The Power Ponies, Mighty Machines, and Tartus were looking at the evil, blue Pegasus who was opening the cage door.
"You all are coming with me." Boom said. "Now, come quietly or I'll make you wish you were never born."
"Go ahead and try it." Zapp dared her counterpart. "Nothing you do could possibly be worse than what Anar D did."
That comment shocked Boom. "You too? You know, not five minutes after we brought the dingus back to life, I lost all my back teeth." She opened her mouth revealing the openings in the back of her gums.
"Ew!" everyone exclaimed.
"Hey, you got off easy." Zapp said. "I lost parts of me I never even got to use."
"Well, get a load of this." Boom said. She showed everyone her mane with a gap in the middle. "Thanks to that psychopath, I lost one of my stripes."
"How about this?" Zapp asked extending her hoof. "This burn mark came from the time the guy almost had me blown up in a factory. Try to top that!"
"Oh, yeah?" Boom asked with a confident tone in her voice. "Well, I bet he didn't do this to your wing!"
Boom removed the cover from her wing and revealed its condition. It shouldn't be said, but it made everyone gasp in fear, especially Zapp, who tried to look away. "Okay! Okay! You win!"
"Good." Boom said covering up her wing again. "Now, it's time to go."
What she didn't know was that in the shadows, Starlight and Sunburst hid themselves in the shadows. They looked at each other and nodded their heads.
For the next hour, the Peril Ponies and their armies gathered up all the ponies to a large coliseum where the Negahorn and Anar D stood at the center. The ponies sat in their seats with fear in their eyes.
"Are you going to make me do this or not?" Anar D asked.
"In a minute." the Negahorn said. "Where's Boom? I swear, even Wrath isn't this slow."
"Negahorn." a Pegasus guard said as he approached her. "He's here."
"Good." the Negahorn said. "Bring the traitor to me."
The guards carried the Perilous baby dragon and dropped him in front of his former partner.
"Well, well, well." the Negahorn said. "If it isn't my old sidekick."
"Sidekick?" Blunder asked. "Twilight, I'm the only guy who never gave up on you. You need to be talked into reason. This isn't you."
"Oh, you're not the first person to tell me I can change in less than 24 hours." the Negahorn said. "Why don't you give it a rest, Blunder? I'm going to give you one chance to return by my side."
"Twilight, you're a hero." Blunder said as he removed his mask. "You always were. I don't know what changed, but I know there's still good in you."
"You're just as naïve as ever, Spike." the Negahorn said. "You see the good in everything even if it's not there. But the world is not good. The only way to survive a harsh, cruel world is to be a harsh, cruel ruler. And now, I will be the harsh, cruel ruler of two Equestrias, and that's just the start."
"Hear, hear, boss!" Boom shouted as she arrived dragging the prisoners. Zapp was the only one who was gagged. The rest of the Peril Ponies followed.
"What's with her?" Ms. Fortune asked.
"She's been a bit talky back at the dungeon." Boom said. "I just thought we could use some quiet."
Tartus looked at the walls and saw a tapestry hanging. There was an image of a white, bearded unicorn in blue wizard clothes and a human lady with white, glowing eyes. They was battling a large, bipedal wolf monster with red, glowing eyes. Behind the wolf monster was a destroyed village. The bearded unicorn stood in front of a whole village.
"At least she didn't throw away my gifts." Tartus whispered to himself.
"Fluttershy!" Anar D called out in glee. The rest of the prisoners couldn't believe their eyes. "I mean, it is you, right?"
"D!" Saddle Rager gasped. "You are alive!"
"But... I thought you were delusional." Timberwolf said. "You kept spouting nonsense."
"I was faking it the whole time." Anar D said.
"What?" the Masked Matterhorn asked. "I don't understand. Why would you fake it?"
"To stall the Negahorn's plans." Anar D said. "When I blew myself up back in Tambelon, I was lost in a quiet, boring, white void. I thought I'd be there forever. But I was pulled back to life when the Negahorn used her magic fruit to bring me back. She thought I was unconscious when I came back, but I was able to overhear her plan to use me and my power. I thought that if she believed I wasn't playing with a full deck, she wouldn't risk using my powers. But now, my cover's blown and she's using you to make me complete her plan."
"And what?" the Masked Matterhorn asked. "What's the plan?"
"What?" Anar D asked. "Rady, Joe, Terry, you didn't show her the drawing?"
"What drawing?" the Shadow Blot asked.
"Some stupid crayon image of a purple cartoon dragon he showed us." Timberwolf said. "We asked him about the Peril Ponies' plan, but instead, he showed us that."
"Hold on." the Masked Matterhorn said. "If D really was thinking straight, he must have given it to you as some kind of subtle clue. Let me think for a minute." She began thinking for a minute. Suddenly, she had a random series of thoughts that connected. "Guys, do you remember when I first met Anar D and what he did to me?"
"Not us." Devastator said. "We came after."
"He did a lot of stuff to us." Radiance said. "You'll have to be more specific, Matterhorn."
"He put a curse on me. He put me in a coma for three days and contained my magic."
The Mighty Machines turned a displeased glare at the caped draconequus.
"It was a different time." Anar D defended himself. "But that's not what's important. Did you remember what came after?"
"Well, yeah." Hum Drum said. "When the magic was released, it..." He gasped in fear. "Oh, no."
"Yeah." the Negahorn said. "It's the reason she hasn't used her own magic in quite a while; she was holding it in. It's also why she needed Anar D alive; because he's the only person who can unleash her magic." She took a fearful look at the evil alicorn who smiled with pride. "She's going to create a beast made of her own magic... but what's she going to use it for?"
"It's simple, really." the Negahorn answered catching everyone's attention. "You see, I have this entire world, this whole universe, ruled with an iron hoof. But why stop there, when there's a whole Multiverse ripe for the conquest, starting with yours. Our two worlds are filled to the brim with magic and superpowers. I will be an alicorn queen of two Equestrias. And then, with a powerful army from both worlds, the Multiverse will be mine for the taking."
"Negahorn, that is crazy!" the Masked Matterhorn shouted. "The thing about an infinite number of universes, is that there will be no end to the number of worlds you conquer."
The Negahorn grinned. "Well, at least I won't be bored again."
"You're one crazy girl." Masque said. "No offense, Matterhorn."
"Enough!" the Negahorn said. "I've been working up to this for months. I won't let anything stop me, especially the elements of loyalty, laughter, kindness, generosity, honesty, and most assuredly magic. Anar D, release the beast within."
"All right." Anar D sighed. "Just don't hurt them." He pointed his lion paw finger and aimed at the Negahorn.
"Wait." Boom interrupted much to the Negahorn's chagrin. "Sorry to interrupt, but there's one element you forgot, Negahorn."
"I hardly think this is important," the Negahorn sighed. "What am I forgetting?"
"The element of..." Boom said, "SURPRISE!"
Suddenly, the Power Ponies (except for Zapp), Mighty Machines, Princess Celestia, and Tartus escaped from their bonds. They pushed Negahorn back as she dropped her Golden Apple. She was caught by the Peril Ponies who looked confused.
"She let them go?" Glamour asked. "Why?"
"Of course!" the Negahorn growled as she saw the blue Pegasus tied up. "They switched Rainbow Dash's! Get the Apple!"
"What about Boom?" Ms. Fortune asked.
"All-powerful Relic of Creation or some Pegasus with a tricked-out necklace!" the Negahorn growled. "Which do you think takes priority? And while you're at it, hurt the other-Equestrians for this resistance!" Suddenly, everyone felt the ground shake. "WHAT NOW?!"
Everyone looked at the stadium entrances seeing many familiar faces charge in. At the front, Bell Weather lead the charge alongside Starlight and Sunburst. Even the Hair-oine and Gryphon Goodness joined in on the fight.
"The resistance!" Blunder gasped in joy. "The unicorns freed them!"
"Don't just stand there, everyone!" the Masked Matterhorn said. "We need to get Anar D out of here before the Negahorn comes up with another way to get him to cast his spell on her. Saddle Rager, Devastator, you two get him out of here!"
"We won't let him out of our sight." Devastator said.
"We still need to get the Golden Apple before the Peril Ponies get it back!" the Shadow Blot said. "It's the only way the Negahorn plans to use any magic!"
"Then let's go!" Mistress Marevelous said.
The heroes charged towards the Apple while the Peril Ponies did the same. Filli-Second first caught the Golden Apple, but then began a high super-speed chase with Vile-Osity.
"Run, run, run, as fast as you can!" Vile-Osity shouted. "You can't escape me! I'm..."
"Me!" Filli-Second interrupted. "Also... RADIANCE!"
Filli-Second tossed the Golden Apple to Radiance who caught it with a hard-light baseball glove. She then found herself in front of her evil counterpart. The two of them created big trains and had them clash. The two of them struggled with pushing their trains to overpower the other. Then, Radiance came up with an idea.
"LOOK!" Radiance shouted pointing. "NEW FABRICS!"
"WHERE?!" Glamour asked looking back. As she lost her focus, her train disappeared and she was knocked back by Radiance's train and knocked out.
"Well, that ought to take care of her." Glamour said as she tossed the Apple to Zapp, who flew beside the Masked Matterhorn.
"Is it just me, or is it a bit easier fighting our doubles?" Zapp asked.
"I guess they were hard to beat last time because they caught us off-guard by revealing themselves to be us." the Matterhorn said. "But now that we have a better understanding of the Peril Ponies, we can use what we know against them."
Meanwhile, the Sisterhood of Evil and Sisterhood of Justice were fighting.
"I find it hard to believe that another version of me decided to take up heroics!" Gryphon Galore said attacking her counterpart. "What's next, you bake?"
"I gave up villainy because, as it turned out, it stinks." Gryphon Goodness returned returning the blows. "I saw what evil did to my home, and I certainly didn't feel good about it."
"Who's on first?" the Mane-iac shouted as she exchanged hair attacks with her counterpart.
"Speak softly and carry a big stick!" the Hair-oine said.
"Uh oh, spaghetti-o's."
"We are family! I got all my sisters with me!"
"SHUT UP!" the two gryphons shouted at their partners.
Several guards flew towards Tartus, but the skinny guy slashed the air in front of them opening a rip in space. The guards tried to stop, but all but one went through before it closed. Once it did, Tartus grabbed the remaining guard and zapped his forehead with a laser coming out of his robotic eye. The guard screamed in pain catching the Shadow Blot's attention. The wirewolf reacted by running towards the two and separated them. The guard fell on the ground still and silent.
"What... What did you do?" the Shadow Blot asked with a slight growl.
"He's not dead, if that's what you're worried about." Tartus said. "A precise zap will cause his brain to temporarily shut down."
"Do you always do things so brutal?" the Shadow Blot asked.
"I do things the smart way, wirewolf." Tartus said. "I haven't acted purely on emotion for hundreds of years. But right now, I suggest you do not start a conversation in the middle of a battle."
"HEY, SOFTIE!" the Shadow Blot and Tartus turned when they heard the voice of an evil wirewolf. Standing before them was the six wirewolves that work for the Negahorn. "Better not ignore the Malicious Machines."
"Oh, this is going to be fun." Shifter chuckled. "I wanna hurt them! Can I hurt them?"
"As much as you want." the Phantom Blot replied. "And once..."
He was interrupted by a sudden white blast. Ricky looked and saw the blast coming from Princess Celestia. When she was done, the Phantom Blot, Direoak, Shifter, Bruticus, Torch, and Blight were all trapped in a ice-like cocoon.
"I'd have felt terrible if it was my Ricky." Celestia said.
"It's all right." the Shadow Blot said. "Let's get back to battle."
Finally seeing a way out of the stadium, Saddle Rager, Anar D, and Devastator were happy. But before they could run toward it, they were cut off by Wrath. She stood angrily toward the three.
"Now, you made me angry." Wrath said as she began to grow. "You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." In less than ten seconds, Wrath was the size of a house.
"Saddle, I think now's a time for you to grow and throw down." Devastator said.
"I... I can't." Saddle Rager said nervously. "It's scary."
"Scary?" Devastator asked. "You turn into that all the time!"
"Oh, let me take care of it." Anar D said. "I've been meaning to stretch my magic!"
Wrath roared, but Anar D didn't flinch. Instead, he pointed his lion paw and made his index finger glow. A beam escaped from it hitting Wrath. Suddenly, she shrunk back to her normal form and fell unconscious.
"What did you do?" Saddle Rager asked.
"Much like I removed your common sense from your monster form when we first met," Anar D explained, "I removed her monstrosity from her monster form. The difference is, the strain from it knocked her pony half out."
"You are quite a mystery, D." Devastator said.
"Just glad to be back in the chaos." Anar D said.
"ENOUGH!" a menacing voice bellowed catching everyone's attention. The Negahorn looked like she lost her patience and charged towards Mistress Marevelous, who currently had the Golden Apple in her possession.
"CAREFUL!" the Shadow Blot shouted. "IF THE GOLDEN APPLE IS HARMED IN ANY WAY, YOU'LL BLOW THIS ENTIRE STADIUM TO KINGDOM COME!"
"WHAT?!" Marevelous gasped loudly as she lost her balance. When she tripped, the Golden Apple went flying through the air scaring everyone.
The good news is, it was caught before it could be harmed. The bad news is, it was caught by the Negahorn.
"Oh, you all really know how to push my buttons!" the Negahorn said. "But now, this foolishness ends now! D, give me my power, or I will use the Apple to..." She widened her eyes and stared at the Apple. She grinned for a minute before chuckling loudly. Her chuckles then turned into full-out hysteria.
"What's up with her?" Radiance asked.
"I wish I knew." Masque said. "I'm the adorable jester of the Mighty Machines, and even I don't get what's funny."
"What was I thinking all these months!" the Negahorn laughed. "I don't need Anar D! I have the Golden Apple! I'll just zap myself and unleash the power myself!"
"No!" the Masked Matterhorn gasped. "She can't! Midan said two Relics shouldn't be used on each other!"
"I have literally no idea what you just said." Filli-Second said.
"I do." the Shadow Blot said. "We gotta stop her!"
"I'll see you all later, heroes!" the Negahorn shouted. She aimed her Apple at the Power Ponies, Mighty Machines, Anar D, Tartus, Princess Celestia, Starlight Glimmer, and Sunburst. A yellow beam hit the heroes from the Apple, and they disappeared in a pop.
"GET HER!" Bell Weather shouted.
Every flier soared up towards the Negahorn who pointed the Golden Apple at herself. Suddenly, a bright, yellow light brightened the dark sky coming from the Negahorn and blinding the Resistance. When they were able to see again, they found themselves in the growing shadow of a dragon-like figure that frightened everyone.