The princesses gave Stephen’s tenacity an approving smile that was shared by Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie. Twilight and Fluttershy looked surprised at his decision while Rarity and Applejack held a mix of approval and concern. Stephen assured them he was ready with a confident nod. He had spent all night meditating on this after all. He was going to knock on his captor’s door with his friends and a squad of soldiers by his side. He had never been more ready for anything.
“Princess Celestia!” came the gruff shout of another armor-clad pegasi as he rushed onto the balcony. “Reports just came in of Cerberus running wild in Las Pegasus.”
Celestia’s expression changed to surprise. “Again? How does that keep happening?” she asked softly.
Stephen’s heart sank into his stomach. “Oh…I forgot to mention that, didn’t I?” he asked sheepishly.
“What’s wrong?” Twilight asked.
“Earnest let Cerberus off his leash yesterday while I was with him. He lured him away from the gates by making him fetch a giant rubber ball from a cannon.” Twilight and the group were simply stunned by the revelation. Luna gave her sister an exasperated look and Celestia rolled her eyes. “Sorry I forgot to tell you.”
“That’s alright, Stephen,” said Celestia. “I suppose I’ll have get him to come back then.” She turned to Shining Armor and Twilight. “Can you handle this without us?” Twilight and Shining Armor nodded. “Luna and I will need to take a detour then. We’ll arrive a few hours after you do.” Celestia’s horn glowed and a jewel-encased box floated towards Twilight from her chariot. “You’ll need the Elements of Harmony just in case the gate gets opened. They’re essential in sealing it shut again. Be safe, my little ponies.”
“You can count on us, Princess Celestia!” Twilight said confidently.
Stephen’s confidence dropped but he caught it before it fell too far. They were losing the strongest magic users present from the convoy. But they were still getting the jump on Earnest and outnumbering him by at nearly two dozen to one. That should still be enough, right? Stephen considered all of the factors as he loaded himself into a chariot with Rarity, Fluttershy and Twilight.
Shortly after the princess’ chariot flew off the balcony and turned towards the south-west, the Pegasus soldiers that were pulling the other five chariots began flapping and taking off in line and turning directly south. Stephen’s chariot was last in the line so he had plenty of time to brace himself for when their drivers lurched forward. Taking off on the balcony was a similar sensation to taking off in a plane. The exposed nature of the chariot soon turned the feeling into something akin to riding a roller coaster. He wasn’t afraid of the height or speed but the lack of a safety harness slightly unnerved him nonetheless. Not wanting to risk anything else shaking his resolve, he lay on the floor with his forelegs folded under him and tried to ignore it.
The convoy flew for a long while before making a rest stop at a beach. Afterwards, Shining Armor joined his sister in their chariot and they took off over the ocean. Anticipation slowly built into anxiety and after gliding for a while, the pre-fight jitters had taken over completely. Stephen completely forgot about not being strapped to his seat and was pacing the chariot. “How far off are we? Can we get the drivers to start flapping again? We can’t be too far off, right? Come on, let’s bring it in!”
Twilight raised her eyebrow at him and Fluttershy was looking nervous for him. Shining Armor gave a light chuckle. “I heard from Applejack that you don’t normally go for this type of adventure. What made you change your mind?” he asked.
“Last night I realized that if he just gets rid of me and gets someone else, then he’d probably do the same stuff to them and hurt the rest of Equestria. Whether I like it or not, this is my fight now and I should make sure nobody else is victimized.”
“So you’re going to charge in with us when we get there?” Shining Armor responded.
Stephen remembered everything he had learned from Applejack about being brave and from Pinkie about acting without thought. “I’m just going to go for it and hope whatever I have to do comes to me. I did manage to get close to him when we fought at the pyramid.”
Shining smirked and said, “Then what happened?”
Stephen sighed. “Then he hit me with some kind of wrestling move…and a cactus,” Stephen admitted sourly before looking back up to Shining with a hopeful expression. “Is there any way I can prevent that from happening again?”
“Well I don’t think there’s any cactuses at the Galloping Ghost islands,” Shining quipped. Stephen only half-succeeded at holding back a scowl. Shining Armor took a thoughtful pose. “How much do you know about fighting?”
“My only attempt at fighting ended in two hours of painful grooming.” Shining feigned optimism with a strained smile. “Looks like I’ll have to figure out something else, doesn’t it?”
“Don’t worry about it too much,” Shining said reassuringly. “But if you find yourself where you absolutely have to fight; just punch, buck, keep moving and do whatever you have to do until someone can help you.”
“Captain, we’re approaching the islands!” the husky voice of one of the drivers interrupted their conversation.
Everyone in the carriage shuffled to the front and looked over the drivers’ shoulders. There was the large, green and rocky island with a cobblestone wall at its summit. Shining Armor leaned forward and barked, “Land us on the smoothest point at the bottom of the hill. I want a slow and careful approach to that building.”
Stephen leaned over to Twilight. “You can teleport, can’t you?” She nodded in response. “What if we you just dropped us into his living room? If we go up the hill, we’ll be more likely to be seen.”
Twilight shook her head. “Teleporting a lot of ponies is difficult and I’ve never been inside that building before.”
“We would have already run into other obstacles if he was expecting us,” Shining Armor interjected. “We’re going to try to find and disable his traps. Then we’re going to rush his house and restrain him before he can teleport away. The princesses will take him back to Canterlot when they arrive.”
“Oh, I hope this goes by without too much trouble,” said Fluttershy. “I don’t want anything bad to happen but I don’t want to hurt anypony either.”
Twilight patted Fluttershy on the back. “Don’t worry, Fluttershy. It’ll just be an Inhibitor spell and a Binding spell. Maybe some rope if Applejack gets involved. I’m sure everypony will be fine.”
“And this time we’re the ones with the element of surprise,” said Stephen.
Some mild turbulence buffeted the chariot as they descended to the beach. Stephen’s chariot made a bumpy landing at the bottom of the hill. The drivers turned sharply and circled around while the other four did the same. After a minute of observing their surroundings, Shining waved to the other carts. Thirteen armored soldiers, six element bearers and Stephen quietly got into a semi-circle formation and slowly made their way up the hill. Twelve armored Pegasus soldiers unlatched themselves from the chariots and stood in line, covering the group’s six.
Shining Armor took point, his horn glowing menacingly at the ground as he made their way up the hill. Three soldiers on either side of him poked and prodded the ground carefully as they advanced. Three more on each of the formation's flanks held their heads high, simultaneously watching the front and sides for danger. Twilight and her friends marched behind Shining Armor, except for Pinkie, who bounced along with her ever-present smile.
“These islands are gorgeous,” Rarity whispered as they trotted along. “We simply must come back here when there isn’t so much at stake.”
Stephen wasn’t sure what to think. Everything seemed to be going smooth and he was grateful for that. But he was trying to think of a plan for himself if trouble did appear. Yet his progress was being impeded by the noise of Pinkie’s skips being amplified by the solemn silence of the situation.
When they were about halfway up the hill, Stephen decided he was going to politely ask her to settle down. Just as he had opened his mouth to do so, Pinkie stopped bouncing on her own. Replacing the hopping was an uneven fluttering of her ears and eyes.
“Are you alright?” Stephen asked when Pinkie’s front legs started quaking.
With wide eyes she reached out to the front of the group and shouted, “Watch out for opening doors!”
Pinkie and her friends closed into a tight circle and the whole group went alert. One of the soldiers on point kept walking and blurted, “I don’t even see any…”
The grass illuminated in a thin line across the breadth of the island under the soldier's front hoof. A forty-square-foot trap door went agape and swallowed four of the soldiers into a dark pit. Loud squeaking brought Stephen’s attention to the sides, where several hidden doors sprang open. Large balls were launched from the openings and expanded into nets.
Stephen saw a narrow path for escape. Assuming the others saw it as well, he abandoned trying to plan further and bolted towards Earnest’s outer wall.
“Again!?” Twilight yelled before giving chase with her friends close behind.
Shining Armor was able to shoot down a few of the nets but found himself overwhelmed by their numbers. When two more of his soldiers were trapped, he moved to freeing them. But Earnest had covered his bases. The nets were not only physically heavy, but resistant to magic. With more coming down, he could only order his men to not get trapped and help those who had been once they stopped raining down on them.
His attention was brought up when Fluttershy sped past him, repeating a nervous, “Oh my gosh!” Looking back, he saw that the holes had stopped spraying balled nets into the air. But steel posts were rising out of the other holes. They turned themselves towards Twilight and her friends as small sections of grass lit up under each of their steps.
Stephen was about thirty feet from Earnest’s gate when his peripherals caught the metal posts sticking out of the ground. Their oval shape and the way they had two holes in their front sort of reminded him of those annoying turrets from Portal 2. With a shriek, he dropped flat on the ground just in time to hear several bullets whiz over his head.
A split second later, the world gained a purple hue and Stephen stopped feeling the wind from bullets. Peeking up, Twilight’s mana plow had formed around him and his friends and the turrets were buffeting the shield with rubber-sounding pings. Twilight ran up beside him and shouted, “Why did you run ahead again?”
As if to answer her question, Rarity squealed. Stephen and Twilight turned to see her backing away from a fallen net. Stephen glanced up for a split second and saw the last of the nets coming towards them. “Forward! Quick!” was all he could manage as he scrambled ahead.
Shining Armor watched as Twilight covered her friends and pressed forward. If the traps they’d run into outside were almost overwhelming then he could only imagine what was awaiting them inside. Throwing a force field around himself, he commanded, “Get rid of these things!” and chased Fluttershy to the gate.
Rainbow Dash latched onto Pinkie Pie. Braving the onslaught of rubber bullets, she bounded straight up and was out of their line of fire in a fraction of a second. With a few hard flaps, they made it over the wall unscathed. Meanwhile, Twilight separated the mana plow down the middle and her horn lit up like a wild torch. With a forceful cry, she blasted the gate, destroyed its lock and smashed a hole in its middle.
When they made it through the hole, Rainbow and Pinkie were waiting. “We did a quick check and didn’t see anything,” Rainbow said confidently. “I think we’re clear.”
“That’s good,” Twilight said as she lowered her shield.
“Twilight!” Shining Armor’s voice came over them. They turned to see him galloping towards them, his own force field holding fast while under constant bombardment. He was almost through the hole in the gate when a bright green veil came around the wall. Shining Armor slammed into it head first and fell back on his haunches.
Twilight gasped and rushed over to her brother. But she couldn’t move through the newly formed force field either. “Shoot!” she shouted.
Shining Armor lowered his shield for only a moment and rubber balls pelted his armor hard enough to knock him back and leave dents. Recasting his shield, he looked to Twilight and said, “This force field is big but it’s not very strong,” his voice was muffled through the shields. “Just give me a minute to get rid of these things and I’ll be in there.”
“We gotta go now!” said Rainbow Dash. “If we wait, we’re giving him a chance to get away.”
Shining Armor grimaced. “Alright. Just be careful in there.” Twilight nodded in response and reunited with her friends.
“Let’s do this!” Rainbow called out. With a battle cry, she took point as the group charged Earnest’s stronghold. All but Stephen slammed into the entrance with a painful thud and landed in a pile-up at the foot of the door. The group staggered to their feet and shook the stars from their eyes.
Stephen looked sheepish. “The door opens towards us. Sorry about that.”
“Is there anything else we should know before we go chargin’ in there?” Applejack groaned.
“Not that I know of.”
Twilight sighed and used her magic to pull the door open. The group trotted inside confidently and saw Earnest sitting on a pillow at his desk. His curved horn was glowing, his mane was disheveled in spots and his draconic eyes were pouring over several books that were erratically strewn about the desk. “My guests don’t seem to appreciate Celestia’s work,” his deep voice echoed through the room as he rose from his pillow and straightened his mane with a foreleg.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Rainbow Dash called out.
“Else you’d leave and get to see her sunrise again!” he called out angrily.
Pinkie Pie sprang forward, her eyes wide and watery. “Earnest!” she called out through a frown. “I gave you cookies! How could you not tell me you wanted to destroy Equestria?”
Earnest turned his attention towards Pinkie. “I thought I recognized you. Those cookies were delicious, by the way.” His left eyebrow raised and he turned to Stephen. “Ah, and a good afternoon to you too, Stephen. You must be the group I had that unpleasant encounter with at the pyramid.”
“Explain yourself!” Rarity called out.
Earnest groaned. “I don’t know what nonsense Stephen gave you about destroying Equestria. I simply need help garnering it’s many resources to make all of it’s inhabitants safe. I don’t know why you young ladies keep standing in my way, but I’m not going to tolerate any more delays. So be on your way before this gets ugly.” He turned to Stephen again. “I’m experiencing some minor complications in unraveling the spell I placed on you but I feel close to a breakthrough.”
The group slowly circled up on Earnest. “We’ve been sent by the princesses,” said Twilight. “We’re not leaving without you.”
Earnest cranked his neck to either side, releasing several loud pops. “In what way did you disobey the princess?”
Rarity gasped aloud. “Twilight has always been the epitome of a good student!” she defended. “Why would you suggest such a thing?”
“I don’t believe you were sent by Celestia. She’s too kind to send students into danger when they’ve been obedient. I bet you’ve come to open the gate for your own selfish ambitions!”
“That’s enough out of you!” Rainbow yelled as she dived for him.
Earnest sidestepped from her tackle and she rebounded off the stone floor. Applejack threw a hard buck to his flank. He spun and redirected her kick by the ankles before shoving her back. Rarity and Pinkie lunged at him from either side and collided with each other when Earnest ducked out of the way. Earnest sidestepped a bolt from Twilight’s horn and returned with one of his own, knocking her back. Signaled by Stephen’s attempt at a battle cry, Earnest turned to his right and crouched. Shoving his head in between Stephen’s front legs, Earnest shot forward and jerked up his head. He raised Stephen onto his crest and dropped to the ground, slamming Stephen into the floor. Spinning again, he raised his armored hooves to Fluttershy, who simply crouched and tried to hide behind her mane.
Earnest lowered himself and looked at her curiously. “Young lady, aren’t you going to defend yourself?”
Fluttershy peeked up at him and then looked away for a moment before turning her gaze back up. “Um...no.” She stated plainly.
“Well it wouldn’t be very noble of me to strike an opponent who’s not fighting. You may run along.”
“Oh...Okay. Thank you,” Fluttershy straightened her posture and gave a small stomp. “But you have to stop hurting my friends.”
“I’d love to. Just as soon as...” Earnest vanished in a prismatic flash and with a meaty thud.
Rainbow Dash and Earnest Stalwart fought for dominance as they rolled across the floor. Applejack was close behind with her lasso at the ready. When the two ponies untangled, Earnest had Rainbow sprawled out flat and pinned by her dock. Rainbow Dash got her front hooves under her and bucked up with a grunt. Earnest reared to the side and the kick glanced off his stomach. Just then, Applejack hooked a foreleg around his neck and rolled over his back. Earnest’s hooves came off the ground as she picked him up and nailed him down.
Turn him up quick by the right elbow. Applejack thought to herself as she rolled Earnest onto his back and started tying his front legs. Earnest squirmed a few inches up the ground. Coiling his hind legs in between him and Applejack, he kicked up into her stomach and shoved her off.
Just as Earnest got himself upright, Twilight appeared to his left and started shooting. Earnest banked left and shot forward. A barrage of magical bolts zipped over and around his body as he narrowly avoided each one. He ducked under another charge from Rainbow Dash and vaulted over Applejack when she tried to sideswipe him. Earnest hitched forward and raised a front hoof against Twilight, who blinked away at the last second.
Pinkie Pie seemed to pop into existence a couple feet in front of him with a happy sounding, “Hi there!” Earnest tried to shove her out of the way. But she weaved around his shove and ended up on his side. “You know it’s really hard to make friends-” Earnest threw a kick out to his side and Pinkie cartwheeled around him. “-when you’re being really mean-” He swung again but caught nothing as Pinkie reappeared in front of his other side. “-like this. Oh! Oh! Oh! I know what’ll make you happy!”
“Hold still!” Earnest shouted with another buck at the air.
“A party!” Pinkie exclaimed. “Let’s dance!” she beamed, picking Earnest up by his front legs.
Earnest narrowly ducked a flying chair that had been engulfed in a blue aura and shoved Pinkie away. “Release me!”
“Not a waltzer, eh? Maybe Samba is more your style!” Pinkie gave her hindquarters a small shake at the statement and then started dancing about as Earnest continued to try to get her out of his way. “Come on, Earnest! Dance that grumpiness away!” When Earnest raised a foreleg against her, she ducked down and spun around with an outstretched hind leg, tripping Earnet’s planted foreleg. He ducked when Pinkie spun around on her forelegs, swinging both of her hind legs around and threw himself forward. Pinkie rolled away from his headbutt into a flipping recovery.
Various objects in the room started flying at Earnest, making him play another dodging game with Rarity. His eyes narrowed and he walked towards her with an annoyed expression as he ducked or magically parried the projectiles. “Do I have your attention now?” Rarity shouted as she heaved another book from his shelf. Earnest wasn’t deterred. With a determined expression, Rarity grabbed all of the measuring implements and pencils off his desk. While Earnest was swatting them away, Rarity grabbed the tools hanging from his wall and had them whizzing around his head like a swarm of metallic hornets. He made several attempts at ducking away as he advanced but Rarity kept them on a strict axis around his head. Rarity broke the flow of her attack by uppercutting him with his desk cushion. With an angry grunt, Earnest stomped it back to the ground and was rewarded with his entire desk being overturned onto his head.
Earnest telekinetically yanked his desk away and used it to shield himself from Rarity’s onslaught. While he occupied himself with blocking the flying tools, Fluttershy made her way up to Earnest’s side. “You know, we really should stop this fighting. I don’t want anypony to get hurt.” She squeaked as a shovel flew over their heads but resumed a moment later. “My friend Stephen has already been injured a couple of times and he doesn’t really like fighting either-eep!” Fluttershy's speech and Rarity’s attacks were interrupted when the shaft of a hoe clapped against the top of Earnest’s head. The world froze as Earnest glowered and slowly cranked his neck around, following the shaft to Stephen’s mouth.
“Oh horseapples...” Stephen muttered as he dropped the hoe. Quick as lightning, Earnest hoisted Fluttershy in his hooves and chucked her at Rarity. She shrieked all the way through the air until Rainbow caught her. In the same movement, Earnest lunged at Stephen. With a harsh tackle and a heavy roll, Stephen found himself being hurled through the air. Thankfully, his landing came much sooner and softer than expected. Regaining his senses, he found Pinkie had caught him on her back. “Good catch, Pinkie.”
“My pleasure!” she replied happily. The fight had resumed on the other side of the room. Between Twilight’s blasts, Rarity throwing anything she could find, Applejack’s kicks and Rainbow buzzing around his head like a fly, Earnest had started backing up towards his balcony. Stephen watched the fight so intently that he forgot he was still laying on Pinkie’s back. “Ready to go back in there?” she asked.
“Oh...Not yet,” Stephen said as he climbed down from Pinkie. “I want to help but I’ve got to figure something out. He’s just too tough for me.”
Earnest blasted at Twilight, who reacted with her mana plow. Earnest’s bolt glanced upward and struck the ceiling, causing him to wince. But then Earnest sidestepped more blasts from Twilight and started shooting back angrily, causing the rest of the group to scatter for cover. “He should make up his mind if he wants to hurt his house or not,” said Pinkie.
“What was that?” Stephen asked.
“Well, he was a lot more magic happy at the pyramid because he wasn’t worried about breaking the pyramid but now that we’re here he’s not using magic nearly as much but it looked like he got angry when Twilight made him shoot his house so now he’s shooting at them a whole lot and he might hurt his house but why would he do that if he’s mad about hurting his house in the first place?”
While Pinkie ranted, Stephen reconsidered the way Earnest built his stronghold. The unicorn had referred to it as “this ramshackle hut where he lives.” But even as simple as this house was, it still rivaled a normal Earth cathedral. Stephen remembered the kingdom of Canterlot and the designs for Pandemonium. This was a pony who took extreme pride in his construction and engineering, even for what he considered to be the smallest projects. The thought of that work being destroyed must be too much for him.
But at the same time, Stephen remembered how he had lashed out when confronted the day before. Earnest was growing impatient. If he wasn’t always irrational, it was certainly something he developed. Pinkie was right. He could be provoked. Furthermore, the columns supporting the ceiling were spaced a little too perfectly. “I have an idea. I just need to get close.”
Without warning, Pinkie Pie scooted under Stephen’s legs and popped him onto her back again. “Hang on tight ol’ buddy ol’ pal!” Without waiting, she bolted forwards.
“Honestly, ladies,” Earnest shouted into his home. “I’m trying to be gentle here but I can’t have you ruining my life’s work for whatever conceited purpose you have!”
“Make a hole, everypony. I got this!” Stephen shouted as he and Pinkie charged forward. Pinkie’s right ear twitched and she shuffled left just as Earnest shot another blast at them. Then her left ear twitched and she dodged another blast to the right. “Get to his side,” Stephen whispered into her ear.
Pinkie shot right again as another blast went over her head. Then she lunged at Earnest head on. Stephen waited while they were in the air. He could see Earnest’s horn brighten so he lunged off Pinkie Pie. Pinkie dove to the left and Earnest turned his head to follow her. Stephen dropped right onto his crest and latched onto his neck with all four legs. Now all he had to do was strike until he had Earnest’s full attention. Not wanting to release Earnest’s neck, Stephen craned his head up and threw it down as hard as he could. The density of Earnest’s skull made him instantly regret that decision.
Earnest tried to run forward but tripped and fell over Pinkie, who had placed herself at his feet. Stephen took that as his cue to let go before he was thrown off again. He scrambled over to a support post and picked a spot in front of it. Stephen faked a disgusted cough while Earnest got to his feet. “How can someone who lives on a beach smell so bad?”
“Silence, you foal!” Earnest’s horn flared and Stephen rolled out of the way as a blast was thrown and broke against the support beam. That comment got to him, but this wasn’t the same telekinetic strength that opened the pyramid.
Stephen retreated to the next support beam and stood at the same spot in relation to it. “You probably wouldn’t be so angry if you had a girlfriend. But that must be difficult when you smell and your face looks like a big horse’s-Ah!” Stephen shrieked and barely managed to duck a blast that was fired much sooner than expected. Some debris chipped off the column. Stephen looked up at Earnest. The gray unicorn’s face was contorted with fury.
“Stand still and face the punishment for your insolence!”
Stephen wondered how he could get even deeper as he migrated to the next pole. There was only one left after this one. He’d have to get the right reaction soon. This time, Stephen hid behind the supporter and shouted, “I bet Celestia kicked you out because she got sick of you trying to pass your macaroni art as castle schematics!”
Earnest roared so loud that Stephen would have confused it for an actual dragon if he hadn’t known better. Stephen peeked out from behind his cover to see Earnest stomping a front leg on the ground. “I was her best student and friend!” he shouted. “I would travel the world ten times more if it meant serving her and Equestria!”
“Then maybe you should have listened instead of going off on your stupid little construction project.”
Earnest’s horn bathed the entire house in a green light. “I will not have my life’s work undermined by the likes of you!” Stephen heard him bellow just before he was launched from his cover with a deafening bang. Stephen glanced up to see a thick crack running through the support and Earnest had somehow gotten even angrier. “Curses!” Earnest continued to shout. “Now look at what you’ve made me do to my column!”
“You’re doing it to yourself, Earnest,” Stephen proclaimed as he scrambled to his feet. Earnest responded with another heavy magic bolt that singed Stephen’s tail before blowing a chunk out of the column behind Stephen. Turning to Twilight, he pointed to the pillar closest to the door and shouted, “Hit that column at the base as hard as you can!” Twilight’s head popped out from cover. She surveyed the room before nodding and charging up her horn. “Rainbow, I could use some help,” Stephen called out.
“I got it!” With that, she flew out of the balcony and out to sea as fast as she could.
Stephen’s jaw dropped and his eyes went wide before shouting, “Flying away is not helping!”
A loud crack split the air and the ground shook. It was followed by an enraged roar from Earnest. Twilight and Fluttershy appeared next to Stephen. “He tried to stop me from blasting the pillar and ended up doing it himself.”
A loud stone creaking came over all of them. Twilight, Stephen and Fluttershy looked back to see the rest of the group rush out from their cover just as the most recently blasted support broke from the ceiling and came crashing down, bringing pieces of the ceiling with it. Earnest caught them in his magic and was trying desperately to put it back together. All anger was gone now and replaced with panic.
“We need to keep him distracted,” said Stephen.
“You got it!” Applejack tipped her hat and rushed back towards Earnest. Stephen watched as she bucked Earnest in the side, almost making him drop the column. She stood in front of the other badly damaged support with a smug grin. Earnest tried to shoot her where he stood but she ducked away at the last second. The pole completely split from the base but Earnest caught that and held it as well. However, he lost his concentration for just a second, causing a piece of the first broken column and a slab of concrete to fall from the ceiling.
Stephen felt a bright smile come to his face. “Twilight, I need you to levitate those two fallen pieces into a see-saw right where I’m going to stand. Then make him drop the right column. Launch me on my signal.”
Twilight’s face contorted with confusion. “Are you crazy?”
“My head has never been clearer. But just in case,” he turned to Fluttershy. “Do you think you can catch me?”
“Oh...I don’t know,” Fluttershy said meekly.
“Well Rainbow Dash ditched us so I need a flier to watch my back for me.”
“Okay, I can do it. Just be careful, alright?”
Stephen nodded and ran over to the spot on the floor that he wanted. Twilight lifted the column piece and placed it on its side. Stephen moved out of the way as she set it down and then again as she placed the concrete slab over it. Stephen pointed to where on the wall he wanted the see-saw to point. Applejack, Pinkie Pie and Rarity were moshing against Earnest, who was starting to sweat his concentration. But Stephen knew how to really get under his skin now.
He stood on his see-saw and called out, “Actually, I think Celestia dumped you because you’re weak. Twilight’s a fraction of your age and can hold this in her sleep!” The green auras dropped from the columns. The one on the left fell into the living space. The one on the right fell into the badly cracked column in front of it. The ponies scurried as two ear-shattering bangs shook Earnest’s house. Despite the noise, Earnest could still hear Stephen taunt. “You’ve been practicing for three hundred years and still can’t do it right.” Earned roared with infuriation and his horn glowed brighter than ever.
The world froze for a moment. It felt similar to when he blacked out against Damien, except this was calm and controlled. Stephen glanced up and could see the way the columns were falling into each other, just like he thought they would. He could see the path he was going to take through the air and the path he needed to move along once he landed.
Specific moments of his life flashed before his eyes; like how he loved playing with Marble Works as a kid. Or as a teenager when he figured out how to use the simple tools to create a zip-line with his friends as well as the best path to take along the trees. Or even more recently when he launched a paperclip at Damien’s face, solving puzzles in Portal 2 with a single glance, rediscovering his Marble Works and even now. Stephen simply understood the path across moving objects before him and where everything would be when he arrived. He knew he could do this better than he could do anything else and this is how he would help save Equestria. The slight tingle on his hind legs could only be his body signaling that it was time to move.
“Now, Twilight!”
A giant weight made out of magical energy appeared on the opposite end of Stephen’s see-saw and dropped down. Stephen was launched into the air a split second before Earnest’s blast laid waste to the see-saw where he had been standing. His eyes nearly popped from his head and his stomach lurched at being launched so suddenly. He didn’t even have time to scream before touching down on the falling pillar and taking off like a shot. The contents of his veins had become equal parts blood and adrenaline as he baited Earnest across the falling support beams of his house, praying that in his anger, he’d remain too irrational to shoot at where Stephen would be as opposed to where he was. Pieces of ceiling and buttresses were turned to smithereens as green balls of fire ripped through them. Stephen ran across the domino effect all the way to the final pillar, which he surfed for as far as it fell. When Earnest caught it in his levitation, Stephen jumped off the pillar and was caught by Fluttershy. Straining her wings, she made sure he touched down pleasantly.
The adrenaline wore off as quickly as it came. Stephen’s legs shook uncontrollably. His head went light, his stomach was in knots and his heart was beating so fast that it could only be described as painful. But Fluttershy held him up and the others did not take long to reach his sides as well. “It’s over, Earnest Stalwart!” Twilight called out.
On the other side of the room, Earnest gritted his teeth. His horn glowed like a beacon and half of the room and ceiling was enveloped in it’s aura. Even from where the group was, they could see him panting, sweating and silently crying.
Through ragged breaths, Stephen muttered, “Alright, Twilight...He can’t fight back anymore...Did you say you could suppress his magic?” Twilight nodded. “Now’s your chance.”
Just as Twilight was about to step forward, her ears swiveled back. She looked over her shoulder and prompted everyone else to do the same. There, they saw Rainbow Dash flying over the ocean and towards the cliffside at a frightening speed. More than that, a cone seemed to be forming around her body and she sounded much further away than she actually was. Then, about an eighth of a mile from the cliff, she pulled up at nearly ninety degrees. A nearly blinding rainbow, a deafening boom and an earthquake happened all at once. The remaining support posts in Earnest’s house cracked and buckled.
“Nevermind that, we gotta go!” Applejack shouted.
For a third time, Pinkie scooped up Stephen and zipped away. The group ran towards the door as fast as they could and burst through. Twilight grabbed Earnest in her magic and tried to pull him out as she left. But at the last second, he shot a beam at her and broke her concentration long enough for him to get free of her grasp. “Earnest, no!” she shouted and tried to turn back for him. But a large chunk of ceiling dropping inches from her nose made her turn tail and run. In breaking free of her grasp, Earnest had diverted his attention away from holding the house together. It was only for a second, but that was all it needed to collapse as if it were made of cards.
Outside, Shining Armor had found that there had been enchanted tiles just under the grass that were connected to the metal posts. Whenever they were stepped on, the posts knew where to aim their projectiles. He commanded the Pegasus soldiers to crush them with boulders while he magically uprooted the tiles and repurposed them as shurikens. He had just taken out the last of the posts when several loud, stony crashes came from inside the house.
Shining Armor rushed to the force field, but couldn’t see anything except an unfamiliar stallion struggling to stand inside his ruined house. He couldn’t wait anymore. Putting as much power as he could into his horn, he backed up and prepared to charge the force field. Just before he could, there was an earth-shaking explosion and his eyes were pulled up to a sight he hadn’t seen since his wedding day - The Sonic Rainboom.
The force field fell on it’s own a second later. Pinkie Pie was out first with a nearly unconscious Stephen on her back. Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack were close behind with Twilight bringing up the rear. “Get away get away get away get away!” was all that Shining Armor heard. A second later, there were several more loud crashes and dust was spewed everywhere as the house crumbled into debris.
Everyone took a moment to recover. The eerie silence that weighed on the island when the squad arrived had returned. Rainbow Dash landed and Shining Armor was the first to rise. “Is everyone alright?” the captain called out.
Wearily, Twilight shot to her hooves as fast as she could. “Earnest is still in there!”
Desire to help outweighed the group’s exhaustion and they all ran back through the gate. “What do you mean, ‘he’s still in there’?” Rainbow Dash shouted. “I thought the plan was to blow over the house so he couldn’t fight back if he wanted to hold it up.”
“It was!” Twilight cried as she started telekinetically pushing rubble aside. “But it came down too fast. I tried to drag him out but he wouldn’t let me.”
The ponies did their best in moving whatever they could, trying to dig out Earnest, hoping they could still help him. Even Stephen, who had spent everything he was with his last stunt, flopped off Pinkie’s back and was trying in vain to push some debris away. He wanted Earnest to be arrested and see a lot of jail time. He hadn’t yet done anything that was worth losing his life over. Victory wouldn’t be good if it was going to be like this. To top it off, Stephen had a sneaking suspicion that it had to be Earnest to break the Spirit Traveller spell from him so he could go home.
Twilight spotted a piece of stone that seemed to be trying to wiggle loose. Hope welled up within her as she magically gripped it and moved it aside. A surge of green energy burst through the hole it made and launched Twilight away as it cleared a small circle of debris around it. Earnest Stalwart lowered his force field and looked out to sea as he rose from the floor. He was covered in dust but looked largely unharmed.
Before anyone could say anything, he let out another draconic sounding roar and spun to face Stephen. “You!” he shouted with his horn lighting up again. Another force field formed around the gate and Stephen’s body took on a green aura. He flailed as he felt the force form around him but it was all in vain. Earnest dragged Stephen roughly through the debris and held him up to his face by the neck. “Look at what you’ve done!”
“Put him down right now!” Rainbow shouted with another charge. Earnest threw up a shield and she ran into it head on. Before she hit the ground, he grabbed her by the tail, spun her around and slammed her into a rock that used to be part of his wall. Stephen heard a pop and Rainbow screamed in pain. Now, even Fluttershy was preparing to charge.
Earnest spun to face them. “You’ve ruined my life’s work. One more step and I do to him what you did to my home!” The others simply froze.
“Twilight, there must be something you can do!” Rarity gasped.
“If I get into a tug-of-war, I could hurt Stephen.”
Fluttershy reached out but didn’t move forward. “Please just put him down. We didn’t mean for any of this to happen.”
“Really?” Earnest looked up at Stephen, who was still flailing. “Because this one had a spark of deliberation in his eyes as he surfed my pillars to their destruction.” He turned back towards the group as repetitive knocking came to the force field at the gate.
“Twilight! What’s going on in there?” Shining Armor’s voice called through.
A layer of overglow appeared on Earnest’s horn and another layer added itself to the shield. He glowered at Twilight. “Not a single step.” With that, he carried Stephen to the edge of the cliff and turned him towards the ocean. “Tell me what you see in the water,” he commanded with a point.
Stephen stopped struggling and forced himself to look where Earnest was pointing. It was the same area that he saw the giant gate made of monstrous bones the day before. He tried looking below the surface again, trying to find the gate. “I don’t see anything,” Stephen whimpered.
“Exactly!” Earnest barked and spun Stephen around to the rubble. “Look at what you’ve done!”
Stephen looked around. The monolith where he had been asked to turn the key was no longer there. On Earnest’s balcony, there were two giant statues and a marble pedestal. Pieces of the ceiling and ceramic roofing tiles lay where the Eye of Coeus once stood. Fragments of crystal were strewn about the ground in the immediate area. Earnest lifted Stephen a little higher and dropped him. Stephen grunted in pain when he hit the ground but before he could recover, he was picked up again.
“Without the Eye of Coeus, the gate can’t be opened.” Earnest dropped Stephen and picked him up again. He could hear the cries of Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie from where he was. “Furthermore, I was trying to calculate a reversal spell because there was never one written. The spell would always wear off when the unicorn ran out of power. But your spell is attached to an infinite power supply. Now I won’t be able to find your home world to send you back even if I knew the reversal. You’ve ruined both of us!” Earnest dropped him and picked him up again. But this time, he dropped Stephen onto his feet. Holding him up telekinetically, he used a foreleg to dust Stephen off. Then he looked into his eyes with a smile. “However, I did promise to send you back and I am a pony of my word.”
“What do you mean?” Stephen stuttered. “You just said it’s impossible.”
“Starswirl was never able to test the limits of the connection,” his voice had returned to its normal demeanor and Stephen had never been more scared in his life. “I theorize that by destroying a spirit body, we can sever the link between the bodies and the spell will dissolve, sending you back from whence you came.”
“No…please…” Stephen pleaded.
Earnest magically hoisted him again. “You were an experiment for me, Stephen. Shall we find our conclusion?”
Stephen tried to beg again, but Earnest had tightened his grip around his neck. Just as he thought he was going to be choked to death, Earnest lowered him towards the ground, growled and jerked his horn to the sky.
“Stephen!” Pinkie cried out.
Twilight focused and tried to grab him out of the air. But her teleportation spell was interrupted by a green magic bolt rushing for her. She threw up her plow at the last possible moment and in that moment, lost sight of Stephen.
Rainbow jumped into the air and flapped but only one wing moved and she dropped. She looked back to the group and called out, “Fluttershy!”
“No no no no no no!” Fluttershy took to the air faster than she ever had before, dodging a blast as she dived over the edge of the cliff and furiously flapping around the side.
Stephen watched as the cliff side grew over him. His heart raced and each of his organs felt like they were trying to abandon ship. He felt himself flapping his front legs as if the action would summon wings.
His peripherals caught Fluttershy swooping around the edge of the cliff and diving towards him. Several armored Pegasus ponies were behind her, but Stephen knew they were too far off. Fluttershy was his only hope. She was getting closer. Her front legs were stretched out and her wings were a blur. Stephen reached out to her. He knew she would catch him. But he also knew she was running out of time to catch him.
The monsters of Tartarus were no longer on the verge of escape and nobody would ever be summoned from Earth again. That much, he knew for certain. He kept his promise to himself and now he only wanted to go home.
The group stared on in anticipation. A moment ago, Shining Armor commanded his Pegasi to fly over and find out what was going on. Twilight Sparkle, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity hoped with everything they were and waited patiently. Any second now, Fluttershy and the soldiers would fly over the edge of the cliff with Stephen safely in tow. Then they would arrest Earnest - who stood like a statue at the edge of the cliff, silhouetted by the setting sun - and his punishment would be much worse than it would have been originally.
The silence was nearly unbearable. There was not even an ocean breeze, a crashing of waves or sound of seagulls to ease it. Nearly unbearable became completely unbearable as the silence was replaced with the sound of Fluttershy’s distant wailing.