The shock-waves from Indominus's final blast echoed all across Equestria. Ponies everywhere could see the golden, rippling waves of energy across the sky and it sent shivers down their spines. Some of them that had seen the Immortal Phoenix already, knew that something terrible was happening to Indominus. The shock-waves even made it to Canterlot, and upon seeing them, Luna had a sinking feeling in her heart that the worst was taking place. She was watching the energy display from a balcony and her heart pained from seeing it.
"What's wrong, sister," Celestia asked once she spotted the phenomenon taking place.
"Oh sister, I think that Indominus is dying. There's no other creature that can produce the golden color that's stretching all over Equestria."
"How can you be sure?"
"Listen very carefully."
Celestia stood beside Luna and listened intently to try and pick out what her sister was talking about. When she heard the faint, but unmistakable roars that were still echoing across the lands, her heart dropped.
"What could be happening to him, sister?"
"If I had to guess, I'd say that the Wonderbolts are responsible. We have to get a hold of Twilight Sparkle and find out what's going on."
"Then there's no time to waste sister. I only hope we're not too late."
The royal sisters made haste towards their quarters to get a message out to Twilight, unaware that the worst was already happening to the hybrid dinosaur.
The Mane Six were still witnessing Indominus's noble sacrifice unfolding and the whole thing was more than Rainbow Dash could bare. She and Scootaloo had to hold each other close because hearing their hybrid's roars was too painful for the both of them. Twilight flew onto Rexy's back and tried to console her friend and her friend's sister. The dinosaurs were having difficulty keeping themselves airborne from the powerful shock-waves and shielding their friends.
"I'm sorry Rainbow Dash, and especially to you Scootaloo," Twilight said as she tried to shield the sisters from the heartbreaking sight.
"Why did he have to give himself up like this," Scootaloo said sadly. "He didn't deserve this."
"He was only looking out for our family, I never imagined that he'd have to die for being a protector."
"But he's doing this for all of us Rainbow Dash. It's what he wanted in order to make sure the Wonderbolts could never hurt you again. He's making this sacrifice because he loves you girls. This was the decision he made so that you would never be hurt again."
"Everypony, Ah think the blast is starting to die out!" The others saw that Applejack was right: the enormous dome of golden energy was fading and Indominus's roars had stopped.
The shock-waves were also dying out and the area was becoming calm and peaceful again. Clouds of smoke and dirt were covering the area so nopony could see what was left of the battle sight. Indominus's final attack had come to an end, and that meant the hybrid dinosaur had succeeded in carrying out his promise.
"He did it, Indominus actually beat the Wonderbolts," said Rarity once the after effects had ended.
"We don't know that for sure Rarity. Somepony has to go and check out the battlefield," said Twilight.
"We'll go," Rainbow said after wiping away the tears from her eyes and taking flight. "He was my husband."
"Our brother," said the dinosaurs in unison.
"A real father to me," said Scootaloo.
"Alright, you can all go and see what's happened over there. What should we do instead Rainbow?"
"Wait for us back at my place, Twilight. If by some chance the Wonderbolts have survived the attack, we don't want Soarin to have more victims to go after. Plus they don't know where I live and it's the safest place."
"Sounds good. I'll get Spike from the library and bring him up to speed on what's happened."
"One last thing Rainbow Dash," Applejack said from Charlie's back. Rainbow flew over to hear what her friend had to say. "If the Wonderbolts are alive and try to attack you again, get out of there and don't even try to fight them."
"I won't fight, Applejack. Without Indominus, I don't have my power anymore. I couldn't fight them again even if I wanted to."
With that, Rainbow and her family made their way towards the rising clouds of dust to see if they could spot Indominus. Charlie and Echo couldn't join them to pay their last respects because they had to take Applejack, Pinkie and Rarity back. All they could do was hope that by some miracle their brother had survived the deadly blast. So while the Mane Five made their way back towards Rainbow's home to wait for her, she, Scootaloo and the dinosaurs had trouble seeing through the thick layers of dust. They used their wings to blow away the dust, and when it finally cleared away, the family was astounded by what was revealed.
Directly underneath them was a crater that was the size of Canterlot and went about about fifty feet into the ground. Every last piece of greenery that should've been around the giant hole was completely decimated and blown away. The once green and forested area had been destroyed and resembled nothing more than a broken and battle scarred wasteland. Rainbow could hardly believe all the destruction and havoc that Indominus's final attack had brought upon Equestria.
"He definitely went out in a blaze of glory, Scootaloo."
"I'll say Rainbow, to think that the Immortal Phoenix was capable of this kind of destruction."
"If he had gone out like this during the first fight, then the Wonderbolts would've been dead on the spot," said T-Rex.
"I can't see any sign of Indominus, or the Wonderbolts," Delta said from above the right section of the crater.
The family searched all over the crater for any signs of Indominus or the Wonderbolts, but they couldn't spot any indication that the bodies had been there. Rainbow could only spot small traces of fur and manes which meant the Wonderbolts had taken serious damage. But she wasn't sure that Indominus could've attacked them with enough force to completely disintegrate their bodies. Her heart was starting to panic in thinking that maybe Indominus's body had been destroyed because of his own attack. Then Scootaloo called out to them from the north point of the crater, and the family spotted several pathways in the ground.
As the followed each pathway all of them found the bodies at the end.
"There's the Wonderbolts, and it looks like Soarin managed to perish with them," Rainbow said as she looked over the bodies.
All of the Wonderbolts had several marks and bleeding gashes along their bodies. The hybrid's attack had torn away chunks of their flesh and shredded most of their uniforms. Soarin's scaly body looked as if someone had put him through thousands of meat slicers, much of his flesh had been either torn away, slashed apart or charred by the blast.
"Wow, I can't believe Indominus had enough power to do this to all of them," said Blue in surprise at the sight before them.
"My brother managed to pull it off, he beat Soarin once and for all," said T-Rex.
"I just wish he was still around so I could thank him."
"Hold on Rainbow," said Scootaloo. "If the Wonderbolts ended up here, then we might be able to find Indominus on the other end of the crater."
"Let's hope so Scoots." Rainbow and her family took off away from the beaten pegasi and headed towards the opposite side of the huge crater. As they left, one of Soarin's hands started twitching and then tightened into a fist.
It took them a while to reach the opposite end of the crater, but when they did get there, Rainbow spotted what she had been hoping to find. There was a single trail of torn up ground and debris that stretched quite a ways away from the battlefield. The family followed the trail and when they reached the end of it, their hearts sank at what they had found: the bleeding and ravaged body of Indominus Rex. His body was covered in so many slashes, flesh had been peeled away on several places and there was a pool of blood underneath his mouth. The family flew over and touched down around the hybrid dinosaur, heartbroken at seeing the sorry shape he was in.
Scootaloo refused to believe that her dad could be dead after everything he had endured and gone through for them. She tried to see if she could get him to stir.
"Dad? Dad come on, you've gotta get up," Scootaloo said while nudging Indominus's head to try and wake him. The hybrid's head only slumped back down to the ground when the filly stepped back.
"Indominus, we've gotta go home," Rainbow said while desperately trying to wake Indominus by shoving his head. Her heart growing more frantic and broken with every second that Indominus didn't stir.
Tyrannosaurus, Blue and Delta only hung their heads in mourning while the sisters tried to wake up Indominus. The dinosaurs knew that there was no way their brother was going to wake up after all that he had taken. Indominus wasn't going to be coming back from such a crippling attack this time. T-Rex stepped towards Scootaloo and pulled her away, Delta did the same with Rainbow Dash.
"It's over Scootaloo, he didn't make it."
"No T-Rex, h-he can't be gone."
"Please Delta, tell me that he'll wake up from this," Rainbow said with her voice breaking.
"I'm sorry Rainbow, Indominus Rex is dead.
Both sisters broke down when they realized the awful truth, Indominus wouldn't be going home with them. With tears flowing down their faces, Rainbow and Scootaloo snuggled against the hybrid's body and just held him. Rainbow held one on Indominus's claws as she snuggled under his hand. Scootaloo hugged his face as she nuzzled against Indominus's head, she had already lost Indominus once, but this time there wasn't an enhanced Sonic Rainboom to bring him back. The remaining dinosaurs laid their heads down on Indominus's body and mourned the loss of their brother.
Tyrannosaurus opened one eye when he heard a series of footsteps heading their way. He, Delta and Blue took on defensive positions by their brother as they watched the Wonderbolts approaching. All fifteen of them were still alive despite all the wounds they had received from Indominus's blast, somehow the formula had given them the willpower to withstand the full fury of the Immortal Phoenix. Soarin's body was slowly healing from the damage Indominus had dealt him. Rainbow and Scootaloo looked up and were horrified when they saw the massive shadows looming over them.
"So, how does it feel to have somepony that you care about taken away from you," Spitfire said upon seeing the display before her. Despite not being able to transform, Rainbow flew out from under Indominus's hand and glared at Spitfire.
"He didn't deserve any of this. You ponies brought this upon him and forced him to fight."
"We didn't do anything Rainbow Crash," Fleetfoot said defiantly. "He's the one who attacked our compound, killed our teammates and nearly killed all of us."
"Yeah! Your husband brought this on himself," said some of the other Wonderbolts.
"Now it's too late for you to do anything about it Crash, your so-called amazing husband is dead."
"All because you made him fight over such a pointless nickname," Soarin said with a demented tone. "If it weren't for you, he would still be alive."
Rainbow shrank back to the ground in defeat as the Wonderbolts' sick words sank into her mind. Perhaps they were right, if she hadn't told Indominus about her past or what the Wonderbolts had put her through, then he probably would still be with her.
"What are your orders boss," Fleetfoot said as the Wonderbolts all gathered by Spitfire.
"Take him."
Twelve of the Wonderbolts swarmed the family members, splitting into packs of three they pinned the dinosaurs and Scootaloo to the ground. Soarin smacked Rainbow Dash aside with a single hit, and the force slammed her into a tree so hard that it broke in half. He towered over Indominus's helpless body with Spitfire and Fleetfoot, the green glow in his eyes becoming more sickening as he taunted the beaten dinosaur.
"How's it feel to be the one in the dirt now? Those were your exact words to us the last time we fought, beast. Now I have the chance to end you for good."
The giant mutated Wonderbolt picked Indominus up in his claws while Spitfire and Fleetfoot held the head and tail. As Rainbow got back up from Soarin's attack, Spitfire called out.
"You can read all about your husband's funeral in the Chronicle tomorrow, Rainbow Crash."
The three Wonderbolts took off into the air while carrying the defenseless hybrid in their clutches. Enraged, Scootaloo, T-Rex and the raptors transformed into their Guardian states. The force of the transformations was enough to release all of the Wonderbolts' grips and the family took flight, hoping to save their brother. They didn't get far before all twelve Wonderbolts started swarming them and attacking them from all directions. The dinosaurs fired blasts at them to try and divert their attention so they could keep up with the fleeing Wonderbolts. Scootaloo did her best to force each one further away so they didn't lose sight of Indominus, but battling the Wonderbolts in the air and trying to keep chase was splitting their efforts.
From back on the ground, Rainbow could see the groups getting more distant, but she didn't go after them because she had no way to help fight. The Wonderbolts were as big as the dinosaurs, and without Indominus, there was no way for her to transform. She was helpless and powerless to assist her family or save her husband.
"What can I do? I don't have my strength anymore, and I can't even save Indominus. The Wonderbolts are going to tear him apart and there's no way I can save him," Rainbow said to herself.
"Then are you prepared to do whatever it takes to save him?"
"W-What, who said that?" Rainbow was alarmed when she heard the powerful voice, until she looked up in the sky.
The sky was being darkened with massive black clouds that seemed to come from nowhere. Then a powerful golden light started emitting from them, Rainbow was sure she had seen this particular pattern before. What appeared from the clouds confirmed her suspicions. Her jaw dropped when she saw the Winged Dragon of Ra appear from inside the clouds, she didn't think that Ra would show himself outside of the meeting place Smaug knew about.
"Ra? What are you doing here?"
"I can do far more than what Smaug knows about. I appear to anypony that is in desperate need of help, and right now Indominus needs yours. You have to go and save him Rainbow Dash."
"But I can't Ra, Indominus is dead. He gave up his life in one final attack and the Wonderbolts still managed to survive. Without him I have no way to transform or stop the Wonderbolts from destroying his body."
"Ah, but your husband is not dead, yet."
"WHAT!? How can he still be alive after all that?"
"I can't explain it myself Rainbow, but somehow he managed to survive that final blast. He was unresponsive to you and Scootaloo because he's so weak and drained that he couldn't even wake up. Right now, Indominus is in a coma-like state, but he is only just alive. You can still save his life."
"But how can I Ra? I have no power anymore."
"That's where you are wrong Rainbow. I'll lend you a small portion of my power so that you will be able to become the Immortal Phoenix and save Indominus. But I warn you, the rage contained within it might be too much and overwhelm you. If that happens, you'll do to Equestria what Indominus did to the Wonderbolts the last time it took over him."
Rainbow remembered all too well what Indominus's rage had done to the Wonderbolts. If the rage of the Immortal Phoenix was indeed too much for her to handle, she would suffer the same fate. But none of that mattered, because Rainbow had a chance to save Indominus's life again. There was still a possibility to save him from the grip of death.
"What I need to know is, are you prepared to take on my power and fight your heroes to save Indominus? You must give me a solid answer Rainbow Dash, how far are you willing to go to save his life?"
Rainbow thought back to everything Indominus had done for her. All the countless times he had stepped in to save her life, all the times he had defended her from any force that threatened her life. He had put his life on the line for her and Scootaloo so many times, stared death in the face all for her. Indominus had even fought his own inner demons for Rainbow Dash, he had proven his loyalty to her on so many occasions. Now it was time for Rainbow to finally prove her absolute loyalty to him for the first time.
"I will face whatever Equestria throws at me if I can save Indominus. I don't care if they're my personal heroes, I don't even care that they're Wonderbolts. They've attacked my family and tried to take my husband away from me. I will bring the Wonderbolts down and I will save my husband's life."
Ra gave a warm smile at Rainbow's strong and devoted answer.
"Indominus made the right choice in choosing you Rainbow Dash. You really are the Element of Loyalty." Rainbow blushed at the grand compliment before Ra opened his mouth and began emitting streams of golden energy.
The golden energy flowed towards Rainbow Dash and she began to absorb the massive power. She nearly doubled over when she felt the tremendous power surging within her body and golden fire was starting to form around her. As Rainbow tried to keep herself under control, Ra gave out one piece of advice as he disappeared into the clouds.
" As long as you have Indominus in your heart, you will have control. Now go, save Indominus and prove your loyalty to him once and for all."
Rainbow took Ra's advice and as the golden fire continued to swarm around her, she thought about Indominus and bellowed a thunderous roar into the sky. Instantly the golden fire erupted in a massive column around Rainbow and she could feel her body being coated in the immense power. When the column died out, Rainbow was completely changed. Her entire body was covered in golden fire, she had returned to her massive size and her eyes were glowing a bright shade of red, exactly like Indominus when he transformed. There were even red electrical strikes flowing around her body as a sign of the anger in her heart. But unlike Indominus, Rainbow had no devil to worry about, all she needed to do was save her husband. With the Immortal Phoenix and fiery determination in her heart, Rainbow could save her husband again. She exploded off the ground at speeds far faster than she'd ever gone and zoomed towards the Wonderbolts.
"So Soarin, what are we gonna do with this hideous monster now that we've finally beaten him," Fleetfoot said while trying to keep a grip on the hybrid's tail.
"We're going to take his body over Cloudsdale and drop him into the Rainbow Factory. His ugly hide should make for an interesting rainbow, and this way we'll have proven that nopony ever messes with the Wonderbolts. It will also prove that he never stood a chance against us and will be a constant reminder to Crash about the consequences of siding with behemoths. After that, then we can finish the rest of the family at our leisure. With this power, we can take them all down no problem." Soarin was so caught up in himself that he was unaware of the fiery golden threat that was streaking towards them at beyond supersonic speeds.
Scootaloo and the dinosaurs were losing too much ground in the chase from trying to fight the other Wonderbolts. Then a loud and strong voice caught their attention as it screamed in towards them.
"GET OUT OF THE WAY SCOOTALOO!! THE WONDERBOLTS ARE MINE!!"
Scootaloo caught a mere glimpse of her sister's fiery golden figure and made the dinosaurs scatter on the spot. Not a moment later, Rainbow barreled right through the swarm of Wonderbolts and the very speed she was going at caused a shock-wave powerful enough to send the Wonderbolts tumbling. Without losing a bead on her target, Rainbow rammed Fleetfoot so hard that the Wonderbolt seemingly disappeared from Soarin's side. Spitfire couldn't even comprehend what just happened as a minute later, she got rammed by Rainbow from below. The fiery pegasus used the momentum to continue her assault and slammed her fists down on Soarin's head. The attack packed enough force to cause him to release his grip on Indominus.
Rainbow dealt Soarin one more punch to the face before she dove after her falling husband. With her newfound power and speed, Rainbow was able to close the gap between her and Indominus in a matter of seconds. She held him close in her grasp and found Soarin diving after her with energy building in his mouth for a blast. Before Soarin could even fire his attack, Rainbow released a tremendous gold blast from her mouth and it covered his entire body and exploded. The explosion caused the area they were above to rumble in terror and threw the remaining Wonderbolts off their guard long enough for Scootaloo and the dinosaurs to send them careening into the dirt.
They gathered above the Wonderbolts and fired a single combined blast that forced all twelve of them into the ground. Spitfire and Fleetfoot had recovered from Rainbow's blinding speed attacks in time to see their teammates crash into the dirt. They charged the flying family, but Scootaloo and Tyrannosaurus were quicker at reacting and met them halfway. The pair ducked under the punching hooves and grabbed both Wonderbolts by the necks. The raptors followed after the couple as Scootaloo and T-Rex dove for the ground and fired blasts that hammered Spitfire and Fleetfoot into the rubble. The family regrouped as Rainbow touched down with Indominus still in her flaming hooves and Soarin finally hit the ground himself.
All of the Wonderbolts regrouped after the sneak attacks, and each of them were alarmed when the first thing they saw was Rainbow's glowing form. She looked just like Indominus and it was enough to make a few of the Wonderbolts think that they may have gone too far. But Soarin wasn't too concerned, since he had already fought one Immortal Phoenix, he felt confident that he could beat another.
"This new form of yours won't change anything, Rainbow Crash. Your pitiful husband tried the same thing and look at what happened to him."
"I don't care what the hell you think Soarin. You've hurt my husband for the last time, and now you'll pay for it." Scootaloo could see the red lightning increasing around her sister and the golden fire was starting to spiral around her. She braced herself as Rainbow suddenly roared at her former heroes."IT'S OVER, WONDERBOLTS!!"
Rainbow's golden fire surged out from her body and was tearing apart the ground underneath the Wonderbolts. It also caused lightning strikes to rain down all across the area. From being so close to her sister, it was like Scootaloo was seeing Indominus's raging spirit within her. It gave her a sense of comfort seeing her father's power raging from within her mom.
"Rainbow Dash, are you alright?" Scootaloo knew it was a silly question, but was surprised when Rainbow turned to her and spoke in a calm tone.
"Don't worry Scootaloo, I'm in control of this. With this power I can still save Indominus."
"Save him? But I thought-"
"We don't have time to explain Scootaloo and we need to get Indominus out of here quick. The plan is really simple: immobilize the Wonderbolts. Attack them, drain them of strength, beat them to where it'll be impossible for any of them to follow us. Then once we're sure that not one of them can track us, we'll take Indominus and get out of here."
"I'm game, anything to make these fools pay for hurting my father."
"We'll make them sorry they crossed us," said T-Rex.
"Alright family, ATTACK!!"
Rainbow set Indominus down gently before she and each one of her family members charged the Wonderbolts. They all focused their attacks on speed and using their energy blasts to immobilize the pegasi. Blue and Delta were far too agile in their transformed states and moved from one Wonderbolt to the next with quick attacks and shorts blasts right to the face. Tyrannosaurus concentrated all his power into his head with attacks so strong every Wonderbolt that got hit by it was stunned and dazed within seconds. He also followed up each attack with a blast right to the face, and it left every Wonderbolt in its wake sizzling. Scootaloo focused on her punches and dealt debilitating blows to the gut of the Wonderbolts that were sorry enough to cross her. Just like T-Rex and her raptor sisters, she too dealt blasts right to the face, instantly crippling and leaving the Wonderbolts unconscious.
Rainbow was in a double-team taking on both Spitfire and Soarin, whom was trying to get back at Indominus's body to finish the job he started. Rainbow was using every ounce of strength, speed, rage and hatred that she could summon to keep pace with both of them. Her blows were nearly strong enough to take the wind out of Spitfire, and a roundhouse kick to the face had Soarin stunned briefly. Rainbow saw a window of opportunity to set up the escape and went for it. She exploded off the ground and punched Soarin with such tremendous force in the gut that he felt his entire rib cage break from the impact. The mutated Wonderbolt was down on his stomach within seconds of the attack writhing in pain as Spitfire tried to nail Rainbow from behind.
But it was a foolish attempt, Rainbow merely turned around and grabbed Spitfire by the neck. She brought her down to the ground until they were standing in front of Soarin. Rainbow was glaring at Spitfire with a menacing look that reminded the Wonderbolt of when Indominus had been baring down on them during the first fight.
"You and your team will never hurt my family again. HEAR ME SHITFIRE!! This is the last time I'm warning you. If I'm too late to save Indominus, his blood will be on your hooves, and you will pay for it." Rainbow opened her mouth and Spitfire saw an orb of golden fire building in the back of her throat. It was just like what Indominus had almost done to her.
"Wait, let's not be hasty-"
"SHUT UP!" Rainbow released the blast from within her jaws, and it enveloped Spitfire and Soarin.
The resulting explosion from the attack was enough to cover the entire area in large clouds of dust. Seizing the only chance they were going to get to escape, Rainbow and her family made a beeline away from the carnage, carrying Indominus's devastated body back to their home. Each of them had only thought on their minds as they raced against the clock: saving the hybrid's life.