Chapter 29: Hello Darkness My Old Friend
Twilight and Pinkie quickly dodged out of the monstrous paw swinging towards their colorful hides. A frustrated snarl escaped the saber toothed jaws of the gargantuan behemoth hell-bent on their destruction. The two ponies flew, jumped, ducked and dodged the beast’s tree trunk sized claws swiping at them. Chunks of the Golden Oak library were sliced off by the ferocious creature’s wild swings, they clattered to the ground.
“Okay, seriously? What is it with every pony trying to destroy my home?!?” Twilight bellowed in frustration.
The monster the princess and party pony were most unlucky to face happened to be the mother of the Ursa Minor, better known as the Ursa Major. She was an immeasurably large and daunting beast. Her body was transparent and celestial; just like her son’s. Her shaggy purple fur caused her elongated toe and paw claws to gleam even more vividly. A pair of sabre tooth canines hung from her pink nosed snout, her red eyes shimmering faintly from below the aqua marine blue star on her forehead. The celestial beast easily out-shadowed the library. The pair of ponies barely reached the momma bear’s knees in terms of height.
“Boy, this Ursa Minor must really not like books…or trees…or books and trees. Hmmm, I wonder why. Maybe some pony took her library card away,” Pinkie mused curiously. She placed her hoof to chin nonchalantly.
“Ugh! Pinkie, for the tenth time, I told you she’s not a-”
WHAM!
The beast clapped its claws together around Twilight’s body; crushing her like a fly between its palms. She teleported on top of the beast’s claws and blasted it in the face with a powerful horn beam. The Ursa Major snorted angrily and stumbled back.
“She looks like she could use a happy heaping helping of my 21 PARTY CANNON SALUTE,” Pinkie beamed excitedly.
Out of nowhere, the pink mare revealed a vast assortment of bright blue, shiny party cannons; all loaded and aimed at the distracted Ursa Major. They blasted their colorful contents towards the celestial giant. Splatters of cake, confetti and pie filling soaked the monster’s chest in festive foods and decorations. The Ursa Major looked down at her chest fur; frowning irritably at the unpleasant mess sticking to her body like sap. Pinkie’s baby blue eyes widened. The Ursa Major roared a howling, fury filled scream that caused the cannons to topple and fall back.
“Wow, for once I didn’t put ENOUGH cake and confetti in the cannons. Who’d have thought?” Pinkie shrugged.
The Ursa Major bent down and attempted to slice Pinkie into potato peelings with her jagged claws. Twilight swooped down and successfully scooped Pinkie up before the beast could lay a claw on her. The princess turned her head back and blasted twin beams against the Ursa Major’s ankles. She howled in pain; collapsing onto her back. Twilight and Pinkie maneuvered out of the way just in time. The Alicorn princess soared directly above the fallen beast. She was powering up a new spell to keep the fallen Ursa in her place.
ROAR!
The Ursa Major screamed horribly at the flying ponies. Her howl was monstrous, turbulent; the most destructive and deafening scream Twilight and Pinkie’s ears had ever heard. They could feel the roar exploding in their brains like sonic rainbooms. Pinkie and Twilight were blasted violently through Twilight’s bedroom window. Their rumps collectively crashed onto Twilight’s bed, the sudden force broke it in two almost instantly.
“Ow…that…actually went about as well as I expected it to go,” Twilight said dejectedly.
The Ursa Major’s snout crashed through the bedroom window and most of the ceiling’s structure. She roared and proceeded to snap her jaws at the two grounded ponies. Pinkie leapt to her hooves. Her sparkling baby blues glared intensely at the invading bear monster.
“I think it’s time to bring out the big gums,” she grunted brusquely.
Pinkie pulled out a green and white box of bubblegum sticks from her mane. She opened the box, unwrapped all of the gum sticks and rapidly fashioned them into a wrecking ball sized orb. The Earth pony hurled it at the Ursa Major’s jaws. She chomped onto the ball, causing it to explode and plaster its sticky contents all along the Ursa Major’s fanged jaws. She snarled with her gum muzzled jaws and attempted to stretch them to break the gummy web apart.
“Okay Twilight that bought us a couple minutes. Now what’s your totally awesome, super brilliant, genius Alicorn-princess-plan?” Pinkie squeakily asked.
“I-I-I-I…I don’t know…I just don’t know!”
“You WHAT? But your Twilight, the super smarty pants princess Twilight. You always got a big worded plan or fancy spell to handle bad stuff,” she said; pleading frantically.
“I’m sorry Pinkie but not this time. The Ursa Major is the largest creature in all of Equestria, next to dragons. No pony has ever fought an Ursa Major and lived to write about it. I’m not even sure Princess Celestia or Luna would know how to stop this thing. What hope do I have against something like that?” Twilight blurted out.
Twilight knew from the moment she saw the Ursa Major approaching her home she was doomed. Facing off against an Ursa Minor was nothing like fighting its mega sized mother. She didn’t know what to do or what spell to use. The situation just seemed completely hopeless.
“I’m sorry Pinkie but…I don’t stand a chance of defeating an Ursa Major,” she said emptily.
The shaggy brute snagged the gum with its tongue and yanked it down into her throat; swallowing it with a squishy gulp. Now freed, the monster focused its attention back on its pony prey. She lunged towards the broken bedroom window. Her fangs bared; her tongue and spittle flapping wildly as she attacked.
CLANG!
The Ursa Major banged her head against a colossal purple energy dome that suddenly erected in front of her, it covered the entire library. Twilight’s horn was sparkling radiantly. She had managed to keep them and her home safe…for now. The bear grew frustrated with being denied once again. She banged her claws against the shield, hammering it harder and faster in an attempt to shatter it. Twilight’s head throbbed with skull splitting pain. The force of the Ursa Major’s attacks was putting a tremendous strain on her mind and her magic, but if she lowered her defense for even a moment; it would all be over.
“Ugh…I don’t know how much…argh…longer I can keep this up,” Twilight grunted.
“Until you find a way to out-brain that big, beefy, brainless, bear brute of a bully! Whoa, say that 10 times fast,” Pinkie beamed.
“Pinkie, I already told you I can’t-”
The party pony forcefully pressed her forehead against Twilight’s. She had fierceness in her eyes, a fiery intensity that Twilight had rarely seen in her pink friend. “And I told YOU Twilight, you CAN and you WILL! You are the smartest, most big brained pony any of us have ever known. You finished Starswirl’s uncompleted spell, you found the Crystal heart, you outsmarted Trixie and it was you that figured out the dessert competition mystery when even I couldn’t figure it out,” Pinkie boldly declared.
Twilight slowly felt her confidence returning. Despite the impossible odds before, she had always managed to figure things out no matter how tough things had gotten; this was no different. She didn’t stop figuring things out then and she certainly wasn’t going to start now.
“So stop all this nay saying, or else I’m going to feed you one of my sardine-banana-split-jelly-jam cupcakes and snap you out of this frowny phase myself!”
“Wait, you made sardine-banana-split-jelly-jam cupcakes?” Twilight asked; visibly disgusted at the thought.
“It seemed like a good idea at the time!” Pinkie shouted.
Forgetting about those nauseating cupcakes, Twilight forced herself to focus and think of a way out of this perilous situation. She quickly thanked Pinkie and started surveying her library for any books that might hold some answers.
“I can’t concentrate on finding a spell that’ll help while still holding up the barrier. Think you can distract the Ursa Major all by yourself without getting hurt?” the Alicorn inquired.
“Absolutely-positively-righty-do! I can slow her down with my trusty anti-monster bear plungers,” Pinkie replied. In the blink of an eye, the pink pony was suddenly loaded with plungers, both in her hooves and strapped across her knees, belly and jutting from her bouncy mane.
“Hold on a minute, youjust happen to have anti-monster bear plungers on you?” Twilight asked incredulously.
“Do you not?” Pinkie answered without missing a beat.
Twilight thought about questioning this further, but she realized who she was talking to and decided it was best not to prove this any further. The Ursa Major was the priority after all. The princess waited to drop the shield until Pinkie positioned herself by the broken window’s edge; ready to leap forward. Twilight and Pinkie nodded in synchronization. Twilight lowered the barrier at exactly the same time Pinkie launched herself at the rampaging momma bear.
“RAHHHHH” Pinkie roared. Her deranged battle cry sounded as savage and feral as the Ursa Major did.
Twilight began darting around her library; teleporting here and there and skimming through books in rapid fashion. She wasn’t sure what she was looking or which book would have it, but she’s sure she would know it once she found it.
“No not this one,” she tossed a book aside, “not that one,” she tossed another, “I still need to get the new edition of that one,” and another, “No, no, that’s not good enough!” and another. She cried out in frustrated and collapsed face first into a jumbled mess of random books.
The sounds of battle snapped her out of her maddening funk. Pinkie and the Ursa Major were tearing into each other just beyond her window, and so far, Twilight hasn’t found a single spell or come up with a decent idea that could actually stop that rampaging beast.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do. I’ve got nothing! No pony has ever defeated an Ursa Major before; they’ve always just redirected one or put it to sleep. But I tried both with this one and neither had any effect on it,” she sighed gloomily. She lazily looked around her once well-organized home. Now everything looked worse than the hole the Ursa Major made upstairs. “I’ve failed, failed as a friend, failed as a princess…I just feel so…helpless.”
Her mind drifted to all the friends she was letting down. Pinkie, Rarity, Rainbow, Applejack; they’re out there fighting for their lives while she sat here wallowing in her own misery. Fluttershy was still being held prisoner, who knows what happened to Celestia; of course there’s Spike…and now…she was letting Moonstruck down too.
“Wait…that’s it; I’ve got it!” Twilight beamed.
Twilight teleported outside, she called out to Pinkie as loudly as possible. “Pinkie, I’ve got an idea. It’s not going to be easy but if I put enough effort and will power into it, I think it’ll work. I need you to bring the Ursa Major as close to me as possible,” she instructed.
Pinkie held tightly onto her massive bear plungers. The pink pony was on top of the Ursa Major’s snarling face; plungers suctioned firmly against the monster’s eyes, nose and mouth. Pinkie was clinging to the ones stuck on her eyes. “Told ya you could do it,” Pinkie smiled and saluted to her friend with her tail. She yanked on the plungers to sway the Ursa Major towards Twilight. The bear thrashed violently at the pink pest but was still temporarily blinded and had difficulty resisting the force of the plungers. “Okie-dokie-lokie,” Pinkie called out.
“I’m not sure if this is going to work, but as long as my friends are on the line I’m going to do my best to make sure it does work,” Twilight said. Her horn started glowing bright purple. A powerful surge of energy crackled around the princess’s horn; powering up for a spell. “One thing’s for sure,” she said with a sly smirk, “Khan is never going to see this coming.”
The cave was quiet today. Bubbling Cauldron sighed contently in her chair; leaning into it lazily with her legs propped onto a table. Her hooves casually flipped through the pages of a “Power Ponies” comic. Her eyes scanned slowly across each page. The mare chuckled at something and then flipped to the next page.
“Falling into a vat of shampoo and turning into a super villain, heh, where do they come up with this stuff?” she chortled oafishly.
PING! PING!
There was a ringing sound lightly tickling the green mare’s ears, it sounded like bell ringing heavily muffled by pillows. Cauldron lowered her comic briefly; contemplating if she should bother giving her attention to such an annoyance. She decided against it and returned to her comic.
PING! PING! PING!
“Oh for crying out loud, would you just cut that crap out already?!?” she blurted out angrily.
Cauldron finally had had enough. She scowled bitterly as she approached the source of that incessant pinging sound: a yellow Pegasus imprisoned in an energy bubble.
“Even with the sound dampeners on that thing, that pounding is really annoying! We both know you can’t get out of that bubble so just give it a rest,” she barked.
Fluttershy ceased banging on the bubble’s structure. Her lips started moving but no sound came out. Cauldron’s sound silencing spell made it impossible for her to understand the meek Pegasus.
“This had better be good,” she thought grouchily. Cauldron’s horn flashed green for a moment and then turned off. “What is it this time hippie chick?”
“Well, for starters, I really need to use the bathroom and”-
“Nope…your bubble is as good a place as any.”
“Oh…well…what about a…glass of water?”
“Not happening.”
“Something to eat?”
“Forget it.”
“Pillow and blanket?”
“This isn’t a motel!”
“Reading material?”
“I’m still using it!”
“Cup of tea?”
“Ugh! No, no, no, NO! How many times do I have to tell you no before you get it through that empty head of yours?” Cauldron hissed.
Fluttershy stared at Cauldron unresponsively. She panted heavily; growing mad with frustration over the pink haired pony’s absurd requests. Why Chimera Khan fancies such a frivolous mare is beyond her comprehension.
“You know you should really improve those manners of yours. It’s not nice to call some pony empty headed,” Fluttershy dryly teased.
“Not nice? Manners? Are you freaking kidding me?!? Of course I’m not nice, I’M HOLDING YOU HOSTAGE,” she snapped back.
“That’s no reason to have bad manners,” Fluttershy replied.
Bubbling Cauldron felt her eye twitch. She tried to respond to such a baffling statement but found the right words were impossible to form. Her anger stifled her voice; reducing to a series of garbled grunts and growls. She grabbed the ends of her whispery white hair and nearly pulled them out. Cauldron screamed angrily and turned away from the annoying Pegasus.
“That tears it! One more peep out of you, and I’m hitting the mute button again,” she scowled.
The frazzled witch returned to her seat and stuck her nose back into her now-wrinkled comic book. Cauldron’s eyes focused diligently on the panels, doing everything in her power not to pay any mind to the Pegasus behind her. Even without looking, Cauldron knew Fluttershy was staring at her. It was like the nature loving mare was unknowingly doing everything possible to drive her up a wall. She couldn’t tell if it was intentional or accidental; either way, she was really pissing her off something fierce.
Fluttershy continued to stare curiously at the cranky unicorn. She couldn’t help but wonder why she looked so familiar. She never met this pony before today, and yet, something about her reminds her of some pony she knows. Fluttershy’s eyes curiously trailed down Bubbling Cauldron’s body. It wasn’t until she took a good long look at her cape and witch’s hat that she finally remembered who this pony reminded her of.
“It’s funny, but, I once saw a pony with a very similar looking outfit to yours. You don’t happen to know Trixie the Great and Powerful, do you?” she curiously squeaked.
That was the last straw. Mentioning her cousin in even the smallest capacity was an instant trigger for the witchy mare. Her eyes flashed wide open, flames of rage burning ravenously inside her. She turned to Fluttershy; tossing her comic and chair aside. The green unicorn shined brightly with a surging magical aura that consumed her body like a death shroud.
“I thought I told you to SHUT UP!?!” she shrieked.
With a wave of her hoof and a flashing light from her horn, Cauldron activated the silencing spell once more.
Fluttershy started gasping for air. Her hooves desperately clinging to her throat; trying to stop whatever force was choking her. She dropped to her knees still gasping for air inside the magical bubble. Her eyes bulged in suffocating pain, wings flapping erratically as her chest continued to heave without success. Fluttershy collapsed face first onto the bottom surface of the bubble. Her teal eyes closed shut. Her wings ceased all movements; limbs hung lifelessly at her sides. Fluttershy appeared to have suffocated to death.
“What the-what just happened?!? I used the same spell as before. How did it cut off her air supply?” she panicked. Cauldron flashed her horn and immediately evaporated the prison bubble. Fluttershy hit the ground like a discarded stuffed animal. “I am going to be in deep fried peanut brittle if the boss finds out I killed his pet damsel,” Cauldron wheezed fearfully.
Cauldron leaned down to see if Fluttershy was breathing. The yellow Pegasus’s eyes flashed open suddenly. Before Cauldron could realize she had been tricked, Fluttershy yanked the witch’s hat down over her head and shoved her down. The yellow mare flew towards the exit like lightning. The enraged unicorn managed to slip her hat off in time to catch Fluttershy with her magic. The Pegasus was frozen in midair; hovering helplessly in Cauldron’s lime colored aura.
“Oh dear,” Fluttershy squeaked nervously.
“Thought you could pull the boxers over this mare’s eyes, huh? You’re a lot sneakier than you look hippie. But let’s see how sneaky you can be after some heavy duty paralysis magic,” Cauldron chuckled gleefully.
WHAM!
The sound of shattering wood echoed in the cave. Cauldron’s eyes rolled in the back of her head. She dropped to the ground, her aura vanishing instantly; dropping Fluttershy down. Behind the fallen unicorn stood Crowe, wheezing heavily with the chair’s busted spindle legs held firmly in his hooves. He fearfully poked Cauldron with his hoof; trying to make sure she was out. He sighed in relief and tossed the spindles down.
“It’s a good thing I got back here before she did. Otherwise, she would have known I was around,” Crowe panted. He looked to the clearly confused Pegasus. She naturally had many questions, but they both had more pressing concerns to attend to first. “You need to get going, like yesterday. Khan is wiping the floor with your friends as we speak. You got to stop him before he destroys everything,” he said with great urgency.
“B-b-b-but I don’t understand. Who are you, what are you doing here and why did you help me? This is all so very confusing,” she mused worryingly.
“All I can say is I’m someone who wants to see Khan defeated as badly as you do. I’ve got some cleaning up to do here. You need to go, now, before it’s too late to save your friends,” he insisted.
“Oh goodness, I’ve gotta stop him! Thank you for helping me,” she nodded to him before looking down to Cauldron. “And as for you…well…I’m really sorry about tricking you with the prison bubble. I uh h-h-hope you feel better,” she squeaked. Fluttershy dashed out of the cave and made a beeline directly for Khan’s location.
Crowe quickly looked around to make for certain he was alone. Cauldron was still unconscious, several miniature Trixies floated above her head like a halo of blue unicorns. “Hopefully witchy-poo doesn’t wake up until after I’m long gone. I still got to clean out the rest of my stuff,” he grabbed a large bag and headed towards his room, “but if all goes well I’ll finally be rid of these lunatics once and for all.”
The yellow Earth pony dashed into his room and emerged moments later with his sack stuffed full of his belongings. Crowe tip toed past the unconscious unicorn and made his way towards the back secret entrance. Once he reached the exit, Crowe ran like the wind and never looked back.
Celestia cried out in excruciating pain. Her body slammed destructively against a mound of rocks and stone, wings wilting and drooping along with the rest of her limbs. Her once majestic, beautiful coat of pristine white fur and colorful mane was matted with scratches and dirt. She panted achingly. Chimera Khan approached the fallen mare; his armor hardly had a single dent or speck of grime on it. Celestia tried to charge her horn up for an attack but the yellow glow she managed was weak and fizzled out shortly after.
“Please, stop embarrassing yourself. We both know your attack would have been absorbed even if you did manage to cough something up,” Khan sneered.
Celestia looked to him. Her cheeks withered and covered with splotches of dirt; yet still she smiled. It was a weak smile, but one she wore proudly in the face of her enemy.
“What could possibly give you reason to smile? You’re sitting at death’s door,” he added maliciously.
“I’m smiling because even though I may die today, I won’t die alone. I have ponies that care for me, respect me…I was even fortunate enough to find someone who could love an old mare like me. For all I’ve done wrong, and I admit that I have done plenty wrong, I smile because I know I must have done something right to deserve such wonderful people in my life,” she proudly asserted.
Khan rolled his eyes. He looked at her as if she just told him a bad joke.
“But when you fail, when you burn in the flames of your doomed pursuit, only then will you finally learn the truth. Even with all that power, all those years of experiences and studying; you still ended up exactly the same way you started: alone,” she scorned hatefully.
The armored villain ruthlessly jerked Celestia back onto her hooves. He grabbed her neck and pinned her against the mountain wall; crushing his metallic hoof across her elegant neck. An unquenchable rage burned inside his orange eyes. He stared at her, endlessly; consumed with a tempting desire to snap her neck and end her wasted life right here and now.
“Go…ahead…do…it…in the end…you’ll still…fall,” she choked out.
“Yes, you’d like that wouldn’t you: a quick and easy death comforted by the knowledge that your precious pupil will vanquish the black hearted villain,” he mused sarcastically. Sombra’s horn glowed bright shades of black, purple and green. Celestia closed her eyes and waited for her life to end at the hooves of her former friend. “That’s much too merciful of an end for you, princess. If there’s one thing I’ve learned for certain it’s that there are things far worse than death,” he said icily.
Khan released her from his vice like grip. His enchanted horn blasted a series of black, crystal like rings that pinned both of Celestia’s wings and all 4 of her hooves against the stone wall. She was forcefully stretched and positioned face forwarding Khan. The sun mare looked as if she was being crucified on a mountain wall. She struggled but was powerless against the rings, as was her magic; far too depleted by combat and the increasingly dark night sky. Her time was over. But that doesn’t mean she was going to sit and take it quietly.
“Something tells me Cage and Trail would disagree with that,” she responded coolly.
Chimera Khan titled his armored head to the side. Though his face was masked, Celestia could clearly detect a sense of confusion coming from his silent gaze.
“Have you fallen so far from grace that you can’t even acknowledge the good ponies you slaughtered in cold blood? Or Moonstruck, the innocent stallion you impersonated and framed for your own horrific deeds?” Celestia said accusingly.
“I don’t know what you’re playing at Celestia but it’s not going to work. You destroyed my life before with your lies and treachery, I won’t fall for it again,” he affirmed.
“Don’t you DARE treat my friend’s deaths as some sort of cheap ploy. They meant the world to me, as did you, but you threw everything away for a sick, twisted ambition that cost several innocent lives; including those dragons,” she argued back.
Khan lunged towards Celestia in a teleported flash. He was inches away from impaling her eye with his spiral drill horn. She gasped for air; frozen solid with panic. He stood there, panting like a dog with bared teeth. Her defending those dragons made his blood boil. If it were any pony else, he’d have sliced them to bloody chunks for speaking such unforgivable words in the blink of an eye. But he wanted her to suffer for what she’s done, that was the only reason he was keeping her alive for now.
“You are going to live…not for long…but just long enough to watch Ponyville burn to the ground, and all of your beloved subjects with it. I’ll be starting with that clever little princess of friendship of yours and her friends. You’ll watch them suffer, you’ll see every agonizing minute of their brutal deaths; then and ONLY then will I grant you the sweet kiss of death. Heh; that is of course assuming my monsters didn’t already paint the town red with their blood,” Khan cruelly jested.
A shrill, whistling sound snapped Khan out of his demented rant. He and Princess Celestia turned their heads towards the source.
There, standing defiantly and immaculately before the stunned ponies was Princess Twilight Sparkle. She smiled at Khan; enjoying the spark of panic teaming in his eyes behind that mask.
“I knew you could do it Twilight,” Celestia proudly cheered.
“NO! That’s impossible! I sent the Ursa Major to destroy your home. It should have killed you, no pony has ever been able to stop an Ursa Major; no pony,” Khan said alarmingly. He backed away from Celestia and turned towards Twilight’s direction.
Twilight reached up to her tricolored hair and pulled on a zipper. The purple pony’s body dropped down; revealing it to be a costume worn by Pinkie Pie. Chimera Khan was completely perplexed.
“What a twist! Bet you were shocked to see that, huh? Well if you think that’s something, wait until you see what Twilight’s doing,” Pinkie cheerfully said.
A large, looming shadow suddenly appeared. It eclipsed Pinkie, Khan and Celestia and most of the rest of the battlefield. Khan looked up to see the Ursa Major being levitated in midair through magic. Twilight made her way into view, her face and body strained with tremendous pressure. She was using everything in her power to keep this mammoth monster afloat. Khan felt his voice shrivel up in horror.
“Ugh…I think this…Grr belongs to YOU,” Twilight grunted.
The Alicorn princess hurled the Ursa Major at Khan. The creature was so wide, so massive; Khan had absolutely no way of avoiding it. The bear beast crashed into Khan like an asteroid and smashed right into the trunk of the mountain. Khan was gone; completely crushed and enfolded by the building sized behemoth.
“BOOYAH, nice toss Twilight! That sure squished his cupcakes for good,” Pinkie beamed enthusiastically.
“I doubt it. He’s probably mad as a hornet and already powering up to retaliate. We need to get Celestia free and hope the rest of our friends get here fast. I’m afraid we’re just getting started,” Twilight said alarmingly.
Pinkie couldn’t believe what her friend just said. She didn’t think it was possible for anyone to survive something like that. But Twilight was the smartest pony she knew and if she says Khan isn’t done for; then Khan isn’t done for. She nodded quickly and rushed to Celestia’s side. Twilight and Pinkie started pulling on the enchanted rings, but found them almost impossible to move.
“Remarkable work Twilight. I’ve never seen anyone handle an Ursa Major like that, how did you accomplish it?” Celestia asked.
“You can thank Moonstruck for that one. He taught me some gravity magic during our breaks from research. I knew I couldn’t beat the Ursa Major in a fight, so I used that to my advantage. But I don’t think I can lift something that heavy again for a long, long time,” Twilight explained.
Slowly but surely, Pinkie and Twilight successfully plucked the rings from the mountain rock. Little by little Celestia was able to free herself. The 3 mare’s attention was suddenly drawn towards the fallen Ursa Major. The beast’s body was quaking; stirring, and yet she remained unconscious. Twilight and Pinkie looked at each other anxiously. They proceeded to hurry up and remove the last rings as quickly as possible; they had to hurry before it was too late.
KABOOM!
A volcanic explosion erupted from behind the Ursa Major’s form. The unconscious bear sky rocketed towards the ponies like a derailed freight train. Twilight and Celestia immediately flashed their horns into action. Unfortunately, both had exhausted their magic earlier and lacked the power or the preparation to stop the oncoming monstrosity. Pinkie saw this and made a split second decision: she shoved them both out of the way.
WHAM!
The Ursa Major crashed into Pinkie and tumbled down the mountain; followed by the party mare and a trail of crumbling rocks. Celestia and Twilight’s eyes widened in shock, their noses were inches away from the flying behemoth zooming past their faces. Once the shock died down, Twilight rushed to the edge of the abyss and called out Pinkie’s name. She screamed achingly for her friend but failed to hear her voice or spot a speck of her colorful fur.
“No…no…Pinkie…it can’t be,” she sniffled achingly, “if she hadn’t pushed us…we’d both be dead right now.” Tears dripped from Twilight’s violet eyes; dropping down into the same all-consuming abyss that her friend fatally fell into.
“It’s as I said before princess…you’d be surprised what you could live through,” Khan teased.
As expected, Twilight’s hunch was right: Chimera Khan was alive and well. Celestia flashed her eyes fiercely towards the metallic pony. He approached them both; glittering with raw magical energy. The sun princess attempted to delay him with a spell but was quickly countered by a crimson lightning bolt from Sombra’s horn. The blast struck Celestia right in her horn; electrifying her and causing her to collapse. Her screams echoed across the barren wasteland of the mountain top.
“You should be grateful. Your friend’s demise was swift and painless, nothing like the gruesome ends that await you and your pitiful excuse for a mentor,” Khan hissed.
Twilight stirred from her heartbroken coma. Fury replaced her inner sadness. She blasted a beam into the ground, erecting a sea of razor sharp crystals piercing towards Khan. The crystals broke harmlessly off of Khan’s armor. He walked through them; mowing the crystal blades down like he was walking through grass. Twilight launched another spell, one that encompassed everything in her immediate proximity. The spell froze time all around her along with Chimera Khan. A glowing purple aura kept Khan paralyzed like a statue, only Twilight and Celestia remained capable of moving and speaking.
“Princess Celestia, I may have a way of stopping Chimera Khan but I am going to need your help…and your advice,” Twilight said intensely.
Celestia was slightly confused by her pupil’s words. “All right, what is it that you need Twilight?” she asked curiously.
“One of Hagar’s specialties is transforming organic matter into inorganic matter; it’s how I was able to enter a book when I was patching things up with Moon Dancer. He also has a spell capable of separating inorganic matter from a pony’s body. I think if you combined your magic with mine, it just might be powerful enough to separate Khan’s armor from his body,” Twilight theorized.
“Yes, that could work. And the advice you need?”
“There are a few kinks in the plan. 1: We can’t hit Khan head on, he’ll just absorb the spell and grow stronger. 2: He’s frozen now but I’ll have to drop the time spell to power up the separation spell. The spell is going to take time to charge even with both of us doing it and he’s not exactly going to sit and wait for us. But thirdly and most importantly, Khan’s armor may be too integrated into his body to be separated safely. In other words: there’s a very high percentage that he won’t survive,” she said timidly.
“If you have the means to put him down Twilight…do it,” she said darkly.
Twilight looked to her mentor; wide eyed and mortified. She couldn’t believe Celestia of all ponies just told her to end a pony’s life.
“I’ve made too many mistakes that have ruined and ended the lives of others. Your friend may have perished as well. I will not make the same mistake again and let this murderer hurt anyone else just because he used to my friend. It must be done Twilight, it must be done,” Celestia affirmed.
The purple mare didn’t have time to respond to her mentor’s commands. Khan teleported and materialized directly in front of Twilight. She gasped in surprise. The metallic tyrant lunged forward and clamped his hoof over Twilight’s neck. He lifted her off the ground, her hooves and wings flailed wildly; scrambling for relief. Twilight’s eyes bulged. She tried to zap Khan with a spell but his vice like grip made it impossible for her to concentrate. Her voice gagged and wheezed. She was going to suffocate in front of Celestia if Khan didn’t decide to break her neck first.
“For someone who studied Starswirl the bearded, you don’t seem to give him enough credit. You should have known that the chest plate absorbs time magic as well,” Khan said. He crushed Twilight’s throat even harder, her face started turning blue. “It’s the last mistake you’re going to make, princess,” he sneered.
“PLEASE, DON’T! Don’t do this Khan. She’s an innocent, she has nothing to do with your grudge against me,” Celestia pleaded. She stretched her hoof to him; desperate for him to release her. He could see the fear brimming in her terrified eyes. “Punish me, not her, punish ME. I’m the one you want, I’m the one who betrayed you. I’m begging you…please…punish me,” she whimpered.
“I’m about to”, he coldly replied. Khan stared hollowly at the pleading princess. Without the slightest hint of sympathy, he mercilessly raised his other hoof to Twilight’s head and prepared to end her life. Twilight’s tear soaked eyes made no impact on the wicked villain’s soul.
ZOOM! WHAM!
Before Khan could deliver the final blow, Arrowhead dashed in out of nowhere and decked the crazed unicorn with a supersonic blow to the face. He slammed into the mountain walls; grunting loudly and collapsing to the ground. The left side of Khan’s mask was flattened and dented, as if it had been hit by a sledgehammer. Twilight dropped to the ground instantly and gasped for air. Arrowhead panted thickly, his loathsome gaze still drilling deep into the fallen pony foe.
“That was for Rainbow…you heartless bastard,” he growled. The scarred colt helped Twilight back onto her hooves. Once he made sure she was all right, he went over to check on Celestia but she insisted she was fine and that Twilight needed all the attention right now. “Princess, are you okay? Do you need me to get you some herbs or something for your neck?” Arrowhead offered.
“No-no I’m fine just,” she coughed heavily and shook her head, “just needed a minute to catch my breath. Now, you said something about Rainbow Dash? What happened to her? Is she all right?” she asked; on the verge of panicking.
“She took a bad hit but she’s at the hospital now, I made sure of it myself. I know you’re freaked and you have every right to be but now is not the time,” he replied.
“I know but-”
“Look, he’s going to be up any second and now he’s going to be pissed off. You and Princess Celestia need to do whatever crazy Alicorn magic trump card you got planned ASAP. I’ll stall freak face as long as I can,” he said; abruptly interrupting her.
“I just wanted to…ugh…okay. Your right but PLEASE be careful, I don’t need to lose any more friends today,” she said affectionately. Twilight placed a hoof on Arrowhead’s shoulder. He nodded and readied himself to take on Khan while Twilight assisted Celestia.
“All right Twilight, let’s begin the spell; we haven’t a moment to lose,” she boldly stated.
The princess of friendship nodded and began powering up the spell. The Alicorn’s linked their horns together and combined their magic’s; creating a bright and colorful aura around the two mares.
Khan stood back up and shook off the punch like it was nothing; his mask remained dented. Arrowhead zoomed forward and swung another powerful fist towards the metallic monster. This time, Khan caught the Earth pony’s hoof with his own. Arrowhead swung his other fist but Khan caught that one as well. The stallions were deadlocked; staring down the other menacingly.
“Grr, I’m going to crack that shell open and beat what’s left of your barbecued ass,” he snarled hatefully.
Khan’s mask emanated a ruby red glow around the dented half. The metal crinkled loudly and flattened itself back out; right before Arrowhead’s baffled eyes.
“H-h-h-how did you-”
“What else would you expect from a true freak?” Khan replied.
CLANG!
Khan’s armored skull bashed into Arrowhead’s forehead; stunning the pony and breaking his stance. The jade skull on Khan’s chest plate unleashed a devastating emerald beam. Arrowhead was blasted back towards Twilight and Celestia. He spiraled in midair and crashed like a punctured balloon. Blood trickled down from Arrowhead’s forehead. Twilight tried to reach out to help him but Arrowhead raised his hoof and motioned for her to stop.
“Don’t…stop…keep going…sorry I couldn’t…” he mumbled before passing out; unable to continue.
Twilight gulped loudly. This was bad; this was very, very bad. They didn’t have even half as much magic stored up to attack now, and even if they were fully charged, some pony still has to distract Khan so he’s blasted on the sides that don’t feature Starswirl’s indestructible plate.
“If relying on lowly Earth pony’s is your last line of defense, then you princesses are already dead,” Khan said.
“And what in tar nation is wrong with bein’ an Earth pony?” a familiar, southern voice announced.
Twilight and Celestia smiled hopefully; looks like they still had a chance after all.
Khan turned to the source of that voice and was greeted by a pair of powerfully strong orange legs; drop kicking him right in the face.
BAM!
The villain skidded back slightly. Applejack’s bucking legs struck him with the same amount of force and intensity of Arrowhead’s fist. The southern mare didn’t stop there though. She charged forward and drop kicked Khan again, and again, and again and again. Applejack just kept on kicking and kicking and refused to stop until this tyrant was knocked clean off his hooves. Khan grew irritated. Though his armor protected him, Applejack’s kicks kept knocking the wind out of him and delayed him just enough that he couldn’t counter any of her moves.
“All right, that’s enough of that,” he grunted.
Khan activated the Phoenix gauntlet. A fiery pair of wings encircled him like a shield; scorching AJ’s hooves as she tried to land another kick. She pulled back and hollered in pain. Applejack clutched her hooves and tried to blow on them to soothe the searing burns. Chimera Khan used this moment to his advantage. He lunged forward and plowed his armored hoof directly into AJ’s stomach. Her eyes bulged in tremendous pain; spittle flew numbingly from her lips. She dropped to her knees clutching her chest. Applejack’s voice was gone, she wheezed out broken gasps; unable to speak or breath without experiencing unimaginable agony. Khan grabbed her by her hair and violently jerked her head upward. Applejack looked defiantly at Khan, her voice still too broken to form words. Khan stared emptily at the mare as he charged up his jade skull emblem once more.
“NO, PLEASE, LEAVE MY FRIENDS ALONE!” Twilight called out.
She wanted to run, she wanted to leap towards her friend and unleash every ounce of power she had on this horrible monster who had already taken one of her friends…now she was about to lose another.
“I’m sorry Twilight, there’s nothing we can do. If we don’t finish this spell then everyone will be lost…I’m so terribly sorry,” Celestia wept.
Applejack’s rough and tumble demeanor fell like a house of cards. She stared frightfully at the brightly glowing emerald, she knew what came next.
“Give your parents a kiss for me,” Khan coolly said.
She closed her eyes as tears dripped down her freckled cheeks and waited for the end to come.
At that moment, a red and white blur swooped down from the heavens and collided with Chimera Khan. Applejack was released and the emerald death beam never came. She opened her eyes and saw the most beautiful and uplifting sight she could ever see: Hopeful. He was covered in bandages, wearing a hospital gown and wielding his IV pole like a baseball bat. The poetry loving Pegasus was here to be her hero once again.
“GET OFF OF HER!” he screamed vengefully; straddling Khan’s neck.
Hopeful bashed the IV pole and bag relentlessly against Khan’s head. The bag broke and splattered its liquid contents over the unicorn; the pole became bent and twisted with each blow. Khan was taken off guard by the attack and struggled to remove the Pegasus from his backside. Even in his wounded state, Hopeful proved to be a force to be reckoned with. He kept on hammering away at the masked villain even after the pole broke in two. The villainous stallion activated one of his armor’s mystical defenses and electrified Hopeful off of him. Applejack leapt to her lover’s aid but was brutally knocked back down by a swipe from Khan’s spike clubbed tail. She dropped to the ground and coughed, bits of blood sputtered from her lips. Hopeful was just as vulnerable; he lay twitchingly on the ground as Khan approached him.
“Did my creatures bruise your brain along with your body? Is that why you fled the hospital when you clearly should have stayed?” Khan asked.
“There was no way,” he paused to cough, “I was going to let my fair maiden face such a nightmare alone.” Hopeful could barely move; it had taken everything he had just to fly here and save Applejack.
“Your sentiment is nauseating. How could you possibly think you, a lone crippled Pegasus, could even stand a fraction of a chance against the likes of me?” Khan quipped back.
Despite his situation, the bandaged Pegasus produced a most peculiar smile. He looked to Khan with that almost mocking grin; struggling to keep his head elevated with his aching joints. Khan looked quite perplexed by this. “Heh…who said I was alone?” Hopeful said cryptically.
The armored pony stared blankly for a moment. In a matter of seconds though, he understood what Hopeful meant. Rainbow Dash dropped down from out of nowhere and smashed her hooves across Khan’s face in a drive by double punch. He grunted and stumbled awkwardly. Apparently, Hopeful wasn’t the only hospitalized pony who had grown restless. She circled back and dove in for another strike, and another, and another and another. Khan couldn’t keep up or target her long enough to shoot her down. The cyan mare’s speed was just too much for him.
“Oh yeah, coming in for the-” Rainbow said. She suddenly halted midair and froze; her wings still faintly flapping and keeping her afloat. Rainbow clutched her chest in unbearable pain. Red stains appeared on the bandages circling her belly and chest areas. “No…no…not now,” she whimpered. Her flying maneuvers had torn open her stitches and reopened her Skolopendra wounds. She eventually fell to the ground and dropped to her knees.
“You fools are making this far too easy,” he gleamed ruthlessly.
“Princess Celestia, we’ve got to speed this up or something. He’s going to kill everyone if we don’t stop him,” Twilight said; panicking.
“The spell’s not complete yet, you know that better than I do. We only have enough magic for one shot so we have to make it count. I’m sorry Twilight, I truly am, but we have no choice but to finish what we started. It’s the only way we’ll win,” Celestia said wearily.
Khan’s eyes glowed blindingly bright. The energy was so intense and powerful that Khan’s eyes became nothing but two shimmering white lights; flashing brightly like headlights. He launched his eye beams towards the fallen mare. The beams were a 100 times stronger than the ones he used on Rarity, guaranteed to end the life of the colorful Pegasus. But just before the beams hit, at the last second, Arrowhead rushed in with his limbs spread. He took the full force of the beams and used his body as a living shield. The blinding lights eventually faded, revealing what happened to Khan and the others watching. Arrowhead was still standing; though just barely. His hind legs wobbled like jelly, his chest and underbelly were covered by a pony sized black burn mark. Rainbow couldn’t believe he was still able to stand.
“D-d-d-dash…please…r-r-run away before it’s too…” he groaned feebly. The stallion collapsed face first before he could finish.
“NO! ARROWHEAD!” she shrieked.
The wounded Pegasus crawled towards her fallen boyfriend, a trail of blood leaked on the ground from her stained bandages. She draped her fore legs across his back and nuzzled up to his face. A purple and green glow emanated from Khan’s cursed horn. He was powering up another deadly attack, one he knew neither Rainbow nor Arrowhead would survive in this state and at this close range.
“Y-y-y-y-y-you stubborn little ugh…I told you to…to…r-r-r-run,” Arrowhead coughed; barely able to keep his head elevated to look to her. His body felt like it was on fire all over.
“And I already told you…I’m not going to lose you again,” she said passionately. She wrapped her hooves around his head and kissed his forehead, tears dripped down their cheeks as she did so. Rainbow turned her head towards the armored villain preparing to kill them. The scathing hatred in her eyes burned like a magenta colored inferno. “Even if you kill us, you’re still gonna lose,” she hissed loathingly.
“Let’s agree to disagree,” Khan retorted. He raised his hooves up in a galloping fashion, raising the surging energy ball of death above them.
FASCHOOM! KABOOM!
A barrel sized green fireball collided with Chimer Khan’s energy orb; causing both to explode on impact. The blast knocked Khan off his hooves and to the ground. Arrowhead and Rainbow Dash were covered by a crystal blue aura; it dragged them away from Khan and back to its source’s user: Rarity. She and Spike had just arrived in the nick of time to aid their friends. Khan shook his head with a clanking rattle. He regained his composure and sized up his new opponents, recognizing them instantly.
“YOU,” Spike and Khan shouted in unison.
The mad unicorn could already feel the tremors of his psychological trauma overwhelming him. Sweat billowed upon his scorched flesh, eyes twitching with anxiety. The fear was temporary however. Seconds later, a miniscule flash of green light sparkled over Khan’s orange irises. Bubbling Cauldron’s fear blocker spell kicked in and proceeded to calm Khan down. His breathing slowed and his anxiety diminished, he no longer felt terror when he looked at the purple beast that tried to set him ablaze in the alleyway.
“Murderer…you took everything from me…EVERYTHING,” Spike snarled.
Rarity was distracted from helping Dash and Arrowhead by Spike’s sudden scream. He was growling and baring his fangs; like a wild dog. His eyes were slit like a snake’s, muscles bulging and flexing; his claws were itching to sink into flesh and blood and tear it to ribbons. She had never seen him like this, never; not even when he transformed into a giant dragon was he this primal.
“Spike…Spikey Wikey…please, I know you’re furious but don’t let this consume you. You’re still the same dragon I care for. Don’t forget that I’m still here with you, don’t forget who you are…Spike?” she called out to him. But his animal rage had drowned out any kind of sensible voice of reason, even hers.
“You’re a dead man, you’re a dead man, you’re a dead man, you’re a dead man,” he rambled twistedly. Spike repeated it like it was an empowering mantra.
Twilight was equally as horrified to see him this way, her influence as well seemed miles away from reaching him. She was trapped and powerless to do anything but watch until her spell was fully charged.
“What sort of nonsense are you babbling about? I no longer fear you stupid beast. Threaten me all you want, none of you are leaving this mountain alive,” Khan said.
“YOU’RE A DEAD MAN,” the dragon screeched.
Spike lunged at Khan with the ferocity and barbarism he always expected from these scaly creatures. The drake slashed his claws mercilessly against Khan’s armor, sparks flashed wildly with each clash. The armor became scratched and dented but mystically started repairing itself just as fast as Spike could damage it. He didn’t seem to care though. Spike hammered away with his claws like he was tearing down a brick wall, brick by brick. Nothing slowed him down. No ounce of restraint or empathy could be detected in the savagery of his blood thirsty attacks.
“GIVE. THEM. BACK,” the dragon snapped.
Chimera Khan attempted to clap his hooves together and sonic boom the dragon away, but Spike proved faster and grasped both of his hooves with his claws. The two entered a fierce power struggle. Neither one could overpower the other or break the hold. Even if Khan’s armor would fix its own dents; the pressure from Spike’s claws would crush the metal too quickly even for his magic to repair without sustaining physical injury.
“I’m going to make you pay. In the name of dragons everywhere you’re going to pay for everything you’ve done, with your life,” Spike hissed.
“Ugh, why do things like you even exist? You should be discarded and burned like garbage at birth, the whole filthy lot of you,” Khan cruelly quipped back.
Khan’s eyes and horn powered up to simultaneously blast directly into Spike’s face. The purple drake struck first, he lunged forward and clamped his fangs into the metal and flesh of Khan’s neck. The unicorn cried out in pain. His blood trickled warmly from his wound down the cold, twisted metal of his armor. Spike had inadvertently found a weak spot in the armor’s design when he first bit into Khan’s neck in the alleyway. He took full advantage of that weak spot and drilled his fangs deeper into the tissue. Green smoke started sizzling from Spike’s jaws; he was preparing to burn Khan with his flames again, only this time, he was out of the chest plate’s absorbing range. Khan flipped his spiked club tail forward and bashed the dragon off his neck; freeing him.
“I’m not going to stop until I’ve ripped you to pieces, right down to your stinking black heart,” Spike declared. He showered Khan in a tsunami of flames. However, just as before, Spike watched in gross irritation as the chest plate sucked his flames in like a vacuum.
“Is there a point to your dribble, or do dragons just like spouting words of hate for amusement?” Khan snidely inquired.
“Of course there’s a point! I’m here to kill you for what you did to my parents. It’s your fault their gone, it’s always been you’re fault…I just didn’t know it until recently,” Spike replied. He thrashed his tail around idly; curling it flexibly.
“Your parents? What in the world are you-”
Chimera Khan stopped suddenly. A grave realization dawned on him, one he had never even considered in all of his thousand years in exile. The two dragons, the cave on top of the mountains; the reason they kept coming back…it was all so clear now.
“A nest, that’s what they were doing there. Of course! Those fire breathers were building a nest for their egg, for their child…you,” he gasped. This of course meant that they had Spike’s egg with them when he killed them. Had he not been burned alive, he could have ended Spike’s life as well. Khan’s eyes widened for a moment before hardening into an intense, murderous glare. “I should have killed you when I had the chance!”
Spike roared like a true, fierce dragon. He charged forward with his fangs and claws bared. Khan reactively fired a crimson energy slash from his horn. The blade struck Spike in the shoulder, collapsing as blood spurted from his wound. Spike’s tail whipped across the field and struck Khan across his face. The metallic stallion was knocked clean off his hooves. The young dragon rushed back to his feet and used this opportunity to quickly end Khan before he could counter attack. He dug his claws into the ground and unearthed a massive boulder. Spike stomped towards Khan and raised the boulder high above his head, ready to flatten him.
“All right you heartless monster, let’s see you absorb this!” Spike shouted.
“Spike, NO, please don’t! It doesn’t have to be you. You don’t deserve to have this on your conscience.”
“Stay out of this mom. He needs to pay and if there’s anyone that needs to do it, it’s me,” he said defiantly.
Chimera Khan was caught off guard by that name Spike called Twilight. He looked towards the purple pair, eyes full of bewilderment. A moment of silence passed and a second realization dawned on the masked villain. “Ah yes I see now…she raised you, didn’t she?” he said tauntingly. Spike didn’t like how confident Khan seemed with that boulder still hovering over him.
“Yeah, so what if she did?” he snorted.
Spike was distracted for a second, a second that would prove disastrously deadly. Khan blasted his eye beams directly for Twilight’s heart. He knew she was defenseless while powering up for her ultimate spell, but more importantly, he knew what the dragon she raised would do if she was in danger. Spike immediately dropped the boulder and rushed to Twilight’s aid. Her eyes widened in frozen shock, the light coming from the eye beams shined vividly in her eyes. She truly believed this could be it; this could be how it all ends. But Spike refused to let Khan take another mother from his life. He leapt in front of her and took the full brunt of the eyebeams force.
ZAP!
The blast scorched his back, penetrating his thick scales and into his soft flesh. Spike’s eyes turned dull and lifeless. He groaned anemically before collapsing to the ground. Twilight looked in gut wrenching horror at the giant burning gashes on Spike’s back. If he hadn’t taken the bullet for her, Twilight was absolutely certain she would be dead right now. Tears dripped numbly from her damp cheeks. All this power she was channeling with Celestia, and yet, never had she felt more powerless than at this very moment.
“NO, SPIIIIIIKE!” Rarity screeched. She rushed to his aid, wrapping her hooves comfortingly around his head.
The unicorn felt her heart sink upon seeing the young drake’s face. He was a lifeless husk; no blinking, no movement, just a shell that wheezed. She didn’t know if he was alive or unconscious or dead. All she knew was that she may actually lose Spike after taking so long to finally find him and the thought of that terrified and enraged her to no end. She looked towards the faceless monster that harmed her beloved Spikey Wikey and felt the stinging tears of anger drip down her cheeks; mixed murkily with her running mascara.
“You…soulless…twisted monstrosity…GRAHHHH,” she screamed piercingly. Rarity ran unyieldingly towards Khan. She knew she had no power or muscle to stop the metallic foe, but she refused to let this heinous act of butchery go unpunished. “Take a good long look because I’m the last nightmare you’re ever going to see,” she bellowed.
Khan merely flicked his horn as if it were his wrist; grasping Rarity’s neck with a magical ring of dark energy. She struggled helplessly against the mystical force crushing her windpipe and silencing her war cry. He tilted his horn upwards and lifted Rarity off her hooves; hovering her in the air. Her sapphire blue eyes started turning red. The blood was rushing to her head, she couldn’t hold on for much longer like this.
“So passionate so determined so…pathetic. If this really is all that the magic of friendship has to offer, then it’s a wonder how any of you survived for this long. All of you came together to stop me, and yet no matter what tricks you try or how much will power you possess, in the end you all still failed miserably. Face it: I alone am more powerful than all of you put together,” Khan proclaimed.
Twilight looked to Celestia and to Khan frantically. Her head darted back and forth back and forth, panicking uncontrollably at seeing her fashionista friend getting the life choked out of her.
“Princess, is it ready yet? Rarity and everyone else is running out of time. We’ve got to cast the spell now,” Twilight insisted.
“Just a little more Twilight, just a little bit longer, I can feel our magic reaching their maximum outputs. We’re so close,” Celestia said while concentrating.
Rarity’s struggles started to slow down. In a few moments, her body would cease moving altogether. Before Khan could finish her off for good this time, something colorful and wet collided with his face and temporarily distracted him. His horn shorted out suddenly. Rarity dropped to the ground. She coughed and sputtered achingly; desperately gasping for air.
“What in blazes is the meaning of this-this childish trick?” he spouted.
“Uh DUH, it’s called a water balloon you big silly metal goose,” Pinkie said cheekily. Khan turned around to see Pinkie Pie, dirty and frazzled but surprisingly in one piece. He couldn’t believe she had survived. “Thanks for the ride down the mountain. It was fun except for the whole, you know, nearly dying part. Luckily my good friend Daring Do was nearby and saved my cupcakes. She said she was on her way here anyway so she could show us all this really cool metal glow stick thingy she found,” she beamed innocently.
As if on cue, the bronze mare glided down next to Pinkie. She had a rusty, golden scepter with a jewel encrusted sphere at the top held in her teeth. The sphere had a large black “X” embroidered at its base. Daring Do pointed the scepter at Chimera Khan and almost immediately a metallic blue and white energy beam streamed from the artifact and struck Khan like a bolt of lightning. His screams echoed thunderously throughout the mountain top. Khan’s armor had the same metallic blue and white energy stream coursing through its structure and designs. It spread across his armor like a virus. The armor pieces expanded and shrank on and off again. The scepter was somehow distorting the very existence of Khan’s armor and twisting it like it was made of putty.
“Sorry it took a while for me to get here Princesses. I wanted to come and assist you the minute I was un-petrified but to make a long story short, I needed some extra time to track down this,” she said; motioning to the scepter as she placed it into one of her hooves. “This is one of Mage Meadowbrook’s 8 enchanted items: the Scepter of Cancellous. It’s designed to cancel out the magic in every enchanted item it targets and it won’t stop until every piece is nullified,” Daring Do clarified.
Chimera Khan struggled fiercely against the scepter’s power but even he could not resist its special abilities. The surrounding ponies started smiling, albeit weakly. They saw Khan falling down to a knee. All of his power was slowly being taken away, piece by piece. The viral energy crawled up his neck and encircled Starswirl’s chest plate. Even that proved useless against Meadowbrook’s enchanted scepter.
“No…n-n-n-no…it can’t end this way,” Khan said through clenched teeth.
“This is how it was always going to end Chimera Khan. Now, it’s time to finish this once and for all,” Daring Do said firmly.
She approached Khan with the scepter still in hoof. The viral effect had consumed Khan’s mystical helmet, Sombra’s horn and was now heading to the final piece: the Alicorn amulet. Daring Do faced Khan and directly prodded the amulet with the scepter; the final blow to end this wickedness for good.
BZZZZT!
A strange spark popped out; startling both Khan and Daring Do. The viral energy consuming the villain had suddenly vanished, his magic and mobility returned instantaneously. The scepter fizzled out and ceased all effects and mystical properties. Daring Do appeared as if she had just seen a ghost. Her tan color drained from her face, stunned beyond the ability to comprehend what just happened. She continued to poke the amulet with the scepter trying to restart it.
“B-b-b-but that’s not possible, it should’ve worked. What went wrong? I-I-I don’t understand I-”
Chimera Khan unleashed a super powered, point blank emerald skull blast from his chest at Daring Do before she could finish her rambling. The blast engulfed her entire body. She was hurled into the sky, crashing down moments later with a sickening thud. Her body was littered with blackened scorch marks, limbs twitched involuntarily. Every part of her felt like it had been dipped in lava and toweled off with needles. She weakly tried to examine the scepter. Unfortunately, it had been burnt to a crackly crisp and dissolved into ashes right before her eyes.
“Why…I don’t understand…how did this…” she wheezed. Daring Do felt something else in her other fore hoof. She looked to it and found Khan’s Alicorn amulet sitting there; it was mangled and the strap was broken.
Khan looked to his neck and noticed this as well.
“This-this is impossible! The Alicorn amulet cannot be removed, only the wearer can remove it once it is worn. So then how did-” Khan’s words stopped cold. If the amulet was a forgery all this time, then that can only lead him to one unmistakable conclusion: Crowe tricked him.
The masked villain looked to the sky and shouted to the world, his voice slashed the heavens with its volume and venom. “CROOOOOOOOOOOOOOWE….that lousy, rotten, lying, two faced little…GRRR,” Khan smashed his fore hooves into the ground, “when I get my hooves on that rat I’m going to-”
ZAP!
A midnight blue aura materialized over Khan’s body. His hooves were frozen; landlocked to the Earth and digging deeper into it. He felt even more paralyzed than before. Some kind of mystical force was forcibly trapping him in place with a gravity holding spell.
Twilight gasped in alarm. All this time she had been focusing on finishing charging up the separation spell, she didn’t even notice that a new pony had joined the fight as well. He had snuck up behind Chimera Khan while he was distracted by the fake amulet.
“Moonstruck?!? What the heck are you doing here? I thought you promised-”
“Yeah, yeah I know: I promised you I wouldn’t leave the castle, I wouldn’t join the fight, but I did leave the castle and now I am joining the fight and were gonna have a really long and really loud talk when we get back,” he dryly quipped. His attention focused strenuously on maintaining the spell.
“I…we…you’re darn right we will!” Twilight barked in frustration.
Khan felt like the weight of the universe was literally sitting on him. He was glued, pinned by an all crushing force that made it impossible for him to attack or move. Moonstruck grunted fiercely as he focused his power to its utmost limits. The bone wing markings appeared in flashes on his back, faint at first but rapidly becoming clearer and brighter. He bit his lip and fought through the pain. He didn’t need to hold Khan forever, just long enough for the princesses to deliver their ultimate attack.
“GRRRRR come on Crackers…I can’t keep this up forever…if you’re going to do some dorky bad ass super attack; now’s the time for it,” he said strenuously.
Twilight looked back and forth between Celestia and Moonstruck. They could both feel the magic burning inside of them, expanding and growing to levels neither Alicorn had reached since using the elements of harmony. There was a glimmer like flash that sparked from the mare’s bodies. That was the signal, the spell was finally complete.
“It’s time Twilight. With Chimera Khan distracted by Moonstruck, we must use the spell and end his tyranny before it’s too late,” Celestia said solemnly.
Twilight nodded. Both princesses knew what using this spell meant. The attack would either separate Khan from his armor; rendering him powerless and easier to defeat, or it would destroy the armor and him along with it. Either way, now was their time to act before Moonstruck’s hex negated his gravity spell.
“I never thought I’d have to do something like this…take a life,” she looked miserably down at Spike. Rarity had crawled back to him and was now cradling his head in her lap; trying to find some spark of life in his eyes. “But my friends, my family, all their lives and so many more rest in my hooves. Khan has caused so much pain already…I have to do this…I must do this,” she said with a heavy sigh.
Still struggling in the gravity hold, Khan managed to see what the Alicorns were doing. Celestia and Twilight aimed their horns at him and prepared to fire. He knew if he was struck at this angle, his absorbing plate wouldn’t save him and he’d be wiped off the face of this planet for sure. Khan intensified his struggling but Moonstruck’s hold on him was still too strong.
“WAIT, STOP! PLEASE DON’T KILL HIM!” Fluttershy screamed.
The yellow Pegasus appeared suddenly. She flew across the field and positioned herself directly between Khan and Twilight and Celestia’s blasting range. All eyes had drawn to the scene unfolding. Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Hopeful, Arrowhead, Daring Do, Pinkie Pie, Moonstruck; even Spike observed; awakening groggily from his death like coma.
“Fluttershy?!? What in Equestria do you think you’re doing?” Twilight shouted.
“Darling, please don’t tell me you’ve succumbed to Stockholm syndrome,” Rarity said.
“Ya’ll can’t be seriously defendin’ this maniac after all he’s done,” Applejack added.
“Get out of the way Fluttershy! We have to stop this nutcase before he gets free,” Rainbow demanded.
“Hold on every pony, if we’re going to do this then let’s do it properly,” Pinkie stated. She raised a hoof in a pausing motion. She pulled a glass of water seemingly out nowhere, guzzled every drop down and then spat it out in a sputtering spit take.
“Look, I know he’s done horrible things and he’s hurt all of our friends. I haven’t forgotten any of that. But I truly believe there’s still good in him. It doesn’t need to go this way, we can try and help him and salvage the good pony Celestia knew. Killing him can’t be the answer,” Fluttershy protested.
“I’m sorry Fluttershy but my friend is gone, I’m afraid I must order you to stand aside and let us do what we must. I take no pleasure in this course of action, believe me. But the fate of Equestria is at stake and I will not let another careless mistake of mine put any more lives at risk,” Celestia commanded.
“But princess, he tried to protect me,” the Pegasus said tenderly.
“Protect you? He kidnapped you! He turned all the animals you love into slaves. We can’t forget all of that, we can’t just let it slide,” the purple mare countered.
“I’m not asking you to do either of those things, I’m not asking any pony do to that, all I’m asking is to help him…not end him. We’ve helped so many who were mean and nasty before, why should we be different with him?”
“Fluttershy…he killed my parents…he’ll never be good. He hates dragons. He’s caused nothing but pain and that’s all he’s ever going to cause,” Spike grimaced. The wounded drake struggled back to his feet with Rarity’s help; gradually coming to.
The nature loving mare looked sympathetically to her dragon friend. She knew he most of all would oppose this idea, and despite his position, she didn’t blame him in the least for it. “I know Spike…but he’s shown me kindness and concern, I have to believe that exists in him for a reason,” she explained. “It’ll take time and lots of precautions I’m sure, but I believe if we help him see dragons and ponies can co-exist, then-”
“BLASPHEMY, don’t you dare speak of such perversion to me again,” Khan angrily interjected. Moonstruck cried out as the hex mark started burning his back, smoke sizzled along the mark’s design; burning into his flesh. He was losing hold of his grip on Khan. “As much as I care for you Fluttershy, I’ll bathe this planet in blood and fire before I ever allow filthy dragons to co-exist any further with ponies,” he snarled savagely.
Fluttershy looked to the masked pony spouting words of hate and evil. She knew everything her friends were saying was right, she could feel it nagging at her brain and picking at her heart. Every instinct, every feather and muscle in her body told her that Khan was a monster and that he always would be one…but still…there was a faint voice inside of her soul that told her he wasn’t pure evil.
“Um guys, I-I-I can’t hold on much longer. You need to do something like NOW,” Moonstruck called out. His body convulsed at the searing pain that was rippling throughout his body. The glow over his horn flickered like static, he couldn’t hold out for much longer. Moonstruck was already way past his usual limits. “Twilight, do something before it’s too late,” he shouted.
Twilight and Celestia aimed their horns at Fluttershy. She remained obstinate and determined, refusing to budge an inch. The princesses would use their magic to move Fluttershy, but it’s taking everything they’ve got to keep the separation spell from going off prematurely. Using even a simple levitation spell now could jeopardize all they had accumulated.
“Fluttershy, please, I’m begging you as your friend: don’t do this. We only have one shot at saving Equestria and we can’t risk it on a known killer. I know you see something in him but all I’ve seen is the suffering he’s caused. It has to stop, he has to be stopped so please, move out of the way,” Twilight insisted.
“I’m sorry Twilight but I just can’t do that,” she replied sorrowfully.
“And I’m sorry too darling,” Rarity added.
Rarity enveloped the yellow Pegasus in her crystal blue aura. She forced her out of the way and cleared a path for Twilight and Celestia to finally take the shot. Moonstruck screamed as his body finally gave out. The hex mark electrified his body and nullified his gravity magic. He collapsed face down to the ground. Khan was freed from the spell just as Twilight and Celestia fired their own. They collapsed from exhaustion as well immediately after. A colorful rainbow beam with a fiery, lavender aura pulsated with tremendous magnitude; it was a power not seen on this world since Twilight’s battle with Tirek. The beam approached Khan like a comet howling from the heavens. He looked towards the beam as all others watched with anticipation; eager to see how this would play out.
KARAKABOOM!!!
The blinding sea of light engulfed the mountain top. Every pony and dragon nearby was sightless for a few seconds. Flames and smoke erupted into the sky, shockwaves bled out like ocean currents. Pinkie screamed as she was flung back and crashed into Fluttershy. The dust and destruction eventually settled after a few moments. Everyone’s eyes were unflinchingly glued to where Chimera Khan was standing. Twilight, Celestia, Moonstruck, Fluttershy and all the others watched and waited with baited breath to learn of the outcome.
There, sitting at the center of the crater caused by the blast was something shiny. It was Khan’s mask, or more accurately, it was half of Khan’s mask. It was wedged into the ground like a sword in a stone. The edges of its frames were melted; burnt to a sizzling crisp.
Standing just a few feet away from the mask was the mask’s dark owner. Twilight, Celestia and Moonstruck gasped; they felt their hearts sink. Khan was alive. The only damage he visibly received was that the left side of his mask had been blown off.
“No….it can’t be…we failed,” Celestia whimpered faintly.
Chimera Khan stepped into full view as the combat dust passed. The ponies gasped in horror at what they saw. Khan’s face was exposed; revealing a half melted skeletal face instead of one of flesh and fur. Burnt chunks of moldy green flesh stuck around Khan’s eye and the back of his jaw. The rotting tissue clung to the skull like barbecued bubblegum. His nose and jaw were fully exposed; nothing but pure bone and bared teeth were visible; aside from a few dangling tattered pieces of green flesh. Melted slivers of metal hanged loosely on the cleaved line where the left half of the mask used to be. His glaring orange eyes wandered until they landed on the one pony who had earned his wrath: Moonstruck.
“Just for that…you die first,” he sneered.
Khan charged a large, black and red energy ball above his horn. The ball was roughly the size of a beach ball and surging with powerfully dark magic. Moonstruck desperately struggled to get back onto his hooves. He had to move and now, or else Khan wouldn’t be the only pony missing half of his face around here. Unfortunately, Moonstruck found his limbs to be utterly useless. They felt like cement blocks; impossible to move or budge.
“Oh gods…I’m…I’m paralyzed! My body’s fried. I can barely move a muscle, must have really maxed myself out back there,” he shivered. This wasn’t the first time this had happened. He knew the paralysis was only temporarily. The problem was Khan’s spell would kill him before the paralysis would wear off. “Somebody, PLEASE HELP,” he screamed.
Every pony was still too battered and drained from the fight to respond in time. Many were gravely injured, while Twilight and Celestia were completely drained of any magical power. No one had the strength, the speed or the magic to stop Khan in time to save Moonstruck.
“Come on, come on,” Twilight grunted; forcing her horn to make some kind of spark. “Work, just work, I need you to work already!” she shrieked in frustration. Sweat dripped down her brow as she continued to try. Every failed spark brought Moonstruck one step closer to death.
The helpless unicorn felt minor tingling sensations in his hooves. He was experiencing feelings again, but it wasn’t coming back fast enough. He thrashed his neck frantically but nothing was working, he still couldn’t escape in time. Moonstruck looked up to the menacing sight of Chimera Khan and realized that this was it, this was the end and there was nothing he could do about it.
“NOW DIE!”
Chimera Khan unleashed his death ball. It rocketed towards Moonstruck like a torpedo; expanding in size and power the closer it got to the purple colt. Twilight cried out as she finally managed to scrounge up one last ounce of magic to cast an emergency teleportation spell. She zapped herself directly next to Moonstruck; tackling him in his sides and shoving him out of the way at the last second.
The ball exploded on impact. Twilight was blown away by the energy, her wings and magic useless against such a tremendous shockwave. She screamed but no sound could be heard over the deafening explosion.
THWACK!
Twilight slammed into a mountain wall. The impact created a sickening, cracking sound that seemed to drown out all other sounds around. Her eyes were wide open. Twilight’s mouth was frozen open in a voiceless scream. The mare’s body slid down the mountain wall. It was stained with her blood; leaving a screeching, lengthy red streak as she fell. She dropped face down to the ground. Not a single hoof or wing was moving.
Moonstruck looked back and gasped in horror. His heart felt like it had stopped beating right then and there. All he could see was red…revolting, bone chilling red. “Please no…” he whispered.
Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack, Spike, Celestia, Arrowhead, Hopeful and Daring Do stared brokenly at the fallen princess. They ran to her; each one with tears pouring down their cheeks. Chimera Khan stood emotionlessly. He made no effort to try and stop them or escape; there was no need to do either. They called Twilight’s name, checking her pulse, her heartbeat; everything. Celestia and Rarity used their magic to try and heal Twilight or lessen the damage…but it was too late.
“Did it work? Is she breathing? Is she…is she going to be all right? Please, answer me,” Moonstruck begged. Tears dripped down his dirt stained cheeks as he awaited their response.
The 9 ponies and 1 dragon looked collectively to Moonstruck. Each one of their faces was more distraught and devastated than the last. He squeaked in disbelief. His world was shattering into a million pieces. He knew what the answer was; he knew it just from the looks on all of their faces. It was his absolute worst nightmare come to life.
“Mom is…she’s…she’s dead,” Spike choked aloud.
To be continued…