//------------------------------//
// The Final Battle 
// Story: My Little Spark: The Movie 
// by Real Solaris 
//------------------------------//

"You have just made a BIG mistake, pest."

Tionic holds his ground as the Storm King clambers out of the rubble, the Staff of Sacanas glowing brightly as arcane and electric power course through it and its user. Everyone sans the speedsters flinched from the glare he gave them, but Tionic returned it with an equally sharp glare as his powers crackled to life.

"Have I?" Tionic growls, his fists crackling with power. "Or am I just standing against you and your twisted ways?"

Without warning, the tyrannical king thrusts the staff at the group and fires a bolt at Fluttershy, believing her to be the weakest and easiest to take out of the group. On instinct, the buttercream pegasus covers her face with her hooves and clenches her eyes shut, waiting for the pain to come, but it doesn't. Opening her eyes, Fluttershy's jaw drops at what she sees, and she isn't the only one.

Tionic stands in front of her, shielding her from the attack. But it wasn't that he had taken the blow for her; it was the fact that he was holding the bolt of alicorn mana in the palm of his hand. His powers crackle along the surface, keeping the orb of pure magic in his hand like a baseball, not a ball of condensed alicorn magic that could level a mountain range. The Mane Seven stared in amazement, and the Spark was shocked, too, but for a different reason.

When the bolt had been fired, his body and arm moved on its own, grabbing the bolt before it could hit its intended target. Gazing at the orb in his hand a moment longer, he smirks and tosses it up. Catching it, he chuckles as he tosses it again, and instead of tossing it up again, Tionic slams his left fist into his right palm, destroying the orb in a shower of sparkles and electricity. Streams of yellow, dark blue, and light blue flow from his fist and fly behind the Storm King, where the petrified alicorns stand. The streams are absorbed by their respective owners, and small cracks appear along the statue’s horns. A stream of magenta magic flies to Twilight and back into her horn, rejuvenating her slightly as her eyes gain a little color, and her Cutie Mark becomes barely visible on her flank.

Seeing this, Tionic looks at his crackling hands before grinning once more. Clenching them, he looks up at the Storm King and gets into a boxing stance, right arm guarding his face, left arm in front of him, and his legs in similar spots. Tionic smirks, and he gestures to the tyrant with his left hand to 'come and get me.'

The Storm King falls for Tionic's taunt, and he does precisely what the Spark wanted. The Storm King fires a volley of bolts at him, hoping one of them would hit. Tionic just smirks and tenses his muscles. Once the first bolt was close enough, he thrust his right arm forward and hit it midair, destroying it in a shower of sparkles and four more streams of alicorn magic. He hits the next bolt with his left fist and repeats the process until the volley is dealt with. More cracks appear on the statues, and Twilight can feel her magic slowly returning. Now, her magic could regenerate with how much she had.

Enraged that his attacks weren't working, the Storm King pulls a wild card and fires in all directions. The Mane Seven's and Tionic's eyes widen in shock, but his powers crackle even more as he steels himself for the onslaught. Speeding his awareness up, Tionic jumps to the closest bolt and punches it. He sidesteps to the next closest and does it again, ensuring no bolt gets past his guard. Sonic and Dash also help, though they have trouble reflecting the bolts away. 

To the others, what they saw was something comparable to what one would see through the eye of a telescope. The destroyed bolts look like new galaxies and universes being created, spreading outwards in a flurry of electric waves and sparkles that dot them like stars before the magic returns to their rightful owners and further cracks the imprisoned alicorns' prisons. The blurs of blue act as the space around them, and the bolts deflected by Sonic and Dash look like shooting stars flying through space. The balcony is bathed in blue light, giving the already beautiful but deadly spectacle an extra layer of beauty comparable to the best works of art in Equus' history. Twilight's heart races as she watches Tionic move, a definitive shade of pink creeping into her cheeks. She can barely keep her wings from popping open as she watches the spectacle unfold.

It fades too quickly when the Storm King sends a shockwave from the staff to blow away the light show, knocking Sonic and Rainbow away and tripping Tionic. He hits the ground hard, groaning as he slowly gets back up. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees the Storm King fire another bolt, this time at -

"TWILIGHT, LOOK OUT!!" Tionic screams, but his warning comes too late. Even as he slows time down, Tionic knows it's too late to get Twilight to safety. Even with his speed, he wasn't fast enough to stop the bolt before it collided, so he did the only thing he could and launched himself at the purple alicorn.

Tionic shoves Twilight to the side and takes her place before bracing himself for the pain. His eyes are blinded by the sudden flashbang, and he can barely hear Twilight scream his name over the explosion and ringing in his ears. He's vaguely aware of the pain that shoots through the left side of his torso before everything goes black.





Tionic's senses slowly returned to him, and he instantly wished they hadn't. Pain shoots up his torso, and his head pounds like crazy and disorients him profusely. He can feel the hard concrete under his back and hear muffled sounds reach his ears. Cracking his eyes open to find the culprit, the light burns his retinas to ash, and he slams them closed again. Slowly rolling over, he tries to open his eyes again, and he does so with success. Colors and shapes blur together as he looks up, but as they slowly come into focus, he notices a moving blur of blue in front of him. As things come into focus, Tionic can see Sonic replace the blue blur, his face full of worry.

"Sonic…?" Tionic groans. Another wave of pain shoots up his left side, and he clutches it as he lies on his good side. "Ugh… my side is killing me…" 

"Yeah, you took a pretty nasty hit there, dude," Sonic grimaces, eyeing Tionic's side. The scorched skin takes up most of his left side, reaching just past his rib cage and slightly around his back and stomach. "Now, hold still. I'm gonna try to heal this a bit."

Reaching into his quills, Sonic pulls out the Cyan Chaos Emerald and holds it above the scorched area. He mutters something under his breath and concentrates on the Chaos energies, directing it into Tionic's wound. There's a flash of cyan light, and Tionic feels a wave of strong but soothing energy wash over his body, and the pain begins to fade away. Looking at his side, he's shocked to see the scorched skin crumble away and be replaced with scar tissue. Sitting upright, Tionic is surprised to see that the pain has completely disappeared, and the pounding in his head has been reduced to a mild beat. His new scar flashes once, and Tionic tentatively runs a hand over it, and he’s shocked to feel no pain.

"What the heck was that?!"

"A healing technique I picked up from a knuckle-headed friend of mine," says Sonic, stashing the Emerald away before pulling the Spark to his feet. "By using Chaos Control, it's possible to heal any wound. I never use it often, so the best I could do was scar it over."

"Well, it's better than nothing," Tionic shrugs, twisting his torso to ensure nothing feels off. He smiles, holding his fist over to the hedgehog. "Thanks, Sonic. I owe you one."

Sonic chuckles, and fist bumps the outstretched fist. "Anytime, dude."

"Wait," Tionic's eyes widen as he looks at the balcony. "Where's the Storm King?"

"Right here," The speedsters whirl around in surprise as the tyrant floats down to hover a few meters from them. "Can I give you one genius piece of advice? Don't run. It'll only hurt more if you do. And it's bad for your joints, they proved that!"

Tionic nearly growls when light reflecting off a gold surface draws his eye downward. He sees one of his portal rings by his foot, and upon looking around, he spots the bag and more lying about the area. 

'My rings?' Tionic internally raises an eyebrow. 'How'd they get here?'

When Tionic shoved Twilight out of the way of the blast, the ensuing shockwave and her recent struggle to keep her wings shut made her lose her grip on the bag of rings, and they'd flown over the edge with him. If anything, this was a lucky break, as Tionic could use them now. The Spark nudges Sonic and jerks his head down, and Sonic also sees the rings. Tionic nods to him and refocuses his attention on the Storm King. "Alright, you wanna get fast?" His powers activate. "Then let's get fast."

In a blur of afterimages, Tionic and Sonic pick up all the dropped portal rings, put them back in the bag, and boost off into Canterlot.

"The hard way it is," The Storm King grins, and he chases after them at equal speeds. He quickly catches up and starts firing at Sonic and Tionic, forcing them to sidestep bolt after bolt, all while jumping over carts and cages left behind as they try to outpace the Storm King. Time slows to a standstill again, and Tionic speaks up.

So here we are again – we've been through so much together! Now you understand why there's a psychotic yeti with a stick brimming with stupid amounts of power chasing after our supersonic blue Spark and hedgehog. Wanna know how it ends? Yeah. Us too.

"How is this even possible?!" Tionic exclaims as time moves again, sliding underneath a tour cart with a landscape photo of Prance on the side, saying 'Viva la Prance!' as it's blown up. "No one's caught up to me before!"

"Not even before Dash and I?" Sonic asks, jumping off a building and over another bolt, striking a familiar pose, and sliding down another building back to the street.

"Nope, no one even came close," Tionic answers, pulling out a ring and tossing one to Sonic. He pulls another ring out and throws it. "Which makes it even harder to figure out what to do."






—Paris, Prance—


The Eiffoal Tower stands majestically over the Victorian-age buildings of Prance, seemingly connecting to the sky itself. On a nearby viewing platform used for tourists to take photos of the tower, a Mobian mime tries to entertain a little unicorn filly and her mother, acting like he's stuck inside an invisible box, but he doesn't seem to succeed in that task. Suddenly, the filly's face lights up as he sweeps his arms in an arch, but not for the reason the mime would think. A golden ring appears behind him, following his hands perfectly and showing three blurs coming right for them.

"Coming through!" Sonic shouts, jumping over the mime.

"'Scuse us!" Tionic exclaims.

"Sacré bleu!" exclaims the mime, breaking the façade he was putting up and the number one rule of mimery – never speaking under any circumstance. The filly and her mother duck down in time to avoid getting hit by the Storm King as he zips by.

"Excusez-moi, monsieur!" the Storm King pardons, returning his attention to the two speedsters. He sees another portal open up, and ducking through that one, he finds himself flying over the Great Wall of Chun-nan.

"Here we go, room to open it up!" Sonic grins, both speedsters pouring more speed on. But even with miles and miles of road, the Storm King still keeps up with them.

"We can't lose him!" Tionic growls, throwing another ring, this time going to the Bone Dry Desert. He and Sonic stumble momentarily because the sand is harder to grip, but they push forward. A massive skull jutting out of the sand catches their attention, and they head towards it, dodging bolt after bolt from the Storm King. They're forced to stop when he gets in front of them, and sand flies everywhere as they slide to a stop. Eyeing the sand, an idea pops into Tionic's head.

"If ya can't beat 'em…" Tionic grins, looking at Sonic.

"…blind 'em!" Sonic finishes, catching his drift. The two speedsters boost over to the Storm King and run in a tight circle, creating a massive dust tornado that surrounds him.

"ACKPUTH!! Sand… everywhere!" The Storm King sputters, spitting sand and shielding his eyes from the pelting particles. He barely notices two blue blurs through his squinted eyes and the dust devil heading up the skull.

"You're not allowed up there!" He shouts, aiming himself in the right direction. "It's one of the eight wonders!"

The Storm King pushes through the dust devil and spots Tionic throwing another ring, this time to Canterlot. The tyrant charges the Staff of Sacanas, electricity and mana pouring into the crystal before firing. The bolt hits right behind them, knocking them off their feet and sending them flying through the portal. 

Back in Canterlot, the ring appears in the courtyard, and soon after, Sonic and Tionic fly through. Though disoriented momentarily, Sonic quickly rights himself and slides to a stop at the courtyard's edge. Thanks to years of experience being thrown around and blasted by Eggman and his forces, that bolt didn't do much to him. Tionic, however, isn't so lucky to have that. Combined with his previous injury and not being used to getting hit like that, he slams into the concrete, bouncing before sliding to a stop on his stomach.

His pouch of rings slides off to the side, stopping just in front of Twilight and the girls. The alicorn quickly picks it up, pulling a ring from it. A low rumble comes from the still-open portal above the courtyard, drawing everyone's attention as the Storm King slowly floats through.

"I'm surprised you lasted as long as you did against me," He says to Tionic, grinning maniacally. "So I'll grant you just one mercy before you die by my hands! Any last words, pest?"

"Screw you…" Tionic groans, struggling to get up. He manages to get his arm under himself but lacks the strength to stay up and collapses. "You piece of…"

"Oh, I'm going to enjoy ripping you apart long from limb!" The Storm King chuckles, charging the staff for a final attack. "Say goodbye!"

"Coming my way?" He whirls around, barely registering the deadly glare of a purple alicorn before Twilight jumps through the newly opened ring portal and smashes her hoof into his face, breaking his nose with a satisfying *CRACK*.

Everyone watches in shocked awe as the Princess of Friendship tussles with the Storm King, each fighting over the Staff of Sacanas. Twilight manages to get a few good hits in, but her size compared to the Storm King puts her at a disadvantage. Having had enough, the Storm King backhands Twilight off him and grabs her by the hair, dangling her in front of him as she reels from the hit.

"Who the hell do you think you are?" He growls, bringing Twilight up to his face – big mistake. Twilight uppercuts his jaw, snapping his head back and forcing the Storm King to drop her. While he stumbles from the sneak attack and clutches his jaw, Twilight sweeps his legs out from under him, knocking him down onto his stomach. She then pins his left arm to his back and holds it there, threatening to snap the Storm King's arm if he tries anything.

"I'm the Princess of Friendship, you son of a -AGH!"

She had forgotten that the Storm King had two arms for a moment, and he jabbed his right elbow into Twilight's chest. She reels from the sudden loss of oxygen, and the Storm King rolls onto his back to grab Twilight again and toss her away. The Mane Six and Spike rush over to Twilight, hoping she isn't hurt too badly. Holding his nose, the Storm King snaps it back into place and stands up. He licks the blood dribbling past his lip and wipes the rest with the back of his right hand.

"Why?" He asks, rolling his left shoulder before gesturing to Tionic. "Why would you throw your life away for this… thing?! That's why I don't have friends. The next thing you know, you're somebody's best stallion, and they want to have the wedding out of town like anybody has anything better to do!" He picks up the Staff of Sacanas, and the crystal crackles with power as he stares into it. "Now, where were we? Oh, yes – you were about to die. WOAH!"

A bolt of light-blue magic barely misses his head, burning the fur around his ear. The Storm King quickly finds the attacker – a pink unicorn from the crowd.

"That's our princess you're messing with!" exclaims Starlight, her horn aglow with magic, ready to fire another spell. Lyra then comes in, standing upright and carrying a chainsaw from… wherever she got it from, revving it.

"And our Pale Devil, as everypony can see, is a very real creature and not at all invented by me!" She exclaims with not one bit of craziness in her gaze. Bon-Bon tries to convince Lyra to put the chainsaw down, but she ignores her marefriend's request.

The Mane Seven and Co. then realize they haven't heard Tionic speak up since the Storm King tried to attack him, and they turn around. Tionic lies behind them, the only thing moving being his quills waving slightly in the wind. The Mane Seven and Co.'s eyes widen in horror as they realize what happened. Whatever the Storm King hit him with before going through the portal had done more than just injure Tionic – it had killed him.

"No…" Twilight whispers, her lip quivering as tears form in her eyes. She hesitantly steps toward him, and her ears fold against her head as the crushing realization hits her. "No… nononononono, please no, you can't be… I never got to apologize…"

But denying what reality is doesn't change anything, and something inside Twilight audibly shatters. She lets out a bloodcurdling scream, and her legs give out from underneath her. Tears stream from her clenched eyes as she cries to the heavens. The girls and Spike gather around their sobbing friend, hoping to do something, anything, to help her, but all they can do is hug her tightly as she cries. Sonic stands still and clenches his fists, his eyes darkened by shadow as he trembles. After a few minutes, the Storm King rolls his eyes and speaks up.

"I don't mean to be indelicate here, but," He says with a bored expression, folding his arms while keeping a hold on the staff. "Somepony should get some ice. Keep the body fresh."

No one says a word. Only the quiet sobs of Twilight and the wind whistling through Canterlot are heard.

"He's just a silly alien!" He exasperates, gesturing to Tionic. "He didn't belong here!"

Twilight's eyes snap open and lock on the Storm King with such fury that he floats back a few feet. She rubs her bloodshot eyes with the back of her hoof, clearing her vision and drying the soaked fur on her cheeks.

"That 'alien' knew more about being a pony than you ever will," Twilight growls, gritting her teeth as she slowly gets up. Spike helps her up, and she stands to her full height, flaring her wings to intimidate the Storm King. Her friends follow suit and stand beside her, each glaring at the false king with enough hatred to kill.

"He saved Twilight from turning into stone when I wasn't fast enough," says Rainbow, flaring her wings as she lists off one of the many things Tionic had done for them in the past few days. "He could've let it happen, but he didn't and risked his life to save her."

"He came along with us to find help despite having no need to do so," Rarity continues, her magic glowing brightly from her horn. "He was generous enough to give his time and energy to make sure we stayed safe while we traveled."

"He kept me from making the brash decision to come back here and fight," Sonic adds, bristling his quills. "He saw that it would be safer to find allies, and allies are what we found – a hippogriff, pirates, and a sneaky cat that helped us fight your army and get us here."

"He saved me from becoming a pink pony pancake when I fell off the dock back in Klugetown," says Pinkie, pulling out her portable party cannon from her mane. "I just wish I could've thanked him for that, but now I can't, thanks to you!"

"He knew that Capper wasn't lyin' when he apologized for tryin' ta sell us for money," says Applejack, pulling a rope from underneath her hat. She readjusts it before slinging the rope around her hoof. "He could see the cat was bein' true to his word and easily forgave 'im."

"He helped us get into Canterlot safely," Fluttershy says with a determination that shocks her friends. She flares her wings and stares the Storm King down, her Stare sending shivers down his spine. "And he saved all of us earlier, too! Had he not, I wouldn't be here with my friends or be able to tell you how big of a bully you are!"

"That Spark's name was Tionic," Twilight finishes, brushing the last of her tears away as she glares at the Storm King. "He was a hero. This was his home. And he was our friend."

*KRAKOOOM*

A bolt of blue lightning erupts from where Tionic lies, electricity striking the concrete and cracking it as it illuminates the courtyard. The Storm King holds a hand out, trying to block out the blue light, unaware of what happened. The Mane Seven look back in shock to see not a body, but the silhouetted form of Tionic slowly standing up, neon blue electricity jumping from his body and flapping scarf as steam rises from the ground around him. Standing fully upright, his eyes slide open, and his neon blue irises lock onto the Storm King, making him freeze. Twilight's face lights up, grinning from ear to ear as tears of happiness fall from her eyes. Looking at the Storm King, she grins before turning back to Tionic.

"He's all yours," Twilight nods to him, rubbing her tears away once more before turning to everyone at the sidelines and gesturing for them to move. "Everypony get back!"

She and her friends spread out to hold the crowd back to a safe distance, keeping an eye on the Spark and the Storm King as they stare each other down.

"I think you have something that belongs to me," Tionic says, raising his fist. Clenching it, a bolt jumps from it and strikes the Staff of Sacanas, surprising the Storm King as he loses his balance and tries to regain it. To his horror, he sees the crystal dim and cracks as Tionic's power is forcefully pulled from the staff. As it returns to the Spark, Tionic sighs in relief, clenching his fists as he feels the electricity flow through him and make him stronger. "This is my power. And I've had enough of using it to run away from my problems. From this point onward, I'm using it to protect. My. FRIENDS!"

The Storm King glares at him with rage, clenching the Staff of Sacanas tightly. Summoning the alicorn magic still inside, it flows from the staff and swirls around him, coating him in a veil of multicolored light as it grows stronger and stronger. Tionic crouches into a runner's starting position, left foot back, right foot forward. He looks up, locking his neon blue eyes with his opponent-

-and the battle begins.

The Storm King erratically fires a tremendous amount of electricity and magic in his opponent's general direction, bolts breaking the concrete and flinging it all over the place. Tionic easily dodges the incoming blasts and rubble, sidestepping to the left before running again. He jumps over and under multiple projectiles, landing on a pillar before launching himself at the Storm King. 

Tionic bounces off him, landing on the pillar opposite, and immediately throws himself again. He slams off the Storm King's face, uses his momentum to grab onto another pillar, and flings himself back at his opponent. Tionic skids to a stop and rushes the Storm King again, not letting him recover. Tionic bounces off the pillars and rubble faster and faster, turning into a sparking blue blur that slams into the Storm King harder and harder. The Spark moves so fast that the trials of electricity he leaves behind can't dissipate quickly enough, and they accumulate into a massive ball of blue light, making it look like a star had been brought down to the courtyard.

With a final volley of attacks, Tionic bounces off the Storm King one last time and skids to a halt, just in front of the Mane Seven hanging by the sidelines. Looking back, he flashes a grin at them and gives them a thumbs-up before turning back to his opponent. The Storm King groans in pain, barely hanging on after getting hit hundreds, if not thousands of times by a ball of lightning.

"Oh, now you've done it!" He grunts, holding onto the Staff of Sacanas like a crutch with the last bits of strength he had left. "You're going down!"

"Guess what, ya shiny Sasquatch?" Tionic taunts. "I'm not leaving Equestria, and neither am I letting you take over it!"

"If I can't have Equestria for myself, then nopony can!" The Storm King roars, jumping back to the edge of the courtyard. He calls upon the staff's power again in an all-out gamble of power. Raising it, a gargantuan ball of crackling, multicolored magic forms at the tip, bathing the city in blues, yellows, pinks, and purples. 

To her horror, Twilight can feel that the amount of mana bleeding off the unstable attack alone could wipe Canterlot off the face of Mt. Canterhorn. But the full attack would level Equestria, if not all of Equus, leaving Mobius as the planet's sole survivor. The Storm King swings the staff down and fires the attack, creating a beam quintuple in size compared to the previous ones. 

Tionic, however, isn't even fazed by the size of the attack and simply smirks. He draws even more power from within and directs it to his feet before pushing off. The sound barrier breaks on launch, and he curls into a ball before jumping. The two powerhouses meet midway, and what happens next will be told for years. 

Tionic plows through the death beam of crackling alicorn magic like it wasn't even there. His powers destabilize the mana ahead and behind him, making it float into the air harmlessly. He cuts through the beam and slams into the Staff of Sacanas at full speed, shattering the crystal and staff. 

No longer contained, all of the magic is released in a ball of light, consuming Tionic and the Storm King. The ball detonates in a deafening shower of colors, pushing back the dirty clouds to let in the rays of the sunset. Magic flows back into the environment itself, coating the whole city in a sheen of blue as multicolored ribbons of light guide them. 

A colored smoke trail follows Tionic's curled form as he's launched high above the castle, while another follows the Storm King over the courtyard's edge. All the alicorn magic flows back into their owners, instantly shattering their stony prisons and invigorating Twilight back to full strength. Her Cutie Mark reappears on her flank, and her dulled eyes regain their lavender hue.

Back up in the sky, Tionic does various tricks and flips in the air, white sparkles following his form as he falls. He guides his body close to the castle roof and reaches for the flagpole mounted on the edge. Grabbing onto the flagpole, he swings around a few times, bringing his momentum down to a non-lethal level before letting go. He does a few more aerial tricks and lands like any superhero would, letting his powers dim as he stands triumphantly. The courtyard erupts into cheers, and the Mane Seven and Spike rush over to Tionic, the first to reach him being Twilight. 

"Tionic!" She exclaims, tackling him and knocking the air out of his lungs with an "Oof!" Twilight is quickly followed by six others piling on them, making Tionic lose his balance and fall backward, taking the girls and Spike with him. They erupt into laughter, hugging the Spark and not letting go. Sonic walks up beside Tionic, smirking as he raises his fist for a fist bump, which the Spark gladly returns.

"How?" Twilight asks after a few moments. She pulls away from him and sits on her haunches, the others backing away to give them room. "I thought you died! We thought you died!"

"I'm not sure," Tionic shrugs, unable to answer clearly. "All I can remember is blacking out and then hearing you say I was your friend, and something practically yelled at me to get up. Right after that, I felt my power surge with more strength than I realized I had afterward."

"I guess that doesn't matter right now," Twilight starts to cry again, and she wraps her hooves around him. "I-I'm just glad you're alive, Tionic."

"So am I, Twilight," He smiles, pulling her into a warm embrace that she practically melts into. "So am – Tempest?!"

The unicorn charges at them, hopping over rubble with her horn sparking like crazy. Sonic, Rainbow, Applejack, and Tionic place themselves before Twilight, Spike, and the girls. But to their shock, she jumps over them and into the path of an oncoming stone orb.

What they hadn't seen was the Storm King managing to save himself from falling to his death by digging his claws into the side of Canterlot and climbing back up. Upon reaching the lip, he pulled out an emergency stone orb, took aim at the friends, and threw it, hoping to take them out. The only one who had noticed this was Tempest, and after her change of heart, she decided there was only one thing to do – save them.

"NOOOO!!" She shouts, and the orb shatters against her, covering her and the Storm King in the green smoke and turning them to stone. In his shock, he lets go of the edge and falls backward alongside Tempest, her momentum carrying her off the platform. 

But the only one who falls is the Storm King, as Twilight encases Tempest in her magic, saving her from being shattered. The Storm King plummets faster and faster to the ground, and from that height and at the speed he was going, hitting it completely pulverizes him, reducing him to pebbles and dust that sprays all over the grass. It was over – the Storm King was finally gone, and Equestria was safe again. Until Eggman cooked up another world-conquering scheme, that is.

Twilight pulls Tempest back into the courtyard and gently sets her down, careful she wouldn't tip over. Tionic smiles as he walks over to Tempest, laying a hand on her head as the others come closer.

"Whoa!" Rainbow gapes, eyeing the now statued Tempest. "I can't believe she did that!"

Tionic and Twilight looked at each other momentarily, nodding before speaking simultaneously. "We can."

Tionic lets his powers dance across the surface of the statue, each one cracking the stone as the magic is removed. Twilight also allows her magic to wash over Tempest, and she casts a spell. The cracks of the statue glow and then connect, letting the pieces fade away from the edges to release Tempest. She gasps, taking in the air stolen from her lungs as she reorients herself. She spots the Mane Seven and Tionic around her, and she looks down in shame, hoping to avoid their gazes. Tionic rolls his eyes and places a hand on her head, causing her to look up at him with a raised eyebrow.

"Told ya you weren't a bad pony," He smirks, ruffling what little mane she had. Tempest scoffs, batting this arm away with a hoof and looking to the side. Tionic chuckles, but his attention is drawn to Twilight as his bag of rings levitates toward him.

"Thank you very much," Holding a hand out, he expects the bag to be dropped onto it, but Twilight pulls it away.

"Don't scare us like that again," She warns, giving the Spark a playful glare.

"You know I can't promise that," Tionic cheekily smiles. Twilight rolls her eyes and places the bag of rings in his waiting hand. He tightens the string around the opening and puts his arm through the loop to lay it on his shoulder. Once he's sure it won't go anywhere, he turns to the purple alicorn. "Hey, what happened to the princesses after I destroyed the staff? Are they still encased in stone or…?"

Twilight's eyes widen, and she gasps in shock. "I completely forgot about them!" She looks up to the balcony leading to the throne room and lights her horn for a teleportation spell. She must have put too much power into the spell because she brought everyone along.

After they recovered from the vertigo and were dumped onto the floor by the mass teleportation, they saw that the throne room had been completely fixed, fallen pillars and walls put upright, and rubble and stone returned to where they belonged. And in the middle of it all, stood Celestia, Luna, and Cadance, all needing clarification as to how they had gotten from the courtyard below and into the throne room without their recollection. The magenta flash of light draws their attention to the arriving group, and Celestia smiles brightly as she spots her former student in running to them.

"Twilight!" She exclaims, trotting over to hug Twilight. Luna and Cadance also follow suit, each grateful to be freed from their stoney prison and that their fellow royalty and family are safe. As they end the embrace, one figure catches Celestia's eye.

"Twilight, who is this?" She gestures to Tionic. "I don't believe we've met."

"Oh, right!" She grabs his hand with her magic and pulls him over. "Princesses, I'd like you to meet our new friend, Tionic the Spark. He's the one who single-hoofedly took down the Storm King and returned our magic!"

"Really?" Celestia raises an eyebrow as she looks the Spark up and down. Her staring makes him sweat a little, but it fades away when the solar diarch bows to him. Luna and Cadance follow suit as Celestia speaks. "Tionic the Spark, we are eternally grateful for what you have done. You have saved our world from what seemed to be certain doom and fought for it valiantly."

"Thank you, princesses," Tionic bows back, following the princess' lead once they rise. "But I wasn't alone. I had help from my friends." He looks at the Mane Seven and Spike, his eyes glistening as he says that word. "These past few days have shown me how much I've been missing, and after being lost for so long… with you guys, I feel like I'm finally home."

Everyone was moved by his words, some more so than others. Spike, Rarity, and Pinkie had all burst into happy tears. Dash struggled not to cry, and the rest were smiling brightly. Twilight brushes away the few tears that had escaped, and she wraps her hooves around Tionic’s chest. He wraps his arms around her as well, reveling in the embrace. Unable to hold herself back, Pinkie tackles the two and knocks them down. Tionic and Twilight laugh as they recover, and Pinkie joins in. It stops abruptly when the rest of the Mane Seven jump in, including Sonic, but more laughter erupts from the impromptu pony pile. Tionic gazes at his new friends smiling faces, and he realizes how lucky he is. He squeezes Twilight a little more, and she responds in turn. A tear rolls down his cheek and lands on the ring at the end of his scarf, and the ring softly glows pink.

"Thank you. Please take care of my son…"