//------------------------------// // Chapter 11: Princess Celestia & Twilight Sparkle // Story: Unfriendship 2 // by littleman001 //------------------------------// The clock was ticking. The Storm King's one hour time limit on his ultimatum was almost up, but there was still no sign of Cadance and Blueblood succeeding in their mission in Stalliongrad. Luster Dawn was nervously pacing on the square before Canterlot Castle, taking a fearful gaze up at the Storm King's pitch black airship looming over the city. And while she didn't want to admit it, Celestia was growing nervous too. If they didn't get an update from Stalliongrad soon, she didn't know what they're gonna do. The worried duo was interrupted by Starlight coming up to them, carrying a saddlebag. "Here you go." The blue unicorn said as she hoofed over her bag to Celestia. "I managed to fill these crystals with magical energy of the same nature the Storm King used to take over the SkyWatch system. It should be effective enough to stop and reverse his draining process. But to make sure he won't interfere with it, you're gonna need to knock him out before using it." She instructed. Luster Dawn narrowed her eyes. "I wouldn't have it any other way." She replied, cracking her forelegs. Celestia took the saddlebag from Starlight and placed it on her hip. "Thank you, Starlight. But if Blueblood and Celestia don't come through, I'm afraid this won't be of much help to us." As if on cue, the calmness of the air was interrupted by a huge lightning of blue magical energy bursting through the air and hitting the Storm King's airship. The ship's shields held on for a few seconds, but the fact that their outline was growing bigger and bigger as they absorbed more and more of the invasive energy and they were starting to vibrate more and more violently was indicating that they won't last much longer. Sure enough, a few more seconds later, there was a blinding explosion of magic that forced the ponies on the ground to cover their eyes. "They did it!" Starlight exclaimed. "I can feel it! The ship's shields are down!" "They completed their part." Celestia said with determination. "Now it's our turn. Come, Luster!" The unicorn didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed onto Celestia's hooves and the alicorn took flight. As the two of them neared the Storm King's airship, they were both expecting to be met by some sort of resistance on their way up, but to their surprise, their flight was uninterrupted. The Storm King had other worries at the moment. The magical wave that washed over his ship actually managed to briefly knock him off his feet. His ship being hit by such a huge wave of magical energy was something he did not expect. Especially since he had almost managed to drain Equestria dry. This amount of power could have only come from that other region he detected not too long ago. Which meant that Tempest had failed. But that was a minor inconvenience at worst. He got back on his feet just in time to see Celestia carrying Luster Dawn flying up to his ship. He frowned. He couldn't stop them from getting on his ship now, but if they thought that once they boarded the ship meant that they have already won, they will have another thing coming. He may have lost Tempest and the First Order, but he still had some things up his sleeve. Celestia narrowed her eyes as she closed in on the Storm King's ship. "Brace yourself!" She yelled to Luster, before summoning some magical energy into her horn and charging onto the ship. The two ponies crashed through the wall and landed on the corridors leading to the bridge. Their initial plan was to rush to the bridge and put an end to the Storm King's nefarious schemes. But they were shocked to find that their mission will not be as simple as that, as they found themselves surrounded by a large horde of the Storm King's guards. But their shock was short lived. Celestia quickly approached the guards blocking her path and blasted most of them away with a huge blast of solar energy. One of the remaining ones lunged at Celestia, but she caught the creature with her magic and slammed it into another one. Another one caught her horn in it's claws and tried to push her head to the ground. Celestia gathered some more magic into her horn and unleashed it in a blast, making the creature's hand explode. A fourth one attempted to tackle her, but she managed to fly up in time to avoid it amd the creature crashed into the one which's hand she just took off. Celestia then slammed onto another of them still standing on the groumd and pierced it's chest with her horn, before grabbing the last one with her magic and throwing it out the hole she created in the side of the ship. Meanwhile, Luster Dawn was dealing with her part of the enemy group. And she was doing it quite efficiently. She was waiting for this moment for years and she was fueled by the flames of vengeance. While she already brought down several of these monsters on the ground, she swore that for everypony she saw dying in her village, she would sent ten of these things to Tartarus. And she still had some catching up to do. Luster used her magic to rip off the sharp blades and armor off of the Storm Guards' bodies and created a whirlwind to send them circling around the corridor. The whirlwind of sharp objects sliced the creatures in several lethal places, including their throats and their arteries, as well as cutting off several of their limbs. Luster noticed two of the creatures trying to sneak up on her from behind her. She launched several of the blades in her magical hold at them, impaling them and sticking them to the wall. Another one tried to strike her down from above, but Luster dodged and the creature ended up with it's fist stuck in the floor. Luster sliced it's hand off, then plunged another blade into it's heart. A fourth creature tore out one of the blades from it's deceased comrade's body and tried to take Luster by surprise with it. It managed to catch Luster off guard enough for her whirlwind spell to cease. The remaining two creatures threw themselves at Luster along with the one with the blade. Luster raised a barrier around herself and managed to counter their combined strike with it. The creatures kept pounding the barrier. Luster knew she won't be able to keep it up for long, so she had to think of something. She charged some electricity into her horn and then loaded it into the barrier. It traveled from the barrier into the creatures' bodies and knocked them all out. After all the enemies have been neutralized, Luster shut off the barrier and went to join Celestia. After the alicorn swiftly looked Luster over to make sure she was alright, she turned back towards the corridor leading to the bridge and was about to lead Luster away, only to find somecreature blocking their path. "Enough!" The Storm King yelled as he fired two magical restraints at the two ponies. They were still too caught up in their surprise to dodge and they were too weakend from the draining process to resist the Storm King's magic. The ponies were trapped. The Storm King slowly and menacingly walked up to them, looking them over with a furious, but analitic expression. He leaned over Luster Dawn and his expression turned into a smirk. "Luster Dawn. The last pony with untampered alicorn magic inside her. I thank you for coming to me so willingly. Once I've drained you. No creature will be able to stop me." He then motioned for two more of his guards behind him. "Take her away." The two hulking cratures carried the uselessly struggling unicorn away and the Storm King turned to Celestia. "As for you. You have failed in all of your efforts to oppose me. Just as I predicted, you have lost your power, your allies and now you will lose your kingdom." He then turned around to walk back to the bridge. "Dispose of her." He told his guards dismissively. The guards walked up to Celestia and picked her up, before carrying her to the hole she blew in the wall of the ship. It was obvious that thier intention was to throw her out. Despite the hopelessness of the situation, she still struggled. She refused to give up. But as the creatures carried her closer and closer to the hole, she started to lose her hope. She saw no means of escaping her predicament. She was almost ready to resign herself to her fate, when she saw from the corner of her eyes that one of the doors at the opposing end of the corridors was shaking violently and a purple light was starting to peak through it's cracks. Suddenly, the door exploded with a blinding purple explosion and to Celestia's utter shock, she saw none other than the presumably dead Twilight Sparkle flying out of a holding cell as a blazing ball of magical energy, cutting down the creature's in her way, before making her way to Celestia and finishing off her captors as well. Celestia fell on the floor, while Twilight panted heavily as she regained her strength. When she recovered, she offered her hoof to Celestia. The alicorn of the sun was hesitant at first, but she took the offer. "I thought the Storm King killed you." Twilight rolled her eyes. "Sorry to disappoint. Turns out I was still too valuable for the Storm King to just kill me." She then looked around. "You didn't bring anypony else with you?" "Only Luster Dawn. The others are still on the ground fighting the Storm King's forces. Just in case we don't pull through." Twilight narrowed her eyes in determination. "We will. We have to. But where's Luster?" "Captured. Somewhere on board." Celestia saw the frightened look in Twilight's eyes as she heard this and quickly reassured her. "We'll find her. If we take down the Storm King, she will be freed as well." Twilight nodded. "Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Twilight turned away towards the door leading to the bridge and ran off, with Celestia right behind her. When they gallopped through the first set of doors, they stopped in surprise. Blocking their way to the bridge were not the Storm Guards, but two very familiar faces: Sweetie Belle and Zecora. Celestia's eyes widened with horror. Just what did this monster do to her new student? "Sweetie Belle! What are you doing here?!" She exclaimed. It was obvious that there was something wrong with the unicorn. Her eyes were completely wide and there was no expression on her face. Zecora was in the same state. "Isn't it obvious? They're under the Storm King's control." Twilight concluded swiftly. "We have to get through them to get to him." Celestia wasn't happy with this turn of events. She knew that Twilight lost her restrain and self-control after Canterlot was destroyed. There was no telling how far she was willing to go to get to the Storm King, even if she had to face her own allies and former friends. "The Storm King stabilized my magic." Sweetie replied on a monotone, almost mechanical voice. "No more power surges, no more random outbursts. I can finally safely use my powers. And with this new stability, I am now stronger than ever." "How do we get past her?" Twilight asked, worried. "She nearly blew herself up in Tartarus along with all of us when the others came for me." But Celestia knew exactly how to deal with her. And there was no way she was going to let Twilight face her student in a fight. After what she did to Rarity, there was no telling what she might do. "I can handle her." Celestia told her firmly. "Go and deal with Zecora." Twilight looked rather disappointed by the instruction. "Pity. I've been looking forward to testing myself against your new student." She lamented, but nevertheless complied and went to confront the zebra. Meanwhile Celestia stood face to face with her student. "Master versus pupil?" Sweetie taunted. "Kinda cliché, don't you think?" Celestia didn't reply. But she appreciated Sweetie wasting time and her attention on taunting as it gave her an opening to fire a spell at Sweetie without her dodging it. The blast barely did any damage on the young mare, but she felt it taking effect immediately. "My magic!" Sweetie cried in panic as she felt her magic decreasing inside her. "That... That was" "Twilight's depowerment spell." Celestia finished ir for her. "You did a good job perfecting it like I asked you to. Once you're free of the Storm King's control, I will be very proud of you." Enraged, Sweetie Belle threw herself at Celestia. The alicorn easily avoided the attack with the use of her wings and flew up into the air, but before she could execute her counterattack, Sweetie fired a blast at her. Celestia assumed that the unicorn would want to pull her down on the ground and pulled herself back in the air to resist it. But this was exactly what Sweetie Bell was expecting. The spell she fired actually pushed Celestia back towards the ceiling and since she pulled back so much that it actually made it easier for Sweetie to push her back. Celestia crashed against the ceiling and fell back on the ground, giving Sweetie a chance to strike again. She charged her horn to fire again, but in doing so, she gave Celestia just enough time to recover enough to perform a shield spell. Sweetie kept firing her magic at Celestia in order to shatter her shield, but she didn't notice that the alicorn wasn't simply deflecting the magic, she was collecting it into one big ball of energy in front of herself. Once Sweetie exhausted herself, Celestia knew the time was right for a counterattack and she unleashed all the magic she had collected right back at the unicorn. Sweetie Belle was helplessly swept away by the large burst of magic like a ragdoll and crashed against the wall before slumping down on the wall to the ground, knocked out cold. "Power is nothing without control." Celestia lectured. "Something you still have yet to learn." Meanwhile, Twilight was facing off against Zecora. "Your resistance is a feeble plan. Under the Storm King, Zebrica will rise again." Zecora rhymed, her voice just as monotone as Sweeties's from the Storm King's control. "As the Storm King's puppets. Is that really what you want for your people?" Twilight retorted. Zecora would have probably rolled her eyes at the hypocrisy if she had her free will. "We always followed. First Celestia, then you. But the Storm King is the leader we should have pledged ourselves to." Twilight narrowed her eyes. Zecora needed a little more 'convincing'. "That's the Storm King talking! If you're not gonna fight his influence, then I'll beat it out of you!" Unlike Celestia, Twilight didn't wait for Zecora to make the first move. She immediately fired a spell at the zebra that would clear her of the mind control, but to her surprise, the spell did nothing. Twilight backed away in shock. "What?! How?!" Zecora smirked and held up an unfamiliar looking wooden amulet with her foreleg. "I was prepared for your treachery, so I crafted and brought this with me. As long as this amulet is mended, against your magic I am protected." Twilight raised an eyebrow. 'Thanks for the tip.' Twilight decided to avoid using her magic and flew at Zecora as fast as she could to swipe away her amulet. This surprised Zecora enough that she had no time to prevent Twilight from taking a hold of her amulet, but it was tightly attached to her neck and it wouldn't come off. Zecora pulled a vial of potion out of her saddlebag and tosssed it at Twilight. The alicorn was so preoccupied with tearing off Zecora's amulet that she didn't notice the vial flying towards her chest, allowing it to hit her. Twilight backed away in surprise as the cold liquid spread across her body. Zecora smirked and pullerd out her staff before bashing Twilight in the chest with it and the liquid covering her started glowing. Twilight felt a burning sensation which became hotter and hotter, before a giant explosion sent her crashing against the wall. "I hope you like my latest remedy. I made it from the Storm King's recipe. This potion affects your magical power and makes it burn you like no other." Zecora boasted before twirling her staff around and slamming it into Twilight's chest again. The purple alicorn screamed in agony as the Storm King's potion started burning again. Twilight had felt quite a lot of physical pain before in her life, but she always managed to endure. Everytime the fate of Equestria was at stake, she knew she couldn't give up. Because if she did, it will mean the end of everything as she knew it. And this time will be no different. Despite the pain, Twilight forced herself on her hooves and grabbed Zecora's staff with her forelegs. She gathered all her strength and pushed back until she managed gain control of the staff and yanked it out of Zecora's hooves, before using it to smash Zecora's amulet to pieces. With the source of her resistance to magic gone and her staff in Twilight's possession, Zecora could no longer pose a threat to the alicorn. Twilight blasted the zebra against the wall and before she could get up, she bashed her in the head with her staff, knocking her out cold. Before Twilight could do anything else, she saw from the corner of her eyes Celestia walking up next to her, carrying Sweeties Belle in her foreleg and laid her next to Zecora. She then turned to Twilight. "Do you remember the mind control spell you used on Tirek?" Twilight immediately knew what she was trying to say. "Yeah, but I won't be able to lift it from them if it was somecreature else who cast the spell." "There may be a way." Celestia responded before reaching into her saddlebag and pulling out two magical crystals. "Starlight was able to analyze the Storm King's magic when she reclaimed the SkyWatch system. These crystals are filled with similar magical energy. If we used these with that spell, you might be able to do it." Twilight thought about it for a moment. She wasn't sure if it would work but it was worth a try. She took the crystals from Celestia and placed one on each of the two unconscious mare's head. She then used the spell to reverse the mind control as if she was the one who cast it. Her magic passed through the crystals, resulting in a bright flash as they exploded into white light and dematerialized. Twilight and Celestia wathced Sweeties's and Zecora's bodies on the floor, eagerly waiting for something to happen. After a few moments of nothing, Twilight was about to accept that it didn't work, but suddenly, their eyes snapped wide open and they slowly sat up. "Ugh... what happened?" Sweeties groaned. "I feel like I just had a head on collision with a speeding train." "I share your sentiments, young one." Zecora added before looking up at Twilight and Celestia. "An explanation would me most welcome." "The Storm King messed with your heads." Twilight answered casually. "We fixed them for you." Sweeties Belle looked skeptical. She looked up at Celestia, but her mentor confirmed Twilight's words with a nod. "It is true. But you two are no longer his puppets." Celestia confirmed before helping the two mares on their legs. "If you're done with the reunion, we have a world to save." Twilight snapped at her former mentor before turning away to head to the bridge. Celestia nodded at her. "You go ahead. I'll make sure there isn't any remnant of the Storm King's magic left in them." Twilight nodded and left the three alone. Once Celestia was certain Twilight was out of earshot, she turned towards her student. "You have done well..." Once Twilight and Celestia reached the bridge of the Storm King's ship, they were surprised to see that there was nocreature there. The only thing they saw were the Storm King's staff in the middle of the room stabbed into the floor as it transferred the magical energy into the orbs around the room. "The bridge is unmanned." Twilight observed. "Quick, give me those crystals! We have to reverse the process before it's too late." But Celestia just held up her hoof as she looked around the room in suspicion. "It cannot be that easy. He wouldn't leave the prizes of his conquest unguarded. There has to be something here." As if on cue, a blinding flash irradiated the room, forcing the two mares to cover their eyes. When the light died down, they looked up to see another familiar face standing in front of them. And if it was possible, his presence was even more surprising than the previous two creatures they have encountered. "Sunburst?!" Celestia exclaimed. "The Storm King has enslaved you too?" "Don't tell me. He improved your magical capabilites." Twilight guessed. The possessed stallion nodded. "No more pathetic little Sunburst to be bossed around by Cadance. I now have what I need to fulfill the potential I once had." He replied on the same mechanical tone as Sweetie Belle and Zecora. "And in exchange, all you have to do is help him destroy Equestria." Twilight spat. Celestia desperately wanted to avoid another fight. She looked at the orbs around the bridge. They were almost completely full. They didn't have much time left. The Storm King had to be stopped now. "Keep him occupied. I will handle the drain." Celestia told Twilight before she trotted off towards the orbs. Sunburst was about to stop her, but she was interrupted by Twilight. "Going somewhere?" The stallion's eyes turned into a vicious glare. "You took Starlight away from me and turned her into a criminal." He lamented. Even under the Storm King's control, his rage and sorrow were audible. "Once I've killed you, she will join me at the Storm King's side. Forever!" Twilight wasn't concerned. With or without the Storm King's power boost, Sunburst was nothing compared to her. She didn't even want to waste any time and simply blasted the stallion with a knockout spell, but to her utter surprise, he cast a perfect counterspell that fired Twilight's own spell back at her. She was so surprised that she didn't even have time to react and her own spell hit her right in the face. Of course, being an alicorn, it didn't immediately knock her out, but it did make her feel a little drowsy. She shook her head. She had to focus. Twilight gathered all of her strength and fired another, much more poweful blast at Sunburst. But to her dismay, his shield absorbed even that. She had to come up with something else. She teleported behind Sunburst and grabbed him from behimd, attempting to press her horn against his head to use a knockback spell on him without his shield spell interfering. But Sunburst managed to absorb enough energy from Twilight's previous attack to resist and blast her off. Sunburst then went on the offensive. He fired blast after blast at Twilight, but the alicorn easily avoided them with her wings. She could tell Sunburst meant business as the floor where his blasts landed have been rendered pitch black. While she doubted an alicorn like her could be incinerated so easily, she wasn't about to take that chance. Twilight glanced behind herself and saw Celestia trying to shut down the Storm King's draining process. Without much success it seemed. The staff in the floor was protected by a powerful magic. That gave Twilight an idea. She charged all of her remaining power into her horn and fired it at Sunburst. To the same result as the last time. Sunburst absorbed all of it and fired it right back at Twilight. But this time, Twilight was expecting it. She flew up into the air and Sunburst’s counterattack flew right at the staff in the middle of the room. "Celestia, look out!“ Twilight yelled. The white alicorn heard her just in time to get out of the way before the magical blast hit the staff. Twilight smirked as she saw her idea working. Sunburst redirected her attack at the staff and her energy was just enough to overload the field protecting it. Celestia instantly realized what Twilight was doing and when the magic dissipates, she tore the staff out from the floor and threw it to Twilight. Twilight then aimed it at Sunburst and channeled her reverse mind control spell through it. Her spell combined with the Storm King’s magic was enough to liberate the unicorn’s mind. Sunburst screamed in agony as the magic coursed through his body. When it dissipated, the stallion collapsed on the ground, panting in exhaustion. When he looked up, he saw the two alicorns looking down at him in concern. "Welcome back, Sunburst." Celestia said as she offered him her hoof, which the stallion took. "I'm sorry I attacked." Sunburst apologized as he stood up. "The Storm King forced me to." "We know." Twilight replied. "Don't worry, he can't control you any longer." Sunburst glanced up in Twilight and then back at Celestia in wonder. "To see you two fight together again. I never thought it possible. But you need to keep it that way! You must not fall apart again. Equestria's fate depends on it. Through the Storm King's magic I have had visions. Of the future. The lack of harmony and friendship is going to tear our land apart. If not through the Storm King then... Sunburst never finshed that sentense. The three ponies didn't notice that the Storm King's staff started levitating behind them and before they could notice, it flew straight at the stallion and impaled him through the chest before flying out through his back... right into the Storm King's hand. Sunburst barely had enough time to look donw at his wounded chest before collapsing on the ground and bleeding out. The two alicorns could only stare in horror, before turning their hate filled look at the Storm King. "Even a magical expert like Sunburst sees that your struggle is hopeless. He and my other puppets occupied you long enough for the draining process to be almost complete. Soon enough not only you, but all of Equestria and it's magic will belong to me." he boasted with a savage grin. Celestia and Twilight only narrowed their eyes further in response. "Unless we stop you." Celestia retorted, making the yeti laugh. "HA! I doubt that. Your allies are scattered and fighting amongst themselves, if they're not dead already. You have exhausted almost all of your remaining magic and your armed forces are decimated. You cannot win." "We'll find a way." Celestia countered, spreading her wings and igniting her horn, ready to attack. "We always do." Twilight added before mimicking her mentor and leaping to attack. Twilight charged her horn and rammed herself into the Storm King. She lunged herself forward in an attempt to pierce through his chest, but his armor repelled her horn magically. The Storm King then pushed Twilight back with his staff and blasted her away. Celestia was next. She used her magic to blast a hole in the floor to make the Storm King fall out. It almost worked, but the Storm King managed to react in the last moment and used his staff to stop the fall by placing it on the two sides of the hole as he fell, before leviatating himself up. Twilight clearly saw at this point that the staff was the source of his power. She needed to get it. She fired a blast at the Storm King to blast the staff out of his grasp, but he was protecting himself with an energy bubble. Twilight growled. She needed a distraction. "Distract him." She told Celestia before falling back. Celestia flew at the Storm King to block his view from wherever Twilight was running off to. She crashed into the energy bubble and pushed forward with all her might. The Storm King used his staff to blast the princess off of him, but she responded with an energy bubble of her own to protect herself. However, with her magic dwindling and the Storm King being in his prime, it was becoming increasingly harder to keep up the bubble. The Storm King pulled his staff back and was about to unleash the final blast, but suddenly, he felt his staff being yanked out of his grasp. He turned around in shock and saw Twilight hoovering behind him, holding his staff over her head with her magic, before bringing it down, bashing the Storm King in the head with it. The mighty tyrant had fallen on the ground with a sickening crack, but as much as this disappointed Twilight, not in his head, but in the staff itself. Twilight glanced at the staff and noticed that it's head was fractured and magical sparks were jumping out of it. At first. she was satisfied with this development, this must mean that the Storm King's powers would be deteriorating, but her satisfaction was short lived when the storm king got up and let out an enraged scream at the alicorn. "YOU FOOL?! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?!" Twilight was about to reply, when she felt the entire ship shift, as if it was falling down slowly. Celestia had a startling realization. "The ship! It's gonna crash!" Twilight's eyes widened. The Storm King must have controlled it with his magic through the staff. Her horror grew as she came to another startling realization. "If we crash, all of the Storm King's collected magic..." "...will be destroyed." Twilight finished for her. She cursed her impulsiveness. She had to come up with something. Fast. She looked at the center of the room where the staff once sat, draining Equestria's magic and an idea hit her. She flew there and stabbed the damaged staff back into the floor. "What are you doing?!" The Storm King demanded. Twilight ignored him and began channeling her magic through the staff, into the ship. "Twilight, what are you doing?" Celestia asked in both shock and concern. "The Storm King controls this ship with his magic through this staff! If I take over, I can land it safely!" Twilight responded before turning all of her energy onto the task at hoof. Celestia's concerns did not abate. "Twilight, with the amount of magic you've lost, controlling this enormous ship will drain everything from you! You could die!" Celestia warned, but Twilight wasn't deterred. "Never stopped me before." For a moment, it looked like Twilight might just do it. The ship began to stabilize and slowly descend towards the ground. However, the Storm King wasn't about to let all of his hard work go down the drain. This ship and the magic he collected was his and his alone! Nocreature will take it from him, let alone a pathetic fallen princess like that. He began marching towards Twilight in fury. "You will not take my ship from me!" He was about to grab Twilight and pull her away, but he was stopped by Celestia. "Oh, no you won't!" Celestia snarled, before throwing the Storm King back against the wall. The Storm King punched the ground in anger before getting up and leaping at Celestia. He reached to grab her throat, but she flew back swiftly and blasted him away with a magic bolt. With the source of his magic out of his control, it was no longer protecting him and the magic had the desired effect of blasting him away. The Storm King realized he was now at a disadvantage. He needed a new strategy to tie down Celestia's magic. He punched the floor with both hands and tore out a large piece of it before throwing it at Celesta. The alicorn had to use her magic to stop it in mid-air, but just as the Storm King predicted, this gave him an opening. He leaped at Celestia and tackled her on the ground. He then grabbed the debris he threw at her and was about to bash her skull in with it, but Celestia managed to recover in time to cast a barrier. Enraged, the Storm King began to smash the barrier with the debris. He brought it down repeatedly in an attempt to break the barrier. It started to crack so Celestia knew she had to come up with something. When the Storm King raised the debris one more time, Celestia dispersed the barrier and grabbed the debris in her telekinetic grasp and brought it down on the Storm King's head. Which gave Celestia the chance to pull up her backlegs and kick him away. The Storm King had completely lost his composure, he flew into an animalistic rage. He threw himself at Celestia, blindly clawing at her and trying to grab her, but the alicorn easily eluded the attacks and countered with a magical attack each tim. She could feel the Storm King becoming exhausted and knew that her time had come to deliver the finishing blow. She flew up into the air and dived onto the Storm King from above, shoving him into the floor with as much strength as she could muster. She then gathered all of her remaining magic into her horn and unleashed a mighty blast right into the Storm King's face. She kept up the fire for as long as she could and didn't even stop when he heard the Storm King scream in agony or when his screams startd dying down, which signaled that the Storm King was finally losing conscousness. She then raised her right foreleg and delivered a mighty punch into the yeti's face, finally wearing him down and neutralizing him. Once she made sure the Strom King was down, Celestia ran back to Twilight who was still trying to take control of the ship and land it safely. She was slowly but surely getting the hang of it as Celestia felt the ship becoming more and more stable and slowly descending on the ground. When Celestia felt a large thud that slightly made her stumble, she knew that the ship landed. Twilight had done it. But there was still one matter at hoof. "The stolen magic. Can you restore it?" Celestia asked as she pulled out the magical crystals Starlight gave her. Twilight was panting in exhaustion already, but knew that she couldn't quit now. "I'll try." Twilight took the crystals and channeled their energy into the staff before focusing her remaining energies into the orbs around her and pulling the magic out of them and transferring it back into the land. As Twilight reversed the draining process, Celestia noticed that a few of their allies, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Flutterhy, Cadance and Blueblood have arrived on the bridge. They obviously saw the airship landing and went to take the fight to the Storm King. They were late, but Celestia doubted they minded. Following them was Luster Dawn who easily escaped captivity after the Storm King's defeat. The ponies in the room wathced in awe as Twilight restored Equestria's magic from the Storm King's collection. The magical energy inside the orbs has flown through Twilight and out of her horn as it rained over the land. After the orbs have been emptied, Twilight finally gave into her exhaustion and letting go of the staff, she passed out on the floor. "Twilight!" Rainbow Dash excalimed as she and Luster ran to the alicorn's side and helped her up. "I thought all was lost." Cadance said. "But I can feel the Crysral Heart refilling. The Crystal Empire's magic is restored!" She cheered. "You did it, Twilight! The Storm King's work is undone!" But Twilight couldn't find it in herself to share the joy of the Princess of Love. "Not..." She panted. "Not all of it..." The ponies in the room became confused. "What do you mean 'not all of it.'" Fluttershy asked nervously. "Some of the magic is still in the Storm King's collection." Celestia answered when she saw some of the orbs were still full. "That's not all of it." Twilight added grimly. "I couldn't restore everything. The weather control of the pegasi. the earth pony connection to the land. It just... slipped through. They're... gone..." She sounded like she was ready to cry. Applejack and Rainbow Dash received these news in alarm. "But... but we can still restore 'em, right?!" Applejack asked franticly. "Earth pony magic can't be gone! It is our livelihood! And we have de entire nation to feed! How are we supposed to do dat without our connection with our land?!" "And without pegasus weather control, Equestria will be at the mercy of the elements!" Rainbow Dash added. But Twilight could only shake her head in greif. "I'm sorry, girls." She replied, much to Applejack's and Rainbow's devastation. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. Her doubts and concerns about the actions of Twilight and the Regime that have ariesen throughout the war against the Storm King have all disappeared. This atrocity demanded retribution. "It's not your fault, Twilight." She consoled the alicorn. "There's only one creature here to blame and we all know who that is! As well as what we have to do!" Twilight couldn't have agreed more. She glared towards the unconscious body of the Storm King with a murderous look and began marching up to him to give that wannabe conqueror exactly what he deserved, untill she was stopped by a white wing in her path. "Twilight, no!" It was Celestia. Twilight looked up at her former mentor in shock. How could she still not see what they needed to do? "Even if I agreed that he should die, you can't. We need him alive to restore the rest of the stolen magic." Twilight however saw things differently. "No, we don't. With enough time and Starlight's help, I will figure out the Storm King's magic. I will be able to control it more than he ever could and easily restore everything he's ever stolen!" Celestia became worried. Twilight's eyes once again burned with that immense fire they did on the day she killed Chrysalis. But she didn't back down. She couldn't "Or we could lose even more of it. Are you willing to take that chance?" Celestia asked, meeting Twilight's gaze. Their debate was interrupted by a meek cough. "Um... I'm sorry to interrupt, but I think Celestia is right." She said as she walked up next to the white alicorn. "We can't be sure what meddling with the Storm King's magic will result in." "What we can be sure of is that the Storm King puts everypony in great danger!" Cadance stated as she took a stand besides Twilight. "We have to deal with him. Permanently." "She's right!" Rainbow Dash added as she marched up to Celestia. "This is no different than Chrysalis. If we just killed her the first time..." "It is not that simple, Rainbow Dash!" Celestia interrupted. "Yes, it is, Celestia! It is that simple!" Twilight yelled as she began advancing on Celestia. What she failed to notice however, was that Celestia's horn was ever so slightly started to glow. "How many more tragedies must befall Equestria before you accept that friendship and harmony are no longer enough to protect it!" Celestia didn't reply. Instead, she blasted Twilight with a spell. As an alicorn and a powerful mage, Twilight should have withstood the spell easily. But that wasn't what happened. Instead, Twilight fell back on the floor as a sack, much to everypony's shock. And Twilight also felt herself becoming weaker. "My magic!" She yelled as she felt it fading. "What did you do to me?!" "I used your depowering spell that you used against me so many years ago." Celestia replied. "Perfected by Sweetie Belle. She had more than earned her place by my side as my new pupil, don't you think?" "Twilight, are you just gonna take that laying down?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Get up!" "I wouldn't recommend that." Celestia said warnigly. "This was just a warning shot. But a well placed blast will permanently depower you. Stand down!" But Twilight didn't look deterred. "This madness has to end, Celestia!" She seethed as she stood up, being backed by Rainbow Dash, Cadance and Blueblood. Celestia sighed. She hoped it wouldn't have to come to this. "So be it." She charged her horn and saw from the corner of her eyes that Applejack, Fluttershy and Luster Dawn also took stances beside her. This was it. However their feud would end, it will end today.