"SMOLDER! SMOLDER, DO SOMETHING!"
Smolder smiled at Ember. It was nice to see her one last time. Smolder then hung her head and closed her eyes, ready to face her fate.
"What are you doing?"
She opened her eyes. She was kneeling in a void of darkness.
"Are you letting them kill you?"
She looked up. His true form was obscure to her, but she knew exactly who it was. "And what am I supposed to do?"
"Fight back. If not for yourself, then for your friends."
"Me versus all of them? That's not going to go well."
"Your friends will help you. And you aren't fighting all of them, just Celestia and Twilight."
"Why them?"
"You should already know."
Smolder bit her lip. "Why are you doing this? What's in it for you?"
"A lot more than you realize. Please, Smolder. If you die here, your friends will soon follow, and the future I've been fighting for will be lost forever."
"And how do I know that the others won't fight me?"
"Most are in attendance solely because Celestia summoned them there, and Thorax, Novo, and Flash Magus have a plan to save you. I told them to hold back, but if you give up I'll tell them to go through with it."
"... They want me to survive?"
He put his hoof under Smolder's chin. "And there is a way to. All you need to do is want to survive."
"How? How do I survive this? They're about to completely put me out!"
"And they can. If you're still fire."
"... Wait, that? But Blazer couldn't finish it! How's that supposed to-"
"He was too weak to finish it. But there is something that makes you stronger than he was. Than he could ever have been."
"What?"
"Friendship."
A huge plume of steam rose from the platform Smolder was on.
"SMOLDER!"
A smile spread across Twilight's face.
Sandbar could just watch...
Get ready to fight.
The moment after Sandbar heard Smolder's voice, a blade of fire shot out and struck Celestia and Twilight in the face. Everyone watching started mumbling in confusion.
"Sorry about that. I kinda lost track of myself for a bit."
Smolder's voice only added to the confusion.
"Heh. Look at you two. How long have you been like that?"
Sandbar looked at the two Alicorns. He was too distraught to notice earlier, but they were both corrupted!
"Don't worry. I'll fix this." The steam suddenly shot away from Smolder, showing her in costume, holding her sword... and completely black? "I just need a bit of time."
Celestia covered her hooves with water. "Do you expect to beat us on your own?"
"Of course not."
Thorax's eyes went wide, then he turned his head around. "Ocellus!"
Ocellus turned into a vine and shot towards the platform.
Novo shifted her eyes toward her niece. "Silver!"
Silver turned to water and shot upwards.
Gruff stepped forward. "Gallus!"
Gallus flicked his wrist, summoning his bell and ringing it at the same time, giving him a sound wave to ride on.
"Sorry!" Yona forced the earth below her upward, allowing her to leap to the platform.
All four of them arrived at Smolder's side at the same time, with Sandbar teleporting in just a moment later. All of them were in costume, not that they needed to be. Their identities were blown open, but there was more on the line than that.
The various observers wisely backed off, though Autumn had a wide smile on her face. "This is getting good!"
Just hold on, guys. A familiar voice spoke to them. I can take them out fast, but I'll need some time to get there.
Not if we take them out first! Smolder boasted.
I'll be impressed if you do.
Twilight reared back and surrounded her horn with water. Stomping down, she shot the water towards the students. Smolder stepped in front and held up her blade. As soon as the water made contact, it all evaporated.
Ocellus stepped back. Smolder, what are you right now?
Obsidian. It's something Blazer was working on before he died.
Silver noticed Celestia move towards the crowd. "Oh, no you don't!" She made a grabbing motion and then pulled back. This somehow caused Celestia to fly backwards towards them. Once Celestia was over the moat, Silver raised her claw in the air, causing a wall of water to shoot upwards. Twilight tried to pull water from the wall, but couldn't get any of it out.
How did you-
Don't know! Don't care! It's helping!
Celestia and Twilight both spread their wings and flew up. As they got to the top of the water formed wall, Gallus appeared above them.
"You're not getting out that easily." With a flick of his wrist, Gallus summoned his bell and created a pressure wave that forced Celestia and Twilight back down. Sandbar, should I come down with them?
No. Focus on keeping them inside the barrier.
Easy enough.
Once Celestia and Twilight righted themselves from their tumble, a vine wrapped around their hind legs and pulled them down. Once they slammed into the ground, several more vines wrapped around their stomachs, binding their wings to their backs.
Well done, Ocellus.
The moment the Alicorns got to their hooves, Gallus' bell dropped between them and created a shockwave that forced the Alicorns into opposite sides of the water walls. Silver increased the surface tension of the water they flew into, turning the water into trampolines that sent them right back into each other, head first.
Smolder's jaw dropped. Holy cow, you two!
Ocellus giggled as Gallus landed next to her, bell back in claw. We're all doing well.
Celestia growled and stood up.
Gallus's leaned back. Did that phase her at all?
Alicorns are tough. That's why it would be amazing if you beat them without me.
Hey! I can see through the water!
Sandbar cringed. Not a good time, Silver!
Celestia pulled her head back and drew in magic.
I got this.
She threw her head forward and shot a massive laser at them. A wall of dirt came up in front of the students, blocking the laser.
"Just die already!" Celestia cried out as she struggled to pierce her laser through the wall.
Twilight stood up beside Celestia and stared at the wall. She readied her own spell, only to cut it off when she heard something odd. She looked side to side, then looked up, but didn't see anything. She started charging her spell again.
Only for Yona to come up from below them and knock both of the Alicorns into the air. Yona quickly realized that she threw herself too hard, as the Alicorns were far below her. Thinking fast, she grabbed the entire mass of land below her and pulled. Sure, there was no way for her to actually move it, but that wasn't her goal. Her goal was to land faster.
"Smaaaaaaash!"
Twilight and Celestia both had just enough time to process what was about to happen before becoming a Yak landing pad.
"Yak strong!" Yona backflipped back to the platform, then her exuberant smile faded. Too strong?
You feel that, right? Sandbar sent to his friends. All of you feel it, don't you? That strength. This is the power we're supposed to have. I've felt it once before and didn't know why, but it makes sense now. It's because we aren't fighting for ourselves. We aren't fighting because we feel forced to. We aren't fighting because we feel like it's in our nature. We're fighting for each other. That's what our power was missing! Why we're stronger now than ever before!
Celestia and Twilight got to their hooves.
And you guys, keeping you safe, is why I can do THIS!
A spiraling wind tunnel suddenly pierced the water walling off the arena, sending Twilight and Celestia through it. Sandbar wasted no time chasing after them and slamming his hooves into them repeatedly. While they managed to swing at him a couple of times, he always teleported away at the last moment.
He suddenly slammed both of them into the ground, then created a fierce updraft to send them into the sky. He then teleported above them to create another wind tunnel to prevent them from controlling their movements. Once they were caught, he went right back to beating them down.
Everyone was completely entranced by the aerial performance. Silver dropped all of the water back into the moat. Autumn, Ember, and Rainbow Dash were all cheering Sandbar on loudly, but everyone else clearly wanted Sandbar to beat them. Though one of the onlookers was trembling.
"It's my fault. This is all my fault."
Rarity patted Fluttershy on the back. "It's alright, dear. Try not to worry about it."
"B-but I-"
"You can apologize to them once this is over."
Sandbar? Sandbar heard that voice again. Get them in the water.
Sandbar body slammed Celestia towards the moat, then grabbed Twilight by the front legs and swung her towards Celestia. Celestia hit the moat, then Twilight hit Celestia. Then a lightning bolt shot past Sandbar's head and struck them both.
"That was crazy!" Ember, who was on the edge of despair just minutes ago, was hollering with a wide smile.
Thorax wasn't bothered by her volume, in spite of being right next to her. He couldn't help but smile at what he just watched.
Rutherford led the yaks in stomping, certainly not realizing they were in any danger themselves. Novo watched them with a raised eyebrow as she clapped. Gruff stayed as stone-faced as he could, wiping off a tear that fell from his eye.
Rain Shine looked at the sky above the school. "Well, that was a show. It would have been far more fitting if the fireworks from before started now."
"Why not make our own?" Autumn lit her horn up.
Rain Shine placed her hoof on Autumn's horn. "I think we can do without them."
Even from up high, Sandbar could see two shadows move from below the princesses and disappear in the water. He teleported back to the platform, where his friends were.
"That was insane!"
"Good job!"
Sandbar only stayed upright because his friends quickly started hugging him, with Ocellus slipping in a kiss.
A moment later, someone landed on the platform with them. They kept their eyes on the two princesses.