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// Chapter 222: The Battle for Canterlot 
// Story: My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: Stallion Edition 
// by SuperPinkBrony12 
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Chrysalis and Tirek didn't hesitate for even a second before they launched their own attacks! It didn't matter to them that their enemies had huddled together and still outnumbered them, they were determined to defeat them and were counting on that to make up for their apparent disadvantage.

The Storm King couldn't help but chuckle as he stood shoulder to shoulder with his fellow members of the Legion of Doom. "I guess teamwork isn't just for the good guys anymore. How do you like them apples, ponies?!"

Tempest lunged at the Storm King with her horn crackling anew. She had eyes for him and him alone. "It doesn't matter who you bring to the fight, you're no match for me and you know it!"

Chrysalis quickly stepped in to take the blast for the Storm King and then shot off a blast of her own to knock Tempest back. "Tsk tsk, little pony. You simply must control that temper of yours. I was hoping to save you for last. Right now, there's a certain old acquaintance I'm hoping to destroy."

"Get in line, Chrysalis! We all want a crack at the prince," Tirek declared. "But we need to focus on taking out his little friends first. He's always fond of hiding behind them."

"I'm not ashamed to depend on my friends, Tirek," Shining replied as he launched an attack to send the centaur reeling. "Without their help I wouldn't be the pony I am today. You may not be willing to trust in others so easily, and that's why you always end up alone."

The Storm King stepped in as Tirek stumbled back a bit. "He's not alone anymore, buddy. With these two mad geniuses on my side, you'd best be saying your prayers now!" And to prove his point he grabbed Shining Armor and flung him around for a few seconds. "Not so easy when you've got multiple targets to deal with, is it?"

"I agree," Soarin commented as he gave a whistle. "But two can play at that game," Suddenly, the sound of buzzing and the flapping of wings filled the air. The rest of the Wonderbolts swooped down and began attacking. "You mess with one Wonderbolt, you get the whole team! How's that for evening the odds?"

Chrysalis and the Storm King struggled to hold themselves against the elite flyers, but Tirek (drawing on his experience with them) soon launched a magical fireball that sent the Wonderbolts scattering in all directions. "You forget that I tangled with those pathetic ponies before. There's nothing you can think of that I can't anticipate. And the best part is I don't even need to drain magic to do it."

Chrysalis laughed. "Indeed. Who needs love when you've got all the power you could ever need coursing through your veins? It's really too bad this is how our last encounter will play out," She licked her lips. "I was hoping to savor this victory. Oh well, I guess we can't have everything... yet." She ended in an ominous tone of voice.





Chrysalis and Tirek were soon able to turn the tide, whereas before evil had been on the defensive it was now going on the offensive and forcing good to defend as best it could.

The battle soon spilled beyond the palace grounds and into the streets of Canterlot. What few ponies who hadn't yet fled to safety or shelter scrambled to do so, screaming at the top of their lungs! Dust and debris filled the air as magic from various sources flew in all directions!

"Is it just me," Braeburn panted after a while, narrowly ducking under an attack from the Storm King that would've knocked him to the ground and in turn kicking the satyr hard in the chest. "Or are we suddenly all but gettin' our flanks hoofed to us?"

"It ain't just you, cousin," Big Macintosh replied as he tried to bind Tirek's legs with a lasso only for Chrysalis to force him to retreat. "I know these guys are just the welcomin' committee, but it seems like they've gotten a lot stronger than when we last fought any of 'em. This is just like when we thought we'd had King Sombra defeated, and then suddenly he destroyed the Tree of Harmony. If this is Grogar's doin', then he's got to be even more powerful than the three of these guys put together."

Tirek smiled. "Flattery won't save you, little ponies. There won't be a need for Master Grogar to get involved at this point. We'll crush you all for him. He won't have to lift a hoof."

"Not so long as I still draw breath!" Tempest roared as she was engaged in an energy exchange with Chrysalis, their beams of magic trying to overpower each other.

Chrysalis only snickered and taunted. "Great, so you'll keep fighting until you all drop dead of exhaustion. Regardless of how you want to fight, sooner or later the end result will be the same. But if you give up now, we might just be willing to let some of you live long enough to watch the land you love be taken away and returned to its rightful owner."

But just then a pair of booming voices called out above the fray! "Don't be so sure of that!" And suddenly, who should appear in a flash but the royal sisters Celestia and Luna?!

"Oh goodie," The Storm King sarcastically remarked as he rolled his eyes. "The pretty princesses have finally decided to join the fight," And he faked a yawn. "Oh, I'm trembling in my boots."

Yet it wasn't long before Celestia and Luna were able to unite their horns and form a protective bubble around those who had been so valiantly fighting the Legion of Doom. Shining, for his part, was greatly relieved to see them. "Sorry this had to happen on your last day as rulers. Or at least for your last day, Princess Celestia. I was so sure my friends and I could handle things. When it was just the Storm King we had him on the ropes. Should've known it was too good to last."

Princess Celestia just replied. "Are you kidding? This is exactly how I'd want to spend my last day as ruler, one final battle to prove my glory! Besides, you need all the help you can get. Even after I retire I'll still step in to help you if the situation calls for. What kind of a ruler would I be if I just left you holding the bag every time something went wrong?"

"Enough talk, sister," Princess Luna declared. "Let's show this terrifying trio of troublemakers what we're made of, and kick them to the curb! Then we can start worrying about what comes next."





Once the protective bubble was dropped, the princesses unleashed their full fury on the three evil doers! On their own the two probably wouldn't have been enough to stop the trio, but combined with the efforts of those who had already been fighting it was enough to now allow good to go on the offensive again.

It wasn't like the Legion of Doom didn't try though because they certainly did. They refused to concede an inch even as they were constantly pushed back. They would try time and time again to do something: Magic blast, lightning fast punch, or magical fireball but it was never enough to get them back to where they were.

Eventually, the trio found themselves all but cornered as the fight shifted to the outskirts of Canterlot and the mountains that surrounded it. Chrysalis and Tirek were rapidly losing patience with the Storm King for having called them into what was now a losing battle for them too. "Storm King, you fool! At least if you had failed on your own we could've come to avenge you," Chrysalis hissed. "You cost me my one chance to get my revenge on that pesky Starlight Glimmer!"

Tirek didn't just berate the Storm King, he lashed out at Chrysalis as well. "Honestly, I can't believe I was paired up with either of you losers! This is exactly why I prefer to work alone. How we ever managed to succeed together is a mystery I will ponder for the rest of my life."

"Hey, don't blame me! You guys were the first to jump at the chance! How was I to know the princesses would be useful? When Tempest worked for me she told me the princesses fell in battle easily," The Storm King growled. "I guess maybe getting beaten like that embarrassed them enough to take lessons. They just got lucky, that's all."

Shining Armor then declared. "Okay, you three. I'm only gonna give you one last chance. Surrender now and tell us what you know. Refuse, and you can join you old pal King Sombra in oblivion."

Watching this scene from his crystal ball, Grogar slammed a hoof down and angrily pounded the top of a stump! "Those incompetent imbeciles!" He roared even though no one could hear him! "I should've known they'd find a way to mess this up," Then he looked to his bewitching bell that was glowing brighter than ever. "I guess it's true what they say 'If you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.' Still, at least those three served to soften up my enemies. They played their role of bait quite well." And he prepared himself to take to the field to finish the job.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of Canterlot, the Legion of Doom felt their collars start to glow and then felt powerful magic take hold of them again. Magic so powerful and so painful it forced them to kneel and put hooves and paws to their heads as they all screamed in pain!

"No, Master!" The Storm King was the first to protest! "Please, we just need more time! Give us another chance!"

"Don't do this to us! It's not our fault!" Chrysalis insisted!

But Tirek just accepted his face as he declared to the ponies. "You may have won this battle, but you're going to lose the war! It's you who will embrace oblivion, not us!" And then suddenly the three members vanished almost as mysteriously as they had arrived earlier.