//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: The Final Showdown // Story: The Pony Guard // by TheClownPrinceofCrime //------------------------------// Scar and Sombra growled in heated anger as they saw their combined adversaries united together in the Crystal Empire. Scar roared in anger while the flames surrounded the crystal castle; Sombra ignited his horn in fury as he likewise prepared himself for the final battle. Their army was terrified of the heroic Pride Landers at first until Ushari hissed at them. “Don’t even think about surrendering to them!” he snapped. “Destroy them all! Once they are out of the way, Equestria will be ours for the taking!” The evil animals looked towards each other in confusion until they eagerly growled in determination. “Right! Come on, fellas! Let’s take them all on!” Janja commanded, wickedly laughing. “Yeah! I’ll take on that big lizard fellow! He looks so tasty! Hahahahaha!!” Cheezi crazily chuckled. Simba turned to his subjects with courage on his face. “Pride Landers, we may not know the inhabitants of this world, but we know that they are in imminent danger as long as Scar and his allies roam around the multiverse! United, we stand! Divided, we fall!” Then all the lionesses roared again as their battle cry. Spike, Kiara, and the Lion Guard looked on as they saw the Pride Landers prepared for battle. Mufasa himself smiled on them with his nod of approval. “Wow... that’s your family? Cool! I should meet with them to get to know them, Kiara!” Spike said. “You can do that later! Scar is getting ready to attack!” Ono alerted. The Outlanders growled with fury as they readied themselves for a fight. The battle between good and evil was about to commence as both sides glared at each other; both sides hoped to overcome the other for different purposes—one to save the world, and the other to conquer the world. “ATTACK!!” Scar commanded. His army then ran forward to attack their enemies. “ATTACK!!” Simba ordered as well. His army ran toward them as well with the same type of energy they all had when they fought against the hyenas many years ago on Pride Rock. Spike held Kiara tight as they both witnessed both armies clashing together. “Come on! Let’s help them out!” Kion ordered. “To the Pride Lands and—!” “LION GUARD DEFEND!” the rest of them finished, charging towards Janja and his hyenas. Simba slashed two crocodiles on their faces, kicked three hyenas away, and tackled two jackals before they could touch Nala. The said lioness grabbed Chungu by the tail and threw him against Cheezi; they both had stars swirling around their heads as they fell down unconscious. She gave a soft smile to her husband Simba before she resumed her fight against other opponents. “You cannot win, Janja! Give it up now!” Kion demanded, glaring at him. “Never, Kion!” defied Janja. “Not with all the possible food that this world has to offer! I mean, catching delicious prey from the Pride Lands and here? That’s a whole new food supply we will relish from! Hahahahaha!!!” Growling angrily, Kion tackled him on the ground and tried to slash him with his claws; however, Janja kicked him off him, grabbed his tail, and threw him against a wall. Fuli and Bunga charged at him to help Kion, but the hyena leader jumped above them and landed behind them. He swatted Bunga away and kicked Fuli to the ground. “There ain’t nothing you can do to stop us, Lion Guard!” Janja taunted. “Scar will torch this place with fire, and we all will savor our spoils! Right, boys?” His hyena companions laughed in agreement with him. “Say goodbye, Kion,” said Janja, preparing to give the deadly blow to his enemy. But suddenly, green fire enveloped his butt and the butts of the other hyenas. They ran away screaming in pain from the flames. As Kiara quickly ran forward to help her brother, Fuli, and Bunga up, they saw Spike grinning smugly with smokes coming out of his nostrils. “Thanks,” Kion thanked. “Don’t mention it,” replied the dragon. “The name’s Spike. I’m Kiara’s best friend. You must be...?” “Kion, the leader of the Lion Guard. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Spike.” Kion smiled. “Once this is over, we will talk more.” “Definitely!” Spike agreed. He and Kiara ran together as Kion and his friends resumed their battle. But before they can run to safety, shadowy tendrils surrounded them. Sombra appeared before them with fury and hatred in his sinister green eyes. “Did you really think you could both escape me that easily?! I AM THE KING OF DARKNESS!! Nopony flees from Sombra!!” “We’re not afraid of you, Sombra! No matter how many times you attempt to conquer Equestria, we will always triumph in every step of the way!” Spike bravely defied. Kiara smiled at him after hearing his courageous words. “If you want to get to Kiara and her friends, you will have to go through me first!” “As you wish...” Sombra growled. He shot beams of dark magic at Spike. He dodged every one of the beams before he breathed fire on him. Sombra screamed in pain from the flames torching his shadowy frame. He grabbed Kiara and ran across the road while both armies were still in battle. Mufasa and Scar glared at each other; brother and brother once again met face to face ever since Scar killed Mufasa during the wildebeest stampede years ago. Seeing his evil murderous brother once again, the righteous Lion made no move except disapprovingly glare at him. “Scar... your reign of evil must come to an end. Neither you nor your army shall prevail.” “Don’t you dare patronize me, Mufasa!” Scar snapped. “You always preached about unity and strength, but never the things that go MY way! You were nothing more than a complete waste of a king!!!” “Your insults mean nothing to me, Scar. I am asking you only once to leave this peaceful world of the ponies and the Pride Lands for good,” Mufasa demanded, before his cloudy face darkened with his righteous indignation. “If not, I will be forced to rely on less civil methods of surrender.” “YOU DARE THREATEN ME?!” Scar shrieked, his flames brightening up by his wrath. “I HAVE KILLED YOU BEOFRE IN LIFE, AND I WILL GLADLY DISINTEGRATE YOU... WITH MY FLAMES!” He suddenly breathed fire shots at Mufasa; thinking ahead of him, he disappeared before the fiery blasts could even touch him. He reappeared above Scar and opened his eyes wide open to allow tiny drops of water to pour on Scar. The drops fell on Scar which greatly terrified him. He winced in pain as the dew drops touched him. Then a slightly big abundance of rain fell on his fiery head from Mufasa. “I have wept for you, my brother. I wept over the fact that you allowed your pride and arrogance to cloud your judgment. Had you simply been humble and kind in life, you would not have suffered this predicament.” “YOU LIE!!” Scar screamed. “Those sentiments made you so soft and weak! I have always been greater than you! I will never be stopped!” He then breathed fire on Mufasa’s face. Mufasa winced from the fire and flew back from his enraged brother. Scar morphed himself into his grown body made of fire. He was no longer just a head. Mufasa did likewise; Scar then generated flame-like spears and launched them toward Mufasa. The latter also generated spears but made out of pure light. He sliced through the fiery spears with the spears of light and charged toward Scar. He smashed Scar on the ground and pinned him there. “Stand down now, Scar.” Mufasa calmly yet sternly commanded. “No! You stand down!” Scar shot back. He slashed Mufasa in the face and pushed him back. Roaring in rage, he tackled Mufasa and bit on his throat. Mufasa then kicked his nemesis off him and slashed him more with his claws although made of misty water. The more he touched him with water the more pain Scar felt. The latter breathed more fire on him to force him back. “Once I defeat you, all of the Pride Lands shall know forevermore who is their rightful king!” Scar boasted. “AND THERE IS NOTHING YOU CAN DO TO STOP ME!” “Then... you leave me no choice, brother...” Mufasa solemnly spoke. He slowly arose in the air and focused his eyes on Scar. His eyes beamed with light which summoned all the Kings of the Past amongst the dark clouds. The Lion Kings drew close together and gently blew into the air. Then a heavy rain poured on Scar. He screamed in absolute agony. “No, no, NOOOO!!! You can’t do this!! Not me! Not me!! NOOOOOOaahhhhhhh.....” Scar’s voice died down as his fiery body decreased in size then became extinguished. The most evil villain of the Pride Lands... was defeated forever. Ushari looked on in horror as his beloved master was extinguished before his very eyes. He looked around him to see all his comrades including Janja and his hyenas fall on the ground defeated by Simba’s army. He tried to slither away until he met Mufasa’s gazing cloudy yet shining eyes. He backed away in fear as he beheld the Great Lion of the Pride Lands. “You shall never bother the inhabitants of this planet, Ushari. I hereby send you back... to the Outlands where you belong.” Mufasa then roared mightily which sent the evil snake and his allies all the way to the sky where a portal was opened for them. It closed as soon as they entered in. All the fires that rampaged in the Pride Lands were extinguished as well once rain poured on them. *********** King Sombra faced Spike again with rage in his eyes. He continued blasting him again before Spike effortlessly dodged them all while breathing fire on his shadowy tendrils. The villain morphed into a giant ball with spikes and rolled toward him. “Man, I wish I got wings! Oh well... I guess I could improvise,” said Spike. He ran as fast as he could until he swiftly made a U-turn around the evil unicorn. The latter morphed from a spiked ball into a shadowy hawk. He angrily screeched in pursuit of his dangerous prey. “Hey, Spike! Give me a paw here!” Kiara waved. He gladly assisted her by grabbing her paw to let her jump from his back. She gave a soft roar (although not fully mature enough) and landed on Sombra’s back. She scratched his feathers off and bit his left wing. He screeched in pain. He crashed down on the ground after the daring cub jumped right down unto Spike’s arms. The villain returned back into his original form and fiercely glared at the dynamic duo. “You have been a torn on my side ever since I first returned here, dragon! You will regret ever challenging me!” “Oh yeah? How do you like this for a challenge?” Spike smirked. He jumped in the air and landed right on Sombra’s head. The latter vainly attempted to get him off him. “Get off me! I will tear you apart, you annoying little pest! I AM KING SOMBRA!!” Sombra threatened. However, Spike took a hold of his horn and grinned at the now trembling king. “And I... am Spike.” Then he yanked his horn out of his head and burnt it to dust and ashes. Sombra then twitched out of control in front of the castle; bright shining rays of light started to crack his shadowy form. He bellowed in fury and defeat as he exploded once again. All the shadows vanished into thin air as soon as he was destroyed forever. Spike landed safely on the ground. He witnessed the sun fully shining in the blue sky again as the dark clouds were pushed back. All the heroes cheered in celebration of their victory moments before they gathered around Spike with warm smiles on their faces. “You did it, Spike! You defeated Sombra!” Kiara shouted, hugging Spike graciously. He was surprised at first until he hugged her back. He then noticed the Lion Guard coming to them with grateful looks. “Hooray for Spike!!” Bunga cheered. “HOORAY!!” they all said.