Power Ponies 3: Perilous

by Epicdiscord214

Two Down

The Masked Matterhorn stood still looking up at Luna's moon thinking about her fallen double. Hum Drum walked on over to her and patted her on the soldier.

"Are you okay, Twilight?" Hum Drum asked.

"I'm fine." the Masked Matterhorn said. "Just... Thinking. She may have been evil, but she knew what was right in the end. I can't hate her."

"I think that's a good thing." Hum Drum said. "At least she proved herself to be a true hero in the end."

"GUYS!" Devastator's voice bellowed. "COME HERE!"

The Masked Matterhorn and Hum Drum met up with the Power Ponies and Mighty Machines in front of the castle door. Devastator kept rubbing the inside of his ear.

"What's up, pup?" Masque asked.

"I don't know what's going on," Devastator said, "But I keep hearing some kind of static-like thing in my ear."

"Let me see." Masque said. He looked into Devastator's ear. "Uh, huh. Just like I thought."

"What?" Devastator asked.

"I can only see outside the other ear." Masque said before laughing a bit.

"Be serious!" Devastator urged.

"I don't see anything wrong." Masque explained. "Everything seems to be working fine.

"Hello, hello." a voice said inside Devastator's head. "Are you there?"

"Who is that?" Devastator asked.

"Who is what?" Dusk asked.

"I'm hearing a voice in my head." Devastator explained.

Suddenly, in a flash of light, Anar D appeared wearing a doctor's outfit. "Well, that's the first sign of hyperdelerisis. You start to hear voices."

"D, there's no such thing as hyper... whatever." the Shadow Blot said.

"I know, but I just wanted to wear this outfit." Anar D giggled. "It's good to be back in the game."

"Listen," Devastator said, "I think... I'm hearing Spike's voice."

"Me?" Hum Drum asked.

"Not you, you." Devastator said. "I think it's..."

"That's right." a certain alternate Hum Drum called out. "Brought to you live from Equestria Perilous, iiiiiiiiiit's Blunder."

"Blunder?" Devastator asked. "How are you talking to us?"

---

"Not all of you." Blunder said. He witnessed the rest of the Resistance walking many ponies out of Peril tower, including the princesses. "Just you. Just yesterday, the Malicious Machines shed their wirewolf bodies and somehow turned back into normal ponies and a dog. We then used Bruticus' gear to make a radio and talk to you, but since you're an alternate version of Bruticus, only you could pick up our signal."

---

"Guys," Devastator told his friends, "The Resistance is calling me from Perilous."

"Really?" Saddle Rager asked. "How are they?"

"How are you guys?" Devastator asked.

---

"Great, actually." Blunder said. "I don't know what you guys did, but somehow, all the ponies turned stupid by the Negahorn gained their intelligence back. In just a minute, the princesses are going to clear the skies and we'll finally feel the moonlight on our faces again."

---

"Apparently, defeating the Negahorn brought her Zoo ponies back to normal." Devastator said.

"Wonderful!" Radiance said.

"Hey, what about the Mane-iac and Gryphon Galore?" Devastator asked. "They're kinda our responsibility."

---

"Yeah." Blunder said looking at the Sisterhood of Evil tied up. "Once we find a portal to your world, we'll send them back home ASAP. Maybe then, you can trade us with Bell Weather."

---

"Hold on, what?" Devastator asked in confusion. "What about Bell Weather?"

---

"Isn't she with you?" Blunder asked. "No one's seen her since the Negahorn left."

---

"She... She didn't come with us." Devastator said. "She's missing?" The others looked worried and confused.

---

"That doesn't make any sense." Blunder said. "You'd think she'd be the first to celebrate our victory."

The baby dragon got blinded by a red light hitting his face from above. He looked and gasped alongside the rest of the ponies.

---

"What?" Devastator asked in worry. "What's going on?"

---

"It's... It's the moon." Blunder breathed heavily as he gazed up. "It's... red!"

Blunder was right. Shining crimson rays from the night sky, the moon was covered red as blood. The sight of it frightened all the Equestrians who lived there.

---

"It's... what?" Devastator asked.

"What, what?" Filli-Second asked.

"He said..." Devastator said. "He said their moon is red?"

"Seriously?" the Masked Matterhorn asked. "Why..."

That's when they heard the sound of metallic clanking. They looked up across the courtyard seeing the thin, metal-eyed man clapping his mechanical hands.

"Finally!" Tartus exclaimed. "I can stop this ruse! I've been waiting all afternoon for someone in Perilous to notice my gift."

"Your gift?" Saddle Rager asked. "I don't understand."

That's when the Shadow Blot understood. "You made the moon like that? Why?"

"It's just to make a statement." Tartus said. "The Blood Moon is a symbol of the apocalypse. It's basically my symbol. I must say, I have to thank you."

"Thank us?" the Masked Matterhorn repeated. "For what?"

"For getting me one step closer to my endgame." Tartus answered. "My revenge is close to completion."

Behind the Shadow Blot's back, the wirewolf had created a gremlin-like creature made of metal and covered its mouth so Tartus wouldn't hear.

"What revenge?" the Masked Matterhorn asked. "We didn't do anything to you!"

"You still haven't figured it out?" Tartus asked in a chuckle. "Let's just say... for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction... and I am that reaction."

The Shadow Blot was about to throw his creature until... a familiar Pegasus landed between the heroes and the villain.

"Bell Weather?" Zapp asked. "What are you doing here?"

"No time to explain!" Bell Weather replied in a hurry. She reached out her hoof. "Shadow, pass me your little thing!"

"Uh... sure!" the Shadow Blot agreed throwing his creature toward her.

When she caught the creature, anyone would expect her to throw it at Tartus' head, but instead, she held on to it and chuckled.

"That.. was... close." Bell Weather laughed. "Nice throw, Ricky!"

"What..." the Shadow Blot asked. "I don't..."

"You know, the best part about undercover work in an apocalyptic world," Bell Weather boasted, "You get to make up whatever backstory you want and no one would prove otherwise. I actually told Blunder I worked at a coffee shop to get out of boredom... and he actually believed me. Hehehe." Suddenly, she slammed her hoof on the ground breaking the creature to pieces.

"You're..." Hum Drum said. "You're working for him? Why?"

"Because he created me." Bell Weather said. "And don't call me Bell Weather. Call me..." The Pegasus extended her wings and started to glow green. Her front legs were absorbed by her body and her hind legs turned into big bird talons. Her wings grew and her snout changed into a big beak. "Jade!"

"You!" the Shadow Blot gasped. "I remember you! You're one of those green birds that work for Tartus!"

"We call ourselves Greengear." the vulture said. "Right, boys!"

Then, three other green vultures appeared from behind the surroundings.

"Hehehe!" a scared one laughed. "They didn't know what hit 'em."

"What hit 'em?" the big one asked.

"Don't speak, Verde." the one with the cracked beak said. "You'll just hurt your brain. That goes double for you, Emerald."

"No need to get personal, Leaf." Emerald said.

"Shut up, all three of you." Jade said. "This is the boss' time."

"Thank you, Jade."

"You... You've been posing as the leader of the Resistance this whole time?!" the Masked Matterhorn asked in shock. "Why?"

"To keep the boss notified." Jade said.

"It's a very simple plan, actually." Tartus continued. "Once I had finally acquired the Golden Apple, I had to pass over it to someone else, like the Negahorn, until further notice. I knew she had the Asteroth and she couldn't resist the power of the Golden Apple. But I couldn't leave it unsupervised, so I left Jade here to keep an eye on the Negahorn's actions."

"And that's when I came up with a great idea." Jade said. "If I infiltrate the Resistance, then Tartus could monitor both sides. That is, until the Primordials are released."

"Primordials?" the Shadow Blot asked. "You knew who they are?"

"I told you, I'm an expert on the Relics." Tartus said. "And now, I have exactly what I need!" He held up the Golden Apple and let it shine like a beacon in the night.

"You've already had that!" Timberwolf said. "What more do you want?"

"It's not the Apple that I need. It's what's inside of it. I need the power of Midan for my ultimate plan. And thanks to the Masked Matterhorn and the listening device I slipped in her costume, I can have just that."

"Listening device?" the Masked Matterhorn rubbed her hoof on her back until she felt an anomaly on her costume. She pulled out what looked like a small microphone. "What..."

"Stop me if you heard this one before." Tartus said as he stared at the Golden Apple. He then recited a familiar poem that the Masked Matterhorn gasped at the sound of.

"To wake. To sleep. To live. To fall

There's one force that runs it all

I call upon that force to split and divide

And remove the gifts and burdens that provide

For this vessel isn't worthy to hold

The power of an eternity old

Let this Primordial fly and soar

And be free from this body for evermore"

Suddenly, the yellow glow escaped the Golden Apple and hovered over his head. Tartus then pulled out a purple, circular device worn like a necklace. The purple glow emitted as the device opened up. There was already a shadow-colored smoke circling the inside of it. The yellow light was then absorbed into the device before everyone's eyes. When the last of it was inside, Tartus closed it tightly.

"What just happened?!" Dusk asked. "Where did you get that?"

"I just separated Midan from his vessel, the Golden Apple." Tartus said before dropping the powerless apple. "And now, I have him and Atrum in this little absorption device I acquired from a human world. I researched so long to find a way, but I had no luck... until you found it for me. If I had a hat, I'd tip it to you. Now, I just need one more Relic of Creation... the one hosting Lucid the Light."

"Do you even know where it is?" the Masked Matterhorn asked.

"Oh, I know exactly where it is." Tartus said. "I just can't go there. But I know how to get it." He then scratched the air revealing a new location in the air. "I better get going!"

"NO!" the Shadow Blot shouted as he charged toward him.

Suddenly, Tartus reached out his metal arm and shot black lightning out of it that pushed Ricky into the others.

"Now, I don't have time for any more foolishness." Tartus said. "I really want to get my sweet payback on you, but unfortunately, I have a more pressing engagement with the Avatar." He was about to cross before he took another look back at them. "Well, maybe just one for the road. I tend to slip sometimes." He shot another bolt of black lightning towards them, but suddenly, an orange unicorn jumped in between and created a magic shield.

"What?" Tartus asked. "How..." The thought for a moment. "Oh, I see. Never mind. Greengear, let's go!"

Tartus and his vultures flew through the portal and it closed. The Masked Matterhorn saw the unicorn who saved them and noticed the red-and-yellow hair.

"Sunset Shimmer? How did you know we were here?"

"What?" Sunset asked. "There's another... Look, the short version is, I'm not your Sunset Shimmer."

"What?" Radiance repeated.

"She's with me." another woman with a human body said as she emerged. "My name is Dawna."

"Don't count me out just yet, ladies." a teenage human said appearing out of nowhere alongside the unicorn and the woman. He then raised his arms like he expected a group hug. "Miss me, dunces?"

"...Who are you?" Masque asked.

"Oh, right, we never met." the boy said. "My name is Scimitar... and I'm kinda Tartus' son."

"HIIIIIKE!" Masque shouted. Suddenly, he jumped and tackled Scimitar to the ground.

"I'm confused." the Masked Matterhorn said. "What's going on?"

"Yeah, we've got a long story to tell." Sunset Shimmer said rubbing the back of her head.

Author's Note:

First, we find out what Tartus was after in Perilous, and now, surprise allies came out of the blue. Only one more chapter and an epilogue left. I hope people like it.

Comments

[Firestar Dragondell]

THESE PLOT TWISTS! THOU!!!!!