//------------------------------// // Chapter 13: Face-Off // Story: [CANCELLED] The Revival of the Tambelonian Empire // by AlphaWP //------------------------------// CHAPTER 13: FACE-OFF The battle-ready heroes finally found themselves face-to-face with the Legion of Doom. Flash had just told Twilight that he was in love with her, and she was speechless. “Flash, I—” Before she could finish, a blast of magic came from Sombra’s horn. “Let’s have some fun, shall we?” he asked menacingly. Grogar smiled. “Not so fast, Sombra.” He turned to Discord. “I have a proposition for you, Discord.” “And what would that be?” “Join my legion.” Discord was shocked at this proposal. “Why would I join you?” “Because look at what you have become! How many times have you attempted to please these ponies? And yet they still do not trust you, even after all you have done for them.” Discord could feel himself in a difficult dilemma, but then Twilight stood up for him: “You’re wrong, Grogar! Discord is our friend… and we won’t let you corrupt him!” The heroes started to stand up for Discord and he answered Grogar’s question: “No. I’ve made too many mistakes in my past, and I’m not about to make another!” Grogar frowned in disappointment. “What a pity… I was hoping you would say yes.” Rainbow Dash had a look of anger in her eyes. “Can we just get on to the fighting now?” Cozy Glow looked at Grogar. “Yeah, Grogar, can we just fight already?” Grogar smiled. “Very well. My legion… attack.” The heroes and Legion of Doom jumped at each other, with certain ones attacking certain others. Chrysalis took Starlight; Cozy took Flurry Heart; the Sirens attacked Sunset Shimmer. Grogar was watching from the sidelines… smiling. Charging his Bewitching Bell, he let out a blast of magic that caused almost everyone to disappear from the dungeon, except for Trixie, Pharynx, Sunburst, Flash, and the Bushwoolies. “Where did everypony go?” Trixie asked, before turning to Grogar. “What did you do?!” Grogar laughed. “Your friends are unharmed. They have simply been teleported away from Tambelon.” Flash frowned. “Away from Tambelon? Where did you send them?!” Grogar smiled. “You are the one known as Flash Sentry; I presume.” “I am, and let me guess, you’re the one known as an ugly goat?” Grogar chuckled. “You amuse me, Flash Sentry. I assume you care about Princess Twilight, correct?” “I do—and I won’t let you hurt her!” “How are you and your friends going to defeat me? You are nothing.” Trixie frowned and looked at Flash. “Flash, he’s right. Not even the ‘Great and Powerful Trixie’ is as powerful as Grogar.” Pharynx nodded. “Even I know when a fight is too dangerous—and this is that battle.” Flash sighed. “Grogar, we surrender.” The ram laughed. “As I told you… you are nothing.” “But I do have one request.” Grogar raised an eyebrow. “And what would that be?” “Let Pharynx and the Bushwoolies go back to where they were captured from. And let Sunburst and Trixie go. You can do whatever you want with me.” “Flash, what are you doing?” Sunburst asked. “Saving you.” Grogar grinned menacingly. “Deal.” He sent a blast from his Bewitching Bell and Pharynx and the Bushwoolies were teleported away. “Now about the second part of the deal… my answer is no.” Flash snarled. “But we made a deal!” Grogar’s eyes emitted a red glow. “You should know by now… I need all of you to complete the spell! Which means that sadly for you, I need you here.” Trixie tried to use her magic against Grogar but he quickly deflected it and then used his own magic to send the heroes flying into the cell. He smiled before turning around to exit the dungeon. “Goodbye.” Flurry Heart and Cozy Glow saw that they were in the valley under Canterlot Castle. Flurry frowned. “Why are we here?” “Grogar must have brought us here… and I’m glad.” Flurry raised an eyebrow. “Why’s that?” Cozy smiled. “Because now I can finally fight someone my own size!” She sent a magical blast at Flurry, only for her to deflect it. “How did you do that?” Cozy asked, frowning. “You’re like six!” Flurry smiled. “Five, actually. But I’m also a fast learner!” Cozy laughed. “This is gonna be fun.” The two fillies continued to blast each other with magic. Cozy Glow would deflect Flurry’s blasts, and Flurry Heart would deflect Cozy’s. When the two realized they weren’t getting anywhere, Cozy decided to play dirty. “Hey, look,” she said, pointing to the ground, “it’s Twilight!” Flurry looked to where Cozy pointed and felt a sharp pain in her side. Cozy laughed. “I can’t believe you fell for that!” Flurry smiled. “Actually, I knew that Auntie Twilight wasn’t there.” Cozy was shocked. “Then why did you turn around?” “So I could get your guard down!” Flurry sent a blast at Cozy Glow that was so powerful, it knocked her down to the ground below. Flurry flew at Cozy as fast as she could with her horn charged before blasting Cozy again. Cozy frowned in pain. “How are you so strong? I’m eight years older than you.” “Really? Because you look ten,” Flurry retorted. “I was trapped in stone for three years! I still aged; my body just hasn’t grown yet.” “And how did you survive so long without something to eat?” Cozy was confused. “I don’t know! Something to do with magic! Can you just shut up?” Flurry smiled mischievously. “Why?” “Because you’re annoying me!” “Why?” “Because I have no patience!” “Why?” “Stop!” Cozy flew up and tried to blast Flurry, only for her to use her magic to make Cozy start attacking her own body. Flurry smiled. “Why are you hitting yourself?” When Cozy was able to break free from Flurry’s spell, Flurry blasted her with the strongest spell she had ever used, and Cozy was sent to the ground at such a high speed it would make Rainbow Dash seem slow. Cozy groaned in pain. “I asked you a question.” Cozy tried to reply, but simply continued to groan. Flurry smiled; she had won. The Pony of Shadows found himself near the Temple of Ponhenge. “Ponhenge? Why would Grogar send me here?” A voice came from behind him: “We should be the ones asking that question.” He saw the Pillars—all but Stygian—with their weapons ready. The Pony of Shadows opened his eyes in confusion. “Pillars? What are you doing here?!” Star Swirl frowned. “I sensed dark magic at work here! And now that we know it was you, we will not stop until you are defeated!” The Pony of Shadows charged his horn which emitted an orange flame. “You are wrong, Star Swirl! It is you who shall be defeated.” He sent a blast of fire at the Pillars, only for Flash Magnus to use Netitus to protect them. “I see you’re a little hotheaded, Shadow!” Flash yelled. The Pony of Shadows snarled. “That is not funny!” He sent a blast at Flash, only for him to use Netitus once again. Somnambula flew behind the Pony of Shadows with her blindfold. She tied it around his eyes, and he shouted in rage. “How did you know you wouldn’t get caught, lass?” Rockhoof asked her. Somnambula smiled. “I had hope.” The Pony of Shadows growled. “Enough!” He grabbed the Pillars’ artifacts in his magic and, using his fire, destroyed all of them. The Pillars grabbed their artifacts and tried to fix them, but not even Star Swirl’s magic was enough. The Pony of Shadows laughed. “Now your magic is useless! Face it, Pillars! You have lost!” Star Swirl frowned. “Not yet! Everypony, if we have learned anything from Twilight, it’s that our true power doesn’t come from an object, but from the friendships we have formed!” Mistmane smiled. “Star Swirl is right… the beauty of friendship is all we need.” Flash nodded. “My courage lies with you five.” Mage Meadowbrook hugged the others. “I can proudly say that y’all have healed so much pain in my past. You’re my family.” Somnambula shed a tear. “My hope is in your hooves.” Rockhoof looked at the Pony of Shadows and then back at his friends. “Aye. If this really is our last battle… there’s nopony who’s ever made me feel stronger than you lot.” The Pony of Shadows charged his horn. “Enough sentiment! This ends now!” Just then, the Pillars’ artifacts were somehow restored—it was as though their friendship had repaired them. They used their power to deflect the Pony of Shadow’s flames back at him, causing him to feel immense pain. The Pony of Shadows screamed in agony as his flames began to turn white, and he was reduced to nothing but a shadow of his former self. Star Swirl blasted him with one final spell that caused him to explode, leaving nothing but ash in his place. The Pillars had finally destroyed their greatest enemy. The Storm King saw that he was in Canterlot Castle. Looking at the new design of the throne room, he smiled. “And to think… this place was trashed when I attacked it with that storm.” Tempest entered the room from the main entryway. “Well, you’re not about to trash it again!” she exclaimed. The Storm King looked in Tempest’s direction and smiled. “Tempest! You’re awake! How were you after I blasted you against the wall when I came for that bell.” Tempest frowned. “Enough talking, Storm King! It’s time we end this!” The Storm King chuckled and charged his staff. “This is going to be fun.” Tempest sent a blast of lightning at the Storm King, which he jumped out of the way of and sent his own blast at Tempest. She managed to barely dodge it and shoot another blast from her horn, which actually hit the Storm King this time. He was knocked into the direction of an outside balcony—the same balcony where he was defeated last time—and Tempest followed close behind. “You’ve gotten weaker since our last encounter, Storm King.” The Storm King frowned. “And how’s that?” “Well for one thing,” Tempest answered, charging her horn, “you can’t turn me to stone anymore!” She sent a blast at her former master, and before he could lift his staff, he was ultimately blasted against the rails. The Storm King picked himself up and charged his staff before blasting Tempest with lightning. She was thrown against the outer wall of the castle, and he trapped her. He chuckled. “Any last words, Fizzlepop?” She frowned. “Yes, actually. Never call me by my real name!” Tempest kicked the Storm King with her hooves and blasted him with lightning bolt after lightning bolt until he was finally knocked against the rails, and he dropped his staff. “Goodbye, Storm King.” She sent a blast that caused the satyr to fall off the balcony, hitting the ground below. The Storm King reached for his staff but was ultimately too weak to do so. Tempest smiled victoriously. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” Sunset Shimmer was brought to a valley near Luna Bay. She looked around and saw that nearby were the Sirens—and they saw her too. Sunset frowned. “So it’s finally come down to this.” Adagio smiled. “It seems it has, Sunset Shimmer. And now we can finally get you back for all the humiliation we felt after you and the Rainbooms destroyed our gems!” Sunset was disappointed. “You seemed perfectly fine when I saw you and your sisters on tour! You said you made a mistake by using your powers!” Aria frowned. “We were lying!” Adagio snarled. “You trapped us in that miserable world. Each day was worse than the last. Our singing career was only a way for us to restore our voices—just in case we ever got a second chance.” Sonata growled. “And now we do, and we’re gonna finally destroy you!” Sunset charged her horn. “Good luck.” She used her magic to throw a rock at Aria, only for her to destroy it with her voice. “What? How did you—” Aria smiled. “Our voices are magical, duh! Their pitch can destroy almost anything.” “Anything? Maybe I can get them to destroy each other’s gems,” Sunset whispered to herself. “Hey, Sonata! Tacos are disgusting!” Sonata frowned. “What did you just say?! Tacos are a gift from above! You’ll pay for saying that!” She sent a blast of red magic at Sunset only for her to dodge it. Sunset smiled. “Hey, Aria! You’ll never be as cool as your sisters! You’re just a sad siren who pretends to be tough because she’s afraid that she’ll never be good enough!” Aria growled. “I am not! You’re gonna wish you had never said that!” She tried to blast Sunset, only for her to dodge it just like Sonata’s attack. Sunset turned to Adagio. “Adagio! You may seem like a powerful villain, but on the inside, you’re scared! Scared that your sisters are better than you! Well, guess what? They are!” Adagio yelled. “You need to shut… your… mouth!” All three sirens tried to blast Sunset with their voices, but she managed to dodge every attack they had. When she finally jumped in between the three of them, she managed to get out of the way and their voices hit each other’s gems, causing them to break once again. The sirens fell to the ground, weak and defeated. Adagio tried to use her powers against Sunset, but all that came out of her mouth was a shriek. Aria turned to Sonata. “This is all your fault, Sonata! You just had to get mad over tacos. Tacos!” Sonata snarled. “You were the one who destroyed my gem!” Adagio frowned. “Shut up! Both of you! You two are the biggest idiots I’ve ever met!” The sirens continued to argue while Sunset smiled. “Guess it’s true what they say,” she retorted, “siblings really do fight.” Tirek and Discord found themselves in a forest. Discord looked around and saw animals scurrying away from him. “So, Grogar brought me here? Why?” “Probably so we could finally settle an old score, Discord.” Discord frowned when he saw Tirek behind him. “What score?” Tirek snarled. “You were the one who turned me to stone!” Discord made a halo appear above his head. “Me? I was only trying to help save Equestria.” He played a harp with his lion paw. “Stop acting like you’re so good! You will always be a villain… just like me—whether you have ‘friendship’ or not.” Discord made the halo and harp disappear and frowned. “I’ve changed, Tirek, and you won’t convince me that friendship is worthless. I won’t fall for your lies again.” Tirek yelled in anger and sent an orange magical blast at Discord, which caused a hole to appear in his chest. Reforming his body, Discord ran toward Tirek and the two began to fight. Tirek attempted to absorb Discord’s chaos magic, only for him to create a large glass of chocolate milk over the centaur’s head and dump it, causing Tirek to shout in anger. “Why, you—” Discord then teleported the two around a hundred feet in the air. He was able to fly while Tirek fell from the sky, landing so hard that the ground shook. The draconequus landed and grinned. “Had enough, Tirek?” “Never!” Tirek was able to hold Discord in his magic and he smiled menacingly. “Look at you, Discord. Look how friendship has ruined you! You could have had all of Equestria—all of Equus! But no, you settled for these ponies! You will never be able to protect them—not even that pathetic pegasus!” Discord’s pupils became slit, and he growled. “Fluttershy is not pathetic!” He escaped from Tirek’s hold and began to attack him with all kinds of chaotic weapons—rubber chickens, a candy-spitting pinata, a giant apple, and even the Smooze. When Tirek seemed as though he was still able to fight, Discord created his ultimate weapon—a large astral butterfly that flew straight at Tirek, and exploded, causing him to be blasted against a nearby mountain and having multiple rocks fall on him. Discord walked over to where Tirek was. “Now have you had enough?” Tirek tried to respond, but before he could get his words out, he fainted. Discord smiled. “Never call Fluttershy pathetic.” Sombra was brought to the outskirts of the Crystal Empire. The empire—once a beautiful location—was a city frozen in ice. Sombra laughed. “Did Grogar send me here so I could see my success?” A voice came from behind: “Your ‘success’ destroyed my kingdom, Sombra!” It was Shining Armor. “Shining Armor? Why are you here in the arctic?” Shining frowned. “I never left. I wanted to stay here in case my sister and her friends returned with the Crystal Heart or my daughter. You’ll pay if she gets hurt…” “Your daughter is safe… for now.” Sombra smiled evilly. “But I don’t know how long she will be.” Shining Armor sent a blast of magic at Sombra which prompted the latter to turn into shadow to dodge it. The two ran at each other, and Sombra turned into shadow—hoping to block Shining’s magic with his dark crystals. Shining was covered; he could feel Sombra trying to cover his horn, but his determination somehow overpowered Sombra’s, and he was able to get rid of the crystals. Sombra transformed back into his physical form and opened his eyes in shock. “What? How did you resist my crystals?” “Because I have something more than just the safety of my empire to worry about, Sombra… I have my daughter!” Shining sent a blast at Sombra, and before Sombra could dodge it, he was ultimately hit and knocked against the snow. Shining walked over to him. “You’re going to pay for all you’ve done to me and my family in the past.” Having said this, Shining Armor levitated Sombra with his magic and sent him flying across the battlefield. Sombra tried to use his magic to show Shining his worst fear, but it did nothing. “Why are you not screaming?! You were supposed to see your worst fear!” Shining frowned. “Because Sombra,” he said as he charged his horn, “my worst fear was losing my daughter. And that’s already happened!” He sent another blast at Sombra, and the umbrum was shot so far that he was blasted against the Crystal Castle. He felt himself getting weaker. When Sombra tried to blast Shining, he could barely conjure anything. Shining Armor approached him with his horn charged. Sombra tried to use his fear magic against Shining one more time but Shining deflected it back to its caster. Sombra found himself in a black void, where he saw a blue-eyed purple unicorn with a blue mane and tail crying in front of him. When he tried to approach her, she pushed him away. “How could you, Sombra? How could you leave me?!” Sombra had a look of sadness in his eyes. “I didn’t mean to. I was just—” “Just what, Sombra?! You killed Amore and broke my heart! You don’t deserve your power!” “Hope, I only wanted what was best for me—for us! I just wanted to see my family again!” “You only wanted power. And now you’ll never see me again.” Sombra cried. “Hope!” When he woke up, Shining Armor was in front of him with his hoof ready to strike. Shining smiled. “Good night, Your Majesty.” He punched Sombra and he was knocked out. Shining Armor was victorious. “Now you know what it’s like to see your worst fear.” Celestia and Luna looked up at the sky and found that they were surrounded by stars. After looking around a little more, Luna immediately knew where they were. “Celestia! We’re on the moon!” “But why would Grogar—” “We know why,” said a familiar voice—it was the Nightmare Spirit. “Because here, our power is strongest—and now we can finally destroy you!” Luna charged her horn. “Sister, my powers are strongest here. Leave Nightmare to me.” She sent a blast of magic at the spirit, and it hissed. “You are powerful, but not powerful enough to defeat a nightmare!” The spirit sent a blast of magic at Luna, causing her to deflect it. The two sent blast after blast, and Celestia couldn’t help but wonder if she could assist her sister in some way. The Nightmare Spirit smiled. “We could be one again, Luna. Imagine—together we could save your friends; we could even take Grogar’s throne for ourselves. Picture it.” Luna frowned. “I know that you just want to use me. You can’t take on a pony unless they agree to it, and I am not as naive as I once was.” “But you could be all-powerful.” “I made a promise to my father that I wouldn’t fall into darkness. I broke that promise once, but I will not break it again.” Nightmare frowned. “You always were so stubborn. Prepare to die!” The spirit and Luna’s magic collided in a beam, each one’s power shifting toward the other. Celestia saw that her sister was struggling, so she used her magic with Luna’s. “You’re not doing this alone!” she exclaimed. Luna smiled. Nightmare could feel the sisters’ magic coming closer. The more it tried to stay strong, the more Celestia and Luna pushed back. Their magic finally hit it, and it was blasted against a crater. The sisters used their combined strength to ensure that the spirit would not be able to leave the moon, and they felt themselves being teleported back to Equus. Seeing that it was trapped on the moon, Nightmare yelled in anger: “Curse you, Luna!” Starlight found herself in what seemed to be a snowy landscape. The more she looked around her, the more snow she saw. That was when she heard Chrysalis’ sadistic laugh. “I’ve waited a long time for this moment, Starlight Glimmer. It looks like Grogar will finally allow me to have it.” Chrysalis landed in front of her enemy. “Do you know how it feels to be trapped with nowhere to go and nopony to turn to?” Starlight frowned. “I do, Chrysalis, and I understand that you’re angry. But killing me won’t help you get what you want.” Chrysalis hissed. “How do you know what I want?!” “You want your hive back, and I understand that! I know how hard it is to—” “You cannot conceive the pain of having your children turn against you! The only thing I want is your demise!” Chrysalis sent a blast of magic at Starlight, who dodged it. “You want a fight? Fine… you’ll get to fight.” Starlight sent a blast of magic back at Chrysalis and knocked her into the snow, to which she simply stood back up with no sign of surrendering anytime soon. Chrysalis aimed her horn at Starlight while flying and kept trying to hit her, but Starlight teleported each time to avoid it. “This is starting to feel familiar,” Starlight remarked. Chrysalis yelled and dived to where Starlight was standing, but she found herself head-first in a pile of snow. “Come on, Chrysalis,” Starlight mocked, “you’re supposed to be the powerful ruler of the changelings. Wait, or am I thinking about the real king, Thorax?” Chrysalis snarled and sent another blast of magic at Starlight, who teleported once again. “I thought you were fast!” Chrysalis yelled. “My patience is wearing thin! Stay still so I can blast you!” “You said that during our last encounter. I didn’t listen then and I’m not listening now.” Starlight teleported under a large boulder being held up by another stone. When Chrysalis dived in to try and attack her, Starlight teleported away, and Chrysalis knocked down the support. The boulder fell on Chrysalis before she could react, and she was knocked unconscious. Starlight smiled in triumph. “And that is how you squash a bug.” The Mane Six and Spike found themselves outside a strange stone fortress in the shape of Grogar’s head—the same fortress Discord used when he disguised as Grogar. Rainbow Dash looked around. “What is this place?” “Maybe it’s just a fortress coincidentally shaped like Grogar’s head,” Pinkie answered. Rarity frowned in disgust. “Whatever it is, it looks simply dreadful.” Twilight stared at it. “It doesn’t matter what it is. Whatever part of Grogar’s plan it serves, this is where he sent us.” She headed toward the inside. “Come on, everypony.” Fluttershy smiled nervously and turned the other way. “You know what, I think I’ll just go this way.” Applejack grabbed her by the hoof and pulled her toward the fortress. “C’mon now, Fluttershy. We’ve gotta check this place out.” Fluttershy whimpered. When the heroes made it inside, they saw that for some reason, Bray was standing there. Twilight frowned. “Who are you?!” Bray smiled, but the voice that followed was not his: “The body I am in belongs to Grogar’s general, Bray Blackheart… but I am not Bray.” Twilight opened her eyes in shock. “Orthodox?! How are you—” Orthodox laughed. “With the walls of my prison growing weaker, I was able to let enough of my spiritual energy slip through in order to possess this donkey. Now, you are going to give me what I want.” “And what would that be?” Spike asked. “You see, I don’t need you to be alive for the spell to set me free… I just need your bodies. And now that I’ve had time to ponder on it, I believe it would be better to have you six dead than alive.” Twilight frowned. “If you wanted to kill us, then why did you ever bother to manipulate any of the villains we’ve faced? You said you were using them to help see if we would be the right ponies to ‘take your place.’” Orthodox smiled. “That wasn’t entirely true… I said that to misguide you—make you think they were a way to test you. The truth is that at first, I was using them to try and kill you… but then you became the Princess of Friendship. After that, I decided to use Cozy Glow as a way to test you; and when she drained all of that magic, I was able to finally free Grogar—the one villain I knew would perform the spell to free me.” Applejack raised an eyebrow. “And now that he’s free, you’re just gonna kill us? Why didn’t you just tell him to do it for ya?” “Because I wanted to wait until I could kill you myself.” “Wait,” Pinkie said, “technically, it would be Bray who’d be killing us. You’re just using his body.” Orthodox smiled. “But I’ll be using my own magic.” Twilight had a sense of confusion in her eyes. “But if you’re a magicless being’s body, and you’re trapped in the Dark Netherworld, then how would you use your own magic?” Orthodox laughed and Bray’s hoof pointed to an orange Crystal Ball. “Because, Princess, I know how to use magic in a magicless being’s form. I may only have a fraction of my magic… and that fraction may be limited… but even a tiny fragment of my power can be destructive. With the magical energy of this Crystal Ball, I will be able to transform this donkey into something that better suits my needs!” Bray’s body began to shake, and before long, it grew into a monstrous form. The form that once resembled a donkey was unrecognizable. His eyes were red, and they looked like snake’s. A large horn protruded from the beast’s head, and wings emerged from its sides. Its teeth were sharp and crooked, and its hooves became like claws. Orthodox laughed at his new form; the heroes were horrified. Fluttershy screamed. “What is that thing?!” Spike frowned. “It’s no longer a donkey, that’s for sure.” Orthodox’s laughter echoed throughout the fortress. “Now you see what I have become! This is how I use magic in other creatures’ bodies—I make their bodies like my body! Now prepare yourselves, ponies, for the final battle you shall ever fight!” Orthodox flew into the air and sent a blast of cosmic energy at Twilight. When she tried to deflect it, it somehow managed to defeat her own magic and she was knocked to the ground. “Rainbow Dash,” she said, “you’re faster than anypony in Equestria. I need you to distract Orthodox long enough to where I can get a clear shot. Can you do that?” Rainbow nodded. “I can try.” She flew into the air and taunted Orthodox. “Hey, Orthodox! Come and get me!” Orthodox in Bray’s monstrous form flew at her and charged his horn. Before Twilight could aim her horn at him however, he somehow managed to blast Rainbow’s wing even though she was flying in complete circles around him. “My wing!” Rainbow fell to the floor of the fortress, and Applejack only barely managed to catch her before she hit it. “I gotcha, Dashie!” Rainbow looked at her broken wing. “Thanks, AJ. But I think my wing is broken. Somehow Orthodox is faster than I am—and I’m faster than anypony!” Twilight saw Rainbow hurt and turned to Pinkie and Rarity. “We need a ground attack. Pinkie, can you try to distract Orthodox?” Pinkie smiled. “I’m the most distracting pony I know!” “And Rarity, can you make a sling for Rainbow with your fabric?” “I’m already on it.” Rarity rushed to Rainbow Dash with fabric in her magical aura while Pinkie Pie jumped in front of the Crystal Ball. “Oh, Orthodox!” Orthodox turned to Pinkie Pie, the eyes on Bray’s face glowing red. “Get away from that crystal!” “Okay, but first…” She pulled a pie from her mane and threw it at him. “Surprise!” Orthodox growled and blasted Pinkie Pie with energy. Twilight thought she had him in her range, but when he saw her, he blasted his energy at her, prompting Fluttershy to push Twilight out of the way. However, the energy hit Fluttershy, leaving her flightless. Spike attempted to breathe fire at the monster, but Orthodox’s cosmic energy quickly collided with it, causing Spike to be blasted against a wall. Bray’s possessed body landed on a platform overlooking the Mane Six and charged his horn. “I look forward to seeing you die.” Just then, Twilight blasted the Crystal Ball, and it was shattered. Bray’s body began to shake. It was transformed back into that of a donkey, and Orthodox saw that it wouldn’t transform again. “You imbecile! What have you done?!” Twilight smiled. “I broke the Crystal Ball so you wouldn’t be able to use its power. Your magic is indeed powerful…” She charged her horn and aimed it at Bray’s body. “But not even you are more powerful than friendship.” She sent a blast from her horn that caused Bray to be knocked against the wall of the fortress, leaving him unconscious and therefore free of Orthodox’s possession. When the Mane Six and Spike started to celebrate, they were quickly interrupted and found themselves surrounded by black and yellow magic; and in an instant, they were teleported away from the fortress. After everyone was done fighting, Grogar returned them to his castle in Tambelon—except for Nightmare and the Pony of Shadows. When Twilight saw that her brother and the Pillars were also there, she tried to talk, but it seemed as though Grogar had placed a spell on her that prevented her from doing so. The once-mighty Legion of Doom was now weakened and Grogar stood over them. He sighed. “I expected this would happen.” Cozy Glow groaned in pain. “Then why did you send us to fight?” The ram smiled sadistically. “So you wouldn’t fight back when I finally revealed the true intention of my master plan. I am going to use your magical energy to free the Destroyer from his prison!” Tirek frowned in fear. “But you made a deal with us! You promised us the destruction of our enemies!” Grogar chuckled. “They will be destroyed… you just won’t live to see it!” The Storm King tried to jump at Grogar, but the ram used his Bewitching Bell to absorb his energy. The satyr was turned into an orb of energy and absorbed by the bell. Grogar then used his bell on the entire legion—the villains were returned to the forms they were in before Grogar freed them. Tirek reverted back to his first form; Chrysalis was reduced to a normal changeling; Cozy was a pegasus again; and the villains were transformed into energy orbs and absorbed by the bell. The Bewitching Bell’s magic turned from yellow and black to the same cosmic black as Orthodox’s. Grogar turned to the heroes and smiled. “Now you can go into the dungeon and the spell shall finally be enacted…  and all of Equus shall know the name ‘Emperor Grogar!’” Twilight had a look of fear in her eyes… the fate of all of Equestria was hanging in the balance—and it was up to her to save it!