//------------------------------// // Chapter 21: Comeback // Story: Doomwar // by Boltstrike58 //------------------------------// Equis, Everfree Forest Twilight's lungs seemed to have stopped working. She couldn't bring herself to take a breath. This couldn't be real. This couldn't be happening. The Tree of Harmony couldn't be destroyed. Because if it was gone, that meant the Elements... Then she saw them. The Elements of Harmony, hurled from the blast, came plummeting to the ground, falling like small meteors. Then they hit the ground, Generosity, Honesty, Loyalty, Laughter, Kindness, and Magic all shattering upon impact. Twilight opened her mouth to scream again, but she couldn't make a sound. It was like a nightmare, only it was real. Thor, from his injured position, managed to see the event as well, his own jaw dropping open. The others began to take notice as well. Tony, as he blasted Titanium Man away, saw the broken Tree, with the chunks of crystal lying around, along with Thor, with the axe sticking out of his back. Blood was beginning to drip from his wound. "Oh damn," muttered the inventor. Doom paid them no heed, stepping over the broken remnants of the Tree, moving to the center. A bright orange glow conspicuously stuck out of the place where the Tree had once been embedded in the earth. Doom walked right up to it, reaching into the depths of the ground with one armored hand, picking up the source of the orange light. He held it up, revealing a small, oval-shaped gemstone sitting in the palm of his hand. Thor's eyes widened as he saw the gem. "The Soul Stone..." he gasped. Doom's fingers closed around the Stone. "At last, it belongs to Doom," he proclaimed. "Now, for phase two." The orange glow spread from his hand to the rest of his body. Soon enough, Doom's entire body was obscured by a blinding orange light. Grunting from his position on the ground, Tony fired another repulsor blast at Doom. However, the blast simply ricocheted off of something invisible, flying backwards and striking Tony directly in the helmet. "Son of a..." Tony groaned, not wanting to curse in front of the ponies, considering what Twilight did to him last time. The light around Doom glowed even brighter, eclipsing him and the broken stump of the Tree of Harmony from view. The fighting stopped, as even Doom's minions were transfixed by the sight. Even Cinch and Neighsay, still frozen in the thralls of Doom's mind control, remained still. Then Doom spoke to them. Not from his place in the clearing, but from everywhere. Or at least that's what it felt like. Doom's voice reverberated in their skulls, stabbing into their very souls. Everyone heard it. Everyone felt it. Not just everyone in that canyon, but everyone on Equis, and everyone on Earth. People of Earth. Creatures of Equis. I speak to all of you now, all at once, through your souls, to bring you news of great joy. I am your new lord and master, Dr. Doom, and I now control both of your worlds. With this power, I can now control your souls, though I hope that I will not have to. I would prefer my new citizens still had their autonomous thought. As I was saying, I am now master of both your worlds. Rest assured, this is for the best. Doom is far superior to any of your pathetic rulers from before. Doom will ensure all your needs are provided, that you are taken care of. Oh, and don't be counting on your Avengers or your Elements of Harmony to come and dethrone Doom. Both have failed to stop me. However, I am, above all, a reasonable man. Thus, I grant you two weeks to prepare. Two weeks before I begin to reshape the world into what it always should have been. Thank you for listening. All those present in the clearing were frozen. Not by some mystical force, but rather by the sheer surprise as to what was going on. Doom had access to a power that apparently allowed him to manipulate all souls across existence. Fear gripped all the Avengers, as they watched the orange glow that continued to obscure Doom. "So, uh..." muttered Spider-Man, "are we gonna talk about this?" "I don't think any of us were prepared for today," Pepper commented. "Guys, we need to help Thor!" Tony screamed, running to the fallen thunder god. "Okay, big guy, how bad does it hurt?" "Well..." the asgardian replied. "There is an axe in my back." "Don't pull it out!" yelled Bruce. "He'll bleed out!" Thor grunted. "Forget me, we've got bigger problems. We have to stop Doom, he's destroyed the Elements of Harmony—" "Thor," Twilight cut him off. When several pairs of eyes snapped onto her, she pointed with one armored hoof. "Look." Thor looked down at his body, discovering that he was enveloped in a magenta glow of light. His brown eyes had transformed into solid orbs of the same color, and a faint mist of the same color emanated from his mouth. "Just like me..." Steve breathed. Twilight's mind kicked into overdrive as she tried to think of what this meant. There was one possible explanation, but she had no idea how to test it. If it were true, though, it might be the only way to save Thor's life. She looked over at the shattered remains of the Elements of Harmony. The broken pieces didn't react at all, but then again, they hadn't when Nightmare Moon had broken the orbs. There was still a chance. Taking the initiative, Twilight ignited her horn, using her magic to scoop up all of the shards. "We have to get everyone who's glowed like that!" she shouted, drawing the attention of the others. "Rainbow! Rarity! Fluttershy! Pinkie! Applejack! We need all of you, too! We need—" "Uh, Twilight?" Carol interrupted. The alicorn looked, and Carol pointed at Doom's minions. "I think we might have more pressing concerns." Indeed, the familiar orange light of the Soul Stone had spread to Doom's minions, bathing them in it's ethereal glow. They all got to their feet or hooves, staring down the Avengers, their eyes glowing the same color. "Stand aside for the glory that is Doom!" they all proclaimed, as if with one voice. "Oh, great," Rhodey complained, priming his weapons once more. "Now we have to do this song and dance again." Doom's minions charged, but suddenly found themselves blocked off by a large, golden shield that surrounded the Avengers. Confused, the team turned towards the cause, Wong, who was straining to keep the barrier in place. Doom's minions pounded on it, but they couldn't shatter it with pure force. "Uh, not that we don't appreciate the gesture," said Rainbow, "but don't we kinda need to defeat them?" "There's something else..." Wong grunted, pointing to Dr. Strange. When they looked, Strange was indeed wrapped in the thralls of concentration, his pendant flaring with a bright green glow. "What're you doing?" asked T'Challa. "Doom's...trying to use...the Soul Stone to control...us, too..." Strange grunted. "I'm using...the Time Stone energy...to hold it back...I think Vision's safe...but the rest..." Indeed, a faint orange glow phased in an out around Strange, alongside the green of the Time Stone. "Wait, you had the Time Stone the whole time?" exclaimed Loki. "Focus, Loki!" Thor snapped, then immediately grunted in pain from the axe still in his back. "Can't...hold it...much longer..." Strange groaned. "Wait a minute, I have an idea!" Sunset chimed in. She turned to Wong. "Can you open a portal back to the Compound?" "Maybe..." The mage, though clearly struggling, raised the hand holding his sling ring, and made a circle, creating the familiar portal of sparks. Inside the portal was the living room of the Avengers Compound, where the Dazzlings sat on the couch. "What the—?!" exclaimed Adagio, leaping a good distance into the air, her horn sparking with loose magic. "Long story, no time!" Sunset ignited her horn, grabbing Adagio, Aria, and Sonata, pulling them through the portal and to the collected Avengers. "You're, uh...going somewhere with this, Sunset?" asked Autumn Blaze. "Listen, girls!" Sunset yelled. "Doom's trying to take over our minds! Strange is holding it back for now, but it won't last!" "So?! Why'd you drag us here?!" Aria shouted back. "The mind control magic inherent in your singing might be enough to counteract Doom's power for longer! You have to sing again!" "Are you crazy?!" Adagio roared. "We can't sing, remember?! No pendants, no magic!" "You told me that you had contact with the gems for over one-thousand years! If you had them that long, some of the magic must remain inside you!" "She's right," Wong grunted as he struggled to maintain the barrier. "I can sense Equestrian magic inside of the three of you. But it's different than the normal, atmospheric magic." Wanda hurriedly reinforced the barrier with her own powers to help him. "B-but we still can't sing!" Sonata insisted. "We don't know how to access it!" "Maybe...you won't need to," Strange mused. He snapped his fingers, and another tao mandela appeared on his hand. He waved it over the three Dazzlings, scanning their very being for traces of magic. "It's there. You just need a little push." A wordless glance between Wong and Strange was all that was needed. Wong deactivated his barrier, allowing Wanda to take over the duty of shielding the Avengers. His hands sparked with golden light as he laid them atop Adagio and Aria's heads, the eldritch magic trailing from his fingertips down into their bodies. A third tendril of light lanced off of his hand, stabbing into Sonata's head. All three Dazzlings opened their mouths, possibly to complain about this, but words failed them. Their eyes widened, and their jaws dropped, as Wong fed the magic within them and it grew, swelling to fill the entirety of their beings. This was familiar. This was the feeling that came to them when they sang. Only, instead of the endless hunger that came with it, this had a more...peaceful feeling. Like they wanted to sing not to create chaos, but bring serenity to all. Adagio looked to her sisters, then back at Wong. "We can do it," she affirmed. Satisfied, Wong released his magical grip on the Dazzlings, letting them close their eyes. Adagio, as always, led them as they began to sing once more. There were no real words, just sheer music, flowing from three mouths and into the ears of the Avengers. The musical magic sought out the infections Doom was creating with the Soul Stone, purging them from the souls of the Avengers with sharp efficiency. "Well, that works," Clint commented. "I don't suppose they can sing Doom's goons out of their trance?" "Doom's minions are too far gone," Wong explained. "They have no reason to resist his control. But we'll be safe long enough to fight them." "Good luck, Twilight," remarked Celestia. With one mighty stomp, she sent out a dome-shaped blast of magic that pushed all of Doom's soldiers away. Wanda finally dropped the barrier, and the assorted Avengers dashed outwards to take on their enemies once again. Luna got off to a start by bucking Chrysalis in the chest, sending the changeling flying. Amora prepared to blast the princess from behind, only for an invisible Loki to sneak up on her, seize her and hurl her away. "Looks like we have to deal with this nonsense again," he complained, drawing duel daggers. Luna said nothing, merely charging her horn for her next blast. Loki glanced sadly at her, his mind recalling the conversation he'd had with Barnes a while back. If he truly wanted to make amends, perhaps this was his last chance. "Luna...for what it's worth, I'm sorry I lied to you," he finally admitted. "And for what it's worth...I'm not proud of my actions on Midgard. I really am sorry." Luna didn't turn to look at him, but she did respond. "Are you apologizing because you mean it, or because you just want me to speak to you again?" "I mean it!" Loki insisted. "You know I never wanted to cause you pain. I missed you. That day you got banished to the moon...that was one of the worst days of my life. I'm truly sorry." Luna made a brief sideways glance at him, but in that second, Loki saw something in her eyes. Something that resembled the way she used to look at him before everything. Loki allowed himself one small smile, before charging off to meet the opposition once again. With that taken care of (for the moment, at least) Twilight turned back to the orange light obscuring Doom from their vision. Her five best friends gathered around her, along with the six Avengers who'd displayed the strange glowing. "So what's your idea, Twi?" asked Tony, raising the visor of his suit once again. "I think there's a way we can stop Doom and save Thor all at the same time," insisted the alicorn. "We all have to go in there together." Her horn lit up once more, levitating the broken chunks of the Elements of Harmony over to them. "And we'll need these." The Avengers, being the only ones with hands, took the broken pieces into their hands. "But the Elements are just pieces, now," said Rainbow. "Even if they were working, would they be a match for an Infinity Stone?" "We have to try," reasoned Natasha. "She's right," agreed Spider-Man. "And if I'm going down, I'm going down fighting." "But I'm not a fighter!" protested Fluttershy. "I can't—" "We'll protect you, Fluttershy," Steve assured the small pegasus. "But I don't think we can do this without you." Fluttershy swallowed, but she made no more attempts to back away. "Together," Tony reminded everyone, the injured Thor hanging off him by one arm. The twelve Avengers walked into the orange light that eclipsed Doom, and vanished.