Equestria was in a state of absolute chaos as Chrysalis, Tirek, Cozy Glow and Armalum attacked and defeated all of its heroes. The Royal Knights had all gone missing while the Pillars of Equestria that were protecting the School of Friendship had also been defeated. And then, Celestia, Luna, Twilight and her friends had all been overpowered by the three supercharged villains.
Twilight had managed to escape with Fire Heart and Shining Soul, but the rest had stayed behind to allow them to get away. This subjected them to a powerful blast of magic that knocked them all out, and when they woke up, they found themselves in a cavern located under the now destroyed castle. It had been made into a makeshift prison, Tirek having blown holes in the walls that Chrysalis had sealed up with her slime attacks. There were also several cages hanging from the ceiling, all filled with the defeated heroes of Equestria.
If that wasn't bad enough, the villains had also done something even worse. They had sown seeds of distrust between the three tribes of Equestria, which had begun to sprout the weeds of hatred. While trapped inside their cells, the villains had been more than happy to tell them how much the kingdom was splitting apart.
"News just in!" Cozy Glow laughed as she flew up to Spike and the rest of the caged Mane Seven. "Turns out, the unicorns have all taken refuge in Celestia's School." They all glared at her at this, "Meanwhile, the earth ponies are hiding out in Ponyville and the pegasi of Equestria have fled up to Cloudsdale. So pathetic!"
She began to laugh as Spike yelled, "This isn't funny! You have no idea what kind of damage you could be doing to Equestria!"
"Who cares!" Cozy scoffed, "So long as I get what I want, why should I worry about everypony else being happy?" She smirked at them. "I'm going to rebuild this kingdom in my image and make everypony bow to me." She cracked her hooves and neck as her horn started glowing. "And now for your complete destruction! Won't that be fun?"
"Patience, Cozy." The filly stopped and turned to Chrysalis, "Destruction is so...permanent. We need to show the rest of Equestria that we've broken their heroes first. Besides, we should have fun with our guests."
"No!" Tirek roared as he marched into the room. "We should hunt down Twilight Sparkle! As long as she's out there, she's dangerous!"
Chrysalis cackled at this, "Is the big, strong minotaur that scared of one little pony? Relax. It's not like her friends are going anywhere." She pointed at the caves, Starswirl attempting to free himself, only for his magic to fizzle out. "The fools brought the remains of my throne to Canterlot to protect themselves." She laughed at this, "Those shards block their magic."
"Great," Rainbow rolled her eyes, "And here comes to evil monologue."
She watched as Cozy flew over to them, only for Chrysalis to grab and pull her back, "Careful. Too close and the shards cancel even our powers." She stomped a line into the ground. "But on this side of the cavern, we're the most powerful beings in Equestria, thanks to Grogar's Bell." They looked over and saw the Bewitching Bell in the middle of the cavern, the three standing around it smirking before turning to a hole with no slime. "Isn't that right, Grogar?" They grabbed a magical chain and pulled on it, causing Discord to be pulled out of the cave looking as weak and feeble as all the other ponies there.
Chrysalis and Tirek laughed at the depowered fool while Cozy was staring at the bell. She smiled as she grabbed it and pointed the end at herself, about to unleash the magic stored within. However, Tirek saw this and slapped the bell away from her. "What are you doing?! You saw what happened when you tried to take Discord's chaos magic!"
"Yeah, but there's Alicorn princess magic in there now too!" She looked at the bell like it was the last piece of candy in Equestria. "I could be so much more powerful if I could just-"
"What do you mean you could be?" Chrysalis hissed, only for the three to start arguing. As they did this, Spike and the girls all shared worried looks.
"This is really bad," Fluttershy quivered, "Oh, if only Iron and the others were here."
"What the heck even happened to them?" Pinkie asked, the villains having been tight lipped about that particular detail.
"We gotta find Twilight," Applejack added, "She's probably already figured out some way to defeat those monsters." They nodded as Rainbow asked the simplest question.
"Any idea how we get out of here to do that?" Spike then stepped forward and touched the slime wall, attempting to claw at it with little success.
"Too sticky. There's no way anypony could get through this." Unfortunately, Chrysalis' throne shards were also blocking his magic, so he was back to being the same weak dragon he used to be. Not even his fire could burn through it.
"I'm so sorry." They turned to see Discord "It made so much sense in my head. Twilight defeats her worst enemies and is filled with confidence. I truly did have the best intentions." He held up his hand, "I swear I'll make it up to you." Even Fluttershy was giving him a glare.
"That's gonna need to be a pretty epic makeup," Rainbow replied.
"STAY AWAY FROM THE BELL, YOU PEST!" They looked back at the arguing trio as Tirek blasted Cozy to keep her from unleashing the magic. "None of us can use the Alicorns' magic until we figure out how to handle that fool's ridiculous chaos magic!"
This statement made Discord's eyes go wide, as an idea formed in his head. He picked up a crystal from the ground and spoke up. "I could always tell you how."
Everypony's eyes went wide at this, fearing Discord might be about to make things worse. Everyone in the cavern wished Twilight and Flash were there, but had no idea where either of them where. All they knew was that wherever they were, they weren't giving up. So neither could they.
In an alternate dimension, Flash Sentry roared as he charged at Armalum while summoning his Sacred Light. The dark armor summoned his own sword and charged, the pair meeting in the center of the destroyed town as their clash caused an explosion of Sacred Light and Corrupted Shadow, the blast knocking everything away. The impact was enough to consume the nearby buildings, tearing them apart as the Royal Knights did what they could to keep themselves from being blown away as well. Ruby and Cold had used the last of their magic to create ice and crystal walls, which the knights hid behind.
The pair pushed against one another at this, only for Flash to flare his wings and fly back as he unleashed a barrage of Flash Cutters that Armalum, only for him to block them using a shield generated by his chest. Flash's boosters fired up at this, the pegasi now flying straight up, Armalum following after him. The pair flew through the air and moved so fast that the others could only see gold and purple line of energy. Those lines quickly turned to one another and charged, bouncing off when they impacted and unleashing shockwaves with every hit.
The pair zigzagged through the air, hitting one another and ricocheting off several times before zipping down and slamming into the ground. Both were clashing their swords again, the impact sending out more shockwaves. As they did this, Armalum launched a blast of magic from his horn, but Flash teleported to behind the armored pony, only for Armalum's tail to raise up and block Flash's sword, Armalum spinning around and firing a laser from his chest. The dark energy beam slammed into Flash and made him go flying, crashing into a pile of debris that had somehow survived the shockwaves.
And as he picked himself up, he saw one of Ruby's Crystal Swords stuck into the ground. He glanced around and saw the other Royal Knight's weapons were scattered about while Armalum charged. Quickly grabbing the crystal sword, Flash began to clash with Armalum again, only for the armored pony's horn to shine, a shield appearing that the crystal sword instantly shattered at hitting the barrier.
Armalum spun around next, kicking Flash hard in the chest, sending him flying back as Lightbringer slipped from his hooves and bounced away from him. He crashed again, only to flip himself backwards onto his hooves. As he did this, he saw First's and Heather's weapons on the ground and picked them up. Channeling his magic into the crossbow, he fired several energy bolts that Armalum was forced to deflect before he flew in close and swung the mace, using his enhanced strength to smash it into Armalum's chest, knocking him flying.
But when he hit the ground, Armalum burst into smoke and morphed into several clouds that swirled around Flash. He fired the crossbow into the surrounding shadows, but the bolts just flew through. Flash then swung the mace around, creating a tornado with it that he used to blow the smoke away, only for Armalum to shoot out of the smoke and tackle him, the blow knocking the weapons out of his grasp again.
They hit the ground rolling, Armalum's body still transitioning from smoke, Flash now seeing he was right by Wavefang and Cloud Hacker on the ground. Armalum then summoned his sword again, but Flash teleported away to where the weapons were. He then teleported back to Armalum and thrust the Wavefang, Armalum barely able to raise his sword so it was caught between two of the prongs. Flash then pushed the sword to the ground and slashed at Armalum with the axe, Armalum screaming as his armor had a large piece carved out of it.
The others cheered at this as Flash pulled the trident back and spun it around to slash Armalum with both at once. Armalum was sent staggering back, but quickly fired a pair of lasers from his boot gems. One of them hit the axe and blew it out of Flash's grasp, but the other missed as Flash used all his strength to thrust the trident forward, only for Armalum to grab the trident and pull the defender forward, quickly raising up to kick him in the chest.
Flash cried out as he was knocked away, Armalum throwing the trident away. He then picked up his sword and leapt at Flash, only for a shield of ice to suddenly appear in front of Flash, blocking the blade. The knight gasped at this and turned to see Cold smiling at him, Lightning taking out one of his remaining knives and throwing it at him. Flash caught it and grabbed the shield, using it to block Armalum's sword before slashing at his chest. Armalum staggered back before unleashing a beam from all five of his gems as well as his horn, Flash raising the shield and blocking them all. But the heat and pressure from the attack shattered the mini-barrier, knocking Flash back as Armalum used his magic to lift up several pieces of debris and threw them.
The rubble slammed into Flash at this, pushing him back again before he saw something in the corner of his eye. He then warped away to dodge the last bit of rubble, appearing beside Grand Slammer as he threw Lightning's knife right at Armalum. The living armor dodged the attack, only for Flash to swing the hammer into one of the rocks. That sent it rocketing toward Armalum, slamming into him, causing the armored pony to explode into a black cloud before suddenly disappearing like smoke.
Seeing this, Flash narrowed his eyes as he thought, 'If I was a scumbag like him, where would I sneak attack my enemy?' A smirk appeared on his face before spinning around, swinging the hammer into an image of Armalum, destroying it. Another one then appeared and Flash smacked it as well, followed by another and another. Flash panted at this, Grand's hammer not something easily swung around without earth pony strength and endurance.
And as this happened, the real Armalum appeared along with four others, each of them firing a beam at Flash. He had no choice but to drop the heavy weapon and fly straight up, the lasers meeting in the middle and exploding. This knocked Flash out of the sky, making him roll through the air, eventually coming to a stop while Armalum flew up after him. Flash fired his own laser at him, but he turned into a cloud to avoid it before splitting into five.
The clouds flew around randomly, one then slamming into Flash and knocking him back before another one hit him and knocked him in the other direction. The other three soon did the same and Flash was sent falling to the ground, eventually crashing and groaning. Armalum then reformed and raised his sword, Flash pushing himself up as he heard his voice being called.
He turned to see Iron throw something at him. Flash smiled and grabbed it as Armalum dove down and tried to cut him in half, only for Flash to raise Piecemaker and block the attack, Armalum's sword bouncing off. At the same time, Flash pushed himself up and thrusted the weapon into Armalum, a barrage of blows coming next as they slammed into Armalum's now cracking body.
"Augh!" He staggered back as Flash tried to run him through, only to burst into a shadow and swirl into a tornado around Flash, the pegasus coming to a stop before suddenly being slammed in the chest by a beam of energy that sent him flying out of the tornado and crashing into the ground yet again. Piecemaker went flying out of his grasp at this, Armalum leaping out of the tornado with his sword, Flash flinching at the blow he had just received before his eyes caught sight of something else, closing his eyes as he began to focus.
And in the split second, a certain object teleported to his hooves as he raised it just in time. Armalum's sword clashed with the defending weapon, the living armor surprised to see Lightbringer once again in Flash's grasp. The defender illuminated the sword and unleashed a blast of light, sending the living armor flying as Flash picked himself up.
"Had enough?" Flash asked, only to see Armalum stand tall again. "Guess not."
Cricking his neck, Flash glared at the armored pony, only for both to rush forward, the battle continuing.
Spike and the Mane Seven had been on quite the journey. Discord's little ruse had managed to free Starlight, the unicorn unleashing her magic to free the rest of them, allowing the six to escape. After that, they rushed out of Canterlot and found the place was deserted. And to their shock, they had found Ponyville was now swarming with earth ponies. It was just as Cozy and the others had said, the three tribes had been split up and refused to work together, deciding to instead worry about their own kind.
They had hoped to find Twilight in Ponyville, but the mare wasn't there. Spike had then realized where she was and one Rune Gate warp later, they were in the Crystal Empire. The Crystal Guards had been on high alert and when they stepped through the portal, they had found spears pointed right at them. "Hold it!" The guards turned to see Sombra walking up to them.
"They hoped you'd show up." He turned to the guards, "They're the royal family's guests." The guards nodded at this and Sombra led them through the castle.
"So Twilight's here?" Applejack asked, Sombra nodding back.
"Indeed. We've been unable to gather information about what's going on. How are things?"
"Bad," Spike replied, "Flash and the Royal Knights are missing, Celestia and our friends are doing their best to fight against those three, and now all three tribes are against each other. Things couldn't get any worse."
Sombra grimacing at that, especially the news of Ruby being missing. They arrived at the throne room a bit later, only to find Heart and Soul rushing up to them, "You're okay!" Heart cheered, hugging Rainbow and Soul hugged Rarity.
Cadance and Shining ran up to them next, "Oh, thank Celestia you're all alright." Cadance turned to the ceiling. "She's upstairs. It's...not good."
They were let up to one of the guest rooms while explaining everything that had happened in Equestria. When they arrived, they found Twilight surrounded by a bunch of graphs, scrolls and books that she was feverously reading through until the door opened. She turned to see her friends and gasped. "You're here?!" They all rushed over and hugged her, "I was so worried! Where are the princesses?"
Pinkie smiled a big grin at this, being the last to pull away from the hug. "They put up a crazy fight so we could escape and find you! Mission accomplished! Now, let's go save Equestria!" She cheered as a banner somehow unfurled above them and confetti began to fall to the sound of music.
But the sight just made Twilight frown, only to glance away, "They made a terrible mistake. You all did." She then held up some books and scrolls in her magic. "From the second I got away, I've been searching every book, scroll, and spell for a way to rescue you and stop Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy, but I haven't found anything." She threw a book away, "I failed."
She fell to her flank and looked down in shame, only for Spike to say, "You'll come up with something. We can't save Equestria without you."
Twilight glared back at him, "You all escaped without my help. You didn't need me then. So why would anypony need me now?"
Rainbow flew over to her. "We know things look bad, but we've been in tough spots before, and we always-"
"LOOK AROUND!" Twilight screamed, "Nothing we've ever done has mattered!" She pointed at a board that had pictures of all their villains on it. "Shroudheart? Returned and destroyed the Tree of Harmony! Chrysalis, Tirek, Cozy Glow? Returned and more powerful than ever! The School of Friendship? Shut down! Everypony in Equestria is so blinded by fear that they can't remember what friendship is! And that's not even taking into account Armalum's return, the sudden disappearance of Flash and the rest of the knights. Nothing we do makes any difference!"
"But we're still free and together," Pinkie added.
"And it's not like things can get any worse," Rainbow finished, only for a loud scream to fill the air, making them run over to a window, only to now see a dark cloud filling the sky, a trio of creatures appearing inside it. They were ghostly, spectral horses with wispy back ends. They flew through the air, bringing about a freezing wind that was even penetrating the barrier of the Crystal Heart.
Spike turned to everypony, "Haven't we learned never to say that by now?"
"What the heck are those things?" Heart asked as the creatures flew overhead.
"WIndigos!" Twilight cried, "They're real?" The others looked shocked as they remembered the story of Heartswarming Eve. Despite all the insane things they had seen, many of them had believed windigos were just something made up.
"What are they doing here?" Soul asked next.
"This is just like the Heartswarming Tale," Applejack replied, "The three tribes are divided and mistrust one another. That's letting them come and freeze us all."
"That doesn't sound good," Heart gulped, "Flash, I wish you were here."
Weapons now out of hoof, the pair glared at each other and spread their wings. Opening them up, they unleashed the thrusters that propelled them as they sent all their strength into their hooves. And when they were within striking range, the pair threw a punch with all of their might as the attacks collided.
Once again, the impact unleashed a shockwave that destroyed anything it touched. The ice and crystal walls had already taken a serious battering, this time shattering as the Royal Knights were all blown back. And as they hit the ground, most were close to blacking out as they rolled across the dirt, forcing themselves to stay awake as they tried to watch the battle between Flash and Armalum. They were now pushing each other, their hooves now surrounded by black and gold energy, the two doing everything they could to try and overpower the other.
"Give it up!" Armalum growled, "You...can't win!"
Flash cackled at that, "Wow, if I had a bit for every time somepony told me that, I'd be able to take Twilight out to the most expensive restaurant in Equestria."
"Well, you'll never have the chance! Because once this is over, you'll never see her again." He pushed Flash back at this as he added, "By now, Twilight is likely planning her big counterattack while the rest of Equestria is being drawn together by those fools who still believe in friendship."
"What? What do you mean?"
"Doesn't matter," Armalum laughed, "I already saw it coming and gave Tirek, Cozy and Chrysalis the protection needed to stop them. Once that little stunt fails, the three will wipe those fools out. And you'll be joining them."
"Not...gonna happen!" Flash yelled as he began to push Armalum back, "I'm going back, and I'm gonna stop those three if it's the last thing I DO!" He thrust his hooves forward, shoving Armalum, only for the gem on Armalum's chest to shine a white light that formed a protective barrier. As soon as Flash hit it, he suddenly felt his strength being drained. "Augh!" He tried to pull back, but his hooves were stuck. "What's going on?"
"Fool," Armalum chuckled, "Did you forget? It's not just Corrupted Shadow powering me any more. I destroyed Faust and took all her power! There's no way you can defeat me!" Flash felt himself start to lose more, Armalum pulling a hoof back before rocketing it into Flash's chest. The impact was like getting shot, Flash's armor cracking apart as he felt the force of it flow through his entire body.
"FLASH!" Grand cried, hearing Flash's scream as the barrier holding his hooves faded and he fell back. But before he could fall, Armalum slammed into him again. He screamed as more of his armor broke apart, Armalum continuing to wail on him with punches and kicks. The pegasus tried to block or dodge, but Armalum was suddenly a lot faster. And with every hit, more and more of his Shining Guardian form broke away. His chest, legs, wings and head armor cracked and chipped, until one final uppercut sent Flash shooting up. His armor broke apart at this and fell away, Flash's body feeling like it was giving out as Armalum flew up to greet him.
"It's over!" Armalum raised his hoof as a short blade of white and black light grew from it. "Now...GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU HAVE!" He thrust his hoof into Flash's chest, Flash's screams echoing throughout the pocket dimension. His friends gasped at this and tried to pick themselves up, each of them reaching for their Celestic Gear, Grand even grabbing Lightbringer and preparing to unleash an attack...but Armalum saw it coming.
"Goodbye!" He held up his other hoof and wave of energy shot down, hitting all the knights. Each one screamed as they were knocked back as a portal formed behind them. They disappeared a second later, Flash fighting through the pain as he saw this.
"What...did you do?"
"Sent them back to Equestria. They're no match for those three in their current state. And they would just try to interrupt the process."
"What process?" Flash asked, only to suddenly feel another sharp rush of pain coming from the knife. He looked down and saw it was beginning to drain a golden light out of him, "My...Sacred Light."
"That's right," Armalum laughed, "You're gonna lose all your power!" The golden light was sucked into Armalum's body as Flash gasped, the defender grabbing him at this.
"No!" He tried to dislodge him, but it was no use.
"Don't bother trying to resist!" Armalum cackled, "You're facing the power of a god. Faust's abilities are what gave you the Sacred Light, and now it'll be those powers that rip them right out of you!" Flash tried to resist, only to feel all his strength vanish.
"NOOO!" He activated his power one more time, pushing Armalum back. At the same time, the flow of his magic into the villain stopped before slowly beginning to reverse. "Faust entrusted me with this power! I won't let you have it!"
"Oh?! I guess you've still got some fight left in you after all. That's fine. This wouldn't be any fun if it was too easy!" Armalum's own power flared as he once against started pulling Flash's power out of him. "Alright, tug of war it is! A battle of wills! Which of us is going to give up and lose everything to the other?!"
"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Flash roared, attempting to force as much will as he could to draw his own power back into him.
But Armalum's will was just as strong, pumped up by the hatred for the pony in front of him that was fuelling him. The energy kept being pulled back and forth, neither side appearing to give an inch...only for Flash to feel something. A surge of uncontrollable pain.
"GYAH!" He cried, feeling himself black out for a second from the pain in his body. But that second was all Armalum needed as he sucked the Sacred Light right out of him. And as Flash tried to recover, it was already too late. His power was now completely drained away.
And the second the last of the Sacred Light was taken away, it was like someone had pulled all the breath out of Flash. His body went limp as Armalum pulled the blade out of his chest. He released Flash and began to fall, his wings too weak to even move as the defender crashed into the dirt, his body so numb that he didn't feel the pain he should have been in.
Armalum looked himself over, feeling the Sacred Light that now swirled within him. "Yes!" He cheered as a golden aura exploded out of him. "YEEEEES!" The aura quickly mixed with the dark aura of the Corrupted Shadow before both were absorbed into the white aura that had once been Faust's.
And as he danced in the air at the power he had just received, Flash glanced up, his face flinching in pain with every breath. He wasn't sure if it was the loss of his Sacred Light or the damage he had taken, but breathing felt like he was taking a knife to the chest with each breath.
Armalum looked down at him, laughing at the pitiful sight, "I'm actually surprised you survived the extraction. But I doubt you'll be able to survive without the Sacred Light much longer." Flash just let out a tiny groan, the sight making Armalum cackle, "Look at you! And Faust thought you could defeat me?! YOU?!" Flash glared at him, Armalum slowly floating down. "To think, this is where it all ends for you. The great and mighty Flash Sentry, made powerless by my hooves. Such a fitting end for the one I hate."
Flash's twitched at this, trying to move, but it could barely move an inch, "I won't...let it end this way."
"Oh, would you wake up and accept your fate?! What do you plan to do to me?! How do you expect to defeat me in your state? Look at you!"
"I'll...I'll find a way!"
"I have the power of a god," Armalum stated sternly. "What do you have now? Nothing. I'll admit, you've defeated many powerful foes, but everything you used to defeat them is gone. The Element of Courage was destroyed. Your friends accidently took your Sacred Gear with them back to Equestria. And your Sacred Light..." He raised his hoof as it glowed with light, "It's mine." He leaned down with a cackle, "Everything that ever made you special is gone."
Armalum chuckled as he took to the air once again. "Flash Sentry, you're an opponent worthy of respect...that is, as a vessel for Sacred Light. The fact you've survived up to this point can only be described as admirable." Flash didn't like where this was going. "However, your time is finally up. Prepare yourself, for the end." His wings opened up and unleashed the dark energy of the Corrupted Shadow which flowed out and formed a cloud on either side of him.
Flash stared at the cloud, barely able to keep himself conscious as faces appeared within it. Faces of ponies Flash recognised. The ones he had made his enemies by defeating them. Doom Raizer, Shadow Corrupter, Electra, Big Score and so many others, all now laying in a coma in a prison hospital.
"Now..." Armalum laughed, "LET MY HATRED DEVOUR YOU!" The cloud exploded, morphing into a bunch of smaller clouds that zoomed through the air. Each one had a face of the ponies that hated him as they all flew down toward Flash. The defender's survival instincts kicked in and the pegasus rolled off his back in an attempt to escape, but the Rickashay cloud reached him and bit onto the back of his leg. He screamed as he felt the pain race through him while three more hate spirits flew down and bit his other legs. The others quickly followed, biting onto him in the wings and anywhere else they could find room. He tried to pull them off, but they all refused to release him.
And as they bit him, the cloud bodies began to merge and completely surround him. His screams were slowly muffled out of existence until finally, he was completely consumed by the cloud of hatred. Armalum watched this with absolute delight, glad to see his efforts had paid off.
"Now you will spend what little time you have left wallowing in the misery of the hatred you brought upon yourself. May you sink into despair and be overwhelmed in the darkness." He glanced around at this, seeing the realm growing darker. "Won't be long now before this pocket dimension falls apart. Once that happens, anything that's inside of it will cease to be." He frowned at that, "Even I wouldn't be able to survive that. I do so hope he gives in before I have to leave."
He watched as the dark cloud continued to swirl around, the voice and moans of those he had drained of hatred filling the air. It wouldn't be long now.
The windigos continued to fly over Equestria, the dark cloud spreading across the sky, blanketing the land and threatening to freeze it solid. And as the three tribes saw them flying overhead, they all agreed that they had to focus on themselves and let the other two tribes fend for themselves.
"We have to do something!" Rainbow cried as they watched the beasts swirl around, all of them turning to Twilight.
But the Alicorn of Friendship just looked away, "I've already done enough."
The sight made them all glare at her, Applejack growling as she marched up to the alicorn, "You want the truth, Twilight? Bad things happen. No matter what you do, there's never gonna be a time when everything's perfect. But that don't mean you quit tryin'!"
"And what if I make things worse?!" Twilight screamed back, "Ever since Celestia told me I was taking over, I've been gaining confidence! Then I find out it's all a lie! Equestria's been falling apart around us, and I didn't even notice! What kind of princess does that make me?!"
"But Celestia and Luna aren't perfect either," Heart pointed out. "Come on! What would Flash say if he was here right now?"
"But Flash isn't here!" Twilight exclaimed, "If he was, at least we'd have some way to fight back! But we don't! We have no Elements of Harmony, no Royal Knights, no alicorn princesses, no Sacred Light....NO ANYTHING!" She screamed, her eyes tearing up, "Why do I have to be the one to decide what needs to be done?! I can't help with this!" She then shrunk back, tears going down her face, "I'm...I'm scared."
Everypony shared a sorrowful glance, only for Fluttershy to take a breath and step forward, the pegasi putting her hoof on Twilight's chin and raising it, "I probably know more about being scared than anypony, but thanks to all of you, I've learned I'm always less scared when I'm with my friends."
The others smiled at this as they all walked up to her side, "If we're facing impossible odds, we're facing them together!" Rainbow added.
"It's what we always do, darling." Rarity finished.
Twilight stared at them, only to say, "But...but we're on our own, and we have no idea what to do!"
Pinkie suddenly slid beneath her, smiling up at her. "That's true pretty much every time something terrible is about to happen."
"We don't have the Elements of Harmony anymore! How can you all be so calm about this?!"
"Because," Spike flew up to her next, "Even if you don't believe you can do this, we do. We believe in you. In us." They all nodded, smiling as Applejack stepped up again.
"The truth is, all our lives wouldn't be the same if we hadn't met. We're better off because of our friendship with you. So when you say you haven't made a difference, that's just not true. You've made a big difference to us."
"And us," Heart added, "Flash might have brought me and Soul to Ponyville, but you were the one that opened your home to us."
"You helped me learn to control my magic," Soul continued, "You showed me the kind of pony that I want to be. And not just me. You took Flash in and gave him the chance to become the hero we all know and love. And that led to so many other ponies getting a new lease on life."
Rarity nodded at this, "Lightning Blitz, Iron Core, Cold Steel, even some of our old foes like Sombra and Shadow's cult. They all got to grow because of what you did."
Spike put his claw on the alicorn's shoulder, "Twilight, you're the best pony to lead Equestria into the future. Believe us."
Twilight couldn't help but smile at this. If Flash had been there, this moment would be perfect. "Thank you." She wiped her eyes, "Sometimes even the Princess of Friendship needs a reminder that there's more to the Magic of Friendship than rainbow lasers."
"Although that part is pretty cool." Spike laughed as Twilight turned to the others.
"We still need a plan," she stated as the door flew open.
"That sounds like the pony I used to foal-sit for." They turned to the royal family, Cadance giving Twilight a confident glare. "Count us in."
"No." Twilight shook her head, "You need to stay here and protect Flurry Heart." She stared down at her niece, fearing what might happen if they failed. "If we don't...if things don't work out, she's Equestria's last hope." The couple nodded, though they also didn't like the idea of their daughter having to face those villains. "Okay. Three of our worst villains have taken over, powered up by ancient magic." She moved over to the window and stared at the beasts in the air. "Everypony in Equestria is so scared and divided that the windigos are circling. And it's up to us to fix it all."
"What are we gonna do, Twilight?!" Pinkie asked as Twilight gave them all a confident smirk.
"The same thing we do every time, Pinkie. Try to save the world!" The others cheered as they all began to head out the castle, off to what could be their final battle. Heart and Soul watched, knowing the adults wouldn't allow them to help. However, sharing a glance, they both knew what they had to do. It was time for them to step up and show what they had learned at Twilight's school of friendship.
Back at the destroyed Canterlot Castle, Tirek trotted into the wrecked throne room.
"Every prisoner is safely in their cells," he told the other two. The pair were currently looking up at the sky, making him look up as well. "Now we can hunt down the rest of the...Windigos? Those exist?"
Cozy shivered as she held a blanket tightly around her. "I'm not hunting anypony d-d-d-down in this weather!" She turned to Chrysalis. "Can't we magically get rid of them and w-w-w-warm things up?"
Chrysalis shook her head, "I don't think we should. This could work out quite well for me."
The other two glared at her. "You mean us," Tirek hissed as Chrysalis shined a grin.
"Oh, don't be a spoilsport. After all, this harsh weather is the final blow to break the ponies' spirits. Once Equestria is a frozen wasteland, we'll use our magic to destroy those windy beasts. The ponies will be so grateful that they'll do whatever I want!"
"The windigos are ancient magic," Tirek growled, "It would be unwise to leave them unchecked. Best we deal with them now." He and Chrysalis glared at one another, but Cozy spoke up as she saw something.
"We probably should deal with Twilight and her friends before anything else."
The others turned to her. "I thought it was too cold for you to hunt anypony down?"
"We don't need to," she pointed to a window, "They're right there!" The other two turned to see a group of ponies marching across a field in the distance.
"Change of plans." Chrysalis chuckled as the other two shined big grins, "Let's go hunting!"
Twilight, Spike and the rest of their friends were all heading for the destroyed castle, Twilight still having no idea how they would deal with the villains. The cold weather wasn't making it easy either.
"You think they know we're here?" Spike asked, only for a black and yellow vortex to suddenly appear in front of them. The portal grew larger, only for three villains to walk out of it a second later, the Bewitching Bell floating behind them.
"Ah'd say they have an idea," Applejack gulped.
As the windigos continued to swirl overhead, the trio marched as Twilight spotted the item that was allowing the villains to wield such incredible power. "That bell has Discord, Celestia, and Luna's magic inside. If they use it against us-"
Fluttershy interrupted her, assuring Twilight that wouldn't be a problem. "Discord's magic is so chaotic that he's the only one who can use it."
Twilight nodded at this, only for Chrysalis to call out, "You just can't accept that you were beaten before you even realized there was a fight, can you?"
Twilight glared up at her. "You can't beat us if we never give up! As long as I have my friends by my side, I'll put my faith in friendship-"
"Ugh," Cozy moaned, "Can we just skip the whole 'friendship is worthless' part and get on with this please?" Her horn began to glow, only for everyone there to feel a slight shift. "Huh?" Looking up, they saw what looked like a portal, the wormhole swirling above their heads. "Is...is this us?"
"I'm not doing it." Chrysalis replied.
"Me neither," Tirek added before something fell out of the portal. A lot of somethings.
The Royal Knights screamed as they hit the dirt, their weapons scattering all over the place. Their friends gasped and ran to them, rushing to their sides as the knights began to pick themselves up. "Grand!" Twilight spotted Lightbringer in his hooves, making her gasp. "Where's Flash?!"
"He...he's fighting Armalum," Grand groaned, "They're in a pocket dimension. Armalum was so strong and Flash..." Words began to fall apart in his mind as he tried to talk, only for him to just say, "I'm sorry."
Twilight could feel panic racing through her again, only to shake her head, "It's fine. Flash won't lose to him." Grand smiled before looking up and seeing the windigos above.
"What the-"
"it's a long story," Twilight interrupted as the other knights were helped up. The alicorn saw that they were all in pretty bad shape, biting her lip at the sight, "I know you're all injured...but we could really use your help right now."
"You don't even have to ask," Grand responded, "Knights, stand tall!" The knights all raised their weapons, First taking a deep breath and unleashing his Aid Force in order to heal them as best he could. The three villains frowned at all the extra enemies they had to fight, only for Cozy to fire a beam at the group. But as she did this, Twilight grabbed everyone in her magic and teleported them away at the last second. She warped to some nearby trees, watching as the spot they had just been in was turned to a steaming crater.
"We need to get that bell and get Discord and the princesses their magic back." Her eyes darted between everyone in front of her, "Rainbow Dash, Pinkie, you're with me and the Royal Knights." They all nodded, Rainbow smirking.
"Sweet! I'll grab that bell in ten second-"
"No." Twilight shook her head. "We're the distraction." She pointed to the others. "They're gonna get the bell."
The others went wide-eyed for a second, only to nod a second later. As this happened, the villains all glared at the area around them, Chrysalis yelling, "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"
"There!" Cozy yelled, as Twilight, Rainbow, Pinkie and the knights charged out of the forest. The knights started launching long distance attacks, the villains all countering with their own magic. Rainbow and Skybreaker started flying around at high speed, Cozy finding herself being spun around by the wind they made. Grand and Iron slammed their weapons into the ground, Ruby doing the same with her hooves, creating spikes of earth, metal and crystals that moved towards them as Tirek fired a beam of energy that shattered the attack. Twilight, Cold, Lightning and Tidal then teleported around the battlefield, launching attacks at Chrysalis as her horn glowed, blocking everything as she countered with blasts of slime, only for First to teleport Heather behind her, the earth pony using her chain to pull Chrysalis' leg out from under her.
"Augh!" the changeling yelped before firing another volley of magic, the group taking cover from the attack. And they continued to battle, Spike and the remaining mares made their way around the fight.
Cloudsdale...
The pegasi were continuing to siege themselves in their clouds city. The Wonderbolts were busy reinforcing the cloud walls so the windigos couldn't blow them away, Soarin hating himself for doing this. He wanted to be down there with Rainbow, but he had to make sure the pegasi were safe. He knew whatever was going on down there, Rainbow would be fine. A flash of light then caught his attention, making him turn to see what appeared to be a battle on the ground.
"That's gotta be them," he commented as he was about to dive down, only for another voice to call out to him.
"Soarin!" He spun around to see Spitfire fly up to him. "What are you doing?! We've gotta protect Cloudsdale!" Soarin frowned, about to tell her the rest of Equestria needed their protection, only for another flash of light to appear, making him turn to see Fire Heart and Shining Soul.
"Heart, Soul! What are you doing here?" Soul nodded to her brother before teleporting away, the pegasi looking at the colt as he gave them all a glare.
"PEGASI OF EQUESTRIA! WE NEED TO TALK!" He yelled, the group all flinching at this as the colt felt all eyes upon him. He felt a tinge of fear at this, only to take a deep breath, remembering what his mentor had taught him. He was more scared of what would happen if he did nothing, then what might happen if he did. "Flash, give me strength...wherever you are."
Flash could feel nothing but pain and misery as he laid in the empty blackness of the dark cloud surrounding him. The heads of those that had hated him had finally disappeared and allowed him to lay there, but he found no peace. His body was beaten, and his will was broken. There was no hope. If he had his Celestic Gear or his Sacred Light, he would have kept trying. But now, he felt nothing. What could he do to win?
He thought back to Shroudheart's prophecy. The mad version of him said Flash would defeat Armalum and give up everything to do it. Had he been wrong? Had he been lying? Or had Flash's choice to try and win this fight and survive caused a change to the outcome? Was this how everything ended?
Flash wasn't sure what was happening back in Equestria. He knew things were probably bad, but Twilight and the others would find a way to stop Chrysalis and the others. But then what? Faust was gone and without her, the world would eventually fall apart. The only way to save it would be to let Armalum take over, but that seemed like an even worse idea...but he had already lost.
"Twilight," he whispered, "Everypony...I'm sorry." He could feel the last remaining vestiges of his life beginning to slip away. And as they did this, Flash suddenly finding himself reliving his life like they said happened when somepony was about to die.
At first, it was just the happy memories. The times he spent with his friends. The days he spent with his family. The training he did with Heart, Grand and all the other Defenders. Springer and all the other friends he had made throughout his life.
Then, he was reminded of all the times he had fought against evil or unfairity. All the times he had almost died protecting others and barely come out on top. The times he had had to dig deep and bring out a power that he hadn't even known he had. So many adventures and challenges he had overcome. But now it was all coming to an end.
The darkness around him swirled even faster, as if knowing he was about to die.
That is, till something stepped out of the darkness. "Hey, mister." Flash slowly opened his eyes at the noise, soon looking up to see the voice's owner, "Are you okay?" The defender had to blink at what he saw. He was now staring at...himself. But it was a younger version of him.
"How...who..."
The young pony smiled at him, his tail wagging, "I'm Flash. What's your name?"
"F...Flash."
"Really?" The colt laughed, "We've got the same name. That's so cool. And we kind of look alike. Are we related?" Flash opened his mouth, but nothing came out. Instead, the little one continued to talk, "I hope we are. I don't have any friends or family, so knowing there's somepony out there that I'm related to would be cool."
Flash blinked at the sight again, his mind now telling him he was probably already dead and having some kind of after death journey...or he was actually talking to his past self. He knew logic wasn't something that always existed in his life, but this was honestly par for the course as he replied, "I...I guess we could be related."
"Cool!" Young Flash smiled as he looked him over. "So...what happened to you?"
"I...I lost a fight."
"Really? Who were you fighting?"
"Somepony very powerful. I couldn't win. He was too strong."
"Ouch. Why would you fight somepony if they're so much stronger then you?"
"I had to. I'm...I was, a Royal Knight. I was supposed to protect my home and those around me, but I failed."
"So you were a hero?" Flash slowly nodded, "That's so cool. What's it like being a hero?" Flash could not believe this was how it ended. Talking to a former version of himself about who he was.
"It...was really hard. I fought against a lot of bad guys and didn't always win every fight. But I didn't let that stop me. I kept getting up and fighting to find a way."
"So...why aren't you doing that now?" Flash tried to tilt his head at this, "You said you lost to somepony, so why are you just sitting down and taking it? Get up!"
"I can't. He's too strong. If I had my Celestic Gear or my Sacred Light, I might be able to stand a chance. But I don't."
Confusion shined on young Flash's face, "I don't know what those things are, but I didn't think you needed something special to be a hero. Though if I'm honest, I don't really know a lot of about them." Flash didn't answer that, only for his younger self to add, "So...have you only ever been able to be a hero because you had those things? Doesn't sound like a hero to me, needing something special to be one."
Flash stared at his other self for a second, that info now sinking into his brain. And as it did, a memory shined in his head. "No...no, I didn't always have them. I helped somepony a long time ago. She was a filly your age. Three bullies were picking on her and throwing her bag around. I don't know why, but I flew in and helped her." He smiled at this, "I didn't need anything special to help her back then. I just did what I could."
"See? There you go!" his younger self chuckled, "So, what's the difference here?"
"The difference is those were just a bunch of bullies. This is a super powered being that I wouldn't stand a chance against. He has all the power and I have nothing. No ancient relic. NO Celestic Gear. No Sacred Light. Not even any friends to help me. I have nothing."
His younger self said nothing while Flash continued to lay on the ground as the darkness continued to draw in closer. But as he did this, something else rang out in that darkness.
"Twilight, you and the others need to get out of here now!" Flash's eyes went wide at the sound of his own voice. He and his younger self turned to the voice as part of the darkness flickered away. Doing so revealed another version of him, along with several others. The other Flash was standing in front of Nightmare Moon, glaring her down as Twilight and the rest of the Mane Seven stood behind him.
"What about you?"
"I'll hold her off as long as I can." Flash flared his wings, "The six of you are the only hope for Equestria. You need to escape."
"Oh, how brave." Nightmare Moon mocked, "I do still owe you for tricking me earlier, so you can be the first victim of my new unending night!" Her horn flashed and a large bubble shot out, encasing the two of them. Flash and his younger self watched as the Flash that had once stood against such an evil charged in to do battle against the mad alicorn.
"Wow," young Flash whispered, "He's so cool."
"You think?"
"Yeah. I mean, he's going up against somepony so strong. He doesn't seem to have any of those things you were talking about, but he's still fighting. Is he one of those Royal Knights as well?"
"No. He's...he's just a courageous fool that didn't have any power. But he...he kept fighting anyway, even though he knew it would likely cost him his life." As he said that, more memories appeared around him. Memories of times he stood up to an opponent who was clearly far stronger then him. An opponent that, by all realms of logic, should have killed him. But he was able to overcome all these situations. He might have had his friends, ancient relics, his Celestic Gear and Sacred Light to do the job, but he also had something else. The courage to stand against a foe that he knew could kill him. When had he let that courage slip away?
"I'm such an idiot," Flash took a deep breath and began to stand up, "I let all that power I possessed make me forget who and what I am."
His younger self turned to him at this, "Who are you?"
Flash stood on his hooves, and though he was shaky, he gave his younger self a nod, "I am the Element of Courage. The Knight of Friendship. I am the one who has stood against monsters and gods alike. I am the pony who stood up to the likes of Nightmare Moon, Discord and King Sombra, and even though I knew the chance of winning was almost nothing. I am the pony that fought and defeated Doom Raizer, Shadow Corrupter and many others. No matter how impossible the fight, I stood and fought risking everything to protect the ones I love."
His younger self smiled at this, but repeated the question. "Who are you?"
The pony took a deep breath, then opened his eyes. "I am Flash Sentry...and I am a hero!" His younger self nodded before exploding into a light that flew into him, causing a soft glow to surround him. The cloud of hatred tried to attack him again, but the light grew brighter and brighter. As it did this, ponies started appearing around Flash. Twilight, Heart, Springer, the rest of the Mane Seven, Soul and the Royal Knights, the Princesses, and all the friends Flash had made in his life.
Just like with Flash's battle against Shadow, these figures protected Flash from the darkness.
Outside the cloud, Armalum saw the light beginning to break out through the cloud. "What?" A small beam of light appeared, followed by another and another. "What's going on?" Eventually, the cloud exploded, the darkness now burned away by the light. "NO!"
Flash stood there, the pegasus looking up at Armalum with a smirk.
"HOW?!" He flew down and landed opposite him, "How did you escape?! I took your Sacred Light!"
Flash shined the biggest grin possible, "You thought you were so great, thinking you knew everything that was going to happen. Yet you overlooked the exact same thing Shroudheart did. You might have taken my Sacred Light, but I have a power in me that you can't take away."
Armalum growled and charged at this, summoning his weapon and slashing at Flash. But the pegasus sidestepped the attack before raising his hoof and slamming it down on the blade, shattering it instantly. Armalum gasped at this, only for Flash to spin around and stomp him in the chest, knocking him flying. He cried out as he fell over, Flash slowly walking up to him as he said, "You might be fueled by hatred, but I have something even stronger. Love. The love for my friends, my family and all the ponies of Equestria."
"So what?!" Armalum staggered back. "One pony's love shouldn't be able to overpower the hatred of so many!"
"Oh, but that's exactly it. Love is a hundred times stronger than hate. Doesn't matter how many ponies you drained of their hate, it's still not enough to overpower me! Because I refuse to let you become the ruler of the world I love!"
"You don't have a choice!" Armalum roared, "Without Faust, the world will fall apart unless I take over. What, you're saying you'd rather the world end instead of me taking over?" But then Flash raised a hoof as it began to spark with golden lightning. "What?! That's..."
"The Sacred Light? Yup." Flash chuckled, "Just a few remaining sparks you missed. Nothing special, but enough to help me do what I need to do."
"What you need to do? What are you talking about?! I've already won!" Flash continued to walk forward and Armalum, for the first time in his existence, felt genuine fear course through him. "Get away from me!" He fired a beam from his chest gem, but Flash just sidestepped it with ease before charging forward.
"RAAAAAAAAAAH!" Flash slammed his sparking hoof into Armalum, instantly piercing the armor and unleashing the energy stored inside.
Armalum screamed as his body was broken apart, Flash's hoof sinking into it and grabbing onto something. "What are you doing?!"
"The same thing you did to me!" Flash yelled, "I'm taking my Sacred Light back, and all the other power you stole!" The Sacred Light began to flow out of Armalum and into Flash, but that wasn't the only energy stolen. The Corrupted Shadow was also being pulled out, followed by the power Faust had wielded.
"Are you insane?!" Armalum screeched, trying to push Flash away from him. "You can't contain that much power! You'll explode!"
"I will contain it," Flash replied, "At least long enough to do what I need to do." He felt the Sacred Light and Corrupted Shadow enter his body, the pegasus crying out. He could feel the two conflicting existences swirling inside of him, the two trying to reject one another. But Flash refused to let them do so.
Armalum could hardly believe what he was seeing. Flash had begun to merge the two powers. He had done it, but a normal pony like him shouldn't have been capable of such a thing. "This is impossible!" He screamed, only for his horn to flare, "I won't...I won't let you take my power!"
"It's not your power!" Flash yelled, "You didn't work to get it or struggled to learn how to control it. That's why you bad guys always fail! You want to take the easy way out, forgetting that the struggle is what matters!"
"Oh, I struggled!" Armalum roared as the flow stopped and began to reverse. "I struggled for centuries as a powerless being, forced to take power from others I commanded! But now, finally, I've evolved into something more! I think I've struggled more than enough!"
"No, you haven't. You might have struggled, but you took every chance you saw to cheat. To hurt and kill! Because of that, you don't deserve any kind of power!" The power once again began to flow into Flash, but Armalum just let out a gutteral, almost demonic screech as they began another mental tug of war, the battle of wills now raging. And as pulled against each other, the dimension around them began to break apart.
"You really think you can beat me?!" Armalum growled. "You realize what'll happen if I'm destroyed, don't you?! Your world goes with it!"
"No, it won't!" Flash bbarked back, "I know the world needs someone to watch over it and keep it running. But it's not going to be you!" The magic swirled into him, the Sacred Light and Corrupted Shadow now one hundred percent drained from Armalum. Then, the power of Faust began to follow.
Armalum slowly realized what was happening and gasped as more power flowed out of him and into Flash. He tried, but he just couldn't stop it. "No!" He screamed, but Flash remained attached to him as Armalum felt himself get weaker and weaker. "You can't!"
Cracks began to appear around his body, spreading out from the hole in his chest and slowly growing wider. As they did this, Flash glared at him. "This time, you're not coming back." Flash could also sense the dimension's impending collapse. "You made this dimension, feel free to be its god for as long as it remains!"
"NO!" Armalum's entire body covered in cracks at this, only for Flash to pull his hoof out of Armalum's chest. And as soon as it was free, Flash charged it with energy and threw it forward. "NOOOOOOOOOO!" The hoof smashed into Armalum's face and his form exploded, a burst of light flowing out of the impact.
All over the dimension, pieces of Armalum's armor were scattered. There, they would remain until the pocket dimension collapsed...and fade from existence.
Back in Equestria...
The heroes continued their battle against the three villains, the trio believing the group was trying to overwhelm the power of Grogar's Bell. "Miss me!" Pinkie cheered, Chrysalis firing blast after blast as the pony bounced around, "Missed again!" She ducked under another beam, this one hitting a rock that blew it up into pieces, "Missed again, but thanks for playing!"
Chrysalis growled as she chased the mare toward the others, leading her away from the bell. As she did this, Spike, Rarity, Applejack and Fluttershy were sneaking around, Spike nodding at the mares before breathing into his claws, a cloud of fire then surrounding them before it and they vanished. The fire had turned them all invisible, the four tiphoofing over to the bell, the villains not noticing the slight distortion that occurred around the edge of the invisible cloud.
However, as they got closer to the bell, Ruby and Tirek collided their blasts and unleashed a shockwave, blowing the fire cloud away, Chrysalis seeing this and gasping. "THE BELL!" The others saw this and gasped as Tirek unleashed a wave of energy that knocked them back. This allowed Chrysalis to blast the four away from the bell, Spike and Rarity firing their own magic back, but the changeling just flared her horn, her power instantly overwhelming them.
"Augh!" they both yelped as they were knocked away, Applejack running up next as she lashed out her lasso to grab it. But as the rope was about to hit the object, Tirek snagged it with his arm and flicked it, throwing the earth pony flying away. At the same time, Fluttershy dashed to the get the bell, only for Cozy to appear, firing a beam that knocked her away, the mare, Rarity and Applejack being caught by Iron, Lightning and Heather.
The others prepared to attack, but Chrysalis called out. "ENOUGH!" The three stood behind the bell, "Or the dragon's wings get plucked!" She lifted Spike into the air, her magic holding him by the wings and sealing his mouth shut to prevent any flame attacks.
They all gasped at this. "Cowards!" Cold Steel roared as Chrysalis pulled on his wings and made him cry out through his closed mouth.
"Please!" Twilight begged, "Don't hurt him!"
Spike then pulled his mouth free of the magic. "Don't worry about me! Just save-AHHH!" Chrysalis pulled on his wings as Cozy used her magic to grab the knight's weapons and pull them out of their grasp, the knights flinching as they saw their weapons thrown far away. At the same time, the others showed they were surrendering.
The villains moved around the bell and once they were, Chrysalis threw Spike over to them. Tirek laughed as Twilight caught him. "Turns out that the Magic of Friendship is your biggest weakness." The three began to charge up their power, "A fitting end to your pathetic story." The power they were building was going to be big. So big that all the magic users together wouldn't be able to defend against it.
Rainbow turned to the others, "No matter what, we face it together!" They all nodded, refusing to let these three make them scared. Iron and Lightning held their lovers closer as they all bunched up.
"I'm sorry Flash," Twilight closed her eyes, "Please, stay safe and keep fighting!"
"DIE!" the trio exclaimed as they launched their attacks and combined them into one epic blast.
Everything turned white as the ponies closed their eyes, waiting for the end to occur. Twilight expected pain...only for nothing to happen. She wondered if she had been killed before the pain even set in, but then she heard Spike speak up. "What happened? Can I open my eyes?"
"Ya sure can!" Applejack cheered as they opened them and went wide-eyed as they saw a large white bubble surrounding them all and holding back the supercharged attack. "Way to go Twilight!"
"It's not me!" Twilight replied, the other unicorns shaking their heads when they were looked at. The attack came to an end at this, the three villains shocked at the sight. And before they could ask what the heck was going on, a light caught their attention coming from a nearby hilltop. The others turned to see the light had come from the horns of many different unicorns. Hundreds of them. Possibly every unicorn in Equestria.
"What?" Grand asked as other creatures started appearing around them.
Up in the air, griffons, hippogriffs, dragons and pegasi were flying over the hill. On the ground, jakhowls, yaks, changelings and earth ponies were also there. And it didn't end there. Buffalos, kirins and even a few creatures from Klugtown were there.
Leading the pack was none other the Neighsay, who pointed at the battlefield with the earth ponies, jakhowls, changelings and many others began to rush down. Spitfire was leading the sky forces, the pegasi, dragons and others flying down at high speed. The pegasi reached the group first and flew so fast that they kicked up a bunch of dirt and dust that blinded the villains. As they did this, the changelings transformed into copies of the ponies the three had just been fighting. They flew into the cloud, confusing the criminals, allowing the yaks to slam into them while the kirin shot fire and the jakhowls launched Aura Blasts.
"Don't let them escape!" Tirek roared as Cozy leapt between his horns.
"Which ones?!" She asked as the orb surrounding the heroes was lifted into the air. It was eventually placed down on the hill, Twilight unable to believe what she was seeing.
"You all okay?" They turned to see Springer and Mirage running down to them. "You should have told us you were having a party. I would have brought dip." The heroes smiled at their returning friend while Thorax flew down next.
"The changelings won't fool them forever," he replied, "And I don't know how long the unicorns' shield will hold."
Hiveena nodded, "If you're gonna pull something out of your hat, now would be the time."
But Twilight couldn't think. She was just too blown away with everything that was happening. "I don't understand." She looked down at the battlefield. "How are you all here?"
"That's kinda our fault," she heard Gallus announce before turning to see Gallus, Smolder, Ocellus, Sandbar, Yona, Silverstream, Ace and Mira standing there. They all smirked as Heart and Soul then stepped into view.
Twilight could hardly believe they were there. And Smolder's next words were even more unexpected. "You know those long lectures about friendship you gave at school?" The ten all grinned at each other as they remembered what happened.
Ponyville, hours before the battle...
When the windigos first appeared, the ponies of Ponyville screamed as they started running for shelter. The only ones who didn't were Rogue and the Apple Family, along with Sandbar.
Rogue looked ready to fly up and blast the windigos away, but a loud crashing sound caught his attention. He and the rest of the earth ponies turned to see Sandbar standing on top of a sandbox. "We all know the story of Hearth's Warming Eve! We can defeat the windigos together!"
Berryshine stepped up to him, "You really think if we all sing a couple songs and everything will be fine?!"
Sandbar shook his head. "It's not just singing that saved the founders of Equestria! It's what it represented!"
In Celestia's School of Magic, Soul was standing on a desk, having teleported into the place after dropping her brother off.
The unicorns of Equestria stared at her, including Trixie, Twilight's parents, Script, Wild Smile and Gorgenia. "Earth ponies, unicorns, and pegasi becoming friends! We learned at Twilight's school that friendship is the most powerful magic there is!"
The unicorns listened to this and Wild frowned, wishing he was out there with Pinkie and the rest of his friends. He, Script and Gorgenia nodded, agreeing with the filly one hundred percent, Trixie doing the same.
Up in Cloudsdale, Heart still had the pegasi's attention and was using it to make them see reason. It didn't hurt that he was also warming them up using his fire power.
"Focusing on our differences keeps us divided! Villains and creatures like the windigos use that division against us!" The pegasi shared glances, all now remembering just how amazing things were before they had let themselves forget how great unicorns and earth ponies could be.
Soarin flew up to Heart, patting him on the shoulder as he looked over at the Wonderbolts. Spitfire nodded back, also seeing the error they had made.
And it wasn't just Equestria that was getting a reminder about the power of Friendship.
All of the many kingdoms were being taught the lessons that Twilight's school had taught its students, delivered by the students that had represented them, including the yaks.
"Yaks strong," Yona told the rest of her tribe. "Ponies strong. But yaks and ponies stronger together! Yaks must be loyal to pony friends!" The yaks cheered, Rutherford smiling and nodding at Yona's words.
The dragons.
"I know helping other creatures by being kind and generous sounds lame," Smolder told the dragon as Ember stood behind her. "But I've seen how powerful it can be!"
The griffons.
"Playing together!" Gallus announced, "Singing together! Even laughing together! That's what real heroes look like!"
The hippogriffs and seaponies.
"Were we really happy by ourselves at the bottom of the ocean?" Silverstream asked, currently in Seaquestria since the snowstorm was affecting Mount Eris and forcing them all underwater. "Be honest! It's the ponies that showed us a better way!"
The changelings.
"They've taught us how powerful love and the Magic of Friendship truly is! We can't let them stand alone! We're their friends! They need us!" The changelings nodded, Thorax and Hiveena looking down at Costa.
If they wanted him to grow up happy and strong, they had to remove any threat to him. Including his psychopathic grandmother.
And last, the jakhowls.
"We spent a thousand years hiding away," Ace told the jakhowls of Aurarora. "But now we can finally step out into the world and show them how amazing our kind is."
"But not if we let villains like Tirek and the others have their way," Mira continued, "Our strength, jakhowls and ponies, come from unity."
The jakhowls seemed to be swayed by this as Springer smiled at the sight. He would have ordered the jakhowls to go help the ponies if he needed to, but he was glad Ace and Mira were convincing them. The pair had certainly come a long way from when they were first hatched.
"Let's show the rest of the world why it can count of the jakhowls!" Ace added, the canine creatures all howling.
"Because when things get tough, jakhowls don't hide from danger! We face it head on to protect those closest to us!" They all cheered, ready to go out there and fight against evil.
Twilight couldn't believe it. She knew they had learned a lot during their time at her school, but she never thought they would be able to teach it to others so well.
"How 'bout that?" She heard Applejack say, "It's just like you said the day we opened that school."
Spike nodded, "The more creatures who know about friendship, the safer we'll be."
"We told you you had it all figured out!" Pinkie cheered, Twilight smiling at this, only for a changeling to suddenly slam into the barrier around them. She spun around and saw Soarin smash into the barrier as well, both he and the changeling sliding down as the unicorns started losing their strength.
The barrier began to fade as Chrysalis, Cozy and Tirek blasted the distracting forces away and cleared the air. They looked up and saw them at the top of the hill, the three charging, only for a blast of magic to cut through the ground in front of them, making them stop.
"ENOUGH!" They looked up at Twilight, who no longer had any doubt in her expression. "Because of you, I almost lost my way! But everyone here has reminded me of the true power of friendship!"
"Oh yeah!" Springer exclaimed as their allies rushed up the hill. "You tell 'em girl!"
"There will always be darkness in the world, but there will also always be those who find the light!" As she said this, she began to glow a purple light, "The Pillars knew this! That's why they created the Elements of Harmony!"
It was in that moment that more light appeared around her. From those lights, the Pillars of Equestria appeared, and they weren't the only ones. Celestia, Luna, Starlight and everypony else the three villains captured suddenly appeared beside the group. Even Discord appeared, smiling at how confident Twilight had become. It seemed his plan had worked...in a way.
"The Elements showed me and my friends how strong our friendship can be!" Spike and the Mane Seven glowed as they were all lifted into the sky besides her. "Together we worked to bring harmony to Equestria! But there will always be more to do! Which is why we teach others about the Magic of Friendship! Others who will continue our mission after we are gone!"
"Whoa!" Ace gasped, as he, Mira, Sandbar, Gallus, Smolder, Ocellus, Silverstream, Yona, Heart and Soul were also lifted up. The three villains stared in shock at the three groups in the sky. The original wielders of harmony, the current heroes of friendship, and the future protectors of the world. Twilight's light and the light around them started glowing brighter, the three looking absolutely terrified.
"Now I truly understand! The Elements were just symbols! The real magic has always been right here! And the more who understand how powerful friendship is, the stronger we will all be!" The many creatures of Equestria smiled at one another, their difference and former quarrels all but forgotten. And as Twilight closed her eyes, she felt her power flow and opened her now glowing eyes. "Together!"
The light shined brighter and Cozy gulped. "This is bad, isn't it?"
The other two were about to answer, only for a light to appear around them, one that hadn't come from the bell. "What's going on?" Tirek asked as he stared down at himself.
Chrysalis shined a grin at this, "Armalum. This must be the power he gave us." She began to laugh, "Nice speech, but we have the power of a god flowing through us! Armalum's gift will protect us from anything you do, and once it's over, we'll simply drain you all of the magic you have and end you once and for all!"
Twilight glared at them, and before anypony could say or do anything, another explosion of light filled the sky and blinded them all. "Oh, come on!" Tirek roared, "What now?!"
Twilight looked up and forced her eyes open, allowing her to see a portal like the one that had expelled the Royal Knights appearing above them. The portal swirled around and had a mix of black and golden light, followed by a tornado of those same elements shooting out and flying toward the ground. Once it collided, it unleashed a shockwave that almost knocked them all back, the tornado raging on the battlefield for several seconds before exploding, the wave washing over them and healing all the wounds caused in the fight against the villains.
At the same time, bursts of dark energy flew out of the tornado and off into the distance. Eventually, each of them would find a pony that hated Flash Sentry and merge into them, waking them up from the comas they had been suffering from since meeting Armalum.
And when the light began to fade, everyone opened their eyes and saw something that made them go wide-eyed. Flash Sentry was standing on the battlefield, now decked out in a new set of armor. It was almost exactly like his Shining Guardian form, but it was more regal and had black pieces combined with his gold. His chest and boots had black patterned emblazoned on the gold metal and his wings were larger with black sections replacing some of the gold parts. His helmet now looked more like a crown, with the multi-triangle horn on his forehead that swapped between black and gold triangles. Lightbringer glowed where Grand had left it, then shot into the air and flew over to Flash. As soon as he grabbed it, without even looking, it transformed into its Shining Guard form, only to then shift again to incorporate black areas into it.
"FLASH!" His friends all cheered, the Knight of Friendship smirking back at them before turning to the villains.
"What?!" Chrysalis yelped, "Where's Armalum?!"
"Gone," Flash replied, "Trapped in his own pocket dimension, which should be disintegrating any second now." He whistled, "No coming back from that." He pointed his sword at them. "Now, time to deal with you three."
"Like you could!" Cozy laughed, "Armalum gave us protection. Even the power of all of Equestria isn't gonna be enough to overcome it! You've lost!"
"Protection?" Flash raised an eyebrow at this before raising his sword, "No problem. Twilight!" The princess smiled at this, "Get ready to do...whatever it is you're doing!" She nodded and turned to the others, who nodded back. As they did, rainbows shot off the groups and collided with her before she launched a blast of rainbow energy into the sky. It struck the clouds and created a rainbow shockwave, which completely destroyed the dark clouds and caused the windigos to be blown away to reveal a beautiful clear sky.
At the same time, Flash stabbed his sword into the ground and unleashed a trio of black and gold light that flew through the earth and grabbed the three villains. "What?!" Chrysalis screamed, only to feel the energy Armalum had given them being sucked out. "How?!"
"Armalum gave you that power, and I have all the power he did it with. Makes sense I can take that protection away." The three struggled as their protective magic was drained away. And as this happened, the rainbow Twilight shot into the sky curved down.
"No," they all gasped as the last of Armalum's power was sucked out of them. And as it was, the rainbow slammed into the three. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Everyone watched as the three silhouettes were drained of their power, made obvious by the fact they were all shrinking. They expected it to end in an explosion, only for the rainbow beam to simply disappear and the three villains fell to the floor. As everypony flew down to check on them, they saw Cozy and Chrysalis were reverted back to normal and Tirek was in his old and weak form.
Twilight saw the armor on Flash disappear and she flew down to hug him, Flash hugging her back as their friends rushed over to them. "Flash!" Grand gasped, "What happened?! We thought Armalum might have beaten you!"
"He almost did," Flash replied, "But I wasn't gonna let him get the better of me. And I'm one hundred percent certain he's not coming back a third time."
They all sighed in relief at this, instead focusing on the now weakened villains. Chrysalis hissed at them as Tirek and Cozy backpedaled away, "You think friendship will save you?! We will always return! Nothing will ever stop-" She stopped, mainly due to a house sized cupcake crashing down on the three and trapping them within it.
"That was unexpected," Heart stated as rain began to fall. Brown rain, which Spike stuck his tongue out to test.
"Chocolate rain?" They then saw this was Chaos Magic at work, the group turning to the most likely suspect.
"Don't look at me!" Discord responded, only for them turn and see Pinkie Pie violently vibrating.
"Pinkie!" Twilight gasped as she saw she was holding the bewitching bell, "You took Discord's magic from the bell?! How do you feel?" Pinkie hummed as Wild rushed over to her, the mare scratching her head as she continued to spark.
"Tingly. Itchy. Also like..." Her eyes went wide as she suddenly started growing, eventually reaching fifteen feet in height as her hair swirled into pink tendrils and a cloud of pink smoke and balloons appeared around her. "I COULD TRANSFORM THE COSMOS SO EVERYTHING IS MADE OF ICING!" Sweets and other party things swirled around her, her eyes being replaced by a pair of cupcakes as Discord turned to the others.
"Perhaps maybe I should..." They nodded and Discord flew up, grabbing the bell and pointing it at Pinkie.
With a flick of his finger, the bell sucked all the chaos magic out of her and Pinkie shrank back down and fell to the ground. Flash and Twilight caught her, Wild running up and seeing her eyes now swirling. "Waiter! There's some chaos in my soup!"
Discord flicked the bell again and unleashed the chaos magic, absorbing it back into himself and feeling himself being restored to his former chaotic glory. He snapped his finger and a pineapple with a mouth appeared, the draconequus smirking before warping over to Celestia and Luna to restore their powers. The two smiled at the return of their magic, as Cozy, Tirek and Chrysalis pulled themselves out from beneath the cupcake.
And as they did this, Celestia and Luna marched up and glared down at the three. "There isn't a punishment worthy of all you've done!" But as she said that, a pair of Discords appeared and whispered something into the two's ears.
"Oh," Luna chuckled, "That does seem fitting."
"May I help? Please?" Discord asked, the two copies merging into one as the sisters nodded. The three began to charge up their power and before the criminals could do anything, they blasted them with a combined magical beam. The three were struck and found their bodies beginning to turn to stone. They screamed at this, only for Cozy and Chrysalis to find their bodies merging with Tirek's as a stone pedestal appeared beneath his hooves.
Spell complete, the three fell to the ground with a loud thud and the trio were well and truly trapped. Chrysalis looked ready to attack, Tirek was cowering and Cozy was looking absolutely terrified. It was truly a sight to see and Discord smirked as he laughed. "Together forever. I can't think of anything that they would want less!"
The creatures of Equestria and all the other kingdoms cheered, as Celestia moved over to Twilight. "When I sent you to Ponyville, I had high hopes. When you became Princess of Friendship, I knew I made the right choice." She placed a wing around Twilight and held her close. "But nothing could prepare me for how proud I am right now. Equestria is definitely in the right hooves." She stepped back to Luna and Discord, "You are ready." They bowed, even Discord giving her a curt nod as Twilight smiled.
"You know what? I think I am."
"Thank goodness," Applejack laughed as the Mane Seven and Spike walked up to her. "First question, your Highness. What do we do with all these creatures?"
She looked up at the hill as Pinkie spoke up. "We're gonna need a lot more chairs for the coronation!"
"Actually, as ruler of Equestria, I'd like to postpone the coronation for a while. At least until the castle's rebuilt." They nodded at this, "Besides, there's something we need to do first."
"What's that?" Iron asked as Twilight licked her lips.
"Oh, I know that look." Flash chuckled, "You want some donuts!"
"It's been a while since we had some," Twilight laughed, "And what better excuse then defeating four of our greatest enemies?"
They all nodded at this, "Shouldn't we go and thank all the creatures that came here to help us?" Starlight asked, "I'd hate them to think their efforts weren't appreciated."
"You're right," Twilight nodded, "Come on everypony, let's go give our thanks to all our friends." They nodded again, the group beginning to head up the hill. As they did, Flash walked at the back of the group and the other knights turned to him.
"So...what exactly happened to you after we were thrown out of the pocket dimension?" First asked, the others staring at him, only to see Flash flinch as a bit of gold and black energy sparked around him.
"Are you okay?" Grand asked, Flash nodding as the sparking stopped.
"Yeah. Sacred Light and Corrupted Shadow. Body's still adjusting to the new power."
"So you managed to absorb the Corrupted Shadow Armalum was using?" Cold asked, Flash nodding again. "Incredible. And I thought you were done getting more powerful."
Lightning let out a laugh, "If you get any stronger, the rest of us might be put out of a job."
They all laughed at this before Ruby asked, "But what about Faust? Armalum-"
"Don't worry about her. Faust is fine. It'll take more then Armalum to do her in."
Hearing this, they all smiled and ran ahead, Grand being the only one staying besides Flash. The older pony chuckled as he elbowed Flash in the side. "Looks like your doom and gloom prophecy was all wrong. You managed to defeat Armalum and it cost you nothing. Guess Shroudheart was trying to fool you after all."
"Yeah," Flash nodded as Grand began to walk off, "Didn't cost me anything." But as Grand and the others got further away, Flash flinched again as his hoof sparked. "Ahh!" He held his hoof, the pain flowing through it being almost as bad as the pain he had felt when Armalum had ripped the Sacred Light out of him. He took several breaths and the pain faded, the sparks stopping as he let his hoof go.
"Flash!" Twilight called out, "You coming?"
"YEAH!" Flash yelled back, taking a deep breath. And as he spread his wings to follow, he stared at the sight of his friends, a large frown on his face as he whispered three words.
"I'm sorry, everypony."