//------------------------------//
// Episode 34: "Grogar's Endgame, Part 8" 
// Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 13 
// by twilightsparkle3562 
//------------------------------//

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PREVIOUSLY ON "MY LITTLE PONY"

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Gallus: "You took…everygriff from me!"

Arabus: "I don't even know who you are, little griffon!"

Gallus: "You will soon enough."

Luna: "Celestia, What is It?"

Celestia: "It's Arabus. He's about to release a storm!"

Gallus: "Silverstream, no matter what happens, I will always love you!"

Spitfire: "Crash, you okay?"

Rainbow Dash: "Spitfire, thank Celestia you're here!"

Soarin': "I think these guys want to skewer us!"

Cadence: "We're here. What do we do now?"

Shining Armor: "We advance and help out in any way possible. Let's move!"

…

…

As the forces of the Crystal Empire descended on the battlefield, both Cadence and Shining Armor had one target deep in mind and that was one of their personal and sworn enemies, King Sombra.

"All right," Shining Armor commanded, turning around to his troops. "Half of you go to the north and the other half go to the south! Those of you in the middle will follow Princess Cadence, Flurry Heart and myself. Is that understood?"

Doing as they were told, each flank of soldier took up their positions. As they proceeded, Cadence saw the flames rise up from above the area surrounding her sister in law's castle. Then, she saw the all too familiar dark magic that belonged to King Sombra.

"We all know what is to be done, right?" Cadence asked her husband and daughter. "King Sombra will be taken…dead or alive!"

"Grandmother Misty…Auntie Twilight," Flurry Heart tried to say, her long alicorn horn charging. "Flurry Heart help them."

"Yes, Flurry Heart, you are going to help them," Cadence said in a reassuring tone of voice. "Just stay close to me and Daddy, all right?"

Nodding, Flurry Heart agreed with her mother's words. Just then, they heard a loud scream as a pony flew through the air, causing Shining Armor to cast a spell to break the fall!

"Flutter…Fluttershy!" Cadence gasped as Shining Armor broke her fall, the Princess of Kindness covered in battle wounds all over her body and being semi conscious. "Fluttershy, can you hear me?! It's us, Cadence, Shining Armor and Flurry Heart!"

Gently laying Fluttershy down on her back, Cadence could see the look of pain deep in Fluttershy's face. Then, Cadence saw several deep gash wounds around Fluttershy's stomach.

"She's wounded! Get help!" Shining Armor shouted to his troops as both rulers realized the gravity of the situation!

In fact, Cadence began to grow angry at who was likely responsible for Fluttershy's situation. "He won't get away with this!" She cried as she took to the air, her wings beating sharply as she looked to the troops. "Don't rest until King Sombra is deceased! Follow me! March!"

Slowly, Cadence advanced her troops towards the Castle of Friendship while Shining Armor followed. Suddenly, he came across Sugarcube Corner and saw Starswirl the Bearded along with Cozy Glow trying to help the Cake's out of their fallen home. "Hold it!" He shouted, catching Starswirl and Cozy Glow off guard. "Don't move!"

"Shining Armor, stand down!" Starswirl cried with his own horn charging. "This young pony…"

"Is a wanted criminal, Starswirl!" Shining interrupted! "Stand back!"

"You can do what you want with me, but these ponies here need help!" Cozy Glow cried. "Please! You must believe me! I… I wanna help!"

But Shining Armor wasn't convinced by Cozy's words. "And what makes you think that…?" He started to ask.

"Don't judge her now!" Starswirl interrupted. "Get these other ponies out of here!"

Taken aback by the sharpness in his voice, Shining Armor began to send several of his troops to help out the Cakes. But he wasn't about to let Cozy Glow off the hook.

"Shining Armor!" Starswirl gasped upon seeing his fellow stallion slap a pair of hoofcuffs on Cozy..

"She's a criminal," Shining Armor advised. "We're just following protocol."

Starswirl could hardly believe his ears. "But this is…"

"-Starswirl, please!" Cozy Glow interrupted pleaded. "Let them take me prisoner for now. I just want the Cakes rescued, that's all. We can work this out laer."

Nodding his head, Shining Armor gestured for Cozy to be taken into custody. Horrified by what he saw, Starswirl turned to the young prince.

"I'm sorry, Starswirl," Shining apologized. "But she's a wanted criminal and you know it. Focus on getting any survivors to safety, and make sure Cozy doesn't slip away. I'm going to find Sombra and the others."

With a sharp command, the remainder of the troops followed Shining Armor towards the castle as Starswirl couldn't help but feel somewhat taken aback by Cozy Glow's sudden arrest.

At that moment, Capper came out of the house with one of the Cake Twins, Pound Cake, in his paws. "Found this little guy, shaken up but otherwise unharmed," He panted. "Don't know about the others."

"Keep looking," Starswirl ordered. "They must still be alive, I can feel it!"

Handing Pound over to a soldier, Capper ran back into the destroyed property, this time yelling for several soldiers to form a chain as he looked down and saw Mr. Cake holding onto his wife, Mrs. Cake, who had been knocked unconscious. "All right," He gasped, extending his paws out to Pumpkin Cake. "Come on, sweetheart. I'm not going to hurt you. I promise."

Frightened, Pumpkin Cake refused to be touched, but Capper grabbed her anyway before turning to the open hole. "Some of you dudes get down here now!" He shouted and a pair of Klugetown residents came into the hole. "There's a mare over here and she needs help!"

Gently, the Klugetown residents each lifted the unconscious Mrs. Cake as Mr. Cake followed, trying to walk despite being injured. A few moments later, the Cakes were pulled out of the destroyed Sugarcube Corner, now having been brought to safety.

Now it was up to Starswirl to deliver the news to Cozy Glow that the ponies who helped her about friendship were safe. But would he be given the chance to even do so?

…

Back at the Castle of Friendship, Applejack, Tempest Shadow and several soldiers took cover in back of the castle. Their bodies were covered in cuts and bruises.

"I don't know how long I can keep this up," Applejack gasped as she turned to Tempest Shadow. "Each one you put down, they come right back up like it's no big deal."

"We have to keep fighting, Applejack," Tempest replied. "I swore to lay my life down if need be for you and the other princesses, and I will keep that promise if I have to."

Suddenly, they heard a sinister chuckle as a pair of gray forelegs stepped into their area. "You know you pathetic fools can't defeat me," Sombra said, a look of death on his face. "Why don't you just surrender and I will make your final moments easy?"

"Listen, King Stupid," Applejack cried. "Do you honestly think I will go down so easily?" Applejack then noticed a garden hose that was hanging around. "I've been through enough in my life and if you kill me now, I'll just go be with Ma and Pa and Granny Smith again. So go ahead, do your worst!"

Arriving on the battlefield at that moment, Cadence and Flurry Heart saw Sombra's crystal markings going around towards the back of the castle. Knowing she needed to act fast, Cadence turned to her daughter. "Flurry, get his attention for mommy."

Nodding, Flurry Heart took a deep breath and as Sombra reared on his hind legs to administer the final blow on Applejack, the loud sounds of Flurry Heart yelling caused him to fall off balance!

With Sombra knocked down, Applejack ran towards the garden hose and began to tie it around Sombra's forelegs, trying to bind him.

But Sombra would have nothing of it. "Get this off of me!" He demanded, kicking the hose away along with Applejack, hitting her in the mouth in the process! "It's going to take more than a garden hose to defeat King Sombra!" Suddenly, Sombra felt a sharp blast of magic hit him in the back of the neck! Recoiling, he turned around and saw Princess Cadence and Flurry Heart flying overhead.

"it's going to take two alicorns to do you in, King Sombra!" Cadence hissed much to Applejack and Tempest Shadow's relief. "Now you're going to truly pay for all the crimes you've committed against the Crystal Empire!"

Snarling, Sombra began firing dark magic at the mother and daughter as Tempest darted over to try and stop him, only to be sent flying back into Applejack! Running back around the castle, Sombra fired up his horn and began shooting wildly into the air at them along with any ponies that stood in his way.

"Talk about a poor shot," Discord remarked as he transformed into a bulls eye, large enough to catch Sombra's attention. "Hey, Sombra! How about a little target practice?!"

Angered, Sombra turned over to Discord, blasting away several injured or dying soldiers that lay in his way.

"Discord, what are you doing?!" Cadence cried just as Sombra fired beams of dark magic at the spirit that quickly bounced off. "Are you crazy?!"

"Trust me, Princess Cadence!" Discord said as he took to the air. "I'm buying you some time."

But neither Cadence or Flurry Heart were prepared for what Discord said next. "After all, he blasted Fluttershy repeatedly, didn't he?"

Now even more angry, Cadence darted towards Sombra and with a loud yell, tackled him to the ground! With all her might, Cadence fought against Sombra, kicking him in the abdomen several times. "You badly wound a princess of Equestria?!" She snapped. "For that you will answer to me!"

"So what?" Sombra sneered as he threw a punch at Cadence, who quickly ducked out of the way. "She was a coward and a fool to fight back against me!"

Seething, Cadence motioned for Applejack and Tempest Shadow to be on standby with the garden hose that Applejack had found. "Nopony calls a princess a coward and lives!" She cried. "I've been through worse and nopony has and will never ever call me a coward, Sombra!"

"Might as well listen to her, Sombra," Discord advised, having transformed into a helicopter and shining a light down on Sombra. "If you want to live, you might as well surrender!"

But Sombra had every reason to deny any requests that were being made of him. He was a warrior and was going to die as one. With his eyes glowing black, Sombra let out a loud roar and unleash a mushroom explosion of magic that sent Cadence and the others back. "I will never surrender!" He snarled. "Never!"

Using his magic once again, Sombra floated himself into the air and began to conjure up dark magic that he then used to draw a large hole in the ground, cutting himself off from the rest of the ponies. Then, Sombra activated another spell that caused him to rise into the air on top of a dark crystal peak. "Try and catch me now!" He taunted as Discord flew down at a sharp speed to try and push Sombra off his high perch.

But Sombra grabbed Discord by the stomach and sent him flying down onto the ground below. "Your efforts are futile! You will die!"

But just as Sombra said those words, he felt his giant pillar of dark crystal start to wobble as a large beam of unicorn magic nearly knocked him over.

"Are my efforts futile?!" Mistmane cried out with her horn glowing brightly! "I, a Pillar of Equestria?! Choose your next words carefully, Sombra, they may just be your last!"

"Mistmane, you couldn't have come at a worse time, you know," Sombra remarked with a sadistic smairk. "For now you shall join your friends in death! There's no hope for you now!"

Firing a beam of magic, Sombra expected the blast to hit Mistmane!

But the pillar of beauty managed to set up a shield that stopped the attack right in its tracks. "Flurry Heart!" Mistmane called to the alicorn filly. "Grandmother Misty wants you to try and knock Sombra off his high horse! Can you do that for her?"

Grateful that she was being spoken to by Mistmane, Flurry Heart turned her attention to Sombra. Before he could fire a beam of magic at her, Flurry Heart pushed Sombra off the pillar and onto the ground below.

Quickly coming around, Sombra aimed his horn and began to circle around, firing beams of magic at the ponies surrounding him. One of the beams intended for Cadence and Flurry Heart were deflected by Mistmane and sent flying into the Castle of Friendship, damaging it slightly.

"Yikes!" Pinkie Pie yelped, only just managing to dodge out of the way of falling plaster from the ceiling! "Watch it, you guys! This castle's getting too crowded!"

But at that very momen,t who should come running onto the scene but Shining Armor and several of his forces? They all surrounded Sombra with their horns, spears drawn at the dark hearted king.

"You are completely surrounded, Sombra!" Shining Armor shouted. "In the name of Supreme Princess Twilight Sparkle and the other princesses of Equestria, you are ordered to surrender!"

"Surrender?" Sombra snarled as he saw Discord got to his feet and run over to the circle of troops. "Prince Armor, you know I never surrender. Haven't you realized by now of how I fight? Of how I function?"

"I do, but I also know you pride yourself on your intelligence. A smart pony like you should know you can't hope to win. So surrender now, and we will make what happens next quick and painless as possible," Shining Armor warned. "Why prolong your suffering?"

But Sombra had one more trick up his sleeve. Looking down at a small scabbard just under his red robe, he noticed a dagger that had the ability to kill the target no matter where it struck. "Is that so?" He taunted while eyeing the dagger. "Then I say…merde!"

With very little choice, Shining Armor turned to his troops, knowing what needed to be done now. "All right," He said as Cadence flew over to her husband's side while Mistmane knocked down the crystal pillar. "Then you have left us with very little choice, Sombra! On my signal!"

As the crystal soldiers and their allies prepared to fire, the ground suddenly began to rumble loudly beneath them!

"What's happening?!" Shining Armor cried as Sombra produced a small smile. "What's going on?!"

"Your worst nightmare is about to begin!" Sombra cackled as all suddenly saw an explosion of fire come from under the ground and much to the shock and horror of all, Twilight emerged from underneath, her purple coat singed and her body covered in burns!

Then, much to the horror of all present, Grogar floated out of the ground, his bell ringing back and forth. "My emperor has arrived!"

A few moments later, Spike and Rarity came onto the scene along with Gusty who had been fighting on the other side of the castle.

"Twilight!" Spike shouted as Twilight struggled to get back up! "Grogar, you won't get away with this! If it's the last thing I do I swear…"

"You'll do nothing, young dragon!" Grogar cackled and tapping into his bell's powers, Grogar began to target his remaining minions and slowly began to drain them of their powers.

From across the sea, Arabus suddenly felt himself starting to grow weaker as Gallus, Luna and Silverstream watched while he groaned in pain.

"What's happening?!" Silverstream asked.

"Grogar's draining his powers." Luna answered in a worried voice.

"WHAT?!" Gallus and Silverstream gasped in horror!

…

Meanwhile, Tirek and Scorpan watched at the bloodied and bruised Tirek clone as its powers were also taken away.

"My emperor!" Sombra cried as Grogar suddenly began to grow several feet. "Why are you doing this?!"

"Because my loyal subcommander," Grogar answered. "The time has come for the final conflict. I need every drop of magic that can be spared, no exceptions!" And without saying another word, Grogar began to drain Sombra of his magic and strength!

Crying out in pain, Sombra could feel all of his strength and magic leave his body and be transferred into Grogar's. "Look before me, Princess Twilight!" Grogar said as she struggled to her hooves. "You may have had the advantage under the earth, but it all comes to an end for you. Equestria will soon be mine!"

Laughing evilly, Grogar relished in his newfound power and Twilight realized that her greatest fight was about to commence.

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