Chapter Nine: Assault
The road to Canterlot wasn't an easy one. Grogar's dark magic had dulled the sky to a fear-inducing black, and the effect only got worse the closer one got to the pony capitol. Plus, no one knew if Grogar had spread his forces throughout Equestria yet, meaning the thirteen mares (and one dragon) all had to stay out of sight. They were under no illusions that they'd manage to surprise Grogar, but perhaps, with a little luck, they might be able to leave him unsure of when they would arrive. And they needed every advantage they could get.
Twilight was perhaps having the worst time out of everypony. Though she'd managed to calm down and put on a brave face for the others, the defeat Grogar had previously handed them still haunted her. The ram's magic was unlike anything they'd ever faced before, and he had the backup of all their old enemies. Plus, now that he'd opened the gate to Tambelon, Grogar might have a whole army backing him up. Without the Elements of Harmony, Twilight couldn't see an outcome in which they won. Still, she remembered the conviction the others had reminded her of. Even if they fell, they had to at least try.
Above and ahead of the walking group, Rainbow Dash zipped between loose clouds, casting her gaze all around. Looking past her, Twilight could see Tambelon Castle floating over the city, the dark vortex continuing to swirl above it. After a few minutes, she flew back down, landing directly in front of the others.
"I can't see anything outside of the castle," said the pegasus. "No guards, no weapons, nothing. It's like he's inviting us to attack."
"My scans aren't picking up any usual magic, either," added Starlight, her horn glowing. "I can sense the magic of the portal, along with the magic of all Grogar's allies, but no traps."
"That's because this whole thing is one big trap," said Tempest. "We knew that he'd know we were coming. It was unavoidable."
Twilight looked over at her former teacher. She could only recall a hooful of times she'd seen Celestia nervous, but unfortunately, this was one of those times. The solar alicorn's confidant, all-knowing smile was absent, and Twilight could've sworn she saw Celestia swallow in fear.
"It doesn't matter," Celestia said, in a level voice. "We promised we'd fight for our little ponies, and that's what we're going to do. No matter what." She turned to look at everyone else. "If anypony...or any dragon...wants to leave now, this is probably your last chance. There's no shame in—"
"No," said Fluttershy. "Like you said, we made a promise. If this is really the end..." She reached out with her forelegs and wings, pulling the others closer to her. "I'd rather be with all of you."
"Me too," added Pinkie Pie. "Even if they take our lives, they'll never take our friendship."
"Sounds good to me," said Applejack, taking off her hat as a sign of respect.
Twilight, meanwhile, only had eyes for one member of their team.
"Spike," she called out, drawing the young drake's attention, "are you sure you want to be part of this? I won't force you to—"
"I'm absolutely certain, Twilight," said Spike. "I may not be grown up, but I still have a responsibility to Equestria." His eyes took on a sad look. "Plus, I can't let you fight this alone again." Twilight felt a small surge of guilt, remembering how she'd warped him away from the Everfree Forest battle, but she shoved it down. Had she not performed that action, they might've lost already.
Trixie looked like she was about to speak up, and judging by her face, she was going to ask about leaving. However, something apparently occurred to her, and she closed her mouth again.
"Well," said the showmare, after a moment's hesitation, "it's not like Trixie will have anypony left to perform for if Equestria is destroyed."
"Good attitude," Starlight quipped, patting her friend on the back.
Luna looked out at Tambelon Castle. "None of us have seen the inside of the castle, so teleporting is not an option," she said. "Perhaps if one of us scouts ahead, we can find another entrance—"
Then a voice come from nowhere, magically projected across the landscape. A very familiar, unwelcome voice.
"You might as well just come up to the front door," said Grogar. "If you take a long time to come to me, I'll be less merciful when I finally finish you."
Everyone was silent for a moment as they processed the words. Grogar not only knew they were coming, but knew where they were at the moment. The element of surprise was completely lost to them, meaning they were left with only the possible numerical advantage.
"Well," said Cadence, "we knew it was a long shot."
The thirteen mares and Spike walked through what had once been the outer field of Canterlot. The grass had been singed to a dull black, and pieces of Canterlot Castle lay strewn about. As before, Grogar hadn't completely crushed the original castle beneath his own, but Tambelon Castle still floated on top of the remains. A ramp had been provided, as though Grogar were guiding his enemies to their doom. Twilight shivered as she felt that thought creep across her mind.
Speaking of the ram, he strolled down the steps, his five allies on his heels. He had a malicious grin on his face, and all his minions looked just as eager to extract their revenge. Tirek and the Storm King cracked their knuckles in anticipation.
"So, you decided to face me head-on," Grogar chuckled. "Brave, although quite foolish." He looked over the group that had assembled to fight him. "Princess Cadence. Shining Armor. I confess I'm surprised to see you two here. I guess you're willing to leave Flurry Heart an orphan?"
"We're not going down to the likes of you," Shining snarled back. "We're gonna make sure you vacate Equestria and never return."
"That's cute," Chrysalis laughed. "You actually think you have a chance. But this won't proceed like our wedding day at all, sweetie."
Shining gritted his teeth and tried to lunge at the changeling, only for his wife to stop him by putting out her leg.
"It's a shame we don't get to destroy you in front of all of Equestria," said Tirek. "I suppose this pathetic chunk of garbage will have to do."
His horns lit up, levitating over the cage that contained Discord.
Fluttershy gasped, before clenching her teeth in fury. "HE IS NOT GARBAGE!" she screamed, attempting to charge at Tirek, but Applejack grabbed her by the tail, restraining her.
"Ooh, the cute pony actually thinks she's gonna do something about our takeover," the Storm King laughed. "Seriously, though, I'm getting really tired of the cute pony thing. Why did I have to invade the land of the annoyingly cute and persistent ponies?!" Sombra and Cozy Glow glared at him.
"Did you forget it was those cute ponies who defeated you before?" demanded Tempest. "All of you. You six being together won't change a thing."
"Keep telling yourself that, you cripple," sneered Sombra. "You've never faced all of us together. Also, you may want to recall our last encounter."
"You caught us off-guard before," Rainbow Dash snapped back. "You won't get that chance again."
"We don't need it," said Cozy Glow, cackling. "You might as well give up now, Headmare Twilight. Equestria is going to be ours."
Twilight swallowed, before stepping forward and spreading her wings.
"It doesn't matter," she declared. "Even if we fall here, our defeat will inspire other ponies and creatures to rise up against you. You can't fight the whole world. Eventually, you will lose."
"Sorry to disappoint you, Princess Twilight," Grogar replied, "but we've already won. The only thing left to do is cement our victory, which we're about to do."
"We shall see, you monster!" shouted Luna.
Grogar's horns lit up with black and yellow light, as electricity raced down both of them. Shining Armor quickly cast his shield spell, encasing all the ponies and Spike in a magenta dome. Grogar's lightning attack blasted against the barrier wall, but Shining's magic held.
"Return fire!" Celestia yelled above the crackling.
The four princesses all charged their horns, while Spike took a deep breath. When Grogar cut off his attack, Shining dropped the shield, and all five of them released their attacks, Spike's emerald flames mingling with the four magical beams. Grogar's team was forced to leap or fly away, but they did manage to dodge the assault. Inside his cage, Discord winced at the sight.
"Show no mercy this time," Grogar ordered. "Wipe them out. All of them."
"With pleasure," Sombra cackled, before he charged his own horn. He fired a bolt of black magic at Celestia, who managed to dodge, although the black crystals that sprouted from the impact site cut into her leg slightly.
"Remember what we planned, everypony!" Twilight yelled.
Applejack produced her lasso, taking aim at Tirek. The centaur was busy firing beams of magic at Rarity, who was playing her part by dodging, keeping his attention. Taking careful aim, Applejack hurled the lasso, managing to get the loop around one of Tirek's horns, and yanked as hard as she could. Tirek, caught by surprise, was pulled off his hooves, slamming side-first into the ground.
"Now, Rainbow!" yelled the farm pony.
Rainbow Dash, who'd been avoiding the Storm King's lightning bolts, immediately changed direction in mid-air, and began zooming towards Tirek. Her wings began beating faster and faster, and the familiar cone of air formed around her front, as she approached Sonic Rainboom speed. Not even Tirek would recover from a Sonic Rainboom to the face.
"Oh, no, you don't!" yelled Grogar, taking notice of the ponies' attack.
He tapped his necklace with one hoof, causing the studs to light up. From the gold light emerged a giant hand, attached to an equally gigantic arm. The arm swung in an arc, coming down and planting itself directly in Rainbow's path. Rainbow tried to pull up, but she was going too fast, and she slammed into the palm of the magic hand, like a fly slamming into a chariot. With the ponies' combo interrupted, Tirek seized the lasso around his horn and yanked, pulling Applejack off her hooves and sending her flying.
The Storm King, meanwhile, having lost his target in Rainbow Dash, had moved on to firing lightning bolts at Spike. The small dragon swooped and dived, but the bolts were coming closer and closer, and Spike wasn't an experienced flyer. Eventually, he knew he'd be hit.
"Zappity zap! Here comes the hurricane!" sang the Storm King, pointing with his index fingers. "Bow down to my badda-ba-boom, baby!"
"This is more annoying than the Maneiac's banter!" Spike yelled. He inhaled and quickly spat a green fireball down at his enemy, but the Storm King avoided it with a nimble jump.
"What's that, lizard breath?" he shouted back. "I can't hear you over the sound of me kicking your butt!"
And that was when Tempest tackled her former boss from the side. Sparks flew from the Storm King's fingertips, burning the ground, as the two rolled across the battlefield, Tempest pounding on the Storm King with her forehooves as they went. Spike, now free from the assault, immediately flew down to help the scarred unicorn.
Unfortunately, he didn't foresee the Storm King catching Tempest off-guard with an electrified punch in the stomach, sending the unicorn flying off of him, and causing her to slam into Spike in midair. Tempest and Spike plummeted to the ground, coming to a rest in a tangle of limbs. Climbing back into a standing position, the Storm King slowly advanced on them, his hands glowing with blue electricity.
"I was worried I wouldn't get the chance to come after you, Tempest," he chuckled to himself, stepping closer and closer, "but it looks like I don't even have to search for you. Now, I can teach you what happens when—"
This time, the Storm King was the one interrupted. That interruption took the form of Tempest suddenly seizing Spike's tail in her mouth and hurling the small drake directly into the Storm King's face, where he collided with a painful crunch. Spike's scales protected him from the worst of the damage, but the Storm King's nose wasn't so lucky.
"Ow! What was that for?!" Spike demanded, as he frantically beat his wings to stop from slamming into the ground again.
"Sorry! I was kinda desperate!" Tempest shouted back. She leaped from her sitting position and spun in midair, bringing her back legs into contact with the Storm King's face. His jaws clapped together, and Spike was pretty certain he saw one of his teeth fly out.
Still, the king wasn't going down that easily. He charged electricity in both palms, then slammed them together, causing lightning to spring outwards in a dome shape around him. Tempest and Spike scurried away from the attack, and managed to outrace it, though just barely.
King Sombra was a formidable opponent, able to shape-shift and dodge blows from enemies and return just as much magical firepower back at them. However, he'd once again met his match in Pinkie Pie, who could still dodge anything he could throw at her. Sombra conjured up a blizzard of tiny black crystals, sharpened to knife points, and fired them at the earth pony, but she managed to contort her body in just the right way to dodge all of them.
"You're just delaying the inevitable, you foal," Sombra growled. "I know your tricks this time. I defeated you once, and I can do it again."
"Oh, you don't know all my tricks," Pinkie responded, swerving to avoid another blast of magic. "I would never reveal my best moves so quickly. Plus, I'm not alone this time!"
Sombra blinked, trying to figure out if she was lying, only for a crescent-shaped magical attack to catch him on the rear. Snarling, he turned around, discovering Princess Luna floating behind him, with her horn glowing with blue light.
The dark king's eyes narrowed. "You really think you are a match for me?" he demanded, stomping one foot.
"Your bark was always worse than your bite, Your Majesty," Luna mocked, charging her horn.
Sombra opened his mouth to respond, only for a small object to smack into the side of his head. From that impact spot, blue smoke began to flow over his face, blinding him. Thus, he couldn't see when Luna launched another magic beam, hitting him squarely in the chest.
As he fell backwards and rolled across the grass, Sombra roared in pain and fury, struggling to climb to his hooves once again. Eventually, he stood up, finding himself facing a grinning Pinkie Pie, a smug Princess Luna, and an azure mare wearing a purple hat and cape he didn't recognize.
"HA! Did you truly believe you could take us on?!" laughed the mare. "Not with the Great and Powerful Trixie on our side! You cannot comprehend—"
Trixie yelped in surprise as she was suddenly snatched up by Luna's telekinesis, pulling her away from Sombra's magical beam.
"Perhaps we should save the gloating for after we actually win, Trixie," advised the Princess.
Trixie gave a sheepish smile. "Trixie concedes your point," she replied.
Luna would've answered, but she was forced to raise a bubble shield to block another attack from Sombra. She flew away, depositing Trixie on the ground, and continued her flight, avoiding more magic beams from the dark king. Pinkie was also a target for Sombra's wrath, but she was smart enough to run in a different direction than Luna, so that Sombra could only focus on one of them at a time.
Trixie, meanwhile, was working on the next phase of their attack plan. She pulled out a stream of handkerchiefs, already tied together, and quickly shoved them into her hat. Then she waved her hooves, trying to attract Pinkie Pie's attention.
Pinkie noticed after a second, and gave a nod. Luna, having been observing the two mares, used her magic to seize Pinkie, lifting her off the ground. She then flew close to Sombra, avoiding a few more magic beams, and tossed Pinkie Pie directly at him. Sombra didn't even have time to react before Pinkie pulled a coconut cream pie out of her mane and shoved it into his face, blinding him.
Sombra screamed again, infuriated at being blinded twice in such rapid succession. Trixe scurried up behind him while he thrashed, and shoved her hat down on top of his head, then yanked it off quickly. The handkerchiefs were now tied around his head in a make-shift muzzle and set of reins. Trixie climbed onto his back, grabbing the reins in her magic.
"I'm no Applejack," she admitted, "but whatever. Giddyup, horse!"
Sombra was, of course, aware of Trixie's little shenanigan, and immediately shifted into his pure shadow form, throwing the showmare off his back. Trixie's handkerchiefs fell to the ground as well, and the dark blob that was Sombra rose up, eyes glowing green and red, with wisps of purple smoke dancing off the edges.
"Oh, dear," said Trixie, picking up her hat from where it had fallen. "I think we made him angry."
Luna responded by firing another beam at Sombra's eyes, but he shifted his form to avoid it. Trixe pointed the opening of her hat at him, and a stream of playing cards launched out of it. The cards smacked against Sombra's eyes, making him shut them for a second, but other than that, they barely slowed him down. It did however give Pinkie, Luna, and Trixie time to avoid Sombra's follow-up magic attack that caused pointed black crystals to erupt out of the ground upon which they stood.
"You can't defeat me!" he snarled at them. "And you certainly won't defeat all of us!"
As he chased after them, they passed by Queen Chrysalis, who'd been hunting Applejack, as she'd previously been instructed to do by Grogar. However, she'd been engaged in battle by a rather angry Princess Cadence and Shining Armor, along with Starlight Glimmer. Considering the changeling queen still had a score to settle with Starlight, she'd decided that someone else could fight the farm pony.
At the current moment, she was dodging beams of magic from all three ponies, chuckling while she did so.
"If I didn't know better, I'd say you were angry with me, honey" she giggled, shape-shifting into Cadence and batting her eyes at Shining Armor.
"Sorry, but I'm calling off our engagement!" snapped the stallion, unperturbed by her tricks. "No offense, honey."
"None taken," replied Cadence.
"Hey, lovebirds!" yelled Starlight. "Eyes on the battle at hoof!"
The Crystal Empire rulers turned their focus back to Chrysalis. The former changeling monarch hissed, baring her fangs, before the familiar wave of green magic, signaling her shape-shifting powers, washed over her. When it faded, Chrysalis' form was replaced with that of the former Dragon Lord Torch. She was now many times larger than her opponents, and she grinned wickedly down at them.
"Nice trick, Chrissy," quipped Starlight, "but size alone won't save you!"
"It's not the only thing I have on my side, Starlight Glimmer!" Chrysalis spat.
She opened her mouth, releasing a torrent of flame towards the three ponies. They were forced to fly off in different directions, with Starlight levitating herself, and Cadence carrying Shining on her back. Chrysalis couldn't keep track of both of them, so she chose to focus on Cadence, tracking her with the dragon fire breath.
Starlight, meanwhile, floated herself around the back of the massive body, trying to get a clear shot of the neck. Once she got to a good vantage point, she took aim with her horn, and charged it up. She fired what looked like a normal beam of her turquoise magic, hitting Chrysalis in the dead center of the neck, but instead of causing a concussive effect, the magic changed into a long rope that wrapped around the circumference of the neck. Starlight knew she only had a second to react before Chrysalis ripped the magic tether off, so she quickly cast a gravity increasing spell on herself and allowed herself to plummet. The tether yanked on Chrysalis' neck, pulling her along with Starlight's magically amplified weight causing her to flop onto her back with an almighty thump.
"Now!" yelled Starlight.
Cadence and Shining Armor took aim with their horns and fired. Shining created a dome shield around the two of them, but it was enchanted to allow things to pass through the inside of it. Cadence, however, fired her light blue magic directly into Chrysalis' stomach. Instead of a simple magic beam, her attack phased through Chrysalis' body. It was a magical technique she'd been developing alongside Thorax in case Chrysalis ever attacked again. As the Princess of Love, Cadence had a natural control over it in the bodies of changelings. She was going to try to siphon the love from Chrysalis, just enough to weaken her without killing her. She reached down into the depths of Chrysalis' being, and began to pull. Beads of light went down the trail of magic, from Chrysalis to Cadence, while the changeling continued to flail on her back.
For the first few seconds, it seemed to be working. Chrysalis' thrashing grew a little weaker, and Cadence could feel the love coming into her body. Then, Cadence felt a massive clench in her stomach, and the stream of magic turned black. She cried out in pain, nearly falling out of the sky in shock, but she managed to stabilize herself.
"You alright?" asked Shining.
"I...I..." Cadence managed to say between gasps, "I'm not pulling love from her...it's something else..."
Chrysalis grinned, before shifting back into her normal self. "Grogar's been fueling me with his magic, Princess!" she cackled. "Who needs love when I have darkness!"
She changed shape again, becoming a massive kraken. Her tentacles flailed, one of them flying into Shining Armor's shield and smacking the two of them down. Starlight was forced to rapid-fire teleport to avoid the swinging appendages.
Fluttershy would be the first pony to admit that she was anything but a fighter. She knew she was lucky among her five best friends, since Cozy Glow was probably the weakest of Grogar's team. At least she didn't have to worry about going up against somebody like Tirek or Sombra.
That being said, she wasn't exactly equipped to deal with Cozy, either.
The pink filly was currently chasing Fluttershy around, firing magic bolts at her back. Fluttershy was pushing her wings to their limit, flying as fast as she possibly could, and it was just barely enough to keep her safe. Part of her suspected that Cozy was missing on purpose, in order to instill more terror. If that was the case, it was definitely working.
"Come on, Professor Fluttershy!" cackled the filly. "Fight back! It's not any fun if you don't even try to defend yourself!"
Flutteshy wanted to defend herself, but she couldn't think of any way to do so. Whenever she'd been forced into dangerous situations before, she'd either had all her friends by her side, or she'd had the power of the Stare. But, since she'd used the Stare in her last fight with Cozy, she knew it would never work again. Without it, Fluttershy felt powerless on her own. She—
That thought came to an abrupt end when a magic beam finally found her, blasting her in the back of the head. Fluttershy was forced face-first into the ground, and pushed a short distance, leaving a trail of dirt in her wake. She was pretty sure some got in her mouth, and she lifted it up and spat it out.
Cozy Glow howled with laughter as she floated in the air. "Wow, Professor Fluttershy! I had no idea that kindness was so pathetic! Oh wait, yes I did!"
Fluttershy swallowed in fear. She climbed back onto her hooves, but she could already hear Cozy charging up another magic blast. She knew she wouldn't be able to avoid it in time, and it left her wondering if there was even any point in trying. She was the weak link in this team, and she would bring down all the others just like—
Another interruption to her thoughts came in the form of Cozy's magic cutting out, the filly grunting in pain, and some sort of slamming noise. Shocked, Fluttershy spun around to find Cozy Glow lying on the ground, Rainbow Dash pinning her down with all four hooves. Apparently, Rainbow had tackled the filly before she could launch her attack.
"You okay there, Fluttershy?!" Rainbow called out, as Cozy continued to squirm beneath her. Fluttershy was still in a state of surprise, but she managed a small nod.
"You're-urk!-not playing fair, Professor Dash!" yelled Cozy.
"Well, you weren't playing fair from the beginning, you two-faced–" Rainbow started to snap back, only this to Cozy Glow cut her off. This interruption took the form of a magic beam to the face that sent Rainbow flying off of Cozy, upwards in a small arc, to land on her back. Cozy chortled harder as she flapped her wings, taking to the air once more.
"Even you're not a match for me, Professor Dash!" she howled. Her horn began to charge again, a massive magical blast forming in the tip. "I think I'll wipe you out before the Storm King even gets a chance to–"
A hoof smacked into the side of her face, causing her lower jaw to slam into her upper jaw, her teeth rattling against each other. Cozy placed a hoof against her aching cheek, turning towards the source of her attack.
And finding Fluttershy, standing with her front legs raised, in a fighting pose.
"...what?" she asked, bewildered.
"I won't let you hurt her!" Fluttershy sneered. "I won't let you hurt anypony anymore!"
Cozy Glow blinked a couple of times, as though she were completely unsure of how to react. Hesitantly, she began charging another beam in her horn. However, the second the magic began to gather, Fluttershy dived forward, reaching up with one hoof, and seized Cozy's horn. She lifted the filly off the ground by the horn, spun her around, and brought her down hard, face-first into the grass and dirt. Then, Fluttershy delivered an uppercut to Cozy's head, knocking her further back.
"You don't get to be like this and escape consequences!" she snarled, before she threw a few more punches.
Cozy raised her head up. Her mouth was bleeding ever so slightly, and one of the ribbons in her hair had come loose. Still, she stared befuddled at Fluttershy, like what the yellow pegasus was doing was so shocking her brain couldn't comprehend it.
"Whoa....Fluttershy?" breathed Rainbow Dash, who'd risen to her hooves once again. She, too, was gaping at her longtime friend in complete amazement.
Fluttershy gasped when she saw Rainbow's face. The enraged expression faded from her face. "Oh! I'm sorry, Rainbow! I guess I just got angry! It's like that time I became Saddle Rager–"
"No, no! Stay angry! Stay angry!"
Fluttershy opened her mouth to respond, but stopped as she saw something behind Rainbow. Gasping, she dived forward and grabbed her friend around the neck, pulling Rainbow Dash out of the way with her. It was just in time, as Tirek's massive orange beam nearly obliterated them both.
"Golly, thanks for the rescue, Tirek!" called out Cozy Glow. She flapped her wings, getting back into the air.
"Don't think anything of it!" Tirek snapped back. "I'm only doing it because we're on the same team!"
Cozy turned her focus back to Rainbow and Fluttershy, only for both pegasi to fly up and grab her by the wings. Working together, the two tossed Cozy into Tirek, where she thumped against his chest. Cozy managed to recover in about a second, but not before Tirek plucked her off his pectorals.
"Don't tell me you can't even take on these two?" he demanded, gesturing to the pegasi. "You're an alicorn, for crying out loud!"
"Hey! What's that supposed to mean?!" demanded Rainbow, stomping one hoof.
"Oh, gee, when you put it that way," Cozy sneered back, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "How are things going on your end, by the way?"
What Tirek would've responded with is anyone's guess, but no one would ever know for sure. Applejack's lasso came flying out from behind him, coming to wrap around his bicep this time. Tirek looked down at the rope, his eyes following it to the pony holding it.
"You honestly don't believe you'll be able to pull me over again by yourself, do you?" he asked. "Even with your earth pony strength, you'd need—"
A good-sized boulder smashed into his face, enveloped in a bright blue magical aura. While Tirek tumbled like a fallen tree, and Cozy Glow laughed at his misfortune, Rainbow and Fluttershy's eyes searched for the boulder's point of origin, finding Rarity, bent over and taking deep breaths, as her horn glow faded out.
"Wow, Rares," commented Applejack, as she began tying the lasso around Tirek's legs, "I didn't know you had it in you."
"Neither did I, darling," Rarity admitted. "I don't think I should try that again, though. At least for a while."
Cozy Glow finally stopped laughing at Tirek's tumble, and discovered Applejack was trying to bind him completely with her lasso. Annoyed, she fired another bolt of magic, incinerating the rope and leaving Tirek free to climb to his hooves. Applejack just barely managed to dive to the side to avoid the centaur's massive fist that came down where she'd been standing.
"You're welcome, Tirek!" Cozy called out, as she began fighting the two pegasi again.
"It's Lord Tirek!" he snapped back, firing his giant magic beam at Rarity and Applejack.
Grogar stood at the top of a small hill, facing down Celestia and Twilight. The two had sought the ram out as the biggest threat of the six villains, and they knew they'd never win this battle unless they took him down. However, that task was far easier said than done, considering how powerful Grogar was.
The studs on Grogar's necklace lit up, sending dozens of glowing black and yellow hands into the air to try and grab Celestia and Twilight. The two alicorns kept zipping from spot to spot, avoiding the grasping fingers, occasionally firing their magic beams into the hands to keep them at bay. While they were staying out of Grogar's reach, even their enhanced alicorn stamina was being worn down, and they weren't making any progress towards actually defeating him.
As two hands reached up to grab her, Twilight created a bubble shield around her body to deflect them. She knew it wouldn't hold for long, though.
"Celestia!" she called out. "We need to launch some sort of attack! Playing targets for Grogar isn't getting us anywhere!"
"I'm aware, Twilight!" Celestia shouted back, as she blasted another hand away. She flapped her wings a few more times, getting above the hands. She then lit up her horn, conjuring a long, curved blade around the appendage. Then she brought her neck down, causing the blade to slice through several of Grogar's magic hands. Once they were separated from their point of origin, they simply dissolved into loose magic and floated away.
Twilight grunted in her shield as the hands continued to grasp at her. Cracks began to form on the surface, and she could feel the barrier getting weaker by the second. Twilight closed her eyes tight, just in case this didn't work, and began pouring more magic into the barrier. The cracks didn't seal up, however. In fact, they spread further and further, creating smaller and smaller unmarked pockets on the surface. Down below, Grogar blinked in confusion, clearly wondering what exactly the Princess of Friendship was hoping to accomplish.
His unspoken question was answered one second later, as Twilight's shield burst like a firework, sending pointed shards of magic into the glowing hands surrounding her. They stabbed into Grogar's magic appendages, in some cases even slicing through the limbs themselves. Grogar was forced to leap back to avoid a particularly large piece that stabbed into the earth before fading away.
Both Twilight and Celestia were now free, and had good shots at Grogar. They wasted no time in taking advantage of that fact, firing their magic beams down at the ram before he could create more arms. Grogar took both blasts to the face, sending him into a backflip. Twilight and Celestia flew down towards him, knowing they had to keep up the pressure in order to win the fight.
However, Grogar, upon completing his flip, managed to land on all four hooves, coming to a sliding stop. He glared up at the approaching alicorns, before charging the magic in both his horns again. Black lightning lanced from the tips, coming right for Celestia and Twilight, at a speed they would never be able to dodge.
Celestia was quick to act, however, charging up her horn, and firing it right in front of her. The beam stopped just a short distance from its point of origin, before expanding outwards into a swirling vortex. Celestia had just torn open a dimensional portal, through which she allowed Grogar's lightning to pass harmlessly into. Unfortunately, when she used her magic to close it, she left herself vulnerable. A fact Grogar took advantage of by blasting her out of the air.
"CELESTIA!" screamed Twilight, futilely trying to grab her former teacher with her forelegs. Celestia plummeted to the ground, slamming into the dirt and leaving an alicorn-shaped imprint. Twilight rounded on Grogar, her eyes filled with hate. Grogar didn't even say anything, merely laughing at her.
Twilight immediately began beating her wings, flying toward Grogar. As she went, she cast an accelero spell on herself, increasing her speed before the ram could do anything. She slammed into Grogar like a living cannonball, sending them both tumbling head over hooves in a tangle of limbs. Twilight's forelegs snapped upwards, grabbing the bell around Grogar's neck and trying to pry it off.
"Good attempt, Princess Twilight," Grogar cackled, "but not good enough." Then he teleported away, leaving Twilight to roll a short distance across the grass by herself. She jumped back onto her hooves, frantically glancing in every direction to find where Grogar had gone.
She got her answer a second later as a bolt of black magic came flying out from behind her. Fortunately, a golden, diamond-shaped shield of energy surrounded her just in time to protect her from Grogar's attack. Grogar snorted in annoyance, before turning around to find a standing Princess Celestia, her horn alight with it's familiar gold glow.
"You ponies just don't know when you're beaten, do you?" he demanded.
"We've never been beaten before," Celestia shot back. "We won't be beaten today. Not even by the likes of you!"
Twilight gave a small smile. She'd never seen her former teacher go all out before, but she was sure even Grogar couldn't stand up to the full might of the solar princess.
Celestia and Twilight began charging at the same time, coming from two different directions, hoping to ensure he couldn't defend against both of them. Twilight quickly cast the similo duplexis spell, creating a copy of herself to run alongside her. Celestia, meanwhile, created a magical tether on her horn, and tossed it towards Grogar, where it wrapped around both his horns and his neck. She ceased her approach, and pulled, causing the tether to constrict, making it hard for Grogar to breathe.
Meanwhile, Twilight and her copy leaped onto Grogar's back, their horns flaring with magic. They both fired, sending electricity into the ram's body, shocking him while Celestia kept pulling on the tether. Grogar threw his head back and screamed like a wild beast. His necklace studs lit up once more, and his bell rang. But instead of a low, hollow reverb, the bell created an ear-piercing screech sound that forced Twilight and Celestia to slam their front hooves over their ears. It still wasn't enough to block out the noise.
Unfortunately for the ponies, their attempt at defense gave Grogar just the opportunity he needed. He fired a blast of dark magic from both horns that struck Celestia in the chest, shattering her magical tether and sending her backwards. Grogar then created two more magical arms from his necklace that reached over his back, seizing Twilight and her duplicate and pulling them off his body. The duplicate was easily crushed when the hand closed, causing it to dissipate into white stars. The real Twilight was instead swung around like a rag doll, before he casually chucked her forward, causing her to crash into the earth alongside Celestia.
Twilight coughed as she attempted to pull herself together once more. Her entire body ached, and she knew she wasn't going to get the chance to rest anytime soon,. By her side, she could see that Princess Celestia was having similar difficulties. Even worse, all around her, she could see Grogar's minions shoving her friends towards them, herding them all into one spot. Twilight could only think of one reason they'd be doing so: to end this fight. All her allies looked exhausted as well.
"This has been amusing," Grogar growled, as all the ponies (plus Spike) began to crowd together, "but I grow bored of games. I will cement my victory over Equestria now."
His horns lit up, and he rang his bell once more. This time, the artifact released a single, barely audible note, like a gong being rung from miles away. Twilight pondered what Grogar had been hoping to achieve with that act, until she saw the portal above Tambelon Castle begin swirling faster and faster.
"Oh, no..." she breathed.
From within the depths of the portal, smokey, ink-like tendrils of darkness began to emerge, flying down to the battlefield and impacting the earth behind Grogar. There were so many of them, plopping down like raindrops behind their master, and as the darkness faded, the creatures within became visible.
They were porcine, at least in appearance. Bipedal beasts covered from head to foot in black armor, with pig noses and tusks emerging just under their blood-red eyes. They all carried either swords, spears, or massive war hammers, with spikes on the tips.
"These are the Knights of Tambelon," Grogar explained. "They are merely the beginning of the dark forces I will call forth from my home to destroy this world. But first, they will destroy you." The knights all stepped forward, obeying their lord's unspoken commands. "Any last requests, Princess Twilight?"
Twilight swallowed, tears threatening to drip from her face. Everything seemed hopeless. Grogar, Chrysalis, Sombra, Tirek, the Storm King, and Cozy Glow all surrounded them, looking as eager and ready to fight as ever. And now, Grogar had summoned a small army to finish them off. If there was a way out of this, she couldn't see it.
"Twilight, what do we do?" Pinkie whispered to her. The others all looked to the Princess of Friendship as well, expecting her to come up with some genius plan to get everypony out of this. Twilight didn't know how to break it to them that there was no escape.
There was only one thing left to do.
Twilight directed her gaze back to Grogar, looking him directly in the eye, forcing down her fear.
"You may destroy us here," she said, "but you can't destroy the values of harmony. You can't destroy generosity, laughter, kindness, honesty, loyalty, or the magic of friendship. Equestria will rise up, inspired by our sacrifice, and take you down, Grogar. You will not win this war."
She expected the others to be disappointed in her, perhaps disillusioned with her failure to lead them to victory. However, nopony backed off. Instead, they closed in around her, everypony (even Trixie) putting a hoof on her body, as if to affirm their commitment to going down without fear. Spike wrapped his arms around his adopted sister's front leg, hugging her, while the other five Element Bearers pressed their bodies against hers. Celestia blinked a stream of tears from her eyes, not bothering to wipe the proud smile from her face.
Grogar chuckled to himself. "Admirable, perhaps, but still foolish." He gestured with one hoof. "Finish them."
"It'll be okay, everypony," Twilight whispered, as she squeezed her eyes shut, and waited for the end.
And waited. And waited.
Finally, getting impatient as she prepared for her impending death, Twilight opened her eyes again. The Knights of Tambelon had indeed begun their charge, but had stopped after only a few steps. Instead of laying waste to their enemies, they were looking over them, over the top of the small hill behind the ponies.
Twilight and the others turned around.
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I really hope lightning dust along with the wonderbolts help out rainbow dash
Oh and Sunset Shimmer came through the portal to help
Aww man a cliffhanger?!
Intense battle. If I am reading the ending right, then maybe reinforcements have arrived!
Glad to see this is still continuing.
What's going to happen next?
10940846
You're right.
Missed opportunity for him to yell: "Get Over Here!"
I was thinking Neo from the Matrix.
Crushing blow!
Puny God.
At dawn, look to the East.
This was pretty good fight but I'm surprised that None of the villains have stamina issues. I would expect that Chrysalis would push herself to the brink of her limits by such transformations. Before Grogar gave her that power boost she would not have been able to to perform such transformations without dying as a result.