CRASH!!!!
Lightning flashed across the stormy and dreary skies of the Void and struck the ground below it in a powerful display of fury. Storms were not usually this powerful, but it was as if Mother Nature knew the horrible atrocities that were about to be committed and was sending a cautionary message, warning those responsible to not proceed or suffer the consequences of their actions.
Another bolt of lightning flashed across the sky and roaring thunder sounded in response as the clouds grumbled angrily. Through the howling wind and pouring rain, Mare ran as fast as she could in the direction of Edgelord’s lair. She had to get there in time. She had to snatch the Time Reverse-inator before it was too late. Knowing how dangerous the mission was, she had sent Misty back to the others to inform them of their failure without divulging all the details of how they did so. The other characters needed to see a leader that was strong and courageous. In her eyes, the truth wasn’t enough. Sometimes, ponies needed more. In these trying times, they deserved to have their faith in somepony else rewarded.
And she was going to make sure that Hawk’s faith in her would be the same. She didn’t care if she died in the process. At least she would die a true hero. She had come this far, and she wasn’t about to back out now. The entire fabric of reality was counting on her and she knew it. There was no time for negotiations, no time for second thoughts. Every second mattered. She would see the multiverse restored if it was the last thing she did.
As she stopped in front of the lair, she saw a horde of undead zombies guarding it at every corner. They were all eying her and anticipating her next move. Edgelord had come prepared. He knew she was coming. Why wouldn’t he? He had the keys to unlock any realm he wanted and spy on it. She silently cursed herself for not anticipating that he would do this.
“AND SO YOU HAVE RETURNED!!!!” boomed Edgelord’s disembodied voice in the sky. “I should’ve known you would come back to stop me. TOO BAD YOU WILL DIE IN THE PROCESS!!!!!”
“I’m done helping you, Edge!” Mare shouted back. “I won’t let you destroy what Hawk built! This ends now!!”
Edgelord laughed maniacally, his disembodied voice causing more thunder to clap and lightning to strike as he spoke. “And how do you plan to stop me, little pony?! I have magic, and YOU HAVE NOTHING!!!!”
“She has us!” Mare spun around at the sound of Misty’s voice. To her utter shock, she saw an army of people; all made up of humans, ponies, and other creatures, emerge from a portal and stand right behind her. Misty was leading them, her horn emitting a pink aura of magic.
“You came back!” Mare exclaimed.
“Did you really think we were gonna leave you to face Hawk’s insane ex-boyfriend alone?” June asked, holding a new yellow pen in her hand. “Though, I will be honest. Misty was very persuasive.”
“That crazy alicorn destroyed our home,” Twilight said proudly. “But I figured if there was one small thing we could do, it would be this. And we’re ready to kick some zombie flank!”
“Heck yeah!” Opaline cheered. “Maximum undead carnage for the win!” She turned towards Twilight. “We are having Zombie Soup for dinner once this is all over, right Princess?”
“Well, if you’re able to kill one yourself,” Twilight answered kindly. “I don’t see why not.”
“Yeah!”
“It still feels weird to see you suddenly reformed, Opaline.” Misty commented.
Mare couldn’t help but feel tears of gratitude and relief come to her eyes. She wasn’t alone in this. They had all come to help her finish the job. She had the backing of the entire multiverse on her side, and nothing was going to stop her now. It was a good thing that they did too, because right as she was thinking that, the zombies began charging at them.
“Alright!” she declared. “Here’s the plan. We’re going to dispel the army in a four way attack. Clementine, you and the Daughters of Justice will form your own coalition to take out one side. Then, June and the Wonderlandians will tackle another. Lee, MJ, young Clementine, AJ, and whoever else is on the Allied Powers, you guys will handle another part of the fleet, Silverstream and the Jedi will do the same, so on and so fourth.”
“And what about you?” MJ asked worriedly.
“I’m going to confront Edgelord alone.” Mare decided firmly. When they all gasped, she rushed to reassure them. “Nopony is alone who has friends. I’ll be okay. If there’s one thing I know, he won’t kill me. I’ll be out with the Time Reverse-inator in no time!”
“You got this, Mare!” Amy encouraged her.
Mare stared out at the approaching horde and smiled. She knew she should be afraid, but she wasn’t. Not this time. “No, Amy.” She faced all her teammates and stood proudly at the front of the whole army. “We got this. Together.”
“That’s my future apprentice!” Twilight complimented her happily.
“CHARGE!!!!!” Mare screamed at the top of her lungs. That was when she and the army charged into battle and engaged the zombies. The area surrounding the lair soon turned into a full on battlefield with millions of combatants all split into their own teams. On this fateful night, the impossible had at last been made possible. All the characters from hundreds of Hawk’s stories were united and fighting as one.
On her own team, Misty charged at a couple of zombies, both of which brandished swords and ran towards her in response with them. She brandished a knife of her own and threw it at them, instantly killing them with a dying shriek. It wasn’t long before more zombies from above came at her in the hundreds. She sliced through as many as she could, but they were far too numerous for her to beat alone and they just kept swarming her.
She gritted her teeth and continued to slice, but a much larger zombie knocked the knife out of her hooves and pounced on her. She fought in its grip, but it snarled and swiped at her face, making it impossible to see where she was aiming.
That was when Izzy came sprinting in with a bow and arrow, shouting a battle cry. She loaded an arrow and shot it at the zombie, knocking it out of the air and causing it to drop Misty, sending her crashing towards the ground with it. She landed on her stomach and quickly recovered, joining her sister and engaging a squad of Umbrum that were heading straight towards them.
Misty kicked one in the stomach, which infuriated it and it started punching at her. She got at its hoof, which caused it to recoil, right in time for June to charge in and slice it into two halves, both of which fell to the floor in a pathetic heap, blood squirting out of its body. She kicked its remains and moved onto the next target faster than he had arrived. Misty used this opening to leap into the air and slice four zombies right through the head as they ran. They crumpled to the floor, instantly, their eyes wide open in horror.
About a hundred girls from the Daughters of Justice came pouring out of nowhere, all screaming battle cries. Immediately, millions of arrows rained down upon the enemy troops. The girls standing guard all threw their spears at the zombies.
Although they were fast, they were no match for the Daughters’ speed and agility. Each undead creature went down under rains of blows, kicks, and punches. One of them tried to grab a blonde-haired girl running by, but she seemed to anticipate it, kicking it in the nuts, causing it to crumple to the ground.
The attack was in full force and the remaining one hundred zombies on that side standing tried to shoot their way through the attacking defenders, but they zig zagged in formation, avoiding every single one of them. The zombie general that was leading the attack ran at a smaller squadron of Daughters, but before he could react, America Chavez jumped down from out of nowhere and with a loud yell, punched him to the ground. As he struggled to get up, snarling and growling, America held him down, soon being joined by Amanda and Luz. After stabbing him with their spears, they kicked him over to a curb, purple blood pouring out of his chest wound as he landed with a sickening crunch.
Without their leader, the other zombies were no match for the combined force of girls taking them down. The main Daughters of Justice shot their way through the retreating soldiers as Amanda and America teamed up to punch as many stray soldiers running as they could. Striking down some more stray zombie soldiers with their swords, Riley and Harriet kicked the bodies aside, letting Luz beat each one of them senseless with her la chancla.
It was a brutal battle. With a yell, Clementine raised up a fallen bow and shot through three of the four the retreating soldiers holding the zombie general, leaving only one left to pick up the heavy body and run.
On the other side, Silverstream, Anakin, and Katooni were making quick work of the zombies attacking them. They sliced through them in droves with their lightsabers. The three sliced their way through the remaining zombies, yelling as they did so. Katooni did a somersault in the air and sliced one of them through the top of its head. She pulled out the lightsaber as it fell to the ground in a lifeless state. Silver did the same, though she fell flat on her face when she landed. She got to her claws and sliced through the last attacker, pulling the sword out and panting with exhaustion.
Her victory was short-lived as several zombies then appeared out of nowhere and charged at them at full speed, roaring and shrieking with unholy fury. They held javelins in their hooves and their robes blew back in the wind. One of them bared its teeth and lunged at them with full speed. Its face was one of no mercy and it intended to finish them off in the most brutal way possible.
Silver’s expression was one of alarm, but Anakin didn’t seem afraid. He spun his lightsaber in the air and sliced through the first opponent with speed that only the most trained fighters could master. It fell to the ground instantly as it was no match for the glowing blade that had just punctured its insides. His eyes reflected anger as he leapt into the air and did a backflip, kicking another one in the chest. The zombie fell back, screeching with pain, before it was mercifully finished by a swift stab in the same area.
Emboldened, Silverstream followed his example and leapt at the next one, slicing it right through the empty eye socket. The creature screamed as purple blood began to leak out of it, grabbing its face and holding on. She used this opportunity to kick it in the head and send it stumbling. Jumping in, Katooni stabbed it in the chest, sending it collapsing to the ground in a pathetic pile of bones.
The three Jedi laughed together, living in the moment like they never had before. Katooni and Silverstream took down another one together and danced on the bones that were left. Silver then turned and ran at a fourth zombie that was coming near. This one was smarter and charged at her back. The two blades collided in an instant and were locked in an impossible stalemate, trying to see who would disarm the other first.
She screamed with rage, trying her hardest to disarm the zombie unicorn. It snarled with fury and pushed her back a couple of steps. Her sword began to slip and she began to fear that she had lost the fight already. However, that was when her opponent made a fatal mistake. It began to get distracted by looking at the fallen remains of its comrade. Silver used this opportunity to knock it back, surprising it. Before it could react, she sliced through its heart with a victorious battle cry.
Above the battlefield, Discord launched himself into the air, smiling mischievously to himself. He hadn’t felt this alive in hundreds of years. This was pure chaos to indulge in, and he intended to live every moment of it. With a snap of his fingers, a horde of about 70 zombies were instantly turned into tiny Easter eggs, which fell to the ground and shattered. Another snap and it was raining acid chocolate rain, instantly disintegrating another horde into nothing. All while this was happening, he laughed with unfiltered joy.
He now understood what Izzy meant about enjoying life. He was now free and unbound by any mortal law. It was just him and chaos by his side, and chaos was his #1 ally.
“It’s Discordin time!” Discord announced merrily. Without a second thought, he then proceeded to Discord all over the zombies, causing them to scream and disintegrate into ash. He never wanted this moment to end. He was having too much fun.
Beside him, Twilight and Opaline combined their powers together and blasted through the next horde of zombies. Blasts of pink and purple magic tore through the battlefield, burning any unfortunate opponents that came near.
Back on the ground, Vanellope von Schweetz watched all of this go down with tears of joy streaming down her face. This was a dream come true for her and she was witnessing history.
“Whoa!” she cried. “This is the coolest, most anime thing that's ever happened to me.” She grinned mischievously. “I'm so happy to be able to fight by your side!”
With that, she leapt into action, glitching through multiple hordes of zombies and taking them all down one by one. They bumped into one another as they passed and she used the opportunity to quickly slice them both in half at once with two swords before moving on to her next target.
She ran towards an escaping zombie and grabbed it by the tail. The zombie howled and shrieked as she yanked on it, showing no mercy to the undead creature.
“Nat 20, stink brain!” she exclaimed as she dropped a sugar bomb from Sugar Rush onto its back. The zombie exploded into a billion candy canes, all raining down onto the ground from the sky.
Meanwhile, Mare used the distraction to run through the retreating hordes and towards the entrance to the lair. The wind blew her mane back as she did so. Thankfully, the door was left open and she leapt inside, locking it behind her.
Hawk Nightwing ran and ran, headed to no particular destination. He just needed some time alone to reflect. After seeing Mare and Misty randomly appear out of nowhere and forcing him to relive all of his trauma, he needed to be alone, both for his sake and for others.
He ran deep into a forest of tropical trees where he stopped by a stream of water. Seeing something on the bottom, he reached down and picked it up. It was a badge of Sunny Starscout’s cutie mark with the words: HOOF TO HEART written on it.
“Sunny…are you there?” Hawk asked. He knew it was useless. Sunny wasn’t real, and even if she was, he hadn’t really made many substantial stories all about her aside from one, even though she was his favorite pony. He had also shut himself off from defending G5 long ago. She wouldn’t be interested in him. Just as he was about to give up hope, he heard a voice:
“You’re a long ways away from home.”
He looked to his left and there was the shimmering apparition of none other than Sunny herself, standing in front of a palm tree, munching on some coconuts.
“Sunny!!” Hawk exclaimed in shock. “You’re real too?!” He sighed. “I guess I should’ve known that. I don’t even know what is impossible anymore.”
“What are you doing?” asked Sunny, sensing he was hiding something deep within himself.
“I can’t go back and face them,” Hawk told her, “Not after I abandoned everyone, which resulted in this war. Mare means well, but she’ll never understand. It’s just…too late for me now.”
“Is it?” Sunny challenged him gently. “Or is that just what you tell yourself? You know better than to cut yourself off from everything you’ve worked for. You know I nearly did that.” She walked over to him and sat beside him on the ground.
“Yeah, but you were stronger than I am,” Hawk countered sadly. “You faced down your whole community when they didn’t believe you, Opaline…and what have I done in comparison? Not nearly enough. All I ever do is screw up.”
“That’s because you don’t trust yourself,” Sunny said, her eyes sparkling with that sort of radiant warmth that only she possessed. “You’ve told your audience that you’ve changed from those early days, but you don’t really believe it yourself, do you? A part of you is afraid you’ll screw up again.”
Through tears, Hawk nodded.
“I know what that’s like,” Sunny admitted. “I know what it’s like to have such a massive weight on your shoulders…to desire to be an inspiration. But you buckle under the weight of that, feeling like you’ll never be good enough. And the truth is that to some, you might not be enough. Change might not be enough. I struggled with that for the longest time and I felt alone, thinking that the ponies of Maretime Bay were right about me. Then I learned that I'm only alone if I keep all my worries to myself. But if I share my worries with ponies who care, they will always be there for me.”
“You’re saying…all those stories that I abandoned…all those characters…my fans…they’ll forgive me?” Hawk asked.
“I can’t say anything for sure,” Sunny told him, reaching a comforting hoof out. “But what I do know is that sometimes, ponies make mistakes. But it’s what we do in the end that counts. You have changed. Strength and mastery are both important, Hawk. But weakness…folly…failure, also. Failure is our greatest teacher. I grew as a pony by making mistakes and choosing to learn from them. And my advice is that you shouldn’t be afraid of doing the same.”
Hawk sniffled, wiping the tears from his eyes. “Thanks, Sunny. You…always know how to make me feel better, even as a toy.”
Sunny giggled. “You got like a dozen of me back home, don’t you?”
Hawk nodded back, not embarrassed to admit his favoritism. “Yeah. You do help motivate me to keep going in more ways than one.”
“Well I’m glad that I can help,” Sunny replied with a warm smile. “All stories deserve their ending. And we’ll do our part-“
“Hoof to heart…” both of them said in unison, enjoying the warm summer air together.
Mare burst through the doors of the laboratory room, which had somehow been rebuilt. She looked around for a little bit before finding the Time Reverse-inator sitting atop of the operating table. It was there like it had never been picked up at all, in the exact same orientation.
She was confused as to how this could be, but she didn’t have time to dwell on that. The room shook and rumbled as the battle took place outside. She had to hurry. Edgelord would be back at any moment and discover that she was there.
Wasting no time, she picked up the device with her hoof and put it around her neck. Right as she did that, however, the lair shook on all sides, nearly knocking her off balance. Quick as a flash, she bolted through the halls as an angry growl sounded all around her, echoing throughout the vicinity.
“YOU HAVE STOPPED NOTHING!!!!!!” Edgelord’s voice boomed loudly. “THIS AMULET BELONGS TO ME!!!!!”
Mare gasped and continued running towards the exit, feeling the dark magic tug on the amulet in an attempt to yank it away from her. She held it close to her as she continued on, for she wasn’t about to be deterred. The lair shook and spun around in circles, threatening to force her to drop it. But she was anticipating his move this time.
Without missing a beat, she planted both of her front hooves firmly on the ground to support herself, even as everything began collapsing around her. With a loud yell, she jumped out the nearest window and grew her unicorn horn to blast a spiral staircase into existence. She leapt on top of it and began her descent downwards.
Back on the ground, the combined armies finished clearing out the zombies. Misty and Young Clementine stabbed the last one together and stopped to catch their breaths. The battle was far from over, but at least they got a reprieve for the moment.
“What do we do now?!” the girl asked her in a panicked voice.
“There’s not much we can do,” Misty replied. “Except wait for Mare to come back. If she does…” She swallowed hard. “I’m worried about her.”
Just then, there was the sound of evil laughter and a bunch of shadowy clouds collected in the sky to reveal none other than Prince Edgelord himself, flying triumphantly above everyone else.
“There he is!” Amanda shouted, her eyes wide with terror. “I can’t take it!” She ran away from the battlefield as fast as she could, only to be stopped in place by a powerful force and forced onto her knees. She cried out in pain as this was happening, the dark alicorn smiling sadistically.
“MY FUTURE SUBJECTS!!!!!” Edgelord addressed them menacingly, using the time to drain the energy out of the girl, who collapsed onto the ground, moaning. He then began to grow increasingly larger in size, this repeating with the more power he accumulated. He was winning and there was no one in sight who could stop him.
Meanwhile, Mare was running down the spiral staircase as carefully, but quickly as she could. She saw what was happening down below and picked up the pace. She had to get down there. She couldn’t let all of her friends get their life essences drained. She would not fail. She wouldn’t.
The amulet began to sparkle with dark energy the closer she got to where Edgelord was. The power called to her once again, silently begging her to return it to him. She didn’t listen this time though. She was too smart. She would not allow herself to be fooled this time.
“FROM NOW ON, THERE WILL BE NO MORE HEROES EVER AGAIN!!!” Edgelord gloated. “IN FACT, THERE WILL BE NO MORE HOPES, NO MORE DREAMS!! AND NO ESCAPE!! NO CHANCE TO RISE UP!!!” The crowd below him screamed as their essences were drained and absorbed into the shadowy alicorn. “YOU. ARE. NOTHING!!!!!!”
“Hey, bozo!” Mare yelled out, interrupting his torturous tirade.
Edgelord turned towards her, and so did the people below. He gasped once he saw what was around her neck. “YOU…FOOLISH PONY!! YOU WILL NOT DEFY ME!!!!!”
“I got the Time Reverse-inator!” Mare declared. “Your reign of terror is at an end!!”
Edgelord growled. “THAT IS MINE!!!!!” He leapt forward and made a beeline towards her. The people below screamed as he did so. He was out for her blood now, and he was going to destroy her in front of everyone. He opened his mouth wide, displaying his sharp teeth.
Right as he did that, Mare slipped and began to fall off of the staircase, towards her death. She screamed, the amulet being snatched from around her neck. She flailed desperately in the air trying to grab it to no avail.
“MARE!!!” Misty shrieked at the top of her lungs, looking away in fear.
Fortunately, it was then that Hawk finally landed on the battlefield and got to bear witness to the events that were transpiring. Through uncertain eyes, he saw Mare fall through the air, trying her hardest to reach for the amulet. Out of instinct, he spread his wings out wide. In that moment, he knew he had to make a choice. Sunny had been right. With all that he had been gifted, there was no happy ending without him.
And right as Mare was about to meet her end, Misty picked up Hawk and threw him at her as hard as she could. Before Edgelord could blink, the mare he had been about to kill was gone from sight. He looked around frantically for her, snarling in anger.
Mare opened her eyes and found that she was on the back of none other than Hawk himself, who was flying in the air and holding the Time Reverse-inator in his free hoof. His face reflected confidence and firm determination as he took her to safety. He had been spiritually reborn, like a phoenix rising from the ashes. There was only steady resolution as he looked down at the sight of the characters he had used for years.
Down below, the armies were shocked at the sight of their author having returned. They all chattered amongst themselves and gazed at this with a mix of awe and trepidation.
“Whoa…”
“Oh my God!”
“Who is that?”
“Behold!” Lee shouted over the crowd, his face reflecting that of pure joy. “It’s Hawk Nightwing, our author!! He’s come back!!”
Hawk landed on the ground in a superhero pose beside June and Clementine and gently set Mare back down onto the ground. He faced his creations proudly, no longer being afraid of them. They had fought well for his name, and now it was time for him to make them proud.
“All stories deserve their ending!!” he declared, his voice reverberating all around the battlefield so that everybody could hear. “And I think it’s time I give this story its own!!”
Everyone cheered as Hawk grabbed a parchment of paper and began writing in it with a pencil: AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER.
With that, the armies all joined hands and hooves in unison, expelling positive energy from their bodies one by one. The love and light from them was overwhelming and illuminated the battlefield as it traveled from their occupants into the Time Reverse-inator.
Edgelord saw this happen and was enraged. This couldn’t be happening! He yelled as this was taking place, completely powerless to do anything about it.
“What?!” he demanded. “No!! NO!! STOP!!!!”
The energy from the people present was sucked into the amulet, which then glowed and shimmered with the new fuel it was given. The energy was then released back out in the form of power, undoing all the damage caused by the battle and restoring the lands around the lair back to its former glory.
“Look!” Minuette exclaimed, pointing towards the ground beneath her as grass began to grow where a dead ground used to be.
A blast of magic then shot through the sky, clearing away the redness and the storm clouds and revealing the beautiful sunshine hidden underneath it all. The energy then continued to grow larger and larger until it headed straight for Edgelord. In just mere moments, he was being incinerated alive by the power as it tore away at his very being.
“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!” he screamed, with those being his last words as he was blown into tiny pieces, which were then scattered off into the distance in many different directions, never to be seen again.
With him gone, everything from the lair to the surrounding lands were purified, with the magic spreading out into different worlds and reversing the damage caused to them as well. Soon, it was done and the power faded away into nothingness.
The battle was over. The amulet dropped to the ground lifelessly in many halves and Hawk picked it up, examining it closely. He then checked over the many survivors and ensured that they were okay. Many were in awe at the sight of their creator, so much in fact that they couldn’t speak. He accepted this though, and then turned his attention over to Mare.
He walked over and stood over her. She bowed down to him as he approached, a gesture that he wasn’t quite entirely used to. But he knew that he was revered as a god amongst his creations, even though he didn’t feel like one at all. Such were things that he had to live with. He did his best to pretend like he was conducting professional business at first.
“I’ve heard a great deal about you, Mare,” Hawk stated in a pretend matter-of-fact tone. “You defied the rules of your story, teamed up with a villain, invaded multiple other worlds, destroyed them, interacted with other characters, even met your creator! AND…” He waited until she was fully terrified to pull the rug out from under her. “You have saved us all.”
Mare looked up in surprise, expecting something else. That was when he bowed respectfully to her. Misty then followed suit, leading the others to do the same. Soon, everyone was bowing to her and offering their respect towards the pony who had saved them. It was a feeling she never thought she would ever get, actual acknowledgment from others. The knowledge that she had done something good and worthwhile. She had brought honor to her fellow characters, and it felt liberating.
She finally got to be the hero without being a joke in the process. It was all she ever wanted, the feeling of being special and like she had done something positive for her community. She couldn’t believe that she had finally accomplished her dream, and after all these years…she finally felt like herself.
“I think it’s time you take us home, wouldn’t you say?” Hawk suggested kindly, winking at her. “I say I should make some more happy endings.”
Mare’s heart leapt at that. “Of course. I’ll just…” she shuffled about awkwardly before she blasted a massive portal in the sky, to which all of the other characters flocked towards.
They said their goodbyes to her one by one as they disappeared from sight. Misty was the last to leave and she gave her a reassuring smile, indicating that she was returning to her world with a new mindset and outlook on life. Mare had changed her life as much as she did the others, and that one look reflected that.
She disappeared through the portal, which then closed after her. Mare took a deep breath, satisfied that she had served her true purpose at last. She accepted that she was now a part of this new world and that she would never find her way back to her old timeline. But that was okay. She had done something far greater here than she had ever done there, and she was fine with that.
But just as she was about to accept her new life, the world around her began to crumble and close in on her and she blacked out.