Chapter 6: Sweetie Belle & Apple Bloom
Things were not looking good for Celestia and Equestria. The Royal Guard was all but wiped out and only a few civilian resistance cells remained in the cities. Celestia didn't like hiding like a rat while her country was being overwhelmed, but she was used to it during her war with the Regime.
"How are we doing?" she asked her officers.
"Not good." Replied Captain Thunderlane of the New Wonderbolts. "Air strikes only go so far."
"The Apples do their best." Applejack replied, standing next to her brother, Big Macintosh. "We're tough, but we're still not soldiers. Even with Cadance and de crystal ponies, we're still badly outnumbered."
"My animals keep me updated on everything going on in the country." said Fluttershy. "But it's not much help without any power to act. The best we can do is coordinate resistance cells." Celestia wiped her forehead. This was becoming even more hopeless than her fight with Twilight. "What should we do?"
"Are ye sure ye don' have anymore heavy hitters we can call in?" Applejack asked.
"Just my new student Sweetie Belle and her bodyguard, Apple Bloom." that immediately got Applejack's attention.
"Hold on! What is mah sister doin' here?"
"When I took Sweetie Bell on as my new student, Apple Bloom insisted that she wouldn't lose another friend like she lost Scootaloo. So she came along and received training from the Royal Guard to become her bodyguard."
"And why didn't you call them in yet?" Thunderlane asked.
"Cuz they're just little fillies yet?" Applejack asked, obviously not liking the idea that her little sister was doing dangerous military stuff.
"Your little sister is stronger than she appears, Applejack. Even during my war with the Regime, she was on the frontlines." Applejack didn't like it, but when she remembered the part she played in that conflict, she couldn't help but feel responsible and shut up. "Sadly, we can't rely on them. They're busy."
"I'm pretty sure they could find time for this." Thunderlane said.
"No, Thunderlane. They are required to guard Twilight in Tartarus. With how bad things are getting, some ponies, like the Regime refugees might find a good idea to let her out to help."
"Why don't was just snatch those counterparts from the other world who helped you take down Twilight?" the black pegasus asked.
"Captian, we can't just rely on help from other worlds whenever things get hard. We need to learn to rely on ourselves." Celestia replied.
"Isn't there anypony else we can call in?" Fluttershy asked.
"Hey, everypony!" as if on cue, Pinkie Pie bounced into the room, accompanied by King Thorax. "Sorry we took so long. Bad traffic."
"Pinkie, we were traveling in an air balloon." Thorax said.
"I know right? Haven't you seen all those birds? They didn't even use turn signals! How rude!" Ignoring Pinkie's random nonsense, Celestia just ran up to her coltfriend and gave him an affectionate nuzzle.
"Thorax! I'm so happy to see that you're fine!" she exclaimed happily. Thorax just chuckled nervously.
"Tia, not in front of your subjects." Celestia just ignored him and gave him a kiss on the cheek as they parted. Pinkie bounced over to Fluttershy and Applejack.
"Hey, girls!" she greeted them brightly. "Nice to see you again. You look good, Applejack. Your original hat looks so much better on you. And Fluttershy, I see you made up with your animal friends!" she said, noticing Angel Bunny on the top of her head. Applejack and Fluttershy exchanged a confused look.
"Does dis mean she's back bein'a good guy too?" Applejack asked.
"I don't know. You can never tell with Pinkie Pie." Celestia finally let Thorax go and walked up to the girls.
"Don't worry, girls. Pinkie has been my mole within the First Order ever since Thorax let me know about them. We can trust her." Pinkie happily wrapped her two friends into a tight embrace, which they gladly allowed themselves to be overtaken by after hearing Celestia's words.
"I'm so happy to be back! We can have a reunion party after we kicked the mean out of the Storm King's butt! Oh, how about we hold it in Twilight's cell. I know she's not that friendly anymore, but we can still be friendly to her. If only we could find Rainbow Dash and invite her too... " Pinkie kept on blabbering, but Fluttershy and Applejack barely heard it. They just shared a smile. Classic Pinkie.
As the reunion took place, Big Mac walked up to Celestia. "Dob' get me wrong, äh trust you an' äh trust AB and her friend, but are ye sure they'll be able to handle dis? Dey are barely mares yet." Celestia just smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry, Big Macintosh. They may be young, but together, they are the strongest team we have."
In the realm of Tartarus, Twilight Sparkle was sitting in her cage, watching the two young mares in front of her cage with an unreadable expression. Apple Bloom was now sporting a shining armor of the Royal Guard and a sword on her side as she watched Twilight like a hawk. She looked like she was ready to slice and dice the broken horned alicorn if she even twitched. While this staring contest with Apple Bloom was amusing, it did little to prevent her frustration from the other teenaged mare, Sweetie Belle march up and down in front of her cage, grumbling. And for once, Apple Bloom was in a complete agreement with her, even if she would never say it.
"Ah swear, whatever they put through the poor souls thrown in here, it's gotta be a picnic compared to her fumin'." Apple Bloom groaned as she watched Sweetie Belle pace around the room, grumbling with an angry look on her face. "Will ya knock it off?!" the yellow earth pony asked in annoyance. "Yer givin' me a headache!" Sweetie turned towards her.
"How are you so okay with this?! Equestria is under attack, ponies are being captured and killed, our magic is being drained from us and Celestia puts us on guard duty?!" the unicorn complained. Her friend shot her an offended look.
"Ah'm always on guard duty, remember?!" the yellow mare cut back. "In trainin', ah learned that we should never go lookin' for trouble. Ye would do better if ye settled down too!" Sweetie Belle immediately realized her mistake.
"Sorry, AB. I didn't mean to sound like I'm degrading you. But how do you expect me to settle down? I am the personal student of the most powerful pony who ever lived and you are my bodyguard trained by the best of the best and wearing a magically enhanced armor! Hay, we have inherited Elements of Harmony for crying out loud!"
It was true. After Twilight's fall from grace and Rarity's death, the Elements of Magic and Generosity chose Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom respectively when Celestia managed to bring them back. And from what Apple Bloom heard, Applejack had also regained the Element of Honesty, even if she didn't know it yet. It gave her a great sense of joy to know that she was now connected to her sister on an even deeper level.
"I just don't get it, AB!" Sweetie continued to complain. "We should be out there on the front lines! It's a crisis out there!"
"Celestia told us to stay put and watch over her." Apple Bloom said as she pointed at Twilight with her head. "The Storm King's attack is bad enough. That is a crisis alright. But both him and Twilight runnin' around? That would be an armageddon."
She saw that Sweetie Belle's face brightened somewhat when she said that, so she knew she found the right path to calm her down. "So right now, we are the only ones standin' between a crisis and an armageddon." Sweetie Belle smiled upon hearing that.
"I can work with that." she said brightly. Apple Bloom sighed in relief. Now that she finally managed to get Sweetie Belle to relax, maybe the time they spent here won't be so unbearable anymore. But her relief was short lived when she heard a huge explosion that shook the entire room and made them collapse on the ground.
"What was that?!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "Is someone breaking in?!"
"Why would anypony break into Tartarus?" Apple Bloom asked before an idea hit her. "Is it the Storm King?!" she panicked.
"Either him or the Twilight fan club." Sweetie Belle replied, shooting a distasteful look at the former Empress of Magic.
"Let's go check it out!" Apple Bloom yelled and was about to take off, but Sweete Belle pulled her back.
"What about her?" Sweetie Belle asked, pointing at Twilight? "We can't leave her unsupervised."
"The Storm King is too much for Celestia." Twilight said. "I'm your only hope." Apple Bloom glared at her.
"Here's de deal, Twi, Celestia asked for our help. She didn' force us to sign a loyalty oath or threaten us with prison!" she yelled at the former empress.
"And she didn't kill our family members either. Sweetie Belle added. No matter who it was who broke in, they won't be taking Twilight. This monster killed Rarity. If Sweetie Belle had her way, Twilight will never again see the light of day.
"Don't worry. She ain't goin' anywhere." Apple Bloom smiled reassuringly.
She then put a hoof in her mouth and let out a sharp whistle. Sweetie Belle yelped in surprise when she saw Cerberus, the giant three headed dog leap over her bodyguard and sit down in front of her.
"Down, boy. Stay here and watch her for us." she instructed the huge creature and to Sweetie's bewilderment, it obeyed. "We Apples are friend to all critters." Apple Bloom explained when she saw her friend's shock. "Now let's go. Whoever it is, they ain't breakin' out Twilight!" she spoke in determination as she took off with Sweetie Belle following after a few moments when she finally got over her shock.
Twilight watched them go with the same unreadable expression she was wearing ever since those two showed up. But when they finally disappeared from view, the corners of her mouth curled into a slight smirk as a subtle purple light flickered in her eyes.
Starlight Glimmer watched as the two young mares who have been watching Twilight for the past few hours bolted past her cell. She also heard the explosion that shook the place. They were probably off to investigate.
Maybe it was the right time for her to break out. And even free Twilight and the rest of the regimers. Together, they could easily overpower the beast guarding Twilight and the two fillies. She was about to start thinking of a plan on how to do it, when she heard a loud crack from outside.
"Who's there?!" she demanded as she backed up into a defensive position. The door of her cell broke down and a young unicorn entered whom she didn't recognize.
"My name is Luster Dawn. I'm here to rescue you." the unicorn replied. Starlight looked her over.
"How did you get in here?"
"She had help." replied a familiar voice. Starlight walked past Luster and her face immediately brightened when she recognized Rainbow Dash.
"Long time no see, Starlight." Rainbow smiled. "Ready to bust out the big mare?"
Flurry Heart was so used to the silent monotony of life in Tartarus that when the explosion occurred, it nearly made her jump out of her skin. When she got up, she saw Blueblood standing outside her cell, trying to open it, which he eventually succeeded in.
"What took you so long?" she grumbled to the stallion.
"Nice to see you too." Blueblood replied dryly as he handed Flurry a blade with the Regime's symbol on it's handle. The young alicorn took the weapon and examined it thoroughly before turning back to Blueblood.
"It is... adequate. Now come on, we need to rescue Twilight!"
But Blueblood just raised a hoof to calm her. "Calm yourself. Rainbow Dash is taking care of that. We are to provide a distraction for her guards."
"What?!" Flurry exclaimed. "You should have taken care of those two already! This is a waste of my training!"
Blueblood raised a hoof to rub his temples. 'And they call me stuck up.'
He then heard a gasp coming from behind a wall near them.
"Blueblood?!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "What's he doing here?"
"I think it's obvious, Sweetie. He's bustin' out Flurry Heart. And he's probably here for the rest of the regimers too!" Apple Bloom replied. "But not on mah watch! Here's what we're goin' to do. Ye use yer magic to quickly shove back Flurry back in her cell and shut it closed then we'll tag on Blueblood." Blueblood and Flurry exchanged an unamused before they used their combined magic to blast the wall the fillies were hiding behind.
"Good enough, plan. But there's a small problem. Plans tend to work better when you don't discuss them in front of your enemies." Blueblood smirked upon seeing their frightened expression.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle exchanged a worried look before jumping back into defensive stances. Flurry Heart chuckled upon seeing their discomfort.
"I had to listen to you two bickering among yourselves for countless hours and days!" she snarled. "Now I can finally shut you up." she raised her sword and took a menacing stance towards the two, but Apple Bloom intervened and pulled out her own sword to counter her strike. Flurry then used her magic to blast her away, but to her surprise, her spell had no effect.
"What is this?!" she gasped in shock. Apple Bloom smirked smugly before taking advantage of the alicorn's shock and pushing her back.
"Celestia used her magic to enchant mah armor. It's completely magic resistant. Can't have just anypony guardin' her new student after all." she boasted. Flurry Heart glared at them.
"Why you posers put so much effort into pleasing Celestia, I will never understand. She's a weak failure of a ruler! Twilight is the only alicorn princess worth anything!" she spat.
"You would pick that crazy tyrant over even your own mother?!" Apple Bloom asked, horrified. Flurry just scoffed in response.
"Cadence is just as weak and worthless as Celestia!"
"Oh, yeah?" Sweetie retorted. "Well, if your mom is weak and worthless, what does that make you?" Flurry opened her mouth to respond, but she was stunned to find that words failed her this time. Even Blueblood found it amusing how she struggled to come up with a clever comeback.
"I... Uh... I take more after my father." she said finally. Apple Bloom just about had enough of this. Family had been the center of her whole life, so to hear someone talk like this about her own she found nothing short of blasphemous.
"Take care of yer sister's ex-crush." she told Sweetie Belle before walking up to Flurry. "Ah'm gonna teach dis brat to respect yer family." the two fillies exchanged in a sword fight as Sweetie Belle faced the prince.
"My aunt's standards have dropped considerably for whom she takes on as her student. I suppose she wants to make sure her new pupil definitely won't become more powerful than her this time around." Blueblood taunted. But Sweetie Belle just smirked.
"Still mad she didn't pick you over Twilight? I could meet those standards, you couldn't. What does that say about you?" Blueblood glared at the filly.
"Let's see you say the same after this!" he blasted Sweetie with a knockback spell, but she countered with a shield spell before redirecting the energy at Blueblood. The stallion jumped back and the magical energy hit the ground near his hooves. Satisfied with the dodge, Blueblood was about to attack again, but was shocked to see that his hooves were stuck to the ground.
"What?! How?!"
"I didn't just redirect your magic, I transformed it!" Sweetie explained with a grin. "Now you'll see why Celestia chose me to become her new student!"
Sweetie Belle charged her horn and released a massive energy wave to blast Blueblood away, but the stallion also had a few tricks up his nonexistent sleeve. He used a shield spell of his own and he didn't just deflect Sweetie's attack, but he managed to redirect the energy towards the matter that held his hooves to the ground, successfully destroying it. Blueblood took advantage of the situation by charging at Sweetie and surprising her enough to give him an opening and deliver a magical powered punch that sent her backwards.
"But you still have a lot to learn." Blueblood growled. Sweetie quickly recovered and sent another blast at the stallion. But this time, he was ready. Blueblood used a shield spell on himself that deflected Sweetie's attack. Sweetie tried to hit him again but it had the same effect. Confident that he finally had the upper hoof over Sweetie, Blueblood began slowly advancing on her and charged up his horn for another attack. Sweetie was still focusing on offense, so she didn't have time to get out of the way and get knocked back against the wall.
Sweetie got up and realized there was only one thing she could do. She didn't like doing it, but this was an emergency. She summoned all of her raw, untamed power into her horn and unleashed an all powerful blast at the stallion that ended up breaking his shield spell and knocking him against a wall hard. When he fell on the ground he was already out.
"Class dismissed." Sweetie Belle said as she raised her hoof to her horn. She had more power than most unicorns. Her magic was exceptionally powerful, but also unstable. She hoped that Celestia will soon find a way to help her gain full control. She also hoped that she won't find out about what she just did.
Meanwhile, Apple Bloom and Flurry Heart were duking it out with their weapons. Flurry was the more aggressive fighter, but Apple Bloom learned from the best. She was disciplined, tactical and more cautious. She was on defensive, but she already felt that Flurry was getting worn out.
The alicorn filly had a lot of power and skill, but she still couldn't manage to overcome her anger issues. She fought well, but blindly. Blinded by her rage. And Apple Bloom took full advantage of that. Flurry flew back and charged at Apple Bloom, swinging her sword at her, but the earth pony easily blocked.
"Ah'm so goin' to beat ye."
"Quit embarrassing yourself!"
Apple Bloom knew her time finally came. She pushed forward with all her might and managed to throw Flurry off balance. She then spun around and bucked the alicorn's lights out so hard that she flew back against the wall and landed on top of Blueblood.
"Hope ah never have a foal like you." she told Flurry harshly. She then turned to see Sweetie Belle walk up to her.
"Naht too shabby, huh?" Apple Bloom asked Sweetie Belle as she extended heer hoof to her.
"Not as stylish as my finish, but it will suffice." Sweetie replied, banging her hoof into her friend's.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders, Prison Guards, Yay!" they exclaimed together.
"Why did we never try dat one?" Apple Bloom asked jokingly.
"I don't recall there being a prison in Ponyville. And even if there was, they probably wouldn't allow little fillies to work there." Sweetie deadpanned. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.
"Whatever. Dis proves we would have been awesome at it." her expression then dropped a bit. "Ah wish Scootaloo would have been here to fight with us."
"Yeah. It's just not the same without her." Sweetie Belle added with a nod. As triumphant as this moment was, without the third crusader, it just felt emptier somehow. But there was nothing she could do about that, so there was no point in dwelling on it. "Come on. We're done here. Let's get back to our post."
Twilight sat in her cell, listening to the sounds of battle coming from the distance. As the sounds died down, she couldn't help but wonder who won. She also wondered who would ever break into Tartarus and why. But she got her answer soon enough as a familiar pony walked up to her cage.
"Starlight!" she smiled upon seeing her old student. "You're a sight for sore eyes, that's for sure! How did you get past Cerberus?"
"I had that covered!" Twilight heard another familiar voice and turned to see Rainbow Dash floating over the hogtied three-headed dog before flying down next to Starlight. "Long time no see, Twi? Ready to fly outta here?"
"I've been ready since day one." Twilight replied happily upon seeing her old friends, but then a thought occurred to her. "Hold on. If Rainbow was busy with Cerberus, who let Starlight out?"
"I did."
Twilight turned to see Luster Dawn coming out from behind Rainbow shyly.
"Who are you?" Twilight asked curiously as she looked over the young unicorn.
"My name is Luster Dawn. I escaped my village when the Storm King attacked it seven years ago, but I was frozen in the boat I escaped in. Rainbow Dash and Blueblood found me and told me what Celestia did to you. I came to help." she explained.
"She's a good kid, Twi." Rainbow assured the alicorn, wrapping a hoof around Luster. "And quite a talented mage. She soaked up everything Blueblood taught her like a sponge."
Twilight was glad to hear that, but she was more interested about what Luster said about the Storm King. "The Strom King attacked your village?" Luster nodded sadly.
"I was the only survivor. I escaped to warn you and the other princesses about him, but my boat was derailed and it floated into Stalliongrad instead of Canterlot. That's where the others found me frozen until they manged to thaw me out. Sorry I'm a few years late."
Twilight was shocked. Immediately she saw herself in this little unicorn. Her whole town was gone, everyone and everything she ever knew was destroyed and she was now all alone, facing the monster that caused her suffering. If the bars wouldn't have been in her way, she would have wrapped Luster up in an embrace. Instead, all she could give her was a warm comforting smile.
"Don't worry, my little pony. I will get out of here and together we will stop this evil tyrant and avenge your village." Luster smiled up at her gratefully, but before she could answer, they heard several set of hooves heading their way.
"Damn!" Twilight cursed. "Looks like my jailors are calling in the cavalry."
"We'll take care of them." Rainbow Dash declared as she motioned for Luster to follow her. "Starlight, you get her out of there!" the unicorn nodded as the other two ran off. They ran so fast that they didn't even notice Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom hiding behind the corner.
"Damn! Flurry and Blueblood were just a diversion!" Apple Bloom fumed. "Good thing ah called reinforcements."
"Yeah." Sweetie nodded. "Come on! Let's take down Starlight before she frees her!"
Starlight was trying her best to open Twilight's cage, but it wasn't only tightly locked, it was also sealed by a magical barrier cast by Celestia herself.
"This barrier is good. But it never met me." Starlight boasted as she cast a spell of her own at the cage. "Give me just a minute and you will be free as a bird." Twilight was about to settle down and wait for her student to work, but then she saw two fillies running at her from behind and one of them held a sword, ready to strike.
"Starlight! Behind you!" she warned, just in time for Starlight to turn around and avoid having her horn sliced off by Apple Bloom's blade. But Sweetie Belle was there to launch another strike that pushed Starlight away from the cage. Starlight growled in fury as she stood up.
"Amateur hour is over, rookies." she snarled before firing a blast at Sweetie Belle, but Apple Bloom got in the way and let her armor absorb it.
"Sweetie, try to counter the spell she used on Twilight's cage! If she shuts down the barrier, we won't be able to stop her from escaping!" Sweetie nodded and ran off to the cage while Apple Bloom raised her sword and approached Starlight.
"Yer just another fallen hero like Twilight." she taunted. "Only difference is, he already know what it's like in de dark."
"Indeed." Starlight admitted. "I've been in the dark more than once. So I know exactly how to deal with good little fillies like you!"
She ignited her horn for another blast. Apple Bloom stood her ground, fully trusting her armor to take the hit, but she was in for a surprise as the blast was powerful enough to not only knock her back, but knock the sword out of her hooves.
'Son of a broodmare!' Apple Bloom cursed in her head, clearly surprised by what happened. The sword landed in the middle between the two opponents who gave each other fierce gazes, daring the other to be the first to try and fetch it. Starlight then shot Apple Bloom a smirk as she used her magic to pull the sword towards herself and grab it.
Apple Bloom knew that without her weapon, she didn't stand a chance. She only had her armor left, but that gave her an idea. Not knowing what else to do she charged at Starlight with her helmet tilted forward. The unicorn tried blasting her again, but it was nowhere near as powerful as the first one. The armor took the hit and that was all Apple Bloom needed. She rammed her helmet into Starlight's chest, making her recoil in pain. Apple Bloom then threw herself at Starlight and easily knocked her out, while also regaining her sword.
"Guess all dar dark blinded ye, Starlight." she taunted one last time. Sweetie Belle then walked up to her.
"It's done. I fixed the barrier. She's not going anywhere." she told her friend proudly.
"That's what you think!"
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom spun around to see Rainbow Dash and Luster Dawn now facing them. Apple Bloom's jaw dropped.
"What de... How did ye get past all de guards?!" Rainbow Dash smirked cockily.
"Ever heard the phrase 'quality over quantity'? Those guards were good, but I'm still me! And this kid here? She's the real deal!" Rainbow boasted pointing at Luster. Sweetie and Apple Bloom narrowed their eyes at them before charging. Rainbow Dash easily carried Apple Bloom off into the air and Luster Dawn easily countered Sweetie Belle's strike, knocking her back.
"We need Princess Twilight's help!" Luster begged desperately, hoping to avoid a fight. "You have no idea what the Storm King is capable of!"
"No, but I know what Twilight is capable of! And I know letting her out isn't help for anypony!" Sweetie Belle tried to subdue Luster with a spell, but Luster easily dodged them and launched a counterattack with a spell of her own. Sweetie was so preoccupied with her attacks that she didn't even see it coming. One spell from Luster was enough to send her down on the ground. Sweetie groaned in pain as every part of her body was stinging from Luster's attack. Rainbow Dash was right, she really was powerful.
Sweetie slowly got up and realized that simple spell casting wasn't gonna cut it. She had to try something else. She ignited her horn again to cast another spell at Luster, but this one was different. As the spell hit Luster, she felt her power slowly leaving her body. Luster panicked as she realized what was happening.
"My magic! You're draining me!" Luster tried everything she could to break the connection between her and Sweetie Belle, but with her power dwindling and this being one of Luster's strongest spells, all effort proved futile. "Ugh... You're just as bad... as Rainbow Dash and Blueblood said." Luster groaned as she grew weaker. She looked around for any means to escape and noticed a stalactite hanging over Sweetie Belle. With her last bit of strength, she blasted the stalactite and it fell crashing down towards Sweetie Belle, who barely noticed it in time to react.
Sweetie Belle blasted it to pieces and levitated the pieces in front of herself before turning them into sharp, pointy rocks and throwing them at Luster. Though Luster was slightly depowered from the previous ordeal, she still had the strength to summon a shield, albeit a weak one. It managed to deflect the first few rocks, but eventually they managed to break through her shield and knock her unconscious.
"And if you help her, then you belong here too." Sweetie growled triumphantly as she gazed upon the beaten unicorn. She then heard hoofsteps behind her and turned around to see Apple Bloom walking up to her. "Where's Rainbow Dash?" she asled. Apple Bloom smiled in response.
"She may be fast, but she's frail as all pegasi. A few armored knocks to the head an' she's out cold."
The two Crusaders shared another hoofbump, but the triumphant moment was interrupted by a slow, clapping sound that came from behind them. They turned around to see Twilight mockingly clapping at them from her cage with a smug smirk on her face.
"Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant." she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "So why don't you show me what you plan to do about... them?" she pointed at something behind the Crusaders and they turned to see all of Twilight's former Regime supporters surround them. Blueblood and Flurry Heart have come to and they were reinforced by Luna, Spitfire, Trixie and Cozy Glow. Starlight also came to and helped up Luster Dawn and even Rainbow Dash came back, landing right in front of the fillies with a visible lump on her head, giving a dirty look at Apple Bloom.
"You're good, I'll give you that, but this is where it ends. We're freeing Twilight. Like it or not." she snarled at them as they all approached on them and the cage. But Sweetie Belle stepped forward. She wasn't done just yet. She still had one card she hasn't played yet. She was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but now she was out of options.
"AB, get out of here!" she yelled at her friend before summoning all of her remaining power into her horn and created a small, yellow, magical orb of energy, which started growing larger and brighter by the second. Apple Bloom quickly realized what was happening and she didn't like it one bit.
"FAUST ALMIGHTY, SWEETIE BELLE! YOU'RE GONNA BLOW ALL OF US UP?!" she screamed.
"It's the only way! Now go!" Apple Bloom wanted to comply, but she was still Sweetie's bodyguard. It wouldn't be right for her to abandon her.
The orb was now larger than Sweetie Belle herself and her eyes began glowing yellow as she approached the Regimers, who realized the threat by now and started backing away.
"LEAVE NOW! ALL OF YOU! OR YOU'LL GET THE WORST SUNBURN OF YOUR LIVES THAT EVEN CELESTIA WOULD BE JEALOUS OF!" She demanded with her voice echoing through the chamber.
"You would blow us all up rather than let Twilight go?!" Rainbow Dash shrieked in horror.
"I would blow up every single city the Storm King has occupied rather than let the monster that killed my sister go! Now, this is your last chance!" Rainbow Dash quickly realized that Sweetie wasn't bluffing, but she wasn't about to back down now. If she was quick enough, maybe she could incapacitate her before she went off. She was about to do just that, but a voice stopped him.
"SWEETIE BELLE, THAT'S ENOUGH!"
Everypony in the room immediately froze as Celestia's voice boomed through the chamber. Even Sweetie Belle was so shocked that she ended the spell and the orb of magical energy disappeared. In the next moment, another group of ponies were standing between the Regimers and Twilight. Besides Celestia, there were also Thorax, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Big Macintosh and Thunderlane. The Regimers and the former insurgents glared at each other for a few seconds before Celestia turned away from them and faced Twilight's cage. Twilight narrowed her eyes at her.
"You can't beat the Storm King on your own, Celestia." she spoke. Celestia returned her glare, but eventually let out a sigh and pulled out a box from under her wings.
"You're right, Twilight. I can't." She then ignited her horn and cast a spell on the cage that dispersed the magical barrier around it and the bars fell apart. Sweetie Belle gasped in horror.
"WHAT ARE YOU..." she started, but a stern glare from Celestia quickly silenced her. Celestia then opened the box and used her magic to pull out the pieces of Twilight's broken horn. She then mended them together and in a magical flash, Twilight found that it was once again on the top of her head. It was a weird, but familiar sensation. Twilight smirked upon seeing her horn being back where it belonged, then walked up to her former teacher and looked her in the eye.
"So are you ready to stop the Storm King by any means necessary?"
"By the means at hoof." Celestia corrected. "Make no mistake, Twilight. I am not following you down on your path to darkness." Twilight raised an eyebrow.
"What's your game? You always have something planned for everything."
"Saving Equestria is enough for now." Celestia replied, her tone and expression betraying nothing about her intentions.
"And you expect me to just walk back to my cell when we're done?" Celestia remained completely stoic.
"We'll cross that bridge later. Right now, Equestria needs us." Twilight knew that she had something in her mind for her, but she decided to put it aside until the crisis at hoof have been dealt with.
"Well, at last we agree on something." she replied.
The two mares kept eyeing each other in suspicion, clearly knowing that this fragile alliance will not last long. The ponies who surrounded them were also feeling it. But one thing everypony in the room agreed on was that the next few hours are gonna be very interesting.
The Storm King was sitting on his airship, watching as the orbs around him were slowly filling up with Equestria's magic. Everything was going smoothly until now. His forces met little to no resistance and the drain was going on steadily. But suddenly, he felt something. A strange surge of power that arose from deep within Equestria. But it was different somehow. It wasn't something he could just drain so easily. He quickly realized what it was and it greatly surprised him.
"Celestia. I did not expect you to make this move." he muttered to himself before summoning his general.
"What happened?" Tempest Shadow asked as she walked onto the bridge.
"An unforeseen development." he replied. "Twilight Sparkle is free and is regaining her powers." Tempest's eyes widened at this.
"They let Twilight out?! They must be getting desperate." the Storm King nodded.
"Indeed. But there is also something else. I feel something I haven't felt in years. It's..." his eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Oh... I finally found it." he mused with a sharp grin.
"Found what?" Tempest asked in confusion. But her master didn't respond. There was no reason to let underlings in on everything.
"Notify the First Order of this development and proceed as planned." he ordered. Tempest bowed before turning away, but the Storm King called out to her one last time "But remember, the alicorns belong to me!" he told her over his shoulder. As Tempest left, a vicious grin spread over the Storm King's face. Things might still get interesting during this invasion after all.
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Excellent work on the exchanges, action and future chapter set-up in all the right places. VERY MUCH understood Sweetie's issues with her sister's killer and definitely liked the shows of power and skill both her and Apple Bloom got in during their fights before Celestia admitted that this was, indeed, too big for her forces to handle without Twilight's (even though both her and Twilight are fully expecting a double-cross after the Storm King is taken down).
I can definitely understand the reasons this chapter took so long and I am very certainly looking forward to more of this.
I like the extended cast you have shown in the end here. It will definitely make the final battle for the fate of Equestria even more engaging, if you're planning to include all of them.
And a chapter based on the arcade endings sounds fun! I wonder if some will be kinda similar or if they'll be drastically different from the original.
11013185
Question for those who read this story:
Who would you follow in the final battle for the fate of Equestria?
Celestia?
Or Twilight Sparkle?
11015458
I'm gonna do both endings.
If Starlight Glimmer is Cyborg, who will play the role of The Grid in the next episode?
11027721
Yeah, I had a hard time coming up with that one. In the end, I just decided to have the Storm King conjure up a copy of Starlight pre-reformation. Kind of similar to the dynamic of Cyborg and Grid. Grid is Cyborg without the human parts. And Pre-reform Starlight is the version of Starlight with no friendship, harmony or restraint.
11027729
I CAN'T WAIT THE NEXT CHAPTER!!!!
Are you planning on continuing this
11066024
Of course. Chapter 7 is already in development.
11066079
So we will see it soon
Geez did you throw enough at Sweetie and Applebloom? They won a fight then won another fight and then were gonna fight again. Lol, just saying. So then they must be nuts powerful this story. Interested still. Also Sweetie should be pretty miffed Celestia let Twilight out right? I mean it doesn't change the fact that she killed Rarity.
11506191
Oh, she is! But it's not like she can do anything about it.