Rainbow Dash hurtled toward the ground amid a spray of hostile unicorn magic. She angled her hooves into a single point beneath her and pulled up at the last moment.
Clang! Four ponies toppled over, knocked unconscious. The impact of her hooves sent a shadow helmet flying and revealed the face that had been behind it.
“Oh gosh, sorry Quibble!” Rainbow Dash cringed in sympathy as she ascended to prepare another strike. “How do you even defeat an army without hurting anypony?”
The void of dark sky into which she’d shouted gave an answer: “You don’t.”
“OOF!” Something slammed into Rainbow Dash and flung her all the way back down into the dirt. The pegasus landed hard on her side and the crack of her bones echoed off the mountain walls. A set of hooves landed beside her a moment later, and she tried to push herself up. “Hey, you...” But searing pain flooded her senses and Rainbow Dash fell unconscious herself.
The figure who had grounded her launched into a great, resounding laugh.
“TWILIGHT! Did you see that?” The din of battle almost drowned out Pinkie Pie’s voice as she bounded up and pointed. “Something just knocked Rainbow out of the sky! It looked like she hit the ground really hard! Come on!”
Twilight released a radial blast of magic that knocked her ring of attackers down, then teleported off with her friend.
“THE REIGN OF SUNLIGHT HAS COME TO AN END. WE FIGHT ON THE SIDE OF DARKNESS, AND WE SHALL NOT YIELD!”
“Luna! It doesn’t have to be this way!” Celestia dodged a crackling beam of shadow. “Please let me help you!”
“LUNA? HELP? LUNA IS NO MORE. THINE ‘HELP’ KILLED HER SPIRIT LONG AGO. WE COME NOW TO AVENGE THAT FILLY!”
“Please...” The tear that escaped Celestia’s eye immediately vaporized in the heat of Nightmare Moon’s next attack. Celestia dodged, tensed, and launched a laser blast of her own, but it was dim and weak.
A dozen enemy ponies were flung into the air before the red shockwave attenuated.
“My my, this little bauble is really something!” Rarity lifted the amulet around her neck to gaze at it, then trotted delicately through the mess of writhing, broken ponies she had just created. Others ran at her in attack, but a mere flick of her eyelashes and puff of red magic was enough to send them to their knees every time. “Ha ha! Nopony can touch me! I suppose I really am something of a magician after all!”
“Indeed!” A black figure stomped to the ground in front of Rarity, knocking the unicorn backwards. Her horn began to glow, but the newcomer only laughed.
Rarity hesitated in her recognition. “Queen Chrysalis! Oh!” A blast of green magic grazed her side and unbalanced her. When Rarity was able to face her attacker again, the changeling queen was gone and a tall black unicorn with a flowing white and violet mane stood in her place.
“Darling, you’re wasting your time,” it said.
“Who are you?” Rarity demanded, powering the Alicorn Amulet again.
“Why, I am your creative vision. Your magical prowess has given me a body so I can advise you and fight alongside you.”
Rarity looked back at herself, and then to the unicorn again. The amulet still glowed red. “A powerful unicorn needs powerful advice. Speak, Vision!”
“I only wish to warn you that you are fighting on the wrong side. Your Princesses aim to suffocate you and keep you weak. But you are strong! Turn the tables and topple them! We will fight together and create upon the ashes of Equestria the kingdom of freedom and power and beauty that we deserve. Join me and stomp these peasants into submission!”
Rarity’s eyes glowed violently red and the amulet squeezed itself tight around her neck. “Yes...” she mumbled, unseeing as the black Vision summoned a nightmare helmet in a wreath of green magic. Rarity took a deep breath as if to shout her new allegiance.
Another shout interrupted her. “Oh no, ya don’t! Take that!” There was a whack that shook the ground and Rarity watched as Applejack’s kick sent the Vision, now transforming back into Chrysalis, flying to the other side of the battlefield.
“I reckon’ that’ll keep her out of the way for a few minutes, at least. You alright?”
“Applejack! I am terribly sorry, but I believe you are now in my way—”
“What?”
“—And now you shall be my first victim!”
“Oh, it’s that danged amulet! Yah!” As Rarity powered her horn, Applejack took a giant leap, planting her hat on Rarity’s head as she sailed over.
“Eek! This thing is filthy!” The white unicorn flung the offensive accessory away at once (Applejack bounced up and caught it on her head) and sat down to run her hooves over her mane. “Hat hair, hat hair,” she shrieked.
Applejack walked up. “Calm down, Rarity. Fix your hair like ya do and focus. That amulet is getting to your head!” Rarity said nothing but whimpered as she worked her mane back to perfection.
Then she sighed. “Thank you Applejack. I believe I am myself again.”
“Uh-oh,” Applejack pointed at the advancing foes, “looks like break time’s over. Why don’t you give your magic a rest for a bit and fight like I showed ya?” She bucked the air for demonstration.
“I think you’re right darling, but maybe you ought to stay by my side for a while?”
“You got it!” Applejack swung around to stand at Rarity’s side facing the other direction, giving her a hard bump of encouragement that made her friend stumble as she did. “Yeehaw!”
Covering each other’s backs, the pair set about fending off the circle of brainwashed ponies.
“Rainbow!” Twilight bent down to her friend and initiated a healing spell as soon as she and Pinkie Pie arrived.
“Uh, who’s that?” The Element of Laughter pointed very seriously to the side.
“Not now, Pinkie!” An eruption of unfamiliar chortling broke Twilight’s concentration, so she whipped around to confront. And gasped. “You’re… You’re Grogar!”
He laughed again. “That’s right, my pitiful little pony. Equestria will soon be mine, and you have no power to stop me!” Grogar lowered the Staff of Sacanas to point it at Twilight.
The alicorn summoned a domed forcefield over herself and her two friends just as a massive wave of energy washed over them. When it passed, Grogar was already preparing his next attack.
“He’s right!” Another instant was all it took for Twilight to teleport the three of them away to regroup.
She took them to Celestia. “Princess! We finally know who’s leading the attack on Equestria! It’s Grogar!”
Celestia didn’t respond at first as she fired another blast at her corrupted sister, then panted from the effort. “Grogar? I don’t...Oh. Oh my.” Celestia turned to look at Twilight. “Did you see him? UGH!”
Nightmare Moon took advantage of the distraction and landed a blast on Celestia’s face. The Princess now lay on her back, barely conscious and bleeding from her nose.
“Princess!” Twilight ran to her mentor’s side.
“Twilight, wait!” Pinkie Pie pointed to Nightmare Moon, who was strutting over wearing a malicious grin.
“TAKE THAT!” A red sphere of light crashed into Nightmare Moon and sent her flying into the next scuffle over. “HA HA! Look at me! Bow—”
Applejack slapped Rarity. “Get ahold of yourself!”
“Right, yes,” the unicorn mumbled, rubbing the red spot on her cheek.
Twilight stepped into the circle of her friends. “Good, we’re all here. Pinkie Pie and I just found out our enemies are far more dangerous than we had even dared to imagine.”
“We did?” Pinkie Pie interrupted.
“Yes, we did. They’re being led by a very ancient evil, maybe even the founder of evil himself, and he’s wielding the Staff of Sacanas to boot! We don’t have a chance without friendship magic, so we need to—”
“SHINY, STOP!”
The friends turned to see the afterglow of a pink explosion and the body of Princess Cadence launching into the sky. But before Twilight could mobilize, her sister-in-law’s wings extended and she brought herself safely back down to the battlefield.
“Is it time to rainbow-blast them to smithereens?” Rainbow Dash lifted her head, trying to smile but obviously shaking from the effort.
“Yes it is! Everypony ready?” Twilight looked around as her friends all nodded.
“What fortune! It has been far too long since I’ve had any real magic to snack on around here.”
The five friends turned as one to behold the owner of the familiar voice. Lord Tirek stood tall over them, his body strong and muscular again. Cozy Glow sat on his shoulder brandishing a huge grin on her face and Yksler’s Helm on her head. A white pulse emanated from the filly and the glow of Twilight and Rarity’s powered horns evaporated. Tirek leaned down to smirk in their faces.
“Miss me, Princess Twilight?”