“Mother… do you really think it was wise to take a cutie mark right then and there?” Paradise asked as she, Morgan and Opaline watched the action through Morgan’s crystal ball. “I mean… Sunny and her friends are bound to take affirmative action to defend Camelot and their friends.”
“Exactly,” Opaline said, rubbing a gold necklace with six slots around her neck. “They’re going to take all the actions they can to defend their friends that their cutie marks will be ripe for the plucking!”
“And, with the ponies distracted,” added Morgan, “it will be easier for me to take out the king, whomever it may turn out to be.”
Paradise sighed at this. “Of course… that makes the most sense.”
Opaline looked at her adoptive daughter with a caring smile, tilting her head up. “And to think… you’re the one who made all this possible, my little Paradise! I am just SO proud of you.”
“You… you’re proud of me?”
“But of course! Thanks to you, Sunny Starscout and her friends will have their cutie marks stolen, and they won’t be able to return to Equestria to stop my plans! You should be very proud of yourself, and you will finally become the princess I told you that you would be.”
“O-Of course... a princess,” Paradise nodded. “That's... all I ever wanted, since I was a fdilly.
“Tell you what... why don't you go ahead to Camelot and watch the events before we strike?” Opaline suggested. “It seems like a fitting reward to let you do something on your own like this.”
Paradise nodded at this. “Of course... I-I'll see you soon, Mother.”
And with that, Paradise trotted out the door and down the path, until Camelot could be seen in the distance.
She had to make Opaline proud... she had to.
XXXXXXXX
After Daphne had bested Lancelot in the first knightly trial, the gang knew that she had to keep it up a little while longer in order for this part of the legend to be complete.
Daphne soon went up against other knights in different events, like archery, sword combat and seeing who could get the most rings onto their pole while on a running steed. And, to the shock of many, Daphne bested them all in the events.
The ponies also took more security measures, keeping an eye on everything in the arena... and Pipp ran around the castle, trying to find where Merlin's tower was.
Paradise snuck in through a back entrance, and watched the events from the shadows, surprised at how proud Opaline was of her.
It felt... strange.
Like... the guilt of her actions and the happiness of Opaline being proud of her being mixed into one.
She quickly shook off the feeling though... she didn't need any sort of distraction.
XXXXXXXX
Soon, the last knight came into view, and the audience was tensed up to see which side would win the title of king. “This is it,” Misty said as she glanced at Royal. “He’s the last knight on Arthur’s side.”
“It's kinda strange, though, Misty,” Shaggy half-heartedly admitted. “I want Daph to win, but… you know… I also kinda want her to lose.”
He and King Arthur had found they had a lot in common during the competition, and he didn’t want the winning to get in the way. Now they could only hope for the best outcome.
Down in the arena, Daphne was preparing to joust the final knight on King Arthur’s team when the others approached her, with Fred still frozen. “Go get ‘em, Daph!” Sunny stated. “Do us all proud.”
That is when Daphne noticed Fred holding his ascot in his fists. “Here. For luck.”
Daphne lowered her jousting pole, and let the ascot slip around the ends of it. “Go get ‘em, Daphne,” Fred wished her luck before she set off. But not even a minute after she was gone, Scooby nervously whimpered and put his paws over his eyes. “I can’t look!”
Phoenix whimpered and did the same thing. “You and me both, buddy!”
“Ooh, are we gonna make the winner reveal a surprise?!” Izzy giggled and covered her eyes as well. “Fun!”
Soon, Daphne and the final knight lowered their visors and their horses immediately bolted toward each other. Misty and Royal squeezed their eyes shut when they heard the impact, and when they opened them, King Arthur’s final knight was down, and Daphne had won!
The peasants and the rest of the gang immediately cheered, but Shaggy and King Arthur looked downtrodden. “Oh no… you won!/I won!” they shouted at once before sighing. “This is the worst thing that’s ever happened!”
“AT LAST!!”
“Oh no…” Paradise fearfully looked to the sky, immediately knowing that her mother was on her way. “Here we go…”
XXXXXXXX
“Wow, I think my vines are twice as big as they were before!” Hitch said as he made vines grow and move wherever he moved his hooves. “This training seems to really be paying off!”
“Maybe for you,” Velma said with the roll of her eyes. “This book Merlin gave me isn't making a flea's worth of sense!”
“Merlin works in mysterious ways, Velma,” Platinum stated. “Just give it time. I'm sure you'll gain some sort of insight into the wizard ways before too long.”
“...Zipp... Hitch... Velma!” panted Pipp as she flew up the stairs, completely exhausted. “Opaline... back! Everypony... in danger!”
“What?!” Zipp rushed to her sister with worry. “Pipp, are you absolutely sure?!”
“Pony... positive!”
Hitch turned toward Velma, who looked wide eyed with panic. “We need to go!”
“I'm going with you. I have no idea who this Opaline character is,” Platinum admitted, “but I wanna help!”
“You guys go and I'll meet you there,” Velma told the ponies as they rushed down the stairs. “I just have to run through a few things, but I promise, we'll figure this whole Opaline thing out!”
XXXXXXXX
Everyone looked up to the sky to see Morgan le Fay and Opaline Arcana descending from the stormy skies above, and many were not expecting the fire alicorn to be with the evil sorceress, freaking them out that much more.
Morgan, however, smirked wickedly alongside her new ally. “Now, with the king chosen, I have sent an emissary to bring him to me! But first things first... Opaline?”
Opaline merely smirked upon this recognition, flying ahead of her partner and smirking down at the ponies below. “I'll make this easy on you puny ponies! Surrender your cutie marks now, and I may just let you live! If you don't surrender... things will not end well for you!”
By the time Opaline had finished speaking, Pipp and Zipp and Hitch and Platinum arrived, standing beside their friends, old and new, and ready to fight.
Sunny decided to speak first. “You and Morgan won't get your way by fear and intimidation, Opaline! No matter what you try to do, we're all going to stand up to you!”
“Hmph... suit yourself. Morgan, it's time!”
At Opaline’s shout, an eerie mist began to fill the entire arena, and Daphne was just climbing down from her horse when she saw it happen.
Scooby immediately yelped and jumped into the frozen Fred’s arms, causing him to fall right to the ground, and Izzy and Phoenix immediately pushed him back up...
...just as Morgan le Fay began to chant another spell. “As I perform this ancient rite,” she chanted, “it will cause a big terrible fight. As swords clash and clang, you'll go out with a bang as you’re slain by my wicked Black Knight! HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!”
The arena doors burst open, and in from it emerged a figure completely covered in black armor, staring at Daphne menacingly with glowing blue eyes of fury. “W-What is that?!” Misty and Royal asked with wide eyes. “That is your doom,” Morgan shot them a wicked smirk. “Opaline... Black Knight… ATTACK!!!”
Opaline let out a shriek as she dove toward the ponies and as Black Knight quickly sped toward Daphne, who quickly leapt out of the way to avoid their enemies. “Well, that’s a bit excessive,” King Arthur commented. Scooby quickly put his paws over his eyes with whimpers of fear, not wanting to see what happened next.
However, Phoenix wasn't about to take this sitting down. “Come on, Scooby, we have to help them!”
“You do realize,” Fred spoke, “that both of them are capable of harnessing dark magic and could kill you both in an instant if they really wanted to, right?!”
“Yeah,” Scooby nodded desperately, “what he said.”
“Dark magic or not, we can’t sit here like bumps on a log and do nothing!” Phoenix argued. “Now get on!”
Scooby whimpered, but reluctantly agreed and got on Phoenix’s back. “I have a bad feeling about this…”
“Fred, stay right here and don’t move!” Phoenix advised. “We’ll be right back!”
And just like that, Phoenix galloped off with Scooby to immediately join the battle, while Fred merely sighed from his frozen state. “Not really sure if I can go anywhere…”
Opaline snarled as she tried to blast the ponies, but they were moving too precisely and way too quick for her to keep up with. “Will you brats slow down?!” she asked, panting as she lowered to the ground. “You’re giving me a migraine!”
“This ought to deal with that!”
“Huh?!”
Opaline looked stunned to see Phoenix and Scooby barrel into her and pin her down for a few moments until she leapt back onto her hooves, sending them backwards and causing her to chase them.
At the same time, the Black Knight continued to try and kill Daphne, but she leapt out of the way repeatedly until she came crashing down once the Black Knight destroyed the jousting course.
That's when Hitch knew that he had to step in. “Not today!”
Opaline immediately saw this and abandoned chasing Scooby and Phoenix, and somehow, Platinum knew that what Opaline was planning. “Hitch, no!!”
She galloped toward him and attempted to push him out of the way just as Opaline let out a blast from her horn, causing them to be magically restrained, much to Sunny’s horror. “Platinum! Hitch!”
“More cutie marks, ripe for the picking!” Opaline cackled, and as much as they tried to get free, Hitch and Platinum weren’t able to. And then, as everyone watched in terror, their cutie marks were removed and the two earth ponies were thrown to the ground beside Daphne.
“Platinum!!”
“Hitch!”
“No!”
“Let those cutie marks go!”
“SILENCE!!” Opaline barked, sending a shockwave that knocked everypony down, putting Hitch’s cutie mark into her necklace while giving Platinum’s cutie mark to Paradise, so she could put it in a jar. As the ponies tried to regain their ground, Hitch and Platinum finally looked up to see the Black Knight raising his sword directly above the two of them and Daphne, waiting for Morgan’s command. “Finish them!”
“Not so fast!”
Everyone turned to see Velma standing behind the Black Knight, wearing wizard robes, and this caused the crowd to start cheering again. “Velma! You’re back!” Shaggy said. “And you’ve learned the wizarding ways!”
“Look, she's got magic pajamas!” Izzy said innocently. “Yeah, Merlin gave me these robes,” Velma gestured, “but I didn’t learn squat up there.”
Just then, the Black Knight turned to face her, while Velma seemed confident in what abilities she did have. “Magic that isn't from Equestria is nonsense. I’m here to save you the new-fashioned way-- with science! It’s all about physics.”
At that moment, Velma then pulled out a wand and started waving it for effect. “Abraca-whatever-fantasy-nerds-say.”
She then chopped up a rope, causing a chain reaction involving a tapestry falling, a goat getting spooked and colliding with an archer, whose arrow hit a suit of armor, causing the entire row to begin to fall over. “An object in motion stays in motion,” Velma said, “with the right speed and direction…”
Everyone watched as the rest of the chain reaction continued, with the falling armor scaring a chicken, making it shoot out an egg that hit the top of a wood cutter’s head, making his ax fly out of his hands and hit a wooden pole, causing it to start to fall. “...unless the object is acted upon by an unbalanced force!”
The wooden pole then collided with the head of Black Knight, causing him to become dizzy, as if he would lose consciousness at any moment. “It’s all you, Daph,” Velma turned to her friend. “Let’s unmask our villain.”
Daphne then looked to their friends on the balcony for the next move. “Misty, Shaggy! The sword!”
“The sword?” Shaggy looked to his side and realized what the plan was. He then grabbed the sword, and he and Misty ran to the edge of the balcony, and Shaggy made ready to throw the sword to her. “Daph!” Misty cried. “Catch!”
Shaggy threw the sword to Daphne, who caught it in mid-air and used it to slice the knight’s head armor off, revealing who was underneath… a fiery blue skull head! “Gross!”
“Ohhhhh I think I just lost my lunch…” Paradise groaned to herself. Suddenly, the knight slammed his sword down onto Daphne’s, and she wasn’t sure how long she would be able to hold it. “Anyone have a spare helmet?” she asked. “Or, like, a paper bag?”
Opaline snarled and fueled more of her magic into the Black Knight to make him stronger, but Zipp seemed to get an idea, looking at a nearby tapestry on the wall and a rope on the ground. “Pipp, follow my lead!”
“On it!”
While Pipp and Zipp rushed to the rope and the tapestry, Velma, against her better judgment, she began flipping through the spellbook Merlin gave her. “I can’t believe I’m doing this…” she muttered, but found a spell that she thought would do the trick and began to recite it. “When apprentices fail at their quest, and they just didn't give it their best. When there's trouble with magic, don't let it turn tragic. Just call Merlin, he's at your behest.”
As she spoke, a harsh wind began to blow throughout the entire arena, and as everyone else stood in shock, Velma suddenly thought of something. “Is all magic limericks?”
A whirlwind that had lightning dancing around it soon formed in the middle of the arena, and once it disappeared, Merlin was left in its place. “Ooh. Looks like we've gotten ourselves into a bit of a barney, haven't we?”
However, Merlin's remark left many of the group, and many civilians, confused. “Heh. Barney,” Merlin decided to clear up any confusion by explaining. “Like Barney Rubble. It rhymes with trouble.”
“Wait… how do you know about Barney Rubble?” Shaggy asked. “He’s from the future.”
“He is a caveman.”
Zipp growled in frustration. “Enough with the cavepony talk! Let’s finish this!”
She first grabbed the tapestry from the wall and dove toward Opaline, dropping the tapestry onto her and blinding her sight. Then, she and Pipp tied a rope around the tapestry and made sure it was tight before they let go of it. “We did it!” Zipp cheered, high-hoofing her sister. “Let’s get everypony out of--”
Unfortunately, Opaline burst out of the tapestry and tied the two sisters up by their hooves, making them fall to the ground. “I must admit, you two put out a pretty good plan,” Opaline honestly said with her chin up. “Unfortunately… I was two hoofsteps ahead!”
“Ahh!! Please!!” Zipp begged as she got closer, just as the Black Knight quickly pushed Daphne aside before setting his eyes on Velma. “Merlin, help!!”
“Oh, bother…” Merlin zapped the Black Knight with his wand, causing him to be thrown back into Opaline, who was knocked back into Paradise and into a large heap, causing Morgan to become quickly infuriated. “Whoa!” Izzy exclaimed as Pipp and Zipp broke free from their binds. “How do we learn how to do that?!”
“He says it’s magic from this world,” Velma told her. “But I'm building a case that he's actually some sort of super-genius from the 27th century. Ray guns, molecular transportation… or, you know…”
Merlin chuckled as he walked closer to the group... Velma, more specifically. “Ah, young apprentices. You must study even harder if you're to become a proper wizard.”
“Study what? The stuff in this book is nonsense. I just wanna time-travel back home,” Velma said as Morgan watched impatiently and Opaline and Paradise tried to recover from being buried in the Black Knight's armor. “This is all just bad limericks and gobbledygook.”
“To a wizard, gobbledygook is the most important kind of gook,” Merlin said. “When the time is right, young lad, you'll know just how to use that book.”
And before they could protest, Merlin disappeared in a puff of smoke, causing many to cough. “Second-hand wizard,” King Arthur sighed as Royal batted the smoke away with her wings. “Ought to be illegal.”
“What a show that guy puts on!” Fred exclaimed, thinking it was all a part of the act as Zipp and Pipp batted the smoke away. “Come on!” Velma shouted. “We just want to use your time-travel machine so we can go home and watch Thundarr the Barbarian. Ugh! Timeline!”
She quickly checked her phone, quite relieved to find that the picture was still the same. “Wizard speak for ‘I promise to study harder’...?”
Phoenix sighed with a relieved smile. “I think that’s that.”
“I think not!!” Morgan screeched, diving down and picking Shaggy up, much to Misty, Royal and King Arthur's horror before Morgan carried him into the center of the brewing storm. “Like, what’s happening, man…?!” Shaggy whimpered. “Since you are the rightful king,” Morgan sneered, “then you are mine!”
Suddenly, Shaggy’s feet were gathered in a certain unicorn’s magic aura, and it was revealed that Misty was pulling with all her might to keep Shaggy from being taken. “Leave… him… ALONE!!”
Opaline growled as she finally emerged beneath the pile of armor, her wings outstretched. “It’s time for Plan B!”
“Plan B?!” Paradise shrieked as Opaline took flight toward the balcony. “Mother, what do you mean ‘Plan B’?!”
“Hit the dirt!” Zipp cried, and all the ponies and King Arthur ducked to avoid the alicorn… all except Misty, who Opaline grabbed, and she let out a shriek of terror. “LET ME GO!!! HELP!!!”
Paradise gasped in terror at this. “Now, we’ve got who we truly came for, Morgan!” Opaline snarled. “Let’s get them out of here!”
“Farewell, you miscreants,” Morgan bid everyone else farewell as they flew into the storm clouds above. “When next we meet, it will be your doom!”
And just like that, the storm clouds were gone, everyone watching in horror as they watched their friends vanish. “MISTY!!!!!!!!” Izzy screamed. “SHAAAAAAAGYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!” Scooby wailed in pure horror.
This caused the other ponies to glance at each other with fear and worry as they rushed to the balcony, leaving Paradise to wonder a lot of things.
Opaline never mentioned taking Misty as a prisoner, not until now!
She had led her daughter and her friend straight into a horrible trap...
...and only she was to blame.
Paradise had to find a way to fix this... one way or another.