Indominus opened his eyes and found himself in the same battle-scarred wasteland that he had been in every time he encountered the Devil. There was only one difference with this encounter: he wouldn't be leaving the devastated area until one creature was left standing and another was dead. As he looked over the battlefield, Indominus heard the same demonic voice that had spoken to him during his descent into his mind.
"So, you've finally come to fight me at last." Indominus turned his head sharply in the direction of the voice and felt his blood run cold at the sight of the monster.
He spotted the demonic looking dragon still bound by the same adamantium chains that Discord had used on him. Despite how the monster seemed bound and restrained, he didn't even looked concerned with his predicament.
"Your pal Discord should've known that chaining me up only gave me time to build up my strength again."
Indominus watched in shock as the Devil grabbed the adamantium chains in his hands and summoned a dark fire around them. The flames started licking away at the metal and before long, the Devil's restraints were melting away from his body. With one roar, he blew away the remains of Discord's attempt to stop him and began walking towards the hybrid dinosaur with a deadly glare in his eyes. Indominus stood his ground against the demonic looking dragon looming over him in the distance. The only way through the hell he was facing, was to slash through it.
"You can't win, Indominus. You're nothing but a frightened child. You're a weak and helpless abomination lost in the world. A pathetic hatchling crying out to be loved when the world hates you, and you're afraid of me. As you should be, because I'm going to erase you and take over your mind." Indominus shot down everything the Devil had told him with a single retort.
"I'm not afraid, Devil. I'm the strongest one there is."
"Oh yeah? Let's find out."
Indominus charged towards the Devil and his demonic half countered by slamming his fists into the ground, causing massive spires of rock to erupt everywhere. The hybrid didn't slow down as he fired a blast that barreled through the spires and nailed the Devil right in the face. The impact was strong enough to knock the Devil over and as Indominus tore through the spires, he managed to nail a direct slash across the face. The demonic dragon glared back at Indominus, the bleeding slashes on his face not even affecting him.
"You ungrateful beast!"
The monster retaliated with a punch that was more powerful than anything Indominus had ever experienced. He was actually lifted into the air from the tremendous force and crashed into the dirt. Indominus hadn't felt so dazed from a punch since he battled Soarin in his mutated state. As he tried to keep himself from toppling over, the Devil got back up and wiped the blood from his face.
"That's right, I'm more powerful than you think. Since I'm all of your rage and hatred, I have all the strength you had when you actually gave in and tried to slaughter the Wonderbolts. You could've killed them all, taken your ultimate vengeance and finally be the powerful weapon you were meant to be."
"I'm not a weapon, and killing them wouldn't have made me any better. It would just allow you to have control and make me into a monster. I am no monster and you will never have control of me. NEVER!" Indominus violently transformed into his guardian state, but the Devil didn't seem surprised.
"Resorting to that pitiful power that your weak wife gave you? It still won't save you, it only delays the inevitable. Plus it makes look just like her: wimpy and a waste of life."
At those words Indominus exploded off the ground and nailed the Devil square in the chest with a punch. The attack packed more power than the Devil thought and he prepared another strike as Indominus continued to charge towards him. When their fists collided, the monster was actually surprised to see that he couldn't overwhelm Indominus in his guardian state. The force between them was equal and the collision caused them to separate, driving them back a few feet. The Devil could see that his hand was steaming from the force of Indominus's attack.
"He shouldn't have been that strong."
"Maybe you shouldn't underestimate your opponent. In fact, you're making the same mistake that the Wonderbolts did: making assumptions about me and learning just how stupid and wrong you are."
"You'll regret those words, child."
The Devil roared in pure rage and charged the hybrid. Indominus met him halfway and the beasts exploded into a flurry of slashing claws and explosions across the battlefield. Each one giving everything they had for the ultimate prize; dominance over the dinosaur's body. Outside of his mind, another grueling battle was taking place to protect Indominus.
Out in the real world it was nothing but a mass of explosions, smashing hooves, monsters, dragons and ponies all going at it in one insane free-for-all. Smaug's volunteers had chosen their targets and were doing the best they could, but the Wonderbolts were giving them a hard time. They could maneuver around the dragons' flames and their increased size and strength allowed them to score powerful shots against them. But the increase in size also played against the Wonderbolts, it gave the dragons easier targets. Being bigger exposed their vulnerable spots like their necks and allowed the dragons to slice their claws across the Wonderbolts' hides.
As for Smaug, he was finding Soarin a lot more difficult to fight than the last time. He was the only one standing between Soarin and the Chaos Shield that contained Indominus. Rainbow had been fighting alongside him, but she got preoccupied with Spitfire, leaving Smaug to face Soarin alone. The Wonderbolt's mutated form was proving stronger and more durable than before. Soarin could match most attacks that Smaug sent his way, and his punches had the strength to actually harm him. Whereas before only Indominus was capable of harming the Dragon Lord.
"So, is my real strength more than you expected, Dragon Lord," Soarin said smugly as he and Smaug locked claws. It infuriated the dragon to hear Soarin talk like he had been so powerful for so long, when he was nothing but a worthless poser.
"You have no idea what 'real strength' looks like. You've merely stolen power from my prodigy and claim it's been with you all along. You're nothing but a weak pony in scaly clothing."
Soarin was easily getting ticked at Smaug's words, because all of Indominus's prior taunting had seeped into his skin. Smaug noticed that the Wonderbolt was getting frustrated too easily at the taunting, just like Indominus had tried to do with him during the winter showdown. While Soarin was preoccupied by the dragon's mocking, he failed to notice Smaug was preparing a sneak attack. His chest was glowing red with the fire that was boiling within him, and the Wonderbolt was about to experience a dragon's best weapon. He surprised Soarin first with a headbutt that knocked him back and followed up with a surprise punch to get more ground.
"Alright then dragon, let's see what you think of this power." Smaug could see the scutes on Soarin's back glowing green and knew the Wonderbolt was preparing a blast of his own. What he didn't expect was when Soarin fired his blast, he aimed it away from the Dragon Lord and towards another target.
Smaug saw where Soarin was aiming and his heart dropped. The demented Wonderbolt was aiming for the Crusaders, who were all in a aerial dogfight with two Wonderbolts. They were too focused on their opponents to notice the green blast aiming for them. When Scootaloo finally noticed the blast, she and her friends were suddenly shielded from it by a massive body that got in the way. Smaug had managed to overtake the blast, get in the way of it and unleash his own blast to counter it.
The two Wonderbolts tried to take advantage of the moment and attack the distracted dragon together, but the crusaders blocked them with a punch to the gut each. They followed up with blasts that sent both Wonderbolts careening into the dirt, giving them enough time to thank Smaug.
"Thanks for lookin' out for us Smaug," said Applebloom.
"Don't mention it girls. Now I've gotta get back to stopping Soarin." The girls spotted what Smaug was talking about as he zoomed back into the fight.
Soarin had intentionally fired the blast at the Crusaders as a distraction so he could get at the Chaos Shield. Luckily Discord had made the shield powerful enough to tank every attack Soarin was throwing at it. Despite all the punches he was throwing at the shield, it didn't give an inch or show any signs of wear and tear. As he was about to strike again, Soarin was suddenly overwhelmed by a torrent of fire that rained down on him from above. He had been so focused on breaking the shield that he lost track of Smaug. A mistake that came back at him as the dragon then seized the mutant Wonderbolt by the neck and tossed him away.
With another brief break in the action, Smaug got a chance to look at his prodigy. He could see Indominus within the sea of golden fire, struggling and clawing at the inside of the shield. Smaug knew what was going on within his prodigy's head, he was battling it out against the Devil in his head. He had no clue what kind of conflict Indominus was going through, but he hoped his prodigy would be able to come out on top as he resumed his scuffle with Soarin.
Rainbow Dash was caught up in a battle with interchanging Wonderbolts that all wanted her brought down. Spitfire had pulled her away from Smaug and Soarin, but Lightning Dust and Wind Rider also wanted a crack at her. So the three Wonderbolts stayed within close proximity of each other against the numerous monsters that tried to fight them. Each one of them swapping out with each other by intercepting their opponents allowing the Wonderbolts to take a turn fighting Rainbow Dash. But numbers didn't help them much when Rainbow had so much fighting experience from training with Indominus and battling multiple opponents.
Prior to their marriage a year ago, in exchange for Rainbow giving Indominus experience in flight, he gave her experience in fighting. She learned very quickly under the dinosaur's tutelage and within a few months, she was able to hold her own in a sparring match with all six dinosaurs at once. Plus in her guardian state, Rainbow was by far faster and stronger than any of them. She could keep herself a step ahead of Spitfire, Lightning Dust and Wind Rider and not get worn down by their swapping tactic. Also, her immense strength was wearing down her opponents more than herself, but not enough to deter them with so much on the line.
Discord was handling his opponent rather well while also keeping a close watch on Fluttershy. Since no Wonderbolt had ever fought Discord, his unpredictable magic and strength allowed him to hold his own and keep slamming his foe into the dirt. He didn't have to worry about Fluttershy too much, for she had additional protection in the form of Swamp and Lava Battleguard. He did have to somewhat worry about himself, since he had little experience actually fighting somepony. Discord didn't know how strong the Wonderbolts were, so he had to be careful about how he fought them to avoid using up too much power. Plus he had one more responsibility than the others: maintaining the Chaos Shield that protected Indominus.
Maintaining the shield required Discord's concentration and a good portion of his magic. While it did protect Indominus from attacks, it required some magic to be sustained. So Discord was forced to split his focus between fighting his own opponent, keeping an extra watch on Fluttershy and making sure the shield didn't break or give way. That was why whenever Soarin or any of the Wonderbolts tried to attack the shield, Discord restored any damage they caused. Thankfully Discord was tough enough and had enough chaos magic to maintain the enormous task on his shoulders.
Fluttershy was doing remarkably well in her battle. She had no fear in this fight with Indominus and his family's lives on the line and it gave her the courage to battle her own Wonderbolt. Being similar to when she was Flutterbat, she had way more strength and her claws marked up Misty Fly nicely. Her flying skills were on par with a Wonderbolt's, meaning she could match one in flight and her partners made up for everything else. Swamp and Lava Battleguard were the brute force for Fluttershy and took great delight in laying a world of hurt on the poor Misty's hide. Every time Fluttershy got her down low, the battleguards were ready to beat the Wonderbolt into pulp. As for the rest of the Mane Six, they were doing fairly well in their own fights. They all had roughly the same level of strength and could nearly match the Wonderbolts, along with the partners they had.
Rarity and Spike were doing more of a partner type of fight rather than going one on one. High Winds and Surprise were their opponents, a very fitting match up considering that Spike had already made fools out of them the last time he was a giant dragon. Since Spike had no wings to fight High Winds in the air, Rarity chose to cover the sky around him and guard him from attacks. Her enhanced magic and blasts made the Wonderbolt more defensive, and when they got close, Rarity's new strength, claws and teeth were more than enough to handle the giant Wonderbolt. Though he was able to help Rarity by lighting her opponent on fire whenever he had the chance, Spike had no trouble fighting Surprise. His own strength as a huge dragon already overwhelmed her and his superior size allowed him to take everything the Wonderbolt could throw at him.
Twilight's experience in flight and her new form matched her opponent in nearly every way. With her magic being enhanced by the power the dinosaurs had given her, no Wonderbolt was able to stand up to the combined power without being forced back into the ground. Her opponent could only maneuver around her intense blasts and couldn't get close enough to deal any decisive strikes. She even had a little help in the form of Armored Lizard attacking whenever Twilight hammered her foe into the ground. With his teeth and claws combined with Twilight's powerful magic, they had complete control in their brawl.
Applejack was enjoying beating the tar out of Fleetfoot with her newfound strength. Every attack she managed to land knocked more air out of the Wonderbolt's lungs and left it hard for Fleetfoot to keep going. The Wonderbolt couldn't match the farm pony's natural brute strength, and her flight didn't help much either. Applejack may not have been good at flying, but she didn't have to worry about it when Dark Chimera had the speed portion of the fight covered. The dark monster even used his own torrent of fire to bring Fleetfoot down if she tried to make a break for it.
Pinkie was having the time of her life using her new teeth and claws to terrify the Wonderbolt unfortunate enough to face her. She was so lightning quick that Silver Lining couldn't land a single punch, or even put distance between him and her for that matter. After dodging one of Pinkie's blasts, the Wonderbolt felt himself being gripped by Barox's claws, allowing Pinkie to do what she promised before the brawl started. Both Pinkie and Barox bore down on him and sank their teeth into his neck. The pegasus screamed out in agony at the sharp teeth drilling into his hide, and the pain only got worse when Pinkie and Barox dragged their teeth down his neck before ripping away and double punching him away.
"That was for Rainbow Dash you idiotic bonehead," Pinkie shouted at the bleeding pony. She then turned to her partner. "Ready for another go at him Barox?" The monster gave one nod before he and Pinkie resumed their assault on the poor Wonderbolt.
Luna and Celestia were firing blasts all over the sky trying to shoot their targets out of the air. Their speed was vastly superior to the Wonderbolts and made it easy to get up close for throwing deadly punches. But the Wonderbolts were more nimble and agile, being able to maneuver around many of the Princesses' blasts. Thankfully, the also had partners in the form of Red-Eyes Black Dragon and King of Yamimakai who could intercept the Wonderbolts when the Princesses missed their marks. Both monsters made good use of their ranged, explosive attacks to disrupt their foes even more and set them up for Luna and Celestia to shoot them down.
As for the rest of Discord's troops, they went about fighting any Wonderbolt they came across and helping out the dinosaurs if they needed it. But Tyrannosaurus and the raptor squad didn't need much help, for they had already fought the over-sized Wonderbolts twice. They knew how the pegasi would fight and more importantly could counter more effectively than the first two fights. Tyrannosaurus was making the best use of his teeth and powerful head, using incredible force to bring down his opponent and knock him all over the battlefield. Blue and her girls were using all the agility they could muster to keep ahead of their opponents and deal as many strikes as they could with their teeth and killing claws.
With so many battles erupting and going on, it was a battle royal that put the brawl the dinosaurs had with Black Death and his dragons to shame. All of it resting on whether Indominus would succeed in beating the Devil, lose himself to it, or the Wonderbolts killing him. As Twilight and Armored Lizard pinned their opponent to the ground, she took a glance over at the Chaos Shield and saw that Indominus seemed to be in serious pain. He was digging his claws into his head and his eyes were glowing with a shade of red that seemed too sinister to be coming from him.
"Discord! Take a look at Indominus! Something's not right!"
Discord summoned a bunch of chains from his eagle hand to restrain his opponent and then punched him straight into the ground to see what Twilight was talking about. He took notice of Indominus inside the shield and had a look inside the dinosaur's mind. He saw the Devil was holding his own against Indominus and that the hybrid wasn't gaining any ground in the fight. In fact the hybrid was slowing down with each devastating blow he took, which didn't make sense until Discord saw why. The Devil was digging his claws into Indominus's body with every opening he got, and was slowly poisoning the hybrid's mind and body with rage. Indominus was losing the fight and even worse, struggling against the very force he had been trying so hard to defeat.
"What's going on Discord?"
"He can't do it by himself Twilight. The Devil's too strong for him to beat on his own!"
"Then what can we do to help him?"
"Don't worry Twilight, I'll send him some support that will give him the strength to do it."
Without a moment's hesitation Discord shot a multicolored blast from his mouth that passed through the Chaos Shield, and struck Indominus. The hybrid seemed to freeze in place as the blast got absorbed into his body.
"What did you do Discord?"
"It's gonna help him Twilight, just trust me."
"Alright Discord, I just hope it's enough," Twilight said before she and Armored Lizard resumed their fight with their opponent.
"Just wait Twilight, it'll be just what Indominus needs to win this fight," Discord said before lifting his opponent into the air, unfurling the chains and using them to whip the Wonderbolt back into the ground.
Back in his mind, Indominus was indeed losing the fight against the Devil. Despite all the power he had, the demonic monster's own strength was still more than Indominus could handle. But it wasn't just strength and power that was causing the hybrid to lose the fight, he was also slowly being poisoned by hatred. With every attack, the Devil was planting more of his pure rage and malice into Indominus's heart, slowing the hybrid down and forcing him to divide his effort even more. Indominus was having to divide his energy between fighting the monster in front of him, and keeping the planted anger from taking over and making him into a mindless killing machine again.
The Devil had managed to slow Indominus down enough to where he nailed the hybrid with a punch so hard that he rolled along the ground before coming to a stop. When he did stop, the dinosaur's guardian state slipped away and he changed back to normal. The Devil loomed over the beaten dinosaur, laughing to himself.
"You could've been better than this, you could've been free and had the power to do anything you wanted. Instead you chose to resist your dark nature, turn away from what gave you true strength. Allowed weak ponies to tame you and make you into a silly house pet. But no more, now I'll be taking over and reclaiming the title you gave up of 'Untamable King.' Then you'll be wishing you had listened to me."
The dark dragon sank his claws into Indominus's back and lifted the hybrid dinosaur like he was a piece of dead meat. Black tendrils began growing from his claws and started to cover Indominus's body, he was slowly corrupting and taking over the dinosaur. But he was suddenly interrupted by an unexpected source.
"GET THE HELL AWAY FROM MY STUD, YOU MONSTER!" The Devil heard the insult a moment too late.
As he turned his head, the monster was hit by a multitude of blasts that tore him away from Indominus. The black tendrils vanished from his body as the hybrid fell and then felt something catch his body. As he opened his eyes, Indominus couldn't believe who was standing beside him and holding him up.
"Rainbow Dash? Scootaloo? H-How are you all here?"
"You can thank me later, Indominus." The hybrid turned his head and found Discord hovering above them. "I simply gave you some much needed support since I saw that you were having some trouble with that monster. Right now, all of them are fighting the Wonderbolts outside, and can see what is going on in here."
"Again, how are you able to do this?"
"Don't question me Indominus, you'll live longer. Besides, now's not the time for questions."
"Yeah, we're gonna help you beat this monster," Twilight told Indominus as the Devil started getting back up in the distance.
Indominus stood back up on his own two feet and felt his strength coming back to him with his family and friends beside him. He wasn't sure how they could help him, but it was definitely the support he needed during such an important fight. Now Indominus had help in dealing with the Devil's toxic words and would hopefully be able to regain control in the fight.