It was the middle of the night when Twilight shifted around in her bed. Expecting to find Dark's warm body beside her, she draped her foreleg over him only to find his spot on the bed empty. Feeling him not there, she slowly opened her eyes to see not only the blanket being pulled away, indicating that he'd left, but she also saw that the balcony window doors were open, allowing a slight summer breeze to blow against the curtains.
Slipping out of bed, Twilight got up and made her way around their bed to see what was going on. When she got a view of the balcony, she saw Dark standing up with his claws held out in front of him and shrouded in darkness.
"Can't sleep?" she asked as she approached him.
Hearing her voice, Dark looked back at her. "Sorry, Twilight. I didn't wake you up, did I?"
"No. I just noticed that you were gone and that the window was open."
"Oh."
There was a brief moment of silence before Twilight spoke back up.
"Dark, can you please come back to bed? The deadline is tomorrow, and you're leaving this afternoon to go back to meet Light at Stonewall Village."
"I will, Twilight," Dark replied. "Just give me a few minutes. This is kinda important."
Twilight walked up alongside Dark. When she did, she saw a baseball-sized sphere of darkness that appeared to be drawing shadows into it.
"What're you doing?" she asked, curiously looking over the small orb.
"Since I can't bring my Shadow Wraiths with me, I'm gathering them all here for you to use tomorrow against Inferno. You'll have complete control over them, so they'll only obey you."
"You're... giving me your Shadow Wraiths?"
Dark gave a small nod. "Yes. All one thousand, three hundred and fifty of them. It should be a good enough army to protect you from Inferno and his army."
Twilight took a step back. "But..."
"I'm not going to leave you to fight Inferno and his army alone like this. Yes, you'll have our friends there and the princesses and Shining, but while I do trust them, it'll just make me feel better knowing that even though I can't be there for you, I can at least give you something to help you survive this."
"But I don't know if I can. I mean, I've never led an entire army before."
"What about when you brought the guards through the portal to the human world?"
"That was different."
Dark let out a sigh. "Guess it depends on how you look at it."
A few moments later, Dark grunted as the last of the Shadow Wraiths had gathered within the sphere. With the shadowy mist on his claws dissipating, Dark turned to face Twilight and held the sphere out to her in his claw.
"Whether you want to use it or not is your choice," he said. "You can use it right away and use them to fight Inferno's army, or, if you really aren't comfortable, then you don't have to. I just want for you to have this just incase you do end up need it."
Slowly, Twilight took the sphere from Dark with her magic and held it in front of her as she examined it.
"... if I did want to use it, how would I?" she asked.
"All you have to do is break it and the Shadow Wraiths within will be released. It doesn't matter how you do it, just as long as the glass shatters."
"Okay." Twilight sat the orb inside her bedside table drawer and closed it. "Are you coming to bed now? This might be our last night together, so I'd like to spend it with you by my side."
Dark paused as her choice of words. "... you make it sound like one of us might not make it tomorrow."
"In battle, there are many variables to consider, any of which could lead to our end, whether it's a poor command order, being a split-second too slow to dodge a strike, or not having somepony you trust at your side. The last two times I was apart of a battle, I would've died if it weren't for you being there. The first time was the attack on Ponyville when the manticores were about to break through Princess Celestia's barrier, and the second was when King Sombra basically had me at his mercy. This time, you won't be there."
Dark draped a wing over Twilight and pulled her close to his side as he nuzzled her head.
"And that's why I gave you that sphere," he softly said. "If you feel like you're in danger, use it and they'll protect you in my place."
"I'd still prefer you," she said, nuzzling his chin, "but thank you."
"You're welcome." Dark pause his nuzzling for a moment to share a brief kiss with Twilight. "I think I'm ready to call it a night for good this time."
"Okay."
It was noon and things were becoming very busy for all. Beneath the safety of Shining's magical barrier, now having been tinted to prevent outside eyes from peering within, everypony was either finishing up getting themselves ready to evacuate Canterlot for Ponyville, or were finishing preparations to fight Inferno's army. Within the castle, Celestia and Luna were in one of the guest rooms to visit with its current resident.
"We're sorry that you've felt the need to confine yourself like this," Celestia apologized.
"I felt like it was needed," Rin said. "As the Council Elder, it would be bad if I were to show around here, especially with so many of your ponies still unnerved by Inferno's imminent arrival."
"And what of Twilight and Dark's wedding?" Luna questioned. "Surely you could've attended that, could you not?"
"I could have, but with the threat of war looming over Equestria at the time, I again didn't think that it would be wise of me to attend. I do hope that the young princess wasn't too disappointed that I declined her invitation."
Celestia gave a small nod. "She was a little bit, but she understood and didn't let it get in her way."
Rin smiled briefly before it turned sour. "Now if only Light hadn't pulled that stunt of his," he said with a snort. "I find it hard to believe that he and Lord Dark are of the same blood."
"Don't you mean 'Prince' Dark?" Luna corrected.
"No, I didn't. For me, Dark will be the Lord of Death first, and a Prince of Equestria second."
"You seem rather set on this," Celestia noticed, seeing Rin sigh and shake his head in disappointment.
"The other older dragons and I still remember what the Scaleless Dragons are and did, and so, we will continue to honor them. It seems as though Inferno's generation, and those who followed after, have started to forget that." Rin looked out the window and saw the ponies running about below. "It is my hope that someday those young ones might remember or learn what we've learned. I want to see the Dragon Kingdom thrive once again as we revere the Scaleless Dragons like we once did so long ago. They once blessed us with massive deposits of gems from the earth to eat, pure and plentiful water to drink, favorable winds to hide our scent in our hunt, and the fire to help cook our food and fuel our forges. But, ever since Inferno stepped up as king, their praise has dwindled... along with those blessings I listed. Now, Inferno does know what they are capable of, and that's why he never acted on them. But now things are different. Too different."
"Perhaps after tomorrow his position might be vacant," Luna hinted.
"Luna!" Celestia scolded.
"What? You know it might be true. After all, we had a chance when Dark came to us yesterday with the offer of assassinating King Inferno in the dead of night."
"You know that I wouldn't allow for assassinations, Luna."
Luna frowned. "You can be a real spoiler at times, Celestia. At least with Dark, he would've been in and out of there within seconds if he wanted to. And that's without him having the risk of being caught."
"I know, but I still wouldn't allow for it."
"And you didn't."
"I believe that I would have to agree on this one," Rin voiced.
"Agree with who?"
"Both of you," he answered. "While no one would be better for assassinations than the Lord of Death himself, I also can't condone the thought of my king being assassinated like that, whether or not it may be beneficial for all."
"We understand," Celestia said. "So, what are you plans then?"
"For now, I will continue to lay low. It would be bad for some dragon your ponies aren't familiar with to suddenly show up out of nowhere. So, until tomorrow, I will patiently wait here."
"If that is what you wish, then we won't ask you to."
"Thank you... and..."
"And?" Luna pressed.
"... I may or may not be joining your fight tomorrow."
Celestia and Luna were both taken by surprise by him.
"What?" Celestia asked.
"What King Inferno is doing is wrong, and as the Council Elder, I won't stand for it."
"But you just said that you can't condone the thought of him being assassinated," Luna pointed out.
"Yes, because for a dragon, assassination is considered as an act of cowardice. Besides, I never said that I would fight Inferno himself. If I do chose to fight, then it'll be against his army."
Celestia looked over him cautiously. "Are you sure you can handle it?"
Rin gave a throaty chuckle that soon escalated to a rumbling laugh.
"I may be old and almost blind, Princess, but I've still got some fight left in me. Enough for one more battle at least."
Celestia and Luna shared a look before the latter spoke. "If that is what you wish, then we won't stop you."
"Thank you, Your Highnesses."
"You're welcome," Celestia replied before she and Luna began making their way to the door. "Now, if you'll excuse us, Dark should be leaving for Stonewall Village soon, so Luna and I are going to see him off."
"Tell the young lord that I wish him luck."
"We shall, Rin."
With a bow, Celestia and Luna left Rin's room and began making their way towards the airship docks. Along the way they were met by another who was coming to see Dark off.
"Hello, Princess Celestia, Princess Luna," Shining, said with a small bow, wearing his Draconium armor and sword at his belt.
"Hello, Shining Armor," Celestia returned.
"You going to see Dark too?"
"We are," Luna replied. "By the way, have you seen either Pinkie Pies yet?"
"Nopony has since they left for Ponyville a few days ago."
"I wouldn't worry about them too much," Celestia said with a small smile. "Pinkie Pie has never been one to be late with an event like this, so I'm sure she'll be here before long."
"I hope so, because Dark's leaving soon."
Picking up their pace a little bit, Celestia, Luna, and Shining made their way through the castle and Canterlot, towards the airship docks. With the civilians having been evacuated an hour earlier, they ran into no traffic besides the guards patrolling the nearly deserted city. As they continued down the nearly deserted streets, Luna looked over to Shining.
"So, how have preparations been coming along?" she asked him.
"Every guard has one of the communication gems installed into their helmets, so now everypony will be able to receive their orders and report back instantly, along with being able to talk to each other and coordinate with one another. We've also managed to work them into the Wonderbolts' headgear as well. We also have one for each of you two, Twilight, and her friends. And if something happens to them or they don't seem to work for some reason, then we've got spares."
"Good," Celestia said. "This will make things easier on everypony."
Shining nodded. "We've also given everypony a Rage Pellet to use, including Twilight and her friends. If you want, I've set some aside for you two as well."
"Thank you, Shining Armor, but I'll pass."
"Okay, but why?"
When Celestia looked away, Luna huffed. "Tell me, have you seen the Changeling Kingdom?"
Shining looked curiously at Luna before answering. "Yes, I have. Besides their hive, it's pretty much just a barren wasteland."
Luna nodded. "Barely anypony knows this these days, but the Changeling Kingdom was once a vast and beautiful jungle."
Shining blinked in surprise. "It was? What happened to it then?"
"My sister happened. I have seen Celestia go into a Rage Shift only once in my life, and when she did, she used the sun to scorch the earth and reduce the entire jungle to what it is today."
Shining was silent for a while as he processed that before speaking again.
"But why? What did they do to deserve that?"
"I'd rather not go into details, Shining Armor," Celestia regretfully replied. "We've all done things that we've come to regret, as you already know first-hoof. I am no exception. I've lived thousands of years and made plenty of mistakes that I still regret to this day. All that I'll say about it, though, is that since then, I've taken a vow to never Rage Shift again, nor to use my powers over the sun as a weapon of mass destruction like that ever again."
"It was rather annoying when she returned home, actually," Luna said with a huff. "After she did, Tia felt ashamed of herself for having done something like that and locked herself away in her bedroom. It took me a full month before I had finally convinced her to come out. It doesn't help much either that the dragons are doing almost the exact same thing now, minus the superweapon that the changelings possessed and almost used on us of course."
"... and what about Queen Chrysalis?" Shining hesitantly asked.
"She had nothing to do with it. Her hive moved into that area some hundred years later. By the way, Tia, who was the queen of that old hive anyway? I can't seem to recall."
"It's probably best to leave that in the past, Luna," Celestia told her, wanting to drop the subject and having to remember that old memory.
Since then, the three of them continued to walk in silence. After a good fifteen minutes of walking down the streets, they came to the airship docks where Twilight, her friends and human friends, and Spike all gathered to see Dark off. That is, except for Pinkie and Pinks.
"Where the heck are they?" Dark grumbled. "Pinkie and Pinks should've been here by now, and I really don't want to leave before saying goodbye to them."
"Don't worry, Dark, they'll be here," Twilight told him.
"Yeah," Rainbow agreed. "Besides, Pinkie's not usually one to miss seeing somepony off like this."
"I know, girls, but I still wish they would get back already."
"Something wrong?"
Everyone looked back to see Celestia, Luna, and Shining approaching them.
"Not really, Princess," Twilight replied. "Dark is just fidgety because he feels like he needs to go and Pinkie and Pinks aren't back from Ponyville yet."
"I just want to make sure that I say goodbye to everypony before I have to leave," Dark explained.
"Is that all?" Celestia asked.
"You seem nervous for other reasons," Luna observed.
Dark turned his gaze to the south east. "I'm... I just have a bad feeling about this. It sorta feels like I'm walking straight into a trap, and with how much time it's been between when Light told me to come and tomorrow, it very well might be."
"In that case," Shining began as he approached Dark, "you might want to take this with you."
Reaching beneath his armor with his magic, Shining pulled out a Rage Pellet and floated it over to Dark, who took it with his own magic.
"Thank you, Shining, but is this a good idea?" he questioned.
"I think it is. Why? Is there something wrong?"
"It's just that I've never Rage Shifted before, even when I was a normal unicorn. Now that I'm a kirin, I don't know what'll happen if I do."
"Does it really matter?" Rainbow asked. "I mean, it'll only be you and Light with nopony else around for miles, right? So, even if you change and lose your mind and start to go on some sort of rampage, nopony will get hurt and nothing important will be destroyed."
"She's right," Shining agreed. "Besides, like you said, you'll be alone, so you should take what help you can get now before you leave."
An uncertain frown formed before Dark took the Rage Pellet and placed it into his Shadow Storage.
"Thank you, though I'll try not to use it if I can help it," Dark said.
Shining nodded in understanding and was about to speak to Dark again when he saw Rainbow and Dash both standing off to the side at the edge of the platform and looking out into the distance.
"Is something up?" he asked them.
"I'm... not sure," Rainbow slowly answered.
"Something's coming this way, but I can't make it out," Dash added.
Having everyone's attention and curiosity, they joined Rainbow and Dash to try spotting what they were seeing. After a few moments, they found what they saw, but whatever it was, it was too far away. Thinking quickly, Twilight lit her horn and casted a spell to enhance her sight. When she did and looked back, she saw what was coming towards them... or rather, the two thing that were coming towards them.
"What the heck?" she muttered.
"What is it, Twilight?" Dark asked, turning his attention to Twilight as she squinted in focus.
"Is it King Inferno?" Celestia questioned.
"No, it's not him."
A few moments later, the two objects came close enough that the others could make out what they were.
"Wait a minute... are those what Pinkie's been workin' on all this time?" Applejack asked.
"Seeing as how they're coming from the direction of Ponyville, and that we're expecting Pinkie to be here by now, I'd say yes," Rainbow replied with a slow nod.
Approaching Canterlot were a pair of massive airships over twice as big as their normal ones, but there were two different types.
The first one was made of a balanced mix of wood and metal with blue colors, and a steel alicorn pony on the bow with its wings spread open. It was being propelled by four powerful propeller engines and several smaller ones that kept it floating, and was armed with twenty broadside cannons, and a pair of double-barrel battery cannons on the front and back of the airship. Within the airship were two levels below deck. The first of which consisted mostly of ammunition with cannons aligning the walls. But, down towards the second floor was where the larger cannons laid, along with a large room that acted as a medical station towards the back. And there, suspended above the sealed bomb bay doors, was a large bomb with a smiley face painted on the nose of it.
The second airship was far different than the first. Being made of more metal than wood, this airship was being held aloft by metal chains to a pair of red balloons on both sides of it, which were being held together by a metal catwalk to prevent them from separating. Also, unlike the normal balloons that would be used in Equestria's airships, this one had solid steel hidden beneath the balloons' fabric. It was also armed with an enormous cannon positioned on the front of the airship, beginning almost halfway to the back of the ship's deck, and ending by protruding out of the mouth of a large, metallic dragon mouth, positioned at the front. It was also armed with a pair of rotating cannons along both sides of the airships main cannon. However, unlike the first airship, this one had only one, very spacious floor below deck, with three large doors on both sides. While the two up front and towards the back had manned turrets on them, the two center ones were clear of any turrets, and were instead modified for them to be used as short runways for any pegasi to use.
Not wanting things to get out of hoof, Shining used the communication crystal within his helmet to tell the other guards and Wonderbolts to stand down and let them pass before they could start attacking them. As the airships approached and passed through Shining's barrier, they could see that both of the airships had a cutie mark on them. While Pinkie's was seen clearly on the flag hanging down from the catwalk of the red one, Applejack's was seen on the side of the sides of the large quarterdeck of the blue one.
A few minutes later, both airships found a place to dock alongside the platform, allowing for the crew of both to unboard from the deck. As they did, Applejack's face formed a wide smile as she saw her family from Appleloosa unboarding from both vessels, along with Pinkie from the red one, and Pinks from the blue one.
"Y'all made it!" Applejack exclaimed as she ran to meet her kin with a hug.
"Of course we made it," Braeburn said, hugging Applejack back. "We managed ta get most of the Apple family from Appleloosa ta come with us, but the elders and a few of the other ponies decided ta stayed behind ta look after the youngins."
"That's great." Applejack looked around and saw somepony missing. "What about him? Wasn't he comin' with y'all?"
"He said that he had somethin' ta take care of first, but promised that he'll be here tomorrow ta help us all out with them dragons."
While Applejack and talking to her family, Pinkie and Pinks met up and made their way to their friends while they came to meet them half way.
"So those are what you've been working on so much?" Twilight asked.
"You bet!" Pinks exclaimed.
"Girls," Pinkie began before quickly adding, "and Dark, Shining Armor, and Spike. Say hello to Equestria's first two warships. The red one is Pinkie's Hammer, and the blue one is the Applebreaker."
They were all silent as they looked over the two airships before Spike spoke up.
"Uhh, wouldn't it make more sense for Applejack's cutie mark to be on the red one, and yours on the blue one, Pinkie?" he asked.
"Colorwise it would, since apples are usually red and my eyes and cutie mark has blue in them. But really, can you actually see Applejack commanding something that's covered in spikes like that?" she asked, pointing a hoof back to the red airship.
"... good point."
"Besides, we're the ones who built them, so we should be the ones to chose," Pinks added. "Besides, I like it."
"They are... interesting," Rarity slowly said.
"Looks like they'll be a great help to us tomorrow," Shining added. "It'll also give our pegasi a place to rest if they need it."
"There's also a medical station in the Applebreaker for those who need medical attention," Pinks told them.
"And don't worry," Pinkie said with a smile, "there'll be plenty of snacks and drinks for everypony inside who'll need to take a quick break."
"While that's great to hear," Twilight began, "I'm more curious as to how those propeller engines are running like that. What are you using to make them run?"
"Oh that's an easy one," Pinkie said with a giggle. "They each have this crystal gem acting as the energy source-"
"But the cool thing about them is that every time a propeller makes a rotation," Pinks began taking over explaining for Pinkie, "it charges the gem with power again-"
"-which then makes the propellers spin again-"
"-and repeats the process over-"
"-and over-"
"-and over-"
"-and over-"
"Okay! Okay! We get it already!" Dash exclaimed as she and Rainbow rubbed their temples from the small headache.
As they did that, everyone looked at Twilight and Twi, who's mouths were hung open as they stared in awe at the blue airship.
"So you mean to tell us..." Twi began.
"That you two have found a way to created an infinite power source to fuel your contraptions?!" Twilight finished.
The two Pinkies shared a look before they shrugged.
"When you put it like that, yeah, I guess we did," Pinkie nonchalantly answered.
Twilight and Twi stared at Pinkie and Pinks in shock.
"How can you be so calm about this?!" Twi shouted. "Do you know what you've just discovered?!"
"That's it," Twilight spoke. "After this is all done and over with, I'm doing a full inspection of this aircraft."
"Me too."
While they were talking, Dark continued to look in silence between the two massive airships, and the twenty-five foot one Celestia and Luna were letting him use. Seeing him, Shining grinned and walked over to him.
"Feeling jealous that theirs are so much bigger than yours?" he joked.
"... I guess," Dark answered with a small grumble before facing him. "Did you really have to word it like that?"
Shining chuckled and patted Dark's back. "I'm just teasing you, Dark... besides, we might not get another chance like this."
Dark's mood turned grim as he sighed. "Yeah, I suppose so."
"... so, now that Pinkie and Pinks are here..."
"... yeah. I suppose it's about time I stopped putting it off and got this over with."
With a bit of reluctance, Dark mad his way back over to Twilight and their friends. Making his way past them, he stood in front of Pinkie and Pinks before draping a wing over each of them and pulling them both into a hug. As he continued to hug them, the others who were watching remained silent as Dark's bid his final goodbyes.
"Uhh, Dark?" Pinkie slowly spoke.
"What's going on?" Pinks asked.
"I need to go," he answered them, pulling back to see their frowning, sad faces. "I haven't left yet because I didn't get a chance to say goodbye to you two yet."
Pink's mane and ears wilted. "And now that you have..."
"You're going to go and leave now," Pinkie finished, now looking just like her counterpart.
After giving them a small nod, Dark found himself strangled as he was hugged by both Pinkies simultaneously. Hearing a quiet sniffle coming from the, Dark hugged them back for a while until they broke away.
"You know," Pinkie began, "you still owe me a Pinkie Promise."
A small smile formed on Dark's face. "I guess I do. What is it you want me to Pinkie Promise?"
Pinkie wiped her eyes before glaring at Dark. "I want you to Pinkie Promise that you'll come back to us."
"Sure. I can do that," he agreed, going through the motions of the Pinkie Promise.
Happy with that, Pinkie gave Dark another quick hug before he took a step towards his airship, but paused and looked back to see his friends with worried looks, while Twilight looked both scared and sad. Not liking seeing her like that, Dark turned around and walked over to her, where he immediately found himself wrapped in her forelegs as she held tightly onto him.
"Please be careful," she shakily whispered to him.
"I will," Dark whispered assuredly as he hugged her back, "and don't worry. Once this is all over with, we'll have ourselves a proper honeymoon."
After a while, Dark pulled back and shared a kiss with Twilight, who all too eagerly returned it. For almost a minute Twilight held him, not wanting to let him go, but Dark was on a schedule and needed to go. Breaking their kiss, Dark stepped back out of their embrace and held out his left claw. A moment later, a mass of shadows began to swirl around that quickly formed into Dark's Death Reaper scythe.
"Light said that I can't use this," he said, holding it out to Twilight, "but that doesn't mean that you can't."
Unwilling to argue with him, Twilight silently gave a small nod and took the scythe from Dark with her magic.
With his final farewells over with, Dark reluctantly turned his back to them and made his way over to his airship, not bothering to look back, less he be tempted to stay any longer. Coming up to his airship, Dark suddenly saw somepony standing off to the side, hidden from sight of the others by one of the buildings. Seeing that it was Snow Flower, he gave her a quick wave, which she returned before she turned around and made her way back towards the Coliseum.
Now aboard of his small airship, Dark untied the ropes anchoring it down and took the helm of the airship where a copy of Iron Guard's map securely sat. Taking off from the platform, Dark risked one last glance and saw his friends and family waving him off one more time before flying the airship out of Canterlot and towards Stonewall Village.
It was almost noon the next day as Twilight stood on cliff on the opposite side of Canterlot Mountain with the Death Reaper scythe strapped to the saddlebag on her back. With Sunset and the others having returned to their world, and the Dazzlings having taken Soul and the Crusaders back to Ponyville with Night and Velvet, Twilight had less to worry about. And while she would've liked for Spike to have gone with them, he was being stubborn about it. So, in the end, she allowed for Spike to stay as long as he stayed there by their sides.
Looking over over the ledge, Twilight saw their army below, and the two airships hovering above them, with Luna, Cadence, Rarity, Rainbow, and Spike at her side, each wearing a headset. While the plan was to originally have the Bearers of Harmony stay back and out of the way, with the introduction of Pinkie's Hammer and the Applebreaker being commanded by Pinkie and Applejack respectively, that plan was now gone. Of course, while those two had their reasons for not staying, that didn't explain why Fluttershy left with Celestia.
"How much longer are they going to take?" Twilight asked out loud to nopony in particular. "It's almost noon and they're still-"
Before Twilight could finish, a bright flash of light appeared behind her and the others, indicating Celestia had returned. Looking back, Twilight saw that Celestia had in her possession the six elements that had been returned to the tree, and were now returned to the crown and necklaces they were once embedded in.
"Sorry about that," Celestia apologized. "I didn't think that it would take me so long to put the elements back into your necklaces and crown."
"That's fine, but where's Fluttershy?" Rainbow asked. "She left with you, so why isn't she here with you now?"
"Fluttershy said that she had to do something and went into the Everfree Forest."
"What?!" everyone shouted.
"You just let her wander off into the Everfree Forest like that without any protection?! What the hay!" Rainbow shouted, clearly upset that Celestia let Fluttershy wander off like that.
"Now calm down, sugarcube," Rainbow and the others heard Applejack say through her headset to Rainbow, having heard the conversation.
"But, Applejack-"
"She's right," they heard Pinkie say through hers, "this is Fluttershy we're talking about. She wouldn't do something like that if she didn't feel like it."
"But without her, the elements won't work," Rarity pointed out.
"That may be true, but I believe in Fluttershy," Celestia said. "Besides, she-"
"Princesses!"
Hearing Spitfire talking through her communication crystal from her spot on Pinkie's Hammer, Celestia placed a hoof on the side of her headset.
"Yes, Captain Spitfire, what is it?"
"I think we may have a situation."
"What is it, Captain?" Luna asked.
There was a pause before Spitfire spoke up with uncertainty in her voice.
"Uhhh... well... I'm not sure what exactly is going on here, but I can see Fluttershy."
"Where is she?" Twilight asked.
"She's coming this way... and she's riding on top of a hydra's head."
"What?!" everyone shouted again.
"But that's not all. She also seems to be leading a large group of Everfree creatures."
Everypony looked at each other before Rainbow spoke up.
"Are you sure, Captain Spitfire?"
"She is," Soarin confirmed over his gem from beside Spitfire. "From what I can see, Fluttershy is leading an army consisting of four hydras, a few dozen manticores with what looks to be cockatrices riding on their backs, and a lot of timberwolves."
"Oh, good. She managed to get them after all. This is going to be delightful," Discord said in a disembodied voice before he flashed into existence beside the group.
"What are you talking about, Discord?" Twilight asked him.
"Turns out that those timberwolves who attacked Ponyville last year were so thankful to Fluttershy for freeing and defending them that they felt indebted to her. Then, when word that Inferno's army was coming got around, a little birdy told them and they agreed to pay Fluttershy back by help us fight against Inferno's army. And they also apparently managed to get those other Everfree creatures to come along too."
"So now we have the royal guard, the night guard, the crystal guard, the Wonderbolts, the Everfree creatures," Twilight looked back at the saddlebag she wore where the orb Dark gave her resided, "and the Shadow Wraiths Dark gave me."
"Sounds like we've just evened the odds," Spike said with a grin.
"Don't forget that they've still got more firepower than we do," Gray said.
"Both figuratively and literally in this case," Iron Guard added.
"Oh, I wouldn't be so sure about that one, boys," Pinkie giggled through her gem. "You haven't even seen the firepower that these babies are packing."
A few minutes later, Fluttershy rode the hydra and led them and the rest of the Everfree creatures into positon alongside their pony army. With them settled and secured, she flew back and returned to the others where she was given her own headset by Discord before he applied his own.
"Sorry I'm late, everypony," Fluttershy apologized.
"You're not late, Fluttershy," Cadence said. "Besides, King Inferno's army hasn't even shown up yet."
"Excuse me, Your Highnesses?"
"Yes, Flash, what is it?" Shining asked from his place down with his troops.
"I can see them. At this rate, they'll be here in about five minutes."
Taking a calming breath, Celestia lit up her horn and summoned her golden armor and halberd while Luna summoned her midnight-blue armor and longsword. Armed and armored, Celestia and Luna looked over to the horizon where they saw figures moving closer towards them
"So it begins."
Far in the south east mountain range of Equestria, Dark was bringing his airship down for a landing. As he'd approached the area where Stonewall Village was supposed to be located, he saw a large thunderstorm had gathered over the area. Not wanting to crash his borrowed ride, he decided to set it down and travel the rest of the way on hoof.
"You know that you probably shouldn't use your Champion armor, right?" Nocturne asked.
"Yeah, I figured that," Dark replied out loud before summoning his Coliseum armor and crown, and placing his Rage Pellet into one of his jacket's pockets. "With this chainmail underneath the cloth and leather, I should be less likely to attract any lightning."
"You also know that your fire magic will be severely weakened too, right?"
"Yes, and my fire breath too I'll bet."
Landing the airship and tying down the airship to a large boulder, Dark summoned his Death Reaver and placed it on his back before walking into the thunderstorm. As he did, however, Dark yelped in surprise and pain as the rain started crashing down on him.
"What is this?!" Dark asked in surprise.
"Looks like holy rain," Nocturne replied.
"'Holy rain'? How? And why does it sting so much?"
"That damnable brother of yours must've used Aurora's tears when he created those storm clouds. This isn't good, Dark. With this thunderstorm running strong like this, and with the amount of rain coming down, you'll barely be able to use your shadow or death magic."
Dark groaned as his mane started to cling wetly to his face. "So both branches of magic that I specialize in have been severely weakened to the point where they're almost nullified," he figured, using a claw to move his wet mane back behind his ears.
"Just about. If you can find the time to either get rid of those clouds or find some cover, then you might, but the soaked holy rainwater might still impede you."
"Great," Dark sarcastically muttered with an eyeroll.
Continuing forward, Dark started to get used to the holy rain that was stinging him. As he walked further, he soon came upon the stone wall his village was named after. Taking in a deep breath, Dark calmed himself before he walked through the opened gateway. However, when he passed through it, a wall of light suddenly appeared behind him and traveled out, circling the entire village in a wall of light before vanishing. Turning back around, Dark looked at where the wall of light came from and saw glowing ruin coming from the ground.
"How did Light manage to do all of this?" Dark wondered.
"He probably got some of the dragon mages to help him out," Nocturne guessed.
"Probably. I doubt that he's learned how to make magical runes... then again, I didn't think that he'd turn out like this either." Curious, Dark placed a claw on the wall of light. To his surprise, instead of it burning him, it just felt solid. "Weird. I thought that it would hurt."
"Looks to be a containment rune. It won't hurt us, but it won't go away until its caster is dead."
Dark sighed. "So we can't leave unless Light is dead, huh?"
"Correct."
"Damn. And I was hoping to just knock him out and restrain him."
"I know, but there's no use complaining about it now, so let's go and get this over with. I may be confined to this sword, but I still don't like this water pouring down on all over me."
Agreeing, Dark silently made his way into the town and through down the street past the ruined buildings. After several minutes of silence and being soaked in the rain, Dark finally came to the town square where he saw Light in his white trench coat as he stood with his back turned to him. However, while Dark didn't speak as he approached, the sounds of his claws and hooves splashing in the water puddles were heard clearly.
"I was starting to wonder if you were going to come, Dark," Light said, not bothering to turn around.
"You didn't exactly give me much of a choice," Dark said back, standing on his hooves while his claws twitched in nervous anticipation.
Letting out a humph, Light turned around and narrowed his eyes at Dark.
"I've been waiting a long time for this, Dark."
With a sinister grin, Light mimicked Dark and stood on his back hooves. He then drew his sword with his right hoof, causing Dark to reach back and draw his sword too.
"It's not too late to stop, Light," Dark said, trying to reason with him. "As a Prince of Equestria, I can try to ask Princess Celestia and Princess Luna to go easy on-"
"NO!" Light shouted, his sword glowing with a bright light. "What you are going to do is fight me, because until one of us dies, this barrier around the village will remain."
Feeling regretful for having to do this, Dark shouldered his sword and took his fighting stance while Light pointed his sword at him and spoke.
"Today, I lose a brother."