//------------------------------// // Shattered Moon (Part 2A) // Story: Diamond's Dusk // by The Dragon Warlock //------------------------------// The rain poured down as thunder and lightning flashed violently across the sky. Rarity paid no mind to it as she held onto Spike’s unconscious body, bringing him closer to her and hugging him tightly. Tears rolled down her eyes as she was shaking uncontrollably. No, not my precious Spikey Wikey, she sorrowfully thought. Please be okay, Spike. Please be okay... “Well, isn’t this touching?” a voice snidely remarked. Rarity looked up and saw Blueblood smirking at her. She felt the anguish within change to uncontrollable rage as she glared at the prince. “You… monster!” she screeched. “Why would you do this to him!?” “He was not only an accomplice to your evil plans, but he ruined my looks,” sneered Blueblood. “It fits you though,” spat Rarity. “All those scratches and blood all over you. I say it’s actually an improvement; brings out your inner looks.” The prince growled angrily. “I’ll pretend you didn’t say that,” he said in an annoyed tone. “But don’t worry about his well being.” “And why do you say that?” Rarity demanded. She noticed a glow coming from Blueblood’s horn, a thoroughly pleased look plastered across his face. “Because the two of you are going to die together,” Blueblood answered coldly. Rarity looked back down to Spike and hugged him tightly. The rage building within began to make her blood boil. Her body shook uncontrollably as she gritted her teeth. “Don’t fear the reaper, Rarity. I’m sure he’ll take you and your little dragon friend to Tartarus in a gentle manner.” His horn glowed brightly and he lowered it. Rarity snorted and concentrated her energy directly to her horn. “Now… die, you monster!” Blueblood bellowed, shooting a large energy beam. Rarity looked up and shot out a purple beam, a dome forming around both Spike and Rarity, and Blueblood magic was hitting it. The prince noticed this and looked a bit frustrated. “I said DIE!” he bellowed, hitting the shield with repeated blasts, but the dome around Rarity and Spike remained untouched. Blueblood kept firing, but began to feel fatigued as he tried to break through her shield. Blueblood took several deep breaths and stepped back. Rarity looked up at Blueblood with a piercing glare on her face, and tears rolling down her face. “Be careful what you wish for, Blueblood. If a monster is what you want, then that’s what you’ll get,” she threatened in an icy tone. The shield around her and Spike fell. She carefully placed Spike on the ground behind her and out of harm's way and started to walk menacingly towards Blueblood. The prince noticed this and narrowed his eyes at her. “I may be a bit exhausted, but I’m strong enough to finish you!” he declared, firing a lightning bolt out of his horn. Rarity’s horn charged and fired a similar spell. Both lightning bolts hit each other and exploded in a shower of sparks. Prince Blueblood raised a hoof to clear the dust swirling around him and coughed a little. He lowered his hoof and saw the shadow of a pony stumbling towards him. The prince felt a little panicked, but he shook his head. “Impressive, but let’s see you dodge this!” He shot out another beam. This one shot over to the shadowy figure, and a zapping noise rang out. “AHHH!” a mare’s voice screamed. Blueblood heard a loud thud, and smirked. “Well that was easier than taking candy from a baby,” he said haughtily tone. He trotted over to look at Rarity. As the dust cleared though, the prince’s eyes went wide as he looked down at the body. Instead of the blackened unicorn he thought he was targeting, lying on the ground and moaning in pain was Suri Polomare. The prince’s eye twitched. “What the…? How did this happen!?” “Just a little push and shove is all,” said a voice from behind him. Blueblood turned around and saw Rarity towering over him, a proud smirk on her face. He yelped and stumbled back. Rarity walked slowly towards him. “What’s wrong, Prince Blueblood?” Rarity asked mockingly. “Aren’t you going to try to kill me? Isn’t that what you’ve wanted all along? To restore what’s left of your reputation by killing Nightmare Moon?” Prince Blueblood could feel his heart pounding wildly, and a shiver ran down his spine. “H–how are you suddenly fighting back like this?” he wondered. “You were barely putting up a fight less than two minutes ago!” Rarity scoffed at the prince. “You may hurt me all you want, you pitiful excuse of a prince,” she threatened. “But when you hurt my friends, especially Spikey Wikey, then I will crush your family jewels like a cider press crushes apples.” Blueblood felt his face get whiter as he heard that statement. His insides went cold with fear. He looked over with a fearful expression on his face. “I need help!” he cried out. “Get over here and help me. NOW!” Heavy Duty heard the cry and turned around. “Men! Get over here now and help the prince!” he ordered. “But the other ponies!” shouted one stallion. “We got to make sure they won’t get in our way!” Heavy snorted and stomped his hoof. “Damn it, you fools!” he barked. “Those ponies are incapacitated already, and we outnumber them! Prince Blueblood needs our help to stop Nightmare Moon! I won’t allow our leader to die while you all attend to pointless duties! Now unless you all want to spend the rest of your lives serving a demon, then go help the prince, NOW!” The ponies saluted and shouted in unison, “YES, MAJOR!” As Rarity trotted over to the prince, she heard thunderous hoofsteps and turned around. She saw a large pack of unicorns and Earth ponies charging at her, and some pegasi dive bombing towards her. She snorted and focused all her will and energy into her horn. Rarity’s horn glowed brightly, and aimed it skyward. One pegasi in the sky noticed this and shouted, “Evasive maneuvers, men!” “YES, SIR!” they shouted back. Rarity saw the pegasi split off and fly around in different directions. She smirked and raised her head. She concentrated a bit more energy into her horn, and tiny sparks flew out of it. She then aimed it at a nearby pegasus, and fired a lightning bolt. One pegasus noticed the bolt and looked at the target. He shouted, “Private! Watch out!” “Huh?” The pegasus looked down and saw the bolt. He gasped, but before he could move, he was struck by it, screaming in agony. The electricity coursed through him, and he thrashed wildly in the air until his body went completely limp. He desperately tried to stay airborne, but his wings were numb and he could’ve sworn the feathers were burnt from the electricity. He then fell from the sky and plummeted to the ground. “Private!” a pegasus shouted. “Look out!” another one warned. A small group looked up and saw another lightning bolt headed towards them. The bolt hit one pegasus, but then it traveled to another one nearby. Another pegasus tried to fly away, but the same bolt hit him too. The pattern continued until at least five ponies were hit. Each of them were screaming in pain as the electricity zapped their bodies, and made them thrash around in agony. They all suffered the same fate as the first pegasus, as they fell to the ground with a loud thud being heard from each of them. Heavy Duty was shocked and fearful, but he tried to maintain an angry expression on him to hide it. “What in the name of sun and moon was that!?” a unicorn wondered. “...Chain lightning,” Heavy answered in awe. “A very deadly spell that I hear could hit up to a hundred ponies if done right. It’s hard to pull off, but for somepony like Nightmare Moon, it’s nothing to her.” “Orders, Major?” wondered the unicorn. “It’s suicide to get near her,” said the major. “All unicorns concentrate your fire on Nightmare Moon! She can’t hold off against a barrage of spells from all of you for long!” “SIR!” the unicorns shouted. They all turned their attention to Rarity, who was panting heavily. She felt some of her anger dissipating and her senses becoming clearer. She turned around, and let out a gasp. Spike was no longer lying on the ground like she left him, but was gone. Rarity frantically looked around, and felt the anger build up in her again. “Where is he!?” she bellowed. She turned to the guards and barked, “What did you do with my Spikey Wikey!?” The soldiers looked at each other with both confused and scared looks. “Spikey... Wikey?” one pony asked. “The hay do you mean by where is he?” another pony inquired. “We didn’t do anything.” “She’s getting ready to fire!” shouted one unicorn. Heavy pointed a hoof and bellowed, “FIRE AT WILL!” The unicorn guards charged up their horns. After a few seconds, they all fired a volley of energy blasts directly at Rarity. The unicorn opened her eyes and her horn glowed even brighter. Everypony shielded their eyes from the brightness. A few seconds later, the brightness faded away, and everypony lowered their hooves. Prince Blueblood was the first to see Rarity, and gasped as she saw a protective dome around her. He gulped and stepped back. “Th-the spells didn’t work!” one guard shouted in fear. “What do we do now, Major!?” wondered another guard. Heavy Duty wiped the sweat building up on his forehead, and put on a brave face. “Same thing as before!” he ordered. “Keep firing at her! There’s no way Nightmare Moon can keep up the onslaught of magic before her shield breaks!” “SIR!” they shouted in unison. The unicorns looked back at Rarity, and charged their horns up again. They fired several energy blasts, lightning bolts, and a few fireballs at Rarity. Each spell hit Rarity’s shield and either deflect the spell away from her, or absorb it. Rarity gritted her teeth and lowered her head. The anger in her was stronger than ever, and could feel the power within coursing through her body. The unicorns marched forward as they continued to fire upon Rarity. Heavy Duty smirked and ordered, “Keep it up, men! Just a bit longer and we’ll have her!” Rarity lowered her head. “That’s what you think,” she muttered. The shield around Rarity shrank, and the unicorns advanced forward. Rarity’s horn glowed again, and there was the sound of electricity crackling echoing. “Keep going!” ordered Heavy. “We nearly have her now!” The guards moved forward again until they were just a few feet from her. Rarity closed her eyes and concentrated all her might into her magic. She thought of Blueblood, the ponies attacking her, and above all, Spike laying on the ground injured.The anger in her intensified and could feel her heart racing. She looked up and opened her eyes, which everyone saw were glowing purple. “We got her now!” shouted one unicorn. “It’s time to take down this bi–” Rarity cried out with rage as she let out one big energy blast at the shield. The dome shield buzzed with electricity, and suddenly got bigger. The roof rumbled as it spreaded out. Heavy Duty noticed this and hastily barked an order. “All men, fall back! I repeat! Fall back, now!” Electricity coursed through the guard’s body and he was thrown back violently. The other ponies noticed this, and turned around. They galloped away from the shockwave as quickly as possible, but it was too fast for them. They all yelled in pain as they were electrocuted and sent flying. Heavy Duty had a panicked look on him and galloped away from the shockwave. He looked back and saw it advancing on him. He galloped with all his might towards the nearby roof entrance hut. He looked back again, but this time wave was inches from him. “NNNOOO!!!” Heavy yelled in horror. Prince Blueblood, who was also galloping away from the blast, heard the scream of his subordinate. He looked to see Heavy was shocked and sent flying back to the ground. He then heard a rumble, and looked back to see the shockwave. In a panic, Blueblood channeled some magic to his horn, and produced a golden dome around him. The wave hit the shield, and Blueblood was nearly blown away from the impact. He stood his ground, but could hear the dome starting to crack under the pressure. As the shock wave passed by him, the dome finally shattered, and Blueblood stumbled and fell over. He got up and rubbed his head, but heard hoofsteps approaching. He looked up to se Rarity walking towards him with daggers in her eyes. “Is that the best you got?” asked Rarity in a mocking tone. “I’ll only ask you this once. Where. Is. Spikey Wikey?” Blueblood shook his head. “What are you talking about!?” he demanded. “I don’t know what happened to that ugly dragon!” Rarity’s eye twitched and her horn glowed. “Then I’ll make you talk!” Rarity shot out a fireball at Prince Blueblood. The white stallion jumped out of the way, and fired out an energy blast to counter. Rarity put up a shield, the blast deflecting away from her. She lowered the shield and lunged at Blueblood, but he galloped away. Rarity gave chase to Blueblood, and the two exchanged magical energy at one another as they both evaded one another’s attacks. Several of the energy blasts zoomed past Applejack and Pinkie, who could only watch as they were stuck in their cheesy prison. A short, sharp “Eep!” could be heard off to the side of AJ and Pinkie. They both looked in the direction of the squeak to see Fluttershy holding Spike. They muttered and tried to move their heads, but the goop around them made it impossible. “Oh, girls, I hope you’re okay,” said Fluttershy. “I don’t know how I can help you.” “Mpt the chmmse!” muttered Applejack. “Mpt the chmmse!” Fluttershy shook her head. “I don’t think I can. I’m so full from eating all that cheese earlier. Oh, what to do? What to do?” As Fluttershy pondered, she suddenly felt something moving in her hooves. She looked down and saw Spike opening his eyes. “Ugh...What happened?” he moaned. “I feel like I got hit by a train.” “Spike, you’re okay!” Fluttershy exclaimed joyfully. “I was so worried when I saw those ponies beat you up. I just had to get you away from there before you got hurt again.” The dragon leapt out of Fluttershy’s hooves and onto the ground. He felt a little shaky, but regained his balance. “I’m fine. I just didn’t expect one pony to do that to me. Where is Rarity anyway? Is she fine?” Fluttershy rubbed her hooves together nervously. “Um...well you see…” “GAH!” a mare’s voice yelled. Spike’s ears perked and his eyes widened as he heard Rarity give a scream, one of Blueblood’s bolts hitting her. He looked over and saw Rarity holding her side and Blueblood charging at her. “Rarity!” he cried out. He narrowed his eyes and ran off. “Spike, no!” Fluttershy yelled. “You’re injured!” The dragon ignored the yellow pegasus and ran towards Blueblood. “Now what do we do?” wondered Fluttershy. “Fear not, everypony!” a voice triumphantly announced. “You have nothing to fear!” A puff of blue smoke suddenly appeared, making Fluttershy cough. “For the Great and Humble Trixie is here to save the day!” Trixie appeared from the smoke and was doing her standard entrance pose. Twilight stood there with an exasperated look on her face. “Trixie, now is not the time to be doing these dramatic entrances,” said Twilight. “We need to help Rarity before it’s too late.” “Um, Twilight?” asked Fluttershy. “Maybe you can help them first?” The pegasus pointed them to the cheese covered Applejack and Pinkie. Trixie quirked an eyebrow, while Twilight stood there paralyzed. Trixie noticed this and asked, “What is your problem, Sparkle? It’s just cheese.” “That...that’s just it,” she nervously said. “It’s so...cheesy!” Twilight backed away slowly. Trixie looked back at the others with a dumbfounded look on her. “This is the same pony who beat me twice in Ponyville, and defeated various monsters, right?” Fluttershy, Pinkie, and Applejack nodded slowly. Trixie let out a sigh. “And ponies think Trixie’s mistrust of wheels is laughable.” She looked over at Twilight, and grabbed her hoof. “Come, Sparkle. We’ll get rid of this stuff together. Twilight stopped shaking and blushed. She took her hoof back, and nodded. “You’re right. Let’s just get this over with.” Twilight and Trixie’s horns glowed, and aimed them at the cheese covered ponies. Rarity threw another punch at Blueblood, which missed him by an inche. The prince retaliated by charging his horn up and firing a lightning bolt at Rarity. She quickly ducked and dodged it. She swung her rear leg at his feet to knock him off his hooves, but Blueblood once again dodged it and ran off. He looked at Rarity with a smug look on his face. “It’s only a matter of time, you know,” he said. “You can fight back all you want, but I’ll finish you off and be seen as a hero throughout Equestria.” “Kind of hard to been seen as a hero if my laser turns you to ash,” threatened Rarity. Blueblood prepared to fire again, but suddenly felt something hold him. He was lifted into the air and noticed he had a purple aura surrounding him. The prince was suddenly pulled towards Rarity. She glared at him, and then threw him down on the ground. The prince yelled as he felt the ground impact him. He tried to get up, but Rarity lifted him up, and slammed him down again. She kept on doing this a few more times, and with each slam, the prince yelled in pain. Finally, Rarity slammed him down one more time and give his abdomen a hard kick, making him wheeze with every breath. Blueblood groaned in agony and tried to move, but the pain from his wounds caused him to scream. Rarity smirked and said, “I think it’ll be you making the trip to Tartarus instead. After what you’ve done to me, my friends, and Spike, you deserve no mercy.” Her horn glowed, and Blueblood’s eyes widened in terror. “Now it’s time for you to die,” said Rarity in an icy tone. She lowered her head, and pointed her horn at Blueblood. “RARITY, NO!” a voice cried out. The unicorn gasped as she suddenly felt something embracing her side. She looked over and saw Spike looking at her with a concerned look. Rarity’s angered look gave way to a mixture of relief, and sorrow. “Spike?” she asked. “Don’t do this, Rarity!” ordered Spike. “This isn’t you!” The unicorn furrowed her brow. “I must do it, Spike. He nearly killed you, and has hurt the rest of my friends one too many times.” “But if you kill him, everypony will be fully convinced you’re Nightmare Moon!” argued Spike. “I know all those ponies in the audience saw you, and there’s still time to set things straight!” “And what happens if they don’t listen and understand?” wondered Rarity. “I’ll be forever doomed to be labeled a monster by everypony.” “And you think killing Blueblood will make things better?” Spike countered. “This isn’t the Rarity I know! This isn’t the Rarity that I...I…” His voice trailed off as he lost the courage to say those words. The unicorn raised an eyebrow. “The Rarity that you what?” she wondered. Spike released his grip on Rarity and looked down at the ground. He tried to hide his growing blush as he twiddled his fingers. “Spike?” Rarity pressed. The dragon gulped and clenched his fists. Here goes nothing. I just hope she doesn’t hate me for this. “Spike, whatever it is you want to say, it’ll have to wait,” said Rarity. “I must finish Blueblood to ensure he never harms me, my friends, or you again.” She looked back at Blueblood, who was struggling to free himself. “Well I won’t let you!” Spike objected. Rarity looked at Spike. “You don’t understand what he’s—” “—I know what he’s done,” Spike interrupted. “But killing him won’t do you any good! It’s something I know you wouldn’t do! You, who taught me how to be generous! You, who always welcomed my help, no matter how small it was! You, who is one of my best friends, and somepony I care about! This is not the Rarity I came to know and fall in...in…” Spike looked down and was shaking with clenched fists. Rarity looked a bit worried and lowered her head to Spike. “You came to know and what, darling?” No response. “Spike?” Rarity asked in a worried tone. The dragon then lifted his head, blushing. “The Rarity I came to know and fall in love with!” he shouted at the top of his lungs. Fall in love with!... Fall in love with!... Those words echoed throughout the sky. Everypony stopped what they were doing and looked at Spike. Rarity was shocked and released her grip on Blueblood. She gasped and stepped back. Her face turned a bright shade of red, and her heart was racing. Spike looked down and was shaking violently with clenched. After what seemed to be an eternity, Rarity finally broke the silence. “What did you say?” Spike raised his head and had tears running down his face. “You heard me,” he said in a strained voice. “You’re not acting like the mare I fell in love with over the years. If you kill Blueblood, you’ll be just as much of a monster as he was to you.” Rarity’s heart skipped a beat again, and could feel heat building up in her face. “I know what I said is a shock to you, Rarity,” Spike added. “I’m not going to take it back, though. I’ve been meaning to tell you how I feel for so long, but never had the courage to do so until now.” “Spike...” said Rarity in a hushed and sincere tone. “I don’t want you to do this for me, or any of us,” the dragon stated. “I know you’re better than this. There’s no reason to do this. I’m okay, and that’s all that matters. I may hate Prince Blueblood too, but you don’t need to kill him.” Rarity looked at Blueblood, who was groaning in pain. She frowned and looked back at Spike. “I’ve tried telling you how I feel before, Rarity,” said Spike. “I tried telling you in Ponyville. I tried telling you on the train. But I just need to know one thing.” “What is it, darling?” wondered Rarity. “I know I’m not some prince or handsome stallion, but can you tell me the honest truth about how you feel about me?” Spike inquired. Rarity’s eyes widened, her heart was racing. “My...my feelings towards you?” “I know it’s so sudden,” replied Spike. “But now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I want to know what you think of me. Just tell me the truth, so that I can finally know.” Rarity bit her lip and looked at Spike. Her face was red, and her heart was racing wildly. She tried to open her mouth to say something, but couldn’t find the words to say anything. Come on, Rarity, think! she told herself. He’s one of your best friends. Sure, he’s not the stallion of my dreams, but he’s been sticking close to me all this time. What does it really matter if he just...confessed to me? Ah, but isn’t that one of the things you feared? a sinister voice asked. Rarity felt a chill run down her spine. I have no clue what you’re talking about. The sinister voice snickered. Oh please, darling. Aren’t you worried about the repercussions? Remember the train? Rarity shook her head and narrowed her eyes. I’ve had this talk with Applejack. I’m not going to let them intimidate me. But what if you met other ponies who weren’t as kind? the voice inquired. Imagine the scandal. Your life would be in shambles. Your social position would be ruined. Are you willing to risk it all just for this one dragon? Rarity was silent, and looked away. Well? the sinister voice asked. I….I will…. her thoughts trailed off as she tried to muster her courage. Rarity broke out of her thoughts as she heard Spike scream in pain, and saw to her horror that Spike was laying on the ground. She rushed over to check on him. The dragon was wincing in pain, and holding onto his left arm. Rarity reached out to hold Spike, but he held a claw up. “I...I’m okay,” he said in a pained voice. “It’s nothing to worry about.” “It’s not you who needs to worry though,” a voice warned. Rarity looked over and saw Prince Blueblood getting up. She could see his horn was glowing brightly, and she felt her blood heating up again. “Now this is too rich,” the prince laughed. “A little dragon admitting he has feelings for a pony? It’s pathetic, to be honest.” “What did you say!?” demanded Rarity. “Rarity, if your reputation wasn’t destroyed before, it is now,” Blueblood said arrogantly tone. “Can you imagine the scandal? Ponies everywhere would not only see you as a monster, but as a sick pony as well.” “What do you mean?” inquired Rarity. “I mean that it’s just unnatural for a dragon and pony to fall in love with each other,” he answered. “Anypony or dragon who does this are doomed to nothing but shame, disgrace, and being seen as blights upon society.” Rarity gritted her teeth. “I will have you know that Spikey Wikey is a good friend to me, and treats me like a lady. Unlike you,” she seethed The prince raised an eyebrow. “So you’re admitting to it then?” he wondered. “You admit you have actual feelings for this dragon?” Rarity opened her mouth to say something, but suddenly felt like her tongue was tied, and a chill ran down her spine. “Ah, silent are we?” asked the prince. “It seems my words of wisdom have gotten through that empty head of yours.” Rarity looked down and said nothing. “Now you get it,” said Blueblood. “You know full well that dragon isn’t worth your time. He’s just some greedy, nasty, barbaric reptile. They have no place or right to love a pony. Better to leave him behind than risk your whole life and reputation for this one insignificant dragon, right?” Rarity’s eyes shot wide open, and narrowed them. She snorted a little, her heart was racing. “Do you get it now?” wondered the prince. “Do you understand what a terrible thing it is?” Rarity nodded and said to herself, “I know exactly what you’re talking about.” Blueblood nodded and walked over to Rarity. “Good.” His horn glowed. “Now let me send you to your–OOF!” Before he could finish his sentence, Blueblood was suddenly punched in the chest and fell over. He looked up and saw Rarity holding a hoof up and had a dark expression on her face. “I do understand one thing, Blueblood,” she said. “That you will never understand how much of a good friend Spikey-Poo is to me.” Blueblood rubbed his chest. “Why you little–” “Prince Blueblood!” a voice called out. Rarity and Blueblood turned and saw several unicorns coming from the roof’s entrance. “We heard a loud rumbling! What’s going on!?” “Look, sir!” a stallion shouted and pointed. The guards looked around and saw the unconscious ponies around the roof, and heard some of them groaning. They saw two ponies from the pile of unconscious ponies rising up. They stumbled forward to the guards. One of the guards gasped. “Major Duty! Are you alright!?” The brown stallion groaned and rubbed his head. “I’ve been better,” he answered. “How do you think I feel?” a mare asked. Heavy looked over to see Suri Polomare rubbing her head. “Where the hay have you been?” he asked. “I haven’t seen you try to fight yet.” “I’m a fashionista, not a fighter,” complained Suri. “I’ve just been watching the show, and I am very disappointed so far.” Heavy rolled his eyes. “Well I see you felt the power of Nightmare Moon too.” Suri nodded. “I’m kind of envious of her, but it doesn’t matter. I’m ready to go again.” “If this reunion is done, then come help me!” ordered Prince Blueblood. “All of you can witness the destruction of Nightmare Moon by my hoof!” “We’ll help you out, your highness!” shouted Heavy Duty. He looked over to the new guards. “Men, prepare to help the prince!” Heavy moved forward towards Rarity, but an energy bolt whized past him and made him stop. “I think you forgot one tiny detail, Major,” a voice called out. The group turned around and saw Twilight, her friends, and Trixie looking confident and ready to fight. “Miss us?” Rainbow taunted. “What do we do, Major!?” a guard asked. “We need to help the prince, but take out Nightmare Moon.” Heavy opened his mouth to speak, but Blueblood shouted, “I’ll deal with Nightmare Moon! The rest of you deal with those pesky ponies!” Heavy nodded and shouted, “You heard him! Move out!” The guards saluted and took off. A couple of pegasi took off into the air, and several unicorns ran towards Twilight’s group. Twilight and her friends charged at them. Her horn glowed brightly and was ready to fire, but suddenly felt something tugging her tail. “Sorry, Twilight!” a chipper voice called out. Twilight looked and saw Pinkie pulling her back. “What are you doing!?” she angrily asked. “I need to–” “Help out Dashie and Flutters!” Pinkie interrupted. She wrapped a hoof around Twilight’s neck, and pointed her head upwards. “I’ve been wanting to do this again!” Twilight gasped. “Pinkie, wait!” The party mare gripped Twilight’s tail and turned it like a crank, and a volley of magic bolts fired out of Twilight’s horn. Up in the sky, Rainbow and Fluttershy were looking around the pegasi surrounding her when she suddenly heard one of them cry out in agony and fall. More energy blasts shot up into the sky and hit several more pegasi guards. Each of them fell down to the ground. Rainbow and Fluttershy took this chance to take out a few other pegasi that were avoiding the magical shots. Several unicorns looked on in awe as they saw what Pinkie was doing. “Can we seriously do that?” one of them asked in awe. “Looks interesting,” another said. “What are you doing!?” a voice boomed. The guards gasped and saw Heavy Duty looking at them with a furious look on him. “Stop daydreaming and get back to taking those ponies out!” he ordered. The guards saluted and nodded. Heavy opened his mouth to speak again, but suddenly felt two hooves connect with the side of his face. He screamed in pain and stumbled, falling to the ground and moaning as he laid there unconscious. The guards looked over and saw Applejack turning around and had a smirk on her face. “I think you can consider yourself relieved of your duties, Major,” she said. The unicorns looked furious. “Let’s get her!” one of them shouted. They charged at her, and Applejack prepared to defend herself. Suddenly, she saw three energy blasts and each one hit a guard. They yelled in pain and fell over. The farmer pony looked confused, and turned around. Her eyes widened a little to see who it was. “Trixie did tell you to have no fear,” she announced as she trotted up to Applejack. “The Great and Humble Trixie is here to save the day after all.” Applejack smiled softly. “I gotta say; you’ve gotten better at your magic.” “Naturally,” said Trixie. “Trixie is a fast learner after all.” The farmer pony rolled her eyes. “If you say so.” “What does that mean?” accused Trixie. Applejack opened her mouth to answer. “Hold it right there!” a voice ordered. They both turned to see several unicorns charging at them. Applejack and Trixie looked at each other and smirked. “Think you can handle this?” asked Trixie. “I think I should be asking you that,” answered Applejack. “You may be better with magic, but let’s see how good you really are.” Trixie chuckled and said, “Then watch in awe as I deal with these ponies.” Applejack and Trixie charged at the guards and gave each other a wink before they both leapt towards the guards. Rarity moved out of the way as an energy blast whizzed past her. She shot one back at Blueblood, but he ducked out of the way, and then lunged at her. He tackled Rarity and the two of them rolled around the ground. They exchanged punches against one another as they rolled around. Blueblood threw a punch at Rarity, but she caught it with one hoof. The prince struggled to push his own towards Rarity, but the latter was fighting back. She saw Blueblood’s horn glowing, and quickly used her free hoof to punch him on the side of his head. He yelled in pain and stumbled back. Rarity took this chance to fire a lightning bolt from her horn, but the prince saw it and jerked his head out of the way. She got up, and the two of them glared at each other. Prince Blueblood chuckled. “It’s such a shame, Rarity. When I first saw you, I thought maybe you were nice enough for me, but you showed your true colors at the gala, and now here in Manehatten.” “The same can be said for you,” argued Rarity. “Who knew a royal prince could be one big royal pain in my flank?” Blueblood scowled and said, “I see your sense of humor hasn’t changed since your transformation.” His horn glowed. “But I’ll be the one with the last laugh!” He fired a lightning bolt at Rarity. She jumped out of the way, and then charged at Blueblood again. The prince galloped towards her as well. “Ahh! Watch it!” Suri narrowly avoided an energy blast that went over her head, watching as the battle raged on all over. Looking up in the sky, she saw Fluttershy and Rainbow, with some help from Pinkie’s use of Twilight’s magic, taking out the remaining pegasi guards. She heard screaming and saw Applejack and Trixie standing next to each other and taking out several unicorns and Earth ponies with spears. She stepped back and gulped nervously. “This is getting out of control,” she told herself. “Maybe I can still make a run for it and leave before anypony catches me. I just need to make my way towards–” A loud clanging noise startled Suri, and she looked down. She saw in front of her a metal spear similar to the one the Earth pony soldiers were using against Applejack and Trixie. “Argh!” a stallion yelled. Suri looked over and saw Blueblood and Rarity going at it with them exchanging magic at each other. They charged at each other and put their hooves against each other. They grunted as they tried to overpower one another. Suri then looked down at the spear again, and an idea clicked in her head. She smiled deviously and picked it up. She slowly trotted over to Rarity’s backside. “Let’s see how you like it when somepony backstabs you,” she coldly said. She raised the spear as she got closer, and grinned. “Oh, no you don’t!” a voice objected. Suri turned her head, and was suddenly tackled, dropping the spear. She grunted and squirmed as she felt something crawling around her. She used a hoof to reach around, but every time she felt like she grabbed whatever was on her, it slipped off of her. “Get off of me!” she yelled in frustration. “How about you leave Rarity alone?” the voice asked. Suri turned around and saw a fist headed towards her face. Before she could react, the fist hit her in the nose, and she yelled in pain. She felt something get off her, and she looked to see Spike standing there with a triumphant look on his face. Suri looked beside herself and shouted, “You’re that no good career-destroyer’s friend, huh!? Well I’ll make you pay for crossing somepony as famous as me!” “You’re right about one thing,” said Spike. “You’re famous alright…” Suri smirked at this. “Famous for being a big fraud that is,” finished Spike. Suri’s expression changed to one of fury. “Why you little insolent dragon!” She started trotting towards him. Spike gulped a stepped back, feeling something bump the heel of his foot. He looked down to see the spear Suri attempted to use. He bent over and picked it up, but the weight of it made Spike stumble a bit as he tried to balance the spear. Suri laughed at this. “What are you doing? A rendition of Dances with Poles?” Spike narrowed his eyes as he heard Suri’s laughter, and ran over to her with the spear. He raised the spear up and did his best not to fall over as he charged towards her. Suri wiped a tear from her face and said, “This is just plain sad and hilarious. I mean what can you do with a spear that–ARGH!” The pink mare was cut off as something hard hit her on the head. She hopped around and rubbed her head. She could see Spike was holding the spear up. “Actually, I thought of playing a game of whack-a-fraud,” Spike mocked. Suri turned to run, but he felt the spear pole hit her again on the back. She fell to the ground, and felt the spear hit her again on the head. Spike kept hitting Suri with the spear pole, which made the her scream in with each strike until her screams slowly became whimpers. Spike panted as he looked upon the twitching body of Suri and heard her moaning. “You really look like you need some rest,” said Spike. “Why don’t you knock yourself out?” Spike heard Rarity scream behind him, turning around to see her laying on the ground, and Prince Blueblood, with an insane look on him, wrangling her neck. “What’s the matter, Rarity?” he mocked. “No witty remark? No comeback? I guess my plan has left you breathless.” Rarity gasped and wheezed. “That...ergh…was a….bad pun,” she coughed. “I don’t particularly care,” said the prince. “Now then. Any last words?” He tightened his grip around Rarity’s neck. Rarity gasped and tried to raise a hoof, but things were starting to go black and fuzzy. “I can’t hear you,” the prince mocked. “I have something to say,” a voice said. “Huh?” Prince Blueblood asked. He turned around and saw Spike holding the spear up, but was shaking a little from his balance. He gasped. “Consider yourself dethroned,” said the dragon. He brought the spear down, and it hit Blueblood square on the head. “YOUCH!” the prince screamed in agony. Spike hit him on the head with the spear pole again. The prince yelled in pain and released his grip on Rarity. He rubbed his head and looked at Spike with a furious look on him. The dragon raised the spear again, but Blueblood knocked it out of his hooves. “Uh, oh,” said Spike worriedly. The prince grabbed Spike by the neck and held him up. The dragon gulped and sweated a little as he looked into the fiery eyes of Blueblood. “No insolent, pathetic, useless, ugly, welp of a dragon is going to get in my way,” he threatened. His horn glowed brightly. “I’ll make you into a pair of dragon scaled boots.” Blueblood snickered as he prepared to fire his spell, but suddenly felt somepony tapping him on the shoulder. He turned around and saw Rarity standing with a smirk on her. “Excuse me,” she said. “I believe you asked if I have any last words. Well I do have something to say.” Rarity raised her hoof and decked Blueblood across the face. The prince let out an anguished cry as he let go of Spike and fell over to the ground. Rarity stepped on his body and narrowed her eyes. “Never….ever….touch….Spikey,” she threatened. “Oof!” Spike yelled as he fell to the ground. “Spikey,” said Rarity in a gentle voice. “I don’t think I got a chance to answer your question.” Spike’s heart skipped a beat as he rubbed his head. “You...want to tell me?” Rarity nodded. “Yes, darling.” The dragon’s heart was racing and he twiddled his fingers. “I know what I said was probably really weird, but I–” “You don’t need to say another word,” interrupted Rarity. “I think I’m finally ready to tell you the honest truth.” Spike couldn’t help but smile. “You see, I have to say that–” “Rarity! Spike! You’re okay!” The pair turned their heads and saw Twilight and Trixie running towards them. “Twilight, darling, so good to see you again,” said Rarity as she hugged her friend. “Where are the others?” wondered Spike. “They’re taking care of the remaining guards,” answered Twilight. “But we’re happy to see you guys are okay.” “Where is that pompous prince if Trixie may ask?” she wondered. “Trixie has quite a lot to do to him for nearly killing her.” Spike pointed to the ground. “Going to have to wait for him to wake up then.” The group looked down and saw Blueblood groaning and twitching with pain. “Somehow, I think when Princess Celestia hears about this, the beating you both gave Prince Blueblood will be nothing compared to her,” said Twilight. Trixie smiled and looked up. She gasped and poked Twilight. “Look!” she ordered. “The dome around us!” They all looked up and saw the purple shield was rumbling. A loud booming noise rang out and the shield broke up, allowing the rain to fall onto everypony on the roof. Twilight, Trixie, Spike, and Rarity cheered in happiness, and jumped up and down. In the commotion, Trixie suddenly felt pulled in by somepony, and looked to see Twilight was hugging her. “We did it, Trixie!” Twilight shouted triumphantly. “We saved Rarity!” Twilight leaned in and kissed her on the cheek. The cheering stopped as Trixie blushed, and Rarity and Spike looked shocked. Twilight looked embarrassed and looked red all over. “Trixie...I’m….I’m sorry,” she said softly. “I don’t know what came over me. Honestly.” Trixie pushed Twilight away, and closed her eyes. “Twilight,” she sighed. “Trixie does understand the need to celebrate.” Twilight looked away in shame, but felt a hoof touch her face, and pull her to look into Trixie’s blank expression. “However, Trixie does understand your feeling of celebration, but I have to say if you are going to kiss somepony you like a lot….” Twilight eyes went wide as Trixie leaned in and connected her lips to her own. The shock soon gave way to bliss as she returned the kiss as well, and embraced Trixie. As they kissed, Spike and Rarity looked on in awe. “Are you surprised, Spike?” wondered Rarity. The dragon rubbed his chin. “Actually...I’m really not,” he answered. “Considering some of the things I’ve heard Twilight mumble in her sleep, I’m really not surprised.” Trixie and Twilight broke off the kiss, and they both looked at each other with sincere smiles on them. “....As I was saying, Twilight,” said Trixie. “If you're going to kiss somepony you like, make it something memorable.” Twilight laughed awkwardly. “I’ll keep that in mind next time we go out.” She shrugged and said in a low voice. “If you’d like to go out sometime that is.” Trixie snuggled Twilight and said, “What do you say we both take it slowly?” Twilight nodded. “You’re right. I need some time to study up on some of the books on dating anyway.” Trixie snickered a bit and rolled her eyes in amusement. “....Ugh,” a voice moaned. Spike looked over and gasped. “Look!” he pointed. Rarity, Twilight, and Trixie looked towards where Spike was pointing, and gasped as they saw Prince Blueblood struggling to get up. The prince stumbled and his legs were shaking, but he shot a glare at Rarity. “You don’t know when to give up, do you?” wondered Spike. “I….erk….can still fight,” Blueblood said in a strained voice. “I can still….ack….win this.” He held his head and rubbed it. “It’s over, Prince Blueblood,” stated Twilight. “All of your soldiers are defeated. Your friends are done for. You have nopony else to help you but yourself.” The prince shook his head and grinned. “I don’t need them anyway,” he said. “I’ll take all the credit for this victory. As long as I can still stand, I’ll fight to the end.” Blueblood suddenly felt the downpour of rain, and looked up at the sky. He heard some thunder rumbling and lightning flashing across the sky. He scoffed and asked, “Who’s afraid of a little thunder?” Just as Blueblood looked back at Rarity, a loud boom rang out, catching everypony off guard and screamed. A flash appeared before them, and the group covered their eyes. “NNNNAAAAHHHH!!!!” Blueblood cried out at the top of his lungs. Spike lowered his hand and saw the prince had sparks shooting out from him, and his mane was sticking up. As quickly as the booming noise came, the flash was gone, and the agonizing screams of Blueblood died down. Twilight nervously put her hoof down. “I–is everypony okay?” she asked in a shaky tone. “I don’t think he is,” said Spike as he pointed to Prince Blueblood. Twilight looked over and gasped at the prince. Several static bolts could be seen around his body, and the sound of electricity crackling could be heard. His mane was pitch black from the char of the bolt, as was his tail. His eyes were wide with fear, and his mouth agap. “Prince Blueblood?” asked Twilight. Blueblood let out a cough, and then collapsed to the ground once more. Twilight rushed over, and put a hoof on his neck. “Ow!” Twilight cried out in pain. “Are you okay, Twilight?” both Spike and Trixie asked. Trixie rushed over to hold her, and Twilight gave a smile. “I’m okay,” said Twilight. “I was checking to see if he was still alive or not.” “So how is he then?” wondered Spike. “I think he’s okay,” answered Twilight. “I felt a small pulse, but he was too shocked to confirm it. I think all that electricity has just knocked him out and left him literally shocked. Needless to say, I don’t think he’ll be causing us any more trouble.” Twilight then felt a sharp pain, and rubbed her horn. “What’s wrong?” wondered Trixie. “Just got a bit of a headache,” said Twilight. “I think I used too much magic from Pinkie.”