//------------------------------// // The Final Battle Part 2 // Story: Equestria Girls Spikebelle 2: Summer Vacation Part 1 // by Chaos04 //------------------------------// Not a sound was heard on the beach. The children only stared at the elderly man before them, knowing it was he who was responsible for the disasters that had struck their city again. Princess Twilight stared at the stranger, knowing full well he was the very same stranger she had met in her castle. “Who…”Princess Twilight began. She wanted to know who this stranger was, but thought it would be inappropriate to ask. This was neither man, nor pony. He was a monster. The very incarnation of a heart of darkness. “What are you?” she asked instead. “The only hope this sick world has…” the stranger plainly stated. “What do you mean?” “...This world we live in...all who walk it are ill...A terrible walking blight upon what you consider the gift of life...It’s only through me that the world can be made well again…” the stranger answered. The sheer bluntness and nonchalance of his words frightened the children. This was a man who felt nothing toward anybody or anything. Without a care to hold onto, they knew that he was capable of any atrocity, and had the power to unleash it. Spike looked at the stranger, knowing that he nearly turned out the same way once. Seeing what he may well have become welled up a fury within him that he could barely contain. “You think you’re a hope for this world!? You’re nothing but the blight you think you’re saving everybody from!  You just have nothing to live for, so you want to make everyone else disappear! If you really believed anything you said, you’d erase yourself from existence!” Spike shouted, as he was held back by Twilight. The stranger stared at Spike, making the boy feel as if he were suddenly under an incredible pressure that threatened to squash him. “Quite the caustic tongue on you...Tell me, what is it you hold so dearly…? What exempts you from oblivion…?” the stranger asked. Spike didn’t answer, but his eyes glanced over to Sweetie Belle. He had found what his dad wanted him to find, and he was going to hold onto her for as long as he could. Her, along with all the others. His new parents. Twilight. And even his dad. Even though Spike said nothing, he knew the stranger knew his answer. With a shake of his head, the man spoke. “...I’m afraid your answer is invalid…” he said in his hoarse voice. “Everything you hold dear will have to be lost…” He extended his arm toward the group. As though it had changed its composition completely, the stranger’s arm extended unnaturally long, and his hand grasped around Spike’s neck. “Spike!!” Sweetie Belle shouted, as she tried desperately to get him back. Her efforts were stopped by her friends holding her back. “Let go of him! Please!” Sweetie Belle wailed. “No…” the stranger answered. Dash touched her geode, but before she even took the first step she felt the stone around her neck grow as heavy as a truck. She was thrown to the ground by the sheer force of the weight, and unable to stand. “...This boy…” the stranger continued, “He is everything that is wrong with this world...False hope...Denial of truth...And a blind ambition to find any meaning with the accident that led to his and everyone else’s existence...And from him, I’ll present an example to you all…” Spike struggled against the hold of the man, finding him to be far stronger than he looked. Glancing down, he saw the stranger’s hand glowing with a black aura. Discord watched, knowing he could no longer keep his secret. “Stop!!!” Discord shouted, before he thrust his hand forward. The sand beneath the stranger rose up and shot itself down his throat. The stranger shouted loudly, and let go of Spike. The sand beneath Spike rippled up and tossed him back into Twilight’s waiting arms. As soon as Spike was safe, she and all the others turned to warily look at Discord. “Discord…?” Fluttershy shuddered. “Yes. There’s still some left in me,” Discord answered. He could feel his heart split when he saw Fluttershy’s worried face. “Fluttershy...All of you, listen to me. Spike’s given me an idea of how to beat this guy. I need all of you to think about all of the people you care about the most in your lives.” The stranger shouted loudly, and expelled the sand from his body. “And I need you to do it fast!” Discord said. There was no telling what Discord was planning, but it was the only chance they had. One by one, they all thought of the people who mattered the most to them. And through their thoughts, Discord could feel their warm energies welling within his mind. “Alright. Keep them all in your mind,” Discord said. The others all found themselves engulfed in a gentle blue light. “Discord? What are you doing?” Fluttershy asked. “I love you, Fluttershy. Just in case I don’t come back, I want you to hear that from me,” Discord said. “Discord!” Fluttershy said. It was too late. In a blink, she and the others were gone. Where they stood, Discord saw the stranger lunging toward him, his arm changed to a vicious blade. Far beyond Canterlot, Spike landed hard on the ground. Around him, the others all landed around him. Nearby, he saw Sweetie Belle appear, and dove to catch her before she fell. “Thanks,” Sweetie Belle said. Spike didn’t answer, but wrapped his arms tightly around her. The children looked around, and saw that they were joined by the others. Not only their friends from the beach, but others who they held dearest. “Thorax!” Twilight said, as she rushed over to her boyfriend. “Twilight!” Thorax greeted her, receiving her with a tight embrace. All around, others had appeared. Applejack and Apple Bloom quickly reunited with their brother and grandmother. Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Scootaloo all reunited with their parents, happy they had survived the disaster. “Spike! How did you get here?” asked a familiar gravelly voice. Spike turned, and saw a man he almost didn’t recognize. A man he didn’t realize that he cared enough about to spend what was possibly his last moments alive with. “Dad!” Spike said. Sombra quickly walked over and helped Spike up. “Spike, are you hurt?” Sombra asked. “No, I’m fine,” Spike answered. Sombra sighed deeply, and held his son for the first time since he was a child. He then noticed the girl who Spike had been embracing. “So, aren’t you going to introduce me to your friend?” Sombra asked. “Oh, not this. Don’t make me start thinking you’re human?” Tempest said. “Officer Tempest?” Spike asked. “You’re still here?” Sombra deadpanned. “There was no way I’d let you go anywhere without police supervision,” Tempest said. “Now, will someone tell me what’s happening?” “In a word: chaos!” Princess Twilight explained. That was all they could comprehend it as. The entire group looked out over the distance at the burning city. Fluttershy clutched her hands tightly to her chest, sick with worry for Discord. Discord bobbed and wove his body around the wild swings of the stranger’s arm. One hit, and he knew it would be the end of him. The blade swung at Discord’s waist. There was no time to move. Harnessing his power, Discord displaced his body around the blade as it swung through him harmlessly. Once the blade passed, Discord used his power to fold the ground over the stranger and crush him. The ground rumbled, and the sand beneath Discord started to displace itself. Discord levitated himself into the air, just as the sand beneath him turned to a towering pillar of decaying matter. The tower reached for Discord, only to be shrunk back into the hole in the ground it sprang from. The stranger burst from the hole and fired a beam of black energy at Discord. Discord was blown backwards, using his hands to block the attack. Keeping his friends firmly in mind, he started firing back his own golden beam, which grew larger still and swallowed the stranger’s attack. The stranger would not be beaten. Pushing his magic forward, he created a combustion that blew across the beach. The dust settled, and the stranger stood firmly on the sand. Discord was nowhere to be seen. He knew the boy was not defeated. Slowly, he began walking through the destruction he had created. “I know you’re here…” the stranger called. “I can sense your magic…” Nearby, Discord was trying to magically treat his wounds, but stopped quickly when he heard the hoarse voice calling to him. “Don’t even bother negating your spell...I already can see you…” “Damn!” Discord thought to himself. Who or whatever this man was, he was nothing to trifle with. There was only one option to do. Just as the cover he was behind turned to a set of snapping jaws, Discord reversed them to snap around the stranger. It was too quick for the man to comprehend. He was caught fast in the razor sharp teeth of the trap he created, and felt his body crushing under their pressure. But, it was not enough to stop him. With a burst of black aura, the jaws were blown apart, and the stranger looked as though he was completely without injury. “You can’t defeat me like this...Even without this stone around my neck, I’m more than a match for you…” the stranger said. Discord knew he was right. There was nothing that he could do against this opponent. But, something the old man had said rang to him. Something about what he thought was wrong with the world, and what needed to be fixed. “You’re right. I’ve got nothing on you. But, I think I know someone who does,” Discord said. “Who?” Seeing the teen’s mischievous grin irritated the stranger to no end. And his ire only rose when he heard Discord chuckle. “I think it’d be better to show you than to tell you,” Discord said, before enveloping him and his opponent in a gentle blue glow. Outside Canterlot, Spike and the others all watched as a familiar face appeared among them. “Discord!!” Fluttershy said, as she ran to embrace him. “Did you get him? Is he gone for good now?” “Not yet,” Discord casually said. “‘Not yet?’ What’s that supposed to mean?” Thorax wondered. Another glow of blue light appeared, and quickly darkened as the stranger from Equestria appeared in their midst. Everyone cowered before him, as his eyes passed over them all. “Who is it…? Who among these can defeat me?” he wondered. “That would be everything wrong with the world here,” Discord said, as he pulled Spike over. “What are you thinking!?” Sweetie Belle said, as she tried to stop Discord. “Pipe down,” Discord said, as he magically pushed Sweetie Belle back to Rarity. He turned back to face his opponent. “This is it. The one that’s going to put you down for good.” “Have you gone crazy!?” Spike said, as he resisted Discord’s grip on his arm. “I was thinking the same thing…” the stranger said. “No crazy here. In fact, I think it’s the most un-crazy thing I ever cooked up. This kid,” Discord said, indicating Spike, “This kid, who is everything you think is wrong with the world is just that. And it’s what’s going to undo you, and everything that’s gone wrong. Of course, he’ll need a bit of a handicap.” Discord held his hand out, as if he were waiting for something to be given to him. The stranger smiled slightly, as he took the stone from around his neck, and magically levitated it over to Discord. “Oh no! Not that! There’s no way I’m using that thing!” Spike said. “And why not? You have the chance to make everything you ever wanted come true. To make this all go back to the way it used to be. Believe me, I would have done that myself eventually,” Discord said. Spike listened to every word Discord said, and knew just what he needed to do with the power he had been given. One look over to his dad, and he knew just what he was going to do. He was going to make everything go back to the way it used to be. “Alright. You’re on,” Spike said, as he placed the stone around his neck. The stranger didn’t know how to react to what he saw. This was more pathetic than any attempt he had seen to prevent the inevitable. “In a moment, you won’t have the chance to regret your rash decision…” the stranger said, as he welled up his magic, and shot it toward Spike. There was a choir of screams, but Spike didn’t hear them. He held firmly in his mind the way he wanted things to be, and felt a power rushing through him. With a shout, Spike thrusted his hands to the ground, and the world blacked out.