//------------------------------//
// A Night on Bald Mountain, Part 2 
// Story: The Disney Chronicles III: Fantasia 
// by Dinodisneylover1 
//------------------------------//

Twilight slowly opened her eyes, grunting as she clutched her head. She rose back up, taking a good look around. The area itself was surrounded by large, sharp rocks, with tiny platforms to stand on. The air was greatly filled with a cloud of smoke.

As she looked around, Twilight almost slipped off the edge from the surface which she stood. With a yell and a quick reaction, she flapped her wings and took a few steps backward. She then took one step forward, cautiously looking down toward the huge deep chasm riddled with fire. Beads of sweat poured from the little unicorn/alicorn’s brow, she swallowed a lump down her throat, and she was lucky not to have fallen in.

Suddenly, cries and moans of pain drew her attention. She looked behind her discovering her friends surrounding something familiarly white.

“Rarity!” Twilight gasped in shock.

She raced toward them, none of them knowing something crawled behind the rocks above them. Whatever it was, it stalked the group.

Meanwhile, Rarity laid upon the ground, feeling too much pain from the wounds along her sides. The others did the best they could to help. Fluttershy supported her head over her lap, Applejack wiped the blood off with a rag.

“Will she be all right?” Twilight asked worriedly.

“It doesn’t look good, I’m afraid,” Jiminy shook his head.

“That harpy hurt her bad,” Applejack observed. “We tried our best to stop it, but she keeps bleedin’!”

“Her wounds are open just like Rainbow’s,” Fluttershy added.

“I don’t know about you girls, but I’m not sure if the disinfectant will help this time,” Pinkie spoke. “Just as well, there’s not even enough to treat it before the end of this adventure!”

Twilight studied the weakened white mare. As she thought, an idea came to her.

“There’s another solution,” Twilight suggested. “It won’t be pleasant, but it helps.”

“What is it, Twilight?” Octavia asked curiously.

It was then Twilight brought out Pinkie’s salt canister with her magic.

“The salt,” She said.

“What’ll you do with that?” Vinyl asked.

“I can sprinkle some of it along the wounds to make them heal a bit faster. It’s like disinfectant, but WAY worse.”

Rarity’s eyes shrank to the size of pinpricks. The others looked shocked as well.

“I know what you’re thinking, but it’s the only option I have,” Twilight stated. “Soon as we get back to Equestria, we’ll take her to Doctor Horse for help.”

Everypony turned toward each other then back at Twilight, nodding in approval.

“Alright. Applejack, Rainbow Dash. Try to keep Rarity as still as possible.”

The Earth pony and the Pegasus position their hooves along the unicorn, ready if she tried to move.

“Rarity, bite this,” Twilight instructed.

Twilight presented the white mare a clean rag, which she took from her bag with her magic. As she placed the rag into Rarity’s mouth, the marshmallow unicorn biting tightly, Twilight slowly opened the canister.

“I won’t lie, this will sting… a lot.”

Rarity started to sweat, as she shut her eyes tightly. She mentally prepared herself for what’s to come.

“Here goes,” Twilight sighed.

She sprinkled the salt along the wounds and the effects immediately began to work. Rarity yelled loudly, the rag in her mouth muffling the screams. The stinging pain also made her cry and her body quivered shakily. Applejack and Rainbow did their best to keep their friend down, while everypony else couldn’t help but feel bad for her. Plenty of whom shed a few tears just seeing her endure such agony.

Fluttershy, who equally couldn’t bear to see her friend this way, hugged her head for comfort. Spike especially wanted to do something, until his sight caught a shadowy figure with yellow eyes, watching them behind the rocks. The little dragon shivered with fright and flailed his arms trying to get Twilight’s attention.

“Twilight! Twilight!” He yelled. “There’s something behind that rock!”

Twilight quickly looked behind her, but whatever was stalking them vanished.

“Spike, I don’t see anything,” She said.

“But something’s there!” Spike insisted. “It had claws, yellow eyes, and sharp teeth…”

As Spike physically portrayed the mentioned features, Twilight looked behind her again then back at Spike.

“I’m not crazy!” Spike continued, raising two fingers. “I swear!”

“Ah believe ya, Spike,” Applejack assured, keeping Rarity down. “Somethin’ don’t feel right about this here place.”

The white unicorn herself stopped crying and yelling, breathing heavily from the pain she experienced.

“You’re doing fine, Rarity,” Fluttershy said, stroking her mane.

“We’re almost done,” Pinkie added. “Just need to put a wee little bandage on those little boo-boos and you’ll hardly even know they are there.”

“Little?!” Rainbow yelled. “Do these look little to you?!”

Rainbow showed her bandage wounds around her belly and flank. Pinkie Pie stared at each wound at a time, eyeing them blankly before facing Rainbow’s glare.

“Well any bigger and you’d resemble Somnambula’s ancestors, so…”

To say Rainbow was unamused by her pink friend’s joke was an understatement.

“If you two are finished, would you please help me?!” Applejack called out, impatiently.

With no further complaint, Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie helped Applejack with the rest of the bandages. During the next few minutes, they neatly wrap the wounds preventing any more blood from spilling.

“There… that should do the trick,” Applejack sighed.

“Can you try standing up, Rarity?” Twilight asked.

“I-I’ll try.”

The white unicorn placed her hooves along the ground, slowly standing up and trying not to overdo it. She hissed in pain from her stinging wounds, but it didn’t stop her from standing straight up.

“Now can you walk?” Twilight asked.

Rarity took one careful step forward; despite the twinge of pain, she waved off any attempt at assistance.

“I can do it,” Rarity assured.

Though they can see she’s still in pain, her friends let her be. Eventually, Rarity managed to walk properly. A single nod confirmed that she’s in slightly better condition.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” Spike asked, slightly worried.

“I’ll be fine, Spikey,” Rarity smiled, her hoof on the dragon’s cheek. “But thanks for caring.”

“Now with that out of the way, how are we getting off this mountain?” Vinyl asked, looking around anxiously.

“Ugh, I’ve been crying and yelling in pain so much I haven’t noticed how atrocious this place looked,” Rarity complained, covering her nose. “It could use a good renovation, some flowers here and there… maybe something to rid of that brimstone smell! Urgh!”

“Not to sound rude, Rarity, but you always pick the worst moments to discuss interior design,” Applejack spoke bluntly.

The fashionista frowned over the apple farmer’s choice of words.

“We shouldn’t even be here,” Twilight spoke, looking around. “We must leave here and fast!”

Spike walked backward, while looking around nervously. Until he bumped into something, which he first assumed was a rock or a wall. But then he turned around, took a closer look, and realized it didn’t look anything like it.

It was black, slightly bigger even, and he saw it had certain parts. He counted five in total… then counted on his fingers before putting a claw to his chin, his mind in deep thought. Suddenly, his eyes went wide and looked at his claw in horror, realizing he saw a hand… or in this case a claw… a big one too. He looked between the big claw/hand and his own a few times before staring at the big one.

“T-T-T-T-TWILIGHT!!!!” He shouted.

Spike ran towards the group, as Twilight and the others turned toward the little dragon, who began stuttering his words.

“What? What is it?” Twilight asked.

While the dragon gibbered, the large hand moved into the smoke.

“Good gravy, Spike!” Applejack yelled impatiently. “Spit it out already!”

“There’s a…!”

Before he could finish, however, laughter filled the air. So dark… so demonic… that our heroes trembled and huddled close together.

“I… SMELL… FEAR….”

Such a demonic voice, it spoke in a tone that could tremble the hearts of the bravest men…

AHEM!

Oh, pardon me…

… ‘and’ women. The Equestrians looked around for the source, wondering who or what it was. From various rocky spots, a few small pillars of fire rose up.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve felt and heard true fear from inferior beings again. How I’ve missed their screams… while bathing in darkness. And many fear the dark. It didn’t take long to experience fear for the first time. Long have the shadows protected me, kept me satisfied, wishing the night could last for eternity. But the wretched light of day drove it all away time and time again… giving those insignificant humans hope and glee, while I remain vulnerable and suffer. It seems the darkness was doomed to be thwarted by light for all time… but now it is here!”

While the voice spoke, the Equestrians looked in one direction with wide eyes. A pair of big, glowing yellow eyes slowly appeared from the smoke.

“Or should I say… I’M HERE!!!”

The smoke cleared away revealing the most horrifying face they’ve ever seen. Complete with big horns, pointy ears, and sharp teeth forming a wicked smile. The one they were trying to avoid now stood right in front of their faces.

The ponies and dragon, so overwhelmed by fear, felt the colors of their fur/scales turning white. Jiminy, who experienced the same feeling, hid beneath Applejack’s hat and Fluttershy, more scared than she’s ever been her entire life, unleashed the loudest scream while hiding behind Rarity (Or trying to).

The giant demon stared upon the shivering group, his smile never fading.

“What have we here tonight? Eight colorful ponies, a baby dragon… and a puny cricket. Very rare indeed.”

The Equestrians stood frozen, too scared to move or speak.

“Ah… the look on your faces. The way your bodies shake. You have no idea how good it feels to my heart and soul…”

Chernabog reached out his hand, causing the group to step backwards.

“I-I-I don’t think y-you have a heart to begin with!” Rainbow spat, mustering some courage. “We’re not s-s-s-scared as you think we are!”

“Quiet!” Applejack whispered.

The demon’s smiled faded slightly, as he eyed the blue Pegasus while silently growling.

“You must be very foolish saying such words against me. You have no clue who you’re talking to.”

Rainbow didn’t like to be belittled, even against such a frightening demon. But she knew better than to answer now. It was then Twilight stepped forth to speak up, whether it was a dumb decision or not.

“Y-You’re Chernabog,” She assumed.

“So you know about me…” The demon grinned. “It seems my name has spread far and wide over the worlds. Unless… someone already told you… Twilight Sparkle?”

Everypony’s jaws dropped with shock, the moment he uttered her name.

“Y-You know who I am?” Twilight asked.

Spike turned behind him, catching many glowing eyes. They all stood around the Equestrians, lurking in the shadows.

“I am a god, little princess. You’d be surprised what I know.”

Spike tried to draw Twilight’s attention, tugging on her tail worriedly.

“T-T-T-Twilight…” Spike squeaked.

“Shh!” Twilight hushed him.

“But I’m mostly surprised creatures like you have the nerve to enter my domain. No mortal dares come here… none but you. I’ve seen how you fought against my ghosts and harpies.”

As he spoke, as Twilight’s eyes never left the demon, so much happened all at once. Fluttershy and Rarity held each other tight, Pinkie and Vinyl clung onto Applejack, all shaking in fear. And Rainbow Dash… though utterly terrified, she still didn’t like the word ‘mortal’.

“Tell me… what business brings you here?”

Twilight turned toward her friends, all of whom said nothing. Spike, on the other hoof, kept shaking his head hoping she wouldn’t make any foolish mistake. But the little unicorn/alicorn knew better than to tell the demon anything important, especially what he may already know.

“B-B-Business?” She asked nervously. “W-We have no business here whatsoever. Do we, guys?”

The others shook their heads, few of the saying ‘Oh no’, ‘Absolutely not’, and ‘What business?’ of all things.

“We’re just tourists,” Octavia smiled.

“Yeah, we definitely aren’t looking for a…”

Applejack’s hoof slapped over Pinkie’s mouth, quickly silencing her.

“What she means to say is we’re from… pizza delivery!” Spike answered.

They all smiled nervously, while Pinkie brought a pizza from out of nowhere, hoping the demon won’t suspect. He just stared at the Equestrians, most of whom sweating nervously. It was as if he was looking straight into their souls.

“You understand, little ones, that liars suffer terrible… excruciating… eons of torment…”

Everypony before the demon gulped upon hearing those words.

“Are you sure you’re not looking for something? Like… this?”

The demon stretched out his arm, opening his hand. Before their very eyes, a green light appeared in the palm. Once the light revealed what it truly was, the Equestrians were in for quite a shock. There before their eyes was a green piece of paper with musical notes.

“The sheet music!” Vinyl yelled, quickly covering her mouth.

“He had it all this time?!” Rainbow yelled.

“So… ‘you’re’ the ones collecting them just to return them to those humans,” Chernabog spoke.

“Why does the sheet music matter to you?” Twilight asked.

“Foolish mare. You really think such a source of power is just for music?”

Twilight’s head filled with so many questions. What could the demon mean by that?

“I’ve spent years trying to get my hands on every single one of those sheets. Thus far, I managed only to get one: the sheet music of this realm… my realm. With one, taking the rest would be easy. I knew the humans would try to collect them as well. When they came here… I SLAUGHTERED them all… took their souls… and plunged them into the fiery abyss!”

By raising his voice, a pillar of fire appeared from the pit behind the group. Fluttershy whimpered over the sound of his voice and the cruelties he committed. Rarity did her best to protect and comfort her.

“They never stood a chance… except one. One like none other. Taking him down should’ve been child’s play… but I underestimated him. He managed to take the sheet music from my grasp and escaped with the help of that sorcerer. It wasn’t till today I used the shadows to send one of my minions to that orchestra stand where they usually gather and take back what’s mine. While they weren’t looking, the demon almost had them… until they disappeared in a flash of light. Either some form of self-defense or the meddling of that sorcerer again, once my goon told me the news I condemned him to the eternal flames. Only then did I realize all the sheet music returned to their respective realms. I had to start from the bottom again, sending every demon and ghost at my command all over the village and beyond. After such a long search… I finally have the one taken from me. And now… I can collect the others.”

“W-W-What are you planning to do with them?” Twilight asked.

The demon smiled deviously toward Twilight Sparkle, the very sight of which made her shiver down her spine.

“That’s the best part. You see… each sheet music holds a special power different from the other. Having one is strength enough but put them together… you can do grand things. Tonight’s Walpurgis Night shall be a glorious celebration!”

While the demon spoke, Spike looked around and above. His mouth wide open in alarm.

“Twilight,” The dragon said, pulling her tail.

“What?” Twilight asked.

Spike whimpered, his quivering claw pointing upward. Twilight looked up as well and saw, to her shock, a whole army of hellish creatures. Ghosts, witches, harpies, phantoms, undead warriors, satyrs, imps, demons, skeletons, goblins and various other monsters, all standing upon the rocks. Growling and snarling while watching them with malicious intents.

Many of them dropped to the ground surrounding the Equestrians, much to their horror and worry. Twilight looked back toward the giant demon, clearing her throat.

“W-Well, I see you’re very busy at the moment. So my friends and I decided to leave.”

“Leave?” The demon asked, with a small growl.

Spike silently nodded in response to the question.

“I think not. I would be a very bad host… for not letting you stay at the very place where all evil is unleashed on this realm where I was born…”

“B-But we really don’t want to spoil your party,” Twilight smiled nervously.

“Oh, don’t worry, little guest. The real party hasn’t even begun. Though I torture and kill my followers for my own amusement, I cannot deny them fresh meat standing in their midst, especially on this special night.”

The demons, many that looked half-animal, closed in on them. Their snarls and growls made our heroes more scared and nervous.

“Look what we have here…” One demon spoke. “Such lovely creatures.”

What frightened our heroes more was how these demons spoke without moving their mouths. Another demon grabbed the frightened face of Vinyl Scratch with a single claw.

“Yes, lovely indeed,” The demon spoke creepily.

One demon, with a pig’s face, sniffed with its snout inches from the group.

“They reek of fear…”

One demon that resembled a lizard with a beak and a horn on its head stood very close to a shivering Rarity. Its long, slimy tongue emerged from its mouth and began to lick along the cheeks and chin of the mare, who cringed with fear and disgust.

“They taste of fear…” It said. “Just the way I like it…”

A dragon-like creature stood before Fluttershy, eyeing her while she quivered.

“What shall I do with you?” It asked.

Rainbow Dash, not taking it lightly, decided to act immediately.

“Get behind me, Flutters,” She whispered to her.

But the demon growled at her, causing her to step back a bit. 

“We await for your word, my king,” The lizard-like demon spoke.

Judging by its voice and its body features, it appeared to be female.

One demon laid its claws along Octavia, as she gasped in fear.

“Let us party and torture these do-gooders,” The demon suggested, maliciously. “Then hurl them into the fire while you use the sheet music, o dark one.”

“Speak the dark language and bless us with everlasting night,” Another spoke with a deep demonic voice.

Everypony looked toward the giant demon with worry, as he made the sheet music float in the air inside a green barrier. The monstrous creatures awaited his approval.

“My loyal servants… let the feast begin!”

The demons and spirits cheered, roaring in victory as the Equestrians started freaking out from the inside out.”

“Can we panic now?” Spike asked Twilight.

But she too was panicking herself, no answer emerged from her lips.



(Music at 2:49)

Suddenly, Chernabog’s elite demons performed a series of wild dances and paid tribute to him. The giant demon brought his hands down to scoop them up, bringing them to his face. Some of them held onto him before falling down. Chernabog smiled in amusement at the show before disdainfully throwing the rest into the fires below. It frightened the Equestrians further, while the other demons, both the elite and lesser, started dancing as well. One demon kept staring at Octavia, licking its lips with its long reptilian tongue.

“Twilight, what do we do?” Octavia asked uncomfortably.

“We can’t sit here doin’ nothin’!” Applejack added.

“We gotta fight these guys!” Rainbow Dash agreed.

“Fight me?” Chernabog replied, chuckling. “You stand no chance against me or my army from hell.”

“Then say ‘Hello’ to my little friend!” Pinkie called out.

She took out the salt canister from her mane. The demons quickly stepped back and growled in anger, knowing full well what it was. Pinkie pointed the canister confidently.

“That’s right! You and your meanie monsters better surrender now! I have salt and I’m not afraid to use it!”

The giant demon sneered at the canister and back toward the pink pony.

“You think to beat me… with a kitchen staple?”

He pointed a finger at the canister and set it on fire. Pinkie screamed in panic, and hurled it away.

“AAAAAAAH!!! My salt’s on fire!”

Everypony stood in shock over what he did, as Pinkie knelt before the burning canister.

“My beautiful salt!” She wailed, tearfully. “So many delicious recipes we could’ve made!”

“Your efforts are futile against me! I who control the shadows! I who command monsters! I who consume the souls of the living, centuries before you were born! I… am… Chernabog!!!”

“Big deal!” Rainbow yelled. “If we can beat a lightning god, we can definitely beat you!”

Chernabog snarled at her, then smirked.

“Perhaps I must give another demonstration of my power.”

Suddenly, smoke appeared from various spots and covered the entire area. The Equestrians coughed heavily as Chernabog grabbed some smoke. He opened his hand and flames appeared in the palm, bringing another smile to his face. He then used his other hand to control them.

“What is he doing?” Octavia whispered.

“I don’t know,” Twilight whispered back.

Twilight watched with narrow eyes, wondering what he's planning to do.

Before their eyes, the giant demon began to conjure three naked women completely made of fire. Everypony gasped at the sight, Jiminy unable to take his eyes from it. Rarity, once again, covered Spike’s eyes.

Once the fire women arose, they danced elegantly for their master. During their little performance, Chernabog placed his other hand behind them before it disappeared into the smoke. All of a sudden, to everypony’s horror, his hand reappeared above the dancers and turned them into bipedal barnyard animals against their will: a green pig, a red goat, and a blue wolf. The king of the dark smiled in amusement as the vile animals turned into several goblinlike demons in a poof of smoke. He twirled his hand and fingers, making them cling onto him in some form of twisted game of ‘Trying to Stay Alive’. But that would sadly be in vain, for Chernabog closed his hand while fire engulfed it, destroying the demons in his grasp.

When he opened it again, five blue flames appeared that turned into blue demons that danced for him as well. Chernabog’s face slowly appeared from the smoke, grinning maliciously at it while the Equestrians kept shaking in fear, knowing what he’s capable of.

After throwing the demons into the fiery chasm below, allowing flames to touch his skin, the celebration continued. The demons and monsters partied like there was no tomorrow. Dancing in the most violent, perverse, and crooked way with large flames, changing color, and appearing everywhere on the mountain. Dancing viler than the earth, demons committing acts of debauchery and jumping into the fiery pit. Ghost faces, skulls, and harpies flew around their master. The harpies even grabbed some demons to drop them to their death. It was all so frantic and chaotic; our heroes could barely take it. Even poor Fluttershy had to close her eyes and hug Rarity tightly praying for this nightmare to end.



It was during this moment Chernabog brought the flames toward the sky and back down into the inferno. And by raising both hands, a bright flash appeared from it, ending the celebration. As he slowly dropped his ends and all his minions became quiet, the evil god looked toward the quivering Equestrians.

(Pause at 5:35)

“And now… the grand finale,” Chernabog declared. “From this day forward, the future holds only darkness! For you… and all of existence!”

He took the sheet music in his hand and showed it to everyone. Suddenly, the sheet music glowed brighter than before, as the demon rose it high above him and spoke an incantation in an ancient, dark language the ponies, dragon, and cricket could not understand.

“Forces of evil, hear my call! Help me turn light into night; cover every world with endless void! Give me power to conquer all and free us from good FOREVEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!”

Once he finished, the sheet music fired a green beam into the sky generating a swirling cloud of darkness. From within, an opening revealed itself. The Equestrians could do nothing but stare in horror while demons, ghosts, and monsters roared and cheered.

“Go, my servants! Travel to the realms, retrieve the other sheet music, and slay everything and everyone in your path!”

Without further questions, the ghosts and harpies flew towards the dark portal. Even carrying a few demons along for the ride.

“As for you ten…” Chernabog spoke menacingly. “Prepare yourselves for searing, mind-numbing agony!!!”

“Please, no whiny protest 60’s music…” Pinkie whispered to herself.

“Oh… much worse than that,” The demon replied, hearing her. “Your utter annihilation!”

The demons grabbed the ponies and dragon, all of them yelling in panic. Poor Fluttershy began to cry.

“Crying won’t save you. Your suffering only fuels my fun. However… perhaps a bit of consolation never hurts. Allow me to present a tiny glimpse of the future, Twilight Sparkle…”

The little princess stared frighteningly into the glowing orbs of his eyes before they blinded her with a flash. She slowly opened her eyes and met the shock of her life…

Equestria, her home, had fallen…

Darkness shrouded Celestia’s sun, the sky completely red with dark clouds emitting purple lightning, houses burning with green flames. Many creatures lying lifeless on the ground or enslaved with chains, muzzles, and horn-blockers. Everything in ruins, familiar places gaining a new, evil look.

Cloudsdale… Carousel Boutique… the Crystal Empire… Las Pegasus… the Changeling Kingdom… Mount Aris… even Canterlot looked different, darker than it’s supposed to be.

Suddenly, the purple unicorn/alicorn saw figures completely covered in shadow. She recognized some of them belonging to former enemies, while others remained unknown. One shadowy figure drew Twilight’s full attention.

On one of Canterlot Castle’s thrones, where Celestia and Luna and even her best friends lay lifeless on the floor, sat someone with horns and holding a staff with a glowing green orb. In its other hand was the infamous Book of Disney itself. There was definitely something unsettling about this being. Something sinister… something malicious… once the being stared at her, with its yellow eyes, it used the staff to fire a bolt of purple lighting at her.

“NOOOOOO!!!” Twilight shouted, crying out.

The other Equestrians could only watch in horror, as their friend experienced the most terrible vision she had ever seen since her last alternate future.

“YEEEEEEEEESSS!!!” Chernabog shouted, mockingly. “I can feel your sorrow, your despair. Your fear of failure eating away at you from the inside out. Once I control your souls, you’ll experience much more… forever. Demons, toss these fools into the inferno… but slowly. I want to hear them scream in anguish, while their bodies sizzle like bacon.”

Obeying their master, the demons pushed and dragged out heroes, who were struggling as much as they could, towards the Pool of Fire. Still horrified and shocked by that futuristic view, Twilight made no attempt to fight back or react at all.

“Let us go, ya varmints!” Applejack yelled.

“Please, you don’t have to do this!” Fluttershy cried in desperation. “Just let us go! Let us go, please!”

Jiminy couldn’t help but watch as his friends were about to be burnt to a crisp, to suffer eternal damnation while that demon was plotting to conquer the universe. Is this heinous act going to be inevitable? No, not while Jiminy has something to say about it. Though small he may be, his friends needed his help… especially Twilight.

The cricket quickly hopped from one head to another, hoping the demons won’t catch him. Eventually, he landed on Twilight’s snout. He climbed till he had a good grip on her head, looking deep into her glowing eyes.

“Twilight!” Jiminy called out. “Twilight, can you hear me?!”

But despite his efforts to draw her attention, Princess Twilight didn’t react. She kept maintaining that same shocked expression. It was as if she were in some form of trance.

“Twilight, snap out of it! You can’t let him win! Your friends need you!”

“Everything’s destroyed…” Twilight said, in a broken tone. “It’s all gone… everything… it was all for nothing…”

But Jiminy refused to give up so easily.

“Twilight, whatever it is you see… whatever he says, don’t let it get to you! He wants you to feel weak; he wants you to stay afraid. But the Twilight Sparkle I know would never give into fear and despair! Think of your mentor, Princess Celestia. Think of your family… think of your friends! Think about... 'Paris'! Everything will truly be lost if you don’t act now! Show that monster that the Twilight I know is not afraid! The Twilight Sparkle I know will always fight back!”

While Jiminy tried getting through to her, the group was already at the very edge of the fiery abyss awaiting them at the bottom. Two demons grabbed Fluttershy and Spike, ready to toss them into the flames.

“You first, beauty…” One demon spoke.

To which the yellow Pegasus screamed for her very life. That was more than the cricket could stand, and he took a very deep breath filling his lungs with as much air as his tiny body could carry.

“TWILIIIIIIGHT!!!” Jiminy shouted.

With that powerful shout and his speech from before, Twilight Sparkle blinked back to reality. Once she saw what the demons were planning for her and her friends, her instincts immediately kicked in. She fired a beam of magic toward one of the demons, sending him falling into the pit screaming. They all turned to the unicorn/alicorn, showing them all how serious she can be. Even Chernabog was surprised by this sudden change of events.

"Girls, get ready to battle!” Twilight shouted bravely. “Let's show these demons what us ponies can do!"

“Now those are the magic words I want to hear!” Rainbow declared.

Quick as a whip, she hurled a solid punch to the demon holding her without turning around.

“Good plan!” Applejack agreed.

And the country pony delivered a hard buck to another demon, sending him crashing into a group and they sailed into the air like bowling pins. It didn’t take long for Rarity and Vinyl to fight back, firing magic beams from their horns toward the demons a few steps away. They snarled and growled as they desperately dodged the magical assault.

“Next time ya devil-spawn decide to toss ponies in a pit of fire, y’all better know which ponies you’re dealing with!” Applejack said.

“Especially ponies with an alicorn on their side," Rarity added, battle-ready.

“Indeedy!” Pinkie joined in.

"This cannot be!” The giant demon yelled, in disbelief. “How can weak, little creatures like you fight back... after I turned your legs to jelly! Made your blood run cold! Made your hearts beat so fast until it stopped! WHY AREN'T YOU SCARED?!"

“You’re right about us being a little frightened,” Twilight stated, facing the demon. “But if there’s one thing we’re not, it’s weak. And we won’t let fear stop us from doing what’s right!”

“We’re taking back that sheet music and return it to Deems and Leopold where it belongs!” Octavia spoke, as bravely as possible.

“And no horde of ugly monsters and demons will take us down!” Rainbow finished.

“Yeah! What she said!” Pinkie added.

"You imbeciles think you can escape from this mountain? You actually believe you can vanquish the dark?! There is NO escape from your fate! YOUR SOULS ARE MINE!!! CAST THEM INTO THE FIRE AT ONCE!!!!!"

(For this fight, you can keep using Night on Bald Mountain of any version or this track)

All the nightmarish creatures growled toward the group, slowly surrounding them. The Equestrians stood nervously again. Not only knowing they must fight to reach the sheet music and save the universe, but they were fighting for their very lives. There was no turning back now, not with an infernal army swarming around them. All the ponies could do was prepare themselves for the most epic fight of their lives.

“Alright guys, no choice but to fight our way out!” Twilight declared, charging her horn.

“Got any special spells to make things slightly easier?” Vinyl asked, watching the demons.

“Two… maybe three. But I’m not sure if they’re powerful enough for all of them. And I don’t even know if we can beat Chernabog himself, even with the Elements of Harmony.”

“Where’s Princess Celestia when you need her?” Spike asked worriedly.

A demon jumped toward them, ready to lunge. Twilight quickly fired a magic beam and sent it flying. She tried to hit another, but the demon dodged, and the beam struck the rocky wall behind it. The demons kept coming as Rarity prepared her horn.

“Allow me, darling.”

She fired a magic beam of her own, knocking back one of the demons. Her beam was so bright, many of the demons had to shield their eyes while they growled with anger. Even Chernabog didn’t like it. Having an eye for detail, Rarity saw how the demons reacted on her magic attack and recalled the words of Deems and even Chernabog himself.

“Twilight, they can’t stand the light! We can use that to our advantage!”

“Good thing I brought my flashlight!” Pinkie said, taking a flashlight from her mane.

But Chernabog would not have it.

"Don't get your hopes up so quickly! That wretched little light of yours cannot protect you!"

The giant demon stretched out his arm and wiggled his fingers till fire appeared in his hand. With a sway of his hand above the group, he caused something red to glow beneath them.

The group could feel the ground getting hotter by the second, one by one they looked down. Soon as they realized what’s happening, they knew they needed to react quickly.

“RUN AWAY!!!” Twilight shouted.

When the giant demon raised his hand in the air, dangerous fiery geysers erupted from the ground. Fortunately, they managed to dodge the attack just in time. He laughed, loud and evil, as he deployed the same attack once more. While they outran the geysers, the demons regrouped to attack the Equestrians. Twilight fired a few magic blasts, keeping the beasts at bay, with Rarity firing her own beams.

Rainbow Dash found herself surrounded by the demons that passed her friends. Still the cyan Pegasus did her best to keep a brave and bold face as usual.

“Come and get it, if you dare!” She challenged, preparing her hooves.

The demons growled aggressively and charged toward her. Despite being wounded, the Pegasus held her ground waiting for the right moment to strike. Her eyes stare with determination, ready to teach these monsters a lesson. Once close enough, she punched, kicked, and even headbutted them at a rapid pace reminiscent of her favorite dream involving a fight with the Changelings.

Shortly after beating a few, she stood face-to-face with one of the elite demons. It was red with a long, sharp, bird-like beak and very long hair which formed into a tail. It snarled at Rainbow, while she stared back.

“Please, I’ve faced bad guys and monsters worse and uglier,” The Pegasus bragged. “What makes you so scary?”

The demon stretched its arms and prepared his claws before long, sharp nails extracted from them. Rainbow’s eyes went wide at the sight as the demon sliced a rock, shattering it to pieces, to further prove its point. To say Rainbow was intimidated was a major understatement.

“Ooh… I get it,” Rainbow spoke, frightened.

Suddenly, the demon charged toward the Pegasus with tremendous speed and, in slow motion, tried slashing her. Rainbow managed to dodge the attacks and flew away. But she wouldn’t get away so easily. As fast as lightning, the demon climbed the rocky wall and once close enough, it smacked Rainbow hard with its tail against the rocks. As she fell, grunting in pain, the demon lunged at her and she quickly dodged before it could strike her.

Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie tried keeping the demons at bay with her flashlight. She switched it on, playfully making a laser-like sound. To the monsters, it was such a terrible torment and had to shield their eyes from the brightness.

“Aw, don’t tell me you demon baddies are scared of my little friend,” Pinkie said. “It just wants to brighten your night a little. Living in darkness all the time can get reeeeeeeeaaaallly depressing, you know?”

Then she waved her light in various directions, causing the demons to step back further while making funny buzzing noises like holding a sword in front of them.

*CLICK!*

Suddenly, the flashlight shut off leaving the area in darkness… and an awkward pause. The demons slowly looked up as Pinkie stared back wide-eyed. Pinkie anxiously tapped the button on her flashlight again.

*CLICK! CLICK! CLICK!*

But no matter how many times she pushed the button, the little bulb would not turn on. It’s as if it completely ran out of juice.

“Uh, hold on a sec,” Pinkie said.

She stuffed her hoof inside her mane, various noises could be heard from objects breaking, a cat, and even an elephant.

Don’t ask…

“I’m sure I brought some spare batteries with me.”

Pinkie kept pushing frantically on the flashlight, as some of the demons glared at the pink pony and at least one smirked evilly. Pinkie stared oddly at the flashlight, then back toward the demons briefly… then hurled the light straight toward the lead demon… in the right eye.

The demon roared in pain as he clutched his eye before growling in anger.

Pinkie stuck her tongue out with a noise then hopped in mid-air.

“MEEP! MEEP!!!” Pinkie shouted.

She soon zoomed away with the demons in hot pursuit.

Octavia and Vinyl, the least experienced fighters, tried to stay alive by keeping away from the demons or at least outrunning them. But the vile creatures weren’t easy to rid of. One demon jumped onto Octavia, keeping her locked beneath him. It’s teeth and tongue were inches from her face, as it drooled.

“AAAAAHHHH!!!” Octavia screamed.

Vinyl quickly turned around, seeing her friend in danger.

“HEY! Get off my friend, slimy fiend!” The unicorn DJ shouted.

She fired a magic blast from her horn, drawing the demon away from her friend. With the danger cleared, she raced to check on her.

“Are you hurt?” Vinyl asked.

“No, I’m quite all right,” Octavia sighed, with relief. “This is madness, Vinyl!”

“I know. We gotta get that sheet music without Chernabog noticing.”

“But how?”

Vinyl tapped her chin before an idea came to mind.

“Here’s the plan: ‘Some’ pony must distract him while the other gets it.”

“And what about the demons?” Octavia asked.

“Don’t worry, we’ll figure something OOOOOOOUUUUUUUUT!!!” Vinyl screamed.

A harpy clutched the screaming DJ, carrying her high above the pit.

“Vinyl!!!” Octavia yelled.

Rainbow Dash, having a difficult time with the same demon, heard Vinyl’s screams and looked in shock as the harpy dropped her into the inferno. The demon attacked Rainbow with a claw swipe, which she dodged twice before readying its claw. The demon aimed to stab her; the Pegasus quickly cocked her head to the side so its claw struck a rock behind her. Despite its efforts to pull back, the demon was stuck. Rainbow couldn’t help but smirk.

“Missed me!” She teased.

And with that, Rainbow flew as fast as she could towards Vinyl. The demon growled in anger, using its other claw to slash the rock, freeing its hand in the process.

Just as Vinyl was about to become ashes, Rainbow’s incredible speed was on her side. She dived into the pit, before flying back upward with a stream of fire bursting from the inferno, holding Vinyl by the waist.

“Is saving you from sudden death a routine thing?” Rainbow asked bluntly.

“Hey, I didn’t ask to fall down a canyon or be thrown in a lake of fire, okay?!” Vinyl frowned.

Just then, she looked straight ahead in shock.

“LOOK OUT!!!”

The terrifying blue ghost face of a woman, with gleaming fangs, flew straight at them.

“AAAAAAAAAAHHH!!!” They both yelled.

Rainbow dodged the ghost face before more kept coming, along with other ghosts and witches. The blue Pegasus evaded every single one, till another harpy chased them.

“Big Bird at six o’clock!” Vinyl pointed behind her.

“Not that again!” Rainbow turned around.

The bird monster charged with open talons at the duo before a lasso grabbed her leg, pulling her down, and smacked her back-first on the hard ground.

Applejack pulled her lasso before delivering a hard buck to a demon behind her, followed by a quick leg sweep to another. Suddenly, three skeletal ghost dogs charged at her. She quickly took out a few apples, still glowing with Twilight’s magic, threw them in the air and bucked them toward the dogs, dissipating them in the process.

Applejack soon noticed Fluttershy lying on the ground doing nothing but covering her eyes in fear. She also noticed a big lizard demon approaching her, attempting to do her harm. The cowgirl pony tried to make that shockwave attack she used against the carnivorous dinosaurs earlier. But when she stomped the ground, nothing happened.

“Huh?” She asked herself.

The demon drew closer to the Pegasus, saliva dropping from its jaw.

“Fluttershy, fight back!!!” Applejack yelled.

But the shy Pegasus only shook her head in refusal, too scared to do anything more.

Applejack knew she had to act fast. She closed her eyes and looked deep within herself. By opening her eyes, she stomped the ground again and, to her surprise, the shockwave appeared, making the demon fly in the air before being struck by another apple.

Fluttershy uncovered her eyes and turned toward her friend.

“Stay there, Fluttershy. I’m coming to help—”

Suddenly, Applejack was violenty pushed and carried away by something big and strong, hurling her hard against a rock. The impact made her grunt hard in pain and, just when she thought she could take a break, two horns dangerously trapped her head as the creature snorted heavily in her face. Then it grabbed her with one hand and hurled her to the ground.

As the Earth pony looked at her assailant, she noticed it was a muscular monster with the head of a bull and cloven hooves on its hind legs. She knew those features too well and without mistake, she was face-to-face with a minotaur. The monster brutally smacked a demon out of its way before bellowing loudly.

“Oh boy,” Applejack spoke worriedly.

The minotaur kept walking toward the cowgirl pony, its fists high in the air and ready to smash her.

Applejack quickly rolled out of the way before the minotaur cracked the ground. Once she got on her hooves, the monster put its hand in the ground, ripping off several slabs and tossed them at her. She dodged them as quickly as she could till the minotaur bellowed again, stomped his hoof and charged toward her.

When she tried to get out of the way, the minotaur delivered a hard uppercut in the gut, making her spit some blood, before tossing her toward the ground again. She grunted and tried to crawl away, but the bull monster grabbed her by the tail and slammed her a few times, finishing it with a hard one that caused the ground to crack.

Applejack started coughing in pain from this brutal treatment she received and when she put her hoof to her lips, she was shocked to see blood on it. As she turned around, the minotaur gave her another blow.

Meanwhile, Spike was on the defense from the army of darkness by using his flame breath, blasting numerous skeletons and demons trying to catch him. A winged demon lunged at the little dragon, catching him with its claw covering his mouth. He struggled as much as he could till he burned the demon’s arm, releasing him at once. As the demon tried dousing the flame out, Spike fired some more, engulfing the demon entirely in green flames.

It screamed in panic and agony, running away and falling straight through the inferno.

"Who else wants a piece of this dragon?!" Spike spoke bravely.

Suddenly, three pillars of fire appeared around him shifting into the fiery women. The same kind Chernabog summoned before. They all stared at Spike, making him a slight uncomfortable… not just with their lack of clothes.

“Oh, uh… hi ladies,” Spike spoke nervously. “You wouldn’t hurt a little thing like me, would you?”

The only response they gave was a terrifying shriek while displaying their pointy teeth and eerie eyes, making them less attractive. The sight of which frightened the little dragon in the process.

The three fire ladies each put their hands together, generating a small fireball in their palm before propelling it forward and sent streams of fire at him. Spike quickly ducked as low as possible, while the flames scorched a bit of his spikes and scales, making them smoke. He got up and ran as fast as he could, screaming like a little girl.

But then suddenly, one of the flame ladies teleported before him, knocking him out with a hard slap from her flaming hair. The little dragon laid motionless on the ground, as the fiery succubi approached him along with a serpentine demon with wings crawling his way, catching poor Spike in its coils.

Twilight and Rarity kept firing magic beams against the demonic horde. They seemed to do fine at first, but even unicorns and alicorns had limits.

“I don’t know how long we can keep this up, Twilight,” Rarity struggled.

She had just enough power to conjure another hexagonal shield, strong enough to block them… or at least push them away.

“Me neither,” Twilight replied, blasting a skeleton to bits. “These demons don’t quit. They just keep coming no matter how many times I hit them.”

But they were forgetting all about Chernabog, who drew fire from the pit, held it high above his head to form a fireball and hurled it toward the two ponies.

Jiminy Cricket, who was on Twilight’s head the whole time, saw the incoming attack.

“Twilight, above you!” He warned.

But it was too late. Soon as the fireball struck the ground, Twilight, Jiminy, and Rarity were blown away.

Twilight slowly opened her eyes, hearing nothing but ringing in her ears. Her vision was blurry, yet she could see her friends are in deep trouble: A flock of harpies forced Rainbow and Vinyl to the ground; Applejack caught by the throat and slowly pulled up to the minotaur’s face; Pinkie trapped between a rock and a bunch of demons; Fluttershy too afraid to fight back, surrounded by demons with evil intentions; and both a pig-faced demon and a female demon caught Octavia, bringing her close to their faces. The musician pony was frightened of what they planned to do with her. As for Spike, he was still trapped by the serpentine demon and the fire ladies.

Slowly the ringing faded, and she could hear clearly again. An imp crawled before her, ready to attack. But then, a certain little cricket hopped atop its head and stabbed the foul creature in the eye.

The imp yelled in pain, trying to pry Jiminy off its head, but the cricket’s hopping skills gave him the advantage. The distraction provided Twilight a chance to fire another magic blast, knocking the imp out cold.

Jiminy hopped towards Twilight, jumping just high enough until…

*SNAP!*

A crocodile-like demon with tusks trapped Jiminy behind its jaws.

“Jiminy!” Twilight yelled in shock.

A black hairy demon with horns jumped upon her, forcing her down against the ground. As she struggled to free herself by making her horn glow, a cloaked skeleton clutched onto it, cancelling her magic in the process. Then a goblin and a female demon with a beak and horns grabbed her wings, threatening to rip them off her body.

As for Rarity, she was caught by a bat demon while screaming in fear. It had one claw wrapped around her waist, and the other blocking her horn.

The giant demon laughed at their misfortune and helplessness.

“You’re a fool, Twilight Sparkle! Just like ‘all’ the others! There’s no escape for you. No hope. Nobody to come to your aid. Now… you can join them… IN EVERLASTING DARKNESS!”

Chernabog’s hands charged up with fire, slowly raising them. It does not bode well for our heroes at all. They were trapped, surrounded by monsters and demons gathered either to scare, torture, grope, or likely kill them. There was indeed no one getting them out of this mess. It seemed death and evil would get the upper hand; there was nothing they could do to stop it.

Applejack looked weakly toward the raging minotaur, who prepared to finish her off.

“Mom… Dad…” She croaked, before passing out.

All was lost… but then…

*BOOM!*

"AAAAAAARRRGH!!!" The giant demon roared in pain.

A powerful blast struck the back of his head, making him clutch the side of the mountain with one hand to maintain balance. The Equestrians were in complete shock and surprise. Even the demons couldn’t believe their powerful master got injured.

“Need some help, fellas?!” A voice spoke.

Twilight’s eyes went wide the moment she heard it. She knew that voice. She and her friends may have heard it the first time not so long ago, but they were almost at the brink of never hearing it again. She slowly looked up, smiling with hope in her eyes.

Soon, the other equestrians and the demons looked up and saw none other than a certain mouse in a red robe and his master's hat on his head, flying on a big spell book with the light of hope shining on him.

(Stop music at 0:13)

“Mickey?!” Twilight shouted, confused yet gleefully.

The mouse flew dangerously close to the demon king, showing no signs of fear as best he could. His hands glowed, generating a sphere of light.

“Hey, Chernabog!” He said. “Leave them alone.”

“YOU… DARE!!!” The giant demon shouted.

He tried to hit Mickey with his flame-engulfed claw. Mickey yelped as he ducked low and threw the light ball at Chernabog’s face.

“AH-HA!!!” Mickey shouted.

The impact and the blinding light made the demon roar in pain as he clutched his hand to his face. He looked back toward the mouse in anger, took a deep breath, and unleashed a stream of flames from his mouth. Mickey screamed and dodged it, flying around the demon who tried to hit him with his flame breath.

“Be careful, Mickey!” Pinkie shouted.

“Punch him! Punch him in the nose, mouse man!” Rainbow cheered.

Mickey held on very tightly to the book, making sure not to lose the Sorcerer’s Hat as he evaded the attack. Once Chernabog stopped, the mouse fired some magic blasts from his hands. They contacted Chernabog’s face, making him roar as he tried to block. The giant demon used his fire breath attack straight at the mouse again. Only this time, Mickey stood his ground.

The Equestrians started to worry for him, that he’d lose and meet his end at the hands of the demon king. So worried they almost turned away, unable to look… but not Mickey. He wasn’t worried in the slightest. In fact, he wasn’t showing any at all when the fire was about to incinerate him.

With the right timing, Mickey used the power of the hat to collect the fire with his hands and made a fireball out of it. The demon was surprised when he bounced the ball playfully in his hand then tossed it directly at him. Chernabog grunted, even if the attack had no effect on him.

“You insignificant rodent! I will… wait! That hat! I know who you are. You were sent here by that sorcerer. Probably too cowardly to face me in person, just like the last time.”

“Master Yen Sid’s no coward!” Mickey spoke bravely. “He can take you on without the hat when he wants to! Besides, it was ‘I’ who decided to come here to stop you!”

The giant demon couldn’t help but laugh out loud over his remarks.

“You?! Stop me?! By yourself?!”

Even the demons couldn’t help but laugh along. Mickey kept a straight, serious face, even as the demon king brought his face closer to him.

“I admire you for having the guts to enter my domain and stand up to me. Yet you’re foolish for doing so. I am immortal! You are nothing compared to me, even after taking me by surprise.”

“Maybe so, but even immortals can be beaten. And I’m not leaving till my friends are safe!”

“You’ll never win,” The demon frowned. “I have foreseen it myself.”

“There’s no harm trying,” The mouse smirked, preparing himself. “After all, I didn’t come alone.”

When the Equestrians heard that, they wondered who he meant. Who could possibly come to their aid? Master Yen Sid? The Musicians? Who?

“HA! No help of yours can ever beat me!” Chernabog chuckled. “Even an army won’t be enough!”

“Then what do you think of this army?!”

Soon as Mickey spoke, light appeared from inside the swirling dark portal. Everybody looked up and all their eyes, except Mickey’s, went wide in awe.

(Music at 0:58 to 1:12)

An entire army of magic brooms with buckets descended from the portal and landed on the crater.

“It’s those brooms again!” Rainbow said.

“I’ve heard you’re a tough one to beat,” Mickey explained. “So I came up with a plan… and a back-up plan.”

Chernabog laughed hysterically over the scene.

“And this will gain you victory? An army of cleaning tools against me and my minions? What can they possibly do? Sweep us from the world?! HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA!!!”

His minions laughed along, while Spike feared for the worst.

“And… we’re screwed,” Spike said.

“You’d be surprised,” Mickey answered back. “Not smart to underestimate things, no matter how ridiculous or hopeless they seem.”

“FOOL!” Chernabog shouted, his laughter ceased. “Nothing you do will stop the reign of darkness! I will strip your soul from your body… within the blink of an eye!”

He powered his hands with fire, aiming to attack the mouse once more. Mickey screamed again, dodging the enormous hands of the demon before facing his friends beneath him.

“BROOMS!!! ATTACK THE DEMONS AND SAVE MY FRIENDS!!!”

At his command, the brooms turned directly towards the demons holding the Equestrians captive, and the monstrous minions growled toward them.

One broom readied its bucket and threw water toward the fire ladies, causing them to shriek as their flames disintegrated and smoke rose into the atmosphere completely extinguished. Soon the other brooms attacked with water against the demons, who grew angrier and more violent. Already one charged toward one broom, broke it in two and hurled them away. More brooms took its place, attacking the demon who used brute strength to keep them at bay.

The demons seemed to be more focused on the brooms now, giving Twilight the chance to yank her horn from the cloaked skeleton's grasp and conjure a magical barrier to push the demons around her away. Then she fired a few blasts at some of the demons that held her friends captive while others are attacked by the brooms.

A broom was throwing his two buckets at two harpies to help Rainbow and Vinyl, causing them to fall from the sky with success. Another harpy swooped down to grab the broom and carry it up in the air.

Another broom attacked the minotaur that was about to kill Applejack by hitting him with his buckets. The bull monster growled in anger as he dropped Applejack, grabbed the broom, broke it in two pieces and threw them away. More brooms attacked him while he uses his brute strength to beat them.

As the battle continued, Twilight spotted the crocodile-like demon and knew what to do. Using her magic, she levitated the demon towards her. It growled furiously at her, but the little unicorn/alicorn didn’t flinch. She gave the demon a good buck in the gut, making him spit out Jiminy before he was flung away by the magic. With one hoof, Twilight picked up the trembling cricket.

“You okay?” She asked.

“Y-Y-Yeah…” The cricket trembled. “Gee thanks. A second longer and I’d be a goner!”

He soon saw a war commence between the brooms and demons, fighting each other intensely.

“Did I miss something?”

“More than you realize,” Twilight answered.

Jiminy looked up and to his shock (And surprise), he saw Mickey fighting Chernabog. The mouse kept firing his magical light spheres, while the giant demon tried hitting him with either his claws or Hellfire Breath.

“Is that Mickey?” Jiminy asked.

“Yes, and he needs help,” Twilight pointed out.

But soon their attention was drawn to the fight in the crater. It seemed the demons gained the upper hand, destroying the brooms with ease. Even the elite demon, with the long hair and claws, used its speed to slice many brooms into splinters. It wouldn’t be long till they returned their attention to the Equestrians, all the more increasing their concern.

“I think we’re the ones needing help,” Jiminy corrected.

At that moment, Mickey, screaming and hollering, dodged fireballs Chernabog threw at him. He even made a few loops in the process, while holding onto the book. The demon ceased his attack as he looked down and back toward the mouse with a sinister smirk.

“It appears your demise is coming sooner than expected… your army has been defeated!”

Mickey turned back, seeing his broom army decimated. But he was neither shocked nor worried, but rather… he smiled.

“I don’t think so, Chernabog,” Mickey smirked. “Count again!”

The giant demon raised his eyebrow in confusion, turning back toward the crater. Every splinter and piece of wood began to move and, much to the demons’ surprise, changed into full-grown brooms, thereby increasing their numbers. The Equestrians nearly forgot that part and ergo glad it gave them the advantage to beat Chernabog.

“Mickey Mouse, you’re a genius!” Spike shouted.

“What in Hell’s name is this sorcery?!” Chernabog shouted, in disbelief.

“Once I was so eager to become a great sorcerer like Master Yen Sid; I wanted to prove myself so badly. That turned out as a fiasco much to my friends’ warning,” Mickey explained. “But you know something? Sometimes our mistakes lead to the most amazing things. Can’t say the same for you, Chernabog. You made the mistake by underestimating us!”

Now that struck a nerve with the demon king.

"IT IS YOU WHO MADE THE MISTAKE...BY UNDERESTIMATING ME!!!"

It was then Chernabog’s hands became engulfed with flames again and clapped so hard it generated a burning shockwave. Mickey, acting fast, used his magic to draw water from the brooms’ buckets to create a huge wave before him, blocking the attack that caused steam to appear all around the area.

The demon used his wings to blow the steam away before Mickey pointed toward the sky and back at the demon, causing a big meteor to drop towards him. But he was quick to use his wings to protect himself and make the meteor crash. When he opened them again, he growled menacingly at the mouse, who could do nothing but laugh nervously.

In that moment, the brooms approached the demon army without fear, making them step backwards as they snarled and roared.

“FIGHT BACK, YOU COWARDS!!!” Chernabog yelled from above. “Slash them, toss them, burn them all! Destroy them all at once before I destroy ALL of you!”

The infernal army, more afraid of their master than of the brooms, immediately pressed on the attack. Both sides fought hard, the brooms having the majority. But that just meant Chernabog needed to summon more… which he did.

With a wave of his hand, he ordered a large assembly of ghosts to attack the mouse, the brooms, and the Equestrians. Many brooms got bowled over in the process, while Twilight and the gang had to duck. Twilight fired a few spells toward the demons and ghosts, keeping them at bay. Amidst all the chaos, Rarity raced towards the beaten up Applejack.

“My goodness! Applejack!”

She tried to pick her up, but a goblin pounced on Rarity. Quickly, she conjured a diamond shield to protect herself and her friend. The goblin bucked against it, trying to claw its way through it before being pushed away.

It didn’t last long till another demon attacked her, so she conjured up a similar shield again. Soon, she found herself surrounded by many more and, for the first time, made more shields appear until she created an entire barrier of them. The creatures of darkness tried to claw and bite through the barrier to no avail.

“Applejack!” Rarity called out, to the farm pony in her arms. “You have to get back on your hooves or those demons will catch us both!”

“Ah’m afraid that won’t work,” Applejack spoke weakly. “Ah can’t feel mah legs…”

Farther along the battlefield, Fluttershy was protected by the brooms. They beat the demons with their fists and buckets, while the demons clawed, pounced, and bit their way back. For every broom destroyed, more appeared in their place.

A demon managed to jump over the brooms protecting the timid Pegasus, making her shrink and step backwards. But another broom shielded her before the demon could harm her. Fluttershy watched on silently, astounded by all the brooms fighting to the death.

Meanwhile, Rainbow punched a few demons back while Vinyl fired her magic.

“Dash, behind you!” Vinyl yelled.

In seconds, the Pegasus struck the demon with a roundhouse kick sending it crashing against the mountain with a *SPLAT!*. She soon hurled a punch against another demon behind her without turning back.

“Aren’t you freaked out by all this?” Vinyl called out.

“Me?” Rainbow asked. “Nah! This feels like my favorite dream where I’m fighting all these Changelings. Sure, I was a little scared…”

Vinyl raised a single eyebrow, having seen everything since being here.

“Okay, I was terrified!” The Pegasus yelled, against her will. “But it’s like Twilight said, we can’t let some giant demon and his monster army beat us to the—LOOK OUT!!!”

Rainbow pushed Vinyl out of the way before long sharp claws hit the very spot she stood. Sure enough, it was the long-haired demon she fought moments earlier.

“That guy again!” Rainbow moaned. “Be careful of that one, Vinyl. He’s as fast as I am.”

The demon prepped itself to attack again, and he wasn’t alone. Vinyl gulped nervously as she looked toward the many demons backing the elite one.

“Looks like he invited a few friends to the party,” Vinyl noted.

Rainbow prepared her hooves for whatever they got in store, while Vinyl’s horn glowed again. The demon struck again with lightning-fast reflexes.

Twilight kept firing, but the amount of energy and focus on her fight against many demons made her weaker. Even with Spike’s assistance, spreading wildfire across the demons in their path, it was not enough.

“It’s no use, Twi!” Spike sighed. “We can’t fight them all; we should leave while we have the chance.”

“No!” Twilight strained, nearly collapsing. “We… made a promise…”

Spike tried to get Twilight back on her hooves, feeling the unicorn struggling hard to breath. Before his eyes, the other demons tried to pry their way through Rarity’s barrier. Still, nothing they threw worked while the white mare used all her strength just to keep the shield from breaking.

“Don’t worry, Applejack. You’re safe with me.”

But soon the unicorn’s eyes turned small upon seeing the minotaur approaching the barrier. It placed its hand on it, making her nervous, before giving a punch so hard it created a large crack. The impact made her grunt, forcing her to put more energy into her barrier. The minotaur aggressively smashed the barrier, creating more cracks. Its strength made her sweat as she strained for control. Raising both fists in the air, with one big blow, the minotaur finally destroyed the barrier and Rarity fell back in exhaustion, right beside Applejack.

In the meantime, Spike tried to get Twilight back up again when a ghostly warrior on a skeletal horse flew down and approached him. Its horse gave a heavy snort.

“Oh crud!” Spike groaned, shaking Twilight vigorously. “Get up, Twi!”

But she hadn’t the strength for that. As the warrior came closer, the little dragon tried scaring him away with fireballs only for the ghost to block them with its sword. Frightened, Spike shook Twilight rapidly.

“Twilight, get up before it kills us both!”

Up in the sky, Mickey conjured a shield around himself as protection against the ghosts, causing them to bounce off it. Chernabog breathed another stream of fire from his mouth, pushing Mickey backward. The mouse unleashed a magical surge to douse the fire, only for the giant demon to send a swarm of bats after him. Mickey, making his hands glow, quickly cast a spell upon the bats turning them to butterflies, much to his surprise and joy. They flittered around Chernabog’s head, who swatted them away in disgust.

The mouse looked down and saw, to his shock, that everypony was too exhausted to fight. Especially Twilight Sparkle, the princess herself in severe trouble. He spread out his hands, gathering as much energy as he could.

“Light! Give me power!” He shouted.

Once he got enough, his entire body glowed brightly before raising a finger into the air and twirled it around, spreading the magic energy to his friends.

As the little dragon kept trying to get his friend/sister up, the warrior stood inches from him. His horse made a ghastly neigh, as the ghost chuckled with his sword in the air. Spike screamed for his life while the magical energy flowed inside Twilight’s body, making her glow before it disappeared.

Slowly, Twilight Sparkle’s eyes opened. Just when the ghost warrior aimed to slice Spike into pieces, the unicorn/alicorn princess had conjured a shield with her cutie mark to block the assault.

“Go Twilight!” Spike cheered.

With her newfound strength, Twilight pushed the sword away before converting her shield into a sword much to the ghost’s surprise. The ghost horse attempted to trample her with its front hooves. But the princess quickly cut them off, making both the horse and the warrior fall. Of course, it didn’t take long for the warrior to get back on its feet. Soon the two were fighting head to head, their two swords clanging against each other.

“Get back, ghost!” Twilight said fearlessly. “Or face the power of a princess!”

The warrior hissed and the sword fight between the pair intensified. This proved rather difficult for a pony who never took sword fighting lessons in her life. The horseman fought fiercely, making her grunt in the process. She also dodged whenever he tried to stab her till he, suddenly, struck her shoulder. She yelled in pain as she slid across the ground, her magic sword vanishing in the process.

Spike raced to her aid as the ghost made ready to slice them both to bits. But that would be in vain, for the undead warrior was soon hurled away by a magic blast… only that didn’t come from Twilight Sparkle.

“Twilight! Spike!”

It was Mickey Mouse, who flew down and stepped off the spellbook. Just as the mouse came to a landing, a demon recovered and rushed to attack him from behind.

“Mickey! Watch out!” Twilight called out.

She fired a magic beam to get rid of it, while more soon appeared. Soon, the pony, dragon and mouse were surrounded by an entire horde preparing themselves for combat. Once the demons attacked, the three adventurers struck them with magical attacks and fire.

“How did you know we were here?” Twilight asked Mickey.

“Mr. Taylor and Mr. Stokowski came to Master Yen Sid,” The Mouse explained, firing magic blasts. “They told him everything and asked for his help while I was working. I realized you’d be in big trouble, so before they left I asked them to take me along.”

The three decided to change direction and attack from that point as Mickey explained further.

“But the master demanded I stay in the tower, even after I plead. Once they left, I grabbed my master’s spellbook and prepared to leave. I knew once I got to where you guys went, there’s a chance I wouldn’t return. But I couldn’t stand idly by and do nothing, not after what we’ve been through. Then I saw the broom in the corner, and it gave me an idea. Soon two demons appeared through a portal and gave me a hard time.”

Suddenly, a few demons leapt upon them. But Twilight stopped them with a barrier, pushing them away before Mickey fired homing stars at the enemies.

“Did you win?” Spike asked.

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t, would I?”

“What of the baby dinosaurs?” Twilight asked. “Are they safe?”

“They’re okay. Soon as I got rid of the demons, I went through the portal they came from and ended up in the orchestra stand. It was filled with demons and ghosts, they were attacking people, and they tried entering the other songbooks. One of them almost got away with the magic hat, but luckily I stopped him. Soon as I wore the hat again, I went inside the songbook the monsters came from, promising the master I’d bring it back. Excuse me!”

Mickey hurled a sphere of light, sending a wave of demons screaming in agony.

“And that’s how I ended up here,” Mickey concluded.

“I hope Master Yen Sid and the others are okay,” Twilight hoped.

“Master Yen Sid’s powerful, even without the hat. I’m sure they’ll be fine. Least I think so. Things are getting loopy out there.”

While Mickey, Twilight, and Spike busied themselves, everypony else managed to get out of their own tight spots through some newfound strength courtesy of Mickey.

In general, Pinkie Pie looked through her mane for anything that could be helpful. Yet all she managed to find was her camera. She looked at it, then back at the demons before it gave her an idea. A wonderful, awful idea that gave her the biggest, creepiest smile ever. She proceeded to aim the camera at them.

“Oh demon baddies!” Pinkie sang, macho-like. “Say ‘cheese’!”

With one click, the camera flashed a blinding light that frightened the demons.

“Got it!” She sang again, taking random pictures. “Here comes a close up! Say ‘blinded’! Selfie! And pose! Best scary unidentifiable monster ever! Have a bright night, mother--!”

Pinkie, think of our younger readers.

Relax. I know what I'm doing.

The party pony snaps many pictures while hurling punches and performing various poses to the chagrin of her enemies. Much to one demon’s chagrin, the pony stretched its cheeks to force a smile.

Fluttershy trembled in a corner while demons encircled her. In that moment, Jiminy tried not to get stepped on in the midst of all this chaos. Once he saw the yellow Pegasus, while noticing everypony else was busy, the cricket bounced on the demons’ heads to reach her. Some actually tried to catch him mid bounce, but they managed to hit themselves due to him being so fast.

Soon as he reached Fluttershy, he tried to get her attention.

“Fluttershy, they’re about to kill you! You have to stand up to them!”

“I can’t!” She whimpered.

“You must be brave or Chernabog wins for sure!”

When Fluttershy heard that, she knew she had no other choice but to give it her all. Especially if she desires to escape this evil place and return to Equestria and all her animal friends waiting for her. Gathering what little courage she could muster, she glared toward the demons that kept coming closer. Jiminy hopped himself on top of her head gazing towards the approaching creatures.

“How’s about we give them a real scare?” The cricket offered.

Fluttershy closed her eyes in deep thought as the demons charged. She opened her eyes and gave the hellish creatures her most powerful ‘stare’, making them cease their attack. They stared back in shock and their roars turned to screams. As they fled from her in terror, Fluttershy’s eyes returned to normal.

“Ha-ha! That did the trick!” Jiminy cheered. “You sure scared them off, Fluttershy!”

“Woohoo,” Fluttershy cheered for herself, smiling.

While Rainbow Dash fought a couple of harpies, Applejack struggled to remove the gnawing demon off her haunches. Even with her newfound energy the little bugger was putting up one heck of a fight.

“Okay, this is really startin’ to bug me!” Applejack complained.

Meanwhile, her Pegasus friend dodged a few feathers the harpies fired and avoiding the slash of another’s talons. She started flying around in a circle, increasing her speed to the point a tornado generates thereby trapping all the harpies inside.

Rainbow proceeded to move the tornado toward the crater, catching many demons on its path. As they spun and swirled about, Rainbow made the demons and harpies come out from the top and fall into the inferno.

At the conclusion of her tornado attack, she flew down charging toward a few demons about to attack Applejack. A few punches here, some kicks there, and Rainbow caps it off with a good strike on the demon whose been a thorn on Applejack’s flank.

“Hey, I was winnin’ here!” Applejack complained.

“Doubt it,” Rainbow replied. “And you’re welcome.”

Then all of a sudden, they came face-to-face with two familiar elite demons: the long-haired demon and the minotaur. Both stared fiercely toward the two ponies, who stood back-to-back.

“Can’t get rid of that frickin’ demon!” Rainbow complained. “Too tough even for me!”

“So’s the minotaur,” Applejack replied. “Almost killed me!”

The minotaur slammed its fist in the ground, snorting as he prepared himself to charge. The same thing happened to the demon, who readied its long claws.

“Any ideas, R.D.? He’s about to charge!”

“I think… do you trust me?” Rainbow asked.

“Yes?” Applejack answered uncertainly.

“Here we go!”

Rainbow quickly turned around, grabbed Applejack by the waist and flew high into the air the moment the two beasts charged. The Earth pony screamed from the top of her lungs as the minotaur and the demon struck each other and fell to the ground. Rainbow stared down toward the fallen beasts for a few seconds, as she quickly turned toward Applejack. One quick nod and Applejack readied her hind legs as Rainbow Dash dove hard toward the ground.

“Let’s put those legs of yours to good use, A.J.!” Rainbow cried out.

The moment the monsters tried getting up, they both received a powerful blow from the Earth pony’s legs sending them falling back. The two ponies landed upon the ground as the monsters got back to their feet.

“Nice thinking, Rainbow!” Applejack complimented, facing the monsters. “Care to switch partners this round?”

“Fine by me,” Rainbow replied, cricking her neck. “Can you handle ‘Speedy Longnails’?”

“I’ll figure somethin’ out.”

“Let me know if you need help.”

Applejack nodded and both ponies raced toward the monsters. The minotaur charged toward Rainbow, who slid beneath him and made him crash into a big rock. The rock crumbled to pieces and the beast fell back, figures of Rainbow Dash circled the dizzy monster.

Rainbow grabbed a rock, spun around, and hurled it toward the minotaur. But he quickly caught it with one hand and crushed it to dust. The Pegasus’ mouth went wide open and watched how the monster lifted a giant boulder, ready to throw. She quickly dodged it before the minotaur threw more toward her. She managed to dodge every rock before using her storm cloud to zap one inches in front of her.

Meanwhile, Applejack was too busy avoiding the demon’s sharp claws that nearly slit her eyes. The demon jumped and performed a spinning slash attack, causing Applejack to roll out of the way before the demon zoomed in front of her and delivered a hard smack with its tail.

She fell upon the ground and quickly got out of the way as the demon scratched the spot she lied upon.

Rainbow dodged the minotaur’s strong fists before raising them above his head. She flew out of the way the moment he pound the ground, giving her a chance to perform a flip and hit the monster with a rainbow shot that sent him flying into a rock.

“YES! In your face!” Rainbow yelled, performing a victory dance. “I’m the Dashinator, slayer of demons! I’m the bestest, and I’m awesome, and they know it! Uh-huh, uh-huh, uh—huh?”

Suddenly, the minotaur leapt in the air, grabbed Rainbow, and slammed her hard on the ground before finishing it with an elbow drop.

Applejack had a difficult time battling the demon. It was strong, fast, and deadly, but Applejack refused to give up. She grabbed her lasso, focused on the demon and threw it at him the moment he stopped. She swung him round and round in a loop, the demon hit several rocks in its wake. Yet somehow the demon managed to cut the rope with one of its nails and fell straight into the fiery pit.

The cowpony smiled in relief, as she took a deep breath. But just as she thought it was over, the demon’s claw appeared and clutched the edge of the pit.

“Oh, apple rot!” Applejack frowned.

As Rainbow recovered, the minotaur’s shadow loomed over her and lifted its hoof. She rolled out of the way before the hoof slammed hard on the ground, causing a small shockwave that sent her straight to a rock. The beast bellowed loudly, drawing Applejack’s attention.

The moment the cowpony saw her friend as beaten up as she was, she turned back toward the demon crawling out with a fierce growl. Looking between the two monsters, an idea popped in her head. Grabbing a small rock, she threw it in the air and struck the top of the minotaur’s head. The monster massaged his head as it faced the cowpony.

“Over here, ya big goon!” She yelled out. “It’s ME ya really want!”

She bucked more rocks toward the minotaur, which only angered him further. He clopped his hoof on the ground and charged at full speed. And Applejack just stood there, letting him come to her.

“A.J.!” Rainbow shouted.

Paying not attention to her friend, Applejack instead looked behind her toward the demon emerging from the pit, ready to strike. Turning once more to the front, she leapt out of the way just when the minotaur was close enough. Unable to stop in time, the minotaur bumped into the demon causing both of them to fall into the pit roaring loudly and a pillar of flame came out in the process.

Applejack stared toward the pit making sure they were beaten, as Rainbow joined alongside her.

“You do know I was winning, don’t you?” Rainbow asked.

“Ah doubt it,” The Earth pony smirked mockingly.

During that time, Vinyl Scratch stayed by Octavia the whole time. The pony was determined to protect her from a group led by three other elites: The cloaked skeleton, the lizard-demon with the lengthy tongue, and an obese pig demon.

“Looks like your plan has become more complicated than I expected,” Octavia observed.

But Vinyl didn’t answer. Instead, the unicorn was far too busy blasting demons away with magic. Trying to think of a plan, something came to her, and she faced Pinkie.

“Pinkie! I need my equipment; the whole shebang!”

“One DJ station coming up!” The party pony called out.

Taking all the stuff out her mane, completely out of nowhere, Pinkie tossed Vinyl’s equipment to her with all her might. Once the station was set, Vinyl took her place behind the turntable, pressed several buttons, and flipped a switch or two.

“Here’s yours, Tavi!”

Vinyl grabbed her friend’s cello from her station and handed it over to her, as well as an input wire.

“Plug it in the hole on the side!”

“Are you kidding?!” Octavia cried out, plugging the wire. “We’re on the brink of total annihilation and you want to ‘perform’ for these monstrosities?!”

“If we’re going down, we give them a concert they’ll ‘never’ forget!”

As the demons drew closer, Vinyl put on her headphones and adjusted her glasses while Octavia held her bow in her hoof.

“Ready?” Vinyl asked.

“Ready,” Octavia replied.

“Let’s drop the beat!” Vinyl shouted.

One push of a button and a big wave of music was unleashed from the speakers. The combination of Vinyl’s dubstep and Octavia’s cello was so powerful, the demons flew away.

“Just like the old days, right Tavi?” Vinyl smiled.

“Except we didn’t fight demons while doing it,” Octavia answered back.

While they played their beat down against every monster coming their way, Twilight and Mickey watched how everypony was cooperating.

“You thinking what I’m thinking?” Mickey smiled determined.

Twilight did the same with a nod as they readied their magic as more demons encircled them.

“Together!” Mickey shouted.

The mouse and the unicorn/alicorn spun around, firing orbs and streams of both magic and light in the process. One by one, the demons and ghosts fell before the pair capped off with one powerful burst.

“Ha-ha! Alright!” Mickey laughed.

Twilight couldn’t help but smile over his enthusiam.

In the meantime, Rarity, while a mare who disliked fighting, knew how to defend herself in situations like these. Using both her magic and martial arts skills, she single-handedly took down an entire group of demons. Some of them, however, dared not to approach her due to the brightness of her magic beams.

“Chernabog’s worst…” Rarity glared. “You ruffians call yourselves monsters. Warriors of the night yet hide away in the shadows. Yes, I know your arts. You can hurl more shockwaves than I can muster, you can hurl me off the tallest cliffs, and you can even clod my mane with your filth and dirt. But know this… you dare cross me, and you cross a mare… of the light!”

And all at once, Rarity’s horn started glowing at a dangerously accelerated rate. The light was so blinding, that the demons screamed in pain as their eyes sizzled from such intense force. Covering their faces desperately to shield themselves, using one free claw to swipe their way across the sky. But they were so focused on backing away from the bright glow, they fell backward down the pit and screamed loudly as they fell into the flames below. Rarity’s horn soon dimmed as she released a heavy sigh.

“Well… that was enlightening!” Rarity smiled.

Managed to get the butterflies off his face, Chernabog shielded himself from the unicorn’s magic. He saw the mare conjuring several diamond shields, each shield appearing in seconds, and merging into one giant crystal. She soon cast a beam which caused the crystal to glow and unleash multiple beams at once. With more demons struck down one-by-one, Rarity smiled with pride.

All of a sudden, Rarity looked up and screamed for her life, trying to shield herself with her hooves. Chernabog grabbed her and pulled her to his face, as her screams drew Spike’s attention, along with the others.

“Oh no!” Mickey gasped.

“RARITYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!” Spike yelled.

The little dragon spewed fireballs at Chernabog’s face, drawing his attention.

“LET HER GO, YOU BIG BULLY!!!”

The giant demon, ignoring the dragon’s demands, merely flicked him hard against the rocks. The others gasped in shock, as Spike wearily looked up towards Chernabog, who’s eyes turned toward Rarity. The unicorn quaked with fear knowing she was in the hands of a demon intending to perform bodily harm.

“You… will be the first to go!” Chernabog sneered.

But before Chernabog could act, magic blasts struck his face. He turned as Twilight and Mickey hurled their best attacks toward him. Just as he was about to smack them away, a powerful wave of music forced him to cover his ears. In the process, he dropped Rarity, who screamed as she fell. Applejack, taking notice, galloped to her rescue. Just as Rarity reached the ground, Applejack managed to catch her friend on her back.

The sounds of dubstep, combined with Octavia’s cello, proved too much for the demon king to handle. He hurled a fireball toward the musicians, both mares spotting it coming.

“TAVI, MOVE!!!” Vinyl yelled.

But the fireball struck the D.J. station before they could run. The explosion blew the two ponies away, as they screamed in pain. Though the two musicians were luckily alive, everypony else stood in shock. None more so than Octavia, who clutched the remains of her precious cello, now fallen to pieces with some slight burn marks from the blast.

“I’ll teach you to mess with the King of Darkness!” Chernabog bellowed.

“Spike is right!” Mickey shouted. “You’re nothing but a big bully! One who hides in the dark all the time!”

“I am so going to press you into jerk cider!” Rainbow warned.

(You can keep using Night on Bald Mountain of any version)

The giant demon raised his hand, conjuring fiery geysers from the ground again. The Equestrians and mouse quickly dodged every erupting geyser bursting through the surface. After beating the majority of nightmarish creatures, they stood ready to take on the big cheese himself. But none more ready than Rainbow Dash, the first to fly to his face with raised hooves.

“Alright tall, dark, and gruesome! Bring it on!”

Chernabog roared, breathing a stream of fire from his mouth. She quickly flew away, pulling her tail away to avoid getting it burned off. All the while, the demon kept its gaze toward the Pegasus, his aim very clear.

Suddenly, a barrage of magic beams stuck him in the cheek. Growling, he looked up towards Princess Twilight Sparkle, who flapped her wings rapidly in the air. He, immediately, charged back by unleashing fireballs from his hand palm.

Twilight flew around as the fireballs missed their shots one by one. While not as fast as Rainbow Dash, struggling just to get rid of the flames, Twilight managed to destroy one with a magic beam. The remainder pursued her like heat-seeking missiles in the sky. An idea soon came to Twilight, a feat she’d never done before but with a little effort just might work.

Using her magic, Twilight attempted to generate a portal before her, to which the fireballs flew into. Twilight sealed the portal before opening another towards Chernabog’s direction. This time, the fireballs flew toward him. Eyes wide, the demon quickly shielded himself before his own attack could strike him.

“How’s that for a taste of your own medicine?!” Rainbow called out.

Chernabog tried to catch the Pegasus flying around his head. But the big demon failed as she sped away from his reach.

“Miss me, miss me, now you gotta kiss me!” The Pegasus mockingly shook her rear.

Infuriated, the giant demon took a deep breath and released another stream of fire toward her. The Pegasus was quick to dodge despite the flames singeing a part of her tail, which she quickly put out.

“Thanks for the warm-up, the night air’s quite chilly!” Rainbow smirked. “But seriously… is that your best?”

“Stand still and find out!” Chernabog yelled angrily.

“Hmm…” Rainbow pondered. “Nah! I’d rather fly around and bother you more. Okay?”

The demon growled loudly before he raised his arms in the air. Stretching them forward, with a wave of his fingers, he deployed an army of evil spirits out to catch her.

“CRUD!!!” She yelled.

Rainbow flew as fast as she could, with the spirits in hot pursuit. The rest attacked Twilight Sparkle, who quickly shot magic beams toward them. It didn’t take long for Mickey to join in, using his own magic to blast the ghosts and Chernabog. This enraged the demon further, as he reached to grab them with his flame-engulfed hand. Luckily, the pony and mouse managed to fly away before he could reach them.

Rainbow kept flying with the spirits hot on her trail. But thanks to her acrobatic skill, and a storm cloud she summoned, Rainbow managed to get rid of them before flying around the giant demon himself. The demon took notice and attempt to smack her way, only for Rainbow to dodge and zap with her storm cloud. The lightning bolt only angered him further, causing him to swing the back of his hand toward Pegasus.

And in that moment, while life seemed to pass by in slow motion, Rainbow Dash flew high over his arm. The demon watched as the Pegasus barely touched her during a high jump, followed up with a salute and her tongue stuck out against the beast. Except she failed to notice the other incoming hand, which managed to hit her and smack her far away.

“NOT AGAAAAAIIIIN!” She yelled.

Seeing her fly into the distance, Twilight Sparkle and Mickey Mouse attacked further. The mouse unleashed a barrage of magical blasts from his fingertips, the beams homing in on the demon, who quickly shielded himself with his wings blocking the attack. Soon as he opened them back, Twilight fired a magic beam against him.

But the demon king caught the beam with one hand, gathering it to form a ball. The pony watched in shock as he crushed her magic in his hand, smiling while doing so.

“Still confident to win, little pony?” Chernabog spoke.

“As long as my friends and I still stand, we’ll never give up!” Twilight answered back.

“You’re wasting energy, little one. And once you tire, I shall strip the very soul from your body till nothing remains but a husk. Your very essence will bond to my core for always and eternally, as I force you to watch while I plunge the pitiful corpses of your friends into the fiery pits of my domain to burn into nothingness. Prepare yourself, Princess, for I’m about to take you and your miserable friends into a world of hurt.”

“I won’t be beaten by the likes of you, Chernabog! I fight with both my heart and friends on my side! That’s how I always win, even against the likes of you!”

“Well then, before you accept your demise… perhaps I must make you quiver… more!”

The giant demon unleashed a huge stream of flames toward the little pony. Acting fast, Twilight Sparkle quickly cast a barrier surrounding herself. But the heat was o intense that the princess began to sweat profusely. She struggled to maintain the barrier; unfortunately, she could see cracks already starting to form.

“Twilight!”

Mickey Mouse, quick to notice, conjured his magic to gather water from the brooms’ buckets again and extinguished the fire, striking Chernabog in the process. The demon clutched his face and unleashed a terrifying roar.

Deep within the crater, the remaining Equestrians could do nothing but watch the ongoing battle. Octavia cradled her broken cello, a tear rolling down her cheek, as if she lost a dear friend.

“They’ll waste their energy if they keep going like this!” Spike observed. “We must help them!”

“B-B-But he’s so powerful!” Fluttershy quivered. “And so… terrifying.”

“And he keeps sendin’ more monsters through that there portal each passing second!” Applejack added.

“We can’t sit idly by and watch!” Vinyl argued.

“I agree with both sides,” Jiminy spoke, atop Fluttershy’s head. “Chernabog can easily crush us in one blow. But if we do nothing, the lives of the entire orchestra and all in existence are doomed!”

It was clear to the group there weren’t many options left. Deep down, they knew they couldn’t just stand on the sidelines for long. Not with all this madness unfolding before their eyes. They must to stop this, no matter the cost.

“Not if we have anything to say about it!” Spike spoke, determined.

The little dragon raced as quickly as his tiny legs could carry him; unfortunately, a slight tug on his tail stopped him in his tracks. Applejack clutched the little dragon and dragged him back, plopping him onto the ground.

“Now hold it right there, partner,” Applejack said. “We ain’t got a plan yet!”

“Here’s an easy plan,” Vinyl suggested. “Why don’t we just take the sheet music while Chernabog’s distracted and make a break for the portal?”

“Forgive me if I sound pessimistic, but that doesn’t sound easy at all,” Rarity said.

(Play at 2:36)

“I agree,” Applejack added. “Chernabog’ll destroy us all no matter what we do.”

The others nodded sadly in agreement… except for one certain pony D.J.

“I can’t believe what I’m hearing,” Vinyl spoke up. “You’re the Guardians of Harmony; you saved Equestria a thousand times in a row! And now you’re saying you can’t handle one big demon?”

“This is different than Equestria, Vinyl,” Applejack argued back.

“How’s it different than fighting a giant magic-stealing centaur or storm-generating tyrants?! I get you’re all scared and yes there’s a possibility we won’t survive. I’m scared too, but not of that big dummy! I’m scared that the only ones who can do something about it are about to give up! Are you the Guardians who’d do anything to save a billion innocent lives? Or are you just going to sit here and watch the whole world burn?!”

As Vinyl spoke, the remainder of the Equestrians faced each other. They recognized the fear in each other’s eyes, even a hint of uncertainty. But after hearing Vinyl’s words, a decision had been made.

“Well, what have we got to lose?” Jiminy asked. “Besides our previous lives… and the entire plane of existence?”

“Vinyl and Spike are right!” Pinkie shouted. “Let’s kick some giant demon flank!”

To which everypony cheered along.

“Not exactly what I said,” Spike stated. “But I’ll take it.”

“C’mon y’all, if wanna succeed, we ought to do it right!” Applejack spoke up. “Vinyl, you, Octavia, Pinkie, Jiminy and Spike grab that sheet music by any means necessary. The rest of us will help Twilight and Micky fight that there demon.”

“The rest of us?” Fluttershy quivered nervously. “As in… me t-t-too?”

“Every form of help is useful,” Applejack replied. “Try calling for any flying critters to our aid or use your Stare on that there demon.”

“I don’t think my Stare works on him.”

“We gotta try somethin’. Twilight and Mickey need our help, all of us. Are you up to this?”

“You betcha!” Pinkie smiled confidently. “Taking that sheet will be easy or my name isn’t Pinkamena Diane Pie… which it is!”

The party pony giggled at her own humor, while the remainder shook their heads. Spike turned to address Pinkie when his eyes widened with anxiety.

“You might want to tell THEM that!”

With one claw pointed forward, everypony turned and saw a new horde of demons coming their way. Concern started to resurface upon the group once more. A majority of the magic brooms managed to hold them back as long as possible. However, a few demons manage to pass them, either jumping over or simply running past them or shattering them into splinters. The horde itself were nearly upon the group when a certain pink pony stood between them.

“Grab that sheet, everypony!” Pinkie instructed. “I got this!”

From her mane, Pinkie Pie pulled out a pink suitcase. Opening it up, she unveiled a blue-pink six-barrel machine gun on a stand, with a yellow flower on each side. The weapon was aimed directly toward the snarling demons that stopped in their tracks when she took her place behind it.

“Who wants to party with Momma?!” Pinkie asked.

She positioned some goggles over her eyes, loaded the machine gun, and fired. Cupcakes blasted from the barrels rapidly, hitting a whole bunch of demons. The others eyed the action momentarily, until they drove their focus back to the task at hand (Or hoof in this case).

“Come on, y’all!” Applejack yelled.

Vinyl and her group raced after the sheet music as Applejack, Rarity and Fluttershy raced to the aid of Twilight Sparkle and Mickey Mouse.

“We must reach Chernabog’s face if we want to distract him,” Rarity observed. “But neither you nor I have wings, Applejack. Frankly, I’m too scared to face him head on.”

“So am I,” Fluttershy added.

The gears already spun deep within the cowpony’s head. But as she watched, she was suddenly struck by inspiration.

“Rarity, ya think you can use them magic shields to keep me in the air?” She asked.

“I can try.”

The unicorn channeled her magic, generating a large diamond-shaped shield upon the ground serving as a floating platform. Applejack placed one hoof upon it, testing to determine if the shield was firm enough. When she felt it right, the cowpony hopped upon it.

“I’m ready!”

“Hold on tight,” Rarity instructed.

(Stop at 3:41 and keep playing Night on Bald Mountain)

As Rarity lifted the shield into the air, Applejack held her position to prevent herself from falling. As the platform rose higher, Applejack was quickly getting the hang of it. Soon as she was at eye level with the demon king, she prepped her apples which glowed under Twilight’s magic.

While Chernabog intensified his stream of fire upon Twilight and Mickey, the cowpony bucked three apples straight into his eye. The moment they exploded on contact, the demon roared in pain as he grasped his now sore eye.

“Probably not my smartest move,” Applejack told herself.

The demon slowly turned his head toward her, growling in fury.

“Yep… definitely not smart,” Applejack emphasized.

Chernabog raised his claw and swiped toward the pony, who quickly jumped off the shield as it shattered into a million pieces. But as it seemed the cowpony would fall; Rarity quickly conjured another shield. As the demon aimed to attack, Twilight’s magic beam struck him taking him by surprise.

The moment Chernabog took his eyes away, Applejack grabbed her rope (Which she tied into a new lasso knot) and hurled it around one of Chernabog’s horns. The demon moved his head, pulling the cowpony along for the ride. Applejack hung onto the rope, clutching her teeth as tightly as possible as she kept her eyes on the target. Her aim true, with just the right timing, Applejack released her hold on the rope, strung forward by the force of the angle, and with one mighty cry she bucked fiercely against Chernabog’s nose which resounded in a loud *CRACK!*. The demon cried out as he clutched his face in pain, as the cowpony fell toward the safety of yet another shield, courtesy of a determined yet exhausted Rarity.

“Oh, would you mind taking it easy, darling!” Rarity groaned. “I can only put up one shield at a time!”

But the unicorn was so focused, she hardly noticed the lurking danger behind her. A demon slowly creeping toward the unicorn, ready to pounce…

*BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!*

The demon was suddenly struck by Pinkie’s cupcake machine gun and fell flat on his face. Rarity turned behind her and saw Pinkie giving a wink before continuing her assault toward the incoming demons.

Meanwhile, Vinyl and the others climbed the rocks till they stood just underneath the sheet music several feet above them.

“There it is!” Vinyl pointed.

“Blast, it’s too high too reach!” Octavia said.

“I could catch it if only I had wings,” Spike crossed his arms.

Vinyl watched Twilight and Mickey distracting Chernabog with their magic. The demon fought back too by slashing with claws, shooting fire balls and breathing fire.

“Good thing he’s too busy to notice,” Vinyl observed. “Hang tight. I’ll try and grab the sheet with my magic.”

Vinyl channeled her magic and her horn lit up. Using her magic, she tried to catch the sheet music. Suddenly, the lizard demon that threatened Rarity pounced Vinyl and pressed her against the ground. The others gasped in shock at the sudden action.

“Vinyl!” Octavia yelled.

Vinyl struggled to pry the demon off, while it attempted to bite and scratch her face. Then it shot its long tongue out and wrapped it around Vinyl’s neck, choking her as she tried to pull it off. While her friends stared in horror, Octavia looked around and spotted a large, sharp piece of rock embedded on the ground. Grabbing it with her mouth, she raced to her friend’s rescue and sliced the demon’s tongue off.

The demon screamed, writhing on the ground while clutching its mouth in agony. With the monster down, Octavia took him down with a buck from her back hooves, cricking the demon’s neck and taking him down for good. She spat the rock out, the bit of stone bouncing against the limp monster.

“Next time, keep that tongue in your mouth!” She said, with a huff.

Vinyl removed the tongue off her neck and threw it away in disgust. Then she turned and stared toward Octavia, surprised by her friend’s actions as the latter helped her back to her hooves.

“Thanks,” Vinyl smirked.

“Don’t mention it,” Octavia replied.

Spike had to keep himself from vomiting while Jiminy turned to his right with worry in his gaze.

“Look out! Incoming demons!” He yelled.

Everypony found themselves face-to-face with the cloaked skeleton, a female snake-like demon with bat wings and the obese pig demon that snarled, hissed, and growled at them. Gathering his courage, Spike stood in front of the two mares and shielded them.

“Have you been hit on the head with a log, Spike?” Jiminy asked, aghast. “Those monsters are too strong; they’ll beat you to a pulp!”

“Let them try,” Spike challenged. “Come on, you fiends! Gimme your best shot!”

The cloaked skeleton spread its arms wide, channeling two balls of dark energy in its hands which turned them into big sickles. Spinning the sickles, with precision, the skeleton launched them toward the dragon, who quickly ducked aside and they struck the rocky wall between Vinyl and Octavia. The two ponies looked at the embedded weapons, gulping with shock.

Then, the skeleton fired massive skulls toward Spike. Though difficult to dodge, Spike managed to destroy a few with his flame breath. Soon as it was over, the dragon narrowed his eyes at the demons and raced as fast as his little feet could go.

“Spike, what’re you doing?!” Jiminy yelled.

Rather than answering, Spike kept running before he took a great leap and spewed fire which engulfed himself as he rolled in their direction. The skeleton had no time to act and, already, turned into a pile of bones once the dragon struck. The only other part that remained was its cloak, which slowly dropped to the ground.

Jiminy and the two mares watched as he turned around and rolled over the snake demon, burning her tail and she screamed as she slithered around in panic.

“How is he doing this?” Jiminy thought.

After another quick turn, Spike rolled toward the pig demon, who stepped before the snake demon. Spike was ready to strike until the pig’s big belly bounced the attack back sending him crashing toward the rocky wall. The little dragon slowly got up, dizzy and winded, but shook it off. He caught the demon making a big jump to crush him with a belly flop and rolled out of the way before the beast crashed.

The demon rose back up, exhaling a cloud of gas from its mouth. Spike had to clutch his nose from the terrible smell.

“Ugh! Worse than a Timberwolf’s.”

The demon spewed a stream of green vomit which served as acid and Spike quickly rolled out of the way.

“There’s nothing more disgusting than that,” Vinyl commented.

Vinyl and Octavia were ready to hurl at the sight but kept their hooves in front of their mouths. All of a sudden, the pig demon’s entire belly and lower body ripped open until it became one massive mouth with sharp teeth. Spike stood in shock for a few seconds, then screamed with terror.

“Except… maybe that,” Octavia replied, in disgust.

The dragon tried to keep his distance, while Vinyl tried to destroy the monster with her magic. However, the snake demon had fully recovered and quickly wrapped both her and Octavia tightly within its coils, slithering its tongue in their faces.

The pig demon used its huge mouth to suck the air, slowly dragging Spike toward him. He tried to drag himself along the ground, but only left scratch marks as the force of the wind pulled him closer. But the dragon couldn’t allow himself to get eaten, knowing he needed to act fast. Using his wits, Spike fired a fireball straight into the demon’s mouth, the pig’s eyes went wide… and it exploded into pieces.

With the pig demon dealt with, Spike picked himself back on his feet when the cries of the two mares beckoned his attention.

“Spike, help us!”

The snake demon was wrapping the mares tightly, leaving them unable to escape as they were losing oxygen slowly.

“Let them go, fiend!” Spike yelled bravely.

The demon hissed at him, baring her fangs, and squeezed the two mares tighter, threatening to choke the life out of the girls.

“You better s-s-s-surrender… for the s-s-s-sake of your two friends-s-s-s!” The demon hissed in a raspy voice, not moving her lips.

The dragon, looking around, spotted Jiminy slowly turn toward the demon and winked at him. He looked up toward the rocks and another idea was struck.

“You sure it’s not the other way around?” He asked. “Because… I do.”

At that moment, Jiminy stabbed the demon’s tail with his umbrella, making her scream in pain and the mares took their chance to escape its coils. Spike shot a fire ball above the demon, igniting against the rocks and making them fall, including a big boulder. Just as the demon aimed to attack, it was too late to notice the boulder which crushed her instantly.

“Nice shot, son!” Jiminy complimented.

“Thanks!” Spike replied back. “You did a great job too, Jiminy.”

The two were soon caught in a hug, courtesy of the two musician mares, as thanks for coming to their aid.

Up in the sky, Twilight Sparkle and Mickey Mouse fired their magic against Chernabog, while he used his fireballs and breath in an attempt to hit them. After he made flames rise up from the crater to cover himself, Applejack jumped rapidly along several diamond shields, which Rarity conjured before landing upon the demon’s head.

Taking her lasso again, this time Applejack hurled it around Chernabog’s pointy ear tugging it so hard that he roared in pain. He tried to grab for her, only to make himself an easy target for Twilight and Mickey, who fired at every possible weak spot. Angered, the demon violently shook his head, and the cowpony lost her balance and fell straight into the palm of his hand.

“Applejack!” Twilight yelled.

The apple farmer looked up, as Chernabog grinned wickedly at her. Knowing she was in big trouble now, Applejack trembled with fear and concern. The demon slowly closed his hand into a fist as Applejack shut her eyes, expecting her end to come. Suddenly, a purple barrier kept the giant fingers from crushing her. Opening her eyes, Applejack saw that it was Twilight using her magic to save her in the nick of time.

“You’re persistent,” Chernabog observed. “But that won’t save your friend.”

He squeezed, putting more pressure against the barrier till it cracked. Twilight struggled hard, using every ounce of her magic to keep her friend safe. Even with Mickey’s additional power to strength the barrier, however, their magic was still no match for the demon’s might.

It seemed as though they’d lose Applejack for good until one shy Pegasus mustered her courage to fly before the demon’s evil face.

“Don’t you dare hurt my friend!” Fluttershy yelled. “Or I’ll…”

Chernabog stared directly toward the little equine, who refused to back down despite her quivering fear.

“You’ll what?!” He growled.

“Or I’ll… I’ll use… the Stare!”

“Ooh! I’m quaking already,” The demon mocked her.

“Be careful, Fluttershy!” Applejack warned.

“You may be big, you may be scary, and have enough dark power to control souls,” Fluttershy continued. “But that won’t stop me from protecting my friends!”

“Then I gladly accept your challenge.”

Determined, Fluttershy sealed her eyes as tight as she could. The little Pegasus focused deeply before reopening her gaze and gave the demon king the strongest ‘Stare’ she’s ever given in her life. However, he neither froze nor flinched, not a single reaction at all. He just stood there, watching her trying so hard to keep her ‘Stare’ going.

“Is that supposed to frighten me?” He chuckled darkly. “This… is fear!”

The demon’s yellow eyes glowed brightly, as he stared straight into the equine’s soul. Though she kept her own ‘Stare’ afloat, Fluttershy began to sweat and tremble under his piercing gaze, which embedded deeply into her very being. There was heavy resistance in her eyes, which unfortunately began to fade as her eyes went wide and slowly she lost control of her greatest weapon. After minutes of resisting, Chernabog’s gaze became unbearable. She held her head, screaming at the top of her lungs before passing out and fell to the surface.

“FLUTTERSHYYY!!!” Twilight, Applejack and Mickey yelled.

They watched helplessly as she fell back into the crater, not even moving an inch during her plummet toward the fiery abyss. Luckily, a diamond shield (Courtesy of Rarity) saved her from a gruesome fate.

“I don’t know whether I should laugh or cry for your exceptional bravery…” The giant demon commented. “...or your insane foolishness.”

His words hadn’t stopped the assault upon him. From far way, amidst the ongoing battle, Rainbow Dash stared unamused and angry.

“That’s the second time I’ve been smacked away! Alright Chernabog, you called down the thunder, now get ready… for the BOOM!”

Rainbow Dash hurled straight toward the winged demon at high velocity.

The constant blasts of magic were like mosquito stings to the demon lord, annoying and bothersome. Gathering some wind, he flapped his wings to brush his assailants away with a gale, twirling them about in the air. It didn’t take long for them to recover themselves. But once Mickey flew toward Chernabog, the demon hurled Applejack toward him. Both the mouse and pony fell off the spellbook before Twilight caught them with her magic.

When the demon prepped to attack, he turned toward the distance and saw Rainbow hurtling toward him. Igniting his hands again, he hurled fireballs toward the Pegasus’s direction. Rainbow saw them incoming attack and dodged them acrobatically. Then Chernabog formed flame pillars in front of her, making her spin mid-flight, left-to-right, to prevent her wings from getting burnt.

It grew tougher for Rainbow as she got closer, what with all the walls of fire the demon concocted to block her (Either V-form or Plus-form). As if that wasn’t enough, a rain of fireballs flew from above. By flying up, down and around, Rainbow passed the obstacle.

But the king of darkness refused to give up. He raised his hands toward the air and stretched them forward, summoning a barrage of harpies and cloaked phantoms toward her.

“Oh, come on!” Rainbow groaned.

The harpies made their approach, aiming to claw the Pegasus who quickly evaded their attack.

“Ugh, don’t these bird ladies ever bathe?” Rainbow held her nose. “They reek of rotten meat!”

Once the phantoms approached her, she managed to evade two but one managed to catch her. She tried to free herself, but all the other phantoms gathered about and proceeded to suck out her soul. It weakened her, her face growing skeletal. As she grunted in pain, she saw she was in reach with Chernabog. Surely he would destroy the rest of her friends once she’s dealt with. She couldn’t let her friends down, not with what she had in mind.

Rainbow struggled and spanned her body, shaking the phantoms off and continued her flight. Once close enough, she accelerated her speed until she formed enough of energy to break the sound barrier around her before she shot like a rocket into the demon’s chest. The impact generated a powerful rainboom that sent Chernabog’s scream toward the heavens. He held a hand over his eyes from the blinding rainbow and the other clutched his chest in pain.

“YEAH!!!” Rainbow cheered to herself. “How does that feel, huh?! Not good? GREAT!”

The demon wouldn’t tolerate such insolence and, in response, he smacked her right into the crater. The Pegasus struck a few rocks, one of which clipped her wing before crash landing on the hard surface. Rainbow hissed, crying out in agony. Her wing wasn’t broken, but it was heading that way. Chernabog was about to collide, placing a hand upon the mountain to support himself while clutching his chest.

Twilight landed on the crater as well, releasing Mickey and Applejack from her magical aura before aiming her horn toward Chernabog. Seeing the weakened demon gave her the opportunity to defeat him. She fired a continuous beam of magic at his head along with Mickey and Rarity doing the same. Pinkie, too, aimed her machine gun toward him, firing both regular and explosive cupcakes as Spike struck him with fireballs. The combined attacks proved too much for the demon as he let go of his chest to shield his face.

At the same time, Vinyl tried to catch the sheet music again. However, when she enveloped the paper, the magic still at work flowed through hers and sent a powerful shock. She screamed before collapsing upon the ground.

“Vinyl!” Octavia checked on her.

The D.J. struggled to get up while her friend helped her up.

“The magic in the sheet prevents me from taking it,” Vinyl grunted.

“We need help!” Octavia replied.

Vinyl saw the others busily tackling with the growling demon, with additional assistance from the brooms.

“There’s no time for that,” Vinyl spoke determined.

Using her magic once more, Vinyl aimed her horn and fired toward the sheet music.

“Vinyl, no!” Octavia shouted.

But Vinyl, not listening, tugged hard upon the sheet while receiving additional shocks. She tried ignoring the pain until she was forced to scream out, pulling as hard as she could. It didn’t take long till Chernabog noticed her actions.

“NO!!!”

He would’ve destroyed her immediately, but the recent blow and constant barrage from the Equestrians made it impossible for him to do anything.

After a moment of hard pulling and agonizing pain, Vinyl finally freed the sheet music from its spell before collapsing toward the ground in exhaustion. The dark portal in the sky sealed in the process, the spirits and fiends unable to travel to the Orchestra Stand. It enraged the demon king, who bowed down and crossed his arms.

The ground trembled beneath the ponies’ hooves, as the atmosphere heated up with flames sprouting everywhere. Twilight knew what was coming.

“Mickey, help me protect everypony!”

Both pony and mouse combined their magic until Chernabog looked up and roared, forcing the entire mountain to erupt. The pillar of flame was so tremendous it burst clouds away into mist. A force so strong it could be seen upon the realm’s surface from space.

Once the flames faded away and the demon lowered his hands, he saw, to his own surprise, that the heroes still lived. All of them protected by a barrier channeled by Twilight and Mickey’s magic. Not everyone was lucky though…

Around the crater, the remaining demons were completely obliterated. Every broom in wake of the eruption were reduced to burnt splinters. Realizing that could’ve been them, the Equestrians quivered from anxiety. Lowering their defenses, they stared back toward the giant demon, waiting for his next move.

“I hate to admit this, but you’re all very strong and brave,” Chernabog spoke. “But… you’re still little ponies. Ponies who will pay with their souls for such indignity! And this time, no army of cleaning tools are coming to protect you!”

The Equestrians held their ground, even if they knew they could still be crushed. Rainbow struggled to get back on her hooves as her wing hung down, while Vinyl was in too much pain to get up as Octavia stood beside her.

“Go ahead and try!” Twilight dared. “You may have destroyed our brooms, but you wiped out your own army!”

“Exactly! There’s still eleven of us and only one of you!” Applejack added.

Chernabog couldn’t help but chuckle darkly, making the group very uncomfortable.

“I’d recount again…”

Igniting his hand, he snapped his finger so hard sparks flew. The fiery chasm behind the ponies sprung to life, flames rose before millions of small balls rained down and encircled the group. Each fireball took shape of a demon or monster, snarling and growling at them. The same monstrosities they’ve took down before including the minotaur, the cloaked skeleton, the obese pig, the long-haired demon, and much more. There was even one that resembled a cat in a red robe, hissing menacingly with its claws out. As if that wasn’t enough, Chernabog summoned additional ghosts and harpies into the mix. It wasn’t long before they had our heroes completely surrounded.

“Aw, come on!” Rainbow groaned, irritated. “We just beat these guys!”

“FOOLS! Haven’t you figured it out yet? I have the power of necromancy; I can destroy and resurrect my minions as many times as I want.”

“But… that’s cheating!” Pinkie complained.

“Perhaps you’re familiar with the old saying, ‘All’s fair in love and war?’. Hmm? Now… hand over the sheet music and I may just consider letting you live… and become my pets.”

The Equestrians gasped in horror before Mickey took the stand.

“You will never have it, Chernabog!”

“Oh… so unwise…” The demon growled.

A hooded ghost appeared before the mouse. But just as he prepped to fight, the ghost quickly drained a part of his soul. Mickey screamed in pain before he fainted toward the group. The others gasped at the horrific sight.

“MICKEY!” Pinkie shouted, checking on him. “Mickey… Mickey… open your eyes!”

Seeing the situation was hopeless, Vinyl weakly gave the sheet music to Octavia.

“Here… take it. Leave while you still can.”

But Octavia, for lack of better terms, couldn’t believe the words she was hearing.

“No…”

“You must!” Vinyl insisted intensely.

“No! Don’t you dare ask me to do that!” Octavia warned tearfully. “You’re not just my roommate, you’re my best friend! I won’t leave you! Ever!”

“There’s no time, Octavia!” Vinyl explained. “Take it with you; search for the other one. When that portal opens, go through it. We’ll keep them distracted.”

“I can’t do this…”

“Yes, you can. You’re our best hope to save all of existence from being swallowed in darkness. I would rather want you to survive instead of me.”

The cellist shook her head in disbelief, even as she took the sheet music in her own hooves.

“Go. Bring the sheet to the musicians,” Vinyl instructed. “Save the universe; save yourself.”

It was during this anxious moment Octavia faced a very grueling decision. Would she take the sheet music back to the orchestra? Could she bear the thought of leaving her friends to a most gruesome fate? Or should she stay with them to the very end, risk her own life and that of an entire universe depending on her? Octavia was no pony who wished to die, a pony who felt she had so much to live for. Deep in her heart, however, it felt wrong to leave everypony behind to be killed under the hands of a homicidal demon. Yet, even if she stayed, they certainly could still die and as a consequence the sheet music would be back in the grasps of the black-hearted fiend. A dilemma of which became too much for her to handle.

Octavia was on the verge of freaking out… when suddenly, a light caught her eyes. A sight drawing her toward the far distance, through a split within the rocks. With the spell of darkness broken, it seemed dawn was slowly approaching. It was then she remembered what Deems said earlier…

"It is said Chernabog doesn’t like the light, especially sunlight. He doesn’t like church bells either. Walt was lucky enough to escape before he could get him."

Deems’ words swam inside the ocean within Octavia’s head. Could there be a ‘third’ way? It would take much longer for the rays of sunlight to reach a high peak, and not enough time for her friends or herself to escape death’s grasp. But what could Octavia do that no other pony could? She was a musician, not a princess like Twilight Sparkle or even Celestia. The only form of magic she ever truly knew was the music she pieced together. The music which she played for the delight of ponies taking the time to hear it. But any other form of magic…

Then she looked toward Twilight.

“Twilight, isn’t there anything in Yen Sid’s book that could be helpful in this situation?” Octavia whispered.

“I’m not sure there is, but I’ll look. Pinkie, saddlebag!”

Once again, Pinkie Pie took out the saddlebag and tossed it toward Twilight. She brought out the book and rapidly skimmed the pages as fast as possible. Octavia looked along with her until she stopped her.

“What about that?” Octavia pointed out.

“It’s just another scale with musical notes,” Twilight confirmed. “Just like in the Book of Disney.”

“But what if it’s a solution? What is the title?”

Twilight Sparkle quickly read the title, skimming her eyes side-to-side.

“’Summon Spells’,” She read further. “’Several ways to make creatures and allies come to your aid for a brief moment’?”

“Music… allies…” The cellist spoke to herself. “I wonder…”

Jiminy Cricket, the ever observant one, saw her thinking before the pony turned toward Pinkie who shook uncontrollably every which way.

“Pinkie, you don’t happen to have a spare cello or any other instrument in that mane of yours?”

Even if the pink pony kept shuddering, she brought out a cello and bow from out of nowhere, not sure if it was from her hair or not. Octavia, knowing it was best not to ask questions, took the instrument and the rosined horsehair bow within her grasp nodding her thanks to Pinkie Pie.

“Go for it…” Pinkie whispered, with a wink.

“Twilight, can you hold the book in front of me?” Octavia asked.

Twilight Sparkle nodded, using her magic to hold out the book as Octavia assumed her position. She stood upon her hind legs while holding the cello for balance. Her left hoof held the neck firmly while she held the bow with her right. Taking a deep breath, she positioned the bow along the strings and proceeded to slide along the material, channeling the vibrations of the pitch as she began playing the chorus of one particular song… the ringing notes of ‘The Pastoral Symphony’, taking her back to their first arrival… their first encounter.

“Try all you want, little foals!” Chernabog spoke. “You’ll never escape with your lives!”

As the cellist played, the spellbook in Twilight’s grip started to glow. It started off faint, then it began to grow increasingly brighter. Eventually, the notes ripped themselves off the page and flew around her.

The giant demon raised his brow in confusion as one of the notes, in a blinding radiance, took the form of a Pegasus. The Equestrians stared in awe while the creatures of darkness shielded their eyes.

“WHAT?!?!” Chernabog growled.

The winged horse neighed loudly as the remainder of the music notes transformed into Pegasi. Each of them flew in various directions, either bucking or ramming into demons or flying about Chernabog’s head. The entire herd soared with that very same sheer of elegance across the darkening sky. The color upon their coats, their one form of evidence that there still remained some light within the dark.

As the demon king swatted them like flies, Octavia looked up as two more notes took the form of some familiar faces flying their way toward her. Her message sent, she carefully laid her instrument upon the ground and raced toward the passing pair.

“HELEN! HECTOR!!!” Octavia cried out.

“Octavia, what are you doing?” Twilight halted her.

“I know how to save our hides,” Octavia replied. “You guys must do one thing.”

“What?”

“Stay alive.”

Within seconds, Helen swooped underneath the pony, unaware of a certain tiny cricket who leapt into the pony’s mane. Soon, Octavia found herself upon the winged horse’s back, the white mare climbing up toward the very skies.

“Where do you need to go?” Helen asked.

“The village… take me to the village!” Octavia instructed.

Without a moment of hesitation, Helen swooped her wings rapidly as Octavia held on for dear life. The other Equestrians watched her leave as she flew toward the village below the mountain.

“What the hay is she up to?!” Applejack asked, confused.

“I don’t know,” Twilight replied. “But we must trust her; more importantly, not die.”

“Countin’ the casualties, that’ll be mighty tough as stoppin’ a swarm of parasprites on Applebuck season.”

Suddenly, harsh neighs drew their heads toward the sky as Chernabog managed to strike a few Pegasi, sending them plummeting toward the ground.

“Let’s hope that gal knows what she’s doin’,” Applejack tilted her hat.

All of a sudden, after one foul swipe sent some Pegasi aside, the giant demon spotted Octavia riding Helen. More specifically, she was leaving with the sheet music.

“NOOO!!”

In a fit of rage, he snatched a Pegasus in his grasp. The poor creature neighed in panic and bucked the air in fear. Chernabog slowly brought him closer to his mouth, opening his jaw widely and all the Equestrian stared horrified as the Pegasus was swallowed alive in one gulp. Applejack covered her mouth and Fluttershy turned away with her eyes closed as Rarity held and patted her head.

“I’m done playing!” The demon shouted, enraged. “Denizens of darkness! Kill that pony and BRING BACK MY SHEET MUSIC!!!”

The majority of the ghosts and harpies charged off in obedience, racing after Helen and Octavia. Some of whom even grabbed a few demons along for the ride.

“They’re going after Octavia!” Twilight shouted helplessly.

Then, with a mighty bray across the sky, Hector bellowed a signal and took the lead over the attacking herd. Many Pegasi flew rapidly past the raging demon, who swapped his hands desperately trying to catch the winged equines. But they were well ahead of the gigantic demon, and they flew rapidly after the flying monsters.

Along the way, Octavia scanned the village below the mountain. Just then, Jiminy Cricket emerged from her hair, climbed to the top of her head, and faced her upside down.

“Octavia!” Jiminy called out.

“AAAHHH!” Octavia screamed. “Jiminy! Don’t do that again!”

“Sorry, Octavia. But what in the world are you trying to do?!”

“I think I know how to stop Chernabog!” Octavia explained. “Remember what Deems said of him hating sunlight and church bells?!”

“Yes?”

“Without the sheet music, he can’t cast his spell of darkness! The sun will be able to shine again!”

“But that will still take minutes for the sun to reach its peak! Our friends will be doomed by then!”

“That’s why I’m taking the second option! We must ring that bell!”

“We better look for a church or bell tower fast!” Jiminy declared.

Suddenly, a loud screech made Jiminy’s eyes widen as he turned with a worried gaze.

“Unless they catch us first!”

Without question, the ghosts and harpies were slowly coming in hot. Their claws and talons were at the ready, neither of which went unnoticed as Helen cast one eye behind her.

“Hold on tight!” She warned Octavia and Jiminy.

The mighty Pegasus soared and span gracefully across the air, avoiding every strike and slash the monsters could deliver. All the while, the pony and cricket held onto her for dear life screaming across the night sky. One harpy lunged to attack her, when suddenly a heavy buck sent the beast flying high into the atmosphere. Octavia briefly looked up as their savior came into view.

Like heat-seeking missiles, Hector, Helen’s mate, led the other Pegasi toward the barrage of monsters. They fought with every ounce of their strength to protect Helen and her passengers. Despite all the scratches and bites, they received in response, the Pegasi stomped, bucked, and kicked the demons away and they dropped toward the ground like stones. Through their brief escape, Octavia’s eyes darted about the area seeking her intended target. It was then that Jiminy Cricket, clutching along Octavia’s mane, pointed with his umbrella toward the target.

“There’s the church!” Jiminy shouted.

One look from Octavia and the village church came directly into view.



“Helen! We need to get over there!” Octavia instructed.

Helen’s eyes turned toward Octavia’s direction and she swooped down at an accelerated rate.

Amidst all the chaos, the remaining Pegasi kept their guard over the Equestrians as they fought against Chernabog and his army of minions. All of a sudden, a glow caught Twilight’s eyes and the princess looked up with concern. Before her, the Pegasi were vanishing, one by one, popping out of the sky into a flash of light.

“W-W-What’s happening to the Pegasi?” Fluttershy asked worriedly.

“The spell… it’s ending!” Twilight realized.

It was then that the giant demon saw his chance to rid the ponies for good, as he grinned deviously toward the Equestrians. If the ponies, and Spike, weren’t anxious before… now it was peaking at a dangerous level.

“Crud…” Spike muttered.

<>

Back above the village, Helen was just in reach of the church. Unbeknownst to her, an undead knight, riding a skeletal horse, flew away from the other Pegasi and hurled itself toward her. Once it was close, the ghost slowly unsheathed its sword with murderous intent. But this didn’t go unnoticed the moment Octavia turned around for a brief second.

“Helen, watch out!”

But it was too late! The warrior managed to clip the Pegasus’ wing, and Helen screamed with a painstaking screech as the attack threw her off course. With her wing-speed interrupted, despite her efforts to stay in the air, the Pegasus was flailing and falling toward the ground just inches away from the church. Octavia held onto Helen’s neck tightly, tears streaming from her eyes due to the rapid plummet while Jiminy Cricket held onto Octavia’s mane as he hung loosely in mid-air.

“MAYDAY! MAYDAY!” Jiminy Cricket shouted.

Helen, seeing the severity of the situation, tried to flap her wings to maintain some form of altitude. But with one wing badly injured, and only one to work with, all she could do was slow down her speed before they reached the ground. Her eyes soon saw that they were just a mere few inches from the church doors and Helen took a deep breath knowing what she had to do. Grunting in pain, she arched her body aiming her fall toward the doors as Octavia’s eyes widened toward the direction before her.

*WHAM*

The church doors exploded off its hinges as the white Pegasus crashed inside the building. The force was so great Octavia lost her grip and flew off the back of the horse, rolling across the aisle head-over-heels. In the process, Jiminy Crick flew off the pony but managed to open his umbrella and the cricket slowly floated toward the wooden floor for a softer landing. Octavia pushed herself off the ground, shaking her head as she slowly turned toward the opening.

“HELEN!” Octavia cried, crawling back. “HELEN!”

The Pegasus mare tried to pick herself up, but groaned as she winced in pain. One of her wings was clipped and it hurt to move. There was no mistake the crash did a number on her anatomy.

“Sweet Celestia, you’re hurt bad!” Octavia spoke worriedly.

“Looks like her wing’s been damaged,” Jiminy inspected.

"Guess I'm not flying for a few weeks," Helen sighed, fighting the pain.

Suddenly, everypony noticed Helen’s entire body was glowing.

“Helen, what’s happening?!” Octavia panicked again.

“The spell you summoned us with is ending,” Helen explained. “It’s pulling us back into our realm; now it’s up to you to ring that bell.”

“No, you can’t leave me!” Octavia pleaded.

“Listen well little pony, I don’t have much time! Remember one important thing: The forces of darkness revel in the pain and fear of others! Do not give in to your fear! Think of your friends, they are the light to guide you in the dark!”

“But I can’t do this without you!”

“You can do this!” Helen smiled warmly. “Feel the magic inside; we’re all rooting for you!”

And just like that, the Pegasus mare disappeared in a flash of light. By the time it faded, Octavia and Jiminy Cricket found themselves all alone within the now empty church hall. Taking Helen’s words by heart, the cellist swallowed the lump of fear down her throat, attempting to muster whatever courage she had as Jiminy hopped on her head.

“This is it Jiminy,” Octavia sighed. “No turning back now.”

“Don’t worry, Octavia,” Jiminy assured. “I’m with you all the way.”

Octavia gave the cutest smile for the little cricket… until the growls and roars from the outside snapped them back to reality.

“They’re coming back!” Jiminy called out. “We must get to the belltower now!”

The pony quickly raced down the hall toward the tower entrance when three of Chernabog’s minions burst through the stained glass windows and landed right in front of her. As they snarled, foaming at the mouth, the pony slowly stepped backwards until she bumped against a stone stoup filled with water, which stumbled on impact. It didn’t take long for Jiminy to know what it was.

“Octavia, push the stoup in front of the demons!” He instructed.

“I beg your pardon?” Octavia asked, confused.

“Trust me… you’ll want to do this.”

“Okay, if you say so.”

Unsure of what reason, assuming it was just normal water, the mare decided to roll with it. Picking herself on her hind legs, she gave the stoup a good push toward the demons. The stoup broke immediately, and the water splashed along the floor and onto the demons. The demons suddenly screamed and writhed, as steam burst from their bodies. Octavia couldn’t help but watch as the demons immediately disintegrated, their bodies disappearing into the steamy air.

“What in Celestia’s name was that?!” Octavia cried out.

“Holy water,” Jiminy Cricket answered simply.

“And… what do they put in that water?”

“I don’t think we ought to know. Now come on! We’re running out of time!”

Octavia quickly raced her way toward the doorway leading up the stairs, while holding the sheet music in her mouth. Panting for breath, the mare climbed toward the upper floor of the church. It didn’t take long to reach the belfry, stopping for just a brief moment. Up above them was a big shiny Angelus bell, a bell so big the whole village could see from its six openings. There was a Latin inscription along its surface, which read:

‘Sancta mater, lux nos omnes per tenebras’ (Holy mother, light our way through darkness)

Happily, Octavia immediately ran towards the rope. But the moment she touched the rope, a harpy and a ghost raced through an opening to catch her. With a gasp, she leapt out of the way as the pair flew over her with the harpy’s shrilling screech bellowing overhead.

Octavia had just picked herself back when a skeletal ghost warrior appeared from the floor. The cellist ducked and ran while the specter attempted to slice her head off with an axe. Even Jiminy Cricket had to duck from the constant swings, while keeping a tight grip on her mane. The mare rolled toward the edge of one opening, realizing she was trapped.

The moment she turned around, the ghost warrior hurled his axe making her perform a limbo dodge. The axe missed, but the mare fell backwards and barely grabbed the ledge.

“AAAAHHH!!!” She screamed.

She dropped the sheet music, but Jiminy caught it quick before it could fly away. 

<>

In the meantime, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Applejack, and Rarity fought against Chernabog’s demons like their lives depended on it… in which case, it was. Fluttershy kept her guard around Vinyl Scratch and Mickey Mouse, the pair still recovering from their early part of the battle. All the while, Chernabog overlooked the scene with his arms crossed and an evil glare.

Even Chernabog had to admit that these ponies, a dragon, and a mouse were much stronger than given credit for. Nearly every demon and ghost he sent to tackle them was surprisingly overwhelmed by powers beyond understanding. But Chernabog knew it was all a matter of time. For all the bucking and kicking, all the punching and fire-breathing, and even the cupcake blasts and spell casting, all of it was consuming their energy without even realizing. It was all a matter of time until they’d tire out fast and all Chernabog needed to do… was wait.

<>

Back at the church tower, Octavia held on for dear life as she attempted to pull herself up. Her hind legs scrambled for purchase as she strained with all her might. But when she looked up, the undead warrior loomed over her with an outstretched arm. Before her eyes, his axe returned to him like a boomerang. The mare’s eyes widened as the ghost slowly raised the axe above his head. She looked down to the miles of surface below, then back to the ghost.

From where she was, Octavia had only two choices and both didn’t end very well. On one hoof, the pony could drop herself to her inevitable demise and it could end in seconds. Or… she could allow the spirit to slice her with its axe and the pain would be excruciating. Seeing no way out of this mess, the pony began to cry as if this night would be the very last time, the moment she’d never see any of her friends again.

“Jiminy, I’m sorry…” Octavia sobbed softly.

Jiminy’s eyes widened as Octavia dropped herself before the axe could hit her. She closed her eyes and screamed during her plummet, as her life flashed before her eyes. But just when she expected to hit the ground, Octavia felt her body lifted up by something. Opening her eyes to look up, a harpy had caught her, carrying her high toward the sky with a means of dropping her and taking back the sheet music.

The cricket climbed along the harpy’s talon and bit her right in the leg. The beast screeched loudly and released her hold on Octavia. Quickly, the pony latched onto the bird woman’s leg, refusing to let go. The harpy attempted to shake her off, even stomping and clawing the pony with her free talon. Just as Octavia fell again, the pony quickly grabbed the harpy’s wing making it difficult to fly with only one free wing keeping her in mid-air.

The pony and the cricket clung onto the harpy, who struggled to free itself. From a distance, a skeletal ghost archer stood on the roof of the church, eyeing the struggle. It readied its bow, pulling the string back aiming for the pony. Fortunately, Jiminy Cricket spotted the ghost on the roof and realized what was happening.

“Octavia! Archer!”

Turning toward Jiminy’s direction, Octavia spotted the ghostly archer just as he released his arrow. Pulling with all her weight, she dragged the harpy lower, and the arrow pierced the monster’s back ending through her chest. Life vanished from the harpy’s eye, followed by its last gasp of breath, as the harpy plummeted toward the ground carrying Octavia and Jiminy with her. The pair screamed from the top of their lungs, the cricket holding onto his head and the sheet music, as they fell straight for the church.

“OOOOOOOOOOHHH BLAAAAAAAST!!!” Octavia yelled, crashing through the roof.

<>

Atop the mountain, the Equestrians huddled together exhausted and panting for breath. The ponies and their allies cowered in fear as a wider number of demonic creatures encircled them like wolves upon a flock of sheep. They snarled and growled at their prey, anxiously waiting to deliver the death blow. Overhead, their master grinned maliciously as everything was falling into place.

“Your journey ends here, little ponies!” Chernabog chuckled. “This time… I win!”

It was at that moment our heroes realized they truly had no fight left in them. All they could do was quiver knowing that the best they gave wasn’t good enough. Fluttershy turned away, Rarity clutched onto Spike, and as Twilight and Vinyl looked toward each other, they could read the fear within their eyes while accepting this was truly the end. All eyes went shut as Chernabog raised his hands to either capture the group… or cast a devious spell on them. Everything was working perfectly, until…



(Play Night on Bald Mountain at 5:35)

*BONG!!!*

The sound of a church bell rang from a distance and a bright light interrupted the giant demon right when he was about to cast his power. The demon stopped, a frown spread across his face, looking around for the source of the disturbance. But in that brief moment… nothing happened.

Slowly, the Equestrians opened their eyes as they looked toward the giant demon towering over them. Whatever happened seconds ago, the demon’s expression came off as deciding to ignore it altogether. He turned his attention back toward the ponies, and all their little friends. But just as he was about to proceed…

*BONG!!!*

That same bell rang yet again, followed by a bright light that shone upon him. The demon growled, cringing with disgust. And it didn’t even stop from there…

*BONG!!!*

“Who’s ringing that BLASTED BELL?!”

The bell rang for a third time, followed by that same flash of light, and all that the demon king could do was cringe back. His arms were practically guarding his face, as if that ray of light was the very bane of his existence.

*BONG!!!*

“ARGH! That light! That bell! So much beauty! The goodness! TAKE IT AWAY!!!”

The ponies and dragons looked at each other, then toward the scene around them. The demonic creatures, once threatening and intimidating, were starting to crawl away, clinging to the rocks. Once the bell rang for that fourth time, followed by a blinding light cast upon them, they were covering their faces and snarling in agony. The more it happened, the more they appeared to suffer. All the Equestrians could do was watch these pathetic creatures desperately trying to crawl away, to hide within the shadows they desperately craved.

All at once, everything was silent. Chernabog raised his arm slightly, with some hope that his eyes could see darkness again… that it would be over…

*BONG!!!*

But no… for a sixth time, that bell rang. Soon, morning light started blinding his eyes. He roared in anger, covering his face with his other hand, the pain growing at an overbearing level.

“AAAAARGH!!! STOP IT!!! PLEASE!!! I CAN’T STAND IT!!!”

His minions looked at him before facing each other. They were so close to finishing the Equestrians off for good. But deep down, they knew they didn’t stand a chance once the sun rose over the horizon. Even if their master could resurrect them, the trauma would still linger in their minds. With no choice left, every demon crawled back into the very abyss they came from. The ghosts and spirits above flew down the mountain back toward the village, returning to their graves while the bell kept ringing in the air.

“The sunlight and bell’s drivin’ them away!” Applejack pointed out.

“Hooray! We’re saved!” Pinkie Pie cheered.

“HA! Not so tough and scary without darkness to protect you, huh boys?!” Rainbow Dash shouted.

“Could it be…?” Twilight Sparkle asked softly.

Peeking her head through the crack within the rocks, the Alicorn princess could see dawn slowly approaching. Vinyl Scratch tentatively lifted her head seeing the rise of the sun and a small smile spread along her face.

“Tavi…” Vinyl spoke weakly.

Soon, Mickey Mouse himself woke up, massaging the pain away from his head.

“Hey, what’s going on?” He asked.

“Octavia saved our lives!” Pinkie answered back. “She rang the bell and brought back the light!”

One by one, every vicious fiend and restless spirit disappeared, vanishing without a trace. But even so, the giant demon was far from giving up. Even as he shielded himself with one wing to prevent the light from grazing him, Chernabog refused to bend down.

“Come back, you insolent worms! I command you to finish them off now!”

“It’s over, Chernabog!” Twilight Sparkle declared loudly. “The sun is rising; your army is too afraid to fight the light! Without that sheet music, you’ll never spread your shadows across the universe! You’ve lost!”

The demon king growled in anger, as Twilight Sparkle and the others remained wary.

“You think you’ve won? As long as darkness exists, I can never be destroyed. One day, darkness shall swallow everything… and then, everyone you know… everyone you love… will be snuffed out… like a light. This is far from over, Twilight Sparkle. I will be back… I’ll be stronger than before… and I will have… my… REVENGE!!!”

Chernabog’s roaring laughter was the very last they heard, as the Equestrians fled the mountain through one last teleportation spell, courtesy of Twilight Sparkle herself.