//------------------------------// // Episode 22: "The Return of Queen Opaline, Part 5" // Story: My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Season 14 // by twilightsparkle3562 //------------------------------// … … PREVIOUSLY ON "MY LITTLE PONY" … … Misty: "Mom, what happened?" Queen Opaline: "Nopony destroys our family's castle and lives to tell the tale!" Twilight Sparkle: "Something tells me…we might have just made her even more angry. Which means it'll be even more important that we don't let her reach the town!" Starswirl: "What does Master Vile want with Equestria?" Daybreaker: "We will all get a share of the magic, you can be sure of that. Master Vile has been a gracious host and I think what he is doing is generous." Master Vile: "Let's see those ponies try and get their magic back now!" Perseus: "So that's what he wants to do: to enslave Equestria and use every single ounce of magic to conquer the entire universe." Queen Opaline: "Hold it right there, Princess Twilight! You aren't going anywhere! You and the rest of your fellow princesses took something that wasn't yours to take away! I demand compensation!" … … As Twilight and her friends watched in disbelief, Queen Opaline used her magic to reverse the damage Rainbow Dash had caused. The castle was back and so was its queen. "Behold my power!" Queen Opaline shouted in a commanding voice."The Queen of the Crystal Empire has returned!" Knowing she needed to do something, Twilight attempted to cast a counterspell to stop Opaline's magic, but it was no use. "It's not working!" She cried in disbelief. "Of course it isn't, princess," Misty remarked, stepping forward. "My mother has powers far greater than yours!" "Not as great as friendship, you know," Twilight shot back. "And we'll prove it to you!" On cue, Rainbow Dash and Applejack charged towards Misty. But Opaline saw them coming and with her magic placed a prison cage around them! "Ow!" Rainbow Dash cried, crashing into the invisible bars. "What the…?" "She's trapped us!" Applejack added while trying to knock down the bars with her legs. Suddenly out of nowhere, Opaline was hit in the face by a cake! "Who threw that?!" she demanded and saw Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy at a cake stand, throwing cakes at Opaline. "I don't think she likes cake, Pinkie!" Fluttershy cried. "Oh, I think she does!" Pinkie remarked as her eyes narrowed. "How about some lemon meringue?" Taking a lemon meringue pie, Pinkie threw the pie at Opaline, but found the pie caught in an aura and sent right back at them, hitting Pinkie in the face. "Sorry, we're not hungry!" Misty cried, then proceeded to take Pinkie and Fluttershy into the hold of her magical aura. "But I'm sure you are!" Misty then tossed the princesses of kindness and laughter into the shop as cakes and pies fell on top of them. "As for you two!" Opaline snarled, then proceeded to look towards Rarity and Twilight. "How about being encased in crystal?" Charging her horn once more, Opaline prepared to cast a spell to freeze Rarity and Twilight in stone. However, Spike acted fast and grabbed a mirror to reflect the blast back at Opaline, knocking her back. "Pesky dragon!" Opaline snarled as she jumped at Spike (after using her horn to undo the crystal freezing spell that had been deflected back at her), who managed to duck out of the way, causing Opaline to go through a glass window. "No one defies me and gets away with it! No one! Do you hear me?!" Snarling, Opaline started to chase Spike, only for Rarity and Twilight to tackle her. As the two alicorns and unicorn fought each other on the outskirts of town, Misty decided to go after Spike. Acting fast, he took a deep breath and fired a blast of fire at Misty, who attempted to protect herself but to no avail as the fire slightly burned her! "Come and catch me, slowpoke! You and your mother will never get control of this town!" Spike taunted as Misty gave chase on the young dragon. Several guardsponies attempted to intervene, but Misty pushed them away easily. Flying throughout the town, Spike attempted to lead Misty on a wild goose chase, flying over building after building. Using a levitation spell, Misty attempted to shoot Spike out of the sky with her magic and proceeded to do so, firing blast after blast of magic. "You are such a little runt!" Misty cried in an angry voice. "I'll get you eventually, dragon! You and your pony friends will pay for your disrespect towards my mother and I! Together, the two of us will avenge King Sombra if it's the last thing we do!" … … Meanwhile, Master Vile had teleported himself to the cave of deception beneath Rita and Zedd's old palace to place the orbs containing the stolen magic under guard. Once the orbs were guarded, he stepped back. "Excellent," he chuckled, tapping his scepter on the palm of his hand while Rito and Goldar looked on. "They are going to have a hard time getting their magic back now!" "Gee, Dad," Rito remarked. "You think the forcefield will hold this time?" "Of course it will because only I can control it," Vile retorted, turning around to face Rito. "However, I can't afford any setbacks. Rito, to this end, you and monkey boy will provide additional protection around here." "Um, you sure, Dad?" Rito nervously asked. "Of course he's sure," Goldar answered. "I was in a similar situation once when I had the dragon dagger and the power coins unguarded. Rita wasn't happy about it." "And now you have a chance to redeem yourself. Protect these orbs with your lives, or else you will suffer my wrath!" Master Vile warned, directing them to look at the forcefield. "Yeah, whatever you say, Dad." Rito said as Master Vile teleported away. Once he was gone, Rito and Goldar were left alone. Suddenly, they heard a small noise in the distance. "Hey, what was that?!" Rito cried while drawing his sword. "Who's there? Anybody home?" But there was no reply. "We'd better find the intruder." Goldar suggested. "Good idea, Goldilocks. Cover me." Rito insisted. And so, Rito and Goldar went to find the source of the disturbance, but no sooner did they leave did Perseus and his companions emerge from behind a rock. "They should be kept busy," Perseus warned as he looked around, before gesturing to Starswirl and the others to follow him out of hiding. "Remember, we don't have a lot of time so we must get your magic and leave. If we're caught this time, there won't be a Plan B. We'll be doomed/" "But how are we supposed to do it?" Luna wondered aloud. "How can we get our magic back before those ruffians return?" "Do what Perseus just did I guess, toss a rock," Starlight suggested. "It's not like we have a lot of better options." But Perseus instead focused on three different entrances of the caves that led to the cavern containing the orbs. "We must each cover an entrance," He explained. "Celestia, do you think you and Luna can reach for the orbs?" Both alicorns gave each other and their fellow classmate a confused look. "Why us?" Celestia inquired with concern. "There must be some kind of force field that could harm us." "Because you are the only ones who can be tested." Perseus replied. Celestia blinked slowly in confusion. "Tested?" "The force field will examine you both for any traces of evil," Perseus answered. "Don't ask me. I just learned it while in captivity. It's apparently an ancient protection spell." Suddenly, all heard another sound coming towards them, and saw the shadow of an all too familiar alicorn coming towards them, followed by five more shadows. "Twilight?" Celestia asked as they saw Twilight and her friends coming into view. "Twilight, is that you?" "Hello Celestia," Twilight bitterly greeted as she coldly hissed. "Where were you when we needed you?" Celestia couldn't believe what was being said out of Twilight's mouth. "What?!" "Queen Opaline and Master Vile have defeated us," Applejack explained, stepping forward. "We must live accordin' to their law." For a moment, it seemed like Celestia was believing every word. "How did they defeat you?" "I gave them a chance to surrender," A voice that belonged to Nightmare Moon cried. "It's the only way to survive, sister." Angered, Celestia pointed her horn and prepared to charge at them! "Celestia, what are you doing?!" Starlight cried, trying to stand in front of Celestia to stop her from advancing! "It's only Twilight and her friends! Don't hurt them!" But Celestia went past Starlight and charged towards Nightmare Moon, only for them to disappear, much to the alicorn's confusion. "No," Perseus explained. "It's a deception. Anything can happen in these caves." "Of course, but there are those who suffer the consequences if they trespass," Another familiar voice explained. He wasn't seen, but he was being heard. "You tricked me, Perseus, and now you will pay!" "He's followed us!" Perseus whispered, suddenly jerking towards Starswirl. "Starswirl, we need to hold off Calibos! The royal sisters must get their magic back!" Acknowledging, Starswirl turned to the two alicorns and unicorn. "Get our magic! We'll hold off Calibos as best as we can! Hurry!" Dashing away, Starswirl and Perseus went after the monstrosity while Celestia, Luna and Starlight were left with the difficult task ahead of them. "Calibos, where are you?!" Starswirl cried as they left. "Why do evil doers like you always choose to run and hide?!" … Once they were alone, the three magical mares were left to decide what to do. "So who wants to go first?" Celestia hesitantly asked as she eyed one of the cave entrances. "Luna? Starlight?" "I'll go," Luna answered as she stepped forward. If what Perseus said is true about these caves…I need to try and reach for the magic. We've already seen what it will do to you, sister. You've never succumbed to darkness, let's not risk it happening now." "Be careful, sister. I won't lose you again!" Celestia pleaded! "I'd sooner die than be forced to fight you again!" Taking a deep breath, Luna slowly walked over to the forcefield and as she got closer, she suddenly began to feel a sensation throughout her body, almost as if she were being electrocuted. "Luna, what's wrong?" Starlight worriedly inquired when she saw the former night princess step back and wince. But Luna shook it off. "The forcefield, it's reacting to my presence," She explained. "If anything happens, it will only get me. All of you stay back, this is something I must do alone!" Luna then extended her forelegs towards the forcefield in an attempt to penetrate it. But no sooner did she touch the forcefield than did Luna suddenly begin to jerk wildly and fly back against the cavern wall! "It senses traces of Nightmare Moon in me," Luna gasped as she slowly rose to her hooves. "I must try again." Celestia gulped. "Sister… please…" Shaking off the sudden impact of being sent back into the cavern walls, Luna slowly advanced towards the forcefield once more, determined to try again. But just then, the three heard a pair of familiar voices. "Stop right where you are!" Goldar cried, pointing his sword right at Luna's side, causing the ex-Princess of the Night to turn towards him. "No one move!" "Yeah, what he said!" Rito added. "I thought I heard something here. Back away from those orbs, right now! You don't need them, sunbutt! You and those ponies need to go back to your cell like good little prisoners!" Suddenly, Celestia felt herself being triggered by the mere mention of the word Rito used to call her. "He said it," Luna whispered as Celestia slowly advanced towards Rito and Goldar. "Now he's gonna get it." "Stop! Stop, I command you!" Goldar demanded, raising his sword to Celestia. "Don't make me do this!" "What makes you think I'll do it anyway?" Celestia asked, suddenly jerking her head and using her horn to knock the sword out of Goldar's hand. "I happen to be a former Princess of Equestria and I don't like what your friend said! I will not be spoken to in such a fashion!" "Hey, hey, hey! No hard feelings, Sunbutt!" Rito suggested, trying to defuse the situation. "My name is Princess Celestia, former ruler of Equestria. And I dare you to call me Sunbutt one more time!" Celestia warned as her eyes narrowed. "I double dare you!" "Okay, Sunbutt, I…" But Rito didn't get to finish his sentence. Celestia stuck her horn through him and sent him flying through the air as Goldar proceeded to attack the elder alicorn, only for Starlight to get into the fray and kick Goldar back with her hind legs! "Luna, get the orbs! We'll hold them back!" Celestia cried as she and Starlight dealt with Rito and Goldar. "Hurry! Now's your only chance!" Taking a deep breath, Luna placed her forelegs through the forcefield and she howled in pain as the caves tested her! Electricity surged and crackled throughout her body! "Luna!" Celestia cried as Goldar took advantage of the opportunity and sliced at Celestia, nearly hitting one of her wings! Luna. meanwhile struggled as she was analyzed at various points in her life: "Luna, I will not fight you! You must lower the moon! It is your duty!" Celestia cried. "Luna? I am... Nightmare Moon! I have but one royal duty now: to destroy you!" "You still don't have the sixth element! The spark didn't work!" "But it did!" Twilight declared. "A different kind of spark. I felt it the very moment I realized how happy I was to hear you, to see you, how much I cared about you. The spark ignited inside me when I realized that you all... are my friends! You see, Nightmare Moon, when those Elements are ignited by the... the spark, that resides in the heart of us all, it creates the sixth element: the element of... magic!" "Nightmare Moon would've wanted the Tantabus to turn Equestria into a nightmare! You're doing everything you can to stop it! Don't you see? That proves you're not the same pony you were then! Everypony knows Nightmare Moon is in the past. We all trust you, Luna. Do you trust us to believe we are right?" Twilight asked. "I do!" Luna answered as she defeated the Tantabus. With her mind fully analyzed, the force field allowed Luna to grab the orbs even as it flung her back against the cavern wall. "She's got the orbs! Get her, or Father's gonna kill us!" Rito cried, only for Starlight to effortlessly push Rito back. "Not so fast, boney!" Starlight chuckled as Celestia managed to push Goldar back into Rito. "Let's get our magic back!" Celestia declared as she stuck the orbs with her horn and released the stolen magic inside of it. Celestia, Luna and Starlight absorbed their magic and this caused both Rito and Goldar to tremble. "Now as for you two…" "Do we surrender?" Rito asked Goldar. "No you don't!" A voice cried as all turned to see Master Vile with Calibos standing next to him. "Because I will be taking over this task! I won't let you two screw-ups ruin everything again!" He then pointed his scepter at Celestia, Luna and Starlight and released a beam from it, revealing a beaten Starswirl and Perseus. "Without their magic, they stood no chance against me!" Master Vile declared. "And even if you did get your magic back, you still have no chance against me!" "Dad, what are you going to do?" Rito asked as he and Goldar got back up to their feet. "I'm going to destroy them all and take their magic back by force!" Master Vile shouted as he charged up his scepter to fire a potentially fatal blast of magic at them. "You haven't seen the worst of Master Vile!" And as he cackled wildly, it seemed all would be lost for Perseus and his comrades… … …