Chapter 22
It took another fifteen minutes to figure out, but Vinyl finally managed to get her speakers working and was running a sound check. Vinyl went through the tapes she had. What was it Lemon said? Oh right, it had to be sappy songs, nothing too upbeat.
Luckily, she happened to have a tape labeled just that. She inserted it into the tape player and hoped to Faust that this would work.
Meanwhile, things were only starting to heat up on the top of the castle, and Sombra was enjoying every moment of it. “Your power is impressive!” he taunted as he dodged an attack from Sunset. “But if only you knew your true potential!”
“He’s just trying to wear us out!” Sunset warned. Rainbow, Fluttershy, and Twilight tried to surround him but he only laughed as a large crystal spire erupted out of the ground, raising him higher in the air. However, he managed to lower his guard for only a moment, enough for Rarity to get an attack in and managed to graze his shoulder. He looked at the small wound he had now and realized it was time to get serious. He snapped his fingers and suddenly small crystal blocks appeared, surrounding the girls.
“Whoa!” Rainbow had to move fast once the blocks started shooting lasers at everyone. Unfortunately, that ended up distracting her as a large bolt of energy and sent her flying towards the ground.
“Rainbow!” Fluttershy yelled. She calmed herself quickly and closed her eyes. “I could use some help right now!” Suddenly, a portal appeared and a large beast with wings and burn marks on its face came out, suddenly roaring at Sombra.
“Did you just summon a monster!?” Applejack asked.
“Um…I guess…I can usually call animals here but this is a new one for me,” Fluttershy said.
The manticore leapt forward, about to attack Sombra but he dodged out of the way before cutting the beast down with a simple flick of his wrist.
“…Crap,” Fluttershy cursed. Suddenly, one of the blocks appeared behind her and attacked.
Rarity gasped as she saw her friend crumble to the ground as well. “How dare you, attacking a defenseless girl from behind!?” She then attacked with a flurry of diamonds, which managed to destroy the cubes but weren’t enough to pierce through Sombra’s shield.
“Hey Rarity, give me a hand here!” Applejack yelled. She then grabbed the large spire and with a grunt managed to uproot it off the ground before tossing it into the air. Rarity quickly caught on and fired off more diamonds, cutting the crystal into equal pieces. Applejack then kicked each piece straight at Sombra as they came down.
However, Sombra used his magic to catch the pieces in midair and started rotating them around him, going faster and faster until all anyone saw was a blue band around him. He then launched them back at the girls with such velocity there was no way Applejack could catch them.
“Aw shit…” The two girls were then buried by the resulting rubble.
“Um...this isn’t looking good,” Pinkie said to Sunset and Twilight.
“You think you can get your party cannon?” Sunset asked.
“Oh, I can do better than that!”
“Good. Twilight and I will distract him then,” Sunset said as the two surrounded Sombra.
“You’re running out of options quickly,” Sombra said with a grin. “Perhaps you should’ve thought twice about my offer…”
“Still going to be a no!” Sunset yelled as she and Twilight attacked at the same. Sombra managed to shield in time but now had to deal with two attacks.
“Pinkie, now would be a good time!” Twilight yelled.
“Okie-dokie!” Pinkie then brought out a walkie-talkie. “Bring in the sprinkles!”
About three thousand feet in the air, an AC-130 targeted on Sombra’s position and fired its 120mm cannon. “Firing canisters.”
The sudden explosion could be seen from the plane’s camera. “Damn that’s a good shot!”
The good news was the attack hit. The bad news was that Pinkie easily underestimated the power a 120mm round could do, even if it was just sprinkles inside, and unfortunately the three of them were caught in the blast.
“Pinkie!” Sunset snapped.
Pinkie managed to crawl out of the rubble and gave a small thumbs up. “What? I thought you wanted the big guns."
The ground rumbled slightly as Sombra erupted out of the ground only slightly scathed. “Your powers are commendable if not…unorthodox. But as you can see, I am still standing and you all have but used up all your power.”
“This is…pretty bad…” Rainbow groaned.
Meanwhile, the girls from Crystal Prep have been trying to break out but to no avail. They might as well have been trying to break out of a bubble of Plexiglas. “This is really bad,” Indigo said. “I mean, if they can’t beat him, how do we stand a chance?” Sunny had been standing there with her eyes closed in thought for the past few minutes and it was driving Indigo crazy. “Hey leader, I hope you’re not daydreaming over there!”
“I have an idea,” Sunny whispered. “But you guys have to go along with me, okay?” She then went over and tapped on the glass. “Hey! You!”
Sombra looked over and smiled amusedly. “Oh, now the others wish to talk? I’ll save you the trouble and tell you that if you wish to fight me, it’s only going to end up the same way as these seven.”
“I know…I know we’re no match for you…and that’s why we beg for your forgiveness and to accept our surrender.” No one said anything but Sunny could certainly feel four pairs of eyes piercing into her back.
“I see…well at least some of you know how to accept your fate.” Sombra snapped his fingers and the bubble disappeared. “But do know my forgiveness comes with a price and of course if you serve me well, we’ll just pretend none of this ever happened.”
“There’s just one thing Your Majesty,” Sunny smiled. “Have you been keeping an eye on your ‘loyal’ subjects?”
“What?” Suddenly Sombra heard it. It wasn’t the sound of his name being chanted but…music? He quickly looked over the edge and saw the group of people were now gathered around someone with sound equipment, some with their cell phones raised in the air.
This was really proving to be a weird night, Vinyl concluded. As soon as she started playing her music, the group of students soon came out of their trance in a confused state but upon hearing the notes their mood quickly changed. Many were singing along while others were dancing and some, Vinyl assumed they were couples, were making out and dancing in the background.
There was one person, while very confused, was going around looking for someone. Royal Pin was pushing past people, his eyes darting back and forth. “Has anyone seen Sugarcoat?” he asked. “I don’t know if she’s here but…I need to tell her something.” Of course, no one appeared to be paying any attention to him.
Sombra was at a loss for words. What was going on, what is the meaning of this? “How can you have broken through my spell?”
“Funny what the power of music can do,” Sunny said. “We were all able to put it together, or I guess I should give the credit to Lemon. Your power is fed through the negative emotions of other people, but if these said people were suddenly feeling positive feelings, what would that do to you I wonder?”
Sombra could feel his power starting to slip. “It hardly matters, I am more powerful than all of you combined! I have the black crystal on my side!”
Sunset had noticed the crystal before and suddenly, she felt so foolish. How did she not see it sooner? “Girls,” she said. “There’s only one thing we can do. Direct your power towards the crystal, anything you’ve got left!”
“What will that do?” Twilight asked.
“Just trust me!” Sunset closed her eyes and the light coming from her necklace glowed even brighter as it shot towards the crystal. The others followed suit and as the rest of their magic struck the crystal, it turned from a metallic gray to a robin’s egg blue. Suddenly, like a prism, the energy was reflected and it struck the girls from Crystal Prep.
“What!?” Sombra said. “No…what have you done!?”
The power Sunny suddenly felt was unlike anything she ever experienced. It wasn’t just power but…she felt love for her friends and her home among other things. This was the power the other girls had and it seemed to fill in a gap each of the Crystal Prep girls had.
“I think I finally understand now,” she said. She opened her eyes and they glowed a bright white. “I always wondered why we were chosen with gifts such as this and why it seemed like we were just copying the others. But that’s the thing about friendship, it’s not always the same between everyone. Sure, we like to bring each other down for fun, or we may say things we end up regretting later and yes, compared to those seven girls its like staring at a mirror, but in the end, we would die for one another, because we’re proud of whom we are, and it doesn’t matter what people think of us.”
The other girls opened their eyes, feeling the same power that Sunny felt as they slowly lifted off the ground. “But in the end, we all have one thing to say to you Sombra: you don’t belong in this world and you sure aren’t going to control us! This is our school and our world!”
Suddenly, a black mass of energy appeared above them and it quickly grew, changing into the shape of an equine. Wings suddenly shot out from both sides of it as its eyes glowed a deep yellow. The Shadowbolt suddenly shot forward, straight towards Sombra.
“Noo!” The two collided in an impressive explosion of light that seemed to engulf the entire castle. The crystal started to glow even brighter as if reacting to the new presence of magic.
Once the smoke cleared, Sombra was left on his knees, panting heavily. “I…I refuse…to return to the darkness…” He got up on one knee slowly and glared at all of them. “Know this…you may have defeated me today but I will return one day…and I promise you when that day comes I’ll-”
Sombra was suddenly cut off short as a lance of dark energy pierced through his armor. He could only look down dumbfounded as he suddenly dropped to the ground. Radiant stood behind him, her hand raised up as she leaned back against the wall. “Go in peace…my love…”
The ground started to rumble as the crystal grew even brighter. Suddenly, the girls felt reinvigorated, like getting shot with a dose of adrenaline. “What’s going on?” Twilight said.
“With Sombra gone, this entire place is coming down!” Sunset said. She then went over to Radiant to help her up.
“I’ll be fine,” she assured her. “Take care of the others first.”
The rumbling grew more intense as the towers on top started to crumble. The Canterlot girls went over to the others and offered to give them a lift. “Man, I wish I could have wings!” Indigo said.
Rainbow chuckled. “Maybe next time!”
They were able to land safely before a large shockwave erupted from the castle, destroying it completely but at the same time leaving Crystal Prep in its original form. The wave seemed to expand all over Canterlot. “Well I’m glad that thing’s gone,” Lemon said.
The girls were suddenly caught off guard as a loud cheer erupted behind them and they were quickly swarmed by Crystal Prep students. Sugarcoat then heard her name as she saw Royal Pin running towards her. She managed to break through the crowd and ran up to meet him. “Royal, what are you-?”
“Honestly, I have no idea what’s going on right now,” Royal Pin replied. “I can hardly remember coming out here but…at one point I thought I heard your voice, calling to me. I know it sounds crazy but-”
“No, it’s really not,” Sugarcoat smiled as she took his hands. “At least not compared to what I’ve witnessed the past couple days. I’m just glad you’re alright.”
“You too but um…” Royal suddenly blushed. “There was something I needed to tell you?”
“O-Oh?” Sugarcoat felt herself blushing as well, feeling stupid that she was now starting to stutter.
“This is going to seem so sudden but…um…” Royal started to move closer and Sugarcoat, moving on autopilot now, did the same. They were very close now, her lips about to-
“Just what is the meaning of this!?” The sudden interruption jolted them apart and Sugarcoat scowled, recognizing that voice immediately.
Principal Cinch was making her way through the crowd as people moved out of her way. Cadance wasn’t too far behind her. She then saw the girls and pursed her lips. “I demand an explanation now!”
“Well, for starters, we just saved the world from an evil dictator,” Sunset said. “No thanks to you of course.”
“Yeah, and we totally got rid of that ugly castle!” Pinkie chimed in.
“Hold on, did I hear castle and evil dictator?” Cadance said, finally catching up.
“That’s right,” Twilight explained. “Principal Cinch has been keeping a rather big secret from all of us. She’s been keeping a vessel of dark magic deep below where Crystal Prep stands and wanted to use it as a defense against Canterlot High. Does that sound about right Principal Cinch?”
“What!?” Cadance could only stare at her.
“I don’t know what she’s talking about,” Cinch said dismissively. “Clearly these children are under the influence of something no doubt. But to make matters worse, they were holding an illegal party on school grounds.” She then stared at Sunny. “I thought I made myself clear before…”
“You know what, screw it!” Sunny suddenly snapped. “Expel us if you must! I rather go down doing good than the alternative!”
“Actually, she may no longer have that power…” Radiant Hope suddenly walked up to them.
Cinch stared at her, and her wardrobe, in surprise. “And just who are you?”
“My name isn’t important,” Radiant smiled. “What is important though is the choice you’re going to have to make. You see, Principal Cinch has a long history of bribery and blackmailing others, such actions that would not only make you lose your job, but also serve quite a bit of time behind bars.”
“I’d choose your words carefully,” Cinch threatened her.
“Oh I don’t need words, I have facts on my side.” Radiant then took out a small flash drive. “On this drive is all the emails and transactions between those you’ve threatened and bribed, respectfully. It’s quite a big list.”
“H-How did you get into my personal computer!?” Cinch snapped. “That’s burglary and invasion of privacy! I can have you arrested!”
“Hmm…but how can you arrest me if I don’t exist?” Her grin widened. “You have two choices: either we can continue on this route and you will, and believe me you will, find yourself out of a job and behind bars. Or…you can resign with what little grace you have left and we can just pretend this never happened. You’re no longer going to be principal of Crystal Prep anyway but at least in the end you can possibly retire comfortably.”
Cinch just stared flabbergasted at the strange, at a complete loss of words. “This isn’t over!” She then turned around marched away.
“Damn…!” Indigo and Lemon both said.
“Okay, question,” Sunset said. “Did you really break into her computer?”
“That’s my little secret…” Radiant beamed. “But I don’t think any of you are complaining, are you?”
“Wait…so if Cinch is gone then…” Twilight then looked at Cadance.
“Oh…no I don’t think it quite works that way,” Cadance giggled. “Actually, to be honest, I don’t think being principal is really my thing. Being Dean of Students has really been a joyful experience so I hope I can work with whoever becomes the new principal.”
“Okay, not to change the subject but…wow how did you guys do that!?” Rainbow said to Sunny.
“I think Sunny and I came to the same conclusion,” Sunset said. “It was a long shot but that crystal reacts to different magic and because we gave it power, it transferred it to the Shadowbolt girls.”
“It was kind of weird…” Sour said.
“But I think part of it was the magic we possessed as well,” Sunny said. “But I’ll be honest, if you guys want to take the lead role, I think that’s fine with us. We just want to go back to our regular lives if we can.”
“Honestly, Ah don’t think ya can go back to ‘regular’,” Applejack pointed out.
“Besides, now we know if something happens here, you guys can handle it, right?” Twilight asked.
“Oh…I think we've got it taken care of,” Sugarcoat said with a smile.
It wasn’t long before the group finally dispersed, leaving the twelve girls behind. “Can you believe its almost four in the morning?” Rarity asked.
“I am going to sleep like a baby,” Rainbow said.
“Oh that’s right, our summer’s just begun too,” Indigo said. “Speaking of which…you think we can all hang out again sometime?”
“Sure thing,” Applejack said. “You guys have no problem hanging out with CHS girls now right?”
“Heh, I guess not,” Sour said.
“But did we really fix everything?” Fluttershy asked.
“I don’t know, to be honest,” Sunset said. “But with the Tantabus and Sombra gone for good, I think we can all rest easy now.”
“Well, I guess we should all call it a night then,” Sunny said. “But you know, despite everything, it was kind of cool hanging out with you guys. You guys are obviously a big deal.”
“Well…yeah…” Pinkie shrugged.
“I’m just glad you guys don’t um…hate me anymore,” Twilight said sheepishly.
“You’re still a damn traitor!” Sour snapped. She then smiled pleasantly. “Just kidding! You’re pretty cool in my book now.” Twilight didn’t seem quite sure of that.
The two groups set off in different directions, not entirely sure if they’d ever meet each other again.
Sunset was dropped off at her apartment but she didn’t go inside right away. She looked up at the sky and saw it was a clear night. It had been a long time since she saw the stars in Equestria, and now she was wondering if she’d ever see them again.
“A bit for your thoughts?”
Sunset could only smile. “Are you following me now?”
“It certainly wasn’t my intention,” Radiant said. “I just figured you had some questions.”
“Well, I do have one in particular.”
“Ah, I’m going to assume either it’s “how are things in Equestria?” or “how do I get back home now?””
“Nailed it right on the head,” Sunset said, sighing. “Not that it really matters since the only connection I have is gone now.”
“Is it? I actually detected a small magical presence coming from CHS. The vessel is destroyed, that is true but…”
“You think it can be repaired?” Sunset asked, excitement suddenly in her voice.
“I think it may be easier than you think,” Radiant smiled. “I’m more than willing to help.”
“Thank you but…why?” Sunset asked.
“Consider it my way of repaying you,” Radiant said. “All of this could have been prevented if I had acted sooner. Perhaps you do not blame me but I blame myself. This is pretty much all I can offer.”
Forgetting the lure of sleep, Sunset went to get her keys. “Then let’s get started then. But one other thing…how did you find out about Cinch so easily?”
“I do have my own network you know…”
Sunny managed to sneak into her home unannounced, much to her relief. She quietly went to her room and crashed onto her bed, not caring about getting undressed. To have all of this put behind them was a tremendous relief.
She smiled slightly as she felt sleep overtake her quickly. Perhaps this was going to be a good summer after all.
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Good Show!
Dun dun duuuuun!
(eagle cry)
You just had to go and say it, didn’t you, Sunset...
Such use of profanity is frowned upon Fluttershy.
...
BUT HECK WITH EXPECTATIONS!!!
Damn this was good
We started out Scooby Doo
and ended up Power Rangers
good show