Jongoji245's The Return of Tambelon

by Jongoji245

Chapter 3 (New Timeline): Let Freedom Ring.

Cogsworth, Zipper, Diver, and Chelsey snuck around the city for an exit.They found a drawbridge surrounded by two soldiers. Cogsworth motioned them to stay down before appearing to them.

The goats immediately fired a barrage from their bells, blocked for the moment by the Galgameth’s metal arms.

Chelsey looked to her Sleipnir friend.

“Zipper, take them out!”

With a nod, the Sleipnir raced forward, circling around them so fast that the tornado pulled them off their feet and falling over the other side of the wall to their deaths.

As they prepared to open the bridge, the group of ponies looked behind them as a fire blazed in the night sky caused by the wyvern.

Stirred from his sleep, Grogar looked from his balcony to look at the upbringing. The large goat furrowed his eyebrows as the flames reflected out his pure red eyes.

“Grogar! The city is under attack! And the prisoners have escaped!” Bray shouted before being blasted by his master.

“Leave me, prove your worth in the battlefield!” - Grogar ordered, prompting the donkey to leave, before looking at the battle again - "It's time I end this rebellion, yes..." Grogar bounding off the balcony, crushing one of his men in the process.

In another sector of the city, the wyvern, Baku, and the Brobdingnag began tearing away at the city and the soldiers that fought against them. The Baku projected nightmares into many of the goats, stopping their attack. The third was bombarded with catapults before grabbing a building and throwing it at them. The wyvern hovered above them as she breathed out a poisonous gas.

While the destruction above ground continued, Cosgrove and Screwball walked further underground, not minding of the seismic activity unless it took a chunk off the ceiling. As the colt got closer he noticed a morbid sight. Bones littered the floor, some of which has maggots feasting on what scrap of flesh is left. The Hipparion's eyes widened as he looked at Screwball.

"And to think that ponies are a domestic kind." Said Screwball.

Traveling further, they come to a large grotto. At its center was a moss covered object hanging from the ceiling.

"There it is. Das Grand Bell."

Cosgrove approached the bell and rubbed it, removing some of the grime, revealing the original gold finish.

“All right, let’s end this!” He said before a massive light lavender hoof slammed before him. Cosgrove looked up to find Screwball now the size of an adult Horse, giving him an uneasy feeling “What are you doing?”

“In another life, you fought Nightmare Moon, and have outwitted me several times throughout your life.” Screwball drew a sneer

“Another life?” - Cosgrove cocked his head - “I did this before?”

“Yes, the exact same time, exact same location, deja vu. Only this time you had a friend who in that other life didn’t live in this world at this point. And because of her, you have improved so much on your combat skills…”

Cosgrove knew what she was getting at and assumed a battle stance. “This is no time for games!”

“Oh, it is a game. We are still in the tournament. Call it a match between a champion and a stowaway…” Returning to being filly sized, Screwball floated upward as transparent text below appeared.

DAUGHTER OF DISCORD

SCREWBALL

With a clop of her hooves, Screwball transported them out of Tambelon and to a location in Froggy Bottom Bog.

---

Back at Tambelon, the battle goes well for our heroes. Many of the soldiers have been defeated, a few have been recruited by Trog to help. Soon Grogar appeared in remains of the town plaza when Hooflock, five of his fellow Royal Guard, Trog, four of his opposition, Cogsworth, the brobdingnag, baku, and wyvern surrounded him.

“You are surrounded, tyrant!” Trog stepped forward “Surrender your kingdom to the people and leave Equestria forever!”

There was mere silence. The tyrant wasn’t amused before lighting up his bell.

“Cosgrove should have rung the bell by now.” Cogsworth whispered

"On the contrary… I have you surrounded!" Grogar immediately unleashed a barrage of fireballs, each one decimating a city block or two. Even those still loyal to Grogar were caught in the crossfire. Cogsworth aimed a spiral grenade before being blasted a great distance.

“Piece of junk!” Grogar growled before resuming his attack.

Back to Cosgrove, he dodged Screwballs multiple pink barrages before using his tarot cards to inflict a few wounds. One card scratched her cheek, drawing out a piece of light before being covered in chaotic flesh. Waving her arms around once again, they were teleported to Dragon Country, standing on a large rock in a lake of lava. The adult dragons watched as Screwball stamped on the platform, tilting it high enough to cause Cosgrove to start sliding down.

Back at the other side, Tambelon was in flames. Chelsey and Zipper opened the drawbridge, allowing the citizens and prisoners to escape. The two ponies along with Diver took cover at one of the buildings when the Galgameth crashed onto the ground.

“What is taking him so long!?” shouted Chelsey

Grogar had a few other troubles as well, the most annoying of which is the Brobdingnag throwing chunks of debris at him.

“You stupid animal! I will grind you into pulp!” Shouted Grogar before shooting a large blast from his horns, shattering the protective helmet and knocking him out.

---

Back in Dragon Country, Cosgrove was hiding behind a series of rocks. One after the other, the Hipparion would land a few blows, only for his previous hiding place to be crushed by a lavender. But Screwball, having known him in both lives became none the wiser.

“You’re quite a walking armory.” - With a wave of her hooves, they were sent to the ocean floor. The Hipparion winced as the salt water suddenly rushed into his eyes and nostrils before instinctively swimming up to the surface, leaving behind his decks of tarot cards. Catching his breath, he opened his eyes slowly to see a duck with swirly eyes floating in front of him - “But now let’s see how you do without your toys.”

With another clop of her hooves, they were teleported to the most unlikely battleground for a tournament: Ponyville, or more specifically, Cosgrove’s own front yard. The Hipparion flopped onto the grass, shaking off the water from his fur before Screwball landed on the ground in front of him.

“Cosgrove!?” The two combatants turned to find Loopty Hoop and Lion Tamer running towards them when electric fence posts jutted in front of them before wire fencing wrapped around them.

“Aw… The whole family's here.” Screwball noticed Sunset Shimmer about to light up her horn before summoning a duplicate over to snatch her horn, rendering her powerless - “Nuh uh! No outside help!”

Cosgrove growled as Screwball tapped the horn on her hooves before tossing it aside.

“You should have just waited.” In one swoop, Screwball transformed her front limbs into meat hooks before finishing in a sing-song tone - “Now you’ll have to pay!”

Immediately Screwball jumped up and barely missed Cosgrove when she hooked into the ground. Grabbing the dismantled horn, Cosgrove quickly drew the electricity alchemy symbol. The spirals in Screwballs eyes tensed as Cosgrove’s eyes looked at the Chaos Pony with predatory intent.

---

Back at Tambelon, Trog and Grogar finally took the fight in a more physical manner as they pressed their heads against each other, trying to push each other away. Hooflock grabbed a spear from a fallen goat soldier and threw it at Grogar’s shoulder. Trog now had a strength advantage as he pushed forward. But brute strength is no match for magic as Grogar quickly blasted his foe away.

“You do well to remember, gatekeeper, I served under our former armies before this happened.” Grogar immediately charged at Trog’s side, knocking him over before crushing his ribs.

Back in Ponyville, Screwball still had the upper hand. Aside from having an infinite amount of energy, Screwball’s chaotic method in fighting proved too much for the Hipparion as her twirling technique made several cuts and lashes on his arms. With one uppercut, Cosgrove was toppled to the ground. His remaining unswollen eye looked at Screwball as she began to cackle.

“Yes!” She laughed “For the first time, I win!!” She looked at her fallen foe breathing so shallowly - “Now, about that other life. It’s gone, erased. So technically you, her, your grandparents, all dead.” - As Screwball continued, Sunset noticed Cosgrove shuffling his arm a little that only her eyes noticed - “After the Friendship Games, which will occur again in this timeline, Daddy, Pinkie, and I made that timeline into fiction and altered so much that so many possibilities arose. And among those changes, I will win.”

As Screwball began to laugh, Cosgrove rose up onto his legs and aimed a hoof at Screwball. She still laughed before noticing that the hoof began to glow until the alchemy symbol resembling a sun formed.

---

Back in reality, Grogar made his advances through the resistance. When his bell was fully lit, the mountain goat reared up. The ponies winced at his finishing blow.

Just before the spell is unleashed, Screwball clopped her hooves, sending them back to the chamber of the Grand Bell. The Hipparion was sent flying back as a stream of power the size of his hoof shot out and rang the bell.

Upon unleashing his power, the bell around his necklace shatter and crumbled to the ground.
Suddenly a large rainbow pierced the skies and wrapped around the now powerless mountain goat.

“Nooooooo!!!!!”

The light reached down to the dark tunnel, causing Cosgrove’s pupil to shrink.

“Show… Don’t tell…” He said before fainting.

When the blinding light faded, nothing was left. Grogar wasn’t destroyed, as the Elements were never designed to, but was sent over to Tartarus, locked in a cage on a rock islet chained next to Tirek’s. Light began to pierce the night sky as the Elements of Harmony in Rainbow Power descended to Tambelon.

As they landed on the ground, those that remained to fight joined up with them.

Cogsworth got up, noticing a faint signal a ten feet below before shifting the Galgameth’s good arm into a drill.

Deep in the echoing underground, Screwball appeared before the fainted Cosgrove.

“And this… Happened in the Old Timeline too.” Screwball turned herself upside down before turning a lock of her mane into a small knife “But this wouldn’t be a complete loss.”

Before she could deal the final blow, The Galgameth broke through the floor. Taking notice of this, Screwball’s dreadful mug softened, withdrawing the weapon.

“Call it a lucky break.” She finished, patting his mane before giggling into obscurity.

Looking to the sound of pistons, they looked to find Cogsworth carrying an unconscious Cosgrove in the Galgameth’s pincers. They then looked back up at the sky as for the first time in a thousand years, the sun finally shone on a reformed Tambelon.