//------------------------------//
// The Final Spark Pt 2 
// Story: Destiny Duo 
// by L Drkheart 
//------------------------------//

“So this is the place huh? It’s actually pretty cool looking, never really thought a high school principal could afford an entire observatory and still have the money to turn it into a house.” Grey said talking to himself as he looked up at Spike’s home, making sure he had the right address even though it was the only house around.
“Still impresses even me sometimes when I visit but don’t forget that the Nova sisters weren’t always working at Canterlot High, to be honest, no one really knows where the sisters came from and they never talk about it.” Grey turned to see Shining Armor standing with a box of old movies and comics, the man smiling at the building and turns to the boy. “I’m Shining Armor, we never really met but I heard from Spike you are pretty cool. Glad you could come to our guys night.” 
“Well I’m not so sure about being cool but we have grown as friends, let me help a bit.” Shining gave the boy the box so he could grab the rest of the stuff he brought, Grey nearly falling from the weight of the box. He now had a new respect for Shining’s strength and was forced to ask the chuckling Discord for a hand, the mental image taking off its own hand and tossing it towards him. He fake laughed before crossing his arms and Discord sighed before taking control of the body and carrying the box.
“So you’re dating Spike’s sister huh? Must be a pretty tough guy to last in a family like this. I bet Celestia was a bit of a handful huh? Heh.” Discord chuckled at the thought of his Celestia not having power over something and just losing it. Shining laughed a bit thinking back to when they first announced they were dating and how he needed Spike and Cadence by his side because he was afraid Celestia would attack him. The mother was calm and collected when they told her and she even smiled but that changed in a moment when Luna hugged Cadence, going on about her little girl was growing up, and Spike stared at them with a chuckle. Celestia glared at the boy, sizing him up, and Shining could have sworn he saw hell in her eyes if he hurt Cadence. But now, looking back, he couldn’t help but be happy for his love and how close her family was to her.
“Yeah, I might not be a man right now if I didn’t treat Cadence right. Celestia would have made sure of that herself, but I think that’s because family here is the most important thing each one of them has. It’s the same thing I feel for my parents and sister.” Discord frowned and looked down as they knocked and heard shuffling coming to the door. 
“We… I don’t have a family…” Shining looked at the boy before smiling softly and shakes his head.
“I don’t believe that you’re here now right? You’ve been hanging with my sister, her friends, and Spike. Each one is as stubborn and hard-headed as people come but they go all out with everything they do or everyone they put their trust in. I believe you found your place, your family.” Discord stared at the blue-haired man as he blinked and felt both him and Grey were struck by his words, could they be true? Could he honestly have found his place? A family? The thoughts were knocked away as Spike finally opened the door and let the two guys in. The two looked around as the door shut and everything was flooded in darkness but Spike smirked and clapped as dozens of Christmas lights lit the hallway to the living room. “Wow… bro we need to seriously get you a girlfriend man, you have way too much free time.” Spike punched Shining’s arm and the two laughed while Discord smiled a bit at seeing the two.
“I’m glad you were able to make it… Grey. Let me help you with that while Shining gets everything ready for the movie, I set up something you two will like.”
“Sounds cool.” Shining went on to the living room, seeing the surprise and immediately realized what Spike had planned. “Oh, this will be awesome.” Spike turned back to Discord and smiled while chuckling. 
“And here I thought we would be too lame for Discord to come on out, you and Grey gonna switch through the night and hang out with us?”
“Well I wasn’t planning on coming out, Grey needed some help lifting stuff. I told him that he needed to buy some dumbbells but why would you listen to an all-powerful entity living in your body?”
“Maybe because he likes counting on you, you two balance each other out as I do with Twilight or the girls do with each other. I just think that he has come around to having someone like you in his mind that can make up for any shortcomings. It’s like me and my powers if my fire was a person.”
“Hey you two coming or what? I got the projector working so the entire roof is our movie and I am really considering just forgetting you two and eating all these cookies by myself.” The two looked at each other before Discord shoved the box into Spike’s arms and rushed to the living room, Spike yelling out.
“What!? I baked those you jerks!!” 
.   .   .
“Ah want a candy apple!”
“I like donuts.”
“Cupcake! The one with rainbow frosting looks cool!” Mrs. Cake giggled and wrote down the three hyper girls’ orders while Twilight looked embarrassed and Marble relaxed the girls enough to get them to go sit down. 
“Sorry about that Mrs. Cake, they can get a bit ecstatic when around sweets but I thought we all deserved a bit of sugar and where better than Sweet Shoppe?”
“Of course dear, I know kids can be a handful especially when bedtime comes up. My little Pumpkin and Pound always keep us up until they feel like it’s bedtime but that’s the secret. Don’t force them to go to bed but make them think they are tired and they will go themselves. Now, what can I get you and your friend dear?”
“Hmm, make them think they’re tired… I may try that next time. I’ll take some ice cream while Marble was hoping you all had some rock candy?”
“Oh that’s sweet Marble Pie, isn’t it? Her sister Pinkie is one of our best customers if you would be a darling and tell Marble that Pinkie’s shipment of whipped cream arrived and to tell the girl to pick it up when she gets home from her field trip. I’ll right out with your sweets!” Twilight smiled knowing the Cakes for a few years now after seeing them here and there. She went back to the group and told Marble about the shipment.
“So why does your sister need that much whipped cream?”
“Twilight, I haven’t been on this earth long but I have learned things while I’ve been here and one of those things is to never ever never try to question or rationalize my sister. She is… completely wired differently than you and me and I can’t really tell you why or how.”
“Wow… that sounds like a person I should run some tests on…” The Cakes soon brought out the sweets and Twilight asked for some chocolate and oats in her ice cream, enjoying the crunch the ice cream now had. Marble was happy with her candy, imagining how Maud would have wanted one too if she was there. “So why rock candy?”
“Don’t rock it till you try it heh.” Marble smiled and giggled at her inside joke before taking another bite. “S-so how about we all check out No Strings Attached after this? There is a new album from High Note that I wanted to pick up… if that’s okay…”
“Course it is, I haven’t gotten new music in years so this could be fun. Do you know where it is?”
“We do! It’s the place down the road whose entrance is shaped like a giant record! Someone we know works there, she’s the coolest around!” 
“Guess that settles it then heh.” The group ate up and waved goodbye to the Cakes before following the younger girls to a building that was exactly like they described. The whole entrance and name of the place were covered in neon lights of that changed colors periodically. Inside, soft music was playing that put everyone at ease. Behind the counter nearby was a blue-haired girl who was wearing shades and giant headphones that Twilight had never met but the three girls waved and fist bumped the girl before they went to look at music. Marble waved a bit and smiled while the girl nodded and waved back. She wore a stylish black leather jacket over an electric blue crop top and torn black jeans. “So who’s that?”
“Vinyl Scratch, you’ll never find someone who knows more about music than her,  I heard she is able to know what kind of music someone will like just by looking at them. Everyone calls her DJ or DJPon3, her stage name.”
“We have someone like that over in Crystal Prep, her name is Lemon Zest or was it, Lemon Tart? Maybe I should check to see what music she thinks I would like.” Twilight walked to Vinyl as she was shredding an imaginary guitar but before she could reach out to the girl, Marble shook her head.
“Never bother a music lover at a time like that, especially if they’re a fan of rock. My sister Limestone is a big fan and rages when one of us would interrupt her during her favorite part.” The two waited and soon the imaginary guitar solo came to its end and Vinyl turned to them with a smile, shouting as she spoke. 
“What’s up!? Everything to your liking?!” The girls had to cover their ears but Twilight shouted back. 
“I want a suggestion about music!” Vinyl nodded, reading her lips, and leaned extremely close to the girl. Her shades sliding down just enough that Twilight was able to see magenta eyes staring intently at her and after that moment she reclined back in her seat and pointed at the classical and jazz section of the store. Twilight thanked her and checked on the girls, Applebloom was snapping to some country, Scootaloo was shaking her head to a loud rock song, and Sweetie Belle was rapping in a speed Twilight was impressed by. Marble walked over to the pop section and began to listen to her own favorite songs. 
Twilight slipped on some headphones and clicked some old classics before going to some jazz and falling into a bit of a trance with the tone and calming words, nearly forgetting how it felt to relax and get lost in the music. Vinyl glanced up from a magazine she was looking at and saw how happy everyone in the group was and smiled a bit to herself. She waved a bit as her coworker arrived, a dark-haired girl wearing the actual official store uniform, a pink bow tie, and a black skirt. Vinyl smirked at the girl who only smiled back and pulled out a cello bow before using it to steal Vinyl’s headphones.
“Now you better not be slacking again, you know what the boss said.”
“Me slacking off? I thought you knew me better than that.”
“Heh, the problem is that I do~” The two laughed as the sun was beginning to set.
.   .   .
Sombra looked up at the sun as he prepared to go to the final debate before the town would choose their new mayor and he was confident that his plan would come to its perfection. Starlight entered the room as she helped her father tie his tie and looked up at him with a nervous smile. 
“This is it, dad, just go out there and give it your all. No one can give more than that… I love you.” Starlight hugged the man as he smiled and hugged her back. 
“I love you too dear but I feel good about this, let Filthy use all the dirty tricks he wants to because I have the truth on my side. I have you and that’s all I could ever need.” The man smiled at her before leaving and Starlight couldn’t help but look out of the window and hoping for the best.
“Pain… If I could take from your life would that finally give you joy? If I was true to myself would I still be alone? Where do I go from here? Trust in my heart or in my head? Accept their friendship or turn away… can they be my sanctuary or a new prison? Who do I choose? How do I know I won’t be hurt… let me these fears… side by side those I love.”
.   .   .
Arabus Cloud stared up at the dying light that still peered into his cell, the moon could now be seen as the sun left them. He looked down at the pearl around his neck and wondered if the man could be trusted and if this gift truly was just that. He decided that he had nothing really to lose if the power truly was real and if it wasn’t he had someone he wanted to kill once he found a way out. The last rays of the sun faded and left the sky in a blackened state only broken by the shimmering stars above that shined like diamonds. The moon’s light slowly grew over Arabus and finally hit his pearl as it glowed and evaporated into yellow light which vanished into his chest. 
“N-no! He said I would have power! This was nothing!!” He reached and rubbed his chest in anger before glaring out at the moon and grabbing the bars, reaching a hand out to the orb in the sky. “I want what I deserve! The power I need! I want what was promised!!” He screamed to the sky as the white of his eyes turned into a blood red, his pupil taking on a sick green color. He collapsed to his knees as his body shook and bones began to meld and shift. Dark clouds began to swirl and build over the prison as some reached down and forced their way into Arabus’s cell and around his body. His teeth sharpened and his ears molded into a sharp point. The clouds covered his entire body and molded it into something else with the pearl bursting from his chest and being the last thing visible as Arabus’s body was completely taken over. 
Standing there now was an enormous being made of dark grey clouds with claws, jaws, and piercing eyes that glowed. A patch of black clouds covered his chest where the pearl was hidden. He began to chuckle and soon that expanded into a bellowing manic laugh that echoed down the hall and caused all the prisoners to either go into a frenzy or shrink away. Guards raced to calm the insanity but froze in fear at the sight of Arabus before they pulled out their guns and shot at the creature. The laughter died as Arabus’s eyes glowed with rage and he smirked, extending his arms at the police as the clouds shot out and entered the officers’ mouths and began to suffocate them. 
“I will never again be locked away!” Screams echoed through the prison for the next ten minutes as dozens of brave women and men tried to fight but none stood the shadow of a chance. Finally, Arabus flew high above the burning and chaotic prison before he screamed and his rage erupted from the pearl in the form of a black inky substance which flooded the prison and coated the remaining cops and prisoners, forever freezing them in terror. His eyes turned to the shining city nearby, the very one that sent him there to begin with. “And you all will feel my hate, my rage as it destroys all you love.”
.   .   .
Celestia sighed as she walked out of the school and stretched as she allowed a groan to escape her mouth. “How does this never get any easier with every passing year?”
“Getting old sister~” Luna snarkily asked as she walked beside her and smiled. “Or maybe all that cake finally catching up?”
“Oh please, you wish. Unlike you Looney, I am in the best shape of my life!”
“Heh whatever you say, Sunbutt~”
“Hey we were both drunk that night so don’t try teasing me about that Moonbutt.”
“So sensitive… what the hell is that?!” Luna pointed behind that as Celestia turned and saw a storm coming towards the city with red and black electricity sparking off the clouds. Inky black rain fell from the sky and at the first sight of it, Celestia pointed at the school. 
“Make sure no remaining people get out of the school and be prepared to barricade the doors! Something is coming…” Luna nodded at her sister and shouted at any remaining students to get inside as Celestia stared at the storm and rushed to her car for something she had hidden inside.”
.   .   .
Cadence pushed the last child into the school as they panicked and she looked out at the strange storm that seemed to be attacking the city. She called Shining and Spike again hoping that they were safe at home since it was guys night but she couldn’t help but worry. She did get a hold of Twilight and told her to get out of the streets and try to get to the town hall as a lot of the people should be there. The call dropped as the entire city shook as the storm attacked and destroyed the power plant, knocking out power across the city. She held some of the students and shushed them gently as they waited for whatever would happen next.
“Please… stay safe Shining...”
.   .   .
“Hey, what the hell? I know we paid the power this month!”
“Umm, Spike? I don’t think money is the problem…” Grey said as he looked out a window and the group ran out the door to see a storm over the city and destroying parts of it with strange bolts of lightning. Spike and Grey looked at each other and nodded before preparing to go to work but Shining beat him to it. 
“Spike, where is that sword I gave you?”
“In my closet but-” Shining rushed into the house and soon came out with the blade in hand. “Shining wait we don’t know what’s going on what if it’s dangerous?!”
“I need to get to Twilight, to Cadence! Please, Spike… I can’t stand aside knowing they are in danger…” Spike was caught off guard by the sincerity and nodded, giving him a white hood that had a blue outline. 
“We’ll get to Twilight and the others, go to Crystal Prep and protect Cadence.”
“But-”
“Shining I am asking as a brother that you trust me and go protect my sister while I protect yours. We won’t let her get hurt.” Grey nodded and Shining thanked them before rushing into the city and Spike glared at the storm, turning to see Discord was now in control with a smile. “If we are going to do our thing in town then we may need different outfits and something that protects us from this rain.” Discord smirked and cracked his knuckles before snapping his fingers.
.   .   .
Twilight was currently running while using her body and arms to keep the rain from getting on the girls too much. She didn’t know what the black rain was but didn’t trust it on them. They finally made into Town Hall and saw dozens of townspeople were all gathered up there in the dark and she knew she needed to find a way to get Spike’s and Discord’s attention if they were all gonna fight what was going on. She started to think when someone grabbed her and pulled her to a corner, before she could attack back she saw the face or Sombra Black and relaxed a bit. 
“Do not grab me like that or you might get shot right out of this building, what can I help you with mayor?”
“Soon to be mayor if you and your friends manage to beat that thing out there, there has to be a way you can stop it! My daughter is out there! I thought she would be safe at home but she is trying to get over here! Please, I can’t lose Starlight…”
“We’ll do what we can but I need to find a way to the roof to get Spike over to us.” 
“I can do that.” He took her back to the others and Marble told her to just be careful and she’ll try to relax the people while they go do their thing. Twilight thanked her and after a bit of wandering in the dark, they got to some stairs and the roof. Twilight ran out and used her powers to create a ball of magic and shot it into the sky before making it explode, sending a shockwave across the city. “Now we wait… and hope that your friend is on his way.”
.   .   .
Arabus stared down at the city as it was being wrecked by his storm and he flooded the city with his rain and he felt joy for the first time in years seeing the city pay but then a wave of energy hit his back. It was weak and not meant for an attack but to know there was something out there that could even touch him at his power was a chance he didn’t want to take. His hate returned as the rain turned into a downpour and the pearl began to glow and dark beams of energy erupted from it and went to everybody that was fully enveloped in the black goo. They shook and screamed as they were forced back to consciousness and he sent them out with one goal, to destroy every last person they saw. 
Spike and Discord rushed through the streets dressed in their new outfits which Spike had a suspicion were influenced by the movie they had just seen as his was a green jumpsuit with purple lines throughout. An emerald flame was the symbol on his chest and spikes were added to make it resemble a dragon. A mask covered his eyes and changed their natural color. Discord was dressed in a suit similar to Spike’s but white and black with no real pattern or rhyme to the uniform which made it hard to look at sometimes along with a cape. As the two checked off another place they thought the group would be, a magic blast from nearby pointed them to Town Hall. As they made their way several of the people that had been covered by the rain began to move and roar as if the city itself was screaming.
“D-Discord! What are these things?! People?”
“Something has overpowered their minds and what it feels like is… pure rage. They’re not in control of what they are about to do. Try not to barbeque any too bad.” The bodies turned towards the two and rushed them while they began to fight back, knocking them down or out as fast as they could without leaving lasting damage. Spike kicked a group’s feet from under them and apologized before kicking one of the bodies into another group. Discord smiled and mocked a yawn before slamming his foot on a sewer lid and lifting it with ease. He spun it on his finger while smiling and summoning down a lightning strike of his own, right on the lid and sending it in several directions.
“I thought no killing!”
“It’s just a little shock they’re fine- behind you.” Spike kicked the one that nearly jumped on him and climbed to the top of Town Hall where Twilight and the girls were waiting. After quickly telling her what was happening on their end and Twilight doing the same they decided that one person was the cause. “Now if we are about to go off and do this you need new clothes too Sparkle.” 
“Ugh fine but if I look ridiculous that you will pay Discord.” 
“Relax, I’m nothing if not fashionable. Now hold still.” Discord snapped and when Twilight opened her eyes she was standing in dark purple spandex which had silver lines and a silver chest plate. Her hair was let down and styled slightly differently. She was wearing strange goggles and had star symbols on her gauntlets and boots. “Not bad, I can even make you look good. I impress even myself at times.”
“Oh ha ha but I must admit that it feels nice.”
“What bout us? We wanna protect the city too!”
“No girls this could be even more dangerous than the other fights, what if you were to get hurt…”
“Twilight, with all due respect. If we can’t stop this then all of us will be a lot more than hurt. Please trust us.” Twilight bit her lip before sighing and nodding.
“Fine, Discord get them ready.” He nodded and decided to put some extra magic into the girls’ suits to help them even if it would weaken him a bit. Applebloom’s hair straightened out and a red mask covered the bottom half of her face as her shirt turned into a red hooded jumpsuit. It gave her the look of a ninja even if it was one dressed in bright red and green, but the best part of the suit was how powerful Applebloom felt now. Scootaloo’s costume was made of the same stuff as Apple’s but purple and had rainbow strips down the sides and a rainbow lightning bolt on the chest, plus wings on the boots. Her mask was more of a dark visor that blocked the upper half of her face. Sweetie Belle’s was a blinding white with a diamond on the back and her costume actually caused a painted diamond to move over her eye and change its color. Her hair was tied in a ponytail and the diamond symbol was on her hands. 
“Seeing as you three have powers that rely on you being together I gave you some of my own… can’t have you dying and Twilight go yelling at me.” The girls smiled and hugged Discord before he pushed them off and cracked a smile at them. The rain now didn’t stick to any of them, just slid off the suits. All six of the group met together looking over the city as several pillars of black goo were falling from the sky and dozens of the bodies were approaching. “So we have a city that has gone to complete hell and a building full of people we need to protect while an army of brainwashed people is closing in. Anything else I’m missing?”
“Umm, the large storm overhead trying to kill us all?”
“The fact you dressed us up like superheroes?”
“Ah think the biggest problem is that some of our families are still out there! Luckily Big Mac went with AJ for that field trip and Granny Smith went over to visit ma Aunt and Uncle Orange.” Sweetie and Scootaloo breathed out of relief that their sisters were all gone. That was when Spike and Twilight looked at each other and looked at separate parts of the city. 
“My mom and aunt are at Canterlot High… knowing them, they’re protecting the students. They need help…”
“My brother and Cadence are at Crystal Prep even if Shining is armed he can’t take them all on…” The three girls were nervous and knew that the two would have to go protect those they love but could they deal here alone?
“Go, we can do hold them off together. I won’t let those things get close to us.” Discord said as he looked at the girls and smiled. “We got this right?” His words reinspired them and they nodded eagerly. “Well, let’s clear the way for them then!” Discord gave out the first order, telling the girls to make their shield and throw it into the center of the army as he jumped onto it. Right before it hit anyone or the ground, he punched it and the shattering sent the bodies flying. Twilight immediately used her powers to gather the shards before the could vanish and sent the flat ends out, knocking a dozen of the bodies away from Discord. Scootaloo was next to join the fray as she found her hands had developed small tornadoes around them that allowed her to get to the ground in a more or less graceful manner. She smirked and used the tornados to blast the bodies away with wind and spin in a circle to get rid of a group, using her new control over the winds that Discord gifted her with, she was able to help the others down.
Apple Bloom showed off her new skills as she punched the ground, causing it to shake a bit and she tore off an entire chunk of the street, using all her strength and carefully covered those she knocked down making sure they still had air but were unable to move. She felt like the earth itself was helping her as she knocked down body after body. Sweetie Belle took a deep breath as bodies surrounded her and she shot her arms out, large crystalized shields pushing and wrapping around the bodies before smashing them into the ground. “Ouch… sorry!” She turned her head as one of the bodies tried to attack from behind but her outfit shot out a shield of its own to protect her. “Diamondback… not bad.”
Twilight and Spike smiled seeing how the four were able to handle themselves and gave a nod to each other before running off in separate paths, Twilight clearing a way by using her mind to blast a path through while Spike took a more hands-on approach, running through them and kicking or punching through any he needed to. Starlight Glimmer was just about to reach Town Hall when she saw Spike and Twilight dressed in strange costumes and going away from the hall. She was shocked that they could just leave the people until she looked at the building and saw several others in costumes protecting it so she decided to help out a bit and whistled making a large group chase her as she followed Spike.
.   .   .
Sunset Shimmer cursed and gritted her teeth as she spun the bloodstone scepter around above her head, creating a small torrent of flames to keep the bodies at bay before slamming the scepter down and letting the flames wash over the bodies. She quickly sucked them all back into her scepter and left the bodies beaten as she leaned against the school, tired from her fighting. A hundred bodies laid in front of her but more seemed to be coming on the horizon. “Damn it… they just don’t quit. Even I can’t use the scepter forever!” Luna rushed to the girl, surprised by the number of beaten bodies in front of her but again decided to hold her questions for a different time. They had no time to be picky about who was willing and able to fight the monsters even if they used what seemed to be magic. The school was one of the only other buildings that had power still for it had a backup generator but that only turned the school into a beacon as the creatures were drawn to the light.
“Miss Shimmer, I must ask you to get inside. You can keep this up forever and that staff is taking its toll, if you continue then we may not be able to get to you in time. If you turned into one of those things we would be losing a valuable ally and giving them that staff.”
“I am not running Dean Luna… I can still fight!” Shouts from nearby brought the two back to the front of the school where a boy in a strange costume beat down two large bodies and he waved at them, seemingly not noticing his arms were covered in green flames. “Is that… Behind you!”
Before Luna or Sunset could get over to help the boy, a swift hand knocked the body down and the sound of metal could be heard as she knocked it out cold. Spike turned to see his mother holding a pistol in her hand. Before he could say anything, Celestia wrapped him up in a hug and dropped the weapon as she looked him over and he turned off the flames. “Oh, why did you come here, Spike? You were safer at home! What is with this costume and the fire.”
“Mom, we really don’t have the time for this. I will explain everything and pay any price but right now I am gonna help get rid of these things and get back to Twilight and the others. I think we can stop this but none of the bodies should have to die for whoever is doing this.” 
“Fine, we will have a talk about this but the school needs us all now, more than ever.” She caught the glance from Spike at the gun she was picking up and she smiled. “Oh please sweetie, we live in a house, mostly populated by women, away from anyone else, and I had just brought a lonely young boy into the family. I was going to protect you and your sister no matter what, this was how I chose to learn how. Luna took karate lessons. Don’t worry I didn’t load it, but it does come in handy when it comes to whacking these things around.” The group looked up and could only sigh or groan as they saw Starlight Glimmer running towards them, her artifact giving her the enhanced speed she was using to get away from the army of bodies behind her. She shrugged and jumped over Spike before getting into a fighting stance.
“Sorry I didn’t know where else to take them!”
“So a school was your first thought!?! What is wrong with you?!” Starlight didn’t get to answer as the five began to fight with Sunset getting distance from the others so she could use the scepter to maximum effect. Starlight was using her abilities to confuse the bodies and getting them to fight each other, even jumping off Spike’s head and kicking several bodies down. Luna and Celestia stood back to back before smiling at each other and interlocking their arms, every movement was perfectly in sync as they kicked and beat down an entire wave. Coming undone and back together whenever an enemy struck. Spike looked around and knew he needed to end this quickly so he asked Starlight for a boost and began to charge up a fire blast. He ran to her and she let herself fall on her back and used her feet to send the boy flying.
“Sunset!!” Sunset Shimmer looked up at the boy and saw the fire in his hands, understanding immediately and swearing to kill him if he fired them all. She blasted her own fire at him as he shot his and the two mixed and exploded. The bodies were all beaten as well as most of the others. Spike groaned and helped his aunt and mother to their feet but they were done with fighting for now. Sunset and Starlight also seemed to be fine if not tired. Spike carried the women into the school and asked those inside to take care of them and to bar the doors and shut off the lights just in case. Before he left, Celestia grabbed her son and smiled at him.
“So… proud of you…” She allowed her conscience to slip away as Spike smiled and his very soul caught aflame with power as he thought about those words. Nothing would stop him now, he would prove that he deserved that pride. He rushed back to Town Hall to finish this.
Starlight watched as Spike left and looked back up at the storm. “They are all gathering together again… they won’t be able to even get near whoever is doing this if he is solely focused on them… wait they are drawn to light!”
“Yeah, your point is?”
“If we can power up a building and draw all the monsters away then they will be clear to end this!”
“The power center was destroyed remember? How do we lure them away?”
“...With some help from an old friend…” Starlight whispered as she stared at a nearby clocktower with a sad expression.
.   .   .
Shining shouted as she used the sword to cause small wounds on the bodies around him and put them down with a sweep kick. He groaned as he stumbled a few steps back and leaned against the school walls, holding his side as he had been bitten hard on by one of those bodies. Cadence was inside, beating back any of the bodies that managed to get past her boyfriend and was thankful for the first time that Luna had forced her to learn how to fight. She protected and relaxed the students whenever anything would get back, saying that she trusted in Shining and meaning every word. Seeing the next wave of bodies was approaching, she grabbed a broom from nearby and told them to bar the door as she ran out and joined Shining who had torn off a piece of his shirt to cover the wound. 
“Cadence, get back in there before you get-” The dean frowned at the command and spun the broom expertly. 
“I will not let you get hurt again Shining! I can’t… I need you…” Shining smiled gently and kissed her, his hand moving through her hair lovingly. If they were gonna go out well he wanted to do that again.
“I love you, now let’s show what happens when you mess with the best couple in Canterlot.” As the bodies attacks, the two held their own by using each other as their backup, every foe that Shining missed or knocked down was quickly put out by Cadence. The two were forced again back up as the army never seemed to stop their assault but a shout from above blew the army back with a strange force and a girl in a superhero costume landed in front of them and shouted at them to cover their eyes as she created a ball of light and smashed it into the ground. The blinded bodies never saw the flying bench crashing into them. 
“T-Twilight?!” Twilight jumped at the voice and cough trying to sound different and more manly. 
“W-who is the Twilight? I am… umm… Trickster! Yeah, I am the hero Trickster!” Cadence and Shining stood with unimpressed expressions and crossed arms as the girl sighed. “Fine, okay it’s me… party poopers… I needed to make sure you two were safe. I promise that we’ll talk about this and why I and Spike kept it from yo-”
“What the hell?! Spike can do all that too and has been fighting people?! I am gonna kill that little-”
“Well to be fully honest, his abilities are different than mine, fire manipulation, enhanced strength, and extra tough skin.” Shining made a motion to Twilight to stop talking as Cadence was strangling the air and muttering about all the times that he acted too weak and their mom made her lift all the heavy stuff. Shining slowly rubbed her shoulders to relax his girlfriend before smiling at Twilight and nodded. 
“We’ll be okay and thank you Twi but I think that finishing this is more important than us. Trust in us that we’ll be able to protect ourselves and trust in your friends now and show why you don’t mess with our family!.” Twilight smiled and hugged the two before running off, only stopping when Shining shouted to her. “Hey, by the way, your costume looks ridiculous and you are so grounded for not telling me!”
“Whaaaat?! I couldn’t hear the last part, you’re breaking up!”
“We aren’t even on the phone!”
“Bye BBBFF!!”
“See you soon Twily...”
.   .   .
“So you want us to put the fate of the entire city or maybe even the world in this place…” Sunset and Starlight were standing in front of one of the oldest structures in the whole city, a rundown and nearly ruined clocktower. The face of the clock had long since stopped working and it was made of misshapen stones with it seeming as if no person has stepped into the building in decades. “Why do you just have the worst ideas? How are we supposed to get this place working and turned into a light?”
“The work is already done for us, all we have to do is turn on the power here. My old friend, Sunburst, was a bit of a prodigy and with help from yours truly we turned this place into a hangout and he started experimenting on how to turn it back on.”
“So say we turn it on, then we just have a working clock tower.”
“Sunburst was never one to stop where it was reasonable, so if I remember right, he managed to figure out a way to show off his work to the entire city.”
“Lights…”
“Now you’re getting it, he turned the face of the clock into a light to show off his genius but if we raise the power output beyond its proposed use then we will have a beacon for the bodies and free the way for Twilight and her friends to finish this.”
“Okay but one part of this plan is still working on ifs, if we can turn it on and if you two were able to make a generator or something that could last this long.”	
“That’s where the faith comes in…” Starlight led the way to a small, child-sized hole they used to sneak into to get in but when she attempted she found herself stuff because of her waist. Sunset facepalmed before simply using her scepter to smash the entrance and stared pulling on Starlight. “P-pull harder! I thought you were strong!!”
“Sorry for not having to pull girls who clearly enjoy cupcakes too much through holes everyday!!”
“Are you calling me fat!? I eat ice cream not cupcakes!” She finally pulled her free and the two landed on the floor with each other covered in dust. They looked at each other and sighed, speaking in unison. 	
“I hate you…”
.   .   .
Discord was starting to get bored and slightly pissed off as he pushed away another body and clapped loudly, causing several of the bodies to become trapped inside hamster balls. He kicked and punched several of the bodies into the balls and then pushed them into other bodies. The girls were starting to get tired, the powers running their toll on their bodies as they weren’t used to Discord’s gifts. 
“Where are those two already?! Even I can’t keep this up when I gave so much of my power away…”
“They’ll be here… I know they will…” 
“Scoots’ right, we have to trust them!” Sweetie Belle sighed and fell to her knees, her powers taking a heavy mental toll on her and was done first. “We have to believe in them.” 
“I know! I know… but they owe me after this.” 
“We’re here! We’re here! Sorry for leaving you all for so long but everyone is safe and doing what they can. We have to find the eye of the storm, that’s where the person doing this will be.” Discord groaned and flew high into the air, knowing that he was running low on magic. Grey would be left on his own soon. Discord knew that he needed to get the person’s attention if they were gonna show themselves so he decided to take something from one of his old foes. He focused all his remaining power and shot it at the moon, the celestial body absorbing the blast and shining brighter than the sun for a moment, shattering the storm. Arabus turned at the blast and screamed in pain as the light of the moon burned through his cloud body and left his skin charred. He burst from his safe place and grasped the boy who shot the blast by the throat. 
“So you were the magic user I saw before? A foolish choice to go against me!” Grey was alone as Discord had been forced to sleep to recover his magic but he did leave the boy a gift. He muttered something and Arabus tightened his grip on the boy’s throat. “What was that?”
“Lemon go.” He spit a mouthful of lemon juice in Arabus’s eyes and he dropped him while he rubbed his eyes in pain. Grey laughed a bit at the pun and wondered if Discord would have been proud of him for it but closed his eyes before he could hit the ground. Twilight slowed the boy’s descent but couldn’t stop him, so Spike and Applebloom had Scootaloo about to run at their arms as they prepared to launch her towards him.
“You ready to fly?” Scootaloo was stretching and nodding.
“Oh yeah, I so got this.” She ran towards him shouting before jumping and both used all their strength to send her flying. “You’re the boss, you’re the boss, YOU’RE THE BOSS!!!” Scootaloo felt incredible as she rocketed towards Grey and managed to snatch him right out of the air. “Oh shiitake mushrooms! I did it!! Damn I really am the boss!!” Scootaloo cheered and yelped as she realized that they were just about to crash into a building. She blocked Grey with her body best she could when they smashed into the windows and broke a desk before they slammed against the wall. Scootaloo cursed and groaned in pain before she fainted. 
Arabus roared as the clouds began to swirl around him and he stared down at the remaining four and pushed the pearl as it forced every last one of the bodies left to storm the four. “Destroy the light! Kill those fools!!” He extended both his hands down at them as the columns of hate slid through the sky like a snake before all attempted to flood the four but Twilight used all her power to create a shield that saved them but forced her down. Spike and the girls held Twilight as she could make the shield smaller but it was already cracking the shield. The group closed their eyes ready for the inevitable but then a screech rang across town as the blackness stopped and they saw that a light was shining on Arabus before he moved and ordered his army to destroy the light. They all forgot the group as they rushed to the old clock tower…
.   .   .
“We did it Sunset!! Now all those two have to do is go after that guy.” Starlight smiled and hugged the girl but Sunset grabbed her scepter and spun it. 
“Yeah, but now I realized we forgot a part of the plan.” She pointed at the army heading for them and Starlight cursed before she prepared herself. “Well Glimmer, any fancy plans for this?”
“Fight till the end?”
“Now that is something I can go along with. Try not to hold me back any.”
“Hold you back? I’ll like to see you try to keep up~” The two smirked at each other as they jumped and attacked at the army, it was gonna be close. 
.   .   .
Twilight looked around as the city had been destroyed, her friends were now beaten on the ground, fear had gripped all the people remaining in Town Hall, and darkness was everywhere except for the light above. She glared at Arabus as he watched his army, standing and beginning to create steps under her feet as she began to walk up towards him. She felt a hand of her shoulder as Spike was standing and smiled softly at her and began to follow as they climbed higher and higher.
Arabus watched as the two injured and broken heroes walked to him and finally reached his height. “You all have nearly ruined this perfect night for me, but no matter. This all ends here and with you, your pathetic friends are gone and will not save you again! Taste this and go to hell!” He roared and sent a blast of black goo from his chest, the pearl giving all its power. Spike blasted fire from his hands and Twilight shot a beam of energy of her own but neither was standing well against the goo as it slowly approached the two. The goo finally broke through the attacks and began to cover and swallow both of them. Their chests sparkled as a sliver of light remained despite the darkness covering their bodies. “How weak your lights are, they won’t last. Looked around, my hate has swallowed this city and left it completely in fear. Two people alone could never save the whole world, you were never going to be able to win this.” The clocktower’s light faded as the structure collapsed and was reduced to rubble. Everywhere it seemed the city had gone dark.
Cadence was holding Shining as he had suffered more blows and one to the head knocked him down. The two had lost the children and were forced to run and now were surrounded as the bodies approached. She grabbed the sword and aimed it at them threateningly. “Stay away from him! I will never let you have him!” A small shimmer of light appeared in her chest and the bodies all rushed her at the sight. “I will not let this end here!!” Her light exploded as she put her arms out to protect Shining and that act of love caused the light to expand and turned the bodies back into real people. Her light becoming a column that tore through the clouds and became a beacon to the city. 
Celestia and Luna pushed past their students as they were trying to protect the two like the masked boy had asked them to but the two wouldn’t allow it. They were protectors, teachers, and would never stand aside and let others get hurt for their sake. The children put their trust in the two, believing that they would protect them, their lights all entering Luna and Celestia as the bodies broke into the school only to be flooded in light. Both women were shining bright and their lights lit the darkness around and saved the bodies anywhere near the school.
The three lights moved and were sent to Spike and Twilight as the shadows were destroyed and the two were freed. Arabus immediately covered himself in more darkness before shooting at them again but this time they stood. “You were right before… We can’t save the world alone but we are never alone! You think you could destroy our lights and bonds with darkness and hate but that only made them stronger! Through their love for their family, care of a lover, the touch of a mother, or spirit of friendship, our lights burn bright!”
Applebloom opened her eyes and weakly reached out through the shadows and darkness, looking for anything when she felt a familiar touch. Sweetie Belle was also feeling around and they grabbed each other’s hand, small lights appearing in their chests. They hugged each other as they minds turned to the third member of their group, miles away Scootaloo moved and a light shined in her chest before moving to its counterparts. The two girls swore that they could feel Scootaloo beside them as warmth filled their bodies and pushed out any fear that remained, the light the three released destroying all the shadows around and giving newfound hope to those in Town Hall as their lights shined. 
Grey looked out over the city through the hole they had caused and smiled as he saw lights beginning to shine all over the city and pushing out more of the darkness. “It’s beautiful isn’t it?”
“...Yes, but beauty can’t last forever nor should it. If something is eternal then it would become worthless, no what you see are the hearts and loves of people here and now. They are focusing on hope and things that bring harmony into their lives, something that I never understood until now. This feeling deep down, would it be peace? I’m not sure if I like it or accept it but for this moment I will… allow it.”
“Thank you Discord and I think you’re right about beauty. We’re not perfect but if we were then what would we be?”
“Boring as hell?” Grey chuckled and sighed before smiling and his chest began to glow.
“Boring as hell.”
Starlight gasped as she felt heat radiating around her and found her beanie was on fire. She jumped to her feet and tossed the hat off before stomping on it. Pain struck her like a truck as she stumbled. “Hey, don’t go puking on me. I set you on fire to wake up not go making another mess.” Starlight looked up as he head spun and was steadied by Sunset who was leaning on her scepter. The two smiled at each other and looked out at the city which was now flooding with light and the two sighed before taking a seat in the rubble. “Can you guess who’s gonna get all the credit for this?”
“Yeah, not us. Why is the world so cruel to heroes?” Sunset chuckled at Starlight’s words and looked down at the scepter. 
“Heroes… that’s a boring job that doesn’t really suit us. How about we go more anti-hero? While the city has to rebuild, how about we go to my place for some ice cream?” Starlight giggled and nodded standing.
“Sure, eating your place out of ice cream sounds evil to me.” The two began to walk off when their chests began to glow and they spent one more moment looking at where all the lights were gathering. Again in unison, they spoke.
“You got this Twilight.”
.   .   .
Arabus stared in shock and anger as the entire city began to shine and all the lights gathered and flooded into the two before him. He jumped away and absorbed all the hate and shadows he could as the two erupted in new forms. The boy had two horns of white energy on his head and strange flames covering his eyes. A single dragon wing made of the light was on his back and one hand was a claw. The girl’s eyes were solid white and a large horn was on her head. Soft and graceful wings were on her back. The two had two of their hands grasped together before they raised their other ones at him. Arabus sucked in every bit of darkness as that negative energy grew in the pearl. “I-I will drown you in shadows in the darkness of the night!”
“Even the darkest night will have a moon or star that never goes out!” Twilight and Spike shot white flames and a white beam respectfully and the three attacks met in a final battle of wills and values. Arabus pushed and pushed but found his power was at its limit, he had no more hate in his heart. Twilight and Spike slowly began to take steps towards him and he tried to back up but they never stopped. “Their spirits and hearts live in us and we will give them back their lives!!” They shouted and sent all their light at him as his beam was scattered and body completely taken over by the light, burning away his clouds and destroying the pearl. The man was left as he fell to his knees and felt his heart be shredded of its hate and left his body smoking as the attack stopped. 
He was beyond saving with his body broken and spirit ripped apart by the pearl and final attack. As he looked up at the children and Twilight used her powers to keep them all in the air, he asked for a final request, to see their faces. The light died and returned to its rightful homes and the two unmasked themselves. Arabus stared at the faces of children and allowed a chuckle to pass his lips with a single word before he breathed his last.  “Funny…”
.   .   .
The city was in the process of repair and accepted the new mayor Sombra into office as he was the one who had found the heroes that had saved them all. The city went on about magic and superheroes but soon even that would become normal. No one knew who the heroes were or why they came and stayed but it only made the city folk excited and others scared. The students would be going back to school soon now that both had been rebuilt but two students were already in one. 
“This sucks…”
“Spike you've been complaining and saying that every day since we started! Will you please shut up!?”
“Hey, I’m bored okay Twi?! Besides, you’ve been whining about all the lost study time even when we aren’t in school!!”
“You can never learn too much, now get back to painting!” As the two bickered and painted another classroom, Celestia and Luna were relaxing nearby with two glasses of juice. 
“Well sister, I’m not sure how I feel about this new peace but I could get used to this.”
“I know what you mean Tia but remember that we need to stay alert in case something else crazy happens? I don’t know how much more Canterlot City can handle.”
“Oh please, after what just happened, what crazier thing could possibly happen?”
.   .   .
Cadence covered her mouth in shock as she stared down at the third test, it read the same answer as the others. Positive. She would be a mother and Shining a father, that is if her mother didn’t kill him.
.   .   .
Sombra entered a bar and ensured it was completely empty as he joined the lone man there, Filthy Rich was there and glared at him as he sat across from the drunk and spat at him. “What do you want now, Black? You got your job even if you used those kids for it… I know what you did and the magic that is still around. You won’t be able to control what you’re playing with…” Filthy took another long gulp as Sombra cleaned himself off and spoke calmly.
“I guessed you knew the magic existed this whole time, I must say that I didn’t expect Arabus to die or how much hate he truly had inside. A miscalculation on my part that worked out in the end but will not happen again.”
“You can’t control the magic… mayor or not you’re just human.”
“Poor fool, I don’t want to control magic. I want to destroy it. Magic is what has given people like you the power to step in and control people like me and now I will balance things out.” Filthy waved his bottle around as his mind forced itself to sober up. 
“B-but those children!”
“Pawns who will collect the magic for me and once they are all that remain… they too must die sadly… to protect my daughter and give her a world where she could live happy I will pay any price.” Filthy stood as he couldn’t believe what he had been told. It was insanity! It was then that fear began to set into his mind.
“W-why are you telling me this? I could tell the whole city.”
“...because you won’t live to. The paralyzing agent should be kicking in now…” Filthy looked down at the bottle he was drinking from before it shattered on the ground and he fell, unable to move. “This was personal and I can’t promise that I won’t take pleasure in it. Know that the world will become a better place with me in charge.” Sombra sighed and pulled out a polished black crystal dagger and stabbed the man in the chest several times. After the fun part was done he grabbed a bottle from nearby and drank from it as he went off to ensure all evidence was destroyed and to get what he needed to clean up the mess as Filthy muttered his final words and cried a tear. 
“D… Diamond…”