Eht Taerg dna Lufrewop Eixirt
Batcave:
Silver Spoon had long ago decided that her face was becoming entirely too familiar with the canvas surface of the wrestling mat. Diamond Tiara had called the latest torture she had decided to inflict "nikkajo". The intense pain the gray filly was experiencing had convinced her that any move she made would shatter her pastern.
With her free forehoof, Silver Spoon tapped the mat twice. Relief was immediate as Diamond Tiara stepped back. Sitting up, Silver Spoon rubbed her fetlock. She asked, "How long was it this time?"
Glancing up, Diamond Tiara replied, "One minute, fifty seconds."
"I am improving, aren't I?" asked Silver Spoon.
Diamond Tiara shrugged. "Yes, but you're nowhere near ready to really fight." She took a towel from a peg and tossed it over. "Let's hit the showers."
Walking back, Diamond Tiara extended a forehoof and helped Silver Spoon back to her hooves.
Once she was back on her hooves, Silver rubbed her neck. "I swear, each session hurts more than the last."
"If you want to be ready for the streets, you'll have to be able to take a lot worse. You'll have to fight at least ten times better than you can now before you can really be my partner out there.
Silver Spoon looked away. Diamond Tiara smiled at her. "You can quit if you want. You know we'll still be best friends, no matter what."
The gray filly rolled her eyes. "For the hundredth time, yes, I get. But I want to be at your side. And, combat aside, I am almost ready!"
Diamond Tiara giggled. "Not 'almost'. You're far more accurate with the batarangs, and you're practically a ghost when you want to hide. Even the Doctor is amazed at how well you can pilot all his vehicles."
"How about a glass of Sweet Apple Acres blended juice?" asked Diamond Tiara.
Silver Spoon grumbled, "Small consolation for getting beat up by my best friend . . . again.
The two of them started to walk upstairs when they received the distress call from Green Lantern.
"Attention to all members of the Justice League! We have a metaproblem from the Dragon Lands more powerful than me! Monitor all population centers!"
Diamond Tiara rushed to get her costume from the ponyquin. "Hurry, Silver!"
"What? Do you want me to go too? But it sounds dangerous!"
"Exactly. You need to learn how to work under pressure. You're not going to fight; we need every hoof we can get to evacuate the city."
Silver Spoon's face fell. "I'm just there to keep your seat warm?"
"No. Saving lives is the most important part of being a hero; I learned that the hard way. Now come on; I need my partner and my friend."
Silver Spoon said, "That's a really grown-up thing to say."
Shrugging, Batmare replied, "Princess Luna helped me become what I needed to be." She reached into a pocket on her utility belt and tossed the keys to the Batwing to Silver Spoon. "Suit up. You're going to guide civilians to safety and cover their escape. The city is so large that we'll have to split up."
"Cool! I always wanted to solo."
"I know you have. Enjoy; you earned it," said Batmare as she walked to the teleportation crystal. "As for me, I'll try my new toy."
Anxiously, Twilight said, "Activate magic scan." She then waited for the sensor net to send its data to the technological enhancements on the Cutie Map. Floating above the topological features, a pointillistic display formed, showing the level of magic present in each cell. Colors went from cold black for background levels to vibrant greens for normal levels to warm oranges for elevated levels. One cell was intense white.
"Attention, everypony!" said Twilight through the transmitter. "Magic readings are off the scale in midtown Manehattan. Our metapony is in midtown Manehattan!"
"It is a metadragon," said Lantern.
"Keep your eyes open for a metadragon."
"Understood!" said the other members of the League.
Manehattan:
Infuriated, Garble opened and closed his fists, charging them with raw magic as he stared down the small and insignificant Trixie. As he took menacing steps, he said, "You are dead, pony."
Trixie replied, "You haven't even begun to witness the magic of the Great and Powerful Trixie." Taking off her hat, she pointed the opening to him. "Empty, see?" She then tapped the crown with her wand and shouted, "ABRACADBRA!"
A blur of feathers blew past Garble as a flock of pigeons flew out of the hat and dodged the aura from his mouth and fists. Instinctively, he covered his face. Something wet fell on his head, shoulders, back, and tail.
While he was blinded, Trixie stole a glance in each direction, enviously noting that ponies were fleeing. She said, "I should have warned you; they aren't housebroken."
As Garble angrily brushed himself off while his aura vaporized the mess, Trixie said, "I'm just getting started. Marvel at my mastery of prestidigitation. The hoof is quicker than the eye. Go ahead, esoohc yna drac!"
A torrent of throwing cards flew from the sleeves of her jacket, straight toward the dragon's belly. Instinctively, he lowered his hands, and the aluminum vaporized on contact.
Garble took a deep breath and let the wild magic fully integrate with his fire. Trixie frantically waved her forehooves back and forth.
Garble spat a stream of fire just as Trixie's flock returned. The birds lifted her out of the way just before the fire reached where she had been. A noxious cloud rose as the fire ate through the street and cooked off the sewage below.
As the pigeons lifted her above Garble's head, Trixie pointed her wand at the dragon and yelled, "Behold, as I defy death itself! Esirprus xob!"
A giant red box with a question mark symbol encased Garble, leaving only the top of his head, his left hand, and his right foot exposed. Wickedly sharp swords of every description suddenly materialized and thrust themselves through the box from every angle.
Trixie grinned as she conjured massive chains that wrapped themselves around the box. Starlight would have been proud; she had done her duty. If these held, she could melt into the crowd and let somepony stronger deal with the dragon.
The pigeons set her far to one side before returning to her hat. Her grin faded when the box began to glow. Box and chain vanished in a multi-colored explosion.
Garble was aglow as wild magic danced around him. Furious, he looked about, but came to a halt when he saw a pitcher of lemonade and a glass on a stool in front of him. He grabbed the pitcher and chugged down the lemonade. Steam began to cloud his vision. Brushing it away, he found he was leaking water from a myriad of invisible holes, with one particularly large leak in an embarrassing location.
He growled, "Pathetic, pony. What does a puny insect like you hope to do?"
Trixie gulped when she saw his aura glow white hot. In every direction, she could see ponies fleeing. As much as she wished to join them, she had to buy them more time. She shrugged. "What my best friend Starlight would want me to do. Keep you entertained. For my greatest trick, I'll need volunteers. How about you two? Latrop evolg!" She reached into her top hat, going in shoulder-deep as she stuck out her tongue in concentration.
Garble yelped as something cold touched him someplace rather sensitive. He snarled as he whipped around. He grabbed the offending sky blue appendage and pulled.
Trixie gasped in surprise as she went through her top hat. She managed to snag the brim with a hind hoof. The hat fluttered to the ground next to her when Garble finished pulling her through. She trembled as she felt the protective magic around her foreleg slowly giving way to Garble's aura.
Garble roared, "Puny pony! You are not even a tiny speck of dust next to me. Any last words?"
Trixie closed her eyes as she resigned herself to fate. She murmured, "Knirhs fles."
Garble's fist met with empty space as Trixie appeared to vanish. He suddenly went skyward as a red blur met him yelling, "Shoryuken!"
The blur followed him up, resolving into an orange alicorn with a red bodysuit and white boots when they reached the apex of his trajectory. She quickly bucked the dragon with both of her back hooves, sending him through the hole in the street he had blasted earlier. The resulting crater collapsed that part of the street and the facades of the adjoining buildings.
"Pick on somepony of your own size, lizard!" said Alicorn Marevel.
The dragon roared as he took to the air. Raw sewage vaporized from his body as his aura charged. He closed his fists and channeled raw magic to them. Marevel frowned, charging her own forehooves with electricity as she dove to meet the challenge.
Equal and opposing forces met at the top of the skyline. The resulting shockwave obliterated the windows of the now-vacant upper stories of the skyscrapers. The two circled each other trading supercharged blow after supercharged blow. Each successive shockwave was stronger that the last. Debris rained down as the skyscrapers bore the brunt of the attacks.
Unnoticed below, Trixie had restored herself to her normal size. She frowned as the watched the fight progressed. At this rate, all of midtown would be destroyed in a matter of minutes. Aiming her wand at the dragon, she said, "Hctac a nogard yb eht eot."
A thin steel cable looped itself around one of Garble's pinkie toes. Trixie tugged as hard as she could with her magic. Irritated, Garble looked down to find the source of the annoyance. He prepared to send a jet of magic-enhanced dragon fire at her when Marevel landed on his shoulders and forced him into a power dive away from Trixie. The blast opened another hole in the street. Marevel pulled up at the last second while Garble became reacquainted with the sewer.
Marevel landed and pulled Garble out with her telekinesis. She said, "Stop fighting, or I'll have to get serious."
Garble frowned. "You cannot stop me, ponies. I'll destroy everything he loves!"
A rustling caught his attention. Turning, he caught a small marble on his nose. It exploded, coating his face with a sticky black polymer.
"Arrrrgh! That's cheating!"
Marevel charged. Blinded, Garble could do little to defend himself.
Trixie smiled. "Rest in peace, Starlight Glimmer. Trixie bought enough time for real heroes to appear, just you would have wanted."
A gentle hoof placed on her shoulder.
"You did well." The Arrow smiled. "Leave the dragon to someone at his power level."
Trixie nodded. "Trixie will now take her leave with the rest of the ponies."
"Wait," said the Arrow. "I know you've saved the day, but could you help us evacuate the rest of the city?"
Tiredly, Trixie nodded. "There is still some fight left in me."
"Good. Take northwest district," ordered the Arrow.
Trixie nodded and ran to action. In the east, she could see the Batwing marking escape routes with colored streamers between performing rescues of the infirm from upper story windows. In the south, a multicolored streak whipped around each building, evacuating the occupants.
A rumbling caught her attention. Nearby, the ground floor of an apartment building was about to collapse after wild magic had damaged its supports. Trixie pointed the opening of her hat at it as said, "Snoclaf og eucser eht seinop."
A flock of giant raptors sped from her hat and into the building through each window. Each returned with a pony in each foot. The now-vacant building collapsed as the birds set the ponies down.
The sound of clopping hooves caught she showmare's attention. She turned to find the Canary and the Dash. "Bravo, Trixie," said the two in unison.
Trixie gave a small bow. "Save your applause. We have a job to do." The trio nodded and went to their assigned districts.
Meanwhile, Garble used his arms and fists to cover his face and chest like a boxer would. Marevel played out the rest of the scenario by pummeling him mercilessly while dodging kicks and tail whips. He winced as the wild magic took bits of scale along with the coating that Batmare had thrown on his face. As the last of the goo burned away, he screamed, "No! I can't hold on!"
Abruptly, the dragon stopped. Marevel held him in her telekinetic grip. "I don't want to hurt you, Garble, but I can't let you hurt others."
Garble's expression suddenly changed from an angry grimace to an amused smile. "I knew this power felt familiar. It seems like my old friend found his champion."
"What?"
"No wonder why my other half had so much trouble fighting you. We were the greatest rivals back in our early days. Then, we became friends."
But the dragon suddenly ground his teeth, punching his own face.
"Shut up pony! This is my body. I WON'T LET YOU TAKE CONTROL!"
He then scratched his face and punched his jaw. "AND I WON'T LET YOU HARM INNOCENTS, MONSTER!"
He scratched his chest with his sharp claws.
Marevel stared at the battle and backed away a prudent distance.
She approached slowly. "Hey, do you need some professional help?"
The dragon roared. "PONIES, DAMN PONIEEEEEES!"
His tail moved and he viciously bit down. "AAAARGH!" "I told you, I won't let you harm the innocent!"
Desperately, Garble spat magic-enhanced dragon fire at the nearest pony, Marevel. A quick bit of spellwork sent it skyward and dissipated it harmlessly.
Garble rasped, "Damn you ponies."
A green glow caught the dragon's attention. He snarled when he saw Green Lantern approaching. He was about to send up a spout of flame when a voice called, "Garble! Stop!"
The dragon blinked. Riding in a green energy bubble was a familiar figure.
"Smolder?" asked Garble.
Green Lantern popped the bubble and the orange dragoness flew to hug her big brother.
"Garble! I am so sorry!"
The red dragon trembled, but he seemed to relax a bit as he breathed heavily. "Smolder, I'm sorry I scared you. I . . . I can barely control myself. Somepony inside keeps trying to take over my body."
"Don't worry, we're here to help!" said Smolder. "Especially Lantern."
Garble sobbed. "Just make him stop! He's driving me nuts! Shut him up!"
He ground his teeth charging his fists with wild magic.
Terrified, Smolder backed away. Garble looked at his hands and bled the charge away from his fists.
Green Lantern approached. "I'm sorry, Garble. If I had been thinking with my head instead of my heart, I would have known that you were Forest Thing's target. Whatever it is that Forest Thing did to you, I'll try to fix."
Garble glared at him.
Lantern stepped closer. "Go on. Let me be your friend."
The red dragon began to charge his fists, but he stopped and gave a resigned sigh. "Shut him up. That's all I ask. But I am not your friend and will never be."
Spike nodded. "Fair enough. Now, can we talk to your other half, the one you claim is driving you crazy?"
"NO! He'll take control, and he'll never let me go surface again."
Smolder took his hand. "Brother, I'm with you. Whoever is in your head with you, we can defeat him together."
Garble glared at Lantern and then looked down. "You heard her, right pony? Do something and I swear I'll force you to see how I destroy every single pony I see."
Garble closed his eyes as the pony replied. Finally, he opened his eyes but his expression was no longer that of a teenager. Instead, it was mature and world-weary.
"So, you are the one this dragon claims is responsible for what happened to us."
"I let my feelings to interfere with my duty as a Green Lantern. Because of that, Garble was captured by the Forest Thing. I've regretted my actions every day since."
The dragon sighed. "The Princesses sent me to clean up your mess after you lot wasted all your energy fighting her parents. We found a dragon near death, and I tried an experimental spell. The next thing I remember was that I was stuck here with him."
Marevel shook her head. "Wait, who are you?"
"Starswirl the Bearded."
Lantern and Marevel exchanged a look.
"Mr. the Bearded, let us help you and Garble," said Lantern. "If we work together, we can find a way to make you and Garble normal again."
He extended a hand to Garble, who ground his teeth as Garble's consciousness regained control. "I told you; I won't be your friend. But, I'll accept your help."
"So, is it over?" asked Marevel.
"Don't worry, I'll be at my brother's side. I'll make sure he doesn't lose control again. Just help him."
"You have our word," promised Green Lantern.
"Then, what we do now?" asked Smolder.
Marevel shrugged. "Maybe we can take them to the Watchtower. It is designed to withstand our powers and and weapons at full strength. If he loses control there, we'll make sure he doesn't harm any innocents."
"Let's go get the others then, including the one who made time for us to show up. We better go, after what happened here, the Princesses would like to talk to us."
Marevel took a look at the ruins that less than an hour ago were a bustling business district.
"Yeah, I guess they won't be happy with how we handled this."
Canterlot:
Luna was busy hanging bouquets of lavender around the castle. She prayed that the ostentatious display around her sister's bedroom would keep the white alicorn calm. The castle had come within a hair's breadth of being destroyed with news of Manehattan had reached the senior princess. It had taken every trick Luna could manage to calm her sister without harming her. Even now, she would have to visit her dreams to ensure they were peaceful.
On of the servant with her asked, "Are you looking forward to putting all this behind you, Princess Luna?"
"Yes. Twilight Sparkle is more than capable of taking the reins of power, and my sister and I could both do with an extended vacation."
The other servant asked, "What about the dangers to the diarchy?"
Luna replied, "My sister has taken great pains to make sure that our little ponies can take care of themselves. The Justice League with triumph where Harmony fails."
The first servant said, "I guess you'll go from ruling the country to watching over the League."
"Quite. We must have words with the League about all the damage they have caused. Twilight Sparkle must learn to moderate their more destructive tendencies."
The servants nodded in agreement. Looking a one of the bouquets, the second servant said, "Wait, there's an insect here."
Princess Luna smiled gently at him. "You are new, aren't' you?"
"Yes, why?"
"Finding insects is to be expected when you are working with fresh flowers. Once I leave, please take this caterpillar to the garden. Now hurry, we still have fifty bouquets to hang."
The servants nodded and followed the princess.
The caterpillar watched the trio leave and fell from the bouquet. It then crawled under the door, into Celestia's room.
"Phase two starts now."