Rarity struggled for a thread, Rainbow Dash worked alone on Canterlot’s weather, Applejack was getting creeped out by a guard and Pinkie Pie was in a sugar war. Something was definitely off.
“Are you sure this is just pre-coronation nerves?” I ask my friends, only to hear a distant voice behind us.
Phew! Finally made it up!
We all turn around and gasp, going into a hostile stance. “TIREK!!!”
“Are you the one that’s been spreadin’ paranoia around here?!?” yells Applejack.
Tirek shoots his hands up into the air. “Me? No! I’m not responsible!”
Fluttershy bitterly hovers up to his face and pulls on his goatee. “Likely story! You’ve swayed Discord way back when, so it had to’ve been you!”
“I concur,” Rarity sternly adds, also getting close to him.
I hold my hoof up, stop my friends and approach Tirek directly. “Hold it, everypony. I need you to step back a little. Tirek, my friends are making pretty serious claims, even if what they say is perfectly believable. Are you responsible for all the unease they’ve experienced today?”
Tirek shakes his head. “Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t possibly do that alone, given wits are not enough for such discord to spread so efficiently. But that’s not why I’m here. Those ‘colleagues’ of mine turned against me, even the more tolerable ones, and are on the loose!” When he reveals his current fate, he clutches his fists in anger.
Everypony gasps at Tirek’s revelation.
I lead Chrysalis, Cozy and Zephyr to Town Hall, where in the main room, Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, Kevin and Firelight are all helping with the decorations. I lead the former three to the technicals duo.
“Hi Muffins! Hi Time Turner!”
Muffins and Time Turner turn to me. “Ah, Aita!” exclaims the latter. “You arrived just in time! We’ve finished our installment of the flameless fireworks you ordered.”
I briefly jump in the air with my forehooves above me. “Awesome! Thanks for doing this, you two.”
“Aw… it’s what we do,” Muffins replies. “Will there be anything else?”
Cozy Glow splits off from the two us for a short time, looking around the main room of Town Hall. “Well, I can see the decorations are coming along pretty nicely. We just have two other stops before going back to the castle.”
“You may accompany us if you wish,” Chrysalis adds.
Muffins shrugs, open to the suggestion, while Time Turner nods.
When my friends, Spike and I drag Tirek into Canterlot Castle, we tell Celestia and Luna about the whole situation.
“So wait. Tirek didn’t cause this unease from the citizens of Equestria?” Luna repeats.
“He’s not guilty on that part at least,” I answer. “But I can imagine he would be on several others.”
“Surely whatever I truly did after being summoned has been served with my comeuppance; I never shot down the others’ ideas, and I payed the price. I think the only thing I discouraged was their initial witch hunt on Discord when he revealed Aita’s change of pronoun.”
Celestia flies up to Tirek with tranquil fury. “Even still, your actions from before that point are still left unserved! Is there anything else you would like tell us?!?”
Tirek extends his arms to each of his sides one at a time. “Would you like the good news or the bad news?”
Everyone is shocked that what he’s told us wasn’t even news he called bad. “That wasn’t the bad news?!?” exclaims Luna.
“Svengallop, human Spitfire and the sirens share most of Grogar’s magic.”
Spike faceclaws at Tirek’s bad news. “So what’s the good news?”
“Maybe to you, but my magic is trapped in the bell, along with my share of Grogar’s.”
Celestia lands before me and Luna. “Twilight, Luna, we need to make a plan! Maybe it’s not too late to stop this disaster from happening!”
I put my hooves below my ears and close my eyes, trying to stop myself from panicking. “I… I need some time to think first.”
“Well there isn’t any time!” Tirek rebuts. “They’re probably on their way right now!”
Pinkie Pie hops forward. “Then we’ll stop them!”
I frantically hover up to my friends. “How?!? Stopping the sirens in Sunset’s world was hard enough! And that was with her help!”
Celestia comes by my side and rests a hoof across my shoulders.
“Twilight, it doesn’t matter if you receive help from others or not. We believe in you, and we always have.”
“Lean on your strengths to counter your weaknesses,” advises Luna.
“My strengths…?” I repeat, looking to my friends. I suddenly get what Luna’s saying. “Right! Spike! Send a letter to Ember! We need her army to guard the borders of Canterlot! If the villains are coming for a fight, we’ll have one waiting for them! With Svengallop and CHS Spitfire on the loose, they’ll go after Aita and Chrysalis respectively! Warn Cadence, Shining Armor and Carve! They’re our final line of defense if we fail! The ultimate battle for the fate of Equestria… is coming!”
Spike does as I say, grabbing a scroll each for Dragon Lord Ember, Aita, Princess Cadence, and Carve, and writing my warnings on them. I jump in the air at the final announcement.
Still in the lair, I stamp my hoof on the roundtable, Sonata and Aria watching unflinchingly. “We’re not going ANYWHERE until you two are away from each other’s throats! Compliment each other IMMEDIATELY!!!”
Spitfire groans. “He’s… regal in the new form.”
“Svengallop…” I slowly growl.
“She… excels with planning,” he reluctantly admits.
I put a grin on my face. “There! Now, we were talking about Grogar’s bell.”
“Why don’t we take the magic inside it,” Sonata suggests. “We could steal magic for ourselves as a result of what we did earlier.”
“But isn’t that ability practically exclusive to centaurs? We already backstabbed the one we had before,” counters Aria.
“Then leave it,” I conclude. “If we can’t access the thievery inside, there’s no point. We have a kingdom to conquer anyway.”
The five of us stop at the front of the lair.
“So, where should we strike first?” inquires Spitfire.
“Everywhere…” I chuckle, prompting Svengallop and Spitfire to split off from us, Aria and Sonata staying by me as we all leave the lair.
After getting Spike’s letter, I copy and send my own to all the friends I’ve made since moving to Ponyville. Subsequently, I pace in front of the castle soon to be mine while I wait for everyone else to come. The ponies that do arrive aren’t just my set of friends that helped me get the Sibling Supreme crown or Zephyr Breeze, but also Kevin, Granola, Mangle, Bow and Windy.
“We got here as soon as we could, Aita!” Bow states, making me sigh in relief.
“Good. EVERYONE is here. One of our past enemies is on their way right now, and we need to outnumber them if we can’t overpower them.”
As I move through our briefing I cast Refulgo Publicus to demonstrate our enemies, them being apparently just the sirens, Svengallop, and human Spitfire.
“Wait. What happened to Tirek?” Sunset asks.
“Don’t worry about him,” I answer. “The others sapped him, so that barrs him from causing anymore trouble… I hope.”
“We’ll need to coordinate an attack,” Granola notes.
Mangle puts his arm to his hip and gives us a thumb’s up. “Our magical powers should cover the attacking, Granola.”
“And we’ll coordinate!” declares Lightning Dust to Cozy Glow and Trace Light, the latter getting excited about pitching in for the team. Kevin then teleports in flight goggles for all the pegasi.
Once I’ve gathered the royal guard to support my friends for the battle, all of them as well as the princesses and Tirek are lined up so they can see me as I talk to them.
“We’ve faced enemies of Equestria before, and we’ve always succeeded! That wouldn’t be possible without all of you. So I ask for your help again today, in what is our biggest battle yet! All of Equestria is at stake, and I can’t do this alone! But I’m not afraid. Because with friendship as our armor, and teamwork as our power, nopony can ever bring us down!”
Just as I finish the speech, the throne room’s door bursts open, causing everyone to turn around, even Tirek.
“Nice try there, kid. But that speech ain’t gonna reinforce your manpower,” says the one who is presumably the Spitfire from Sunset’s world. I notice something about her pony form is different though.
“Superintendent Spitfire?!? You’re-”
“Opening fire!”
CHS Spitfire unleashes a magical laser from her horn, hitting me point blank on the cheek as I try to quickly soar out of the way. I am sent into my new throne and fall limp in front of it. I groan, prompting everyone to gasp.
“Wow! It’s true! Alicorns really are quite versatile!” taunts Spitfire, firing another laser across the room.
And so begins our battle with at least one of our foes.