Episode 24: The New World Arc; Finale
They made it back to the mirror before they realized something was wrong.
Twilight, of all people, was the one who seemed to sense it at first. Just before Spike could leap through the portal back home, he noticed Twilight looking back, ponderously.
“Twilight?” he asked. “You okay?”
Twilight clutched the crown close to her chest. “The human versions of my friends…” she said. “Sunset manipulated them against each other. They all think so little of each other. Yet… I’m sure that wasn’t always the case.” She looked down. “While I was researching, I found a book with pictures of them. And they seemed like really good friends before all this started.”
“They were, honestly,” Night Fire admitted, petting Diamondback as she gazed longingly into the portal. “They were an inseparable team. I think that’s why Sunset drove them apart. Together, they would’ve kept this school from falling under her sway.”
Twilight’s face set in determination. “Then I’m coming back,” she decided.
Spike blinked. “Huh?”
Twilight indicated the crown. “Sunset still left the fake one back in Equestria. And there’s still two more days until the portal closes for good. I’ll take my crown back, bring the fake one here, and then see what I can do to repair their friendship. I owe them that much.”
Spike grinned at Phoenix… or rather, tried to.
His companion was gone.
The fur raised on the back of Spike’s neck. “P-Phoenix?”
“Right over here,” a voice called.
The group turned and gasped in horror: Phoenix was trussed up like a chicken, Sunset Shimmer’s boot on her neck. And a sledgehammer placed right next to Phoenix’s head.
“Phoenix!” Spike yelled, nearly running at Sunset before Twilight scooped him up.
“Don’t you dare hurt her!” Twilight snarled.
Sunset huffed. “Hard to do,” she noted, glancing at Phoenix’s various scars. “She’s beaten up enough as is.”
Twilight and Spike narrowed their eyes, while Night Fire shifted behind them. Sunset tsked.
“You know,” she noted to Spike. “I always figured you and your little group of wandering do-gooders would be a problem. I had to sacrifice what little magic I could use here to make sure you stayed out of the way… for what good that did…” she added, shooting a venomous look at Night Fire.
Night Fire glanced at Twilight. “What’s she talking about?”
Twilight could only shrug.
“Imagine the irony now,” Sunset continued. “That, in the end, you’ll actually be the ones to get me what I want.”
Spike narrowed his eyes with a growl. “And why would we do that?”
Sunset hefted up the sledgehammer. Her meaning became clear.
“You wouldn’t dare!” Twilight protested.
“It doesn’t need to happen,” Sunset replied. “As long as you give me the crown.”
Phoenix shook her head at them. Spike’s heart broke at the utter regret and heartbreak in Phoenix’s eyes. Though muzzled and gagged, her eyes pleaded with Spike: Don’t do it; don’t sacrifice yourselves on my behalf. Don’t…
But then Spike noticed the tremble in Sunset’s hands. The flash of nervousness in her eyes. He smirked.
“You don’t have it in you, do you?” he asked.
“What are you talking about?” Sunset demanded. “I will get that crown. What makes you think I care about some worn out dragon?”
Phoenix, however, nodded encouragingly at Spike, motivating him to continue.
“You were a Pony of Equestria,” Spike replied. “A student of Princess Celestia herself. You were taught to bring balance and harmony, not spite and hatred.”
“W-Worthless teachings from a worthless teacher!” Sunset spat.
Twilight reared up in indignation, but Spike kept his grin.
“Prove us wrong then,” he said, glancing at Phoenix, who smiled back at him with an approving nod.
Sunset looked down at Phoenix, who grinned up at her in defiance. Her eyes darted back to Spike, then Twilight, and to the crown in Twilight’s hands.
Her arms trembled… and she sighed, setting the sledgehammer down.
“Okay, fine,” she admitted. “You win. I don’t have it in me.”
Spike and Twilight exchanged a happy grin… that turned to horror when Snips and Snails made their attack.
Running out from the shadows, they shoved Night Fire hard, sending her careening into Twilight.
“TWI!” Spike yelled. “NIGHT!”
As he and his fellow animals descended on the duo, however, Twilight hit the ground hard, and her crown bounced out of her hands.
Right into Sunset’s.
“No!” Spike barked, rushing for her.
But he was too late: Sunset swiftly donned the crown, and a burst of magic energy threw everyone backward.
When the smoke cleared, Sunset floated before them; her skin turned lava red, wings sprouted from her back, and her eyes had turned black with ice blue pupils.
“At last,” she rumbled. “More power than I could ever imagine!”
She fired a strange beam at the portal, drawing what seemed to be magic to her. Using said magic, she proceeded to fire a spell that brought student after student to the school yard.
Including…
Twilight gasped. “My friends!”
Night Fire stood tall. “Go talk to them,” she said. “Convince them to help.” She cracked her knuckles. “We got this witch.”
Sunset sneered down at the daughter of Luna. “Do you now?” She fired another beam of magic; this time at Snips and Snails.
When the smoke cleared, they had been shifted into demonic forms as well.
Snips cackled in delight. “This is gonna be so cool!”
Night Fire, Spike and the other animals slowly backed away as the demonic duo advanced on them. But then suddenly, Phoenix leaped onto Snips back, the shockwave having freed her from her bonds. She tore at his hair with wolf-like viciousness as he cried out in surprise.
“Phoenix!” Spike stammered.
“Focus on Sunset!” she said, dodging a blast of magic from Snails and leaping on him. “I’ve been far too nice to these idiots for far too long!” She bit his hand and threw him into Snips. “Time to show them who they really should’ve been taking orders from.”
However, as she spoke, Snips managed to kick her away from him. Spike turned to his friends.
“She needs help!” he insisted.
Night only had to turn to Jackknife, Swift and Diamondback, and they responded, rushing Snips and Snails and engaging them in battle.
As the four did battle, Night and Spike raced to block Sunset from Twilight, as she appealed to her friends.
Sunset sneered at the sight of Spike and Night. “When will you idiots stop getting in my way?”
“Right around when you stop acting like a crazy person and give Twilight back her crown,” Night replied, Spike barking in agreement.
Sunset snarled at Night Fire. “You’ve always been the biggest problem, Night Fire. First, you couldn’t just turn into a simple dog before the portal closed and cut off my access to magic. Now, you still continue to deny me my rightful claim?!”
“Rightful claim?” Spike demanded. “You stole Twilight’s crown. You’re a thief!”
“The only ‘rightful claim’ you own is one to an asylum,” Night Fire agreed.
“I WILL NOT JUST RULE THIS PATHETIC LITTLE SCHOOL!” Sunset roared in anger. “I want Equestria.” She fired a new spell; this one making several students' eyes glow as they let out zombie-like moans. “And with an army of humans behind me, I’m going to get it! Whether you want it or not!”
Spike and Night Fire prepared for a fight, even as Sunset rose higher, and the zombified students started to approach them.
However, just before things could descend into violence… Twilight stepped up between Spike and Night Fire.
“You’re not going anywhere near Equestria,” Twilight snarled.
“Oh please,” Sunset scoffed. “What exactly do you think you’re going to do to stop me?” She glanced at Spike and Night Fire. “I turned these idiots into simple animals with just a fraction of the magic I now wield. What do you possibly think you can have against that?”
Rainbow Dash stepped forward. “Us,” she replied, as the Humane Five stepped up, placing themselves between Sunset and Twilight.
Sunset rolled her eyes, before blasting at them with a spell. The spell was clearly meant to either throw them aside or do something worse.
But… it didn’t. Instead, it seemed to hit some sort of barrier. One that only strengthened as Twilight stepped up.
“The magic contained in my element was used to unite those that helped create it.” She indicated each of her friends. “Honesty, Kindness, Laughter, Generosity and Loyalty.”
As she said each one, each of her friends glowed, strengthening the barrier and forcing the spell back, even as Sunset tried to push past it.
“Snips, Snails!” she screamed.
But both boys were down for the count: Phoenix and Swift sitting triumphantly on Snips, while Jackknife had hog-tied Snails with his own body and Diamondback sat on Snails’ face.
“The Elements may create power beyond anything you can imagine,” Twilight continued to Sunset. “But it is a power you don’t have the ability to control.”
Sunset seethed, and screamed as she forewent the spell and beat futilely on the barrier blocking her.
“The crown may be upon your head, Sunset Shimmer,” Twilight said, her voice beginning to echo. “But you cannot wield it. Because you do not possess the most powerful magic of all: the magic of FRIENDSHIP!”
With the force of a bomb, a purifying wave of light threw Sunset away. The zombie-like glow faded from the student’s eyes.
And - much to Spike’s shock - he changed. Phoenix did as well. Night… didn’t really change as much, but Jackknife, Diamondback and Phoenix all underwent changes:
They all became humans; humans that were much bigger and stronger-looking than Twilight and her fellow students. They wore what looked like military fatigues, fresh from some sort of army or marine camp. Spike even found tattoos on his arms; depictions of his own dragon form, curb-stomping an enemy base.
Night was no different; she had shifted from a scrawny teenager to a full-fledged woman.
Snails yelped as he found himself crushed under Jackknife and Diamondback’s excessive bulk, Swift and Phoenix quickly jumping off Snips before he suffered the same fate.
And as they stared in awe at their new human forms, a new light came into Night Fire’s eyes.
“I… remember,” Night stammered, turning to Sunset. “She popped up out of nowhere. There was something wrong about her. We were supposed to investigate her when…” she clutched her head. “What did she do to us?”
“Most likely a memory spell, combined with a shape-shifting spell,” Twilight replied. “Though using them must have drained her magic reserves, ensuring she couldn’t repeat the trick again on the likes of us. But no more.” She turned to Sunset’s battered form. “Any power you’ve had in this world is gone, Sunset. Tonight, you’ve shown everyone who you really are.”
Sunset could only lower her head in shame, defeat… and a tinge of regret.
Night sighed. “This is gonna be difficult to explain to the chief. Magic on Earth?” She chuckled. “He’ll laugh the freckles off my face.”
“That is assuming he doesn’t penalize us for being MIA this whole time,” Diamondback noted. “I doubt getting turned into animals is going to seem like a good excuse.”
Spike chuckled. “Well, I wish you luck in handling it. But Twilight, Phoenix and I need to get back.”
Night nodded. “I imagine so. We’ll handle Sunset for you.”
“A-As long as we’re sure she won’t use any more of that magic,” Swift said. “I don’t want to be turned into a bird again.”
“Pft,” Jackknife scoffed. “Says you; I kinda liked being a snake.”
Spike left them to argue, before going over to Phoenix. “You okay, Phi?”
Phoenix gazed at Snips and Snails with a sad light. “I wish it didn’t have to come to violence,” she admitted. “They’re just kids… especially when I see them at this height.”
Spike patted her broad shoulder. “You did what had to be done. Let’s just hope we never have to do that again.”
Phoenix sighed, looking up at the stars. “But we might,” she admitted in a resigned tone.
Spike grimaced. “Maybe,” he admitted. “But we’ll try to save fighting for when we have no other choice.”
Phoenix turned back to him with a nod. “Agreed.”
They turned as Principal Celestia came forward, having found the crown, and giving it back to Twilight. “I believe this belongs to you,” she said. “A true princess in any world leads not by forcing others to bow before her, but by inspiring others to stand with her. We have all seen that you are capable of just that. I hope you see it too, Princess Twilight.”
Twilight beamed up at her teacher’s counterpart. “I do.”
Phoenix exchanged a grin with Spike. “Good advice,” she mused.
“Celestia does usually try to give the best,” he admitted, before Twilight stepped up between them, the crown safely back on her head.
“Come on, you two,” she said, “Let’s go home.”
Waving a final goodbye to everyone, Spike followed Twilight and Phoenix through the portal, already thinking of his next friendship report:
My Princesses Twilight and Celestia,
There will be those who lead through fear and abuse, and we will feel naturally inclined to try and protect those who become victims of poor leaders. However, we cannot let our pity get in the way of ensuring the safety of all.
Phoenix learned this the hard way during our adventure to the human world, when she had to fight against those cowed into submission by Sunset Shimmer.
Though she stumbled and made mistakes, Phoenix ultimately showed that, while those victimized by others will have her pity, harm upon others will never be permitted. Not by the Forces of Equestria, and certainly not by the Drake Six.
Though I do hope that we will not have to fight against such victims again, Equus is a big world, and the world beyond it even bigger. All I can say is that we must be prepared for anything.
Ponies and Dragons alike.
Your faithful dragon friend,
Spike
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Aw, no way, it's Canadian rap sensation, Drake!? There's SIX of them!? Hell Naw!
media.tenor.com/M_z_HsF_xoMAAAAC/ou-então-não-gongas.gif
11631483
Technically, 'Drake' is meant to be short for 'Dragon.'
But now you've given me the idea of them forming a rap band that would make the real Drake smile in pride.
Thanks for inspiring me and helping me get new ideas for this story.
👍
11631495
Don't thank me, Thank Drake and hit a hotline bling sometime in his honour
Excellent job on the final battle of this arc. Definitely appreciated the work that went into the exchanges, characterizations, action, general wrap-up and future arc set-up. And, yeah, Sunset using most of what magic she had for the memory and transformation spells was a pretty good explanation for the Drake Six's animal forms in the human worlds (at least before the spell was broken). Also liked the touch about the Drake Six's human world counterparts also being military (possibly even part of G.I. Joe [which would be a good possible set-up for crossovers with one of Hasbro's "Big Three" franchises]). And, yeah, the stuff about feeling bad getting that rough with kids as well as the fact that the human world Drake Six are going to get in trouble with their commanding officer for something that WASN'T their fault but would be too fantastic to be believed were other great touches.
Definitely looking forward to the "Season Four opener" arc before getting back into the Drake Six's bigger focus adventures (and then, of course, the Mane Six and Drake Six teaming up against Tirek).
11631558
Alright then. 👍
11631568
Glad you're enjoying.
Also really happy you liked the dragon's real forms: I liked the idea of them being a much bigger threat that Sunset had to handle before she could enact her other schemes, so I'm happy that worked out.
And I'm also really excited to share how they handle both the Season 4 Opening and Tirek.
Until next time, thanks as always for reading and commenting.
👍
The fact it turns out Sunset was why the others were animals was surprising
Eitherway the Drakes cut it, whatever goes down at debrief will trigger warnings with head office. When the truth is stranger than the excuses, a good crew takes notice that something unknown is occuring, and to keeping your forces alive, the unknown can be a bigger killer than the bullet. Starting with ambushes.
11631713
I'll admit, I was worried it stretched suspension of disbelief, but I was also hoping it made sense:
It was why the dragons were animals while everyone else got to be humans; because they were so much of a threat to Sunset that she had to try and do something to ensure they couldn't interfere.
And even then, they still managed to be enough of a thorn in her side to help Twilight thwart her plans.
Goes to show; one should never underestimate just how dangerous someone can be when their world or loved ones are getting messed with.
11631752
Indeed. Which will likely lead to Rainbow Rocks being a little more different, since now humanity is going to be extra-prepared for any magical mischief that tries to mess with their world.
11631790
Ok