//------------------------------// // The Assault on Summerset Tower, Part 2 // Story: Sunset Rekindled // by EldritchNexus //------------------------------// Mr Yellow slowly got back up. His face was hurting, and he couldn't quite remember why. He felt sharp fragments of something underneath his yellow-and-black tracksuit. He clutched his necklace, and found that the talisman he wore on it was broken to pieces, and its fragments were scattered within his suit. He took off the suit, and recognized the fragments. "Oh, boy." he said. "I gotta find those other talismans! There's no telling what trouble the others are making!" "Please, Summerset!" said Sunset Shimmer. "I don't wanna have to fight you!" "Then you shouldn't have gotten in my way, Miss Shimmer." said Lionel Summerset. "But I couldn't care less what you do with the city of Las Pegasus!" said Sunset. "I just want my father back!" "Ah, there's nothing like wanting a father to love you, now is there?" said Summerset. "I'm afraid I'm going to need Golden Sun to work for me. Ruling a business empire isn't easy. Now, let's go on with this duel. Ladies first." Sunset's horn glowed, and she fired a beam of magical energy at Summerset, who quickly dodged it. Then he ascended into the air, and swooped down at Sunset, slashing his blade. But Sunset was able to teleport away just in time. She reappeared at the far end, standing on top of a map of Saddle Arabia. "Mr. Summerset, I really don't wanna hurt you." said Sunset. "It's just not in me to fight to the death!" "It is in me, though." said Summerset. "If you don't want to fight me, then that's simply too bad. This is your chance to defend yourself, Sunset Shimmer." He quickly shot up to Sunset and slashed his blade again, but Sunset teleported once more. "Running away is not the same as defending yourself." said Summerset. "You're supposed to actually hit me back." Sunset reappeared, and fired another magic blast from her horn, pushing Summerset against a wall. The Saddle Arabian pegasus got back up, brushing dust off his bronze fur. Then he launched himself through the air, and grappled with Sunset just as she teleported out of the room. "We've got to help her!" said Lightning Dust. "Right." nodded Trixie. "Not so fast!" said Mr. Red. "You two interfere, and I'll break you in half." "Why don't you try me on for size!" shouted a voice. A door nearby was knocked down, and Daring Do sped through the air to tackle Mr. Red. Trixie and Lightning Dust joined in. They fought on, until Mr. Yellow made it to the top of the stairwell and entered Mr. Summerset's display room. "Hey!" he shouted to Daring Do, who was grappling with Mr. Red and trying her best to hold her enemy in place. Daring Do turned. "Lightning, get him!" she shouted. "With pleasure!" said Lightning, who shot towards the newcomer. "Wait!" said Mr. Yellow. "You don't understand!" Lightning stopped a few inches from Mr. Yellow. "What are you talking about?" asked Lightning. "He's wearing a talisman around his neck, and it's brainwashing him!" Mr. Yellow pointed at Mr. Red. "If you destroy it, he'll stop attacking you!" "Right!" said Lightning. Lightning Dust flew swiftly to Daring Do's side, and whispered what Mr. Yellow told her. Daring nodded, and narrowed her eyes. She pushed Mr. Red back into the statue of King Sombra, and grabbed him by the scruff of his collar. She took out the talisman he was wearing, and gasped. "I've seen this before!" said Daring Do. "This is one of the Talismans of the Ram King!" She tugged on the talisman, set it against the ground, and then pounded it with her hoof, shattering it. Mr. Red groaned, and put a hoof against his head. "Why am I hurting all over?" said Maximum Velocity, breaking from his trance. "What in Equestria's going on here?" "You were under the influence of that talisman you wore around your neck." said Daring Do. "I destroyed it, and broke the spell it had on you." "But what have I been doing?" asked Maximum. "It can't have been anything good!" "You've been working for a corrupt mogul in Las Pegasus named Lionel Summerset." said Mr. Yellow. "Who are you?" asked Maximum. "Thunder Lee." said Mr. Yellow. "I used to be a stuntpony working in Applewood before Summerset brainwashed me. Now, we've got to stop him! He's plotting to do something with this city!" "Then let's not waste time!" said Maximum Velocity, taking off his red clothing and glasses. Mr. Blue fired a spell at Scarlet Blaze, knocking her against the wall. "Mom, are you okay?!" said Radiant Dawn, rushing to her side. "I'm fine, son." said Scarlet, getting back up. "Your father always was the better spellcaster." "Well, let's see if I'm better than him!" said Radiant Dawn. He galloped towards Mr. Blue, firing spells at him as he went and then tackling him. "C'mon, dad!" grunted Radiant as he held Mr. Blue down. "Don't you remember me? I'm your son! I'm Radiant Dawn!" Mr. Blue turned his head to face Radiant, as if he was taking a moment to study his face. "See?" said Radiant. "You do remember!" "I don't care if you are my son!" said Mr. Blue. "Nopony messes with my boss! Not even you!" Then he fired a magical blast that struck Radiant in the face, causing him to fall over to the floor in pain. "What has gotten into you?!" said Scarlet. "This is not how you should be acting! You're kind, gentle, and polite! What's making you act this way!" The green swirly light in Mr. Blue's eyes flickered and he hesitated. "Talisman...magic talisman." he muttered under his breath. "What was that?" said Scarlet. Then the green light reappeared. "Well, it seems something slipped my mind again." Mr. Blue said. "Now where was I again? Oh, yeah. Getting rid of you two!" "No!" Scarlet ran up and pounced him like a tigress. "Whatever's controlling you, dear..." she growled. "You've got to fight it!" "The only thing I need to fight is you two!" said Mr. Blue, whose horn started to glow vividly. "Don't you even remember me?" said Scarlet. "Don't you remember the day we met? In that club in Baltimare? Don't you remember our wedding? Or that we had children--two beautiful children--together?" "Not at all." said Mr. Blue. "And I'm happy not having to worry about that! Having a family would get in the way of my job! I'm going to only say this once more:" The green light flickered again. "Help!" Mr. Blue mouthed to Scarlet. Then the light returned. "Get off of me!" he shouted aggressively. He blasted Scarlet back, and then galloped to the next stairwell. "We can't let him get away!" shouted Radiant, as he and Scarlet chased after him. They chased him stairwell after stairwell, and floor after floor until they reached the 15th floor. There, they found Mr. Summerset and Sunset Shimmer grappling with each other on top of a table, having teleported several times throughout the building. "Hey! Get your hooves off of my sister!" yelled Radiant at the top of his lungs, galloping madly towards Summerset and leaping at him. Radiant knocked Summerset off the table and the two engaged in a duel. Scarlet rushed to Sunset, who was laying on the floor. "Sunset, are you okay?" she said to her daughter. "I'm all right, mom." said Sunset. "How's it going on getting dad back to normal?" "Not good at all." said Scarlet. "You two go find him!" Radiant shouted at Sunset and Scarlet. "I'll fight Summerset." "My fight is with Sunset Shimmer!" said Summerset. "Yeah? Well now you're dealing with her brother!" said Radiant. "You wanna fight Sunset, you gotta get through me first!" "Sounds fair to me." said Summerset. "I still have the honor of battling another Saddle Arabian." "Go on, you two!" said Radiant. "Find dad!" Scarlet Blaze and Sunset Shimmer quickly rushed to the next stairwell, climbed it, and came out on the 17th floor. There, Mr. Blue was looking around for Mr. Summerset. "Great." said Mr. Blue, disappointed. "You again. And it looks like you brought somepony else with you!" "Daddy, please stop this!" yelled Sunset. "Snap out of it!" "I'm just fine!" said Mr. Blue. "Or I will be, once I get rid of you and the rest of my so-called family!" He fired a blast of magical energy at Sunset, who teleported away and reappeared next to him. "Dad, I really don't wanna fight you!" she said. "Leave me alone!" said Mr. Blue. Mr. Blue jumped at Sunset and started punching at her. Sunset's horn glowed, and she fired a beam of energy at Mr. Blue, pushing him back a few yards and damaging his suit. This revealed a strange pendant of some kind that was dangling from his neck. "That has to be the thing controlling him!" said Scarlet. "Right." nodded Sunset. She ran towards Mr. Blue, and then tackled him. She struggled to seize the talisman around Mr. Blue's neck, but he pulled himself away from her. "I'm sorry for this!" said Sunset, whose horn glowed again. She unleashed a massive blast of magic, which sent Mr. Blue flying through the wall, crashing into the floor of the next room over, and leaving a crater in the floor tiles. "I hope he's okay." said Sunset. "Me, too." said Scarlet. They approached him, their horns glowing cautiously. Sunset noticed that the talisman that Mr. Blue was wearing was shattered on the floor between them. She could also hear sobbing, and it was coming from Mr. Blue. "Dad?" asked Sunset, uncertainly as she approached him. Golden Sun lifted his head, showing the tears streaming from his silvery-blue eyes. "I'm so sorry!" he whimpered. "I didn't mean what I did!" Sunset felt her own eyes watering. She galloped up to her father and put her hooves around him. "Daddy, you're back!" she bawled. "I missed you so much!" Golden Sun hugged his daughter back, still sobbing. "Sunset, is it really you?" he asked. "Yes, dad." said Sunset. "It's me. Your baby girl!" "Why, you've grown so much!" he said, surprised. "Heh, heh." Sunset started to calm. "Me? I've grown? You should see Radiant." Scarlet approached her daughter and husband. "Scarlet!" Golden Sun said. "I'm back to normal again! It's me! I'm your husband again!" Scarlet bent over, and nuzzled against her husband, her eyes watery. "I'm so happy to see you alive and well again, dear..." she said. "The feeling's mutual, my love!" said Golden Sun. "When I cast that spell and it rebounded on you, I thought I might have...well, you know. If there's any way I can--" "Mom? Dad?" said Sunset. "There's something we gotta do! Radiant's fighting Summerset downstairs! We gotta help him!" "Right!" said her parents at once.