//------------------------------//
// Ch. 38 End of an Era 
// Story: Strange Yet Wonderful 
// by Bionic Slime 
//------------------------------//


Chapter 38: The End of an Era



Crowe hovered imposingly above his whimpering enemies; still sobbing over the fallen forms of their former princesses of the sun and moon. The radical energy and power emanating from the yellow Earth pony was inconceivable. Twilight could feel it. She could feel it pulsating in her horn and tremoring throughout her bones. He had transformed, transformed into a monster of limitless magic. The magnitude of his Crowe’s energy towered over the ponies like a tidal wave.

“Yes…yes…the absolute POWER!” Crowe’s fiery wings expanded like storm clouds; swelling with thunderous power. Energy sparked around every limb, every muscle; surging and growing in size and intensity. “So this is what it feels like to be seriously omnipotent,” he looked down at the lifeless bodies of Luna and Celestia. He licked his lips and chuckled, “Feels pretty damn good.”

Crowe focused his newly acquired Alicorn powers to focus on a single, ash black and jade green energy ball. It formed almost instantly. The ball was aimed directly at Twilight and her friends.

“Now then, it’s time to say goodbye to all our company,” he cackled mercilessly.

Everyone looked to Twilight for answers. She had none. Fear had crippled every brain cell and left her a paralyzed mess; powerless to stop what was about to happen. She looked to her friends with broken, sorrow soaked eyes. All she could do was mouth one message to them: I’m sorry.

CRASH!

The skylight window shattered suddenly. A white, blurry unicorn figure was seen falling down towards the center. Crowe couldn’t help but look upwards, Twilight and the others did the same.

It was Rebel Streak.

“What the-”

The punk stallion landed right on top of Crowe’s back. He levitated a crowbar from his jacket pocket and proceeded to thwack it against Crowe’s skull. The self-proclaimed emperor cried out, his horn jerking upwards and blasting the ceiling clean off with his misfired energy attack. Random sparks and energy blasts shot wildly from Crowe’s horn.

“You killed the woman I love, YOU SON OF A BITCH!” Rebel howled angrily. He clamped his teeth on Crowe’s ears and tugged, he slammed the crowbar against Crowe’s back and spine. “I will tear you apart!”

As Crowe thrashed against Luna’s broken lover, Moonstruck used this distraction to get Twilight back into forming a solution.

“Okay Crackers, time to put that big beautiful brain of yours to work and figure out how we can end this,” he said hurriedly. His silver eyes routinely darted back to Crowe’s fight with Rebel.

“He’s right sugar cube. Rebel’s not goin’ to be able to keep that rotten creep busy for long,” Applejack placed a comforting hoof over Twilight’s shoulder. “We need a plan and ya’ll know we’ll support whatever you come up with, 100%.”

Twilight backed away. Her eyes widening with panic, her chest was slowly starting to hyperventilate.

“But-but I don’t know what to do! He’s taken everything we could throw at him and NOTHING works,” she flares her wings out; breathing more heavily. Spike tried to comfort Twilight but her anxiety blocked out any warmth he could provide. Nothing seemed capable of calming down the purple mare. “We’ve got no magic left, the elements of Harmony are gone and the Rainbow chest has no more power. We’ve got nothing!”

Arrowhead’s attention was dragged towards the battle. Crowe had regained his focus and prepared a counter spell against Rebel. 

“GET. OFF. ME. NOW!”

His armor generated a powerful electrical surge shield and violently shocked Rebel Streak. The energy whiplash blasted the punk unicorn off Crowe’s body, colliding with a jagged piece of metal ceiling framework from the exploded ceiling. He cried out as it impaled him. Rebel slumped down and dropped to the ground; leaving a bloody smear on the pointed bar. Spike and the ponies gasped in horror at seeing their friend slain so ruthlessly.

“You miserable little nobody,” he spat venomously; looking away in disgust at the fallen Rebel Streak. “Now then, where was I?” he grinned.

Rarity, Applejack, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rainbow and Spike moved close to Twilight. They looked to her; not to seek answers from her but to deliver strength and support. Their shimmering eyes reflected memories of past adventures and victories to the frazzled princess. Inspiring her, empowering her and reminding her of what they have done and what they can do…together.

“You’re wrong Twilight,” Fluttershy placed her hoof over Twilight’s, “we have everything we need right here.” She gestured to all of their friends gathered round them. “We have our friendship and our love. There’s nothing stronger in the whole world.”

Pinkie beamed cheerily. She crushed Twilight in a painful hug; several more hooves popped out of her body (in typical, cartoonish Pinkie fashion) and dragging everyone close together.

“She’s right silly willies! Love conquers all; it takes no prisoners and leaves no chocolate candy behind. We can do this with the-”

“Please don’t say it!”

“Power of love!”

Rainbow groaned miserably. She face planted and couldn’t help but roll her eyes at her Earth pony friend’s blind optimism. The group broke away from the hug but Arrowhead stayed close by the speedy mare’s side.

“Look Pinkie, I appreciate you trying to be positive and all but you have to be realistic too,” she said; exhaustingly. Rainbow looked to Arrowhead and raised his hoof up in a presenting manner. “Mushy stuff is all well and good but we need REAL firepower to deal with this guy. I can’t just tell Arrowhead ‘I love you’ and expect-”

Without warning, a powerful cerulean and tombstone grey beam blasted from Rainbow and Arrowhead’s chests. The beam spiraled out like a lightning bolt. Crowe puffed out his armor plated chest and prepared to absorb the attack.

WHAM!

The beam knocked Crowe clean off his hooves. The armor scraped nosily across the floor until Crowe skidded to a halt. His icy, dark blue orbs widened in unexpected shock. Starswirl’s plate had failed to absorb the attack.

“That…shouldn’t have happened,” he muttered in disbelief. Crowe staggered back to his feet, eyes twitching erratically.

“No. Freaking. Way!” Rainbow exclaimed. She looked to her hoof still holding Arrowhead’s; neither one could comprehend what just happened. “Did we really just do that?!?”

“Actually, it’s not entirely impossible. Remember when Cadence used her magic to repel Queen Chrysalis and the rest of the Changelings?” the others slowly nodded to Twilight. “Love is a powerful source of magic, just like friendship. Maybe the fact this castle came from the Rainbow chest is helping our love manifest into actual magic attacks,” Twilight surmised.

“But why didn’t Crowe’s plate absorb the attack? I thought it was capable of absorbing every kind of magic in existence,” Hopeful cautiously asked.

“Maybe because love isn’t a negative or offensive form of magic, maybe the plate can only absorb destructive or dangerously powerful magic designed to inflict damage. Perhaps love is too pure to be seen as a threat to its composition,” Arrowhead proposed. He knew he was grasping at straws but he felt compelled to offer some kind of assistance.

“WHO CARES?” Moonstruck’s outburst took everyone slightly off guard. “All I want to know is: how do we keep beating the crap out of him with love beams so we can finish him off?”

Just as Moonstruck predicted, Crowe was not letting that freak beam mishap derail his plans of obliterating his enemies. The twisted stallion was already powering up a new super powered attack that was even more destructive and unstoppable than the last one. He sneered ravenously as he felt his anger and power consume and invigorate him like a flame. His lust for death would not rest until the elements of harmony and their lovers were utterly and completely annihilated; regardless of any newfound magic they discovered.

“Let’s just do what we did, only this time, really pour on the love,” Arrowhead boasted confidently. Rainbow couldn’t help but laugh. This was ridiculous, silly and all kinds of confusing, and yet still, Arrowhead managed to make it sound like it was worth a shot. “You with me, Babe?” he asked.

Rainbow smiled and held hooves with her Earth pony friend. She nodded in reply. His rough, dense hooves always provided the warmest and sweetest sensations every time they touched. Sweet Celestia did she love him.

“Rainbow, we may have gotten off to a rocky start but I knew what I was getting into when I saw you at that party. You’re wild, crazy, and reckless and drive me all kinds of nuts…but you’ve always been worth it, just like you’re worth putting my life on the line once again; always for you,” Arrowhead said sincerely.

“Geez big guy, you sure are awfully sappy for a big brained beefcake. Awe I’m no good at this stuff,” she nuzzled her cheek against his. They looked at one another; both blushing rosily. “You ruined me, you know that? I could never settle for less after meeting you, you big lug,” she said cheekily.

FLASH!

A Cerulean energy glow enveloped Arrowhead and Rainbow Dash. They hovered off the ground, teal and grey beams blasting from their chests towards Crowe. The villainous tyrant launched his trump card spell as well. The beams collided and clashed violently; shattering thousands of sun bursting sparks across the crumbling battlefield.

Much to Crowe’s enraged frustration, Rainbow and Arrowhead’s beam managed to hold his at bay; but not for long. It was clear that more was needed if they wished to not only hold off Crowe’s deadly beam, but overcome it and him.

Applejack and Hopeful were next. They held each other’s hoof, stared into each other’s eyes and passionately followed Rainbow and Arrowhead’s example.

“Sugar, Ah thought all there was to mah life was farmin’ and apples til Ah met you. You gave me a kinda love family just can’t fill, a love Ah never thought Ah would ever be able to see. But far as Ahm concerned, you are family. Yer the other half of mah heart, Ah think you always have been. The cheesy quotes, the poems, the big fancy gestures, Ahm in for all of it…long as it’s with you,” Applejack said; shredding a few misty tears.

“After I lost Wild Heart, I thought I’d never feel the warmth of a woman’s touch or the purity of her soul ever again. You brought me out of the dark and into the sunlight again. There is no future without you. Be it on a farm, in an apartment or even a cave; there’s no home in my heart without you in it. I would die for you, but most importantly I will live for you because you are my reason for living,” Hopeful said.

FLASH!

A red and orange beam joined the wave countering Crowe’s spell. The cruel colt grunted as he was pushed back slightly, the extra impact took him slightly off guard. Crowe remained firm however.

Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie looked to each other. The party pony giggled cheerfully.

“Well, my Cheese-squeeze may not be here, but I ALWAYS feel love from everyone around me. Love is like ice cream: it comes in all shapes, sizes, colors and flavors…not to mention they both make my tummy feel super-duper-special inside! The love I feel is for life itself and I’m never gonna stop living for love, no matter what any party pooper does to try and spoil the fun,” Pinkie proclaimed.

“I may not have someone special in my life, yet, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have love. I love every critter in Equestria. I love them like their family, that’s why I always share my home with them. I love everything and everyone in my life, it keeps me going, keeps me happy and keeps on giving me a reason to smile, that’s love to me,” Fluttershy proudly added.

FLASH!

Yellow and pink beams added to the energy wave next. Spike and Rarity looked to each other. He extended his claw to her; she proudly placed her delicate hoof into his warm, loving touch.

“Rarity, being with you has been the one thing I’ve wanted since I first laid eyes on you. It hasn’t been easy though. There’s been pain, hurt feelings and lots of other bad stuff I wish I could forget. But seeing you look at me like that, saying you love me with your words and eyes; it makes the bad times better and the good times even more incredible. I want to give you everything and be your romance-novel-dreamy-prince-come true…because I love you…and I always will,” Spike said.

Rarity giggled sweetly.

“Oh Spike, you always knew how to make me feel special. But I’m afraid I am not the silly romantic you think I am. I don’t want the heavens or the shooting stars. I don’t want gemstones or gold. I have those things already. I want…a steady hoof err claw in this case. A kind soul. I want to fall asleep, and wake, knowing my heart is safe. I want to love, and be loved. And thanks to you, I have all of that and more. You’re my dragon knight in shining armor, Spikey Wikey, and don’t you ever forget it,” Rarity cooed lovingly.

FLASH

Green and ivory beams blasted on top of the multicolored love wave. The added force caused Crowe to slip back again and again. Veins bulged along his forehead as he strained to keep the ponies love beam at bay.

Finally, only Moonstruck and Twilight remained.

“Cra-err I mean, Twilight? No matter what happens here today, I want you to know that if I had to do this all over again; I’d do it in a heartbeat. I’ve learned so much from you: compassion, kindness, knowledge, acceptance and most importantly, freedom. I want to be a better man for you because you deserve the best! I don’t have family, a home or even any idea what I am sometimes, but I know that as long as I have your love…I have everything. You are a queen among princesses,” Moonstruck confessed.

“Ever since you came into life, things have been topsy turvy and nothing has made sense. But for the first time in my life, I don’t care. You’re strange and chaotic in all the best ways possible. You’re the answer to an equation I didn’t know I was trying to solve. You make me laugh and keep things lively and-and I don’t ever want it to stop. You made a nerd feel like a heavenly body. I love you Moonstruck and whatever the future may hold, I know mine would be incomplete without you in it,” Twilight sweetly replied.

FLASH!

A violet and dark purple pair of energy beams emerged from the two purple ponies. The love wave was complete. The 9 ponies and sole dragon held hoof and claw together; hovering, glowing and unloading their love in a collaborative surge of electric energy and enveloping love towards their armored foe. Crowe nearly toppled due to the overwhelming force of the ponies love force. He quickly activated the deepest reserves he could utilize from Celestia and Luna’s stolen powers. Flames and lunar hues similar to Day Breaker and Nightmare Moon flashed along Crowe’s body. He combined his Alicorn powers with his amulet and armor and successfully pushed the pony’s energy wave back. Little by little, the Mane 6 was losing ground and the fight.

“HA! All that talk about love, soulmates and how much you mean to each other; what a joke. In the end, everything you care about amounts to precisely dick!” Crowe cackled maliciously.

The rising force of Crowe’s power drilled forward, threatening to overcome the love wave like an all-consuming mudslide. Twilight and her friends were giving it everything they had but it still didn’t seem to be enough. There seemed to be no end to the power Crowe wielded. The struggling heroes were so close to victory, so close to turning this battle around.

“Come on, were almost there! We just need a little bit more to push us over the edge. Our love has to be enough, it just has to be,” Twilight thought.

During their lengthy magic struggle, few seemed to notice the spot where Rebel’s “body” was strikingly vacant. A long red streak was smeared on the floor that was leading to Princess Luna’s body. Crowe took a split second to look at what some of the others were gawking at. His eyes widened: Rebel Streak was still alive!

“I’m so sorry Luna, I’m so-so sorry,” he wept brokenly. Luna’s lifeless form was inches from his trembling grasp. He felt pain violently jabbing every inch of his body every time he moved. Rebel forced himself to scrape closer to his fallen beloved, no matter how much blood he lost. “I couldn’t save you. I swore I’d always be there for you and I failed,” he winced as tears flowed heavily.

“I’ve got to stop that walking corpse before he ruins everything!” Crowe mentally cursed.

The armored tyrant attempted to cast a spell and divert some power from his attack to prevent Rebel from reaching Luna’s body, but it was taking everything he had just to push Twilight’s love wave back. He was trapped in a spell-tug-of-war he was about to win and lose simultaneously!

“No it’s no good, I can’t stop him! I can’t do anything without breaking up this spell duel, and if I do, it’s all over!”

“All right everybody, hit him with everything we’ve got,” Twilight commanded fiercely.

Rebel’s hoof weakly reached out towards Luna’s. Her lifeless form rested before the punk colt’s wincing eyes. He could feel the final specks of life dwindling away from his soul. Yet still, he pushed onward. He grabbed Luna’s hoof and held onto it one last time. A faint, broken-yet-peaceful smile on his face as he looked at her with blood and tear soaked eyes.

“I just wish this miserable little nobody could have told you…one last time…I love you,” he said breathlessly.

FLASH!

A rising glow emanated from Luna and Rebel’s forms. The light grew brighter, stronger and larger; increasing every passing second. Beams of pure energy launched forward and added to the collective love energy wave. The combined force of the energy wave overwhelmed Crowe. His beam was scattered; blasted into particles and dust in the blink of an eye. The love energy hammered down on him with pulverizing brutality. Though most would find this energy wondrous and comforting, to someone like Crowe, it felt like the sun itself had swallowed him whole and incinerated every inch of his existence with never ending flames. The chest plate did nothing to halt the asteroid-like impact of the ponies collective love force.

“NOOOOOOOO!” he wailed horrendously.

The energy generated a cataclysmic explosion of color and energy; it consumed not only Crowe, but the castle itself. Miraculous colors and lights shattered the heavens themselves and warped the darkness and decay of Crowe’s corrupted castle into a thing of immaculate beauty and majesty. Twilight, Moonstruck and the others found themselves inside a new castle, one perfectly suited and beautifully sculpted as the proper castle for the crowned princess of friendship. Vinyl, Octavia, Bon-Bon and Lyra had been returned to normal. They stared fawningly at their wondrous new surroundings.

“I can’t believe it. We did it, we really did it,” Hopeful said; remaining cautiously optimistic.

“Ahm not 100% sure what the heck just happened, but it looks like you ended up with a castle after all, Twilight,” Applejack observed.

“And it is the most gorgeously decorated castle I have ever seen,” Rarity exclaimed.

“A lot homier than that nightmare hall he forced you guys to live in,” Spike commented. His emerald eyes could barely register the fact this luminous new castle was his home now!

“I’m just glad everyone’s all right,” the yellow Pegasus started to say before stopping herself. She raised a hoof to her lips. “Wait a minute; does this mean the princesses are?”

Everyone’s attention turned to the fallen sun and moon princesses. Their bodies lay serenely next to a mangled pile of metal and scattered gems. Smoke sizzled meekly from the melted suit of armor. Starswirl’s chest plate was the only item left completely unscathed.

“Wha…what happened?” Celestia moaned softly. Her pink eyes slowly opened to the sparkling world she had been transported to. “Is-is everyone safe? Was Crowe defeated? Where is-”

“You’re knight-in-shining-armor? I’m afraid he’s off in some delusional tween’s diary spouting pick up clichés. Looks like you’ll going to have to settle for someone tall, dark and rather scrupulous instead,” a familiar voice chortled.

Celestia’s eyes glittered with hope. The fluttering in her heart made her realize this was not a dream, she was in alive and she was not alone in this realization. Her gaze focused on the familiar, fractured composition of her beloved chaotic charmer: Discord. A female groan to her right jerked her attention to its source. Luna was all right too, she was slowly waking up and stretching her wings. Celestia sighed with great relief.

“For a goody-two-shoes princess, you sure know how to give this old goat a scare,” he whispered tenderly. Her gaze blinked back towards the chaotic trickster.

“Discord, I can’t thank you enough for removing those Tatzulwurms-”

Discord hugged her tightly. She blinked in surprise; forgetting her train of thought almost immediately. She smiled and quickly melted into his embrace. 

“Don’t ever scare me like that again!”

“Can’t make any promises. You know me; I just care too much to see anyone get hurt. Guess you’re going to have to get used to it, Dizzy,” Celestia teased sweetly.

“And I guess you’ll have to get used to me being around all the time. Can’t have you doing anything stupid like that again, now can we?” Discord said firmly; pulling back from the hug. His boldness brought a warm blush to her snow white cheeks.

“Were just a couple of pranksters, aren’t we, Sun Butt?”

“Only for you Dizzy; only for you…”

The two shared a brief but comforting kiss before remembering they had an audience. Once the honey glow had temporarily lifted, Celestia looked to check on her sister. Luna was hunched over; looking down with wilted wings, sobbing and sniffling in agony. Twilight and the others quickly gathered to see what was happening.

There, in the center of the room, Luna was cradling her love; Rebel, in her lap. His physical wounds had vanished; healed by the energy from the love wave. The blood had vanished and not a scratch was visible on the punk unicorn’s body. Yet still, Rebel remained limp and lifeless.

“My dear, sweet-sweet Rebel, what did that monster do to you?” Luna sniffled achingly.

“You should have seen him Luna, he gave his life defending your honor and taking on Crowe alone,” Moonstruck said confidently.

“It was thanks to him we were able to save everyone. We’d all be dead now if it wasn’t for him. He’s a true hero,” Twilight said; tears twinkling from her eyes.

It didn’t make sense, it just didn’t make sense. Luna and her sister and everyone else had been restored, the castle changed for the better and the cursed armor and amulet were gone for good; the battle had been won.

Yet still, to Luna it would always feel like a failure without her beloved Rebel here.

“Why…why am I always destined to lose the ones that I love?” the night princess whimpered with a heavy sob. She clutched his body close to her chest. Tears splashed down his ears; creating a shimmer across his piercings. “I shall never forget you my enchanting, rebellious scoundrel.”

“That’s the most beautiful thing anyone could ever give an artist: to be remembered eternally,” Rebel said; muffled into her blue fur.

Luna pulled back upon hearing that wonderful, familiar voice ringing in her ears. It was like a heavenly song to her woeful ears. Rebel’s inviting hazelnut eyes were wide open and staring deeply, longingly into hers. His charming smile washed away all of the pain and sorrow she felt moments ago almost instantly.

“Close up that dam my love; we got too many spotlights to dance in. Can’t paint paradise without a model to guide my brush,” Rebel purred. Luna couldn’t speak. All she could do was laugh and cry, try as she might she couldn’t stop doing either. She hugged him tightly and cooed.

He was alive. Luna didn’t care how or why, all that mattered was he was alive and she was never going to let him go again.

The ponies rejoiced at Rebel’s revival. Finally, it felt like all the damage that Crowe had caused had been repaired. 

Arrowhead splintered off from the main group congratulating Luna and Rebel to check out the cooked remains of Crowe’s armor. Rainbow landed right beside him.

“Hard to imagine,” he sighed grumblingly; “a bunch of ancient relics and a suit of armor nearly destroyed the Elements of Harmony, the princesses AND potentially doomed Equestria.” He shook his head; white locks flapping side to side. “In the end, it saddened me to see an Earth pony filled with so much hatred,” he remarked. His gaze locked on the grim, gravestone like site of Crowe’s incinerated remains.

Rainbow nuzzled against her man’s cheek. She placed her wing over his shoulder, comforting him as best she could. “Hey, don’t dwell on that stuff. He could have just as easily been a Pegasus or a Unicorn. Besides,” she sweetly pecked him on the cheek, “we could have lost a lot more lives.” He nodded in agreement. “I’m just glad we all made it out in one piece,” she said.

“Well, mostly,” he motioned towards his scar.

Rainbow simply laughed and playfully shoved him.

“Shut up, it looks bad ass on you and you totally know it,” she chuckled.

Arrowhead couldn’t resist smiling proudly at her encouraging words.

“Soooooo, the bad guy lost, Twilight’s got a rocking new castle, everyone’s safe and on top of that, we totally saved Equestria….again! You know what this calls for?” Pinkie cheered exuberantly.

Before anyone could even answer, the party pony already down poured an ocean’s worth of confetti and streamers over the entire throne room and everyone in it. Twilight laughed joyfully with all of her friends ecstatically in agreement with Pinkie’s party idea. They had much to celebrate and many they were grateful to be celebrating with.

“So, I gotta say, this is a big step up from the basement,” Moonstruck cracked. Twilight huffed and poked him teasingly with her wings. “Hey, hey, just kidding! I know I wasn’t sleeping in there anymore,” he said with a chuckle.

“Well you’re not the only one who’s blown away by this. All these rooms, all this space and-and changes, this is going to take some serious adjustment,” Twilight exclaimed.

“Yeah, I’ll finally have my own room and so will Spike. Guess you won’t have to worry about me randomly appearing in your bed again,” he laughed.

“Oooooh I don’t know, I think I might need a certain Marshmallow to snuggle with the first couple…months or so. You know, until I get used to it,” she purred alluringly.

Twilight walked past Moonstruck, booping his nose with hers and flicking it teasingly with her tail. She batted her luminous, violet eyes his way and winked saucily. He blushed furiously, his entire face nearly lit up with deep shades of red. When did his dorky girlfriend learn to be such a saucy nerd minx?

CLINK!

A single ruby rattled loudly across the pristine, reflective castle tile floor. All eyes and attention were instantly drawn to the source. Spike and Rarity were seen stepping away from Crowe’s melted armor, well, tiptoeing would be more accurate. The dragon and fashionista had stashes of gems and jewels under their arms. Rarity even had turned two emerald fragments as dangly makeshift earrings. Twilight frowned judgingly. Spike and Rarity laughed sheepishly, both knew they were busted.

“Rarity, Spike! How could you? You should know better than to horde gems, not to mention the fact those gems came from the artifacts Crowe stole from across Equestria,” Twilight scolded. She rubbed between her eyes with her hoof; groaning irritably. Spike tried to explain himself but his adoptive mother quickly cut him off. “How could you help her with this, Spike?”

“Well, the thing is I-”

“Oh come now Twilight, there’s no need to blame Spike for this. I was the one who insisted he help me gather the scattered gems. I figured he deserved a tasty reward considering everything he’s been through,” she smiled fawningly at the lanky dragon. Spike blushed in return, his wings and tail twitching impulsively. “Plus, I figured one or 12 missing gems wouldn’t be noticed. All the artifacts are gone anyway so why not use them for an extravagant new dress instead of letting them waste away behind some boorish display case. Don’t you agree, darling?” she sweetly inquired.

Twilight knew her friend represented the element of generosity, and at the same time, Rarity had a difficult time resisting something sparkly and glittery. Spike’s appetite for gems was a given so she figured that. Still, this didn’t make her any less annoyed by the situation.

“I really wish I didn’t just hear that,” Twilight grumbled sourly. She rolled her eyes and tried to push down the nagging waves of irritation pecking at her senses.

Suddenly, a bursting force erupted from the junkyard pile of mystical metal. The ponies gasped in surprise and stepped back. Since Spike and Rarity were the closest to the armor’s remains, the dragon instinctively went in front of Rarity to protect her. Amusingly enough, Rarity also moved forward in an equally instinctive move/desire to protect Spike.

“GAHAAAAA,” Crowe cried out. He tumbled out of the armor; gasping for air as if he had been submerged in water. The yellow colt was bruised, filthy with black ash, his fur was physically frazzled from head to tail, but was otherwise completely fine.

“I don’t believe it,” Moonstruck silently gaped.

Crowe slowly realized where he was and what had happened. Twilight, her friends and the princesses glared loathingly at the vile, mustard colored colt. The anger bubbling inside of their friendly souls could be felt from a mile away.

“Friends!” he blurted out; straining a forced smile and attempting to come off as friendly and warm as any regular citizen from Ponyville. “Now I know that you all must be pretty mad at me right now for…you know…everything” he laughed wearily. The ponies looked icily indifferent to his prattling. “But I’ve always been a firm believer it’s never too late to make a new friend, soooo what do you say we start fresh, clean the slate and forgive and forget?” asked, shrugging his shoulders stiffly.

Few words could describe the audacity of this unexpected situation. They raced through Twilight’s minds like hurdling arrows. The first ones that came to mind were: offensive, despicable, but the most appropriate word had to be: insulting. Every deplorable jab and degrading insult the ponies had dealt with through all the villains they had faced paled miserably in comparison to this one.

Redemption through friendship was a miracle the girls had witnessed many times. Trixie, Discord, Gilda and Princess Luna were all prime examples. However, Crowe had shown a brand of evil so wicked and vile that not even the princess of friendship could comprehend forgiving all that he had done.

“Hmmmm all right then!” Rarity said casually, the cheery tone in her voice caused everyone to gasp in shock.

“Say WHAT?!?” Spike barked.

Crowe almost burst into song. He smiled widely, so wide he expected his cheeks would crack like glass. He just couldn’t believe he was getting off the hook so easily. They really were a forgiving group of ponies.

“You-you’re serious, just like that?” he asked.

Rarity simply nodded. Her smile remained firm and unwavering despite her friend’s protests.

The yellow colt scrambled down on his knees and approached Rarity. He proceeded to kiss her hooves; treating her like some benevolent queen or goddess. Spike could barely contain the fierce snarls growling from his fanged jaws.

“Oh thank the stars and moon, thank you ALL for this,” Crowe babbled hysterically. His voice cracked from the overwhelming sense of relief inside of him. “You ladies truly are the pinnacle of princess perfection,” Rarity nodded; slowly taking her earrings off. “I swear you won’t regret this. You know, it’s kind of funny but, this actually wasn’t entirely my fault.” “Uh huh,” she nodded; continuing to remove her jewelry. “The amulet kind of made me crazy, it does that you know? It makes pony’s evil and all that,” Rarity removed a bracelet from her left hoof, “I was just following orders and then the-the amulet,” then a necklace, “which changed me and then BAM I ended up being super evil; totally had no control.” Rarity continued smiling as she listened. “Certainly, of course,” she piled all of the jewels and jewelry she collected with Spike into a makeshift ball. “So glad you get it. You’re all so wise and forgiving and generous, thank you so very-very much,” he said; laughing with a nervous twitch. Rarity levitated the ball to Spike. “You uh do forgive me…right?” he asked. “Oh yes, very much so,” she turned back briefly to look at her scaly lover, “Spike, would you be a dear and kindly hold onto these?” He blinked and simply nodded. The ball dropped into his claws moments later. “Thank you, Spiky Wiky.” Rarity slowly turned her attention back to Crowe, her smile vanishing.

“RAHHH!”

Rarity leapt onto Crowe and started viciously pummeling him with her hooves. The elegant fashionista transformed into a savage, bloodthirsty beast right before her friend’s eyes. Every patch of yellow fur or glimpse of Crowe’s face that was visible was soon plowed down by an ivory storm of unyielding fury. The others stared in flabbergasted shock; beyond baffled at their friend’s newfound ferocity.

Crowe whimpered miserably as he attempted to crawl away from Rarity. He slithered like a grimy slug along the floor; desperately reaching for assistance from the others. Various spots on his fur and mane were ripped down to bare pink flesh. Crowe looked like a lawnmower had run him over half a dozen times or so.

“COME HERE YOU!” Rarity shrieked; her voice crackling into a demonic, banshee like howl as she screamed down at the fleeing colt.

She used her magic to yank Crowe back. He squealed like a helpless rodent; hooves screeching and sliding uselessly on the tile floor. Rarity grabbed the back of his head and repeatedly smashed his face into the floor. Fluttershy and Hopeful both cringed while watching Rarity slam down Crowe’s skull over and over like a dribbling basketball. Rarity eventually stopped; dropping his head to the ground with a sickeningly thick thud. She kneeled down and bit into his blond hair. Crowe screamed wildly in pain. Rarity ripped out a chunk of hair in her teeth. She stood back up and spat it from her lips; panting heavily. The unicorn bellowed an ear shattering battle cry into the echoing halls of the castle. She turned back to Spike and her friends, her wrath and rage disappearing instantly.

“Ah, now that was very therapeutic,” she said calmly. Aside from blood stained hooves and a disheveled tail, Rarity looked as prim and proper as she always had.

THWANG!

Spike’s wings jutted out suddenly, they popped open like a camping tent pole. The dragon stood there, red in the face, wings sticking out rigidly in place. His mouth felt dry and his lips failed to form any sounds or words to properly comment on his girlfriend’s sudden behavior.

“Ha, ha, looks like I’m not the only one who gets wing boners,” Rainbow crudely chuckled.

The red faced dragon turned even redder, even though he didn’t see how that could be possible. Rarity giggled at her dragon’s adorable reaction. He panicked and quickly tried to calm himself and his wings down.

“Ugh” Crowe moaned brokenly. The colt lay slumped, face down on the ground. His fur had been yanked, ripped, torn and slashed at; as if a Chimera had just ripped him to pieces. “I’m fine…thanks for…for…asking,” he mumbled. His speech slurred due to the large gaps where teeth should be. “At least it’s over.”

“So then,” Rarity turned to her friends; extending her hoof in an inviting manner, “whose next?”

The yellow colt hitched suddenly. His mangled body jerked twitchingly; eyes bulging in horror.

“Whose…NEXT?” he squeaked.

Spike immediately stepped forward. His rippling dragon muscles twitched in anticipation. His teeth and claws longed to slake their thirst for revenge; a concept Spike had always been told never to let consume him, but right now, he found his will power to be quite weak. All he could think of was turning that scheming Earth pony into a yellow grease stain on Twilight’s new castle floor.

“Hold on Spike. If anyone deserves to thrash his sorry ass, it should be,” Moonstruck said.

“I owe him big time too for trying to turn me into his personal sex slave,” Rainbow added; cracking her hooves.

“I’m right there with ya,” Arrowhead grunted.

“Looks like we’re gonna have to form a line,” Hopeful suggested.

“Has anyone seen my crowbar?” Rebel asked; looking around for where it might have landed.

Crowe couldn’t believe it, the ponies that preached on and on about friendship were forming a line to beat him into a bloody pulp. This was insane! His panic stricken eyes desperately looked to the 3 princesses for mercy.

“Hey, y-y-you guys are supposed to be the royal protectors; keepers of the peace! They’re going to tear me apart! You can’t just let them do this,” Crowe pleaded. He clasped his hooves together, begging them to stop this. “Have mercy, I’m in enough pain as it is,” he wept.

Celestia, Luna and Twilight gave Crowe nothing but cold, silent indifference.

“Pain, did you just say you’re in pain?” Discord swiftly interjected.

The ponies were scattered to the sides by a sudden force. An enlarged Eagle claw and lion paw shoved the ponies aside; clearing a direct path to the cowering, cowardly yellow colt. Discord loomed like an ash black storm cloud before Crowe; preparing to unleash a hurricane’s worth of devastation down on Crowe for what he had done to Fluttershy, to his friends and to Celestia! Crowe knew the ponies were not aggressive by nature, but Discord, but Discord was capable of literally anything. He felt the color draining from his face just thinking about what the chaos spirit would do to him.

“You tried to take my Fluttershy and my sun princess away from me,” he snapped his claws and materialized 4 different portals. One featured fire and screams of pain, one had the sound of knives sharpening echoing, one rang with the sound of chainsaws revving and the last one had snarling dog-like voices growling and barking. Each one sounded like a world of unholy Hell and Crowe was seconds away from being dumped into one of them! “Not even you’re worst nightmares could prepare you for the PAIN I’m about to put you through,” he hissed.

Celestia rolled her eyes. Her beloved Dizzy has always been a handful. She found it strangely sweet to see how fiercely he was willing to defend her name by laying into Crowe, she really just wanted to see him sweat a little; bloodshed was not her cup of tea. Still, the sight brought a tiny smile to her face.

“I better stop this before it gets too out of control,” she raised a hoof to call off Discord. Her eyes widened in surprised when Applejack let loose a startling whistle call that halted everyone in their tracks. Discord glared back at the orange mare, he was visibly irritated and still itching to punish Crowe. “Yes, Applejack, do you object to this?” she curiously inquired.

“Not exactly princess, Ah just think that it ain’t right we keep doin’ things this way,” Discord’s curiosity got the better of him. He snapped his claws and sealed all the portals back up. Twilight and the others looked to Applejack as well; all visibly confused.

“What do you mean by that?” the princess of friendship asked.

“This varmint is the scummiest, slimiest, most rotten low-life in all of Equestria,” she stomped towards Crowe and leaned in close to his face; almost rubbing noses. The vile colt inched back anxiously. Her sudden surge of animosity was not something Crowe was comfortable with. “And he deserves everythin’ that’s comin’ to him and then some,” she sighed and pulled back. “But if were gonna punish him right, then Ah don’t think any of us are the right ponies for the job,” she looked towards Spike and Discord, “That also goes fer the both of ya, obviously.”

“I take it you have someone in mind?” Luna sounded almost eager as she spoke. The night princess peered over to Applejack. She couldn’t deny the twinge of malicious glee brewing inside of her, thinking about whom or what AJ was thinking of unleashing on Crowe. She’d almost been tempted to dirty her own hooves flattening that yellow rat for what he did to her precious Rebel. “Please, by all means,” she said approvingly.

The Southern mare approached Twilight. She took her off to the side and whispered something in her ear, something she made sure no pony else could hear. Twilight did a double take. “You want me to bring who?” Applejack repeated her silent suggestion. “Are you sure about this?” Twilight asked, Applejack confirmed with a simple nod. Twilight shrugged and decided to trust her friend’s suggestion and go on blind faith.

Twilight politely excused herself to her friends. She closed her eyes; concentrating on a very specific location.

POP!

Twilight vanished without telling anyone where she was going. Celestia and Luna looked at each other curiously; wondering where their fellow princess was heading off to and more importantly, who she was going to retrieve.

POP! POP!

Not too long after, Twilight returned with a very familiar cream colored female Pegasus. Hopeful instantly recognized his mother, Sweetheart.

“Mom, what in the world are you doing here?” Hopeful said; his eyes darted between Applejack and his mother.

The brown haired mare seemingly ignored her son and focused her attention squarely on the yellow colt surrounded by Applejack’s friends. Sweetheart looked to Applejack, she nodded in silent confirmation. That was all the information Sweetheart needed apparently. She approached Crowe. An icy silence settled in the populated throne room, all eyes looking eagerly to see what would become of this unusual encounter.

“So…you’re the one who hurt my son and his future fiancé?” she whispered mercilessly.

Hopeful was about to deny he had made Applejack his fiancé but the orange mare quickly cut him off.

“Forget it, she’s rollin,” she said flatly.

Crowe was at a loss for words. He felt an eerie sense of discomfort being observed by this intense, middle aged mare. It was difficult to explain. Sweetheart loomed over him like a guillotine blade, as if one wrong move or word would bring life ending consequences upon his head. The villainous stallion knew she was brought here to inflict some kind of punishment on him but he felt more assumingly confused than sincerely scared.

“Umm…okay…what is this supposed to be? What am I looking at here?” he asked tensely.

“I’ll tell you what you’re looking at,” Sweetheart’s hoof latched across Crowe’s neck; violently jerking him to her face. The savage daggers glimmering from Sweetheart’s stare sent deathly shivers down Crowe’s spine. “You’re looking at a nightmare, THAT’S what you’re looking at!” she shrieked.

Moonstruck, Spike, Rainbow, Rarity, Hopeful, Arrowhead, Discord, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rebel and the three princesses watched in voiceless shock as Sweetheart proceeded to ruthlessly attack Crowe with every ounce of pent up rage she had held inside. The colt screamed for mercy, for assistance of any kind but neither one ever came. Sweetheart dragged him into the fray several times. Loud girly shrieks and bones crunching erupted from the thunderous fight cloud.

“STAND STILL!” she howled.

Crowe tried to grab onto the ground to pull himself out of the fight and away from the murderous mare, but it was no use. Sweetheart grabbed Crowe’s tail with her teeth and yanked him back. His hooves screeched loudly across the castle floor; finding nothing to keep himself from being pulled back in. The ponies would flinch every once in a while. The beating Sweetheart gave Crowe was truly indescribable. No pony, not even Hopeful could have imagined Sweetheart was capable of such monstrous brutality.

Except for Applejack, she knew. 

She watched smugly as Crowe was eventually tossed aside like a plate of scraps; too chewed and mangled for even a dog to feast on. Crowe looked like he had been bent and twisted into a pretzel shaped heap. Sweetheart panted heavily. Her mane was a frazzled mess of odd hairs poking out; veins throbbing along her forehead.

Crowe wheezed stiffly. If it weren’t for the occasional twitch and groans of pain, Twilight would have thought Crowe was dead.

No one could process what they had just seen, especially not Hopeful. Rainbow finally understood why Applejack was so terrified of Sweetheart at the hospital. She was just grateful she was on the maniac mother’s good side.

“Well…I certainly didn’t see that coming,” Discord’s jaw dropped slightly, he was oddly impressed by the unassuming Pegasus and that was no easy feat. He rubbed his eyes to make sure he had seen what he saw. “I never thought I would say this but I don’t think I could have done it better myself,” he exclaimed.

“Um thank you Miss…Sweetheart was it? I think that-that should do it,” Celestia said; gulping uneasily. The ivory princess lightly nudged Discord with her hoof. “Dizzy, would you mind sending what’s left of Crowe to Tartarus? He’ll have plenty of time to heal up in his cell,” she said; regaining her composure.

The horned trickster stared numbingly at Crowe’s mangled form. He snapped out of his daze and quickly nodded. Discord snapped his claws and transported Crowe instantly to an open cell in Tartarus.

It was finally over.

Moonstruck curiously looked to Twilight.

“So, what happens now?” he asked.

She looked to him with a fond, loving smile. Twilight kissed his lips sweetly and nuzzled his cheek with hers. Both ponies blushed, their faces flashing an adorable shade of rosy redness.

“Now…you’re home…you’re home with me and our friends, that’s all that matters. Welcome home, Moonstruck,” she said.

Moonstruck smiled lovingly in return.



To be continued…