "And I really don't like them."

"Kagura controls the wind with her fan," Miroku said. "And Kanna has a mirror that can suck the soul right out of your body."

"Harsh," Rainbow Dash said. "Remind me never to cross paths with them. Actually, on second thought, that sounds like fun. I'll show them who's the boss."

"Good luck with that," Sango said. "If Kagura's Dance of Blades attack doesn't cut you up, Kanna will suck out your soul before you get a chance to even get off the ground."

They finally arrived at the crystalline structure. It resembled a tree, with a large, thick trunk, and multiple branches going every which way. The crystal trunk was adorned with several windows, and there was what looked like some sort of observatory on the top.

"Well, welcome to the Palace of the Princess of Friendship," Rarity said.

"Rarity, please," Twilight said. "It's not that big of a deal."

"Come now, darling, it's a very big deal," Rarity said. "You've finally got your own palace and your own royal title. What more could you ask for?"

"How about my old home," Twilight quietly said. She turned away from Rarity, her eyes lowered in sadness. She shook her head. "Anyway, come on in. You must be hungry. I'll see if I can't get Spike to put something together. And what do you want to drink?" She pushed the doors open. "Spike! We're back!"

They were met by three small fillies – one normal horse, one unicorn, and one Pegasus. The normal-looking filly had bright red hair with a bright pink bow tied into it, and her fur was bright yellow. The unicorn filly had her mane and tail styled in a similar fashion to Rarity, albeit with a different color scheme – light purple mixed with magenta – and her fur was bright white. The little Pegasus had dark orange fur, almost brown, with a dark purple mane and tail and tiny wings.

"Apple Bloom? Sweetie Belle? Scootaloo? What are you three doing here?" Twilight asked.

"I thought I told you to wait at home, Apple Bloom," Applejack said.

"Well, we got bored," Apple Bloom – the normal-looking filly – said. "So we decided to pay Spike a visit."

Just then, a small purple lizard appeared in the hallway. Most of his scales were a light shade of purple – slightly lighter than Twilight's fur – but the scales on his belly and the spines running down his back were a light shade of green.

"Where'd they come from?" he asked, pointing to Inuyasha and the other humans.

"The Everfree Forest," Twilight said.

"That one looks weird," Sweetie Belle said, pointing a hoof at Inuyasha.

"Oh, I look weird?" Inuyasha growled. "Who the hell are you to talk, you little brat?"

"Inuyasha, watch your language," Rarity scolded. "Especially around my sister."

"And besides," Kagome said. "They're adorable." She started moving towards the fillies, her arms open. "Come here, you three."

"Oh no. Cuddle alert!" Apple Bloom yelled.

The three fillies tried to run away, but they weren't fast enough – Kagome scooped them up, holding them against her chest, rubbing her face against them, cooing and repeating the phrase "So cute".

Scootaloo struggled to free herself from Kagome's grip. "What is it with human girls and wanting to cuddle us?"

"Um, Kagome?" Rainbow Dash said. "Can you put the kids down? I don't think they can breathe."

"Oh. Sorry." Kagome set the fillies back on the floor. "Guess I got a little carried away."

"So, are you done making over the brats?" Inuyasha asked.

The three fillies leaped at him, tackling him to the floor.

"I got him!"

"Hey, he's got a sword! Cool!"

"Why does he have dog ears? Are you part dog?"

Inuyasha uttered a guttural growl and bared his teeth. "Get off of me you little brats!"

"Hold on, Inuyasha," Miroku said. "This could be the perfect opportunity to study these creatures' battle strategies."

"You're really enjoying this, aren't you, you crooked monk?" Inuyasha hissed. "You want to study battle strategies so badly? Well, how about this!" He leaped to his feet, throwing the fillies off of him, and bared his claws.

"Oh no," Kagome breathed. "Inuyasha, don't do it!"

"Stop it, Inuyasha!" Fluttershy yelled, for once raising her voice above a whisper. "They're just kids!"

Inuyasha lunged for the fillies. "Iron-Reaver – "

"Inuyasha, SIT!" Kagome yelled.

The beaded necklace around Inuyasha's neck glowed for a split second, before it dragged him face-first into the ground. Everyone just stared at him, the ponies looking on, dumbfounded –

Except for Rainbow Dash, who was rolling on the ground with laughter. "That – that's hilarious! That's the funniest thing I've ever seen!"

Inuyasha glared at Kagome. "You….You…."

"How could you even THINK about doing that to such adorable creatures?"

"He really needs to control his anger," Pinkie Pie chirped.

"You have no idea," Shippo said.

#####################

Even demons had to eat – even if that hadn't been the case, there was that boy, and he was still human, albeit technically an undead human – and as he had expected, Jurorenmaru had been tasked with hunting SOMETHING in this strange forest to eat. He had already finished off the last of that boar the other day, just after Naraku had tasked him with hunting and killing Inuyasha and his merry band.

He had suggested sending the boy out to hunt – after all, wasn't he a former Demon Slayer? Surely he knew a thing or two about hunting wild beasts. But no, the task fell to Jurorenmaru. He could hear the buzzing Saimyosho above him, no doubt making sure that he didn't run off with the jewel shard. Not that he had planned on it; whenever he made a deal, he stuck with it until the very end. He had never considered running off with his payment, and even if he had, this one jewel shard was just a down payment; there would be no point of running away until he got the rest of the sacred jewel.

Something moved in the bushes. Jurorenmaru drew his swords and watched the brush, waiting for whatever it was to make another move, to reveal itself to him. He stood where he was on the worn trail, poised, ready to strike yet patiently waiting.

A tiger's paw emerged from the brush. Jurorenmaru had faced these creatures before; they put up quite a challenge, but in the end, he always emerged victorious.

The tiger's head followed, along with something so strange that for a moment, Jurorenmaru thought that he might be hallucinating.

The front paws and the head were that of a tiger, but attached to the tiger's shoulder was a goat's head; the back legs were also that of a goat. And then there was the tail, that long, dark green, serpentine form of a snake. All three individual heads stared at him, unblinking, saliva dripping from the tiger head's jaws.

"What…the…fu –"

RRRROOOAAAWWWRRR!

The creature leaped at him, claws extended, tiger mouth open, fangs ready to tear into his flesh. Jurorenmaru leaped out of the way, rolling as he landed. He climbed back to his feet and tightened his grip on his swords.

"Okay, just what the hell is this? I've seen all sorts of demons, monsters, and other hideous creatures throughout the years, but you – you are by far the weirdest." The creature growled at him; the goat head bleated; the snake tail hissed. "Oh. One of those kinds. Tell you what, I'll make it easy on you and just decapitate you right now. Sound fair?" The creature leaped at him again. Jurorenmaru wasn't able to dodge in time; the creature pinned him to the ground, causing him to lose his grip on his swords. He held the creature back. "You…bastard…get…OFF OF ME!" He kicked the creature off of him and leaped to his feet.

The creature leaped at him. He jumped to the side, grabbed the horns of the goat head, and twisted as hard as he could, listening for the sharp crack of bone. Once he felt the goat head go limp, he planted his foot on the head and ripped a horn off, before plunging the point of it down into the goat head's cranium, spewing blood and brain juices everywhere.

The two remaining heads, the tiger and the snake, roared and hissed in agony. The creature swiped a paw, knocking Jurorenmaru away. He quickly rolled to his feet and took a dagger off of his belt.

"Here. Try this." He threw the dagger. The creature leaped out of the way and charged at him. "Son of a bitch." He jumped over the creature and grabbed the snake-tail. One of his swords was nearby; he grabbed it and cut the snake off. The tiger roared in pain. He climbed onto the creature's back and drove his sword into the tiger's neck, severing its spine. The creature flopped to the ground, its limbs twitching as the life left its body.

"Well, that wasn't so bad," Jurorenmaru said as he gathered up his dagger and his other sword. "Guess you'll feed us for a little while."

There was the sound of flesh being torn, a sound he was all too familiar with; after all, he had seen and heard humans being torn apart by demons and monsters countless times.

That better not be something stealing my kill, he thought as he turned around. Oh shit it is. And just what the hell are those things?

There were several of them. Each creature was about the size of a pony, with a similar body shape, but that was where the similarities ended. There was no fur; its skin was jet black in color. The legs were full of holes, revealing slick sinew underneath, the muscles flexing with every step the creature took. Its wings were translucent, like an insect's. A pair of fangs hung out from the corner of the creatures' mouths, and their pupiless eyes were colored a sick green.

"Hey!" he yelled, getting the creatures' attention. "That's my kill! Back off!"

The creatures turned to him, their sick green eyes staring at him, unblinking. Flesh dropped from their mouths, the fallen creature's blood soaking their lips.

One of the horse-like creatures stepped forward, its fangs bared. It let out a snake-like hiss.

"You're really going to try this, aren't you?"

The creature leaped at him, and in one swift move, Jurorenmaru lopped the creature's head off. He caught the head as it fell, the body collapsing to the ground a second later.

"I wonder if this is edible? Eh, probably not." He casually tossed the head over his shoulder and turned back to the other creatures. "Anyone else care for a turn?"

One of the creatures rammed its head into his stomach, tackling him to the ground and knocking the wind out of him. The creature stood above him, its mouth open. Saliva dripped down onto Jurorenmaru's face as the creature prepared to dig its fangs into his throat.

Jurorenmaru stabbed the creature in the mouth with one of his swords. The creature let out a sick gurgling sound as its blood poured down onto Jurorenmaru's face.

"Yup. That settles it. Unedible." He pushed the creature off of him and stood up, just as another one leaped at him. A quick slash of his sword took off its legs. He leaped out of the way of another one, kicked it to the ground, and slit its stomach open, spilling its intestines on the ground.

Something slammed into his back, causing him to stumble. He turned around, saw three more creatures standing before him, their mouths open, dripping with drool.

"Suit yourself, you…whatever the hell you are." He put his swords in front of him, forming an "X" shape. "Try this, then. Cross Blade!" He thrust his swords forward, sending out a red "X" made up of his own demonic aura. The "X" hit the creatures, cutting them to pieces.

He was about to lunge towards another nearby creature when a loud roar filled the air. The creatures backed off, their heads lowered. Jurorenmaru stood where he was, confused.

"What's going on?"

"Who are you, and how dare you attack my troopsss?"

Another black, horse-like creature stepped out of the brush. This one was slightly taller than the others, and it had a twisted horn jutting out of its forehead.

"I'm guessing that you're the alpha, then."

"Anssswer the quessstion," the creature said.

Jurorenmaru tightened the grip on his swords. "My name is Jurorenmaru. I'm a bounty hunter. And your 'troops' tried to steal my kill. That thing over there was going to be my dinner, you know."

The creature turned to the others and let out a series of growls and clicks. It then turned to another creature, which resembled the others, if only slightly taller.

Jurorenmaru sheathed his swords. "Excuse me, but do you mind telling me exactly what you are? Because to be honest, I don't think I've ever seen creatures like you before. And something tells me that you're not demons."

"To sssome, we may be," the creature said. "My name isss Carapaccce. I am the Princcce of the Changelingsss. Do you know what that isss?"

Jurorenmaru thought about it for a second, before shaking his head. "Nope. Can't say that I do."

One of the taller creatures stepped forward. "Thisss isss the Princcce of the Changelingsss you are ssspeaking to, ssso show sssome ressspect, you peasssant."

"He's not my prince," Jurorenmaru said.

"Arrogant little – "

"General Thorax, that isss enough," Carapace hissed. "I apologize for my general, and for my troopsss ssstealing your kill. You sssee, we have gone for ssso long without a decccent meal. And I had sssent thisss sssmall sssquad out to fine sssomething for usss all to eat. Again, I apologize. We are desssperate, but even I would not ssstoop to taking sssomeone elssse'sss kill. Though, if you like, we can share it."

There was a huge gust of wind, followed by a small whirlwind, and Kagura, Kanna, and Kohaku appeared.

"Jurorenmaru, you were told to find something to eat, not to converse with…whatever these things are," Kagura said.

"Take it easy, Kagura," Jurorenmaru said. "We've got our kill right over there." He jerked a thumb towards the creature he had killed earlier.

"You mean that chimera?" Thorax asked.

"Is that what it's called?

"And these creatures were trying to take it from you?" Kohaku asked. He took his kunai off of his belt and started spinning it around. "Do you want me to slay them for you, Jurorenmaru?"

Jurorenmaru held a hand out. "No, no, it's fine, Kohaku. We were just coming to an agreement. Isn't that right, um…Prince?"

Carapace nodded his head. "Even half of that chimera would be enough to feed my troopsss until our tasssk isss complete. Onccce the princccesss hasss died, then my vengeanccce will be complete."

"Wait, princess?" Jurorenmaru repeated. "Think I can meet her?"

"That dependsss," Carapace replied. "Do you like poniesss?"

And it just got weird, Jurorenmaru thought. Hold on, I've just got an idea. "Can you excuse me, Prince Carapace? I have to consult with my cohorts." He walked over to Kagura, Kanna, and Kohaku.

"Just what the hell are you doing?" Kagura asked. She sounded irritated.

"Listen to me," he whispered as he put his arm around the female demon's shoulders. "These creatures, they call themselves Changelings. They said they were looking for someone, some pony princess. Yeah, I don't quite get it either, but if it means that they know this land, then we can use their services. They can be our guides in this place while we look for Inuyasha and his crew."

"And just how do you expect to get them to agree?" Kagura asked. "You already promised them half of your kill. What else can you – "

"I'll give him the jewel shard."

"You'll WHAT?!"

"Hear me out," Jurorenmaru said. "Naraku gave me that jewel shard as a down payment, which means that I can do what I want with it. If I want to use it to make myself more powerful, I will. If I want to give it away to whoever I want, I will. If I want to pay these creatures to show us around, I will."

###############

Carapace was starting to grow impatient. He had waited for Jurorenmaru to finish talking to his cohorts – a woman and two young children, a little girl and a little boy – for nearly five minutes. What could they possibly be talking about?

He turned to Arachnae. "Can you hear what they are sssaying?" Unlike many Changelings, Arachnae had incredibly acute ears; they allowed him to hear the high-pitched whine of a dog whistle, the chugging sound of a train engine from three hundred leagues away, and the tiny sound of an insect flying through the air.

"That human stallion, Jurorenmaru, he wishesss for usss to guide him and hisss companionsss through Equessstria," he reported. "And I believe they wish to pay usss with jewelsss."

"What ussse do we have for richesss?" Thorax asked.

"We will find out when he offersss usss hisss proposssition," Carapace said.

A few minutes later, Jurorenmaru came back over to them. "If I may, my Prince, I have an offer I'd like to make to you."

"And what offer would that be?" Carapace asked.

Jurorenmaru reached into his robe and pulled out a small, magenta crystal. "I would like you all to be our guides, and I will pay you with this jewel shard."

"And why would we agree to aid you for a sssimple pieccce of jewelry?" Thorax asked.

"This is no mere jewel shard," Jurorenmaru said. "This jewel shard is part of a much larger relic known as the Shikon no Tama – the Jewel of Four Souls. The sacred jewel has the ability to amplify the powers of any human or demon who comes to possess it. It was recently shattered into several small pieces. Even one shard is enough to grant its user unimaginable powers. If you agree to be our guides through this land, I can pay you with this one shard."

"And why do you need guidesss?" Arachnae wondered.

"Because, my good, um…Changeling…like you, I too am searching for someone. That's what I meant when I said I was a bounty hunter." He gestured towards Kagura, Kanna, and Kohaku. "I've been tasked by their master in finding a bothersome half-demon and bringing their master his head. But we don't know where we can find him. But you know this land, I presume."

"Like the backsss of our hoovesss," Carapace said.

"Then if you help us find who we're looking for, then we can help you find who you're looking for," Jurorenmaru said. "What do you say? Do we have a deal?"

Carapace tapped a hoof to his chin as he thought. "Well….Jurorenmaru, we have a deal. But be warned – if you or your cohortsss try to doublecrosss usss, I will not hesssitate to evissscerate you where you ssstand. Do you underssstand?"

Jurorenmaru smiled. "Funny. I was about to say the same thing to you."

KOHAKU

"LET ME KNOW IF YOU NEED ANYTHING, DEARS!" RARITY SAID AS SHE LEFT THE bathroom, using her unicorn magic to shut the door. She'd offered Kagome and Sango the chance to freshen up, considering their muddy clothes and the fact that they were covered in dirt and mud. She'd offered everyone else the chance to get cleaned up, but they declined.

So now Inuyasha and Miroku were outside, waiting for Sango and Kagome to get cleaned. Shippo had gone off to play with the fillies, while Kirara was frolicking with Opalescence. Kirara was a weird one – when they saw her during that fight with the hydra, she looked like a giant tiger, but now she had taken on the form of a small white kitten. Whereas the tiger was ferocious, the kitten was just adorable.

Rarity started to make her way downstairs when Inuyasha stormed past.

"Inuyasha? Is something wrong?"

"Yeah," Inuyasha hissed. "We haven't gotten any sign of Jurorenmaru's jewel shard. I'm gonna talk to Kagome and find out just what the hell is going on."

"But Inuyasha, the girls are bathing," Rarity said. "It's very rude to just barge in on them. I really would not recommend it."

"Tell it to someone who gives a damn," Inuyasha growled as he neared the bathroom door. He grabbed the handle and got ready to turn it.

Before he could, he felt his entire body go numb. He tried to move, but he had gone immobile; glancing out the corner of his eye, he saw Rarity's horn glowing.

"What the hell are you doing? Let me go," he said.

"Inuyasha, be a gentlecolt and let the girls bathe in peace," Rarity pleaded. "If you promise to do that, I'll let you go."

"I – You – DAMN IT! Fine! Just turn off your freaky powers, would you!" He felt Rarity's magic release him. "Happy now?"

"I think the girls would be happy, actually."

Maybe it's better that I DO wait, Inuyasha thought. I don't want Kagome making me acquainted with the floor again. He turned to leave. "Just….Just tell Kagome that I want to talk to her when she's done."

Rarity opened her mouth to reply, but was cut off by the sound of Sango screaming. She and Inuyasha ran for the bathroom door, Inuyasha's hand going for the handle of his sword. He slammed his shoulder into the door, nearly throwing it off of its hinges.

"What is it? What's wrong?" he asked.

There was a very quick, yet very awkward, moment of Inuyasha staring at Sango and Kagome, both naked, both dripping with water and bath soap, Kagome trying to cover herself, Sango throwing anything she could get her hands on at Miroku, who was in the branch of the tree outside the boutique, looking in through the open window. She was throwing towels, cloths, sponges, bars and bottles of soap and shampoo, anything she could grab.

"Sango! Wait!" Miroku cried, trying to defend himself. "This isn't what you think!"

"Inuyasha, you idiot! SIT!"

Inuyasha's necklace dragged him face-first into the floor.

Rarity's horn began to glow as she galloped over to the window. She took aim and fired a beam of blue magic at Miroku, hitting him directly in the face and knocking him out of the tree.

"You fiend!" she yelled down at him as she used her magic to hover some towels over to the girls. "Peeking in on the girls while they're bathing! How can you call yourself a gentlecolt?"

Miroku scrambled back and hid behind the nearest pony – Applejack's older brother Big Macintosh. "Hide me, pony."

Big Macintosh trotted away. "Nope," was all that he had to say.

Rarity used her magic to shut the window and close the curtains, before levitating Inuyasha off the floor and heading for the door. "I'm terribly sorry about that. I should have closed that curtain earlier."

"Ka…go…me," Inuyasha growled; the strain of his voice made it sound like he was in pain. "That…was…totally uncalled for."

"Just get him out of here, Rarity!" Kagome yelled, holding the towel closer to her body.

"Sorry!" Rarity called again as she shut the door.

###############

"Now that hardly called for such hostility," Miroku said.

He and Inuyasha were sitting on a bench in the park; Inuyasha's face was still stinging from Kagome's SIT command, and Miroku still had a scorch mark on his forehead from where Rarity's magic had hit him. They watched young fillies and colts run around and play; Shippo and Kirara were among them. Shippo was showing a group of foals how his tops worked, and Kirara was being cuddled by a small group of fillies.

"It's your own fault, you dumbass," Inuyasha growled. "You just can't NOT peek on them while they're trying to take a bath, huh? I'm surprised Sango hasn't hauled off and killed you yet."

"Really? Well, I'm surprised your body is still intact, as many times as Kagome has said that certain word."

"I'm a demon; my body's more durable than yours. Besides, the only reason I went in there was because I thought they were being attacked."

"Which they weren't."

"Depends on your definition of the word attack. Seriously, you do this every freaking time."

"So do you."

"Not intentionally, damn it!"

"Hey, why are you two arguing?"

Inuyasha and Miroku looked down. The three fillies they had seen at the crystal palace earlier were at their feet, looking up at them with their big, youthful eyes. It was the little white unicorn – Sweetie Belle, I think her name was, Inuyasha thought – was the one who had asked the question.

"Does it have anything to do with why that guy has a mark on his face?" she asked. "Wait a minute, did you make Rarity mad? You shouldn't have done that."

"It was an accident, I assure you," Miroku said.

"Accident my ass, you crooked monk!" Inuyasha yelled.

"You just said a bad word," the little yellow one, Apple Bloom, said. "My sister says that you should never say that word. You shouldn't even call donkeys that word; they don't like it."

Inuyasha just scoffed. He turned away and crossed his arms.

"Don't worry about him, kids," Miroku said. "He's in a bad mood."

"You're damn right I'm in a bad mood," Inuyasha growled. "We haven't seen or heard anything of Jurorenmaru since last night, and Kagome hasn't sensed his jewel shard. And if you people honestly expect me to sit here and wait, you can forget it. I can't just sit here and wait for who knows how long!"

"And what do you intend to do about it, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked. "Go back into that forest? Don't tell me you've already forgotten about that creature in the swamp. And you heard the princess and the others – that forest is full of all sorts of dangerous creatures."

"Then how come we didn't see any of these so-called 'dangerous creatures' on the way to this village?" Inuyasha asked. "You wanna tell me that, Miroku?"

"Maybe because they weren't out?" Miroku guessed. "I don't know."

"Your friend's right, though," Scootaloo – the little Pegasus – said. "You don't want to go into the Everfree Forest. Not even Rainbow Dash is dumb enough to go in there without a good reason."

"I've GOT a good reason, you runt," Inuyasha said.

"Yeah, right," Scootaloo scoffed. "You want to go up against a manticore? A cockatrice? A dragon? An ursa? What if you meet a pack of timber wolves? I've heard stories of wendigoes, too – and I don't mean the wind monsters, either, I'm talking the ponies-turned-carnivore monsters."

"Bring 'em all on," Inuyasha said, his voice dripping with cockiness. "I'll take 'em all out!"

"Or they'll take you out, Two-Legs," Scootaloo said. "Like I said, not even Rainbow Dash will go in there unless she has to. Which being one of the Elements of Harmony, is more often than you'd think."

"Yeah? Can Rainbow Dash kill one hundred enemies in one swing?" Inuyasha asked. "I doubt it."

"Then I guess you haven't seen the kind of damage her Sonic Rainboom can do, have you, Two-Legs?"

"Scootaloo, why are you egging him on like that?" Apple Bloom asked. "It's pretty obvious this fella ain't in a good mood."

"Bloom's right; I'm not," Inuyasha said. "I just want to find Jurorenmaru, get his jewel shard, and get the hell out of this place. Honestly, all these colorful talking horses are starting to get to me."

"Calm down, Inuyasha," Miroku said. "Kagome will sense his jewel shard eventually, and when she does, we can go and get it."

"Who IS this guy you're looking for, anyway?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"His name's Jurorenmaru," Inuyasha explained. "He said he's a bounty hunter, and he was hired by a demon named Naraku to take us all out. And his payment was the Sacred Jewel. That jewel shard he has was just a down payment. Naraku said he'd get the rest when we're all dead."

"And I bet you're not going to let that happen, are you?" Scootaloo asked.

"You got that right, short stuff," Inuyasha said. "I'll chop him to bite sized pieces before he gets the chance." He turned and started walking away.

"Where are you going, Inuyasha?" Miroku asked.

"I can't just sit here and do nothing. I've gotta go blow off some steam."

He started running in the direction of town square.

##############

Sango sat on the hill just outside of town. Kirara was curled up beside her, content with letting Sango gently stroke her fur. Her weapon sat on her lap. As a Demon Slayer, she had been trained to never part with her weapon, to always keep it close by in case of an emergency or a job.

And she wanted to be ready. Jurorenmaru was out there somewhere, biding his time, making his plans, and Sango would be damned if he caught her off guard.

Kirara let out a tiny squeal as she opened her mouth to yawn.

"I know how you feel, Kirara," Sango said. "I'm tired too. We haven't had any sleep since before Jurorenmaru attacked us last night." She felt her stomach rumble. "We barely had anything to eat since last night, either." Kirara purred and rubbed her head against Sango's leg. "I know, Kirara, I know," Sango said as she scratched Kirara behind her ears. "But I don't have anything to feed you."

"Um, I might be able to help."

Sango looked over her shoulder, saw Fluttershy descending from the sky. "You're….Fluttershy, right?"

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to listen in," Fluttershy said, her voice no more than a tiny squeak.

"It's okay. Don't worry about it. Anyway, did you say something?"

"Yes. I said I might have something that you can give to your kitten to eat." Kirara turned to Fluttershy, who in turn lay down on her legs to be at Kirara's level. She rubbed her muzzle against Kirara's face. "She's so cute. Much better than when we saw her earlier." Kirara just purred.

"Thank you, Fluttershy," Sango said as she stood up. "I appreciate it." She slung the Hiraikotsu over her shoulder.

"How can you carry that?" Fluttershy asked. She had her eyes fixated on the massive boomerang. "It looks so heavy."

"It's not heavy to me," Sango replied. "Then again, I've been using it since I was a little kid. Now if someone like Miroku were to try and carry it, he'd have a hard time."

"I guess so. Well, follow me."

Fluttershy led them down the hill and through the town. Sango's eyes began to wander, taking in the sights – the various houses and huts, the small shops, young foals frolicking and playing in the streets; it reminded her so much of her home village.

Before it was destroyed by Naraku.

It happened several months ago. Sango, her father, her younger brother Kohaku, and several of the village's best Demon Slayers had been summoned to the local castle to vanquish a demon. The demon proved to be incredibly weak despite its immense size; even Kohaku could have taken it out by himself, and he was just as kind and gentle as Fluttershy. The whole thing turned out to be a setup, though, as Naraku – who had disguised himself as the castle's young lord – took control of Kohaku's body and made him kill all the Demon Slayers, including Sango and Kohaku's father. Sango and Kohaku were struck down by the castle guards' arrows; Sango survived, but Kohaku did not.

At least, that was what Sango believed, until less than two weeks later, when she saw Kohaku again, brought back to life by a sacred jewel shard imbedded in his back by Naraku. He had no memory of Sango, and as far as she could tell, had no memory of killing their father and all the other Demon Slayers.

It didn't help that while the Demon Slayers were at the castle, one of Naraku's demon puppets led a swarm of demons on an attack against the village, slaughtering everyone. Naraku made Sango believe that Inuyasha was responsible, but Sango soon learned the truth, and vowed to destroy Naraku and rescue her brother. At one point, she even went so far as to attempt to kill him, intending to follow him into the netherworld.

Stop thinking about that, Sango! she mentally told herself. Stop thinking about how you almost killed Kohaku and yourself! Stop thinking about how Kohaku killed Father and the others! Stop thinking about that! It's not going to help!

"Sango? Are you okay?" Fluttershy asked.

Sango shook her head. "I'm fine, Fluttershy. I guess I'm just a little tired, that's all."

Fluttershy raised an eyebrow; she wasn't so sure that Sango was telling the whole truth. But that could wait; right now, she had to get her kitty something to eat.

Kirara had been laying on Fluttershy's back since they made their way down the hill and into the town. Looking at her now, it was hard for Fluttershy to imagine that she could turn into that saber-toothed monster that was fighting the hydra. She was so small and cute, no more than a little kitten.

"Where did you find Kirara?" Fluttershy asked as they neared her cottage in the meadow.

"She was a gift from my father when I was a little girl," Sango replied. "He said that nekomatas are one of the few kinds of demons that get along well with humans. There's a story that Kirara also once belonged to Midoriko, the priestess who created the Shikon Jewel, but I really don't believe it."

Fluttershy lived in a small cottage built into the side of a hill. A small creek ran beneath the bridge connecting the two banks. There was a chicken coop, a beehive, several birdhouses, and all sorts of creatures that Sango didn't recognize. She knew the dogs and cats and some of the birds, including the chicken, but there were also tall birds with long necks, weird sheep-looking creatures, and several types of weasels she couldn't identify.

"You take care of all these animals?" Sango asked.

"Of course," Fluttershy said. You just missed the animals I was taking care of from Fillydelphia while they were renovating their zoo."

"What's a zoo?"

"It's a place where animals can live in peace while ponies take care of them."

Fluttershy pushed the door open. Inside, it looked quite cozy – there was a small fireplace on the wall; a staircase leading to the upper level of the cottage; a small bench – no, a sofa, that was what Kagome called these things – against the wall under a window; several birdhouses hanging from the roof, some with birds flying in and out; and a small white bunny rabbit hopping around.

"Hello Angel. Did you miss me?" The bunny kept hopping around, almost like it was ignoring Fluttershy. "Okay, Kirara," she said, looking over her shoulder to Kirara, who was still curled up on her back. "Let's see if we can't find you some cat food. What kind of cat food does she like to eat, Sango?"

"What do you mean?" Sango asked. "I didn't know they made certain food for cats. Kirara would normally hunt for her food, unless we cook some fish on a fire."

"Well, that won't do," Fluttershy said. "Okay, hold on." She headed for the kitchen and started looking through the cabinets. "I know I've got some cat food around here somewhere. Rarity just gave me some last week."

"Rarity has a cat?"

"Of course," Fluttershy said. "Her name is Opalescence, and she's just the sweetest kitty cat I know."

Sango thought for a moment. "Rarity….She's Sweetie Belle's older sister, isn't she?"

"Uh huh." She reached into the cabinet and pulled out a small circular object – a can of cat food. "I knew I had at least one."

Should I even question how she can hold that thing with no fingers? Sango wondered.

Fluttershy put the can on a strange device, one of the strangest Sango had ever seen. Somehow, just by spinning the can, the device was able to open it up.

"Oh, that must be a can opener," Sango guessed.

"You've never seen one?" Fluttershy asked, confused.

"They don't have things like that in my world," Sango said. "I guess they have them in Kagome's world, but that's a different world than mine."

Fluttershy put the can on the floor, before placing Kirara next to it. Kirara sniffed the contents, not sure of what to make of it. She had never seen this stuff before; it was totally alien to her. She sniffed it for another minute, before licking it with her tongue. Sango figured she liked it well enough, because Kirara began to eat, hungrily.

"Wow. I guess you were hungry. You poor thing," Fluttershy said.

"Thanks for feeding her, Fluttershy," Sango said. "I didn't have anything for her to eat."

"It's okay, I'm glad I was able to help. Anyway, you mentioned Rarity and Sweetie Belle. Do you have a younger brother or sister too, Sango?"

"Well, I, um…."

Should I tell her about Kohaku?

"Sango?" Fluttershy was staring up at her, her baby blue eyes filled with worry. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Sango said. She was trying to hide the tears she felt forming in her eyes. "I had a little brother. But….But he died, a long time ago."

"Oh my. I'm so sorry."

Sango wiped her eyes. "It's okay, Fluttershy."

"What was your brother's name?" Sango didn't answer. "I'm sorry. You don't have to answer if you don't want to."

"It's fine. His name was Kohaku. He was a sweet, kind, gentle boy. Looking at him, you would never guess he was from a clan of Demon Slayers. He was a lot like you, actually. And then one night we went to slay a demon for the local lord, and my brother was murdered, along with the rest of my family and fellow Demon Slayers."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," Fluttershy said. She put a hoof on Sango's arm. "You poor thing."

Kirara suddenly stopped eating. The hair on her back stood up straight, and she let out a small growl.

"What's the matter, Kirara?" Sango asked.

Kirara ran out the door, turning to run in the direction of the town, changing into her giant saber-toothed tiger form as she went.

"She must sense something in the town," Sango guessed.

"Is that bad?" Fluttershy asked.

"It usually is," Sango replied. She slung the Hiraikotsu over her shoulder. "Come on!"

###############

Fluttershy couldn't believe what she was seeing – Inuyasha was fighting with a human, a young boy, who was wearing armor similar to the kind Sango was wearing when she was fighting the hydra. Inuyasha and the boy both had their swords out and were hacking away at each other, their swords constantly clashing, sometimes shooting off sparks.

"Rainbow Dash, what's going on?" Fluttershy asked her fellow Pegasus.

"How in the hoof should I know?" Rainbow Dash asked. "This kid just showed up and started picking a fight with Inuyasha."

Inuyasha and the boy crossed weapons again. "Jurorenmaru sent you, didn't he?"

"He did," the boy said. He kicked Inuyasha back. "He asked me to deliver a message to you. And to the former bearers of the Elements of Harmony."

"How does he know about that?" Twilight asked.

"Jurorenmaru has made a pact with Carapace, the Prince of the Changelings, and he wishes to meet your group as well as the Elements of Harmony in this land's largest city." He pointed to the city built onto the side of a nearby mountain – Canterlot, the capital city of Equestria. "That city."

"Why? These guys too scared to come meet us themselves?"

"Hold on," Twilight said. "Did you just say the Prince of the Changelings?"

"Yes I did," the boy replied. "And he's seeking the one named Princess Twilight Sparkle."

"What does he want with me?"

"I don't know," the boy said. "I'm just the messenger. You'll have to ask him yourself." He turned to Sango, who was just staring at him, her eyes wide with shock. "You're looking at me like you know me."

"Do you know this boy, Sango?" Applejack asked.

Sango's voice was caught in her throat. She could barely breathe, and she wasn't sure she could even speak.

"Sango! SANGO!" Pinkie Pie yelled. "Say something, will ya!"

"Kohaku."

"What the hay does that mean?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"He's….He's my little brother."

"He is?" Rainbow Dash asked. She looked back at the boy. "Now that you mention it, he does sort of resemble you in the face."

"But Sango, you told me that your brother was dead," Fluttershy said.

There was a collective gasp from every pony in the area. Sango felt several sets of eyes on her, but she didn't care. All that mattered was that Kohaku was here, bringing a message from Jurorenmaru.

"Look, I did what I was told to do," Kohaku said. "Whether you meet Jurorenmaru and the Prince is up to you, but if you want my advice, you'd better listen. If not, a lot of innocent…ponies…might die." With that, he turned and ran off.

"Why you little – Get back here, damn it!" Inuyasha yelled after him. "I ain't finished with you!"

"Let him go, Inuyasha," Kagome said. "Twilight, what's the fastest way to that city up there?"

"That would be the train, but…." Twilight's voice trailed off. She turned to Sango. "That boy was your brother?"

"Did I hear Fluttershy right?" Rarity asked. "That boy was your brother, but you said that your brother was dead? How did that happen?"

"It's hard to explain," Sango said.

"We don't have time for this," Inuyasha said. "Let's get up to that city, now!"

"Now you hold your horses there, partner," Applejack snapped. "I really want to know what this whole thing 'bout Sango's little brother is all about."

"We can discuss it on the way, now let's go! If Jurorenmaru is in that city, then I want another shot at him. And this Prince fellow seems to have some sort of grudge against Twilight here. And the longer we stand around here talking, the more people get hurt! Let's go!"

ASSAULT ON CANTERLOT

"TWILIGHT, THIS MIGHT SOUND LIKE A DUMB QUESTION", RAINBOW DASH SAID, "but why don't you just teleport us to Canterlot? It would be a lot faster, you know."

"I don't want to risk us ending up in the middle of a Changeling horde," Twilight said. "I know this seems stupid, but it's a bit safer. Besides, that boy was probably just bluffing, right?"

"He wasn't bluffing," Sango said darkly. "I know he wasn't."

"You said that boy was your brother," Rarity said. "But he didn't seem to recognize you."

"It's a long story."

Inuyasha, who had been pacing back and forth for the past several minutes, let out a frustrated growl. "Where the hell is this contraption?!"

"It'll be here any minute, Inuyasha," Kagome said. "Just calm down. We'll get there."

"I'll calm down when I've taken Jurorenmaru's jewel shard."

A few moments later, the train pulled into the station, its brakes hissing as the engine came to a stop. Twilight galloped to the front of the train to speak with the driver.

"Driver! We need to get to Canterlot, and we need to get there now!"

"I'm sorry, Your Highness," the driver said. "But this line doesn't go to Canterlot. My next stop is Hoofington."

"There's a switch two miles down the track," Twilight said. "That will put us on the line to Canterlot."

"I'm sorry, Princess Twilight, but I can't do that."

Inuyasha had joined them by this point. "Listen, asshole," he said as he brandished his claws. "You either do as the horse says, or you're going to be in for a major ass kicking. Your pick."

"Threatening me won't change the fact that I'm not scheduled to go to Canterlot, sonny."

Okay, Twilight thought. I hate doing this, but it's time to pull rank on this guy. "Listen," she said. "I am a Princess, and I have pressing matters to attend to in Canterlot. I think that entire city might be in danger, and as Princess of Friendship, I ORDER you to take us to Canterlot!"

Even this guy can't ignore a direct order from a princess, Kagome thought to herself.

The driver's eyes shifted back and forth between Twilight – who was glaring at him like she were an angry manticore – and Inuyasha – who had gone from brandishing his claws to preparing to pull out his sword. He had just been given a direct order from a PRINCESS! There was no way he could ignore that, and he was sure that if he DID defy her orders, Inuyasha would probably kill him.

"Well, Your Highness, when you put it like that, I simply cannot refuse. In this case, you and your companions don't need any tickets. Climb aboard. Canterlot it is!"

"Finally, we're moving," Inuyasha hissed.

Twilight gave a small nod to the driver. "Thank you for your cooperation." She joined her friends as they climbed into the train car. "Next stop: Canterlot."

"Why do I have the feeling it's going to get trashed again?" Rainbow Dash asked as the train started moving forward. "Seriously, last time, it took almost a year to fix the city. But I guess that as long as evil alien robots aren't involved, it's fine."

"Do I even want to know?" Shippo asked.

"Long story," Rainbow Dash said.

#############################

They sat on the hillside, about half a mile from the city's gates and well out of sight of any prying eyes. Jurorenmaru was surprised that they hadn't been spotted yet; there must have been five hundred Changelings here, plus himself, Kagura, Kanna, and Kohaku, not to mention the hive of Saimyosho he still carried in his kimono – just in case he needed them.

Jurorenmaru had spent the past half hour sharpening all of his blades; swords, knives, daggers – he wanted them all to be as sharp as the day they were forged. Kagura was leaning up against a nearby tree, her arms crossed. She let out an annoyed sigh; she was getting impatient. Kanna stood by her side, her mirror still clutched in both hands, her black eyes unblinking on her blank face. Kohaku had borrowed one of Jurorenmaru's sharpening stones, and was using it to sharpen the blade on his kusarigama.

"So, Prince," Kagura said, addressing Carapace, who was standing nearby with his two generals. "Are we going to wait here all day for you to do something? The sun's starting to go down."

"Ah, yess. Princccesss Luna hasss begun raisssin the moon."

A princess who controls the moon? Kagura thought. At least it's not Kaguya this time.

"So, what exactly are we waiting for?" she asked again.

"For the cover of night," Carapace replied. "I would prefer to take thisss cccity without anypony noticccing."

"I think they'd notice a bunch of insectoid horses running around. You and your crew aren't exactly what I would call discreet. And do you really mean to tell me that your whole plan revolves around taking this city during the night? How exactly is that going to help you get your revenge?"

Carapace turned to Kohaku. "You. Boy. You sssaid that you delivered the messsage, yess?"

"Yes, Prince Carapace," Kohaku said. "I don't know if Princess Twilight will come, though."

"Oh, she will come. With her older brother the captain and her sssissster-in-law, Princccesss Cadanccce, in Canterlot for the weekend, she will mossst cccertainly arrive. She would be a fool not to."

Jurorenmaru stood up. He sheathed his swords and put his sharpening stone back into his satchel. "Well," he said as he stretched his legs. "If we're going to be doing this, Prince Carapace, I have just one condition."

"Name it."

"We don't kill the townsfolk."

"I beg your pardon, Jurorenmaru? Who are you to order me, the Princcce of the Changelingsss?"

"It's not an order, my prince, it's a humble request. Think about it – the townsfolk, guards notwithstanding, are purely innocent in all of this. As far as you've said, your grudge is only with Princess Twilight Sparkle. So I respectfully ask that the townsfolk be spared."

"Jurorenmaru, are you sure you're a demon?" Kagura asked. "Most demons wouldn't care if the townsfolk got slaughtered."

"Yeah, well, I'm one of the few demons who DOES care, Kagura." He reached into his satchel and pulled out the jewel shard. "Here, Carapace. I'd like you to have this now."

"Your jewel shard?"

"Consider it a good faith payment."

"Good faith? For what?"

"For me, keeping my end of the bargain."

Carapace's horn began to glow with a sick green aura. The same aura surrounded the jewel shard, lifting it off the ground. He examined it closely.

"To think, ssso much power can come from sssuch a sssmall ssstone."

"You'd be surprised," Jurorenamru said. "So, Prince, just give the word, and on your command, I will lead the charge into the city."

"No," Carapace said. "There will be no 'charge'. Here isss what I want you to do. You, Kagura, Kanna, and Kohaku each take a sssquadron of Changelingsss into the cccity. Take it bit by bit if you mussst. You may ignore the townsssfolk, but if any guardsss should get in your way, by all meansss, ssslay them."

Jurorenmaru leaned forward – a respectful bow. "As you wish, My Prince." He turned to the Changelings. "One squad, come with me! We're going to have some fun."

#####################################

Jurorenmaru was surprised at how easy it was to take down the guards at the gate; there were only two guards, and each one had his throat ripped out by a Changeling. The gate itself was made of some heavy wood – oak, possibly maple – but even it couldn't stand up against Kagura's wind. With the gate down, Jurorenmaru, Kohaku, and Kanna were free to lead their squads into the city – Kagura had taken to the air on that giant feather of hers to command her squad of Changelings.

Carapace's two generals, Thorax and Arachnae, were with them as well. They had the same orders as the rest of the Changelings – no civilian casualties. At least, no intentional civilian casualties. Oh, sure, the Changelings would probably find some loophole to that, but Jurorenmaru had been around long enough to know the difference between an intentional killing and an accidental killing.

Just to be safe, he had released some Saimyosho to keep an eye on them; Kanna was monitoring them with her mirror. As far as he could tell, that was all Kanna and the Saimyosho were good for – surveillance.

Jurorenmaru took a moment to observe this city. It was massive, much larger than any village or city he had ever been to. And judging from the towers in the distance, he figured that this was probably some sort of castle town. It would make sense; after all, Carapace had said that the princesses lived in this city. But everything about this city was…unusual. The streets were made of interconnected stones; the homes and shops were made out of a white stone that he couldn't identify; the stone was too smooth to be natural. It seemed hand-made. Or in this case, hoof-made.

He was amazed at how fast word spread. Several stallions came rushing to meet them, each one dressed in gold armor and carrying a spear, held in one foreleg while they ran on the other three legs. Jurorenmaru took out his swords, and when the first guard was close enough, he cut the spear in half before severing the guard's head from his shoulders.

Another guard leaped at him. This one had his front legs cut off. He tumbled to the ground, where a small group of Changelings were on him in a second. Jurorenmaru kept his focus on the remaining guards, ignoring the fallen guard's pained cries as the Changelings ripped and tore at his flesh.

From out of the corner of his eye, he saw a cyclone form and blow several armored guards away. Kagura, using her control over the wind to create the cyclone. If those guards weren't dead already, they would be soon, either from their wounds or from the Changelings.

He turned to follow the street, a squad of Changelings following him and attacking any guards they came across. Jurorenmaru himself took out some guards, slashing them with his swords, or in the case of a guard who had managed to get through a small group of Changelings, Jurorenmaru had snapped his neck.

One Changeling lunged to attack. Its target: A family of ponies.

Jurorenmaru ran to intercept, placing himself between the Changeling and pointing one of his swords at it. "Your Prince gave you orders – no civilians are to be harmed." He turned to the pony family. "Get to cover. Now."

He could hear the screams of ponies running from the battle – Battle? More like a massacre – or the pained screams of the guards suffering from their wounds or having their flesh torn apart. Blood soaked the ground. There were bits of flesh and entrails scattered here and there. A leg here, a hoof there, one Changeling running with a guard's severed head in its mouth.

Compared to what Jurorenmaru had seen over the years, human battles were tame compared to this. At least humans didn't eat each other. These Changelings were gorging themselves on the guards like they hadn't had anything to eat in several months.

It was sickening.

But he had a job to do, as did these creatures. And that job was to clear a path to the palace. Which Jurorenmaru now had in his sights.

There was another pony here, a stallion with a horn on his head, standing tall and proud, and wearing the same gold armor as all the other guards.

"I knew humans could be evil," he said, his voice dripping with rage, "but not like this."

"Well then, it's a good thing I'm not human."

"You certainly look the part."

Jurorenmaru tightened his grips on his swords. "Look, I would really hate to add you to the body count. Though I'm sure these Changelings wouldn't mind. But I have a job to do, as I'm sure you do as well. And to be honest, you're doing a pretty piss-poor job of it. I mean, me and these Changelings – we've arrived at the palace, and most of your guards are dead or dying. Just be glad we decided to spare the innocent townsfolk. So I propose a question to you, my good sir – are you going to step aside and let us in, or is this going to have to get even uglier than it already has?"

The stallion responded by firing a magenta beam from his horn. Jurorenmaru quickly dove out of the way. The Changeling behind him wasn't so lucky; the beam found its mark and blew the Changeling's head into a bloody mist.

"I may not be as powerful as my sister," the stallion said, "but make no mistake – I will end you. Understand, human?"

"DANCE OF BLADES!"

A volley of wind blades came streaking towards the stallion. In a blinding flash, he was no longer standing in front of the palace doors – instead, he had appeared behind Kagura, allowing him to give her a good kick in the back and sending her sprawling face first into the ground. She got up and turned to the stallion, glaring at him. Her red eyes seemed to become a darker shade, almost blood red.

"You little – "

"Explain yourselves!" the stallion yelled. "Why have you allied with the Changelings? What is your goal? Why are you doing this?"

"That isss an easssy quessstion to anssswer, Princcce Shining Armor."

Carapace had appeared behind the stallion – Shining Armor, a prince. The color drained from Shining Armor's face. He turned to look behind him, and as soon as he laid eyes on Carapace, the Changeling Prince slammed his forehead into Shining Armor's face, sending him stumbling backwards. Blood oozed from his nose as he glared at Carapace.

"Thessse humansss – no, thessse demonsss – are aiding me. For you sssee, I have busssinesss with your dear sssissster, the princccesss."

Whatever fear Shining Armor was feeling was replaced with anger and rage. "You leave Twilight alone, you son of a – "

Carapace fired a green beam from his horn before Shining Armor could finish. The beam hit, sending Shining Armor sprawling. Several Changelings began to converge on him, their mouths agape, saliva dripping from the blood-soaked and gore-encrusted fangs.

"Leave him," Carapace said. "Allow him to deliver the messsage to Princccesss Twilight Sssparkle. Till then, there are three other Princccesssesss who await usss."

"Please, allow me to escort you in, my prince," Jurorenmaru said. He sheathed his swords and pushed the doors open.

The palace doors were heavier than he'd expected, but they still opened quite easily. As soon as they were open all the way, Changelings – led by Carapace and his generals – stormed inside and headed up the spiral staircase. Any guards in their way were quickly eliminated.

They arrived at their destination – the top floor, where the princesses stayed. Carapace fired a beam at the doors, blasting them open. On the other side, standing with their front legs spread in a defensive posture, with their wings flared and their horns glowing – one was glowing yellow, one was glowing a dark shade of blue, and the other was glowing a lighter shade of blue – were three tall, regal, admittedly beautiful mares. The tallest, with her multi-colored mane and tail flowing like water in a stream, was pearl white, with a sun marking; the one next to her was slightly smaller; her mane and tail were also flowing, only they had the pattern of the night sky; this mare's fur was also colored like the night sky, complete with a moon marking; the third was shorter than the other two, with a bright pink fur coat; her mane and tail were static and multi-colored, and she had a marking of a crystalline star.

The three mares fired their blasts. Carapace and his generals intercepted, negating the blasts, allowing Carapace to shoot out some kind of adhesive green substance, gluing the mares' hooves to the floor, their wings to their bodies, and covering their horns.

He then bowed, leaning forward on his front legs.

"Princccesss Cccelessstia, Princccesss Luna, Princccesss Cadanccce, it isss an honor to finally meet you in perssson. Now tell me, when will the fourth Princccesss be arriving?"

ENCOUNTER ON THE BRIDGE

RAINBOW DASH WAS GETTING IMPATIENT. INUYASHA KNEW HOW SHE WAS feeling. Couldn't this contraption – this train, they had called it – go any faster? It seemed like it was taking forever to get to Canterlot. At this rate, everyone in the city could be dead!

"At this rate, everyone in Canterlot could be dead!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "Twilight, THIS is why it would have been better to, oh, I don't know, TELEPORT TO CANTERLOT! HELLO! Did your brain turn off or something?"

"Rainbow Dash, this hardly calls for such harshness," Miroku said.

Twilight turned away. Maybe Rainbow Dash was right, maybe she was in the wrong state of mind. She had been pacing up and down the aisles, her mind racing at a mile a minute, her thoughts coming and eating away at her like a swarm of parasprites – was that boy really bluffing? What did this prince want with her? Did it have something to do with the role Twilight played in killing Chrysalis back at the Crystal Empire? The person Inuyasha and his friends were chasing, was he there too? How much damage had been done to Canterlot? Was everyone alright? Shining Armor, Princess Cadance, Princess Luna, Princess Celestia….Were they still alive? Had they put up a fight? Were they even fighting at all? Was Canterlot still standing? Had it been destroyed again? She could only imagine the carnage, and at the same time, she wished she could just shut her mind off. It would be almost as bad, if not worse than, the time that Knock Out and Breakdown demolished the city. She remembered how the two Decepticons had completely trashed over half the city, killing nearly one hundred citizens; she also knew what the Changelings were capable of, how deadly their magic and their fangs were.

The Changelings had another ability – as their name suggested, they could change into any living being that they wanted. Chrysalis had once impersonated Cadance when Cadance and Shining Armor were getting married, but thanks to Twilight finding the real Cadance, Chrysalis and her entire army were sent flying away. They returned a few months later, but Twilight again stopped them. But both times, the Changelings had taken on the form of Twilight and her friends. She also knew that they could turn into many of the monsters that lived in the Everfree Forest – trolls, cyclopes, satyrs, fauns, manticores, chimeras, gorgons, harpies….So many deadly and dangerous creatures were at their disposal.

And then there was this Prince Carapace the boy had mentioned. Just who was he? Twilight had never heard of him. All she knew was that the boy had said he wanted revenge against Twilight for killing Chrysalis. So did that make him her lover? A family member? Some other relative?

"Twilight, if you keep pacing like that, you're going to wear out the floor," Miroku said.

"I can't help it," Twilight said. She stopped pacing and looked over to him. "I just – I'm worried. What if something terrible's happened up there?"

Rainbow Dash pressed her muzzle up against Twilight's face. "That's why we should have TELEPORTED!" she screamed.

Twilight shoved the cyan Pegasus away, hard. "Back off, Rainbow Dash," she hissed. "I am not in the mood!"

All eyes turned to her. Rainbow Dash looked like she'd just had her heart ripped out. She'd heard Twilight scream in frustration and anger before, but never like that, and never directly at her.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Twilight said solemnly. "I don't know what came over me."

"I do," Inuyasha said. He was sitting cross-legged on a nearby seat, his arms crossed, his sword propped up against his shoulder. "You're worried. You said it yourself. You've got a lot on your mind. You're scared and angry at the same time, so you're not exactly thinking clearly."

Twilight sighed. "I don't know. Maybe." She looked over to Rainbow Dash. "I'm really sorry I yelled at you, Rainbow Dash. I didn't mean it."

Rainbow Dash waved a dismissive hoof at Twilight. "Forget it. Happens to the best of us. But how far are we from Canterlot?"

Rarity looked out a nearby window. "Well, we just passed Horseshoe Lake, so that puts us about twenty minutes from Canterlot."

Twilight sighed, this time in relief. "Thank Celestia." If she's even still alive, she silently added.

Everyone flew forward as the train came to a sudden stop. They landed in a pile in the aisle –

Except for Inuyasha, whose head had gone through the leather seat in front of him.

"Ow! What the hell was that?!" he cried as he pulled himself free. "All right, who's the dumbass?"

Twilight picked herself up off the floor, gently throwing Shippo and Kirara off of her. "Ouch. Something made the driver hit the brakes. I'll go see."

She cantered up to the engine and pulled the door open. "What's wrong?"

"We can't go any further, Your Highness," the driver said. He pointed with a hoof. "Look."

Twilight looked to where his hoof was pointing. What she saw made her heart sink.

The tracks – they had been destroyed! The steel had been warped and bent out of shape, the wood completely splintered. She recognized the damage, she had seen it before, but only once, back when she was still being tutored under Celestia, when a troll had gone on a rampage. That was the only way this could have happened – either a troll had come by and smashed the tracks, or a Changeling had turned itself into a troll and smashed the tracks. She doubted it was some random troll, though – he would have destroyed the entire track, and not just this small section.

"If we go any further, we'll be off the rails," the driver said. "I can't do that, Princess Twilight Sparkle. I can't risk injuring everypony."

Twilight felt her frustration growing. It would have been an easy twenty minute train ride to Canterlot from where they were now. But no, the Changelings had to destroy the tracks, meaning that if they walked, it would take over an hour, maybe an hour and a half, to get to the city.

But it wasn't the driver's fault. He was just doing his job, just doing as Twilight had asked – no, had ordered – him to do. He had no control over the state of the railroad, he just drove the train from one station to the next, picking up passengers or delivering freight. He could no more control the tracks than Twilight could the time of day.

"It's okay," she said. "You did what you could. That's all that can be asked. Thank you for getting us this far."

"You're not planning on walking to Canterlot, are you, Princess?" the driver asked.

Twilight shook her head. "No. That would take w He had no control over the state of the railroad, he just drove the train from one station to the next, picking up passengers or delivering freight. He could no more control the tracks than Twilight could the time of day.

"It's okay," she said. "You did what you could. That's all that can be asked. Thank you for getting us this far."

"You're not planning on walking to Canterlot, are you, Princess?" the driver asked.

Twilight shook her head. "No. That would take way too long. I think I'm going to take my friend's advice. Thank you again."

The driver bowed to her as she turned and headed back to the car.

"What in tarnation is goin' on up there?" Applejack asked.

"The Changelings have destroyed the tracks," Twilight replied. "We can't go any further by train."

"Okay, so how do we get to the place we want to go?" Shippo asked.

"Walking would take too long," Kagome said. "And even if I'd thought to bring my bike along, I can't carry everyone. It's not a tandem bike, you know."

"Don't worry," Twilight said. "I'll have us there in an instant."

"You mean you're actually going to – " Rainbow Dash started to say.

"Gather round, everypony," Twilight said. "And try not to move around too much. I don't want anyone to end up in the middle of Manehattan without a head."

"That makes me feel SO much better," Inuyasha sarcastically growled.

Everyone formed a close circle around Twilight. Her horn began to glow with that light purple aura.

Kagome felt a strange tingling sensation. She figured everyone else could feel it too. It kind of tickled; she had to fight off the urge to start laughing.

And then they were no longer standing in the train car. Instead, they were now in the middle of a city street.

It would have been a grand, magnificent city made up of marble buildings and cobblestone streets, were it not for the dismembered bodies and half-eaten innards littering the roads and the drying red blood being soaked into the ground. Spending most of her time in the Feudal Era, where evil demons constantly preyed on humans, she had grown accustomed to a scene like this. She had seen entire villages and town decimated by demons. But just because she was used to it didn't make it any less disheartening.

She turned at the sound of someone retching. Rarity and Fluttershy had turned away from everyone else, vomit spewing from their mouths.

"I'm sorry," Rarity said. She wiped the remnants of her puke from her lips. "I'm usually more composed than that."

"Oh my, this is awful," Fluttershy said between breaths.

Kagome noticed that the other ponies had been mortified, all in their own ways – Pinkie Pie's poofy pink hair seemed to deflate a little bit; Applejack was covering her eyes with her hat; Rainbow Dash's wings were flared in anger; Twilight just looked downtrodden, her eyes glistening with tears of sadness and rage.

"Changelings," she hissed. She looked around at all her friends. "We've got to be ready. They could attack at any moment."

She noticed that he humans were all ready – well, three humans, two demons, and one half-demon. Inuyasha had pulled out the Tetsusaiga, its small, rusted blade growing to over three times its normal size; Kagome had unslung her bow and had an arrow notched in the string; Sango had tightened her grip on the Hiraikotsu; same with Miroku and his staff; Kirara had grown from a small kitten to her large tiger form.

The only one not ready was Shippo, who was on Applejack's back, hiding behind her neck and mane. "This was a dumb idea," he said. "I shouldn't be here; I'm just a little kid!"

"Then you should have stayed home," Inuyasha growled. "Come on; we don't have all day."

"They're probably on their way to the palace," Twilight guessed. "Follow me."

She led them down the street, all of them unaware of the massive insect watching them from above.

##########################

"What are you doing here, Carapace?" Celestia asked. "What's your game?"

Carapace had spent the past hour and a half circling the three pony princesses, eyeing them like a lion eyeing its kill. For the longest time, no one had said anything. The fear in the room had been palpable; Carapace could almost taste it. He relished in it. He had wanted the princesses to fear him. He had wanted them to realize that their fate was sealed, and that there was no way for them to escape.

But they were not the true prize.

"I already sssaid," he hissed. "Twilight Sssparkle, the Princccesss of Friendship. I have busssinesss with her. And I would like to know when she will be arriving."

"That doesn't explain why you brought these humans along," Cadance said. "Did you bribe them into aiding you?"

"We have a deal," one of the humans – the tall man with the two swords – said. "The Changelings act as our guides in this land, and we in turn help them with their little…problem. Besides, both parties have been well compensated." He winked at Carapace. "I get my prize, and the prince gets his." He turned to look at the mirror the little girl in white was carrying. "Oh, and Carapace? You don't have to wait much longer."

"What are you talking about?" General Thorax asked.

"They're here," Jurorenmaru said.

"Excccelent," Carapace said. He turned to his two generals. "Sssend out the Changelingsss."

"You can have your fun with this princess," Jurorenmaru said. He climbed up onto a nearby windowsill. "But I have my own affairs to attend to." He turned to Kanna. "Stay here. This shouldn't take long." With that, he leaped off the windowsill.

"Ah, yesss," Carapace said. "Hisss prey isss here with the Princccesss." He smiled, flashing his dull gray, blood soaked, gore-encrusted teeth. "The time for my revenge drawsss near."

He heard a clap of thunder. The Pegasi of Cloudsdale were moving storm clouds over the city. Poor timing, he had to admit, but deep down, it would make the experience all the more dramatic.

And after I tear out Twilight'sss ssstomach, I will at leassst have sssomething to wash my mouth out with. Ssstomach acccid isss not very tasssty.

#####################################

They were running across a large bridge, their lungs burning, their hearts pounding, when the first few raindrops started to fall, slowly and steadily at first, but after a few seconds, those slow and steady raindrops started falling faster and faster, harder and harder, until they were in the middle of a torrential downpour.

Rainbow Dash smacked a hoof against her face. Of all the times for Cloudsdale to schedule a thunderstorm over Canterlot, why did it have to be now?

"Hey!" she screamed up at the clouds. "This isn't the best time! Tell the weather ponies they have to reschedule! Hey! Can't you hear me?"

"I don't think they can, Rainbow Dash," Pinkie Pie said. She pulled a megaphone seemingly from nowhere. "Maybe this will help." She held the megaphone up to her lips and screamed into it, so loud she nearly toppled several nearby trees and shattered the windows of the nearest buildings. "HEY! PEGASUSESES! TURN OFF THE WATER!" She lowered the megaphone. "Huh. Don't think they're listening."

"Way to give our position away, you idiot," Inuyasha grumbled.

Twilight was about to snap at him, to tell him to be quiet, when the quiet clip-clopping of hooves on the cobblestone streets got her attention.

And then she heard her name called. Weakly, faintly, but she heard it.

"Twily."

Shining Armor was limping over to her. His armor was cracked and broken, one of his eyes had been swollen shut, he was bleeding from multiple wounds, and judging from the way he was limping, at least one leg was sprained, perhaps broken.

Twilight rushed forward and put her neck under her big brother, supporting him before he collapsed.

"Shining Armor! What happened?"

"Changelings," Shining Armor said weakly. "They're here with…with humans. There's a man, a woman, and two children – a boy and a girl."

"Only one of them is human," Inuyasha said. "The others are demons."

"I suppose that explains some things," Shining Armor said. "They displayed powers I've never seen."

"Take it easy, Shining Armor," Fluttershy said. "You're hurt."

"It's nothing," Shining Armor replied, trying to sound brave. "I've been through worse." He forced a laugh. "Remember? I'm captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard and Prince of the Crystal Empire. This is – OUCH! – this is nothing."

"You're wrong," Sango said. "In fact, you being alive is a miracle. By rights, you should be dead."

"CROSS SLASH!"

"Look out!" Twilight cried. She put up her magic barrier, and not a second too soon – a large green "X" came flying at them. It hit the barrier, shattering it. Twilight winced; the barrier breaking only stung a little, but she also remembered what happened the last time her barrier had been broken.

She had barely survived.

All eyes looked up to the roof of a nearby building. Standing tall, both swords in his hands, was Jurorenmaru, a sly, smug look on his face.

"That was some good timing. Too bad your barrier broke. You'd make one tough opponent, Little Miss Purple."

"That's one of the people that was with the Changelings," Shining Armor gasped.

Inuyasha stepped forward, both hands tightly gripping the handle of the Tetsusaiga. "JURORENMARU!"

"That's me," Jurorenmaru said. He leaped down from the building, landing on the bridge. "I'll admit, I was starting to wonder when you would show. I mean, I knew you were coming, but still."

"Wait one apple pickin' minute," Applejack said. "How the hay did you know we was comin'?"

Jurorenmaru didn't reply; instead, he pointed to the sky. Hovering in the air above them was a massive wasp.

"Oh, great," Sango hissed. "Kanna must have been watching us the whole time."

"What's the matter?" Pinkie Pie asked. "It's just a big bug."

"A big, repulsive bug," Rarity griped. "How disgusting."

"That's no ordinary bug," Miroku said. "It's a Saimyosho."

"A what?" Rainbow Dash asked. More big words she didn't understand. Why couldn't these people speak more simply? It was like everything they said, from their names to their weapons, was a mouthful and nearly impossible to say the first time.

"Naraku's poisonous insects," Kagome replied. "He uses them to spy on us."

"There, now see, THAT I understand," Rainbow Dash said.

"This is a good conversation and all," Jurorenmaru said. "But I think we've got more important things to attend to. First off – you horses, or ponies, or whatever you call yourselves. Which one of you is the Twilight Princess?"

Twilight stepped forward. "I'm Princess Twilight Sparkle. Why? Why do you want to know?"

"Oh, I'm not the one who has business with you," Jurorenmaru said. "That would be Prince Carapace."

"Who?"

"He's the Changeling prince. And he's waiting for you to arrive." He pointed to the palace tower in the distance. "He's up there in the tower with three more princesses. But I suggest you hurry. He doesn't exactly strike me as the patient type, and it's only a matter of time before he decides to rip out their livers."

Twilight could feel her anger growing. She was shaking with rage. She snorted with frustration and anger, hatred towards Jurorenmaru and Prince Carapace. Her mentors, her sister-in-law; she wasn't going to let them suffer like that.

"Take care of my brother, you guys," she said. She galloped away, pushing past Jurorenmaru.

"Twilight!" Rarity called after her.

"Now," Jurorenmaru said. "You little horsies can go ahead and leave. I don't have any obligation to kill you. Inuyasha and his crew, however…."

Inuyasha growled and bared his teeth. "You bastard." He turned to everyone else. "You guys go help Twilight. I'll take care of this asshole."

"You sure you can?" Rainbow Dash asked. "All by yourself?"

"Watch me," Inuyasha said as he raised the Tetsusaiga above his head. Wind began to swirl around it, sending rain flying in every direction. "You're going down, Jurorenmaru! WIND SCAR!"

Stone and metal shattered as the massive blade of wind flew directly at Jurorenmaru. Jurorenmaru leaped out of the way, barely avoiding the attack. He landed on the roof of a nearby house; the force of Inuyasha's attack caused the building to shake and rattle as though it were in the middle of an earthquake.

"Wow. Imagine if I hadn't gotten out of the way. Wouldn't be much of me left now, would there?"

Inuyasha hissed. Jurorenmaru was really beginning to get under his skin.

"Inuyasha, you missed!" Pinkie Pie cried.

"No, ya think! Why the hell are you people still here? I told you, I can handle Jurorenmaru. You guys need to go help Twilight! So get going, damn it!"

He didn't bother waiting for a reply; he leaped up at Jurorenmaru, ready to cut him down.

Jurorenmaru quickly raised his swords to block Inuyasha's attack. He felt the vibration of the impact go through his arm as the two blades met. Inuyasha kept coming at him, his attacks relentless, his swings his arms and head. Jurorenmaru found it almost difficult to keep up with him.

Almost.

They locked blades and stared at each other. Inuyasha's face was twisted in rage, and he let out a loud snarl.

Jurorenmaru was much more composed, simply smiling as they pushed against each other's weapons.

"Not bad, not bad," he said. "This is going to be a fun fight. I might just prolong your death a little bit."

"Just shut up and give me your jewel shard," Inuyasha growled.

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha. I'm afraid I can't do that," Jurorenmaru said. He pushed Inuyasha back. The two of them circled each other. "You see, I no longer possess it."

"What?"

"I gave it to Prince Carapace as a sign of gratitude for him and his Changelings going out of their way to guide us through this strange land. And when I say strange, I mean strange. Have you seen the creatures that live in that forest? The one I fought was part tiger, part snake, and part goat."

"Yeah? Try a twenty foot tall lizard with five heads, and every time you cut one off, two grow back."

"Wow. Orochi has nothing on that thing."

"Can I get back to killing you now?" Inuyasha asked. He charged forward, his sword raised above his head. "You're going down!"

"Oh crap!" Jurorenmaru barely dodged Inuyasha's attack. He leaped off the roof and landed back on the bridge. "Damn. That was a close one. Another second and I wouldn't have my head."

"Just give it a few minutes, you bastard," Inuyasha hissed. He jumped at Jurorenmaru, the blade of his sword crystalizing. "Eat this! ADAMANT BARRAGE!"

Several razor sharp crystals flew at Jurorenmaru, so fast he could barely see them. He leaped back – once, twice, three times, each time barely avoiding getting hit. The crystals tore through the stone of the bridge, shattering the support beams on the way down.

The bridge buckled and swayed. More and more stones fell into the river below. Jurorenmaru and Inuyasha held their arms out to their sides, trying to keep their balance.

Maybe that wasn't a good idea, Inuyasha thought. The bridge is about to come down!

Jurorenmaru leaped away, landing on the other side of the bridge. He tumbled, falling and rolling as he landed. Inuyasha jumped after him.

Inuyasha thought he would make the jump. After all, a fifty foot gap? That was nothing. He'd made leaps greater than that just by leaping from tree to tree. A fifty foot gap should have been like a simple hop.

But he had misjudged. And even if he hadn't, the bridge was still collapsing beneath him, which caused him to misjudge. He could tell as soon as he jumped that he wasn't going to make the leap.

"DAMN IT!"

He grabbed for the ledge just before he plunged into the river down below. The rain was making the ground slick beneath his fingers; he found it difficult to keep his grip. He dug his fingernails into the dirt between the stones in the street, dug the blade of the Tetsusaiga into the ground to keep himself from falling.

"Son…of…a…bitch," he groaned as he pulled himself up. He felt his biceps burning as he climbed up the ledge. Jurorenmaru was standing nearby, his swords stuck in the ground by their blades, his arms crossed.

"You okay over there, Inuyasha? Don't want you to go dying before I bring your head to Naraku."

Inuyasha stood up straight and tightened his grip on the Tetsusaiga's handle. "Oh, stuff it."

Jurorenmaru pulled his swords out of the ground. "Shall we continue, then, or do you need to take a break? I can give you a few minutes to catch your breath if you need it."

Inuyasha bared his teeth in a frustrated snarl. He tightened his grip on his sword even more, so tight his fingernails were digging into his palms. This guy was really starting to get on his nerves.

And Inuyasha was getting tired of hearing his voice.

"Die! WIND SCAR!"

Once again, Jurorenmaru evaded the attack, though he could still feel the breeze on his skin. He couldn't help but shudder; he had come so close to getting hit. He had seen the damage the Wind Scar did to the landscape; he didn't want to imagine the damage it could do to a living creature.

He landed on the roof of a store. "What's wrong, Inuyasha? Can't get me while I'm up here?"

"Shut up, shut up, SHUT THE HELL UP!"

And then he heard it.

Kagome's cry for help.

TWILIGHT VS. CARAPACE

TWILIGHT ALTERNATED BETWEEN GALLOPING AND FLYING AS SHE MADE HER way to the palace tower. Along the way, she dodged the Changelings that were in the streets, even blasting a few with her magic. Some Changelings snapped at her – only managing to pull off some feathers from her wings – while some gave chase, only to give up after a few blocks.

Her mind was racing – had the princesses been hurt? If so, how badly? Were they still alive? Had Carapace spared them for now? What kind of torture was he inflicting upon them? If he had business with Twilight, why didn't he just seek her out instead of attacking Canterlot, the city Twilight used to call home?

The palace came into view. She looked up at the royal suite, where the princesses were sure to be.

Finally. Hold on, you guys. I'm coming.

Something hit her on the side, knocking her down, sending her tumbling. She caught glimpses of a black creature, flashes of dull gray teeth. She managed to right herself, to climb back onto her hooves, and she saw her attacker.

It was a Changeling alright, a male by the look of it. He was tall, slightly taller than Twilight, with a curved horn sticking out of his forehead. His skin – Changelings had no fur – was black as coal, with patches and holes in his legs, exposing muscle and sinew. His wings were translucent and insect-like, and his eyes were a sick green color. He had his mouth open, his teeth bared, in a deep, throaty growl.

"Are you Prince Carapace?" she asked.

The Changeling chuckled. "I am not the princcce," he replied in his snakelike voice. "I am one of hisss generalsss. My name isss Arachnae."

"Get out of my way, Arachnae," Twilight said. "If you don't I won't hesitate to – "

"What, kill me?" He laughed. "You would not do that."

"What makes you think I won't?"

"Becaussse, your busssinesss isss not with me. It isss my princcce who ssseeksss an audienccce with you, Your Majesssty."

Twilight huffed; she hated her regal titles. But she had other concerns right now.

"I'm guessing your prince is in the royal suite with the princesses."

"Correct."

Twilight flared her wings and started flapping. "Then get the heck out of my way!" She flew up to the top of the tower, to the window that led to the royal suite. "Celestia! Luna! Cadance!"

The three pony princesses were stuck to the floor by their hooves, glued to the spot by some green adhesive substance; the same substance covered their wings and their horns, keeping them from flying away or using their magic.

"Twilight, you've got to get out of here," Celestia said. "The Changelings – "

"I'm not going anywhere until I free you guys," Twilight told her as her horn started glowing. "Just give me a minute."

"I think not, Princccesss."

"Huh?"

Twilight felt herself being lifted off the floor. Before she could react, she was thrown against the wall.

Pain racked her body. She collapsed to the floor in a heap, her side hurting. The force of the blow had knocked the wind out of her; she took a few seconds to try and catch her breath.

And then she saw who had thrown her. Another Changeling, this one taller than Arachnae.

"I'm guessing you're Prince Carapace," she said.

"And you are Princccesss Twilight Sssparkle," Carapace said. He cocked his head to one side. "I will admit, I had not expected you to be ssso beautiful. But alasss, our time together isss fated to be short. Murderer of my sssissster."

Twilight picked herself up off the floor. "What in the hoof are you talking about? I didn't murder anyone's sister."

"No? What about our queen? What about Chrysssalisss?"

"You're her brother? I pity you, then." Carapace's face started twisting in anger. "I had no choice. It was either her or Cadance. And besides, I'm not the only one who contributed in her death, you know? Why aren't you looking for Goku and Vegeta? They helped."

"Your human alliesss are no longer in thisss world. Even I know that much. Ssso my revenge shall be directed towardsss you. Besssidesss, it isss becaussse of you that my people sssuffer. It isss becaussse of you that our livesss have become thisss….Thisss hell."

"Spare me. If anyone's a murderer around here, it's your sister. She trapped Cadance in the tunnels beneath Canterlot, tried to steal away my brother's soul, foalnapped the Cutie Mark Crusaders, nearly killed me and my friends, almost killed Cadance….Face it, Prince, your sister was a murderous bitch."

"SSSILENCCCE! I WILL NOT HAVE YOU SSSPEAK ABOUT MY SSSISSSTER IN SSSUCH A MANNER, YOU INSSSOLENT FOAL!"

His horn began to glow with a sick green aura. Twilight focused on her own magic, channeling it through her horn.

Before she could cast her spell, she felt her throat tightening. It was getting harder for her to breathe. Every time she tried to breathe, her throat got tighter.

She realized that Carapace was using his magic to choke her.

"My sssissster'sss death wasss quick, but painful," Carapace hissed as he stepped closer to Twilight. He pressed his muzzle against hers. "I will make sure that your death isss ssslow, and painful, and I will relish every moment. And then, before I kill you, I will allow you the pleasure of watching the three princccesssesss you hold dear perish asss I rip out their liversss. And then, asss you grieve, I will rip out your throat and wash down the tassste of your flesh with your blood. It will be a sssatisssfying end, don't you think ssso?"

Twilight couldn't respond; she couldn't breathe; she couldn't focus her spells – Carapace's hold had completely cut off her air supply. Her vision was starting to darken.

Carapace released his hold, finally allowing her to breathe. She took several deep breaths, coughing between them.

"Or, perhapsss I should wait to sssee if your friendsss arrive. I am sure they would want to sssee your final momentsss in life."

"You leave my friends out of this, you bastard," Twilight hissed.

Carapace kept talking, ignoring Twilight. "I wonder how they will react when they sssee your mangled corpssse. Will they weep? Will fear take hold of them?"

Twilight charged at him, slammed into him. They went tumbling, rolling along the floor. Twilight slapped at him with her front hooves; Carapace snapped at her with his teeth. They were too close to effectively use their magic, and as such, their blasts went wide, hitting the roof and the walls.

The rolled away from each other and climbed up onto their hooves. They circled. Twilight snorted; Carapace hissed. Neither said anything as they stared at each other. Twilight's eyes were filled with rage; Carapace's with hate.

Twilight was breathing heavily – she knew she was at a disadvantage. She had run through most of Canterlot, avoiding Changelings and leaping over the slaughtered corpses of the Royal Guards; she had been brutally attacked and choked by Carapace. Carapace, on the other hoof, was in perfect condition, having spent the past few hours safe in the tower, awaiting her arrival and plotting his revenge.

"Why do you insssissst on fighting when you know that you have lossst?"

"Because unlike you, I have a good reason to fight," Twilight panted.

"Jussst like you had a good reassson to kill Chrysssalisss?"

"She was going to kill Cadance! What was I supposed to do, just sit on my rump and watch?"

"She wasss doing what she had to do."

"And so was I!"

"You are a murderer, Twilight Sssparkle."

"Oh, you're one to talk! How many ponies did you kill when you and those hum –" She stopped herself. For a moment, she forgot that only one of the people with Carapace was a human – Sango's younger brother. The rest, as Inuyasha and his friends had said, were demons. "How many ponies did you kill when you and those demons attacked Canterlot?"

"If it isss any consssolation, we only attacked the guardsss – at Jurorenmaru'sss requessst, of courssse."

"It's not a consolation. You almost killed my brother!" She fired a blast of magic at Carapace.

Carapace leaped out of the way, his insect-like wings beating, allowing him to hover safely above the floor. Twilight's attack went beneath him and hit the wall, blowing a hole through it. If he had been a second later, there wouldn't be anything left of him.

Two can play at thisss game. He fired his own blast of magic at Twilight, this one hitting its mark and sending her flying back against the wall. She landed in a heap, right next to Kanna, who had been standing still as a board, watching the whole ordeal with her blank, unblinking eyes.

Even for Carapace, that girl was creepy.

Twilight tried to stand up, but the pain in her body made it difficult to move. She glanced over at Kanna.

"Why are you here? You should leave."

Carapace couldn't help but chuckle. "Oh, you naïve fool, do you not know that Kanna isss one of the demonsss? Or did you honestly believe that all demonsss had essscaped from Tartarusss when Cccerberusss left hisss possst?"

About two years ago, Cerberus had abandoned his post as the guardian of Tartarus. When he did, he allowed some dangerous creatures to escape, such as a Bug Bear that had easily been disposed of, but most dangerous of all was Tirek – a centaur who came dangerously close to destroying all of Equestria.

Twilight shook her head; she shouldn't be thinking about that sort of thing. Not right now.

Right now, she had to focus on Carapace.

She had to focus on finding a way to free Celestia, Luna, and Cadance.

She had to focus on staying alive.

KAGURA'S INTERVENTION

KAGOME'S FEET SLAPPED AT THE COBBLESTONE ROAD AS SHE RAN. THE RAIN made the road slick, which didn't help her much. She kept slipping as she ran; her shoes were not meant to go through this kind of abuse.

She glanced over her shoulders, saw the Changelings still after her. She, Rainbow Dash, and Shining Armor had encountered them as they made their way to the tower. In the ensuing fight, she had gotten separated from them and had used up all but one of her arrows. She couldn't use it, not right now.

Her breathing had become labored. Since she got pulled down the old well on the family shrine, she had gotten used to running from demons and bandits, but these creatures were testing her endurance. She hadn't run this much since she first arrived in the Feudal Era, not since she was being chased by Mistress Centipede. She was running as fast as she could, and yet she could still feel the hot breath of the Changelings directly behind her hitting her bare legs.

Something hit her in the back, hard, knocking her down. Her face slammed into the ground; water went up her nose and into her mouth. She coughed, trying to clear her nose and throat of the water.

There was the distinct sound of hooves clip-clopping on the ground around her. She looked up, saw the Changelings gathering. Saliva dripped from their open maws, and their translucent wings flapped rapidly with anticipation.

Crap, Crap, CRAP!

She climbed to her feet and took off running again, ignoring the pain in her back, ignoring the Changelings snapping at her arms and legs.

She slipped and fell again, but managed to catch herself this time. She turned around, took the arrow out of her quiver, notched it in her bowstring, and took aim at the nearest Changeling.

It was so close that she couldn't miss.

She let the arrow fly.

Because Kagome had poured her spiritual powers into the arrow, it began to glow before it left the bow. The glow just got brighter in the split second it flew, until it hit the closest Changeling in the head.

The arrow hit. The Changeling's head exploded in a shower of blood and bone.

She had seen this sort of thing so many times over the past several months, and yet, no matter how many times she saw it, it still made her stomach queasy.

You can worry about hurling later, Kagome! You're out of arrows, and there's who knows how many Changelings in front of you! You'd need a miracle to get out of this one.

A Changeling leaped at her. She put her bow between them. The Changeling's jaws clamped down on the bow. The force was enough to throw Kagome to the ground. She held on to the bow as tight as she could, but with the Changeling chewing on it, its teeth digging into the wood of the bow, it was very difficult. She could feel her grip slipping.

She was too focused on keeping the Changeling from getting to her that she never noticed the other Changelings suddenly disappearing, barely noticed the Changeling she was wrestling with moving backwards, until it was lifted into the air by the tail, held by, by….

It was, by far, the strangest creature she had ever seen. It stood on two legs, standing nearly nine feet tall. As for its body….That was where the strangeness began. Its head was that of a horse, with the horns of a stag and an antelope on top, the beard of a goat growing off its chin, and a single fang coming from the corner of its mouth. Its body was long and serpentine, ending in a lizard-like tail, which was tipped with a small tuft of fur. One of its legs was that of a lizard, the other a deer's leg. Its arms were just as mish-mashed, with its left arm being a lion's paw and the right arm being an eagle's talon. One wing was a bird's wing, the other a bat's wing. Its yellow and red eyes were asymmetrical, with the right eye being slightly larger and more rounded than its left eye.

Kagome could only stare, wide-eyed and confused, at the creature as the Changeling started snapping at it, but the creature was just out of its reach.

The creature spoke, its voice smooth and smug.

It almost reminded her of Naraku, but a bit more playful.

"That's not very nice," the creature said. It held its free hand, the eagle talon, out, one finger pointed at the Changeling. The Changeling's body began to grow, getting more and more bloated, until –

BOOM!

The Changeling's body exploded. Blood, bone, and gore rained down on them. Or, it would have, had an umbrella not suddenly materialized in the creature's hand. The canopy was turned upside down, catching the disgusting bits as they rained down from the sky.

"Ooh. Nasty." The creature tossed the umbrella away; it began to spin around like a helicopter's rotors and lifted off into the air. "Well, that's a few less Changelings to worry about."

Kagome climbed to her feet, never taking her eyes off of this, this….The only word she could think of was "freak", maybe "abomination". She had seen a lot of strange creatures in the last few months, but this thing – it had her completely mystified.

"Well, don't thank me right away," the creature said. "Or, maybe, you're so impressed that you're at a loss for words." It began speaking in a mock high-pitched girly voice. "Oh, Discord, I could never have beaten those Changelings by myself! Thank you so much!"

"Discord?" Kagome managed to get out.

"That's me," Discord said. "And who might you be, pretty eyes? No, no, wait, don't tell me – let me guess: Your name is…Kagome Higurashi. Wow. That's a mouthful."

"How do you know my name?" Kagome asked. She was now more confused than ever.

Discord put an arm around her shoulders. He was so close that she could see the hairs on his snout. "I'm omnipotent. I know everyone, I know everything. For instance, I know why you and your little friends are here in Equestria – you're after that Jurorenmaru fellow. He's got something you're looking for. Or rather, he did; Prince Carapace has it now. And then you've got those other two demons, Kagura and Kanna – that Kanna gives me the creeps. Should I mention Kohaku? Or how they attacked this city earlier? Oh heck, I'm sure you've already seen that damage."

Kagome pushed away from him. "If you know what happened, then why didn't you do anything to stop it? You blew up that Changeling and did who knows what to all those others that were after me – "

"I'm a creature of chaos. I can do what I want. So I simply made them nonexistent."

"Okay, so you've got powers. Why didn't you stop the attack earlier? You could have saved a lot of innocent ponies! You could have kept Twilight's brother from getting hurt! Heck, you could have taken out Carapace yourself, not to mention Jurorenmaru, Kagura, and Kanna. So why didn't you? Why did you let them attack? Why did you let so many ponies die? What is wrong with you, you freak?"

"I was…preoccupied," Discord said. "Okay, that's a lame excuse, but it's the best I've got. What would you expect me to say – I didn't want to make things easy for you?"

Kagome just glared at him, her nostrils flaring in frustration. If he was so powerful, then why didn't he do anything? She didn't accept his excuse of being preoccupied.

But she could worry about that later.

"Forget it. I need to find an armory and restock on arrows."

"The armory? I love that place. The guardstallions in there have some funny stories to tell. But it's all the way on the other side of the city."

"And I doubt I've got time to get there."

Discord put his arm around Kagome's shoulders again. He was starting to make her feel uncomfortable. "Oh, we've got time. Like zero-point-two-five seconds." He snapped his fingers, and they were no longer on the city streets. Instead, they were in the middle of an armory – spears and swords lined the walls; there were bows and quivers on a rack in the corner.

And in the basket next to the rack were some arrows. More than enough to fill an entire quiver.

She slung her empty quiver off of her shoulder and began to fill it with arrows, putting them in point down.

"I've got a question," Discord said. "Why don't you use a sword or a spear? Why do you insist on using arrows?"

"I'm more comfortable with a bow than I am any sword or spear."

"You sure? You sure it's not because you want to live up to your ancestor's reputation?"

Kagome stopped. She turned around to face Discord, her face stoic, her eyes showing sadness.

"How do you know about Kikyo?" she asked.

Kikyo was the priestess who once guarded the Shikon Jewel. Fifty years before Kagome entered the Feudal Era, Kikyo and Inuyasha had developed a deep friendship. Their friendship eventually developed into a romance, but thanks to Naraku's manipulations, they were turned against each other. Naraku, disguised as Inuyasha, had struck Kikyo down, and then, he disguised himself as Kikyo and attempted to kill Inuyasha. This action prompted Inuyasha to try to steal the Shikon Jewel, only to be sealed to a tree by Kikyo, who died of her wounds a moment later.

A few months ago, a witch named Urasue violated Kikyo's grave, stealing her ashes and mixing them with a clay doll and a portion of Kagome's soul to revive Kikyo. Kikyo now lived essentially as a zombie, using creatues known as Soul Collectors to gather the souls of the dead to power her artificial body.

"Oh, wait, I forgot. That's a touchy subject," Discord said. "You know what, forget I said anything. And as for the boy, let's not mention that to Sango. I hear she gets pretty upset."

"That would be a good idea," Kagome said. "If you bring that up around Sango, she could, well…."

"I know, I know. She could beat the tar out of me, or even kill me. Wouldn't be the first time. I've been dead before, and let me tell you, it really stings."

Kagome shook her head. She wanted to forget this conversation, and besides, they had things to do.

"Can we just get going?" she asked.

"Actually, you might want to duck."

"What? Why?"

"Just get down!" Discord grabbed her arm and threw her to the ground. He placed himself on top of her, shielding her as the roof of the armory was blown away, shattered into thousands of tiny pieces. Rubble rained down on top of them.

They stood up and looked up into the sky. There, hovering above them on that giant feather of hers, was Kagura.

"Oh. Wonderful," Kagome hissed.

"There you – " Kagura started to say, before setting her eyes on Discord. "Just what is that…that THING?"

"I am a draconequus," Discord said. "Geez. Why are humans so racist against my kind? Now, you want a draconequus to hate, look at my brother. Hoo boy, Havok is a JERK!"

Kagura waved her fan. "DANCE OF BLADES!"

The wind blades flew at them, so fast Kagome could barely track them. She got ready to run, but stopped when Discord held out a hand, halting the blades in mid-air.

"What the – "

With a twirl of his finger, the blades turned around to face Kagura, and after a quick flick of the wrist, they flew at her.

"WHAT THE HELL!" Kagura screamed. She dodged left and right, barely managing to avoid the blades. "How the hell did he do that?"

Discord flew up to Kagura. "Hi. How're you doing? Y'know, you're nowhere near as pretty as Kagome is." He blew into his thumb, blowing his hand up like a balloon, and with a hard swing of his arm, hit Kagura in the face, sending her flying away, all the way to the other side of the city. "Consider that your first beauty treatment, ya whore!"

Kagome just stared in wide-eyed shock. Just what WAS this creature? It had called itself a creature of chaos, but by all rights, it shouldn't even have existed!

Discord landed softly, patting himself on the back – one of his arms had been detached and was now being held in his free hand to literally pat himself on the back. He put his detached arm back where it belonged. "That was easy. Maybe a little too easy. So, what's next on our agenda, Kagome?"

"Wait, just give me a minute to wrap my head around all this."

"You want some help? I'll be happy to oblige."

"No! No, I don't want help with it! I don't know what you'd do! I don't WANT to know what you'd do! I just want to find Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor. I don't know if they're okay, or if they're even still alive. I want to help Inuyasha. I want to help Twilight. They need me. They need their friends. So why don't you use your freaky cosmic powers to help me do that."

"Okay, okay, fine," Discord huffed. "Sheesh. Ya help someone out and they treat you like, like, oh, I don't know, the back end of a hydra."

"So tell me something, Discord," Kagome said as she put her hands on her hips. "If you know my name, if you know about Inuyasha and Kikyo and all of our friends, then do you know where my friends are now?"

"What part of 'omnipotent' did you not catch?" Discord asked. "One order of Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor coming right up."

With a snap of his fingers, they were transported into an alleyway. Rainbow Dash and Shining Armor were huddled against a hay cart; they were both soaked from the rain and covered in sweat, and Rainbow Dash's legs and face were covered in cuts – none of the cuts looked too serious.

Rainbow Dash was just finishing tying a makeshift bandage around Shining Armor's leg when they arrived.

"Well, look who you found," Rainbow Dash said. "Figures Discord would be hanging around."

"And get this, Shining Armor," Kagome said. "Discord knew about the initial attack, but didn't do anything about it."

"You what!"

"I was busy, what can I say?" Discord smugly asked. "Besides, right now, I think there's more important things to worry about." He coughed, spitting up a piece of paper. "Oh, look at that. A map of Canterlot." He snapped his fingers, materializing a table, and he lay the map out. "Okay, let's take a look. Inuyasha and Jurorenmaru are having their little spat right here on Horseshoe Avenue. Twilight's in the tower with Carapace and the other three princesses, and Kanna – that kid is CREEPY! Anyway, we're here in the alley between Saddle Boulevard and Bridle Circle. Looks like Sango, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and the kitty cat are here at Stallion Drive. Miroku, Rarity, and Fluttershy are over…here, at Bit Street." As he talked and pointed at the map, small images of everyone he named off appeared. "And the entire city is full of Changelings." The streets on the map turned black as they were filled with small images of the Changelings. "Doesn't look like any of them have transformed yet."

"What do you mean, transformed?" Kagome asked.

"Don't you know anything about Changelings?" Rainbow Dash demanded. "They can turn into whatever creature they want! They can turn into you, they can turn into me, and who knows what else!"

"And there's some coming this way," Discord said.

No sooner did he say that did a horde of Changelings come around the corner. They huddled into the alley, saliva dripping from their jaws.

"Ah. Good," Discord said. He poked the map and table with his finger, deflating them like a balloon. "This is going to be fun."

Kagome put up a hand, stopping him from doing anything. "Wait a minute, Discord. They're doing something."

The Changelings' bodies were surrounded by a light green glow. Their bodies began to vibrate.

And then the changes began.

Some of the Changelings stood up on their hind legs. Their bodies got longer, until they were now standing at close to eight feet tall. Instead of resembling horses, they now resembled bipedal goats, each one armed with a lance and adorned with black armor. Their coats were no longer black; they were now dark brown and covered in shaggy fur.

Some more Changelings were much taller and much more bulky. Their coats were replaced with gray, pebbly skin that was covered in warts. Their front hooves turned into three-fingered hands; some of them were carrying various types of clubs – made out of trees or the lower jaw bones of some large creature, probably a dragon. A single eye sat in the center of their foreheads.

"Oh you've got to be bucking kidding me," Rainbow Dash breathed. "They can turn into satyrs and cyclopes?!"

"That's not good, that's NOT GOOD!" Discord screamed. "Wait, wait, what am I saying? Of course it's good. Everyone ready to have some fun?"

"Forget it," Kagome said. "Everybody RUN!"

She, Rainbow Dash, and Shining Armor turned and started running the other way. Shining Armor could hardly keep up; his bad leg was slowing him down.

Discord didn't move; he was too busy laughing.

"Oh boy, this is going to be fun," he said. He raised an arm. "Here's some refreshing chocolate milk for you guys!" With a wave of his hand, the rain changed; it was no longer water, but rather, it was now chocolate milk, and the clouds had changed from normal clouds to cotton candy clouds. "Drink up, boys and girls."

A cyclops stomped over to him, stepping on a satyr as it did. It roared at Discord.

"Wow. When was the last time you brushed your teeth?" The cyclops roared again. "Hoo boy. I'd have to say never. And are you really turning this into a roaring contest? Okay." He took a deep breath and let out a loud lion-like roar. The force of the roar was so powerful that it ripped the cyclops's skin off, leaving nothing but muscle dripping with blood. The cyclops fell to the ground, dead before it even hit. "Now that's a roar."

Kagome started pulling on his arm. "Come on, you idiot!" She pulled him away, just a second before a cyclops's club came down, shattering the road.

A satyr charged at them, its lance ready. Kagome took aim with an arrow and fired. The arrow hit, blowing the satyr's top half completely off. Its lower half was crushed beneath a cyclops's massive foot.

Rainbow Dash charged forward. She barreled into the horde, moving so fast that the sonic wave she left in her wake threw the creatures to the ground and shattered some nearby windows. She turned in mid-air and charged again, only to get slapped away by a cyclops's club. She slammed into a nearby wall, leaving a pony-sized indent in the marble.

"Rainbow!"

"I'm fine," Rainbow Dash said. She shook her head. "Gonna have a headache after this, though."

"Rainbow Dash, get out of there!" Kagome cried.

Too late; a cyclops snatched Rainbow Dash up before she could move. She struggled to get free of its tight grip, smacking its hand with her hooves and biting it with her teeth.

"Let me down, ya big lummox!" The cyclops opened its mouth. "Oh, pony feathers, this is gonna be bad."

"DANCE OF BLADES!"

The cyclops's arm fell from its body. Rainbow Dash wriggled free and hovered in mid-air for a minute, catching her breath, before bucking the cyclops in the knee, knocking it to the ground.

And then she noticed that its arm hadn't fallen off; it had been cut off!

"What in Equestria?" She looked up. "Hey, who is that?"

"Kagura!" Kagome yelled.

"Wait, she's back?" Discord asked. "Last time I checked, I bitch slapped her to the other side of the city."

"You really think I'm so easily defeated?" Kagura sneered. She jumped down from her giant feather, landing gracefully on the ground in front of the horde of monsters. "Well, I'm not."

Discord made a mouth motion with his mouth. "Blah blah blah, that's all I'm hearing out of you."

"Are you mocking me?" Kagura asked, her voice dripping with anger.

"That would be a big fat…yes," Discord replied.

Kagura's eyes shone with a sort of rage and anger that Kagome had never seen before. She bared her teeth and let out a small, angry growl.

"You….You freak of nature. You fool." She folded her fan up. "You fool! I'll cripple you! DANCE OF THE DRAGON!"

She waved her fan. The wind began to furiously blow. The corpses of the satyr and the two cyclopes were blown away. Shining Armor dug his hooves into the ground as much as he could, trying to keep from getting blown off of them. Rainbow Dash flapped hard against he wind. Discord held onto Kagome, who herself was holding on to a hay cart.

"Oh no."

Her eyes were glued to the three gray cyclones that had formed. The cyclones were tearing apart the buildings on either side of the alley. And they were getting closer by the second.

"Have fun getting torn to shreds, you fools!"

"Not on my watch," Rainbow Dash said. She flew at the cyclones.

"Rainbow, don't!" Kagome yelled. "Those cyclones will tear you apart!"

"They're just tornadoes," Rainbow Dash said. "How bad can it be?" She started flying around the first cyclone, spinning in the opposite direction. It was something she learned during Summer Flight Camp in Cloudsdale, back when she was still a filly – the best way to stop a tornado or any other type of cyclone is to spin around it in the opposite direction. That will cancel the cyclone out.

That foolish horse, Kagura thought. She can't possibly think that she can – WHAT!

The first cyclone dissipated. Rainbow Dash flew over to the other cyclone and began flying around it.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Kagura yelled. "Fine." She opened her fan again. "You die first, you damn horse! DANCE OF – "

Shining Armor pushed his way past Discord and Kagome and fired up his horn. He took aim, and fired his magic blast. The blast hit Kagura square in the chest, knocking her flat.

"Don't even think about it." He turned to face everyone else. "You guys get out of here. I'll hold them off."

"Forget it, Shining Armor," Kagome said. "You're still hurt. You won't last long."

"I don't care."

"Your sister does. She'd throw a fit if anything bad happened to you."

Discord reached out, his arm elongating, and he grabbed Shining Armor by the tail. He pulled him back, and the four of them huddled together. "Girl's got a point. Time to bail." He snapped his fingers.

One second they were in the alley, cornered by Kagura and the transformed Changelings. The next, they were on the roof of what looked like a coffee shop. For a while, no one said anything; all they did was try to catch their breath.

Except for Discord, who had materialized a small glass that was now being filled with the chocolate milk still falling from the sky.

WIND TUNNEL

MIROKU BLOCKED THE SATYR'S LANCE WITH HIS STAFF. THEY PUSHED AGAINST each other. The satyr pushed Miroku back. He dug his feet into the ground, but the rain – which had gone from water to this strange brown substance – had made the ground slippery, making it difficult for him to get a good grip.

He chanced a look over his shoulder. Rarity and Fluttershy were huddled by a table. Fluttershy was under the table, her pink mane covering her face. Rarity was standing defiantly in front of her, shielding the yellow Pegasus. Her horn was glowing a deep blue.

"Miroku, do you need any help? I'll be more than happy to lend a hoof."

"I can handle it," Miroku grunted. He pushed the satyr back and reached into his kimono, pulling out a few of his paper sutras. "Take this!" He threw the sutras at the satyr.

The satyr looked at the sutras as they harmlessly hit its body and fell to the ground.

Rarity looked at Miroku and raised an eyebrow. "Miroku, darling, whatever in the world was that?"

"I guess my sutras won't work on these creatures," Miroku replied with a nervous laugh. "I forgot that they only work on demons, and these aren't demons."

Rarity pushed her way past him. "Stand aside. Allow me." She took aim at the satyr and fired her magic, just as the satyr charged. The magic blast hit the satyr in the stomach area, blowing a hole through it. It let out one last hiss before collapsing. "I'm not as powerful a magic user as Twilight is, but I get the job done. Now, if we can continue our journey to the tower without interruption, that would be most delightful." She walked back over to the table where Fluttershy was hiding. "Fluttershy, we're going."

"I can't go," Fluttershy squeaked. Her body was shaking. "I – I'm too scared."

"I understand, darling, but – " Rarity began.

"We're all scared, Fluttershy," Miroku said, interrupting Rarity. "You, me, Rarity, all of our friends, even Inuyasha is scared. He just won't admit it."

"Why not?" Rarity asked.

"Inuyasha's got too much pride to let his fear show," Miroku replied. "But do you know what he does? He takes his fear and turns it into courage. Fluttershy, can you tell me what the most courageous thing you've ever done was?"

Fluttershy looked up at him. "I – I don't really know. There was that dragon. And then, after Princess Celestia brought him back to life, I was tasked with reforming Discord. I'm still trying to get over my stage fright. I've been to other worlds, but I was always so scared."

"But you still did it. And do you know why?"

"Because I had my friends there to help me."

"Not only that, but because you took your fear and turned it into courage. You can't have courage and bravery without even a little bit of fear. That's what drives you forward. I'm not saying that fear is a good thing. I'm afraid of these monsters. I'm afraid of most demons my friends and I face, believe it or not – any one of them could easily tear us apart. But it's because of my fear that I face them. We're all a little scared. But we have to be brave as well. Do you understand, Fluttershy?"

Fluttershy nodded her head. "Yes, I think I do."

"Good. Then let's be on our way, shall we?"

Fluttershy crawled out from under the table. Rarity pulled her in for a light hug.

"I understand how you feel, Fluttershy," she said. "Remember when I was living in fear for almost a year, after what that brute Megatron did to me? I will never forget. Nor will I ever forget the encouraging words my sister and her friends said to me – you've got the touch. You've got the power."

Fluttershy smiled. Ever since they had returned from visiting the Autobots – they had gone to help Rarity get over her nightmares of the day Megatron nearly killed her – Rarity had been living by that philosophy. It had seemed to give her a new outlook on life. She had started going out more, doing more things around Ponyville – she had even put in to open up a boutique here in Canterlot.

But she still had the memories. She still had the fear.

"Hey, I have a question," Miroku said. "Do any of you know what the deal is with this weird rain?"

Rarity stuck out her tongue. "Tastes like chocolate milk. Wait a minute. Did he really – NOW IS NOT THE TIME, DISCORD!"

Miroku leaned down to whisper to Fluttershy. "What is she talking about?"

"Discord is the living embodiment of chaos and disharmony," Fluttershy explained. "Or, he was. I guess in some ways he still is, even after his reformation. He has strange powers that enables him to do basically whatever he wants."

"I see. So he's the one who made it rain like this."

"Yes."

Rarity screamed. "We spent too much time talking! The Changelings are here!"

Miroku looked around; there were Changelings everywhere – some were in their normal forms, some had transformed into satyrs and cyclopes. They were all snarling and growling.

They were closing in.

And they were all hungry.

"We should have left when we had the chance," Miroku grumbled as he tightened his grip on his staff.

Rarity stood next to him, her horn glowing. "Nothing we can do now but fight."

"Considering how much trouble I was having with that last goat creature – "

"Satyr," Fluttershy corrected him.

"Considering how much trouble I was having with that last satyr, I don't think fighting's a good option," Miroku said.

"Then what do you have in mind?" Rarity asked.

Miroku smiled; not a happy smile, but the kind that told Rarity that he had a plan. He dropped his staff and grabbed the beaded rosary he held in his right hand.

"You and Fluttershy might want to stay behind me," he said. "I would hate for you to get pulled in."

"Pulled in by what?" Fluttershy asked.

"I'll explain later," Miroku said. "Just get behind me. NOW!"

"Okay, okay!"

Rarity and Fluttershy stepped behind Miroku, cowering behind his legs. They peeked out, saw the creatures getting closer and closer.

"Miroku, whatever you have planned, you'd better do it NOW!" Rarity screamed.

Miroku held his right arm out, his left hand still gripping the rosary. "This is the end for you, beasts! May you pay for your sins in hell!" He unclenched his right fist and pulled the rosary off with his left hand. "WIND TUNNEL!"

The direction of the wind changed. Instead of steadily blowing to the east, it was now being pulled towards Miroku – towards the hole in his right hand. The chocolate milk rain was pulled into the hole. The Changelings, satyrs, and cyclopes dug their feet into the ground, trying to hold on.

Their grips began to fail. One satyr stuck the point of its lance into the ground, but the pull of the wind was too much, and it was sucked into the hole. A cyclops followed. Some Changelings tried to fly away, but their efforts were in vain; they were pulled to the hole – one Changeling hit a satyr, causing it to lose its grip on its lance.

Rarity and Fluttershy watched with wide-eyed amazement as the monsters were pulled into the hole in Miroku's hand. Their screams filled the air.

There was one final WHOOSH of air as Miroku closed his hand, wrapping the rosary around it. He took several deep breaths; every time he used the Wind Tunnel, it always left him a little tired.

"Is it safe to come out now?" Fluttershy asked.

"Yes," Miroku replied. "The monsters have been dealt with."

The ponies walked around to his front to talk to him. "Miroku, what exactly was that?"

"That was the Wind Tunnel," Miroku explained. "A curse that has been passed down to me from my father, and passed down to him from his father. My grandfather, the monk Miyatsu, was the first to receive it, courtesy of Naraku. The Wind Tunnel go so large that it consumed him. The same fate befell my father. One day soon, I too will suffer that fate. But until then, I've decided to make it useful. I may have this curse, but I can make sure that this curse does not have me."

"Aren't you scared that this curse could kill you one day?" Rarity asked.

"Of course I am," Miroku answered. "I'll have that fear until the day we destroy Naraku. Once he's been killed, the curse will be lifted. But until then, I'll have the Wind Tunnel until it pulls me in, or I can sire a child to continue my mission should I fail." He took a deep breath, then smiled. "Well, let's continue, shall we?" He walked off, heading in the direction of the palace tower.

Rarity and Fluttershy just looked at each other, confused. "How can Miroku suddenly be so cheerful?" Rarity asked.

"I think he said he was some kind of a priest, so I guess it makes sense," Fluttershy said.

"Maybe," Rarity said with a sigh. "Hey Miroku! Wait for us!" She and Fluttershy started galloping after Miroku.

They caught up to him as he rounded the corner of Bit Street and Mane Street. This road was surprisingly clear of any Changelings, transformed or not. He lowered his staff.

"Look like we're all clear for the moment," he said. "A chance to finally catch our breath."

"So, how do you think Twilight's doing up there?" Rarity asked as she looked up at the tower.

"I'm sure she's just fine," Miroku said. "She seems like she can take care of herself. In fact, I'm sure she's got that prince fellow quaking in his metaphorical boots by now."

#############################

Carapace used his magic to slam Twilight against the floor, roof, and walls of the room. Every time she hit, she screamed and cried out in agony. Carapace enjoyed hearing her pained cries. He could do this all day long.

Still, all good things had to come to an end, and sooner or later, he would have to finish this little game of his.

###############################

A Changeling – a tall male – leaped down from the roof of a nearby malt shop. He bared his fangs and hissed.

Miroku readied his staff. "Are you sure you want to try this, monster?"

The Changeling spoke.

"Am I sure? Oh, I am very sure, you foolish human. I have my ordersss – nopony mussst disssturb the princcce while he isss in hisss meeting with Princccesss Twilight."

"So you're not the prince, then. That's fine." He put his staff on the ground. "Either way, it will be one less Changeling to worry about."

The Changeling laughed. "What are you going to do, pull me into the void like you did thossse other foolsss? I am General Thorax; I am not ssso easssily disssposssed of." He charged at Miroku, slamming his head into Miroku's stomach, knocking the wind out of him and throwing him to the ground.

"Miroku!" Fluttershy hurried to his side. "Oh my. Are you okay, Miroku?"

Miroku was holding his stomach, gasping for breath. The only sound coming out of his mouth was a small squeak.

Fluttershy turned her gaze towards Thorax. She glared at him. "How dare you. HOW DARE YOU!" She trotted over to Thorax and pressed her muzzle against his. "Listen here, mister – just because you're a Changeling doesn't mean you get to be a bully! You may have sharp teeth and the power to turn into whatever creature you want, but you do not – I repeat, you DO NOT HURT MY FRIENDS! You got that?" Thorax snapped at her, causing her to back away. "Yikes!"

"Who are you to lecture me, Pegasssusss?" he hissed. "To me, you are nothing but a three courssse meal. I will not hesssitate to rip you apart. Do YOU got that?"

Miroku managed to climb to his feet. "Fluttershy, back away," he said. "Now."

Fluttershy took a few steps back from Thorax. Thorax chuckled. "What'sss the matter? Are you ssscared of me?"

Miroku stepped forward, undoing the rosary around his right hand as he did. "There's a lot I'm afraid of. I'm afraid of being pulled into the Wind Tunnel in my hand one day. I'm afraid of what Naraku will do once he gets the completed Shikon Jewel. I'm afraid for my friends. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid of the creatures that your troops have turned into. But you, right now? If anything, you're the one who should be scared." He held his right arm out. "Fluttershy, move." Fluttershy flew back to hide behind him. "Are you ready, General Thorax?"

"You threaten me?" Thorax asked. "In that cassse, you die firssst, human." He got ready to charge again.

He stopped as his body began to glow a deep blue.

The same blue glow that was also surrounding Rarity's horn.

"I'll hold him," she said. "You suck him up."

"Will do," Miroku said. "Farewell, General." He ripped the rosary off his hand. "WIND TUNNEL!"

"No! No!" Thorax yelled. "Thisss wasssn't sssupposssed to happen!"

Rarity released her magical hold on Thorax, and he was pulled into the void.

Miroku closed the Wind Tunnel, wrapping his rosary around his hand, and after catching his breath, picked his staff up off the ground.

"He never stood a chance," Rarity said. "I still can't believe that that thing's a curse."

"It is. Now, if there are no more distractions, I think Twilight needs our help."

USE THE SACRED JEWEL SHARD

THEIR SWORDS SLAMMED AGAINST EACH OTHER. INUYASHA SWIPED AT Jurorenmaru; Jurorenmaru leaped out of the way, landing on the roof of a nearby building. Inuyasha leaped after him, the Tetsusaiga raised above his head.

"I'm getting tired of chasing you around!" he screamed as he slashed. Jurorenmaru stepped back, the tip of Inuyasha's sword passing just inches in front of his face. Tetsusaiga sliced into the roof, cutting off a large chunk of concrete and marble. "Damn it!"

"You're slowing down, Inuyasha. Are you getting tired? Or is it that your sword is a bit too heavy for you?"

"Shut the hell up, you son of a bitch."

Jurorenmaru sheathed his swords and raised his arms to his sides. "I'll tell you what, Inuyasha – I'll give you this one for free. Come on; strike me down. End this once and for all!"

"Are you mocking me?"

"I'm giving you one free shot. You'd be an idiot not to take it."

Inuyasha charged for Jurorenmaru, intent on running him through with Tetsusaiga. Jurorenmaru stood in place, unflinching, an just as the tip of Inuyasha's sword was less than a foot away, he stepped aside. He pulled out a sword and placed it next to Inuyasha's neck.

"Shit!"

"I suggest making your next move very carefully," Jurorenmaru said. "The last time I had someone in this situation, Bankotsu lost his head."

"You fought the Band of Seven?" Inuyasha asked.

"I was hired by the local shogun to help the armies fight them. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have a fun time. Haven't had as much fun before or since. But enough about dwelling on the past. What's say we finally end this little spat, shall we?"

Inuyasha pushed Jurorenmaru's sword away from his neck. "Fine by me." He slashed at Jurorenmaru with his claws. "IRON REAVER SOUL STEALER!" Jurorenmaru leaped back. "DAMN IT!"

"I think you should stick with the sword, Inuyasha," Jurorenmaru chuckled as he pulled out his other sword. "Like this." He crossed his swords. They began to glow red. He thrust them forward. "CROSS SLASH!"

"Son of a bitch!" Inuyasha put up his sword, barely managing to deflect the big red "X" that came out of Jurorenmaru's swords. He pushed the "X" away and charged for Jurorenmaru. "You're dead, asshole!"

Their swords clashed.

###########################

Sango had been riding on Kirara for what felt like hours. Applejack and Pinkie Pie were galloping along below them. She had her eyes scanning the city, looking for the best paths to get to the tower. So far they'd passed by several groups of Changelings and some other monsters she couldn't identify – monsters that the ponies called satyrs and cyclopes.

Some time ago, the rain had changed. Instead of raining water, it was raining some milk-like liquid. Pinkie Pie had been ecstatic – she cheered that someone named Discord had made it rain chocolate milk again. Applejack had just rolled her eyes. Sango didn't know what to make of any of it, but kept her thoughts to herself; she had more important matters to focus on.

Kohaku was somewhere in this city.

Sango patted Kirara. "We'll find him. Don't worry."

"Sango! Kirara! Look out!"

Pinkie Pie's warning barely came in time; Kirara swerved to avoid a scythe attached to a chain – Kohaku's primary weapon.

"This means…."

Kohaku was down below, still wearing his armor, twirling his chain around. Kirara landed, allowing Sango to slip off her back. Sango stared at him. It was strange; his eyes weren't glazed over like they normally would if Naraku were controlling him. Instead, he looked like he was in control of himself. He was staring back at Sango. It looked to Sango like he still didn't recognize her – ever since Naraku had brought him back to life with the jewel shard, his memory of Sango had disappeared.

Still, I've got to see if I can try to get through to him.

"Kohaku…."

Pinkie Pie and Applejack came to a stop beside her. Their eyes were fixated on Kohaku.

"Isn't that the boy who told us about the Changelings?" Pinkie Pie asked. "What's he doing here?"

"Let's find out," Applejack said. "Hey, sonny! You've got some explainin' to do! First off, why the hoof are you workin' with the Changelings?"

"I have my orders, pony," Kohaku said. "Guard the prince while he deals with the princess."

"Okay, second question," Pinkie Pie said. She pointed a hoof at Sango. "Don't you know who this is? She's – "

"Pinkie Pie, no," Sango interrupted her. "Please, let me." She turned to Kohaku. "Don't you remember me, Kohaku?"

"I've seen you before, but should I really know who you are?"

No. He really doesn't remember me, Sango thought. Wait, what was it Kagura said before? Remembering how he slaughtered Father and the others would truly destroy him? I know he would never be able to live with the memory. Maybe it's best that he never remembers.

"Sango? You okay, sugar cube?" Applejack asked.

Sango wiped her eyes. "I'm fine." She stepped forward. "I don't want to do this, but…." She took a deep breath. "Kohaku, there are some things that you don't remember. Things that you may never remember. And you know what? Maybe that's for the best. But even so, I can't let you go on."

"What are you saying?" Pinkie Pie asked.

Sango laced her fingers through the Hiraikotsu's hand holds. "Kohaku, I'm sorry, but if you do remember, I know that you'll never be able to live with yourself. So…." Her voice was getting caught in her throat, and tears were stinging her eyes. "Kohaku, I'm sorry, but maybe it's better if you die."

"Whoa whoa whoa, Sango, you ain't sayin' what I think you're sayin', are ya?" Applejack asked.

"Have you gone loco in the coco?" Pinkie Pie added. "You can't do that! This boy's – "

"Both of you, shut up!" Sango snapped. "I'm the one who has to do this! So you two stay out of it!" She threw the Hiraikotsu towards Kohaku.

Kohaku jumped out of the way and threw his chain. It wrapped around the massive boomerang, allowing him to throw it harmlessly away. Once he landed, he tossed his chain at Sango. Sango grabbed it and pulled it out of Kohaku's hands.

Neither of them had any weapons in their hands. Which was fine by Sango. While she preferred using her Hiraikotsu, she wasn't afraid to get up close and personal. She lunged for Kohaku, and before he could react, she punched him as hard as she could, following up with a hard kick to the chest.

Kohaku blocked her next set of attacks. He grabbed her wrist and twisted, throwing her off balance. Another twist of his arm, and he threw her onto her back.

Sango didn't remember Kohaku ever being this strong. Was this really the same boy who felt guilty for swatting a gnat? The same boy who, despite being raised by Demon Slayers, couldn't stand the thought of killing any living creature? Had his time under Naraku's control made him stronger? Had he always been this strong?

All of these thoughts went through Sango's head as Kohaku pulled out his sword and got ready to run her through. He stood over her, the tip of his sword just a few inches from Sango's heart.

"I'm sorry," he said solemnly. "But I can't let you or your pony friends near the prince during his meeting."

"Kohaku! Please don't do this!" Sango cried.

"I have my orders," Kohaku replied, his voice cracking with sorrow. "I'm sorry." He raised the sword and got ready to bring it down.

Sango closed her eyes and turned away. She could feel her tears squeezing through her tightly closed eyelids. She waited, anticipating the feeling of cold steel pressing into her heart.

There was a loud BANG! Sango opened one eye, saw Kohaku lying on the ground a few yards away. She sat up on her elbows and looked around. Pinkie Pie and Applejack were standing nearby, a large blue cannon in front of Pinkie, smoke coming from the barrel.

"Whoo! Party Cannon to the rescue!" Pinkie Pie cried.

"Sango, I mean no offense by this, sugar cube," Applejack said, "but maybe you should stop beatin' 'round the bush and just knock Kohaku out."

"I can't do that," Sango said. "I just – I just can't!" She looked back over to Kohaku. "You understand, don't you, Kohaku? Kohaku?" He was nowhere to be seen.

Applejack walked over to Sango and put a hoof on her shoulder. "I imagine it must be hard, huh, Sango? Fightin' your own kin, with him not even remembering who you are?"

"He doesn't remember anything," Sango said. "Not me, not Father and the others, probably not even his own name. Ever since that night at the castle…."

"What happened, exactly?" Applejack asked.

"Let me guess," Pinkie Pie said as she shoved her cannon out of the way. "He drank some cactus juice and it made him go all loopy and forget some things, right? Nothing a little bit of cider can't fix, I'm sure."

Sango shot Pinkie an angry look. "Pinkie Pie, it was nothing like that."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Pinkie said. "Too much cider can really – "

"Pinkie Pie, SHUT UP!" Sango screamed. "You don't know anything about it! You weren't there! You didn't see the way Naraku took control of him and made him kill Father and the other Demon Slayers! You weren't there to see Naraku put that jewel shard in Kohaku's back and take control of him! So stop pretending you know what you're talking about, because you clearly don't, you stupid idiot!"

The two ponies just stared at her, their eyes wide in shock. Pinkie's mane and tail seemed to deflate a little bit, losing some of their puffiness. Applejack's expression changed; she looked at Sango, her eyes scrunched in anger.

"Sango, that was uncalled for."

Sango shook her head. "I'm sorry, Pinkie Pie. I didn't mean to scream at you and call you an idiot. You couldn't have known. It's just that….Kohaku is a touchy subject for me. You understand, don't you?"

"No, I'm sorry," Pinkie replied. "I shouldn't have said all those things. I guess I was being a little insensitive." She shook her head, the puffiness returning to her mane. "Anyway, don't we have somewhere to be?"

"Just one question," Sango said as she picked herself up off the ground. "Where'd that cannon come from? And why didn't it hurt Kohaku?"

"Oh, I never leave home without my Party Cannon," Pinkie Pie said. She pulled the cannon seemingly from nowhere and pressed a button on the top, shooting out several paper streamers. "And I've got a grand total of three of them!"

"O…kay." Sango shook her head. "We've got to get going before the Changelings show up again. We barely got away last time."

"Don't forget your boomerang," Applejack said. "That thing looks really heavy."

Sango picked the Hiraikotsu up off the ground. "It's not heavy to me. Now, let's get going."

##############################

"FOX FIRE!"

A line of green flame leaped from Shippo's hands, engulfing the pursuing Changelings and other assorted monsters – some resembling two-legged goats, some resembling large ogres with one eye. They screamed as their skin cracked and burned.

Their agony only lasted a moment.

Shippo was surprised; his Fox Fire normally had little to no effect other than mild annoyance.

He took a moment to catch his breath; these creatures had been chasing him for a while, and he was starting to get tired. He didn't even want to think about what would have happened if they'd caught him. The last thing he wanted was to get torn apart by these things.

The sound of hooves and feet on the stone road caught his attention. He turned in time to see Kagome, Rainbow Dash, and Shining Armor heading towards him, accompanied by another creature he hadn't seen before.

"YAH!" He ducked beneath a nearby pillar that had collapsed. "Kagome, that monster's not going to eat me, is he?"

"Are you crazy?" the creature asked. "I don't eat little kids. By the way, name's Discord. How're ya doing?"

Shippo peaked out from behind the pillar to look at Discord. "You're really not going to eat me?"

"Nope." He looked at the still-burning Changelings. "Huh. Those guys are having a bad night. They could use some help." He sneezed, instantly freezing the Changelings.

And then he clapped his hands, and the frozen Changelings fell apart.

"How'd you do that?" Kagome asked. "Wait, let me guess – chaos powers?"

"Ding-ding-ding, we have a winner!"

"Kagome! Shippo!"

Sango, Pinkie Pie, Applejack, and Kirara came out of a nearby alley. Sango readied her Hiraikotsu once she laid eyes on Discord. Discord simply held up a hand, stopping here.

"There will be no need for that, missy. I'm not one of the bad guys – least, not anymore. Just ask Pinks and Jackie. Ain't that right, ladies?"

"Eh, you're an okay feller, I guess," Applejack said. "Better than ya was before."

"Yeah, what she said," Pinkie Pie added.

"Okay. I'll take that." He rubbed his hands together. "Okay, so now we have to get to the tower."

"You can just warp us there," Rainbow Dash said.

"But fighting Changelings and satyrs and cyclopes is so much fun," Discord whined.

"But what about Twilight?" Sango asked. "Do you think she can handle that prince all by herself?"

"Are you kidding?" Applejack asked with a quick laugh. "This is Princess Twilight Sparkle we're talking about here. She faced down Nightmare Moon. She put Discord in his place when he was still a sour apple."

"Thank you for reminding me," Discord huffed. "I can still feel that cramp in my leg."

"She returned Cerberus to Tartarus," Applejack continued, ignoring Discord. "And she beat down Tirek. One little Changeling? Please. Twilight can handle him. I think."

#################################

Twilight struggled to break free of Carapace's magical grip. She could feel her blood vessels tightening, felt her muscles burning and the pressure building on her bones. His magic was also hampering her magic, keeping her from casting any spells no matter how hard she tried. It was getting harder for her to breathe; every time she tried, he tightened his grip just a little bit more. It was like she was being squeezed by a large snake; the pressure on her body slowly growing until she was sure it was going to kill her.

"I find it hard to believe that you, of all poniesss, are praisssed asss much asss you are," Carapace hissed. "You purged the hatred and jealousssy from Princccesss Luna when she wasss ssstill Nightmare Moon. You helped reform Dissscord after Cccelessstia brought him back to life. You murdered my sssissster. You persssonally sssent Tirek back to the pitsss of Tartarusss. And yet, you can't ssstand up againssst me. You are pathetic, Twilight Sssparkle." He threw her against the wall, never releasing his grip. "What happened to the power you usssed when you battled Tirek? What happened to all of your magical abilitiesss? You call yourssself a sssavior of Equessstrai? You call yourssself the Ssspirit of Magic? You are nothing. You are weak." He began to tighten his grip even more. "And you will die here and now."

"Carapace!" Cadance yelled. "Stop this! This isn't even a fair fight!"

"I never intended it to be," Carapace replied. "If it were, do you really think I would have a chanccce? No. She would annihilate me, jussst asss she did Chrysssalisss. A fair fight would be detrimental. I would perish. That isss sssomething I cannot allow to happen." He turned his attention back to Twilight. "Now, Princccesss, tell me – are you ready to join my sssissster in death?"

The wall exploded, causing Carapace to release his hold on Twilight. She collapsed to the floor; coughed as she tried to catch her breath. Slowly, she stood up, all four legs shaking.

A large, human-sized hole had been blown through the wall; the force had been enough to knock Kanna to the floor. Twilight followed the light from the hole, which pointed her to Inuyasha, collapsed on a pile of stone bricks.

"Inuyasha! Are you okay?"

Inuyasha sat up, supporting himself with the Tetsusaiga. "Ow! Okay, I guess I've gotta give him that one."

"GET OFF OF ME!"

Carapace jumped up, throwing Inuyasha off of him. He shook his body, shaking some rubble off, before turning his sick green eyes at Inuyasha, glaring angrily at him.

"You dare to attack me, boy?"

"Oh, save it," Inuyasha growled. "It's not like I threw myself at you on purpose."

Jurorenmaru appeared in the hole. "Oh. My Prince. Forgive the interruption. I didn't intend for Inuyasha to land on you like that."

"I'm sssurprisssed you haven't killed him yet, Jurorenmaru."

"If I may be so bold, I could say the same thing about you and the princess."

"Well, I wasss about to."

"Hey, if you two are through," Inuyasha said, "I'd like to commence with the ass kicking. How about it, Twilight? Up for a few rounds?"

Twilight shook her head. "Just….Just give me a minute."

"I don't think that bastard's gonna give you that kind of time."

"The boy isss right. I will not." He turned his attention back to Jurorenmaru. "Would you kindly finish him off while I ssslaughter thessse damn princccesssesss?"

"With pleasure, My Prince."

"Fine. Twilight, you take a break. I'll handle short, black, and ugly first," Inuyasha said. He charged for Carapace. "You're going down!" He swung.

Carapace leaped out of the way. "Not with that ssslow ssswing, I'm not."

"Damn it, you bastard!" He leaped after Carapace. "I'll cut you in half!" Carapace's jaws clamped down on the Tetsusaiga's blade, stopping Inuyasha's swing. "Hey! Let go of my sword, damn it!"

Twilight and Jurorenmaru were just standing off to the side, watching as Inuyasha tried to fling Carapace off of his sword's blade. She glanced over to the other three princesses, who were still struggling against their bonds. Kanna was standing nearby, her face as blank and expressionless as it had been all night.

Now's my chance to free them.

"Dodge left, Carapace!" Jurorenmaru called. "Dodge right! Jump! Watch out for the swing! Be glad he hasn't used the Wind Scar yet!"

"You are not exactly helping!" Carapace yelled. He dodged another swing of the Tetsusaiga.

"Hold still, you little bastard!"

Twilight kept her eyes on Carapace as she made her way over to Luna, Celestia, and Cadance. She didn't want him to see her, at least not yet. When she was close enough, she fired up her magic and let it go, destroying the green substance holding them to the floor and covering their wings and horns.

Celestia immediately fired a blast of magic at Carapace, sending him sprawling against the wall.

"Holy shit," Inuyasha breathed. "Remind me never to piss you off."

"Carapace," Celestia growled. "Your sister attempted to murder Cadance and Twilight. She attempted to slaughter every citizen in my fair city. How can you possibly glorify that sort of action?"

Carapace picked himself up off the floor. "We are Changelingsss, not poniesss. We mussst feed to sssurvive, be it on flesh or emotionsss. Thisss isss who we are, and ssso help me, I will kill everyone in thisss room if that isss what it takesss to avenge our queen!"

"My Prince," Jurorenmaru said, "if I may be so bold as to make a suggestion, why not use the jewel shard I gave you? The Shikon Jewel, even a tiny fragment, grants its user unimaginable power. You can destroy your enemies and potentially conquer the world with it."

"If you even THINK about using the jewel shard, I'll cut you in two," Inuyasha hissed as he adjusted his grip on the Tetsusaiga's handle. "You hear me? I'll kill you!"

Carapace had been holding the jewel shard in the crook of his ear; he used his magic to levitate it in front of him. "More power, hm? The power to conquer the world? Yesss, I sssuppossse I can ussse thisss."

"Like hell you will!" Inuyasha yelled. He charged.

Jurorenmaru quickly stepped in his way, his swords raised. The Tetsusaiga clashed against them.

"Get the hell out of my way, Jurorenmaru!"

"Sorry. No half-breeds allowed."

"Bastard!" He pushed Jurorenmaru back.

Carapace held the jewel shard in front of him. He cocked his head to one side, contemplating what to do.

How isss thisss sssupposssed to work? he thought. Isss there sssome incantation I'm sssupposssed to recccite? Or do I sssimply presss it againssst my body? He pressed the jewel shard against his chest.

Almost instantly, he felt a surge, a rush of power flowing through him. Like a jolt of electricity jumpstarting his heart. He could feel his heart pumping the blood faster and faster through his veins, felt his magical powers growing. It was amazing, the most amazing feeling he'd ever felt! The energy, the power – it was intoxicating!

Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and Cadance looked at Carapace, their eyes wide. They'd seen something like this before, but not with a jewel stone. And the way Carapace's eyes were glowing – they were no longer sick green, but rather, blood red – it was very unsettling, as was the way his horn was growing and twisting around, becoming more spiral shaped. His fangs were growing longer and longer, sticking out of the corners of his mouth like a saber-toothed Ursa Major.

"Inuyasha!" Twilight called. "Look at Carapace!"

Inuyasha was still crossing swords with Jurorenmaru. "I'm…a…little…busy…right…now!"

Carapace's laughter filled the room. "Yesss! I can feel it! I can feel the power flowing through me! It isss amazing!" He turned his eyes towards Twilight and the princesses. "And now, Your Royal Majessstiesss, the time hasss come for you to perish."

I will forever be reminded

Of how I ssstruggled to sssurvive

The battle that you had ssstarted

All that devotion thrown away

Inuyasha glanced over at Carapace. "Tell me he's not really doing what I think he is."

"Yes, I believe he is," Jurorenmaru said. "How odd."

And with everything I confided

I should have known not to trussst again

But at the end of the fighting

There will be nothing left to dessstroy

I'm becoming ssso overjoyed

And your world will sssoon be dessstroyed

In a moment

You will sssee my other ssside

When I'm confronted

Everyone had better run and hide

Hell hasss broken free tonight

No pale deccception anymore

You awoke me, now I will feed on the liesss

I demand your sssacrificcce

"His power," Cadance whispered. "It's almost palpable. Can you all feel it?"

"Can I feel it? I taste it," Twilight said.

I can barely control thisss feeling

Look at the murder in my eyesss

I wasss never good at concccealing

Violent thoughtsss have come to life

Horror will have a deeper meaning

You are the reassson this began

Even now I can hear you ssscreaming

There'sss only one thing left to dessstroy

And I'll be ssso overjoyed

That you will finally be dessstroyed

"Will you cut that out?" Inuyasha yelled as he deflected a series of blows from Jurorenmaru. "You're throwing off my concentration!"

In a moment

You will sssee my other ssside

When I'm confronted

Everyone had better run and hide

Hell hasss broken free tonight

No pale deccception anymore

You awoke me, now I will feed on the liesss

I demand your sssacrificcce

Hell hassss broken free tonight

No pale decccception anymore

You awoke me, now I will feed on the liesss

Hell hasss broken free tonight

No pale deccception anymore

You awoke me, now I will feed on the liesss

I demand your sssacrificcce

Inuyasha leaped away from Jurorenmaru to join the princesses. "Are you done? Seriously, I thought you'd never stop singing. Do you have any idea how damn distracting that is?"

Carapace's horn began to glow; his magical aura was no longer sick green, but rather, a deep magenta. "It doesssn't matter. Sssoon you will all be dead, and I will finally have my revenge." He fired a magical blast at them, manifesting it as a large fireball.

Celestia, Luna, and Cadance leaped in front of Inuyasha and Twilight and fired their own magic. Their beams halted the fireball, but it was clear that they wouldn't hold out for very long.

"His magic's too powerful!" Luna cried. "We can't hold it back much longer!"

Twilight joined in, firing up her horn and launching a beam of magic. Slowly, the four magic blasts began to push the fireball back.

"WHAT?!" Carapace yelled. "Inconccceivable!" He turned to Jurorenmaru. "I thought you sssaid thisss jewel shard would make me more powerful!"

"Even the sacred jewel has its limits," Kanna said, her voice so quiet Carapace could barely hear her.

"Allow me to lend my assistance, My Prince," Jurorenmaru said. He crossed his swords. "CROSS SLASH!" His attack cut through the fireball and started pushing against the alicorns' magic.

Inuyasha stepped up next to them, the Tetsusaiga raised above his head. Energy began swirling around the blade. "I was waiting for something like that." He swung the sword, sending the energy out. "BACKLASH WAVE!"

The energy swirled around Jurorenmaru's attack, pushing it back towards him. Jurorenmaru's eyes grew wide with fear.

"Oh shit."

That wasn't the only thing the energy was doing – it was going out in all directions, hitting the roof, the walls, the floor. Everyone in the room ducked to avoid the energy.

Kanna sidled over to the window, just as Kagura appeared, still riding her feather. "Kanna, get on." Kanna climbed out of the window, barely avoiding a blast, which bore a large hole in the wall.

"You fool!" Carapace yelled. "Your attack isss going to bring the tower down with all of usss in it!"

"Everypony out!" Celestia cried. "Now!" She, Luna, Cadance, and Twilight flew out of the window.

Inuyasha turned to follow them. "See you on the ground, ya bastards." Jurorenmaru quickly stepped to get in his way. "What the – ?"

"You're not going anywhere, Inuyasha," he said as he began his attack.

################################

Arachnae dodged the rubble as it fell from the tower. More and more chunks of stone and iron were falling as the tower began to collapse. Something inside had caused the structure to become compromised, and even though Arachnae was trying to avoid getting crushed, he couldn't help but wonder if his prince was still alive.

He leaped back, barely avoiding getting hit by a large piece of marble.

"Princcce Carapaccce, pleassse give me sssome sssign that you are ssstill alive."

He watched the four alicorns descend from the tower, just as two of the people who were with them before flew away on what looked like a large feather.

Twilight, Luna, Celestia, and Cadance landed nearby. He fired up his horn, ready to blast them.

"Where isss my princcce?" he snarled. "What have you done with him?!"

"Your prince is probably going to end up crushed in the tower when it falls," Twilight said. "Serves him right."

"I will not have you ssspeak about my princcce like that!" He fired his magic.

Twilight put up her barrier, absorbing Arachnae's blast. "Forget it, Arachnae. Your prince is as good as dead."

"Just like you, you monster," Celestia said darkly. She fired up her horn; its bright yellow aura was almost blinding. She focused her magic towards Arachnae, tapping into something she had only ever used once, a long time ago, before King Sombra was turned to shadow and banished into the frigid arctic north.

Arachnae's body became surrounded by the same yellow aura that surrounded Celestia's horn. He could feel his body vibrating. He could feel the pressure building.

And he could feel the pain as his front legs were crushed.

His scream echoed throughout the city, only growing louder as his hind legs were crushed into nothingness. He felt the pressure growing on his body, felt his abdominal section getting crushed.

His mouth was still open, but no sound was coming out. And it stayed that way for a few more seconds, before Celestia used her magic to make Arachnae's head explode.

And that was when the tower collapsed in a pile of stone and iron and a large cloud of dust.

THE FALL OF PRINCE CARAPACE

DISCORD TOOK A DEEP BREATH, INHALING SOME DUST AND CLEARING IT AWAY. What he didn't get was cleared away by Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy. What they saw was a scene of devastation – the tower was no longer standing; it was lying in a pile of shattered marble blocks and twisted iron rods. Some nearby buildings – all parts of the Royal Palace – had had their roofs caved in or were flattened completely.

Twilight, Celestia, Luna, and Cadance were standing a good thirty yards from the rubble, coughing and hacking as they tried to get the dust out of their noses and throats.

"Twilight! Celestia! Luna! Cadance! Are you all okay?" Fluttershy asked.

"We're fine," Cadance said. "But that boy…."

"Inuyasha was in the tower when it fell!" Twilight cried. "He did something when Jurorenmaru attacked, some kind of wave, he called it, and that's what –"

"He used the Backlash Wave in confined quarters?" Miroku asked. "That move is dangerous enough in open spaces, but in a tower?"

"That idiot!" Kagome yelled. "Inuyasha, you moron!"

The rubble moved as Inuyasha threw some shattered marble off of him. "Hey! Who are you calling an idiot and a moron?" He stood up, having to use the Tetsusaiga for support; it had reverted back to its rusty sword form.

"Are you okay?" Rarity asked. "You look like you're hurt."

Inuyasha scoffed. "Please. These are just scratches. My body's build much stronger than any of yours."

Discord got close, practically pressing his face against Inuyasha's. "Is that right?"

"Whoa!" He slashed at Discord with his claws; missed. "Hey, you freak of nature. Hasn't anyone ever told you about personal space?"

"Nope."

The rubble moved again. Inuyasha turned and raised the Tetsusaiga; it transformed back into its demon form. The only question on his mind was, who was climbing out? Was it Carapace? Or was it Jurorenmaru?

A hand appeared.

A human hand.

The rest of the body followed.

Jurorenmaru's body was broken and bleeding; his right arm and both legs had been crushed. Only his left arm was intact, and even then, the bones of his forearm were sticking out of the skin. His left eye had been swollen shut, and blood was pouring out of his nose and mouth.

He crawled forward, digging his fingers into the ground and pulling himself along.

"That sure is one persistent dude," Rainbow Dash said.

"I must…" Jurorenmaru breathed. "I must…complete…my…." He was silenced by the blade of the Tetsusaiga going through the back of his head.

All the ponies winced.

"Ouch. Extreme much?" Rainbow Dash asked.

"Inuyasha, I must say, that was a little overboard, don't you think?" Rarity put in.

"Overboard my ass. Bastard had it coming." He turned to Kagome. "Do you see the jewel shard anywhere?"

"Yeah, it's moving," Kagome said.

"But how?" Shippo asked. "Jewel shards don't move on their own."

"Carapace used it," Twilight said. "It made him more powerful. It must have saved him from the tower collapse, too."

The rubble exploded in a shower of stone and metal as Carapace stood up. He was bleeding from various cuts all over his body, but other than that, he was in much better shape than Jurorenmaru had been. He turned to the alicorns, his face twisted in rage, his teeth bared in an angry snarl.

"I will not be denied my vengeanccce!"

"Shut up for once," Inuyasha said. He tightened his grip on the Tetsusaiga. "Are you ready to die, asshole?"

Twilight stepped past him. "Back off, Inuyasha. He's mine."

"Have you lost your little pony mind?" Inuyasha barked. "He was kicking your ass a moment ago!"

"Yeah, well, it's time I returned the favor. Trust me. I can do this!" She charged for Carapace. "Like Inuyasha said – you're going down!" They slammed into each other, their horns crossing like swords.

"You foolish filly. How can you hope to sssurvive? You could barely ssstand up to me earlier. You needed the intervention of that boy to even hope to have a chanccce."

"Shut up, you piece of –" Carapace started pushing her back. His entire body was starting to glow. "No!"

"Thisss jewel shard hasss granted me great power," Carapace said. "It will allow me to dessstroy you, and everything you hold dear. I will conquer thisss world. The new Changeling Empire will be born!"

A stray magic blast hit him in the side of the face. He glanced over. Shining Armor's horn was glowing, surrounded by a deep magenta aura.

"My little sister is NEVER going to be beaten by someone like you."

"Isss that ssso, Captain? Well, jussst you watch."

Twilight fired up her horn and used her magic to throw Carapace back. "You think you can win? Do you really think I'll let you? Face it, Carapace – your army is dead, and soon, you're going to join them!" She got ready to fire her magic again. "Are you ready to join your sister in hell?"

"QUIET!"

Twilight fired her magic. Carapace countered with his own. The two beams met, pushed against each other, tried to gain the advantage. Twilight strained against Carapace's power; she hadn't imagined that the jewel shard would make him so strong. He was starting to overtake her.

I can't let him win. I just can't!

"You got this, Twilight!" Rainbow Dash cheered.

"You can beat that monster," Fluttershy said.

"Don't let him win!" Rarity cried.

"Finish him off!" Applejack yelled.

Pinkie Pie had donned a cheerleader's outfit and was doing a cheer like she were at a game of hoofball. "Twilight, Twilight, she's our gal! She'll kick that Changeling's evil tail! GOOOOOOO TWILIGHT! WHOO!"

"You must win, Twilight," Celestia said.

"Yes," Luna added. "For Equestria's sake."

"Don't let that monster beat you," Cadance chimed in.

"I believe in you, little sis," Shining Armor said.

"You've got more power than he does," Miroku said. "I know that you can beat him."

"Use up all of your power if you have to, just defeat him!" Sango cried.

"Kick his butt!" Shippo yelled.

"You can win, Twilight," Kagome said. "We all believe in you."

"Yeah, what they said," Inuyasha put in. "Kick his ass! Kill that son of a bitch!"

My friends are all cheering for me. I can't let them down! She began to pour more power into her attack.

She began to push Carapace back.

"Imposssible!" Carapace shouted. "Earlier you couldn't land a blow! How can you be doing thisss?"

"Do you really want to know?" Twilight asked. "Fine. I'll tell you. When I left Canterlot to move to Ponyville before Nightmare Moon showed up, I didn't believe that making friends would be important, not if the fate of Equestria was at stake. But I learned that friends are the most important things in a pony's life. If it weren't for them, I would never have freed Princess Luna of her hate, I would never have withstood Discord's spells, I would never have found the Crystal Heart, I would never have tamed the Everfree Forest, I would never have defeated Tirek, I would never have foiled Starlight Glimmer's plans! I would never have gotten where I am today if it weren't for my friends! I have what it takes to destroy you, Carapace! All thanks to the magic of friendship!" Her magic overtook Carapace's and hit him straight on.

Twilight deactivated her magic. The beam faded away. Carapace was still standing, encased in a red bubble – a magic barrier.

"What? NO!"

"An impresssive ssspeech. But bold wordsss are not enough."

Inuyasha charged for him. "You know, you're really starting to become a real pain in the ass!" His sword began to glow red. "Your barrier is coming down! WIND SCAR!"

The Wind Scar hit, shattering the barrier and knocking Carapace to the ground.

"WHAT? HOW?"

Twilight fired up her horn again. Instead of blasting Carapace, a light began to spread from it, a light that encased Rainbow Dash, Fluttershy, Applejack, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie.

"I'm going to need your help to finish this battle. We still have the power from the chest. So let's use it!"

There was a flash, and the six ponies' appearances had changed. Their coats and Cutie Marks were still the same, but their manes and tail were much longer and flowing, with multi-colored stripes running through them. Light sparkled off of their bodies, converging to a point at Twilight's horn.

She fired the light at Carapace, who countered with his own magic.

The light quickly overtook Carapace's magic. Celestia, Luna, Cadance, and Shining Armor joined in, firing their own magic. Discord took a deep breath and let it out, spewing forth a stream of fire. Miroku took some blessed sutras out of his kimono and threw them. Santo threw her Hiraikotsu. Shippo tossed a fireball. Kagome let an arrow fly.

The blade of the Tetsusaiga crystalized. "You're through!" He swung the sword, sending out a shower of crystal shards. "ADAMANT BARRAGE!"

All the attacks hit Carapace at once. He let out one last cry of pain before his body was obliterated, leaving nothing but the broken pieces behind.

"Kagome, the jewel shard! Quick! Before he has a chance to regenerate!" Inuyasha called.

"I've got it," Kagome said as she hurried over. She plucked the jewel shard from what was left of Carapace's torso. The skin and muscle melted away from the pieces of his body, leaving only the steaming bones behind.

Everyone let out a long sigh of relief. The powers that Twilight had granted herself and her friends dissipated.

"Glad we finally got it," Inuyasha said.

"Yeah," Kagome replied. "Who knows what sort of damage –"

A Saimyosho swooped down and plucked the jewel shard from her hand. "Hey!"

The large insect flew up to a large feather hovering above them – Kagura, Kanna, and Kohaku. The Saimyosho dropped the jewel shard into Kagura's open hand.

"Kagura! Give that back!" Inuyasha yelled.

"See you at home," Kagura said as they flew off.

"Damn it!"

"Let her go," Miroku said. "It's not like it changes anything. Naraku hasn't lost or gained any of the Shikon Jewel, after all."

Twilight was about to say something, but before she could, she collapsed to the ground, exhausted.

Darkness followed a moment later.

##################################

Her eyes slowly fluttered open. Her vision was blurry, but she could still make out the concerned faces looking down at her. Celestia, Luna, and Cadance were gathered around her, concern and worry filling their eyes.

"Thank goodness, she's coming around," Celestia said. She put a gentle hoof on Twilight's forehead. "Are you okay, my student?"

"I feel kind of lousy," Twilight replied. "How long has it been?"

"Almost a week," Cadance said. "I used my healing spell to fix your wounds, but you still didn't wake up. For a minute we all thought you were dead. We took turns watching you."

"What about Canterlot?" Twilight asked.

"Hush, young one," Luna said. "Clean up and reconstruction has already begun. Your friends have been helping."

Twilight turned away. "I can't help but feel like this is all my fault. If I hadn't killed Chrysalis back then, none of this would be happening."

"Twilight, don't be silly," Cadance said. "If you hadn't killed Chrysalis, I wouldn't be here right now. And besides, this wasn't your fault. Don't blame yourself for what that monster Carapace did."

"I guess you're right. But still, I feel responsible somehow."

Cadance draped a wing over her sister-in-law, pulling her in for a light hug. "You're not. Please, don't beat yourself up over it."

"Well, look who finally decided to wake up."

They all turned to the door, where Inuyasha was standing. He was leaning against the door frame, his arms crossed.

"How long have you been there?" Celestia asked.

"Long enough to hear your sappy conversation," Inuyasha said. "You'll be happy to know that the dead have all been cleaned up. Miroku's performing a ceremony for them right now. He says it's supposed to help grant them safe passage to the afterlife, or some bullshit like that. The point is, you won't be stepping over any more corpses."

"Well that was…nice of Miroku to do," Cadance said. She whispered to Twilight. "He's not very friendly, is he?"

"He's just a little stressed out," Twilight whispered back. "He's generally a pretty good guy underneath."

"You two DO realize I can hear you, right?" Inuyasha asked. He indicated his ears. "Dog ears. Very good at hearing things."

"Has cleanup of all the rubble begun?" Twilight asked.

"We started that days ago," Celestia said. "Progress has been going very well. Don't forget, we've gotten quite proficient at rebuilding Canterlot. Remember how the Decepticons trashed it?"

"Please don't remind me."

"Okay, I'm going back out there," Inuyasha said. "But I'm saying right now – if Rarity keeps complaining about getting dirt and blood out of her hair, I'm going to kick her."

"You kick her," Twilight said, "and I'll shove my horn up your –"

"I think we get the idea, Twilight," Celestia told her, putting a hoof on her shoulder. "Thank you." She turned to Inuyasha. "And thank you as well. You've helped us out a lot in your short time here."

"Hey, don't get me wrong, we only came here for the sacred jewel shard. But now that Kagura's got it back, there's not much reason for us to stick around, except to help clean up our mess." He turned and walked out the door.

######################################

It had been three days since Twilight had regained consciousness, and most of Canterlot had already been cleaned up. Like Celestia had said, they had gotten proficient in cleaning up after a devastating event such as this.

Shining Armor had already begun recruiting new stallions to join the Canterlot Royal Guard. Inuyasha and his friends were ready to go home – Twilight couldn't blame them. This wasn't their land, and going by their story, they still had to find the rest of the shards of the Shikon Jewel before their enemies did.

Celestia had convinced them to stay until after the ceremony.

The ceremony wasn't until later in the day, which allowed Twilight some time to observe the damage. Now, in the light of day, she could see the extent of it all. It didn't look as bad as she had expected – but then again, they had been cleaning up for nearly a week; that was more than enough time to fix up some damage.

She trotted over to where the tower had been. Most of the rubble had already been cleared away, but that wasn't why she was here. She made her way over to where Carapace had been standing. She could still see the blotches of dried blood.

"Carapace, you monster," she hissed. "Look what you've done to Canterlot. I used to call this city home, and your desire for revenge nearly destroyed it. Again. You make me sick. All Changelings make me sick. I never want to see your kind again. You and your sister can burn in hell."

Cadance had told her that what had happened wasn't her fault, but Twilight still felt guilty. Carapace had come looking for her; he had set a trap, and she had sprung it. Sure, Carapace may have died in the end, but did it matter? None of this would have happened if it hadn't been for Twilight.

There had always been the possibility that Chrysalis had had siblings, or a family of some kind. Twilight had never doubted that. Maybe there were still some Changelings out there, and maybe one day they too would come seeking revenge.

"We'll beat them. We'll beat them like we always do. Just like we beat you, Carapace."

You walk on like a woman in suffering

Won't even bother now to tell me why

You come alone, letting all of us savor the moment

Leaving me broken another time

You come on like a bloodstained hurricane

Leave me alone, let me be this time

You carry on like a holy man pushing redemption

I don't want to mention, the reason I know

That I am stricken and can't let you go

When the heart is cold, there's no hope, and we know

That I am crippled by all that you've done

Into the abyss will I run

You don't know what your power has done to me

I want to know if I'll heal inside

I can't go on with a holocaust about to happen

Seeing you laughing another time

You'll never know why your face has haunted me

My very soul has to bleed this time

Another hole in the wall of my inner defenses

Leaving me breathless, the reason I know

That I am stricken and can't let you go

When the heart is cold, there's no hope, and we know

That I am crippled by all that you've done

Into the abyss will I run

Into the abyss will I run

You walk on like a woman in suffering

Won't even bother now to tell me why

You come alone, letting all of us savor the moment

Leaving me broken another time

You come on like a bloodstained hurricane

Leave me alone, let me be this time

You carry on like a holy man pushing redemption

I don't want to mention, the reason I know

That I am stricken and can't let you go

When the heart is cold, there's no hope, and we know

That I am crippled by all that you've done

Into the abyss will I run

Into the abyss will I run

I can't let you go

Yes I am stricken and can't let you go

"Twilight."

Twilight looked over her shoulder. Shining Armor was standing nearby. She was glad to see him on his hooves again; Cadance's healing spell had worked better on him, it seemed.

"What is it, Shining Armor?"

"Luna sent me to fetch you. The ceremony's going to start in a little bit. Come on; we have to get to the audience chamber."

###############################

The audience chamber was filled with ponies from all over Canterlot, and a few from Ponyville. Twilight hadn't seen the audience chamber this full since her coronation.

She glanced over at Inuyasha and his friends. They were from another world, so she expected them to be a little surprised. But oddly enough, the only one showing any sign of surprise was Inuyasha.

Actually, he looked more annoyed than anything.

"Let's just get this over with," he silently growled. "We got things we need to do."

Kagome elbowed him in the stomach, shutting him up. "Just go along with it, would you?"

Celestia flared her wings, silencing the audience, before she spoke.

"We are gathered here today to remember those who gave their lives during the battle with the Changeling Army. Their sacrifices mean a great loss to us, but they were not in vain. The Changeling Army has been defeated, thanks to the brave efforts of our own Captain of the Guard, Shining Armor, as well as the Elements of Harmony, Discord, and our foreign visitors. If it hadn't been for them, the damage would have been much more severe, and Canterlot could have been completely destroyed. We owe them our thanks. And we owe them our lives."

"Yeah, yeah, you're welcome," Inuyasha huffed. "Now can we get going? We got shit we need to do."

A loud, collective gasp filled the audience chamber as all eyes turned to him. Kagome's eyes were burning with anger.

"Oh crud," he silently squeaked.

"Inuyasha…."

"No, please, no no no, not that!"

"SIT!"

Inuyasha's necklace dragged him face-first into the floor. The audience chamber erupted in laughter and applause.