Way Past Equestria

by Onomonopia

Defeated

Discord closed the portal behind before turning to look at his friends. He had brought them to one of the last bastions in the fused worlds, a place that he hoped that Eggman and Sombra wouldn't know about. A place of ice and metal, a fusion between a secret G.U.N. facility...and where Discord had first come into being. A place that he hoped to never return to.

"We should be safe here. At least, for a time," Discord told his friends. He looked over his shoulder when they didn't answer, not surprised to find that no one was listening to him. Rainbow Dash was consoling a sobbing Applejack while Antoine held Bunnie. Sonic was beating his head into a wall while Tails stared blankly off into space. Rarity and Fluttershy sat next to one another, both silently crying and Sally clutched a small device to her chest, whispering to it. Twilight hadn't gotten up yet and Pinkie was completely deflated.

Rotor was the only one who got up. He walked over to Discord, clutching at his broken arm. Discord looked into his eyes and found pain, sorrow, anguish...but, surprising the god, the drive to keep going.

"So what now?" Rotor asked.

"I...I don't know," Discord admitted. "I was keeping an eye on the battle...just in case something crazy happened. But I never could have predicted..."

"We played into their hands," Rotor admitted. "Eggman and Sombra played us from the start and we danced along like puppets on strings. We should have known it was too easy. We should have seen it. I should have seen it."

"You should have seen it? I'm a god of chaos and even I couldn't see something this chaotic happening," Discord scowled.

"A weakened god who couldn't even stand without help. I'm supposed to be the team genius," Rotor corrected. Then Rotor shook his head and choked out a sob. "They're...they're all gone, aren't they? All the one's Eggman and Sombra blasted..."

"...they are. I'm sorry," Discord whispered.

"And those trapped in the crystals?"

"Celestia, Luna, Cadence and Shadow are still alive...for now. But they won't last long with those crystals sucking away their life force."

"I see. How about the families that were living in Canterlot?"

"I...I teleported the fillies and Spike out of the castle. Rouge and Starlight said they were going to try to evacuate the city. But if I used my power to teleport everypony in the city away...they I wouldn't have been able to save you. I'm sorry."

Rotor hung his head and gritted his teeth, forcing down his sorrow. He glanced over his shoulder at his friends before shaking his head and walking towards an exit.

"Where are you going?" Discord asked.

"To find supplies. Or build a weapon. Or do...something," Rotor said. "I just can't stand around and do nothing...I can't."

"I'll come with you. You'll get lost without me," Discord replied. With one last look at his friends, Discord followed Rotor into the main base. The place was far different than Discord remembered, thanks to the fusing of the two worlds. Towers of library books were merged with data banks and screens, which flashed images from both worlds on them. Tanks, planes and helicopters filled up the main room, but they had been changed to look like toys from a kids commercial. Then there were tubes filled with a strange liquid floating over runes and incantations. Luckily, there was nothing inside of them.

"Where are we?" Rotor asked. "I recognize some of the G.U.N. stuff, but I've never seen a base like this before from them."

"You're half right. This is a G.U.N. base...and the place of my creation," Discord revealed.

"You...were created?"

"We were all created in one way or another, if you think about it," Discord smirked. Rotor rolled his eyes. "But yeah, I was made here. Pulled out of the chaos force and trapped within this amalgamation you see before you. Soul of chaos mixed with different sacrifices of the world. Gruesome if you think about it for too long."

"You sound like you were made by a cult," Rotor said. He used his good arm to pry open a weapons locker and grabbed a few blasters.

"You're not too far off. The agents of chaos or whatever they called themselves created me well over ten thousand years ago to be their final weapon. A god of pure chaos that would destroy the world and plunge it into eternal chaos, allowing their evil to rule. I'm sure you've dealt with similar?"

"Is it sad to say we have?" Rotor asked. "Did you do what they wanted?"

"Throw the world into chaos? Yes. Allow their evil to rule? I chucked them into a pocket dimension. Chaos is chaos. It's not good and it certainly isn't evil."

"Huh, never thought about it like that."

Rotor started taking the weapons apart as best he could, which was tough with one arm. Discord snapped both fingers and fixed Rotor's arm, even though it took the wind out of Discord. "You sure you should be wasting your power like that?"

"I will use my power how I want...and to be honest, that's about all I can muster right now," Discord admitted. "What are you doing?"

"Making a sonic weapon," Rotor said. "If I find the right frequency, maybe I can shatter the crystals that are trapping the princesses and Shadow. Give us a fighting chance or, at the very least, save them from a grim end."

"You plan to go back? After being completely out played like that, you still want to go back?" Discord asked. Rotor took a moment to answer.

"What else can I do? Sit around and...I have to try. If no one else is willing to, then I will."

"You really think that you can stand up to the Master King with just a sonic weapon?"

"My goal isn't to stand up to the king, it's to free my friends. If that's all I can do, then I'll make sure I do it right," Rotor replied. Discord shook his head at the walrus.

"You're a fool, Rotor. An absolute lunatic," Discord said. He then walked up next to Rotor and started moving more weapons and parts to Rotor. "Which are my kind of people. How can I help?"

"Heh, with how crazy this thing's going to be, I might need chaos itself to help it stick together," Rotor said. Then he looked around the room and a thin smile crossed his face. "Heck, why stop at just a sonic gun? Look at all the toys in here. Between my brains and your insanity, maybe we could make something to give the Master King pause."

"So wait, now you're planning on fighting the king?"

"It looks like I'm to only one willing to try."

"You're not just a lunatic, you're full on insane. I'm in." Discord then cast a glance towards where his friends were. "Do you think we should-"

"They'll be fine. We've...we've been down like this before. But we come back, we always do," Rotor said, trying to keep his voice from shaking. "They'll get up. They have to."

||==O O==||

Applejack finally stopped crying. That was the only good news Rainbow Dash could think of at the moment. It was all she could focus on at the moment. Because if she tried to think of anything else, then...

Rainbow noticed that Sonic was heading for one of the doors that was marked with an exit sign.

"Where are you going?" she asked Sonic.

"For a run," Sonic curtly replied.

"Do you mean a run around the base or a run straight back to where Eggman and Sombra are?" Rainbow asked. Sonic didn't answer. "That's what I thought. Sonic, I want to go back there and give those two what they deserve just as much as you do, but what would be the point? You'd be going back just to die."

"You don't know that," Sonic replied.

"Actually, I do. They were kicking the crap out of us without even trying and that was when we had our Elements and Chaos Emeralds," Rainbow replied. "What chance do you stand without them?"

"A better chance than any of you."

"Why you..." Rainbow snarled as she started to get up. Applejack pulled Rainbow into a vice grip of a hug and pulled her back down, burying her face into Rainbow's chest. Rainbow's eyes softened as she returned the hug before flashing Sonic a glance. "I'm not one to give up either, but I've learned my lesson about rushing in angry and without a plan. We've lost enough of those we care about today. Don't add your name to the pile."

"I won't let them win," Sonic whispered.

"They already have!"

Sonic and Rainbow both looked to who had spoken. Twilight had finally sat up, her whole body shaking with a mixture of fury and sorrow. "They won the moment they teamed up against us! Didn't you hear what they said? They played us the entire time! All of our adventures, all of our successes and failures...they planned all of it! We weren't playing against them! We were just the pawns on the board."

"Twilight..." Rainbow said.

"They still have the Master King. They have the Master Emerald and the Tree of Harmony. They have Canterlot. We just lost everyone. Just give it up, Sonic. It's over. They've won."

Sonic tried to think of something witty, something that would provoke Twilight and force her to think straight. But he couldn't think of anything. She was right. It was an impossible fight. Eggman and Sombra had won. But at the very least, Sonic would make them fight for their victory. So with a bitter expression on his face, Sonic turned towards the exit once more.

"You're right. They did win."

All eyes turned towards Sally, who was now standing up. She walked over to Twilight and placed a hand on her shoulder, smiling weakly at the princess.

"Because, just like Eggman and Sombra said, they get a win. A win that we can't combat or contest against. And...this was their win. So not that they've won, we have to decide what do we do now?"

"What to do? They beat us. They manipulated us from the beginning like foals. And then...they killed everypony..." Twilight whispered. Sally tightened her grip as she nodded sadly.

"So now the ball's in our court. It's our turn to fight back. We have to. For those we lost."

Twilight sprung to her hooves and spun to face Sally, fury and pain consuming Twilight's eyes.

"Those we lost?! I lost everyone! My brother! My sister! My teachers! My city, my subjects, my baby brother! All of them are gone!" Twilight roared. Twilight hung her head and hid her eyes behind her mane. "The Elements are gone. The Rainbow Power isn't coming. I couldn't save them. I let them all die. I'm a failure of a princess and ruler. It's over."

Sally sighed softly before looking at the rest of the ponies. Rarity and Fluttershy still stared at the floor, Pinkie was as flat as a deflated balloon, Applejack had yet to let go of Rainbow and only Rainbow's eyes had the tiniest trace of an ember within them. She had seen these looks before. So long ago.

"Man...this takes me back." Twilight slightly lifted her head to look at Sally. "I remember hearing those exact same words a long time ago, when Eggman attack my kingdom and tore it down. They were said in a place similar to this with some of the same faces there to hear them. Do you want to know who said the same thing you did, Twilight?"

Twilight didn't answer.

"Me. I said almost the exact same thing when Eggman conquered my world. How I wasn't good enough. How I failed them. How it was over. And if I had been by myself, it would have been over. I would have given up then and there," Sally said. Then she smiled at her friends, who in turn smiled back to her and stood up.

"But I wasn't alone. I had Antoine. I had Rotor. I had Tails. And, eventually, Bunnie. Together, we started a resistance. We fought back against Eggman. And we eventually managed to overthrow him. And, if I'm being honest, we're better off now than when we first started. Because back then, there were only five of us. But I see eleven in this room, plus Rotor and Discord. So our chances are more than double what they were back then. Because even if we've lost the Emeralds and the Elements, so long as we've still got our friends, then we have everything we need."

"I know what it's like to lose everything. To lose those you care about. And when this is all over, I promise you we will mourn and celebrate them together. But trust me when I say this, they would want you to keep fighting, to keep their mission alive. They gave their lives to stop our foes and save our worlds. By doing the same, we keep them alive in us. So I'm saying this as your friend, Twilight. Please, get up. We have worlds to save. We have to save what they sacrificed themselves for. A better tomorrow."

Twilight glanced at her friends as Sally said this. Rarity and Fluttershy both rose back to their hooves, wiping the tears out of their eyes. Pinkie popped back up and managed to somehow force herself to smile. AJ let go of Dash and stood up, a look of determination on her face so fierce that Twilight could feel her confidence coming back. And all Rainbow did was smirk at Twilight while leaning against Applejack, as if she already knew what Twilight would do."

"Even as the ruler of Equestria, I'm still learning about friendship. You're right, Sally," Twilight finally admitted. "So long as we're together, it doesn't matter what Eggman and Sombra do to us. It doesn't matter how long it takes or...how many we lose. They will fail. It's what they're best at. And so long as we carry the torch of those we've lost...But I've got to admit, I've never been this deep into rock bottom before. I...might need some help fighting my way back up."

"Oh don't worry about that, Twilight. When we've hit absolute rock bottom is when the Freedom Fighters are at their best," Sally replied. "You showed me how you ruled in a world of harmony. Now let me show you how I rule when everything goes off the rails. When all you've got is a rag tag bunch of hotheads-Sonic-that somehow have to overthrow a tyrant who has absolute power. Congrats, Twilight. Welcome to the Freedom Fighters."

"Thanks."

"Well look at that, Rotor was right." All eyes turned to see Discord walking into the room. "You all got back up. Heh, how is it that even after knowing you all for years, you find new ways to impress me?"

"I guess we're just a bit more stubborn than you give us credit for," Rainbow said.

"Maybe you are. Well, if you weren't feeling better before, then you will be after you see what Rotor's been cooking up in the lab they've got here," Discord said. "I'm a god and even I can't believe what he's done."

Author's Note:

"Wow, when was the last time Sally gave a speech like that?"

"I think she's tired of always seeming like the worse princess between the two. Now ishe really wants to show what she can do."

"What are you talking about, there's no way she's a bad princess."

"You'd be amazed how many people disagree."

"What, who disagrees?"

"I would imagine those that prefer Amy."

"Very funny, Twan."

Comments

[MLPMekarm]

wow. crazy small talk in the end comic.
but sweet none the less.