Twilight's Kingdom: Unite & Ascend

by RockStarMLP

Rules of Nature: Unite & Ascend

Tirek gained an upper hand in the battle with Tails. The fox attempted to charge with another Ki attack but was caught in a holding spell and unable to free himself immediately. After having been smashed onto the ground repeatedly, there came a point where he was held in one spot as the villain jumped high into the air. The launch was higher than expected, and the result of it was having a hoof slamming right down onto him like a foot stomping on a bug, with the hero's head spared.

Tails cried out in pain, feeling the force break at least one bone in his body. When the hoof lifted off of him and still trapped in the spell, he was lifted into the air, and tossed against several broken pieces of earth formed from the battling. He was finally released after being slammed against the ground face first as hard as Tirek's magic could allow. It took several seconds before he got back on his feet, or at least try, as his right leg surged with incredible pain and his chest not as better.

After collapsing back down, a hand over his chest and another supporting him off the ground, there was no denying that his leg and most of his ribs were broken.

It had been a little while since the heroic fox felt that damaged, the most recent from the events from home just prior to discovering Equestria. It took a minute for him to try and regain what control he had, with Tirek just standing there and watching all the while. The villain watched as his opponent was clearly suffering damage, and himself barely even bruised. Yet he watched in intrigue as Tails finally lifted himself up, flying into the air to be eye-to-eye with him and panting through exhausting pain.

"It looks as if there is no impasse for this fight," said Tirek. "You are indeed strong, lasting far longer than I had anticipated, but not strong enough to win."

Tails stared back with the still determined and ferocious glare he had at the battle's start. "I'm not done with you yet," he told the foe with his fatigue-toned voice. "I've been in worse shape and fought worse enemies than you. You're not going to win. I promise you that."

"I wouldn't make a promise I doubt you could keep," Tirek growled. "I have enough power to turn Equestria into a wasteland, the power that was always mine to control. Compared to me, you are nothing!"

"No!" Tails snapped back with releasing rage. "You're a thief, a liar, and an endangering monster to my friends! You can't break me down and stop me from making sure you're stopped!" With a cringe he took an aerial stance and glowed a bright gold aura, and let out an open hand to blast the foe with an energy blast. Tirek countered with a counterattack of his own, canceling the two out between them with a blinding light.

Tails seized this new chance to make a surprise attack and disappeared behind the bright light. When it had faded, Tirek did not see where the fox went, that is until he looked directly above him. Another bright light shined, from another energy blast that the villain was too late to block, causing the attack to knock him on his knees. With all the might he could collect, the hero clenched his hands into fists, and threw a punch that face-planted the foe right into the ground. Tails didn't stop there as he barraged his opponent with blow after blow as fast and effective as possible.

Tirek used his arm to swipe the fox into the air, allowing him to begin getting back on his hooves. He was halfway up when he saw Tails charge back at him, landing a rolling kick with his good leg right across his face. The fox then began a new barrage of punches right on Tirek's dark red face, going from left hook to right hook, then left, then right, and so on. With every punch the giant foe made a step back, and the fox threw one after another until what felt like three dozen blows. It was at this point that Tirek's patience had finally run out.

"I've had enough of this!" the villain exclaimed, catching another attempted blow from the fox with his magic. He charged up a sphere of energy between his horns and blasted Tails dead on.

Tails didn't have time to block the attack as he was only inches away from it, and took it full force as it blasted him across the Everfree Forest below him. When the blast had lightened enough he began to fall down to the ground, smashing through tree limbs in the process. He then tumbled meters after meters before dragging dozens of feet against the dirt, stopping just before the edge of a cliff.

He laid there hurt and damaged, his eyes making out his surroundings in a blur. When his vision began to clear, he found what was a massive gray blur turn into a building with an older style of architecture not so existent where he was from. He found himself near the Castle of the Royal Sisters, just far away at the stairs leading down into the gorge below, where a light shined and sound of rushing feet could be heard.

He looked down to see numerous colors racing towards the light, one of which the most familiar shade of green he ever knew. The green one was Cosmo without question, and she was with their Ponyville friends rushing into a cave where the light was coming from. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he was sure there was something about what was inside that cave that would help them. If that was true, then he had to make sure to keep Tirek away from them more than ever.

But marching his way towards the hero, Tirek was walking through the forest as if it was nothing. He blasted spot after spot with his power, causing more and more destruction as he marched. It was when he was just near the tree line that he blasted at the ground where Tails was, but the fox jumped out of the way to dodge it. He tumbled on the ground again, going over the edge of the cliff and grabbing hold of the edge before he could fall. But before he could lift himself up, a magical force did it for him.

/)∞(\

"Keep it movin', y'all! Get to the Tree!"

The last blast sent rocks and stone flying down into the gorge, some being small pebbles, others the size of teenage ponies. It caught the attention of the group of friends, who turned to see the incoming rocks heading right for them. Applejack called out to them to keep moving and escape from harm. It kept them all running, but they still had to dodge falling rocks from left to right. Then again, the Mane 6 did have experience in avoiding falling objects, such as avalanches and dive-bombing Changelings.

Fluttershy managed herself well, but a boulder nearly as big as an average pony crashed down just a few feet in front of her path. It scared her into a yelp and she slid to a complete stop just before where the boulder landed. Fortunately she used her wings as air resistance to assure she wouldn't slide right into the stone. However, she neglected to notice another rock aiming right in her place, but another noticed this.

"Look out!"

Discord did some quick thinking and used his tail to wrap around Fluttershy and pull her out of the way just before the next falling rock came crashing down into the first one, both turning into gravel. He kept on running with her in tow until they were both inside the cave. She was set back down on her hooves in great relief that she was safe, but shocked that a huge rock was right on line with her head.

"Are you alright, Fluttershy?" Discord asked her.

Fluttershy immediately nuzzled against Discord, tears of relief flowing out of her eyes. "Thank you, thank you, thank you," she said as she tried not to sob too heavily.

Before the draconequus could say anything back, and as Twilight was just entering herself, another pony made a cry outside. The alicorn's head jerked around in an instant to see that Nyx had tripped over.

The moment the rocks came coming down, Nyx did her best to keep up. Because she was much smaller than the other ponies, and especially a smaller scale compared to her former full-grown self, she had a hard time trying to keep up. She eventually stumbled between her hooves, causing her to fall and slide a few feet before coming to a stop. Rocks fell all around her, but her mother noticed one stone in particular making its way down towards Nyx.

"NYX!" Twilight cried out.

But just as Nyx's eyes began to look back at the incoming stone, she found Cosmo jumping between it and her, swinging her Keyblade in a vertical slash. The rock split into halves, falling at their sides rather at the filly and Seedrian, and crashed onto the ground. She then used her Keyblade's magic to make a shield to keep them covered as they saw the last of the rocks fall towards them and others further way.

Cosmo turned around to help Nyx back on her hooves, kindly asking "Are you alright?"

The filly nodded and replied "Yeah, thanks," to which Cosmo just smiled back. But then Nyx saw what was happening back up at the gorge's top. She pointed her hoof in that direction and said "Oh no! Look!"

Cosmo, and Twilight, who was still standing by the entrance of the Tree's cave, looked up to see Tails hanging off the cliff. They could see he was not in the best condition, seeing battle marks all over his body, and thin streams and smears of red in his fur. He was holding himself up by one hand, his other looking to be grabbing his chest. An orange aura surrounded him as Tirek came into view next, using his power to levitate the fox into the air, and he was barely able to put up a fight.

Cosmo could tell that he wasn't well and needed help. All she knew from the ponies was that the medallion Twilight wore could be the last key they could use to stop Tirek, and if that was the case, then she may not need to help them much more at this point, as they had made it to the Tree of Harmony. Without turning back to Twilight, she said to her friend "Tails needs help. You go do what you can." She didn't turn back to see that Twilight nodded, and began to run her way to the battle.

Twilight called out to her daughter "Nyx, get in here, quick!" The small filly immediately began to run, meeting her mother at the cave opening. "Come on, let's see what this thing can do," she said, holding the medallion in her hoof before starting to run to the box with her daughter starting to follow.

Nyx, however, only took a few steps forward before turning her head back to look outside. The thought of Tails in trouble bothered her, even though she was aware of his history as a warrior and hero. She took a few steps back out of the cave, facing where she saw Cosmo racing her way back up the stairs, and Tails still in Tirek's magical bind. The couple have helped save her life from the villain earlier, and all she began to think about returning the favor to help them, to help her mother and her friends, and to help Equestria.

/)∞(\

Tails remained trapped in Tirek's magic as he felt it lift himself to the foe's eye level. The whole time, he had a whole eye open and a half-shut eye staring back, his mouth panting breaths of air in and out. The tumble worsened his breaking body, particularly his already broken ribs, but he showed the minimal reaction to the pain he could allow himself. When he stared eye to eye with the villain, Tirek began to look amused, grinning at the site of the fatigued fox.

"Look at you," he said with an evil laugh, "broken apart with barely anything left to continue. This battle is over, as I've proven you are no match for the power I possess..." He paused for a moment before adding "...and now with the power you will supply me with..."

Tails spat out some blood and spit built up from his mouth, right down to the ground below him, continuing to stare back at the villain. As one hand was still on his chest, the other was limp, but limp in appearance. "You want my power?" he said, and immediately followed by the spit landing on Tirek's hoof. "Then here!"

Using his free hand, he waved it across his front, releasing a wave of Ki straight at his target. It hit Tirek's chest, but wasn't strong enough to break his focus to release the hero from the magical bind. Unpleased and enraged, Tirek shook off the attack's impact, and then said "Enough games! Your magic is mine!"

He shut his eyes and opened his mouth, and then began to take Tails's power, but there was a problem. He wasn't drawing any power from the fox. His own power wasn't increasing at all. It was a moment of deja vu when he attempted to take Celestia, Luna and Cadance's magic and got nothing. His eyes opened to see what was going on, and widened to what he saw.

Tails was just as surprised to find that a shield had appeared around him, shielding him from anything from its outside, and keeping his power safe inside. "Where did this..." he wondered aloud, but his eyes looked down as he sensed where the energy came from.

Below he found Cosmo running up to the top of the gorge's staircase, casting a shield spell through her Keyblade's magic. As she reached the top, she kept herself in a focused stance to keep the shield as strong as possible, but at the same time, used magic in her weapon as a blast of energy at Tirek.

As they knew from their training with the King during the Dimensional Metarex War, their hearts are always connected, and the magic power can be shared between them through their Keyblades. Because of this, Cosmo's strike was just as powerful as what Tails had just done. Unfortunately, it did nothing to break his concentration enough to free the fox. Knowing she couldn't do much more than keep the shield up around her love, Cosmo tried to take advantage of the small window of opportunity and have Tails use both Keyblades as one.

"Tails, catch!" she called out to him, using all her might to toss her weapon into the air.

But Tirek, knowing of the Keyblades' magical properties after Tails's description of it earlier, intervened just in his perfect timing. He dropped his jaw and began to absorb the magic of the tossed blade. The Keyblade came just within Tails's reach before vanishing in thin air, and its magic beaming into Tirek and increasing his power more.

But it wasn't the end of that.

"Your magic is very quenching," the villain said, "and now I'll take the rest."

His jaw opened and began stealing magic again, this time from Cosmo. Caught in his magical bind instantly, she felt herself being drained of what power she possessed. The inner power of a Seedrian, the magic of a Keywielder, even the Seedrian Spirit Stone she wore on her chest, all being siphoned. When the deed was done, she was freed from the bind, but collapsed onto the ground on her side, only barely conscious.

"COSMO!" Tails cried, horrified by what he just watched. He was still trapped in Tirek's bind and Cosmo's shield, that magic seeming to have taken much more power than normal to keep so strong. He turned his enraged eyes back to Tirek, whose power and size grew again, but still wanting more.

"Interesting. You've already given me so much magic," Tirek said, "but I can still see something in you. But what exactly?" He stared down at the girl laying on the ground, her only movement from her chest as she breathed lightly. He studied her, overhearing the fox to turn his eyes away, but ignored him nonetheless.

"Yes... Yes I think I figured it out. You are like what I thought of Nightmare Moon. You may have a greater power tied to your life force that you do not access."

Although she couldn't do much except hope to feel her energy regain itself, Cosmo could hear what Tirek was saying very well, as did Tails. Both Mobians thought of two things about what the villain had said. One was that what he did to Nyx earlier was a bluff, as he just admitted not knowing for certain that hidden reserves of her full alicorn magic remained in her that connected with her life directly. The ultimatum between Equestria and Nyx meant nothing, and that if she did went on to sacrifice herself, she'd still be alive, only completely drained of her magic. In the end, she was only a small tool used by Tirek for selfish gain.

The other was that unlike Nyx, Cosmo did have a tie-in between her life force and a certain power. At the end of the Dimensional Metarex War, the Seedrian had died again, but returned to life following an infant spirit, named Aura, using her newborn life to bring Cosmo back. Although it wasn't thought of much, the power to revive Cosmo may not have been all of it, given what Tirek claimed to be true and some power still does course through her body. Neither could believe it to be true, not without proper tests done of course, but the villain wanted to find out right then and there.

"Let's see how much power you still have..."

"Don't you DARE harm her!" Tails exclaimed from within the shield. He strained himself to release what energy he could to bring out his Keyblade, and used it to make himself free from both the foe's bind on him, and the shield Cosmo conjured. But as he did, he was too late to stop Tirek's siphoning from starting.

But none of them there saw what had happened during the time of their actions. A bright light shined from below, glowing brighter and brighter. As it glowed, Tirek found himself unable to steal power again, the third time in one day. He focused his eyes downward to figure out why. What he saw, and Tails just after, surprised them both.

"What is the meaning of this?!" Tirek exclaimed as he saw yet another shield spell having been casted, this time around Cosmo.

The Seedrian hero focused her eyes enough to look next to her, finding four little black hooves standing right next to her. To her shock, to the three's overall surprise, there was Nyx in a firm but straining stance as her horn was glowing a dark shade of blue, the same color as the shield. The little filly had arrived to the scene just at the perfect time, sneaking in as Tirek's focused remained on the fighting couple and not the greater surroundings.

"Stop it!" Nyx cried out to the villain. Her voice sounded as strained as her body was being trying to cast the shield. "Stop hurting... my friends and... my family! We've had enough!"

Tirek took no pleasure at such a sight in his eyes, an insignificant pony trying to prevent his plans again. "WHY YOU!..." That was all he could say, as everyone then noticed something else; a powerful light energy.

The bright light was not coming from Nyx, but from down in the gorge below. It continued to get brighter with each second, and as Tails could sense, an overwhelming power was emitting from down below. He couldn't explain it, and Tirek couldn't comprehend it. The light's source floated into the air above, higher than where Tails flew at the foe's towering level, with six figures floating inside a sphere of great energy. All those who could see recognized who they were, despite some strange new appearances. It was the saviors and heroes of Equestria, the Elements of Harmony;

It was the Mane 6.

The broken, beat and scarred Tails continued to stare as he remained in the air, and Nyx and Cosmo trying to look their best from below. Tirek, on the other hand, was not patient enough to understand what was happening this time. He immediately charged his energy between his horns, firing it against the bright sphere with no effect.

"How is this possible?!" Tirek exclaimed in disbelief. "You have no magic!"

"You're wrong, Tirek!" Twilight said back. "I may have given you my Alicorn magic, but I carry within me the most powerful magic of all!"

Cosmo, overhearing this and barely able to make a sound, smiled and said to herself quietly "...Friendship."

"Unacceptable!" yelled the enraged villain. "I refuse to believe this!"

Tirek once again charged energy from between his horns, firing another blast just as strong as the last. In the center between him and the Mane 6, the blast was being stopped by Tails, who used his power and Keyblade to guard against it. He did struggle through the physical pain, but with a loud yell he used his might to knock the blast into an adjacent direction, going into the day lit sky above them. With his powered up friends behind him, the fox stared down at Tirek with confidence, but did not show it by smile, but by a growling mouth instead.

"ENOUGH OF THIS, TIREK!" Tails proclaimed, his Keylade disappearing once again. "THIS FIGHT IS OVER!!!" The golden aura surrounding him intensified.

"NO! IT IS FAR FROM OVER!" Tirek proclaimed. "LET'S SEE HOW YOU FAIR AGAINST ALL THAT I'VE GOT!!!" He then immediately began to charge all of his power into one more blast, aiming straight for Tails and the Mane 6.

Tails found himself right in what would be the crossfire of Tirek and the ponies' attacks. He looked back up at his friends, seeing their new forms from whatever source they came from. He had all the confidence they could handle things, but he was someone who would never leave his friends to fight a battle, not as long as he was there to help however he could. Then, he noticed how Twilight appeared, recalling what she had said moments ago, and then especially noticed Rainbow Dash's appearance. The cyan mare's mane, it bared a strong resemblance to a different form of power, and that struck an idea to him.

He knew how he could help more. He knew that thanks to Nyx, she and Cosmo were fine. He remained in the air, and put himself in the stance for a signature attack used by the greatest warriors of other worlds. His eyes were deadlocked on Tirek as his hands began to collect any and all energy he could collect from his own reserves for his strongest attack all day.

"Twilight!" Tails called out. "No matter what happens, I need you and everypony to give Tirek all you've got, even if I'm caught in your attack!"

The Mane 6 floated in their place shocked, and not too keen on the idea. They knew how their interdimensional friends were capable of great things, but this new power, the power they opened from the box from the Tree of Harmony, there was no telling what could happen. Even as a force of good, could it harm Tails more than Tirek had already done, or perhaps worse?

"Tails, No!" Twilight said. "We don't know what will happen to you! Protect yourself before anything else happens to you! You don't deserve that from our fight!"

"You've all demonstrated to me the magic of Friendship! It's a power meant for good!" yelled back the fox. "I trusted you before! Now I ask you to trust me! I'll be fine, and we'll win!"

Everypony still questioned the idea, almost refusing to do a thing until he would move. To gamble with chance, they've done it before, but it's never an easy action to repeat.

"Friends don't harm friends!" Another voiced called from below.

Struggling onto her feet, Cosmo and Nyx tried to support each other from collapsing face-first onto the ground, the former again. It was Cosmo who called that out, a reassured grin across her face from knowing and trusting not only her closest and best friend, but the young man she loved. "Trust him, everypony, and finish this once and for all!"

"ENOUGH!" bellowed Lord Tirek. "THIS! ENDS! NOW!!!" The villain then released the biggest and most powerful blast he could unleashed right for the heroic fox, but the hero was more than ready.

"KAAAAAAAA, MAAAAAAAAAAAAY! HAAAAAAAAAAAA, MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!" Tails collected his energy within his hands, his sights dead set at Tirek's blast. Within inches of the opposing attack making impact, the fox unleashed his counterattack with a final yell.
"HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!"

Firing all the energy he could muster, the heroic fox held the villain's attack back and away from himself and the others. He gave all the might he had left until the two blasts met and stayed in the middle, as such making the two attacks stuck at a stalemate. This would not last forever as Tails knew he didn't have enough energy to keep it up for so long, or for the matter, too much longer. It was now or never for his friends to act, and use this new magical source to finish this battle once and for all.

While still shooting at his current full force, Tails turned his head back, only so far as half of his face to let an eye look back at the Mane 6. He took what breath he could from his lungs, through the pain of his broken ribs, and called out to them.

"NOW’S YOUR CHANCE!"

The Mane 6 heard his call, but they were still too hesitant to do anything. All their faces expressed signs of uncertainty and worry for him, as they had no idea what their actions would do to him in the crossfire. The last thing anypony ever wanted to do was bring harm to friends, and with no idea of what exactly their actions would do, other than stop Tirek of course, Twilight was about to go completely against the idea. After all, her friends helped save her daughter from a deadly fate, so what right did she have to risk Tails' life?

"What do we do, Twi?" Applejack asked, but the alicorn princess remained silent.

Twilight let her eyes shift down to Nyx and Cosmo on the ground below, seeing them both try to hold each other up. The Seedrian and filly came to each other's rescue today, and for practically the same reasons, and now they remained in Nyx's shield, waiting to see what happened next. Looking down at them reminded Twilight what Cosmo had said to convince her and her friends to do whatever it would take to beat Tirek. With that in mind she looked back at Tails, and that's when she and the rest of the Mane 6 were shown their epiphany.

For a moment, a rainbow aura strip began surrounding up Tails, wrapped horizontally around his body from his feet, and going all the way up to his head. This rainbow, however, was one that didn't have the most known color scheme, but instead six different ones - the Mane 6's coat colors. The same colors wrapped around their irises for a second, forming a new rainbow connection to remind them of one of the many important things about friendship-

Friends do not hurt friends. They work together and help each other become stronger.

With this new realization in mind, Twilight wore a determined grinned on her face, now knowing what she and the others had to do. "Come on girls," she said to her friends. "Let's finish this!"

The five agreed with her, and began their own attack. Out of the sphere came six strands of magic one by one, each having one of the colors of their rainbow connection. Each one hit Tirek, forcing him to flinch every time, as this power began to overwhelm him. When all six strands had struck, they began to form into a single beam, starting from the ponies, and engulfed Tails as he remained in the center.

Tails felt the magical power of the new magic fuel him with new energy. He felt himself getting stronger and stronger, much more than his states that didn't include the Chaos Emeralds. This power was exactly what he needed, not only to help finish this battle, but perhaps allow himself to ascend to the next level of his abilities. He let the magic flow through him, and in turn help charge his own attack, and made the last call of the fight.

"TIREK," Tails exclaimed, "THIS FIGHT IS OVER!"

And with another great yell, his blast combined with the Mane 6's and increased dramatically, completely overtaking the enemy's attack. The dark orange opposing energy diminished to nothing as the rainbow power dominated and engulfed the magic-siphoning tyrant. The villain cried in pain as his power was stripped out of him, and sending him back to one of the lowest prison cells in Tartarus. At long last, the evil Lord Tirek was defeated.