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The Phantom Threat7,749 words
Episode Tempest8,548 words
Dusk Falls9,987 words
The Resistance13,336 words
First Assignment13,270 words
Death Egg Rescue6,599 words
Sonic Breakout5,541 words
Don't Call It A Comeback3,878 words
Investigations6,280 words
Round Two: Electric Blue-galoo7,051 words
All Tangled Up8,181 words
Justice Calling10,033 words
Where Does the Fox Wander?6,757 words
Reunion5,669 words
Sanctuary Defense, Pt. I12,788 words
Sanctuary Defense, Pt. II13,864 words
Shadow Knows8,232 words

Dusk Falls

REAL FAKER BATTLE

Chrysalis snarled as she channeled her magic into her horn and unleashed it as a green beam, Metal Sonic moving back slightly as he jumped and hovered in the air while the beam hit the wall beside the entrance to the lair. The robot then shot down at her at an angle while swinging his right fist. Chrysalis barely managed to jump and flutter her wings to raise herself up and out of the way, Metal Sonic’s fist making an indentation in the ground. Unphased, he pulled his hand free and looked up, scanning for Chrysalis.

He heard a shout behind him and spun his upper body around to see her flying down at him, her horn once again filled with magic. He leapt to avoid having her tackle him, spinning his lower body around while he was in the air, but she charged after him. Metal Sonic’s back collided with that of ‘Infinite’ as the jackal’s copy leapt back to avoid a burst of dark magic from Sombra. They looked at each other briefly before jumping straight up in the air, causing Chrysalis to lock horns with Sombra as he charged as well. The dark magic in his horn caused Chrysalis some pain, the former queen groaning as she tried to pull her horn free.

‘Infinite’ landed on Sombra’s back and jumped off behind him, rolling as he landed, while Metal Sonic remained in the air. Sombra roughly pulled his horn out of the lock, taking out a small chunk of Chrysalis’ horn, and growled “Stay out of my way!” before turning to look at ‘Infinite’ as the jackal’s copy created red cubes in the air around him. Chrysalis growled at the unicorn but returned her attention to Metal Sonic and flew up after him, the two of them flying outside the cave as she tried to catch him. She didn’t understand how he still seemed to be undamaged, especially since he seemed to be shorting out and giving off red sparks just a little while ago. Regardless, she refused to be outclassed by anyone, especially not a cheap imitation.

Back in the cave, while Sombra and ‘Infinite’ continued to tussle, Tirek and Cozy Glow had their arms and forelegs full. While being at his full strength would probably not be a good idea in this cave, Tirek certainly wished he had more of his strength available to him at the moment. Discord’s magic sample had only restored a little bit of his strength and none of the attackers seemed to have any magic to steal, so the centaur was having trouble matching Zavok’s strength, plus he had to keep an eye on Cozy Glow. The pegasus filly was certainly doing her best to fight back against Chaos, but it seemed no matter where she flew, he was able to extend his arms far enough to reach and try to grab or attack her. And even if she did manage to swoop in and land her own attack, she would often get her hooves or wings stuck in his body and be pulled in, forcing Tirek to have to come to her rescue before she drowned. He wasn’t overly fond of the filly, but if they all got through this, it might be worth it to keep this little legion together.

At the back of the cave behind the pedestal, Discord stood up straight against one of the rock pillars, his breaths quiet as he tried to hide from Shadow behind the stalagmites as the hedgehog paced around, a number of stalagmites and rock pillars broken by him already. Earlier, Discord tried to talk to him, tried to convince him he was a changed draconequus and that he thought Shadow had no love for Dr. Eggman, but the hedgehog hadn’t been moved by his words. At least it didn’t seem like he had been; he hadn’t said a word in reply the entire time. His fists and feet had plenty to say, though, and since Discord still couldn’t use his magic, he’d been forced to hide from him and try to sneak past him like in some indie horror game. So far, his efforts to get past Shadow and escape unnoticed had not been successful.

Discord slowly turned his head to the left, about to peer out when the middle of the pillar broke and crashed into his backside, sending him to the ground with a girly yelp. He landed on his front, the pillar piece hitting the ground a short distance in front of him, and looked up and behind him a few moments later to see Shadow standing on top of the bottom half of what was left of the pillar. Discord squeaked and scrambled away on all fours like a lizard while Shadow’s eyes followed him robotically.

Discord crawled behind a set of stalagmites and came to a stop behind a spot where his horn and antler might not be easy to see. It didn’t matter since, after a few seconds, Shadow came crashing into the stalagmites, sending the rocks flying and narrowly missing Discord. The draconequus managed to pull his head back and leapt up on two legs as Shadow turned to face him. Before he could try to hide again, the black hedgehog suddenly vanished in a flash of red, causing Discord to look frantically around for him. Shadow reappeared from a red flash next to the left side of his head when he was looking away and kicked him in the side of the head, vanishing again and reappearing immediately afterwards in front of him to slam both of his fists down on his head. While the draconequus was stunned, he vanished again and reappeared behind him, spinning around and striking him in the back, sending him down to the cavern floor.

Discord rolled onto his back while complaining, “That’s not fair! I can’t use my magic; why do you get to use your super powers? That’s just mean!” He was silenced when Shadow appeared again, this time standing to his left next to his waist. Before Discord could react, Shadow reached down and placed the palm of his right hand under his chin, quickly lifting him up above his head. He then gritted his teeth and raised his left hand, which was closed into a fist as he glared up at the draconequus. Discord’s eyes widened and he began to flail, trying to get out of Shadow’s grip, but to no avail. He had a bad feeling this one was going to hurt.

After a few moments, Discord’s struggles slowed down as it seemed as though a punch or some other form of attack wasn’t coming. He dared to look down at Shadow and saw that he seemed to be frozen in place. He snaked his neck around so he could look at Shadow’s face and noticed for the first time how dull and lifeless his eyes appeared to be in comparison to the rest of him. All of a sudden, Shadow began to distort, his form becoming fuzzy and odd shapes coming off of him. Without warning, he faded out of existence, leaving Discord with nothing holding him up and causing him to hit the ground hard. As he was rubbing the back of his head, he heard surprised and pained exclamations coming from the others. Intrigued, he flipped himself over and crawled on all fours to the edge of the pedestal to look.

At the time Discord had been held up in his perilous situation, Tirek had managed to stun Zavok by having him crash into a wall before jumping on his back, pushing him down and keeping him on the cavern floor, Chrysalis was flying back into the lair after Metal Sonic, Cozy Glow was putting her speed and small size to good use to attack Chaos’ brain, and Sombra was grinning down at ‘Infinite’ as the jackal’s copy lay on his front near the stones sticking out of the water at the lair entrance. When Shadow disappeared, so did the others, which was particularly bad for Cozy Glow and Chrysalis since they ended up crashing into the floor and the front of the pedestal respectively, leaving them all befuddled.

As Discord peered over the pedestal, he saw Sombra and Tirek looking around in confusion and Chrysalis and Cozy Glow nursing their injuries while angrily looking where they’d last seen their targets. “Incredible! Even that Infinite guy was a fake? But they all moved, and attacked, so realistically.” Discord took a moment to rub a spot on the side of his head that still hurt. “And he was able to use whatever power he had to reveal me and seal my magic.” Remembering this, he tried snapping his fingers to teleport away, but nothing happened. “I still can’t use my magic! How did he do it?! How is he still doing it if he faded away?!” Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, it wouldn’t be long before something happened.

INFINITE'S WARRANT

The sound of Discord’s fingers snapping caught the attention of some of the villains, but they all turned to look at the entrance of the cave when a pink-purple portal opened in front of it. A silhouette came from it that was revealed to be Infinite a second later, the jackal’s mask appearing to be undamaged as he landed on the third stone from the end in the water, his sword in hand and his head bowed as he knelt down upon landing. He soon looked up at the villains and asked dryly, “Did you all have fun?”

Chrysalis turned and leapt over the stone in front of the pedestal, the former queen standing over Cozy Glow as she demanded, “You! What did you do?! How did you do it?! …Is that really you?!”

Infinite stood up, “Of course it’s me. Why would you think it’s not me?”

Cozy Glow pointed out, “Well, the one we thought was the real Infinite suddenly just disappeared and so did everyone else…”

Before she could say any more, Infinite spoke, “All part of a test I arranged. And I must say, not one of you gave a satisfactory performance if you’re just now realizing it. Is this really all this world has to offer?”

Sombra growled and stepped forward, “My power far exceeds your flimsy projections and frail body. Once I struck it, your illusion was easily overpowered.”

Infinite countered, “And it only took you until now to figure out that you weren’t really fighting me. The rest of the time, you were struggling to keep up, getting in the way of your ‘allies’, and showing off so much power yet you never managed to make the cave collapse. It may have been an illusion, but I know what you’ve been doing. And not just you; I know what the others were doing as well. Seems you really are the only one who doesn’t want to cooperate.”

Sombra said, “As I said, I only do MINE; I will take what I desire for myself and that’s that. Nothing you can do will convince me to change my mind.”

Infinite replied, “The empire has no room for that attitude, and I will not have anyone serving under me who would seek to undermine the Doctor. You do have great power, Sombra, but in you, it will only be wasted. It deserves a more suitable user.”

Sombra snarled, “You? You’re threatening ME?”

Infinite answered, “You’ve made your position clear. I’ll give you the empire’s judgement myself.”

Sombra growled, “The empire belongs to ME!”

Infinite held up his sword, “The empire you’re thinking of pales in comparison to the one I serve, and it won’t be long before I wipe it off the face of this planet.”

INFINITE VS. SOMBRA... FOR REAL

Sombra changed into black smoke, only his eyes appearing in the cloud. “Then once I have dealt with you, it will be mine as well. You’ll suffer the same fate that your copy was about to,” he boomed, unleashing a beam of dark magic at Infinite a few seconds later. While he was doing this, the jackal lowered his sword, held up his left hand, and swiped it horizontally from left to right, a multitude of red cubes appearing in front of him and forming a shield in front of him in response. Sombra’s beam knocked the cubes out when it hit, but every time a cube popped out of place, a new one appeared from nowhere to replace it, keeping the beam at bay.

After several seconds, Infinite thrust his left hand up at Sombra, which caused the shield to move up towards him in spite of the beam. Despite pouring more dark magic into it, the unicorn couldn’t stop or break the shield and was forced to become solid again, falling down on the last stepping stone while the cubes flew past where he’d been and broke apart harmlessly against the cave’s ceiling. Sombra turned to look at Infinite as he said, “That ‘copy’ did not have access to my full power, not that you would’ve earned the right to see it.” He raised his left hand up, a red orb swiftly forming above the palm, “I’ll allow it, though, as it will be the last thing you’ll get to see.” They all heard the sound from before a moment later, followed by the colors of their surroundings flickering for several moments before returning to normal.

After a few moments, Sombra noticed the water near Infinite bubbling and rippling. Suddenly, four distorted clones of Infinite burst out of the water, two on each side of the jackal. Sombra was admittedly shocked by them. The only visible parts of them were their long, dragon-like necks, making them nearly touch the ceiling, and their masked faces, which looked down at him with blank, pink-eyed gazes. He looked back down at Infinite when he spoke, “This entire cave is mine now. Everything you see can be a weapon I can use against you. What can you do? Make crystals grow?” Sombra responded by making black crystals come out of the ground behind him diagonally, more crystals sprouting from them to redirect them towards Infinite and his copies as the latter moved towards Sombra.

The crystals struck the copies, some of them running through their necks, but they kept aiming for the unicorn despite being held back. Sombra smirked since they didn’t seem to be strong enough to break through, but after a couple of seconds, Infinite flew up and landed on the head of the one being held the furthest back. “You’ll have to do better than that,” he remarked as he held out his left hand and charged a red energy beam in it, firing it in a sweeping motion at the base of the source crystals, cutting through them and causing the rest to fall, allowing the copies to resume their approach. Sombra once again became smoke to evade their attack and floated up, firing beams of dark magic down at their necks that made them collapse. Infinite leapt down towards the water, using his power to create more platforms on the surface and landing on one as Sombra became solid again and fell towards him.

While they continued to tussle, Chrysalis and Tirek had moved back closer to the pedestal while Cozy Glow got on Tirek’s back and peered out from behind him, all three of them and Discord watching the fight. Cozy Glow finally broke the silence amongst them by asking, “Should we help him?”

Tirek shrugged as he glanced in her direction, “Which one?”

The filly gave him an angry look, “King Sombra! You know I meant him!”

Tirek looked back the fight as he replied, “No, I don’t think we should.”

Chrysalis nodded, “I agree. He belittled us and decided everything should belong to only him. Now’s his chance to prove his words are worth anything.”

Discord remained silent as he kept watching, though he moved back from the pedestal a bit in case anyone decided to turn their attention to him. The draconequus kept switching his attention between the fight and the cavern entrance. “This is not good. Either one of them could notice me if I try to slip out now, and with the fight going on right there, one of the others will notice me as well. What am I going to do?” he wondered.

After a little more moving around each other’s attacks, Infinite decided to switch it up a bit when Sombra leapt towards him again. Instead of immediately dodging out of the way, he held up his left hand and created a wall of red cubes in front of him. Sombra didn’t think much of it, his hooves easily breaking through the wall and just missing Infinite as he leapt back. He didn’t realize anything had happened until he landed. As he stood up straight and looked around, he realized his vision seemed to be tinted red and he couldn’t see Infinite anywhere, only clusters of red cubes rising up out of the water as he stared. “What? What is this?!” he demanded. After he finished, the cubes suddenly all came together and shot straight towards him, breaking apart as they hit him. Sombra grunted as he felt them pushing him back, making him stand up on his hind legs. As they hit, he noticed the red tint leaving his vision and the pain quickly going away. It seemed the cubes had only managed to stun him for a few seconds, but that was enough.

While Sombra was distracted by the illusion, Infinite, who was right in front of the unicorn the entire time, held his sword out and ran towards him once the cubes started striking him. Predicting the rearing up, he leapt up and made a horizontal slash with his sword, cutting off his horn just above the midline. As he brought his sword back to his side, he swung his legs forward and pressed his feet against Sombra’s chest, jumping back off of him. The unicorn struggled to keep his balance while Infinite reached out and closed his left hand around the horn. He then flipped over and landed on one of the stones in the crouched position while Sombra managed to get his forehooves back on the ground. As the unicorn glared at him, Infinite raised his sword again… and then seemingly carelessly threw it back over his shoulder towards a portal he opened on the platform behind him, the weapon still spinning end over end as it fell in.

“Seems you misplaced that,” Sombra grunted, his horn beginning to grow back.

“I don’t need it anymore. It served its purpose here, and so have you,” Infinite replied, holding up the piece of Sombra’s horn for him to see. “It’s time for you to die.”

Sombra let out a laugh before saying, “You really think cutting off my horn changes anything? And you, kill me? The Crystal Heart couldn’t destroy me!”

Infinite replied, “No, but as I understand it, it’s only now that you’ve been reconstituted from just this. And now there’ll be even less of you left. You should’ve been more grateful to the one who brought you back and more willing to work with the others he called. That’s your final mistake.” Sombra growled and began to call his magic into his horn. Any second now it would finish repairing itself and he’d…

LONG LIVE THE KING

He was brought to a stop when his magic filled his horn and instead of gathering like he intended, it instead began to shoot all over in small beams. He stopped his magic and looked up at his horn. He was surprised to see that it had stopped short, the horn ending in a mostly flat circle rather than a point. He narrowed his eyes as if he was trying to will it to finish repairing itself, but nothing happened. His gaze shifted down at Infinite when he let out a dark chuckle, the jackal looking at him expectantly with his arms crossed.

Sombra wanted to know what he was laughing about, but before he could say anything, he became distracted by a sudden sensation within him. It started out as an itching on the side of his neck, but it began to get worse as it traveled down his body, Infinite noticing with satisfaction a discoloration in the unicorn’s skin that was visible under his coat as the feeling spread. Sombra suddenly fell forward after several moments, agonized growls coming from his mouth as the feeling got worse, going from itching to outright burning. He felt like his insides were literally on fire as he rolled onto his side, his forehooves moving across his body as if he was trying to scratch or dig out the pain he was feeling while Infinite calmly watched him writhe.

Sombra managed to sit up and let out a scream before he leaned back too far and fell on his back, his eyes opening and moving up to meet Chrysalis and Tirek’s, the two backing up against the pedestal as they stared back with wide eyes. Discord stared as well, a horrified look in his mismatched eyes. They could see not only the discoloration in his skin, but also a new discoloration appearing in his eyes. Cozy Glow was shaking as she peered out from behind Tirek, the centaur trying to keep her from seeing the unicorn.

Despite his worsening pain, Sombra was able to twist himself back around onto his front, his eyes settling on Infinite. The jackal hadn’t moved at all since his pain had started, still watching him burn away from the inside. All he knew was that he was responsible for this. He didn’t know that Infinite had been scanning him during the fight and using the power of his gem to locate the source of his return since the Eggman Empire’s records indicated there should have been no chance for him to come back on his own. When he’d thrown his sword earlier, it landed in the cavern where the magic circle and insignia had been drawn, landing on its side next to the circle. The power that created the blade was seeping out from it and as it did, it changed the circle from blue to red and began to cancel out the magic, the lines in the circle breaking like guitar strings.

In spite of what was happening to him, Sombra refused to accept defeat. He would make sure Infinite fell before he did. His anger driving him forward, he managed to extend his legs, raising himself into a hunched over standing position. He tried to push himself forward, but in the distant cavern, both the magic circle and Infinite’s sword faded into thin air, bringing a new wave of pain to the unicorn that stopped him from moving. His head swung downwards and he stared in horror at his right foreleg after a moment, seeing it beginning to shrivel up and decay, not noticing that the hair in his mane and tail were doing the same. After less than half a minute, his coat and skin began to peel like a banana, exposing more and more of his skeleton. It only took several seconds for him to be completely reduced to a skeleton that then crumbled to dust, only his crown, cape, and armor being left behind.

There was silence in the cavern for a long moment. Then Infinite held up the piece of Sombra’s horn in front of him and spoke to it, “You will not be receiving a vision of victory. You’ll only be remembered as a relic of the past, a former conqueror who never reclaimed what was once his. I still have some use for this, but not for you. This is where your delusions end.” He raised his eyes from it when he heard sobbing coming from Cozy Glow, the pink filly covering her eyes with her hooves. “Oh, will one of you shut her up? I don’t know why you brought her here, but I’ll put her to good use since you two can’t,” Infinite grunted as he began to move towards the other villains, kicking Sombra’s crown out of his way as he walked across his cape.

STRIKING A DEAL

Despite feeling more than a bit perturbed after witnessing Sombra’s fate, Tirek and Chrysalis were both indignant at the way the jackal was addressing them. They sure weren’t going to let him act like he had the right to insult them and tell them what to do. “Quiet! Of all the unexpected things that have happened today, I would think seeing a pony be reduced to dust was the last thing she thought she would get to see today!” Tirek said, sticking up for Cozy Glow even if he wasn’t sure why he was.

Infinite noticed Chrysalis’ horn lighting up as he finished crossing the water and spoke, “I see. I did you all a favor and you’re acting like I did something wrong? If, by some chance, he’d managed to succeed in claiming all he wanted, he would’ve come back to deal with all of you. Don’t try to pretend he wouldn’t have.”

Chrysalis retorted, “Is that supposed to make us feel better about witnessing that? What reason do we have to believe you won’t try to do something like that to us behind our backs?”

Infinite stood at the edge of the water as he spoke, “You think I completely enjoy having this power but having to serve someone in order to possess it? No, but I was once known as the Ultimate Mercenary, so being forced to follow someone’s orders to get what I want isn’t new for me. And as a former leader, I recognize potential when I see it and don’t enjoy watching it go to waste. I think it’s particularly important to note that all concerned parties here share a common group of enemies.”

Chrysalis thought about what he said and her eyes narrowed a second later, “Twilight and her friends…”

Discord began crawling backwards as Infinite said, “Retrieving them and taking them to their doom is my primary objective in this world.”

Tirek asked, “‘This world’? Why do you keep saying that?”

Chrysalis turned to him, “Are you serious? How can you not look at him and wonder if he’s from a different world?”

They looked back at the jackal when he continued, “I know how to get them right where they need to be, and you can all play an important role in making sure it goes as planned. You’ll get you revenge and far more than you would get doing whatever an overgrown child trying to pull the wool over your eyes tells you to do.”

While Tirek and Chrysalis looked at each other, Cozy Glow, who managed to stop crying though her eyes were still a bit red, peered out at Infinite and managed, “B-But… if you recognize potential and all that, then why did you… King Sombra…?”

Infinite raised his left arm, holding the horn piece up in front of him. “I thought you might get more use out of it than he did,” he said, holding it out.

The filly shook at the sight of the horn and Tirek noticed, the centaur moving his left arm in front of her. “You keep that away from her,” he warned.

Near the back of the cave, Discord was hiding behind one of the rock columns, peering out as he listened in. He was still hoping to slip away unnoticed, but his worry began to grow when Infinite lowered his left arm and said, “You’re testing my patience. This conversation is unnecessary. I’m reaching out to you and none of you can give me an answer either way.”

Chrysalis asked, “And what will you do if we refuse?”

Infinite raised his right hand up, “I still have work to do. You’re wasting my time, and even if you weren’t, I don’t have time to hang around here, so let me give you all a nudge in the only direction available.” As he swiped his hand across the tip of his gem and it began to glow, Discord abandoned his hiding spot and ran for the pedestal, leaping from the top of it as red-pink light filled the cave and that strange sound filled the air…

________________________________________

REGRETS

Spike sighed as he leaned back on the front steps of Twilight’s castle, looking up at the blue sky. It was a wonderful day, but he wasn’t really feeling the same at the moment, even with a full belly. He and Starlight had managed to drag Twilight out of the castle for lunch like they’d hoped to, but she spent nearly the entire walk to the Hayburger being in a panic over her apparent home invader. They calmed her down by the time they got to the restaurant and she was able to eat her food, but it was clear she was still worrying about it quite a bit. They checked everything that Twilight told them before they left and agreed that it was very unsettling, but neither one of them knew what to say to assuage her anxiety.

Fortunately, they bumped into Pinkie Pie while they were sitting at the table and, after hearing about the situation, she quickly gathered up the rest of their friends and they all went back to the castle with them to investigate further. They spent a while searching the whole castle, but even with Rarity and Pinkie leading the investigation, they were unable to find any more evidence that might point to who the culprit was. Pinkie even suggested it might’ve been the work of a phantom. Spike had to smile as he thought about that. “Good old Pinkie, always trying to lighten the mood,” he thought. His smile didn’t last long, though.

After their search was done, the girls apologized to Twilight for not being able to help her and told her they’d keep an eye out for anything suspicious. Starlight left shortly afterwards, saying she and Trixie had already made plans for the day to hang out. That left Spike and Twilight alone in the castle, and Twilight was still worrying quite a bit. She wasn’t exactly Twilight-ing, but she wasn’t able to keep it to herself either. Between that and his own frustration at the situation and the lack of progress they’d made, he ended up needing to take a few moments to get his anger in check before excusing himself, saying he needed to get some fresh air.

That had been a little while ago and now Spike was feeling bad about it. Sure, he managed to avoid snapping at Twilight and saying something he’d probably regret, but he knew from the way she looked at him and stepped back that she knew he was angry, and that was making him feel like he actually had said something. He wanted to go back inside and apologize to her, but he was more than a little nervous about doing so, his own anxieties keeping him on the steps. He was afraid she wouldn’t accept his apology, but he knew he had to go in and start making things right.

While he was working up the nerve to go back inside, Twilight was thinking similar thoughts as she walked through the castle. She felt that she was responsible for Spike’s display of aggression and was trying to think of a way to make it up to him. She came to a stop after a few minutes, trying to think harder on the matter as she let her eyes wander. She then noticed something out of the corner of her vision to her left and turned to look fully. She saw a light shining from the library and she ran down the hall to investigate, her mind clearing somewhat to try to focus on whatever was going on in there.

MORE THAN A THREAT

As she got closer, she realized the it was the Warp Ring, which she remembered Starlight bringing with her in its inactive state when she and Spike came to get her. Now it was here expanded to its full size and appeared to be gathering energy despite not appearing to be hooked up to the machinery. Twilight looked around the room for any sign of anyone else before moving to check the computer in the tower. The screen was still flickering with static, but she could make out readings on it in between the flickers. “Who did this?! Who in Equestria would know enough about the Warp Ring to be able to activate it? And how is it gathering power? It shouldn’t be hooked up to the crystal. What the…?” Any further questions were cut off when the static turned red and filled the screen for several seconds. It then disappeared, revealing the symbol of a familiar grinning face. It then moved back to reveal it was part of a larger, more dominant-looking symbol. She didn’t have time to dwell on it, however.

From seemingly nowhere, Twilight was struck across the top of her head fairly hard. She backed up a couple of steps and stopped before she opened her eyes. She rubbed her head with a hoof as she looked around for her attacker. “Who did that?! Who’s in here?!” she exclaimed. She felt a blow against her left side a few moments later and she saw a silhouette quickly move across the room as she turned due to the strike. When she looked where she’d last seen it after stopping, she didn’t see it anywhere. “Where did you go?! Show yourself!” she yelled. After a few moments of nothing happening, she started to walk, but didn’t get more than a few steps before she felt claws running along her right side. The pain wasn’t bad, so she assumed they didn’t break the skin, but it still hurt. She spun around after the feeling stopped and saw the assailant standing behind her.

“Spike?” she asked, confused. The baby dragon simply stood there smiling at her, his smile soon becoming a toothy grin. Before she could say anything, she noticed that his teeth began to change slightly, becoming sharper and more fang-like. Suddenly, in a burst of green flames, the dragon was gone, replaced by a familiar former queen. “Chrysalis?!” Twilight exclaimed as she looked up at the changeling before her who continued to grin down at her.

HOPE ENDS HERE

Twilight was taking a few steps back when she suddenly heard a loud crashing sound behind her. Turning her head to look back, she saw a black smoke cloud with deep red eyes floating above where one of the tables had been sitting. She immediately thought it was King Sombra, but she hesitated when a pink head, a curved horn that was mostly red, and a long curly pale blue mane with a light gray stripe appeared from the cloud. The cloud lowered itself down to the floor before it dissipated, revealing a fully grown alicorn wearing a scarlet chest piece that looked like her rook cutie mark and similarly colored shoes on her hooves. Her mane and tail billowed like Celestia and Luna’s and they still had bows tied around them, and she had a long ribbon around her waist that blew in a nonexistent wind like her mane and tail. “Cozy Glow?!” Twilight gasped, getting a vicious smile in response.

The doors to the library suddenly slammed shut and Twilight turned to see a brawny moderate raspberry left hand on them, the arm it was connected to wearing a silver bracer just above the wrist. Her eyes widened, “Tirek?!” The centaur’s colors weren’t as deep and he wasn’t as tall as when she’d first seen him herself, but she could never forget him. She had no idea how he managed to get into the library without making a sound, but that didn’t matter right now. Unlike the other two, he glared down at her, his yellow and black eyes, though dull, making it clear how he felt about seeing her again. Twilight began to back up towards the Warp Ring as she looked between all three of them, wondering who was going to make the first move. Her backside soon came into contact with something and she slowly turned her head to the left to see Infinite standing there. She didn’t know anything about him, but the way he looked with his undamaged mask unnerved her almost as much as the guests at this surprise villain reunion she was suddenly hosting. And things were really going to heat up in a moment.

Without warning, Infinite punched her across the side of her face, causing her to stagger forward a bit. When she recovered, she looked up to see Chrysalis’ horn was filled with magic. She managed to leap back to side to avoid the magic beam, which left a black scorch mark on the floor. She looked to her left to see Cozy Glow preparing her own magic and spread her wings, taking flight and just avoiding the beam, which hit some of the bookshelves instead. She had barely spent a second in the air before Infinite suddenly flew up and delivered an uppercut to her chin, which he followed up with a kick that sent her crashing into back first into another set of shelves, some of the books falling down around her as she landed on her front.

Twilight managed to pick herself up after a few moments, shaking her head a bit. She looked up at Infinite to see him hovering in the air, surrounded by a red aura. He opened his left hand and held out his palm towards her, firing several red shots at her that missed because she backed up against the shelves. She then looked to see Cozy Glow coming at her, ready to pounce with bits of red and orange symbols around her. Twilight used her magic to teleport before she could land and reappeared near Chrysalis, who looked a bit surprised and had some of the same symbols appear around her as she turned to the alicorn. They both charged up a beam, but Twilight’s was ready first and it quickly overpowered Chrysalis’, knocking the changeling to the floor.

Twilight turned her head to look at Infinite, getting the feeling he was somehow responsible for this. She readied another beam and fired it at him, but he easily floated out of the way of it. Before she could do anything else, Tirek suddenly crossed the room, wrapped his left hand around her midsection, and quickly threw her to the floor in the middle of the room. She quickly leapt to her hooves and saw Cozy Glow flying above her in smoke form for a moment before becoming solid to land on her. Twilight ran forward to avoid her, but Infinite dropped down and kicked her in the side while she was running, sending her into the table that sitting on its side atop one of the other tables, breaking it.

Twilight flopped out of the indent she’d made in the table and fell down onto the floor, landing on her front. “What is going on? How did all this-?” She stopped when, out of the corner of her vision, she saw Chrysalis charging at her. She managed to create a force field around herself in time, but the changeling’s glowing horn pressed hard against it. It bought Twilight enough time to get up, which she needed since Tirek was suddenly standing over her again, swinging his right fist down at her. She was able to spread her wings and take off as it broke through the shield, leaving a moderate crater in the floor. “I don’t know what to do!” she managed to scream in her head before Cozy Glow came up underneath and knocked her backwards, flapping her wings to remain in the air.

It was at this moment that the library doors swung open, revealing Spike in the doorway. “Hey Twilight, what’s all the noise in- What the-?!” His confusion and worry quickly gave way to shock and horror as he took in the entire scene, seeing Infinite and some of the villains that Twilight and her friends had defeated in the room and Twilight battered and bruised.

“Spike! G-!” Twilight was cut off when Chrysalis fired a beam up at her that seemed to send an electric shock through her, her body sparking as she began to drop down. It wasn’t fast enough for Cozy Glow’s liking since she turned to smoke and floated up above her before changing direction and shooting her straight down towards the floor, the pink alicorn floating off to the side before becoming solid again while the lavender alicorn was lying on her back. Tirek moved forward and grabbed her with his right hand, flinging her up into the ceiling. As she fell, Infinite levitated around into position and kicked her into one of the bookshelves, books raining down around and on her as she fell to the floor and, after a few moments, didn’t get back up.

Spike could only watch as she was beaten up and knocked around the room, his horror increasing when she didn’t get back up after landing. He could see her head, part of her neck, and part of her forelegs sticking out from under the pile of books, but her eyes were closed and he couldn’t tell if she was moving. “TWILIGHT!!!” he screamed at the top of his lungs, not caring who heard him. Maybe he was hoping their friends would hear him and come to help at the speed of a Sonic Rainboom, but unfortunately, the only ones who seemed to hear him were Cozy Glow and Chrysalis, both of them locking him in place with their piercing eyes.

He began to back up, but he didn’t get more than a few steps before they swiftly moved towards him, the dragon falling onto his rear as they stopped and stood slightly off to the side over him, glaring down at him. He looked up at them for several moments before his eyes shifted to look at Twilight, seeing Tirek lift her out of the book pile with his left hand, holding her by the tips of her wings. She still wasn’t moving, her body hanging limply as Tirek held her up in front of his face. “Twilight, no…!” he thought before looking back up at Chrysalis and Cozy Glow, sure it was the end even as he heard the sound of hoofbeats getting closer behind him…

A STEP BACK

A few minutes earlier…

“Ah! Such a beautiful day! I’m so glad we’re going to spend it together!” Trixie stated as she and Starlight sat outdoors at a café, her words causing a couple of ponies to look over at them.

“Uh-huh,” Starlight replied simply, glancing down at her plate. She had decided on an order of hay fries while Trixie was enjoying a sandwich. She’d tried not to eat too much at the Hayburger earlier since she knew she was meeting Trixie for lunch, but she really didn’t feel hungry now, the unsolved mystery at Twilight’s castle weighing on her mind.

“Trixie is so glad for it. With all the work you do for the School of Friendship, Starlight, we really haven’t spent much time together lately! Now that summer has come, we’ll be spending a lot more time together!” Trixie went on.

“Yep,” Starlight remarked before finally grabbing a few hay fries.

Trixie finally noticed that her friend seemed preoccupied and asked, “Hey, what’s wrong?”

Starlight looked up at her in surprise for a moment before glancing back down as she said, “Oh, it’s just… I was almost late for our lunch date because…” She paused, stopping herself from saying it too loud and looking around to see if anypony was looking at them. She then quickly leaned across the table and whispered, “Twilight had an intruder in her castle earlier.” She then sat back normally in her seat.

Trixie blinked and spoke, “Oh my. Is she okay?”

Starlight waved a hoof, “Oh yeah, she’s fine. She was with me and Spike when we think it happened. There was just a mess in her room and some vandalism. That’s all we’re sure of.”

Trixie sighed and said, “Well, that’s a relief. So… you’re concerned because you don’t know who did it?”

Starlight answered, “Well, that and the lack of anything else that might help. I mean, the front doors were still closed, there weren’t any open or broken windows… We have no idea who it was or how they got in.” She was a bit hesitant to tell Trixie about what they had been doing. Even though she knew the showmare had met Sonic and his friends during the crisis, she didn’t know how close she was to any of them or if she even remembered them.

Trixie spoke, “Well, perhaps there’s nothing to worry about. Perhaps that’s all they wanted?” Starlight raised an eyebrow at her, prompting her to say, “W-Well, Trixie means there are no more enemies. No one should be after Twilight, yes?”

Starlight lowered her eyebrow and said, “I don’t know. I mean, Chrysalis kinda disappeared, no one’s seen her in a long time, but this doesn’t seem like something she’d do.”

As she turned her attention back to her hay fries, Trixie sighed and rolled her eyes, feeling irritated that their day together was starting to go off the rails. She placed her left foreleg on the table and rested her head against her hoof, letting her eyes wander. After a few moments, she looked to her right and noticed somepony coming down the street at a fast pace, though she couldn’t tell who it was. She sat up straight and asked while still looking, “Who’s that?” This caused Starlight to look up and see what Trixie was looking at.

It didn’t take the pony long to reach and dash past the café, but in the brief moment she got a clear look, Starlight saw that it was Tempest Shadow with Grubber on her back. The mare was sweaty and looked more than a little winded and Grubber was holding onto her neck for dear life. After she ran past, Starlight spoke, “That was Tempest Shadow. What’s she doing in Ponyville?”

Trixie shrugged, “Hm. Twilight offered to teach her about friendship, didn’t she? Maybe she wants to be the first to sign up for next year now.” Starlight wasn’t so sure about that. Tempest was clearly running as fast as she could and she did seem to have a desperate look on her face, but she had a feeling something else was going on.

HURRY TO TWILIGHT'S SIDE

Tempest was panting heavily as she galloped through the streets of Ponyville, occasionally glancing back to make Grubber was still hanging on. Running all the way here had taken quite a bit of pushing herself on in order to not stop, but she was determined not to stop, especially not now when she was so close. As she got closer to Twilight’s castle, she passed through the market and caught sight of Twilight’s friends hanging around Sweet Apple Acres’ stall with Big Mcintosh. The girls had been talking about their inconclusive search of Twilight’s castle while Applejack helped her brother tend to the stall when Pinkie saw Tempest coming and waved to her while calling, “Hey, Fizzy!”

The other girls and Big Mac looked as she, upon seeing them, slowed down and came to a stop near them, taking a moment to exhale loudly and then suck in a big breath. She then looked at them and, before they could say anything, asked, “Why are you all just standing around here?!”

As she started to run again, Grubber called back, “Come on!”

Confused, the girls all stared at her as she left the market, Rarity asking after a moment, “What was that all about?”

Fluttershy offered, “Well, she looked like she’s been running for a long time, and um… she sounded rather rushed.”

After a moment, Rainbow said, “Something’s going on. If she was just visiting Ponyville, it’d be one thing, but with how fast she’s going and what she just said… There’s trouble. There has to be.” As if in response, they all heard Pinkie making noises and turned to see it was her Pinkie Sense going off. It wasn’t one they saw often, but they all knew it: it was a doozy.

Setting her Stetson straight, Applejack turned to her brother and spoke, “Ah gotta go see what’s up, Big Mac. Can ya keep an eye on the stall while Ah’m gone?” The red stallion gave a simple “Eeyup” and watched as she and her friends took off running after Tempest and Grubber.

After leaving the market, it didn’t take Tempest long to reach Twilight’s castle and she slammed into the doors with her left shoulder to open them. She tried to catch her breath again as she walked into the foyer. As she made her way inside, Grubber, who was sitting normally now that he didn’t have to hold on so tightly, asked her again, “You really think that guy’s after Twilight, Tempest? Not… someone else?”

Tempest continued on as she answered, “I’m positive, Grubber. He came to Klugetown to find me, and what he said implies he knows Twilight. That’s probably how he learned about me, but I’m not so sure she knows him. Once I know she’s okay, I can…” As she approached the stairs further in, she came to a stop, hearing what sounded like Spike screaming Twilight’s name. Tempest and Grubber looked at each other; that was not a good sign. Grubber grabbed onto her neck tightly as she began running through the castle searching for the baby dragon.

It didn’t take her long to reach the hallway leading to the library, seeing Spike, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow in the doorway. Because of how fast she was going, she had to double back, but once she was pointed the right way, she ran towards the library at full speed. Cozy Glow and Chrysalis didn’t notice her until she leapt over Spike and slammed her right shoulder into Cozy Glow’s head, knocking her to the ground. Chrysalis looked at her, but wasn’t fast enough to react as she spun on her forehooves and bucked her towards the nearby shelves.

Tempest then saw Tirek holding up Twilight and ran towards him, the centaur not noticing her until she called, “Face!” At that, he turned to look at her as she leapt up at him, though not high enough to reach his head. As she reached the height of her jump, Grubber suddenly jumped off of her back with a yell and landed on his face, grabbing onto the sides of it. While he struggled trying to get the hedgehog off, Tempest landed on his left arm and began pounding on it with her hooves, trying to get him to release Twilight. She heard Grubber let out a yelp as Tirek pulled him off with his right hand and turned to look at him, leaping up at his face and unleashing a small explosive magic shot at it, causing him to let out a groan as he staggered back, Grubber falling from his grip while Twilight was thrown upwards.

Moving fast, Tempest managed to get underneath Grubber before he hit the floor and turned to catch Twilight on her back as well, but before she could move more than one step, Infinite suddenly shot in front of her and punched her, his fist connecting with the left side of her face. Since she was trying to take another step, his hit knocked her onto her side and caused Grubber to slide back a bit. Infinite, meanwhile, leapt up and caught Twilight, draping her neck over his right shoulder and holding her there with his hand as he dropped back down. He then looked at Tempest and asked, “So, my demonstration wasn’t enough for you? You wanted the real experience?”

Tempest raised her head and glared at him with her teeth bared. “Let her go!” she growled.

“Hmph. You’re in no position to tell me what to do,” Infinite replied. Tempest and Grubber heard movement and they looked to see that Tirek, Cozy Glow, and Chrysalis had recovered and were looking down at them. “Look at you two. Just like this one, you were fools to think you ever stood a chance against me. Outnumbered, outpowered, and all alone as you face your final fate,” he taunted.

Rainbow Dash’s voice suddenly rang through the room, “They’re not alone, you creep!” Everyone looked to see her land just inside the library, Applejack and Pinkie coming up on her right and Rarity and Fluttershy coming up on her left, Rarity using her magic to pull Spike over once she noticed him and move him over to Fluttershy who lowered herself down as she held him in her hooves while they all glared at Infinite, though they all soon noticed who else was in the room.

“As expected, you all, eventually, came running,” Infinite remarked. He turned to look at the Warp Ring a moment later, seeing its normal shimmering surface appear within it, faintly showing its destination, “And just in time, too.”

The girls and Spike all stared at the ring, as did Grubber and Tempest as the latter was standing up. “What is this…?” Tempest uttered.

Rarity looked down at Infinite a moment later and said, “You! You’re the reason the Warp Ring acted strange before, aren’t you?!”

Infinite looked back at the mares, saying, “The Doctor is expecting you. He really wants you fools to see his empire before you meet your end.”

Pinkie gasped, “You mean Eggy?!” She then had a more thoughtful look as she asked, “Wait, you mean the fat Eggy or the General Eggy?”

Infinite didn’t answer her, instead turning his body towards the Warp Ring. Guessing what he was about to do, Tempest yelled, “Stop!” When he turned his head to look back at her, she said, “Put. Her. Down!”

LEAVING A MARK

Infinite asked, “You want her back?” Then, in one swift movement, he threw Twilight at the Warp Ring, her body disappearing through the portal. The girls, Spike, Tempest, and Grubber all gasped at this. “Go get her, then,” Infinite taunted. He then turned back to the ring and walked towards it as he said, “Come.”

Seeing he was about to go through himself, they all began trying to reach the ring themselves, only for the other villains to interrupt them. Chrysalis shot Rainbow down with a beam of magic, Cozy Glow shifted between being smoke and solid to trip up Pinkie and Rarity, and Tirek used his body to block Applejack and Tempest before grabbing them and throwing them back while also scaring Grubber, Fluttershy, and Spike just by glaring at them. With all of them temporarily unable to follow, the villains turned and followed Infinite into the portal.

As they were being helped up by Fluttershy, Spike, and Grubber, the mares all realized the portal was still open. “Twilight’s on the other side of that…” Spike uttered numbly.

“He said Eggman’s expectin’ us. There could be a trap on the other side,” Applejack cautioned.

“Well, let’s not keep him waiting, then! Come on! We gotta help Twilight!” Rainbow said before shooting towards the portal with Spike and Tempest right behind her, Grubber, Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie, and Fluttershy bringing up the rear.

For several seconds, the library was silent aside from the sound of the portal as it shimmered in the Warp Ring. Then Infinite stepped out from behind it, his arms crossed as small red cubes lifted away from his mask, revealing the damage Tempest had done to it. “Like moths to a flame,” he remarked as he made his way around to the front of the ring, where he crouched down and lifted up a plate on the damaged platform, revealing the crystal canister. He pulled it out and held it in his hands for several moments looking at the crystal before he tossed it over his shoulder. “Worthless,” he stated as the canister hit the ground and rolled, ending up in the crater Tirek left.

As he stood up, he heard the sound of hoofbeats and turned his head left to see Starlight and Trixie enter the library. “What happened in here?! Who are you?! What did you do to the Warp Ring?!” Starlight exclaimed upon seeing the damage and Infinite.

Trixie began to get nervous as Infinite stared back at them. “I don’t like the way he’s looking at us, Starlight,” she murmured.

Infinite stared at them a moment longer before saying, “Insects. Hardly worth the effort it would take to crush you.” He brought his left hand up to the tip of his gem as it began to glow, “But you may have some use.” Before they could react, he thrust his left hand out towards them, a pink-purple flash of light coming from his palm that caused Starlight and Trixie to gasp. Once it faded, Infinite turned and stepped into the portal which closed after he went through, the Warp Ring shrinking down and falling down into the spot where the canister had been, now looking dull and having a few red sparks coming off of it as it lay there.

Starlight and Trixie just stared dumbly ahead, their mouths hanging open slightly and a pink-purple glow appearing over their pupils. Shortly after the portal closed, they closed their mouths and turned around, using their magic to pull the doors closed as they left the library. Once they were outside, they blinked and began to act more like normal, talking with each other as they walked away as if they’d seen nothing out of the ordinary in the library.

________________________________________

Tirek, Chrysalis, and Cozy Glow laughed evilly and triumphantly. They had achieved their end goal of conquering Equestria and it hadn’t taken long at all. Twilight and her friends easily fell before them, their students were no match for them, the princesses were a joke, and Discord was worthless. With all of them out of the way, nothing could stand in their way. They all ruled… individually, since they weren’t going to share their power with anyone else. At least that’s what they thought had happened.

In reality, they were still in Grogar’s Lair, all of them stuck in a virtual world where they were the sole conqueror, a faint pink-purple glow over their pupils as they stood in place. Off to the side, Discord was laying on his back on the ground, similarly trapped in a virtual world, one where he was constantly being tormented in all kinds of different ways. The illusions were quite strong, none of them quite able to tell that what they were seeing wasn’t reality.

And standing in front of them watching them all was the Infinite illusion that the real Infinite had left behind to finish the job. The illusion watched the show for another minute before it dropped the piece of Sombra’s horn on the ground and looked up at the ceiling, nodding up to it before fading away. Above the lair, the silver mech that had tried to kill Tempest and Grubber hovered in the air, beginning to rain exploding stars down on the lair at the nod. A maniacal laugh came from the top of it as the explosions destabilized the structure, causing it to collapse on top of everyone and everything inside of it.

Author's Note:

Hoo... This was kind of a big one. I can't really think of what to say here other than I hope I can continue to do good. I'll be happy to answer any questions.

And here's a first rough look at some of the Resistance members you might see in the coming chapters.