//------------------------------//
// Episode 30: "Attack on the Distant Lands, Part 4" 
// Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 11 
// by twilightsparkle3562 
//------------------------------//

"PREVIOUSLY ON MY LITTLE PONY"

…

Rainbow Dash: "Let's get them, you guys!"

Queen Chrysalis: "By the time I'm done with you, I'll have your wings plucked off and mounted!"

Cozy Glow: "Where are you going?"

Lord Tirek: "This is my fight and mine alone. Besides, I don't want you getting hurt by my father because of me."

Tigerhawk: "Let her go, I order you!"

Queen Chrysalis: "No one orders me to do ANYTHING!"

Sendak: "You've... come back!"

Lord Tirek: "I've come to get you out, master."

The Storm King: "Hello, Tempest Shadow."

Tempest Shadow: "I've been waiting for this for a long time!"

Twilight Sparkle: "All you want is revenge, swift and mighty revenge."

King Vorak: "Welcome home, my son."

Lord Tirek: "With all due respect, my emperor…he's mine!"

King Vorak: You have chosen your own fate, Tirek and when this is all over, you will wish you'd never betrayed the family I gave you!"

…

…

Staring his father down, Lord Tirek felt at long last that he was about to get the revenge he so desperately wanted. He had death and revenge in his eyes. "Family?" He scoffed. "You never gave me a family."

"Of course I gave you a family," Vorak angrily retorted. "I gave you your mother, I gave you your brother, I gave you this kingdom that would have been yours to rule had you simply obeyed me!"

Growing steadily more angry by the second, Tirek began to charge up his horns in the intention of striking his father with them.

"But when you kidnapped that pony, Sendak," Vorak continued, looking over at the elder centaur. "You set forth a chain of events that have led to this moment!"

Charging his own horns, Vorak prepared to fire a blast at Sendak, but Tirek stood in the way.

"Stay away from him! Stay away from my master!" Tirek thundered, but Vorak wasn't listening. He fired his magic at Tirek, striking him in the chest and knocking him over. As Tirek laid on the floor, Grogar snickered as he and Scarface disappeared into the portal caused by Grogar's bell. "All right, if that's the way you want it…"

Firing from his horns, Tirek attempted to bring his father down with his magic, but Vorak casted a shield spell with his own magic. Yelling, Tirek stormed across the throne room and the battle between father and son was on.

Meanwhile, down in the dungeons, Scorponok and Tarantulas were still chained up in their cells having been weakened by the fierce interrogations. "Well," Scorponok groaned as they heard the fighting from outside the cell walls. "I guess this is it. We're about to be slagged!"

"Don't say that!" Tarantulas remarked. "It was all part of the plan, wasn't it? To hide the mission Emperor Grogar gave to us, right?"

"Of course it was." Scorponok grumbled. Looking towards the front of their cell, the two Predacons saw Grogar and his pet grizzly bear emerge from their portal.

"Have you placed the bombs around the castle?" Grogar asked of them.

"O-of course, my emperor," Scorponok stammered. "As you have... commanded."

"Good," Grogar said, using his magic to force open the cell doors before freeing Tarantulas and Scorponok from their bonds while at the same time, magically healing them of their wounds from the interrogation. "Now get up and prepare yourselves to carry out my orders."

Teleporting Scorponok and Tarantulas away, Grogar was just about to leave himself when the sounds of commotion were heard from down the stairs. Turning around to investigate, Grogar saw a wounded centaur struggling to make his way down the stairs, collapsing from his injuries. "Scarface." He ordered his pet bear who growled in agreement.

…

Back in the square, Sombra struggled to his hooves as Twilight, her fellow princesses and Scorpan stared down at Cozy Glow. "Face it Cozy Glow, you're outmatched," Twilight declared with her horn charging. "Why don't you just surrender now and save us all the trouble?"

"I NEVER surrender, Princess Twilight!" Cozy Glow roared, determined to fight on despite her exterior damages. "I've worked far too hard to get to where I am today! I'm not about to let you take it away from me!"

You never worked a day in your life, brat! You only got by because others were helping you! But now your luck's run out!" Spike cried, much to Cozy Glow's irritation.

Charging her horn, Cozy darted at Twilight and her friends, just as Scorpan roared loudly and tackled her into several buildings, only to be sent flying courtesy of Cozy's alicorn magic.

At the same time, Sombra tapped into his crystal powers and created a crystal pillar towering over the square, aiming his horn and firing dark magic at various creatures, regardless of which side they were on.

"Look out!" Twilight yelled causing herself and her friends to scatter about. The blasts of Sombra's magic hit Silverbolt while he was fighting Lavan, along with Blackarachnia, Skids and Mudflap.

Just then, Celestia and Luna saw what was happening as they fought Megatron. "Sombra's attacking, sister!" Luna shouted to Celestia. "We should help our friends!"

"Aw, and leave me without saying goodbye?" Megatron taunted. "Have you no manners?! At least let me give you a parting gift!" Transforming into his dragon mode, Megatron rammed into Celestia and Luna, pushing both sisters back. Split between dealing with Megatron and helping Twilight and the others, the two sisters were in a difficult position.

"Well, isn't this a nice surprise?" Megatron remarked. "Two flying horses looking like deer in the headlights, yes!"

Just then, Celestia and Luna saw Rhinox and the other Maximals running towards Vorak's kingdom! Seizing an opportunity, Megatron transformed back into his robot mode and aiming his dragon head at them, proceeded to fire a blast of ice out of the mouth. Before both sisters could react, the ice blasts struck them! They screamed while the ice encased them inside the frozen blocks.

With the sisters frozen, Megatron laughed as they fell hard from the sky and landed on the hard surface below just as Rattrap and Dinobot were running by. With the sisters out of commission, Megatron flew back towards Vorak's kingdom.

"What was that?!" Dinobot shouted as he emerged from a bush.

"Raining frozen flying horses!" Rattrap cried, also emerging from a hiding spot and going towards the frozen Celestia and Luna. "Celestia and Luna! That mega jerk's gone too far this time!"

"Who are Celestia and Luna?" Dinobot asked.

"It's a long story, Chopperface," Rattrap answered as Barricade, Dinobot II and several donkey soldiers advanced towards them. "Right now we gotta protect them!"

But before Barricade and his platoon could strike, they were greeted by the random blasts of fire coming from an unlikely source. Emerging from the clouds was an unlikely source.

"Depth Charge?" Rattrap asked as the robotic manta ray landed in front of them.

"Leave them to me!" Depth Charge declared, his weapons in his hands as he fired them at Barricade and the others. "Go and help the others!"

Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash, with the help of Tigatron and Airrazor, stared down the battered and bruised Queen Chrysalis, alongside Inferno, Terrorsaur and Quickstrike.

"Why don't you just surrender?" Inferno suggested while cocking his gun "Because if you don't, you shall burn!"

"Burn?" Rainbow weakly answered while coughing. "I don't burn. I…" Intending to produce a Sonic Rainboom to blow Chrysalis and the three Predacons away, she attempted to fly into the sky, but her injuries prevented her from doing so. "Oh horse apples, not now!" She muttered, much to Chrysalis' delight as the former queen charged up her horn, her sickly green eyes glowing.

"Can't seem to fly?" Chrysalis taunted. "Well let me put you out of your misery!" Charging her horn, she prepared to administer a fatal blow to Rainbow only for Tigatron to act quickly, firing his gun at her. But Chrysalis sensed this and fired her magic at him instead, hitting him square in the chest.

"You'll pay for that, you overgrown bug!" Airrazor snarled, firing darts from her wrists at Chrysalis only to be intercepted by Quickstrike's green blasts.

"Uh, uh, uh," Quickstrike taunted. "You don't get to win like that this time, little birdie!"

Getting back to his feet, Tigatron shook off the blasts and charged to Rainbow and Airrazor's side, determined to protect both of them.

"Can we merge back into Tigerhawk?" Airrazor asked.

"I'm too damaged, I might not survive another merge." Tigatron groaned with sparks coming out of his chest.

With her lover badly damaged, Airrazor had to think of something fast to get them out of the situation that they found themselves in.

At the same time, Scorponok and Tarantulas had been teleported to the outer edges of the castle and they prepared to carry out the mission that Grogar assigned to them: To detonate bombs that would bring Vorak's castle down for good! "This'll be a blast they'll never forget!" Tarantulas evilly cackled as he set the time limit on one of the bombs. "Oh, I can see the looks on their faces now!"

…

…

Arriving in the square, Rhinox, Cheetor, Rattrap and Dinobot were greeted by the sight of two sides fighting each other, both having taken various hits. Just then, the two of them were greeted by the sight of a far more pressing fight between Tempest Shadow and the Storm King.

"You always were a weak little pony!" The Storm King taunted as he struck Tempest Shadow with his staff. "And until you started training with me you were even weaker."

"You used me!" Tempest snapped, kicking the Storm King back into a cart full of hay.

"It's kind of what I do, Tempest." The Storm King remarked, jumping back to his feet. "But hey, nice promotion you got, right? Too bad it's going to be short lived."

Insulted by his words, Tempest proceeded to headbutt the Storm King in the chest and into a wall! But the satyr pushed Tempest back to the ground and onto the body of a dead pony soldier.

Using her unstable magic, Tempest fired a blast of magic at the Storm King who playfully created a shield around himself to deflect the blast.

"You'll have to do better than that, Tempest! You don't honestly think you're gonna defeat me with friendship, do you?" The Storm King laughed, jumping from building to building and dodging the blasts from Tempest's unstable horn with her magic instead hitting other fighters.

Snarling, Tempest now began to develop a look of anger deep in her eyes. No dead bodies of soldiers, regardless of either side was going to stop her from erasing the Storm King from her life forever! "Just you wait, Storm King! You're gonna slip up sooner and later, and this time Grogar isn't here to bring you back!"

Meanwhile, back in the throne room, Tirek and Vorak continued to duel it out, both sides determined to overpower the other. "Why don't you just surrender to me, son?" Vorak questioned. "It's not worth it fighting me, you can't win."

"Never!" Tirek cried, preparing to charge at his father again while protecting his mentor at the same time. "I will never surrender to you! You never even gave me a chance! As soon as I started taking lessons from Sendak you wanted nothing to do with me!" Taking a broken piece of wood in his hands, Tirek threw the wood at his father, only for it to be deflected.

Roaring, Tirek clenched his fist and attempted to punch Vorak in the chest, but the elder centaur was anticipating this. Grabbing Tirek's fist, he proceeded to turn it around in an attempt to twist Tirek's wrist. Groaning in pain, Tirek fell to his knees as he tried to release the grip from his father's hands. "Yes! Bow to me, Tirek, and accept me as your father, lord and master!" Vorak commanded.

Meanwhile, just overhead, Megatron arrived at the kingdom and proceeded to turn his attention towards the castle. At the same time, Grogar and Scarface emerged on the roof of the castle and seeing that Megatron was arriving, Grogar used his magic to pull Megatron in.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Megatron demanded, trying to struggle against the grip of Grogar's magic.

"Megatron," Grogar replied. "For a while now, I know you've been trying to get away from me on the moon. So, I have a task for you…"

"It's a trick! I know it is!" Megatron growled.

"No," Grogar calmly replied. "What if I let you claim this castle for yourself and your Predacons? All you have to do is kill the king."

"What king?" Megatron asked.

Using his bell's powers, Grogar showed Vorak attempting to further submit Tirek into surrender by twisting his wrist around. "Save Tirek, and the castle and this whole kingdom…is yours." Grogar answered.

Not wanting to be denied the opportunity, Megatron agreed.

…

With his father further damaging his wrist, Tirek began to feel his entire body start to go numb. "Surrender to me and I shall release you," Vorak hissed. "The more you resist, the more the pain grows, Tirek."

Fearing that he was about to truly suffer his demise, Tirek prepared himself for the end.

Suddenly, Megatron broke through the window and roared loudly, pushed Vorak away from Tirekm slamming him against a wall as he landed in front of Vorak.

"Thank…thank you." Tirek gasped as Megatron looked over at him while Vorak struggled to get back to his feet.

"Who…who are you?" Vorak coughed.

"I am Megatron," Megatron announced. "Leader of the Predacons who shall now take command of your castle."

"Never!" Vorak shouted and fired his magic at Megatron, but the Predacon's body deflected the blasts, sending them throughout parts of the throne room, causing it to crumble further. "I will never let you take command of my kingdom, not so long as I still draw breath!"

"We shall see about that!" Megatron declared, just as Rhinox and the other Maximals proceeded into the square where the defenders were beginning to lose their grip on defending the kingdom.

"Jumping Gyros!" Cheetor exclaimed as the body of a gargoyle was flung at them, causing them to duck. "Talk about your wild parties!"

"This isn't a wild party, kid," Rhinox cried while powering up his double machine guns. "Open fire!"

Doing as they were told, the Maximals opened fire on the enemy army, some of their firepower striking the tall dark crystal pillar that Sombra was standing on and shattering it!

Before he could fall far though, Sombra used his powers to create another pillar, standing on it and shooting down at the Maximals. His firepower allowing the donkey soldiers and Predacons to start making their way into the castle. "You fools think your silly toys are a match for my intelligence? You don't even realize your efforts are in vain, nothing you try will work!"

"They're breaking through!" Spike shouted to Twilight, directing her to the donkey soldiers breaching the castle walls. However, Twilight was struck by a blast of alicorn magic from Cozy Glow in the back.

"Shouldn't have listened to the dragon, Princess," Cozy taunted in a sarcastic tone. "Now who's next to party with me?!"

"That does it, young filly! You're about to get the beat down of a century!" Rarity snarled, lifting a wooden cart and throwing it at Cozy Glow, to which she managed to break apart with a shield.

"Save her for later," Applejack cried, stopping Rarity from further confronting Cozy Glow. "Grogar's forces are breakin' into the castle! This is all just a distraction."

"We've gotta stop them somehow!" Fluttershy shouted. "Come on!"

Pinkie Pie then yelled to Cozy. "We'll be back for you, young filly! And that's if our robot friends don't find you first! So enjoy your victory for now, because we'll be back to crash your victory party in epic fashion!"

Little did any of the princesses know of the bombs that Scorponok and Tarantulas had planted on Grogar's orders around the castle, bombs that were about to go off.

Meanwhile, while the defending forces tried to desperately stop the advancing donkey soldiers from getting to Vorak's castle, Tempest Shadow and the Storm King continued their duel. With cuts and bruises all over her body, Tempest was determined to stay in the fight against her former superior despite her injuries.

"You fight strong, Commander Tempest," The Storm King mockingly declared as he towered over the broken horned unicorn as she struggled to her feet. "Yet you could never make the hard decisions that I could. My only mistake was sending you to hunt down those ponies, letting them work their way into your heart!"

"I was a fool to ever believe you and an even bigger fool to think you could do what the best doctors couldn't," Tempest gasped. "And yet somehow you returned…"

"Thank Grogar for that, he's quite a miracle worker," The Storm King chuckled, pointing his staff at Tempest. "But I'm afraid you won't be able to live to see my ultimate conquest. See ya."

His staf charging, the Storm King prepared to administer the final blow to Tempest. But little did he realize that at that moment, Waspinator was joining the others in trying to defend the castle when he saw Tempest about to be finished off.

Remembering his recent attack on the protohumans, Waspinator flew around towards the Storm King and drew his weapon, firing it right into the Storm King's back, causing him to cry out in pain. "Who did that?" The Storm King gasped as Waspinator flew down in front of Tempest. "Bug boy?!"

"That very angry bug boy to you!" Waspinator cried. "Waspinator not forget monkey king! Waspinator want to know what happened to subjects!"

Seemingly not bothered by Waspinator's threats, the Storm King produced a pained, yet humorous smile. "You care about those dirty apes?" He remarked while chuckling. "They're nothing more than servants to me!"

Snarling, Waspinator fired his weapon at the Storm King again, striking him in the shoulder. Then he fired his weapon right at the Storm King's chest, preparing to kill him. But Tempest stopped him. "Wait!" She cried, using her hoof to push Waspinator back. "He's mine."

Charging her broken horn, Tempest powered her horn to its fullest level.

"Come on," The Storm King coughed despite a look of fear on his face. "Maybe I was a little too hard on the apes. I mean, they seem friendly and…"

But Tempest fired her magic and struck the Storm King right in his chest, sending him flying across the square and into a building, taking several donkey soldiers with him!

With her former master seemingly defeated, Tempest dropped to her knees and began to gasp deeply.

"Broken horned pony all right?" Waspinator asked Tempest and all Tempest could do was acknowledge Waspinator by producing a small wink.

Optimus Primal arrived on the scene a moment later. "Glad I found you two. Everyone needs to get to the palace, now! Megatron's already engaging King Vorak in battle, and Vorak needs all the help he can get."

…

Back in the throne room, Tirek and Megatron continued to face off with Vorak. By now, the throne room was beginning to crumble from all the magic blasts. Suddenly, the sounds of the advancing Predacon/donkey army began to grow louder. "Do you hear that?" Megatron asked. "That's the sounds of evil coming to take everything away from you."

"I'd rather die than risk losing everything I have!" Vorak cried while running towards Tirek and Megatron.

Acting fast, Tirek fired his magic at Vorak to which the elder centaur managed to shield himself with a magic shield.

It was then that Sendak felt that he needed to help his pupil once more. "Absorb his magic," Sendak cried, causing Tirek to turn around. "Absorb his magic, Tirek! It's the only way to defeat him."

Taking his mentor's advice to heart, Tirek opened his mouth and taking a deep breath, began to absorb his father's magic. With his magic being absorbed, Vorak began to cry out in pain while Megatron watched in amazement. Once his magic was completely absorbed by his eldest son, Vorak gasped and fell down on his left side.

Tasting the magic, Tirek turned to his left and spat out some of the magic before walking over to his fallen father. "A very bitter taste," Tirek said quietly, picking his father up by his neck. "For a very bitter life led." Then he began to tighten his grip around his father's neck

Gasping, Vorak's face turned blue and Tirek dropped his father's body on the ground after a few seconds. All Tirek could do was study his father with a look of both pity and satisfaction on his face.

"Incredible!" Megatron gasped, walking over to Tirek. "I've…I've never seen anything like that before in my life!"

But all Tirek could do was look at Megatron with a blank stare. "I've done it," He said quietly. "I've done it."

Just then, Grogar's portal appeared and out stepped Grogar and Scarface just as the sounds of explosions were beginning to be heard.

"What's that noise?!" Sendak cried.

"The castle is falling," Grogar explained. "As I have planned it would. Come, let us watch from afar."

Activating his bell, Grogar teleported himself, Tirek and Megatron out of the throne room as Twilight and the rest of the defenders suddenly became overwhelmed by the advancing army. It was then that Twilight had to make the tough decision as the sounds of explosions began to grow louder and louder.

"Twilight, this place is blowing up! We've got to fall back, now!" Optimus Primal shouted as the exploding continued. "There's no other choice!"

Looking over towards Scorpan, Twilight could see in the gargoyle's eyes that the battle was already lost and that she and her friends needed to save themselves. Using her magic, she teleported herself, her friends and the Maximals to safety.

Meanwhile, Tempest saw the explosions and using her own magic, called a retreat of the remaining forces just as the explosions became more and more pronounced, leveling the entire kingdom completely to the ground.

From a short distance, the badly injured Chrysalis could hear the explosions and looked at the downed Rainbow Dash, Tigatron and Airazor. "Vorak's kingdom has fallen!" She declared, using what was left of her magic to teleport herself and the other Predacons away. "You and your friends have lost, Rainbow Dash!"

Cackling, Rainbow Dash watched in disbelief as Chrysalis teleported away shortly before Rainbow and the remaining Maximals were teleported to safety by Twilight. The battle was over and Vorak's kingdom had fallen.

…

In the aftermath, Grogar and his minions returned to the fallen kingdom, searching for survivors to take prisoner.

"My emperor," Sombra said, bowing to Grogar. "We've searched everywhere. There's no trace of Princess Twilight and the others."

"They are not important right now," Grogar replied, looking over at his second-in-command. "All that matters is we have gained our first of many victories in our conquest. Let us revel in the moment."

As Grogar spoke, several donkey soldiers came forward with Scorpan and several other survivors chained up in a chained line. All Scorpan could do was look at Grogar as he was led away.

At that moment, Lavan came forward to Grogar with urgent news. "We found the Storm King, my emperor," He declared. "He's not long for this world."

Snickering, Grogar and Scarface walked over to the spot where the Storm King was lying down on the ground, his body badly damaged and his mind almost gone. "Is…is this what you wanted to have happen to me, dude?" He gasped, seemingly on his last breaths. "To have me…?"

"Did you honestly think I was going to give you your own kingdom?" Grogar sneered. "I have given you a kingdom, a kingdom that is only in your imagination! A fitting end for someone as crazy as you."

Groaning, the Storm King couldn't respond and turned his eyes back onto the skies. Feeling that his servant had done his time, Grogar turned to Scarface.

Gulping nervously, the Storm King realized what was about to happen as Scarface walked over to the downed Satyr and stood towering over him.

Meanwhile, Tirek sat on a hilltop overlooking his former home while he was being treated for his injuries along with Sendak. At that moment, Cozy Glow and Chrysalis arrived on the scene also with bandages on their bodies.

"Tirek?" Cozy Glow asked her father figure. "Are you alright?"

Sighing, Tirek turned to his daughter figure and his lover. "I guess so," He sighed. "The field of glory is never a pretty sight. Today was a great victory for us, but…"

"But what?" Chrysalis asked.

"It was bitter for me," Tirek answered. "I didn't want to do it, but I had to. My father has been a bane in my existence for far too long."

"You killed him, didn't you?" Cozy Glow remarked.

"Yes, but for what?" Tirek sighed. "It makes you wonder what could have been, had my father been more caring to me, allowing me to do what I wanted."

Sendak sympathized with his pupil, placing a paw on Tirek's shoulder. "Your father is gone now and your brother has been captured, Tirek," Sendak said. "You have your own family to look up to now. Be thankful Grogar gave you a second chance."

Looking back, Tirek realized that his mentor was right. He did have a family to call his own during the war and beyond. Now all he could do was look out at the ruins of his castle as Megatron and the Predacons began to rebuild the castle as their own.

Grogar watched from another hilltop, letting out a loud evil laugh signifying the first of his hopeful many victories. "Even with the help of their Maximal friends those foolish ponies didn't stand a chance against me," He thought to himself. "As long as I have the Predacons and my Legion of Doom, no one will ever stop me!"

…

…