Billy and Jimmy Lee have led hard lives. Marian has been rescued from the clutches of Skullmageddon and she plans on staying out of trouble in New York. But trouble has a way of finding the trio, even if its not earthly.
Billy and Jimmy Lee have done a lot of fighting. Beating the Black Warriors. Shredding the Shadow Master. Necked the Princess Noiram. Tagged with Battletoads. But nothing could compare with those moments when Marian fades from sight in front of the two brothers. Where did she go? What can they do? With only one hope left to them in the very power of love that had led to the end of Skullmageddon's reign of terror, The Lee Brothers clasp hands together and use it to go after Marian and bring her back.
In New York City, after a long and hard nuclear war, came two brothers that served as teachers of self-defense in a ravaged city; only beginning to pick up whatever pieces of its past up and setting up areas for new and greater things.
These two brothers found a common bond in their training of Sou-Setsu-Ken and trained hard to gain their respective titles as Masters. At 20 years of age, both of these twin brothers found another common bond in a police officer that attends their classes, Marian Kelly. Both of them were stricken with her beauty and soon realized that if one were to approach her, the other would surely attack.
The tension kept the brothers from each other until the fateful day that the Shadow Warriors had kidnapped Marian, in the hopes of gaining the secrets to Sou-Setsu-Ken. After they had saved her, both could resist no longer and began attacking one another, fighting for the love of Marian. The battle of wits and strength ended with a brother left alone and the other with the love of his life.
That love between he and Marian was severed with many bullets as Marian would be struck down by the returning Shadow Warriors, causing the man to weep for his loss. As the brother heard of this tragedy, he found his brother and lifted him up, promising to give vengeance to Marian's murderers. The journey was difficult, but both brothers put an end to the Shadow Warriors for good. With the illusionist, Shadow Master, fallen, the brothers went back to Marian. Her eyes began to flutter and then opened. "If two dragons soar through the sky, an angel will fall to the earth."
With the return of Marian, the brothers vowed to not allow this to happen again. They trained for two years in the greater martial arts to protect the one they loved. On their return, the journey was put on a path around the world in search for the Rosetta Stones. They met many friends and defeated many foes on the journey to find the world's strongest warrior, and soon came face to face with what they had thought to be Cleopatra. After defeating the named Princess Noiram, the brothers were horrified to learn that it was Marian.
Returning to New York, the brothers remained quiet until Marian came rushing to them with troubling news. The Shadow Warriors had returned and they had begun abducting martial arts students. Their journey led them around New York's underground until they had found the new leader. An old friend of the past had changed his ways and made the brothers question themselves. Having defeated the dark soul, the friend passed on, leaving the brothers to go silent once more.
It was only by a magical skeleton and his army that the brothers were once more thrown into action. The brothers blazed a path through Skullmageddon, a Mecha Biker, a Killacopter, a Giant Tank, Bimmy and Jammy, Marian II, Evil Marian, and finally Giga Skullmageddon. Along the way, no place could stop their single-minded goal. In the end, the brothers faced each other once more. Though one was declared a winner, Marian did not repeat her mistake in the beginning. Marian promised them both that when she was ready, she would choose the right man.
Now they wait for the next challenge. The next menace. The next fight.
Billy and Jimmy Lee locked eyes with each other, burning desire between the two to be the better man.
"You're not going to defeat me this time, Billy," Jimmy determinately spoke, his fingers flexing in a wave before they crunched into a fist. He slowly lifted his left hand and tightened his fingerless glove before whipping his red, sleeveless jacket off and hung it from the back of his chair. His dark blue eyes didn't leave his younger brother's own.
"You don't have what it takes," Billy responded, flexing an arm by his side. His blue, sleeveless jacket already off and neatly folded on his own chair.
The stare-off continued for what could be described as eons between the two.
"Not this again," Marian moaned, crossing her arms over her red sleeveless dress. "It's just a pizza. You don't need to make this an eating competition."
Both Jimmy and Billy's attention turned to Marian from their chairs at the square table they sat. It was a small kitchen that Jimmy and Billy shared, having seen its fair share of playful roughhousing between the brothers.
"This is more than an eating contest, Marian," Billy began to explain. Jimmy, sensing his opening, gripped a slice and began chomping away. With that action, the contest of pizza and headlocks was underway.
Marian put a hand to her face as she watched Billy and Jimmy writhe around the table and shout at each other with half-eaten bites still in their mouths.
***
Watching this same scene, a shadowy figure with emerald eyes kept watch on Marian through a crystal ball.
"There she is. The avatar of love."
A green aura pierced into the crystal ball, putting a focus of dark magic towards Marian.
"Focus your energies to me, minions. With the avatar of love under my control, I will become stronger than any of the Princesses."
***
Marian could only watch on as the brothers clasped hands and butt heads together, each shaking with strength to finish the final slice that sat in its box.
"I'm not going to let you win, cheater!" Billy grit through his teeth.
"Cheater?" Jimmy grunted in surprise. "Bro, unless its a fight with our fists, cheating has no place here!"
Billy pulled his head back and cracked it into Jimmy's head, causing Jimmy to falter for a slight moment. "You're only saying that because you know that if I wasn't distracted with Marian, you would have failed!"
Marian's focus on the conversation was cut as she felt woozy. Attempting to grip the counter to steady herself, she felt her hand fall through. With Marian collapsing to the ground, Billy and Jimmy's struggle stopped and rushed to her.
Billy got to one side of Marian and watched as her hand and arm began to vanish. "M- Marian?!"
Jimmy noticed the same change on the other side of Marian as well. "What's going on?!"
Marian's body fully disappeared from Billy and Jimmy's arms, leaving the brothers with many questions.
***
At the Crystal Empire, Princess Cadence feels something in her react. She doesn't know why, or how this reaction occurred, but a growing pit of fear begins to brew within her. She moves toward the crystal heart, as it slows its spin. All she asks the heart is, "What has happened?"
The heart reveals its own vision to her. A dark figure taking a pink energy from a pony and raising it up, a silent laugh from it as it pours the essence into itself.
Cadence's eyes glow white, understanding the crystal heart's message. "A monster of no compassion will tear the very essence of love from its protector. Should this monster consume it, no creature on earth can stop it."
The laughing figure in the heart's vision stops and reacts in shock as it points to the sky. From the clouds above, intertwining dragons rumble above before striking forward towards the dark beast.
"But, from the heavens, the guardians of the avatar will descend. Both great rivals of each other, and the greatest of friends." Cadence continued, now being watched by her subjects as she begins to float. "When the Double Dragon soars from above, they will come for their love."
Billy and Jimmy sat on the kitchen floor in shock. The woman of their dreams had disappeared from their arms.
"You don't think Skullmageddon had anything to do with this?" Billy asked aloud.
Jimmy remained motionless as he stared at the floor. "He was an evil guy, but he'd be more comfortable sending out his gang to try and nab Marian instead of... this."
Picking themselves up, Jimmy and Billy moved into their living room. The center of the room held a standard ring for their practice of Sou-Setsu-Ken against each other. Besides the ring, everything in the living room seemed normal. A television screen hung on a wall, currently running a channel of animated shows.
"I have an idea," Billy remarked, snapping his fingers. "We need to find some of the Power of Love that Marian had!" Jimmy raised an eyebrow of confusion, prompting Billy to continue on. "When Marian used the Power of Love, we were sent to the dimension where Bonehead had ran off to!"
From far away, in another plane of existence, a broken Skullmageddon gave a "NYAHHH!" of frustration.
Jimmy crossed his arms, "Problem."
Billy placed his hands at his hips, "Answer."
"Marian can use the Power of Love to send us across dimensional planes," Jimmy started. Billy nodded in response. "Then, Marian would have to be here in order us to use that power."
Billy's face remained confident, "It's one way."
"And what possible other way could their be?" Jimmy asked, a scowl slowly crossing his face.
Billy went over to a lamp and gave it a good punch, causing the porcelain to shatter.
"Aw, come on, man!" Jimmy began to complain. "I just paid for that!"
Billy moved over the lamp's place and held up a plastic bottle filled with a pink liquid. "This is the other way!" Billy set the bottle down in the center of the ring and backed away. "Okay. Hear me out on this."
"Do I have a choice?" Jimmy sarcastically asked.
"We both run to the bottle and open it together," Billy explained. "When it opens, the power is going to shoot out for a limited time, so we have to act fast. We follow where Marian was pulled into and we beat whoever had the idea of taking Marian away from us."
Jimmy mulled the plan around for a moment before speaking again, "Will we be able to get back before Almighty Turtle Cage Fight?"
As he finished the statement, the TV began running an advertisement for Almighty Turtle Cage Fight, showing the high-octane action of turtles as they attempt to tilt the other one over.
"Still don't understand your love for that show," Billy remarked.
Jimmy gave a single laugh, "In comparison to the little horse show that you watch?"
At that statement, the television began to run an episode of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, opening to a scene of the Crystal Empire.
Billy pointed a finger at Jimmy, "Have you even bothered to actually watch it?"
"To know that its meant for little girls?" Jimmy said with a crooked smile. "All I needed was five seconds."
"When the Double Dragon soars," Shining Armor said, quoting his wife. "And something about the 'Avatar of Love'?"
Billy and Jimmy's focus cut to what unfolded onscreen.
"Yes, sir," a guard responded. "She's been unresponsive since her premonition."
Jimmy gave a sideways look to Billy. "Double... Dragon."
Billy returned the same look to Jimmy. "That can't be right."
They continued to watch the television as a ray of pink light shot through the sky and into a nearby mountain.
"Hang on a minute!" Billy yelled out. "Gimmie the remote!"
Jimmy froze for a moment before moving to the couch. After throwing every pillow and cushion off, Jimmy held up the remote in his hand and then threw it to Billy.
The remote made a satisfactory slap of plastic on flesh as Billy rewound the show and magnified on the light.
"It's Marian!" Billy yelled out, pointing to the silhouette.
Jimmy was taken aback. "There's... no... way..."
Billy moved to Jimmy, hoping to relieve some of his worry. "We have to get her."
Jimmy closed his eyes and weighed his options. He could either stay here and worry about both his little brother AND the woman of his dreams, or he could go with him to a land of magical unicorn and bright colors all over the place. Jimmy's reaction of disgust and anger transformed into a reaction of submission. "Fine."
Both brothers went to their opposite ends of the ring and faced the bottle in front of them.
"On the count of three." Jimmy stated.
Billy gave a nod as both of them went into their lunging positions.
"THREE!" They both yelled out, sprinting toward the bottle.
With a motion, only to be described as "smooth as butter", both brothers opened the bottle and unleashed the last energies of Marian's Power of Love. With a mighty leap up to the glowing heart that had taken form, both brothers reeled back their arms and shot them forward into a loud clap of high-five-atude.
***
Shining Armor remained by the bed of Cadence and held her hoof on his. His wife looked peaceful in her coma, but Shining Armor's heart remained heavy with uncertainty. "Cadence, I promise you, I will find these Double Dragons and help them in any way that I can."
A great rumble came from above, stirring Shining Armor from his bent position to an upright state. The rumble continued on as the crystal ponies noticed the clouds bunch together, each one curious as to what was going to happen. With a final boom, the clouds opened to a spinning combination of two colors; one blue, the other red. The crystal ponies watched the spinning colors as it bashed into the side of the mountain.
***
When the aftershock passed inside the rocky caverns hidden underneath the mountain's face, two changeling guards approached a pile of rocks that had gathered from the resulting shock.
"Hrm," one buzzed. "I don't sense any pony life or magic here."
"Do you think that the legend about the guardians of the avatar of love are true?" the second one chirped.
The first guard turned to his compatriot and scoffed him, "A pony having dragons protecting her?" He continued to speak as the rock pile began to move, "It's about as likely as me getting punched out by one."
He turned back to the pile just in time for two scaled fists to burst out and crack his jaw. The guard was sent flying into the ceiling before landing back on the floor and making a gurgling sound. The second guard remained in shock as he looked up to two standing dragons that towered over him.
Before he could rush out, the red dragon with brown spinal scales blocked his exit.
"Check it bro!" The guard heard the blue dragon with yellow spinal scales excitedly squeal, "We're dragons! Like real, fire breathing, winged dragons!"
"Uh-huh, cool." The red dragon responded with little interest. "We might need to work on our fighting style and balance because of, you know," he grabbed his tail and gave it a shake.
"Right," the blue dragon nodded before lifting up its fists. "I'll do some light attacks first."
The guard threw up a magic bubble as the dragon went through a series of punches, protecting him from the attack.
"That thing just put up a bubble to stop your strikes," the red dragon pondered before snapping his claw. "Try a heavy blow."
The guard panicked and brought up his bubble again, but the defense failed as the wound up punch broke through and struck him down.
"Doesn't look like much change needed on the fighting side then," the red dragon commented.
The changeling guard coughed before looking up at the two dragons. "What are you?"
The blue dragon threw his arm up before bringing it back down to a leaned pose, "Billy Lee!"
The red dragon threw his arm up and well and mirrored the blue dragon's pose, "Jimmy Lee!"
"We are the Double Dragon's!" The both yelled before taking a unified strike with their fists to the guard.
The guard crashed through the stone wall, alerting many of the changelings to the present danger of the dragons now coming their way.
"For the queen!" one shouted, before cartwheeling towards Billy Lee.
With a bicycle kick, the changeling was sent flipping in mid-air before landing on its stomach.
"Marian!" Billy yelled out, "Where are you?!"
Jimmy ducked from a swooping changeling and tried a few upward punches of his own, none landing on the nimble flyer that was dive-bombing him.
"You asked for it," Jimmy grunted, crouching down as the changeling reared back to make another dive. The changeling buzzed forward before Jimmy leapt up and spun in place, his foot bashing into the side of its head. The changeling attempted to steady itself before running into a wall.
Billy, in the meantime had his own problems with a changeling firing magic bolts at him, forcing him to use cover. Another changeling had snuck behind him and was ready to strike, only to be halted by a swift smack of Billy's tail. Billy twitched and looked back to see that he had unconsciously struck his attacker with a hard hit.
"Jimmy!" Billy yelled out to his brother, "Use your tail if they get behind you!"
Jimmy hit a changeling and grabbed it before throwing it into another changeling and knocking it over. Seeing an approaching group of seven changelings, Jimmy went to shout in anger, but felt something coming up from his gut. The changelings tried to stop and retreat at the sight of fire being built up in the dragon's mouth, but were too late. The flames powered through the group and left them fallen on the ground.
"We must protect the queen as she performs the ceremony!" A changeling screeched. "Bring in the dogs!"
"Dogs?" Billy and Jimmy questioned.
Bursting through the rocky walls, Diamond Dogs began attacking them. The dogs were much stronger and took more of a beating to take down than the changelings, as Billy and Jimmy were quick to realize. The brothers began using a combo of punches and kicks to keep the dogs at bay before they looked past each other to see a dog ready to strike them from behind.
Billy and Jimmy shot forward and gave shoulder tackles to their respective targets before turning around and high-fiving each other. "What do you think about this 'girly show' now, bro?" Billy chuckled, bringing his knee up into the face of a bent over Diamond Dog's face.
"This is not a show," Jimmy grunted, lifting another diamond dog up before chucking it forward. "Show me the part where there was a big fight with multiple bad guys against two dragons and THEN I'll be impressed."
The remaining Diamond Dogs growled in frustration before bringing out planks of wood and knives. Billy and Jimmy felt the pressure of the numbers gain on them as the knives managed to get a cut now and then. A dog had also managed to get his wooden plank to crack over the head of Jimmy, causing the dragon to wobble in place before another dog jumped up and kicked him to the floor.
Regardless of these blows, the brothers kept fighting on. The further they moved into the tunnels, the more intricate the designs became. What had started as standard cave walls, became more stylized. The art looked basic, similar to ancient cave paintings. They looked at carved statues of guard ponies while they fought, now having to deal with both changelings and diamond dogs.
Knocking a diamond dog out, Billy's eyes fell on a green gem and without thinking, grabbed and swallowed it. His pupils shrunk to a reptilian state before returning to normal as he felt his wounds heal slightly. Placing a headlock on a changeling, he dragged it with him to a corner, leaving Jimmy to finish off the remaining stragglers.
"Alright, changeling, spill it," Billy hissed as he yanked on the head. "Where's Marian?"
The changeling grunted and gasped before saying, "The avatar is in the next room! But you will not get to her!"
Billy tightened his grip into a nerve choke and waited for the changeling to go limp before letting go.
"The next room, huh?" Jimmy coughed, wiping a small amount of spit and blood from his mouth. "Then, let's go."
***Mission 1 Boss***
Billy and Jimmy entered a large room filled with changelings with a lifted section at the far end. At its top, a pink earth pony with golden blonde mane was lying unconscious at the hooves of Queen Chrysalis.
"My queen!" A changeling spoke up, "The dragons that have been attacking your guards, they're here!"
Billy pointed a clawed finger at Chrysalis, "I know who you are! What have you done with Marian?!"
Chrysalis stared down at the dragons with a look of annoyance. "You... know who I am?" Her annoyance became hidden with confidence as she chuckled. "Then you would know that attacking my children was a foolish mistake."
Jimmy pointed his own finger at Chrysalis, "You wanna talk foolish mistakes? You're about to make one if you don't tell us where Marian is!"
The pink pony stirred and opened her eyes. "Bi...lly..."
Billy and Jimmy tensed up, "Marian?!"
The pony's eyes opened wide before she attempted to stand, only to be held back in a green magic bubble. "Billy! Jimmy!"
"So," Chrysalis interrupted, "This is your... Marian."
Billy went to step forward when a wall of changelings lined up between them and the stairs. "You monster! What are you planning on doing with her?!"
Chrysalis brought her horn down toward Marian. The horn began to glow a sickly green as Marian screamed in pain. After the scream had ended, a small amount of pink energy was gathered in a ball in front of Chrysalis. "See this, dragons?" Chrysalis gave a lick to the ball and shivered, "This... is a miniscule portion of the Avatar of Love, hidden inside your precious 'Marian'. I'm going to remove every ounce, every drop, every molecule of the Avatar from her and then fuse it with my own body."
Jimmy growled in frustration at the sight of Marian in pain.
"Now, witness what this small amount of power can do." Chrysalis laughed before chomping down on it and swallowing. Her eyes shut as her horn turned from a glow of green into dark purple and fired at a single changeling. The changeling tried to steady itself before it started shaking. As it shook, its muscles began to bubble up and its size began to increase, a sound of pain and satisfaction coming from it. Finally, the change completed, leaving Billy and Jimmy to look up at a towering Changeling as it roared loudly.
The dragons rolled away from the giant's stomping blow and looked at each other with a "What do we do?" expression. Jimmy felt something lifting him up as he struggled to regain footing with the floor. A green aura had surrounded him as he was lifted and then thrown back to the ground. Billy began hammering at an elbow of the changeling, praying for it to give away so they can try and attack the head.
Jimmy struggled to get up, trying to shake off whatever pain he had. Seeing his wings flap for a moment, he got an idea. Running under the head of the changeling, he began shouting, "Hey! Try and stomp me!"
The changeling was willing to oblige, hovering a hoof over Jimmy. The hoof came down and came in close contact with the floor. The hoof began to vibrate as a low growling was heard, Jimmy was holding the hoof up and slowly lifting it with each beat of his wings.
Billy gave a sharp kick to the bent knee, making the giant howl in pain. Seeing Jimmy struggling with the lift, he swooped down and began helping him lift the leg higher and higher.
The changelings looked on in horror as these dragons continued to lift the beastly creature to a vertical position.
"Hold him until I give the word," Jimmy whispered to Billy. Billy grunted in response as Jimmy fell the the floor and crouched down. "Now, Billy!" Jimmy screamed, making Billy push off the hoof. The giant changeling began to fall as Jimmy shot up with a wound up fist. At the last moment, Jimmy unleashed his blow to the descending chin of the giant, sending a shockwave resounding off the walls with its shot.
The giant landed on all fours again, but began to stumble. It's eyes began to fog up as the stumbling became worse. Finally, letting out a moan the giant fell down, making the mountain quiver.
Jimmy descended again, landing on the head of the giant.
Queen Chrysalis frowned in anger as Jimmy and Billy looked back at her. "Leash! Hold down these dragons!"
A female diamond dog, wearing a spiked collar that tied to a cloth bra and long stockings swaggered out, her tail swishing side to side. Her paw lifted up and a devilish smile came on her face before snapping, the lights being extinguished as the sounds of heavy beatings was heard. The last sound that the Lee brothers heard was the cackling of Queen Chrysalis and Marian screaming, "BILLY! JIMMY!"
Jimmy's eyes shot open before he felt a sudden pain in the back of his head. His eyes shut as he felt the sore spot and paused at the alien touch of scales. Looking back at his hand, his mind recalled to all that had occurred before awakening.
"Dragons," Jimmy thought to himself. "We're dragons in a world of ponies, magic, and bipedal dogs."
His fists tightened as he looked around himself, seeing only a rusty metal prison door with a single light coming from it. Getting up, Jimmy moved to the door, only to trip over a large object. Looking back at the object, it looked back at him.
"Wha-? Who's there?" Billy's voice came from the object in the dark.
"Billy! It's me," Jimmy quietly exclaimed.
"Oh," Billy tiredly yawned. "I'm tryin' to sleep, gimmie three minutes."
Jimmy groaned and gave a swift kick at Billy, "C'mon, we need to get out of here!"
Billy slowly got up and gave a look to the door before looking to Jimmy. Both of them quietly stalked to the door and attempted to peek out. No guards, save a sleeping diamond dog at a wooden table. The light came from a single torch that hung above the guard, casting its shadow to a single exit.
"Okay, we need some leverage on this door," Jimmy began before seeing Billy bend the bars and leaving a large hole at the center.
"Dragons," Billy stated matter-of-factly.
As Billy stepped out, Jimmy rolled his eyes and mimicked his brother. "Dragons, obviously."
Billy and Jimmy stood on different sides of the guard and simultaneously threw punches at his head, causing the already sleeping guard to not wake up for a long while. Taking up the torch, Billy followed Jimmy cautiously, watching for any movement in the shadows as they stalked down the shaft. It took some time, but they soon found themselves in front of a large opening of mine tracks and an open mine cart.
"After you," Jimmy politely motioned to Billy.
Taking a seat at the front, Billy took in the sight of the track ahead of them and looked back at Jimmy as he took a seat behind him. "How's this going to help us find Marian?"
Jimmy grinned as he let go of the brakes on the cart, "We find the dog that attacked us in the first place and teach her some manners!"
Billy watched as the cart rocked forward toward a downhill and began screaming as the ride was underway.
*** Meanwhile... ***
"With these gems at our disposal, we will be the greatest pack of diamond dogs in the entirety of Equestria," Leash exclaimed, pumping her dog paw in the air. The response from her group of dogs came back as a mixture of weak cheers and groans of pain. "Wh-What was that?!" she screeched. "I get us the greatest bargain of all time and I receive that?!"
"Milady, Leash," a female diamond dog behind her spoke up. "Most of your pack is heavily beaten by the dragons that you've put in the cells."
"And they are whining about it?!" Leash screamed. She paced back and forth before stopping and turning back to her pack. "Very well. You've all fought hard, so now you shall be entertained!"
Another groan came from the pack, not wanting to hear another song from their alpha female.
"Girls!" Leash snapped a paw toward her trusted advisers. "Bring down the lights! We're about to perform the Mango Tango!"
The lights went off as they focused on the gems on the walls, making a series of multicolored lights dance on the floor. A bright light fell on Leash as she brought out a whip. Before she began to sing, the sound of metal wheels on track could be barely heard, making the dogs whimper and bark at the different noise.
"Iiiinnncccooommmiiinnnggg!"
CLANG! CLUNK! BANG!
A minecart came flying in from a tunnel and dumped the Lee Brothers before bouncing on the floor twice and hitting the opposite wall. The dragons wearily stood up before noticing that they were surrounded.
"I'm not going to be interrupted by you two dragons!" Leash angrily whined. "Girls!"
The Lee Brothers paired off and began attacking the dogs that had started circling them. Leash was passed a microphone stand and began singing into it.
Off the ceiling and onto the dance floor Flashing colors are shimmering bright As she watches him move, to her delight
Like a tiger she waits in advance for Her attack when the moment is right In the jungle of laser beams, tonight
Follow me / Follow me! Your love is callin' me! Callin' me! Take hold of me, Like a sorcerer controllin' me Couldn't be any clearer Upon my magic mirror, I can see Your true nature callin' me.
Billy threw a diamond dog toward Leash, making her scowl and snap her fingers. Her advisers stepped out with their own whips and joined in the assault. Satisfied to see Billy get struck down by a whip and knocked to the floor, she continued on, feeling the beat of the song again.
In a matter of moments she'll seize him Like a lioness out of a dream Gettin' ready to pounce with all her might
Like a kitten with yarn, she will tease him Have him comin' apart at the seams As they dance in the laser beams tonight
Follow me / Follow me! Your love is callin' me! Callin' me! Take hold of me, Like a sorcerer controllin' me Couldn't be any clearer Upon my magic mirror, I can see Your true nature callin' me.
Leash continued dancing on her stage, her eyes shut at the chaos that was occurring below her. She felt alive as she shimmied and prepared to leap into the arms of her adoring pack. Her eyes opened to see her pack all lying on the floor, writhing in pain as the two dragons looked up at her.
"Y-You... annoyances!" Leash said with a stamp of her paws. "I was paid good for what I did, ya hear? I'm not going to let you ruin my show AND my day!" Leaping off, she gave a snap of her whip as she faced off with the Lee Brothers. "If I must take care of you myself, then so be it!"
The brothers were forced to keep their distance as Leash began snapping the whip in multiple directions around her, making a seemingly defensive bubble around her. The moment she paused to shake off some pain in her arm, Billy and Jimmy leapt into action with flying kicks. Landing their attack, both of them went for uppercuts and connected against Leash's jaw, sending her to the ground.
With fury in her eyes, Leash sprang from the floor and latched onto Jimmy, sinking her teeth into his shoulder and attempting to take a chunk of scaly flesh with her. She was unsuccessful with taking anything with her, but Jimmy was forced to a knee to try and recover. She taunted Billy to attack her with a waggle of a clawed finger before tossing him over her body with the help of his running force.
"C'mon boys," Leash confidently jeered. "I expected better out of the two of you than a few punches and kicks."
"She's not a pushover," Jimmy grunted, rolling his shoulder."Not like the literal pushover of that big changeling."
Jimmy ran forward as Leash went to snap her whip at him, just barely missing the snap. Jumping up, he spun in place with his right leg out, hitting Leash with three spinning kicks and an added tail whip. Jimmy went to attack again with a kick, but Leash caught his leg and swept his other leg out.
Landing on his back, Leash stomped on Jimmy's chest multiple times before stepping over him and gloating to her recovering pack.
"She's no singer either," Billy responded, making Leash's ears twitch.
"How... DARE YOU!" Leash angrily snipped, turning back to Billy and pointing a finger at him. "I am the pride of my pack! My voice is revered by hundreds!"
Jimmy noticed the small wink by Billy and realized what he was doing. "Hundreds, sure. Hundreds of miles of stone who are thankful they don't have ears."
Leash threw down her whip and began barking loudly at Jimmy. She didn't notice that Billy Lee had leapt up and cracked his fist in the back of her head, making her stumble forward towards Billy Lee.
Jimmy Lee gripped the top of her head and pummeled the side of it with multiple punches before lifting up his right leg and grabbing her left arm for support. With a few bends of the knee, Billy's foot smashed into both sides of Leash's face numerous times before he let go of Leash's arm and let her fall to the ground unconscious.
Leash felt her paws tied behind her as she was sat at a chair. After some struggle, she stopped as she felt a heavy, blue dragon's claw clasp on her shoulder.
"I'm asking once. Where's Marian?"
Leash tried to turn her head to look at the dragon behind her, but could only see the arm and claw, serving to irritate her further. "You think this is going to psych me out, dragons?! I'm hardened! I'm tough! I'm the alpha dog!"
The claw came up from her shoulder and a red dragon's claw came up on her opposite side, holding a green gem.
"Nice gems. These from the changelings, right?"
Leash began leaping from her seated chair, still unable to escape as she saw the red dragon move up to the gem and crunch down on it.
"These taste good, and you do have a lot of them."
Leash began weeping, now knowing what was on the line. "Gah! You are so mean! You want to know where your stupid pony is? It's with the changelings! That's all I know!"
A clawful of gems came up in the blue dragon's claw.
"All you know?"
Leash whimpered and moaned. "They came from the Everfree Forest, okay? Seriously, that's all I know!"
The Lee Brothers stood in front of Leash as she gave puppy eyes to them.
"What do you think, Billy?" Jimmy asked his brother.
"Everfree Forest is a dark, almost mystical place," Billy explained. "If Chrysalis is there, then its a great hiding spot. But if she's not, we're risking a lot."
Jimmy pointed a claw and held up Leash's chin, "And what makes you think we can trust you?"
Leash growled and snapped at Jimmy's finger.
"Tell them," an older male's voice came.
The three looked to a grey diamond dog with hanging jowls and half-opened eyes step up. The Lee Brothers wound up for a fight before the dog held up a paw.
"Don't worry, an old dog may not be able to learn new tricks, but that dog can know when he doesn't have a chance." The dog straightened up. "I am Bingo, the alpha male of my pack."
"So, you and her?" Billy asked, exchanging glances between the two.
Bingo chuckled, "You tease me. No, we're not wife and husband. We are daughter and father."
"Dad!" Leash hissed. "I have this under control! Go curl up and sleep again!"
Bingo shook his head. "Leash, I had expected better of you. The pack tells me that you made an agreement with changelings for gems. And now, look at where you are. You're tied to a chair as the Double Dragon's of the Avatar of Love are desperately looking for any hope to save her."
Leash looked away from her father, not wanting to look at his face of disappointment.
"Untie her," Bingo asked the dragons. "She will lead you to the changelings and help you fight them. That was our duties then, and it should be our duties now."
"WHAT?!" Leash barked. "I WOULD NEVER! I had a contractual obligation to the changelings to not interfere in their affairs!"
"Then make a choice, daughter," Bingo offered. "Choose between your contract or your family. As of now, until the Avatar of Love is safe again, you are banished from the pack."
Leash's jaw dropped as the Lee Brothers began untying her. She stood up and began shaking in rage. "Father! I will-!"
Bingo turned his back to Leash and the dragons. "As I've stated. Make your choice, Leash." He began walking off as Leash hung her head in defeat. "And know that I love you, no matter which choice you make."
The air came still as Leash remained unmoving.
"We'd like the help," Billy offered. "It'd be interesting to talk with someone else than my brother as well when we go from place to place."
Leash kept her head low as she began moving, "Just... follow me."
Shining Armor approached the mountain's entrance and looked up to where the lights had fallen. Perhaps they would be hounded by diamond dogs as they walked into their homes, but to him, all that mattered was a goal. He prepared to step forward, when he heard the sounds of multiple steps exiting the pathway. He tried to move away, but felt his hooves were stuck in place.
Remaining in his position, a female diamond dog stopped in front of him and frowned. Behind her were two dragons, one blue and the other red. The blue dragon kept his eye on him while the red dragon continued to look forward.
"Get outta the way, stupid pony," the diamond dog huffed. "I have business to attend to with these dragons."
"Wait!" Shining Armor spoke up, shocking the dog. "I have to get inside and find the Double Dragons!"
"Why exactly?" The blue dragon asked.
Shining Armor stared at the dragon, knowing what he may say could cost him. "I need to help them find and rescue the Avatar of Love."
The dragons gave looks to each other, the same looks that Shining Armor knew fully well. Were these dragons brothers?
The blue dragon gave a nod to Shining Armor, letting him breathe easy before he was greeted with an open hand.
"I'm Billy Lee," the blue dragon said.
Shining Armor put his hoof in the dragon's hand as he was lifted back up. "I'm Shining Armor, prince of the Crystal Empire and Captain of the Canterlot Royal Guard."
The diamond dog waved off and pushed past Shining Armor. "Blah, blah, I don't care. Come with us or not, whatever. We are going to the Everfree Forest, and the best way to do it is by the pony's train."
"The next stop will be in ten minutes!" Shining Armor exclaimed. "We won't be able to get tickets in time!"
The diamond dog grinned back at him and the dragons. "We're not going to get tickets, little pony."
"Well, it is certainly a pleasure to have you riding on our railways once again, Princess Twilight," the conductor said as he gave a bow to her.
"The pleasure is all mine," Twilight responded, a hint of false joy in her voice. "I expect that none of your workers will disturb me or my entourage in your first-class car at the front, will they?"
"I will be sure to let them know of your request, princess," the conductor said with a slightly confused look. He gave another look over the group as they entered, helping a weary pink pony in with them. He was told that this pony was under a devastating spell and Twilight needed to return to Ponyville as soon as she could. He only gave a reaffirming sigh to himself before he called out. "ALL ABOARD!"
Billy felt alive as his wings beat with the winds, not even feeling tired with having an added weight of Shining Armor on his back. No feeling in the world could measure up his enjoyment at this moment. Not only was he in the world of the show he watched, but he was living it as a dragon. He could hear the guitars and drums of his band ringing in his ears as they saw the train from afar begin to roll forward.
"YE-HEAAAA!" Billy cried out, tilting his wings to try and straighten himself to the back end of the train as it went faster.
My life is slammin' into gear, The pedal's to the metal. At last I conquered all my fear.. I'm gonna drive it hard!
I feel the wind rush through my hair, I'm flyin'! Ain't tryin'.
Don't have the time to spin my wheels, Already come a million miles, Already on the road to paradise,
My destination might not be anywhere, I don't care!
"Why's the dragon singing?" Leash asked Jimmy, sitting as calmly as she could on him.
"It happens from time to time," Jimmy explained. "Don't worry, you may get to hear something from me later on down the line."
Leash peered over Jimmy's neck and looked into his eyes, "I'll hear what?!"
Jimmy gave a grin as he watched Billy go into his air guitar solo before continuing his song.
I'm gonna cruise into the sunset, Don't ever need to hit the brakes! On the horizon, whole world's open wide,
If life is gonna pass me by, I'm never gonna close my eyes, Wanna ride it, Side by side!
Feel the rush and watch the universe fly by, As we speed up and break the speed of sound Hours pass like seconds in our rear view mirror Angle up and leave the ground!
Billy began performing aileron rolls and soon found his feet hitting the back of the caboose. Moving forward, he let Jimmy try and land himself on the same caboose. Jimmy's landing came hard, sending Leash careening forward into Billy and Jimmy scraping against the metal roof to not get thrown off.
Pulling Jimmy up, Billy felt a twitch in his head before looking forward toward the front of the train. Jimmy seemed to feel the same thing as both of them began to move forward from the caboose.
"Wh-Where are you going?!" Shining Armor yelled out, trying to push his voice past the howling winds being created by the speeding train.
"Marian's on the train!" Billy yelled back.
"And we're going to get her back!" Jimmy finished the statement as he turned back on his path.
Leash grumbled angrily before seeing something black and shining move from between the cart and their caboose. She hung her head into the lone window of the caboose and noticed a changeling knocking out a pony. Pulling herself up, she motioned to Shining Armor to take a look beneath them. She watched Shining Armor peer over and return back with a look of fury in his eyes.
"I've been waiting for this," he said before moving to the back door of the caboose.
"Are you crazy as those dragons, stupid pony?" Leash whimpered, looking down at him from the top of the caboose. "You'll be spotted by the train employers and you will become a criminal!"
Shining Armor looked back at her with strong determinism. "I'm going to stop this madness before something worse comes out of this. And if SHE is behind this as well, then I'll definitely shove my hooves down her throat and make her never forget my name."
Before Leash could argue back or ask who he was talking about, Shining Armor threw open the door and surprised the changeling soldier. Grappling with it, Shining Armor wasted no time in throwing the changeling over the bars of the caboose and tumbling into the snow.
***
Twilight and her friends all looked up as they felt something was just lost. She began to growl as the sound of rhythmic thuds of metal could be heard. Turning to Rainbow Dash, she put on a fake smile.
"Look outside," was all she said.
Rainbow Dash opened a window and flew outside, looking at the blue and red dragons as they slowly trudged forward. A look of fear crossed her eyes before she flew back into the train car and slammed the window shut.
"They're there," Rainbow Dash gasped.
Twilight's eyes flashed green in annoyance. "Who's they?"
Shining Armor stepped into the next car and watched as a few ponies looked back at him with surprise. He risked no chance in getting jumped and performed a revealing spell, one he had perfected after his wedding was nearly brought to complete chaos by Chrysalis and her minions. After the spell was performed, the remaining ponies leapt from their seats as changelings hissed at them before drawing their attention to Shining Armor.
"Everypony stay in your seats," He yelled out, crouching down in a fighting position. "Keep your heads down!"
With the changelings forced into a line, Shining Armor charged his magic to swirl around him before he jumped forward and performed his spinning drill attack, plowing through five changelings and getting him to the other side of the car. He found a coil of rope and tied the fallen group together in the center. He pointed to a cyan unicorn who looked at the changelings and back to him.
"Do you know a basic restraint spell?" Shining Armor asked.
"Y-Yeah?" The unicorn answered, still unsure of what had just happened.
Shining Armor pointed to the changelings, "Keep the spell on these changelings until we arrive at the next station." He waited for a nod and then moved into the next car, hoping to continue his pathway.
Meanwhile, on the roofs of the train cars, Billy and Jimmy Lee were in a fight of a different kind. More diamond dogs had begun to climb up to the roof, some with lit dynamite in their paws. Billy Lee finished pummeling a diamond dog before turning his head and reacting to a thrown stick of dynamite with a thrust kick, sending it back the way it came.
"These don't look like the diamond dogs from the mines, Billy," Jimmy tried to say over the wind, seeing how their patches of color were noticeably different. "This Chrysalis character must have some deep pockets or influence to get more than one batch of dogs to keep anyone from getting to her!"
Billy couldn't respond to his brother, finding a pair of nunchucks on the ground and using them to whip the dogs in the face. His look of joy was soon blown off by dynamite, causing him to stumble and drop the nunchucks off the side of the train. His stumbling was noticed by two diamond dogs as they began to shorten Billy's distance between staying on the roof and falling off the side.
Billy was knocked for a loop after a crack against the side of his head and his right foot failed to find anything to stand on. He felt himself topple off, only to feel something grip his tail and swing him back on the roof. Forcing himself up, Billy watched as Leash began snapping her whip at the diamond dogs. He watched them yelp and leap away to avoid any more of her strikes, only to fall off the train themselves.
"Thanks, Leash," Billy said with a breath of relief.
"My business was with Chrysalis and her changelings," Leash growled. "And if I find out these dogs were under her employ as well, I may need to ask for a breach of contract."
Billy caught up with Jimmy as they reached the final car in their path. Billy's eyes went wide as he saw the Mane Six standing before them, each with glowering expressions on their faces.
"Back off, dragons!" Fluttershy yelled in her breathy tone. "Go back to where you belong!"
Billy's danger sense began to go off, sensing something was wrong with what he had just heard. Wasn't Fluttershy scared of fully grown dragons? Well, they were more of an adolescent size of dragon, only standing at the six foot range, but that should have still caused some unnerving for her.
"Forget it," Jimmy snapped back. "We're finding Marian and nothing is going to get in our way of finding her!"
"Alrighty then," Applejack sneered. "If ya can't be persuaded to back off, then we'll have to take you down!"
Billy grasped his brother's shoulder and spoke to him quietly. "I don't like this. These are supposed to be the main heroes of the series, but something is off with them."
"Oh, there's something that's going to come off of them," Jimmy grunted, punching a fist to his hand.
Shining Armor moved to the ceiling with the Lee Brothers and did a double-take. "Twily? What are you doing on the train?!"
Twilight seemed to pause before making her response, "Me? Yes. I was just on my way home. Had to stop by the Crystal Empire for a short while, that's all!"
Shining Armor frowned, "You don't just come over to the Crystal Empire and not try to see me or Cadence." He gave a look to the dragons before performing his revealing spell.
The brothers recoiled in surprise, seeing the visages of these ponies tear apart, revealing themselves as changelings. Twilight seemed to be the only one left in tact, but she seemed to be struggling against the spell.
"You... idiotic... moronic... fool!" Twilight struggled to get out before she let out a howl. From that howl, a torrent of green fire enveloped her, revealing her true form. Queen Chrysalis angrily stared down Shining Armor and the other nuisances that were becoming more and more annoying to her and her plans. "I should have known that you would side yourself with these dragons, Shining Armor."
Her voice shifted to Cadence's as she gave a soft look to Shining Armor, "Don't you care about our time together? You. Me. Those 'headaches' I cared after for so much?"
Shining Armor's eyes glinted in rage and went to move in, before Billy stopped him. "How dare you?! Nearly ruining my wife's life and almost costing my own? What are you after now?"
Chrysalis smirked, returning to her normal voice. "I'm after power. All that time we spent together had given me the power to overturn Celestia, but with an entire world's love, I can dominate the universe!" Her smirk stayed on as her changelings moved forward. "But enough talk! Have at you!"
Chrysalis' magic lit up and she began to teleport around the roof, causing enough distraction to the Lee's that the changelings jumped them, sinking their fangs into their arms and legs.
Shining Armor knocked off two changelings from the brothers with magic bolts and then performed a rearing kick to Chrysalis, making her grunt in pain before continuing on her teleportation routine.
Gripping the two changelings off of him and seeing his brother doing the same, Billy and Jimmy clashed their heads together in unison before dropping them to the ground. The changelings struggled to remain on the roof before having a gust of wind knock them off.
Leash remained still as Chrysalis stopped in front of her for a short moment. Their eyes stayed on each other before Chrysalis teleported away again.
Chrysalis remained still in a single place before firing off her green magic blast, making the dragon's dodge awkwardly to different sides. She attempted to refocus herself on something, leaving enough time for Billy and Jimmy to try and land some punches. Enough landed Chrysalis to be knocked off her hooves, but an explosive magical force sent Billy and Jimmy to the ground as Chrysalis got back up.
"So, Leash, are you with these dragons?" Chrysalis chuckled, a forked tongue slipping from her mouth.
"Our contract was limited to the mountain and the alter, Chrysalis," Leash barked. "I'm still honoring the agreement to not interfering with your changelings or you personally."
Chrysalis refocused her attention to a charging Shining Armor and swung a sharp slice of magic in the air that clashed against his armor. She felt confidence come back to her as she began teleporting around the roof again.
"We gotta hold her down, somehow," Billy grunted. "Jimmy, let's try the high-low!"
Jimmy gave a nod and waited for an opening against Chrysalis. When it seemed that she was preparing for another magical blast, Jimmy slid on the floor and kicked at Chrysalis' legs. Billy shot up and brought a heavy ax kick on the top of her head, making Chrysalis slump to the floor of the roof again. Her frustration continued to build as the Lee's were smart enough to back away from her magical blast before she got up.
It was becoming apparent that the longer the fight went, the less effective Chrysalis' magic was becoming, leaving her more open to attacks from the Lee's and Shining Armor. Pulling away, Chrysalis let a group of diamond dogs come on the car.
Leash snapped her whip and entered the fray, letting a kick land squarely against the face of one of the dogs.
"Back off, Leash!" Chrysalis screamed. "Those dogs are under my employ and you will treat them as such!"
Leash wrapped her whip around a dog's neck and stamped her foot against his back to apply pressure to his neck. "As I've stated, our agreement was for you and the changelings. Should've done a little more contracting research before you made a deal with a diamond dog like me!"
Chrysalis gave a glowering look to Leash, watching her unwrap her whip and letting the diamond dog that was beneath her fall face first into the metal roof. She charged into the fray before being struck by a stray shot of Leash's whip. Her eyes locked with Leash's as she pulled her whip back and wrapped it around her arm again.
"Oops," was all Leash said.
Before Chrysalis attempted to make a move against Leash, Billy and Jimmy Lee leapt up and pulled back their fists before unloading their charged shots against the side of Chrysalis' head, making her wobble unsteadily and finally falling to her stomach.
She stayed on the floor as the Lee's and Shining Armor kept their guard up, unsure of what to expect.
"Oh, no, you defeated me," Chrysalis moaned, clearly faking. "What could I possibly do?"
A scream of agony came from within the car below and pink energy formed into a sphere, a little larger than the sphere she had before. Ingesting the sphere, the green magic she had shifted into a dark purple again as it wrapped the train. "Perhaps with the little power I can access of the Avatar of Love, I can fully recover. Perhaps even more than that, gain enough strength to send this entire train to the moon!"
The Lee's watched in horror as Marian was pulled from the car and floated up and to the side of the train with Chrysalis.
"Wait," Jimmy realized with horror. "Did she just say 'to the moon'?!"
Chrysalis began laughing as the train began to tilt upwards to the sky, disconnecting from some of its cars as it starting rising quickly. "Say goodbye to your precious dragons, Avatar!"
Billy tried to jump from the car, but found his feet latched to the roof with Shining Armor, Leash, and his brother. All he could do was reach a hand out to Marian as they passed, just barely touching her hoof.
In Appleloosa, two ponies have sat themselves outside of the local pub. Though they may have had a few, the sight of a train flying straight up has not been lost on either of them.
"Lookit that," one mumbles. "They've managed to make it fly."
***
"WHY THE MOON?!" Jimmy yelled out, trying to talk with his brother in his stuck position.
Billy kept attempting to pull his leg from the train, still finding no success. "IT'S WHERE THE LAST PONY WAS BANISHED TO!"
Jimmy turned to his brother as they breached the atmospheric layer of the earth. "THEY BANISH PONIES TO MOONS?!"
"ONLY TYRANICAL ONES, TO MY KNOWLEDGE!" Billy yelled back. "BUT I DON'T THINK WE HAVE A THOUSAND YEARS TO WAIT ON TO SAVE MARIAN!"
Jimmy's eyes shot open as the moon came into view. "A TH- THOUSAND YEARS?!"
With a resounding crash and groan of metal as it turned unnaturally, the train spun wildly against the white surface of the moon. A final thud of the rotating train revealed that the Lee's and their friends weren't on the top of it anymore. The sound of space is a unique thing. Technically, with nothing for sound to bounce off of, silence was the only thing that greeted the four woozy and slightly hurt warriors.
Billy moved himself to the side of the train, still seated as he put his back on it to stay upwards. Gripping his left arm, he attempted to get blood flowing back into it. "Anyone still alive?"
A resounding chorus of grunts and moans greeted Billy's ears, making him breathe a little easier.
He then took another breath and blinked. When did air on the moon become possible? Something about this whole thing was setting off bells and whistles to his schooling. His head went through tomes of knowledge from his public school days and repeated them resoundly in his mind.
Although, having to question this over everything else that had occurred to him today seemed a little hypocritical, to be honest.
"How do we get out of this one?" Billy heard his brother ask from the other side of the train.
"Like I said," Billy began, before forcing himself to stand. "We don't have a thousand years to wait. We need to get the attention of a certain two ponies that may be able to get us down."
"How do we do that?" Jimmy asked, rubbing his neck and looking over at Shining Armor.
Billy thought over the question for a moment and rubbed his chin, checking on Leash as she licked a wound on her paw. "We need to see if the previous resident left any surprises up here."
"About that," Jimmy started. "Who was the last one on the moon?" Shining Armor's eyes betrayed the answer to Jimmy, letting him know that it was something that wasn't pleasant at all.
"Sister of the one who raises the sun in Equestria," Billy explained. "The creature born from jealousy and fear, Nightmare Moon."
A hush came, letting the brothers know there was nothing else to talk about.
"I'm going with Leash," Billy cried out, starting in a direction. "We'll find something on this moon soon enough."
Jimmy gave a nod to Shining Armor. "Guess you're with me then."
Billy and Leash kept a look out for anything out of the ordinary as they walked. Oddly enough, a chair just seemed to be sitting in the middle of nowhere with what appeared to be a pumpkin right beside it. Although, it could have easily been nothing at all. The sameness of the moon could be easily tricking their vision to see something that may not have been there at all
It was a different experience for Billy, seeing the world above him instead of the moon; like the two places decided to switch positions and not let anyone else know. He could see the sun much further away than the earth and if he could focus, sure enough there were other planets hanging around.
Billy broke the quiet to make the trip more bearable. "So, your pack was meant to protect that mountain and the avatar... right?"
Leash's ears twitched, but she didn't respond.
"I'm not meaning to pry into personal life or nothing," Billy backed up. "I'm just curious as to why you would let someone like Chrysalis into the place when you were meant to protect it from creatures like her."
Leash rubbed her arm and avoided looking at Billy. The nervous tension kept Billy from inquiring any further before he noticed a folded paper hat at his feet. Lifting it up, it looked to be a folded up treasure map, just big enough to fit on a small head. Giving a look into it, Billy finally set the hat back down. He was no origami crafter, and he didn't know how to unfold it. With a shrug, he opted to leave it back where it was on the ground for its owner to reclaim it some time down the line.
The further they traveled, the more of the moon and its surprising wonder revealed itself. By surprising wonder, what Billy had really meant was more moon dust and craters. Finally, on the horizon a building's top could be seen. The closer they came, the larger the building seemed. The structure intimidated them as they saw the form of it looking like a unicorn's skull, the tip of the horn burning in a bright blue.
Staring upwards to the terrifying building, Billy tried looking around the horn to see if something was attached to the tip, perhaps leading them to where the source of energy may be. "If we could get up there..." Billy pondered. "It could work."
The entrance came, and Billy noticed Jimmy and Shining Armor also reaching the same door as they did. Waving to the duo, Billy and Jimmy stared down the towering doors and placed their hands on their hips.
"Shall I?" Billy asked his brother.
"Oh, no." Jimmy waved his hands. "Allow me."
Jimmy reeled back and slammed his fist into the doors, making the mass of metal swing open for the group. "Ladies and children, first." Jimmy said with a grin, motioning the others to go in.
***Back in Equestria, namely Canterlot***
"Ahh," Luna sounded, suddenly hearing an odd buzzing in her ears. She gave a quick shooing motion around her right ear to try and shake off whatever small insect had managed to approach her. Giving a look around, she confirmed that there weren't any insects or extremely small creatures that were even around.
Thankfully, no other pony, be it her guard or any visitor of the castle, seemed to notice her actions and she opted to maintain her composure against the buzz that remained.
***I'll tell you where you can find excitement... you can find it... ON THE MOOOON!***
The four entered the base and heard the heavy doors shut and seal behind them. The entrance was unnecessarily huge! Black marble walls that reflected the blue neon that hung from it, giving the place a rather unnerving science fiction vibe.
"Welcome, pathetic insects!" A recorded voice boomed out from an unseen speaker. "You are in the Queen's base of operations! You will experience pain and suffering like none you've felt before as you are led in by my... soldiers, shall we call them."
The opposite end of the room opened, revealing mechanical ponies with deadly red LED light eyes and shimmering chrome.
"Now, if you wish to live," The voice continued, her dark nature oozing through and making the party feel they were dealing with an unnatural presence. "You may approach the right hoof wall, faces against it. And the rest of you who feel like... heroes, then suffer the wrath of Nightmare Moon's personal robot army!
Leash was the first to strike, her whip surrounding the neck of one robotic warrior. With a roar and mighty pull, the robot was pulled into the air and swung over her head. The robot landed on the ground, the clang of metal on smooth stone sounding oh, so sweet to the ears.
Shining Armor put his army training to the test, spotting the open weaknesses of the limbs and striking them. The metal bent and his attacker was soon grounded, just as well.
Billy and Jimmy went with their usual methods, bashing the robots in the head until they either exploded or the head was sent careening to the other side of the room.
"What's this?!" Nightmare Moon's voice came on again. "You... you're beating my warriors?! Then she must have sent you."
Jimmy gave a glance to Billy, hoping to get an explanation.
"Remember when I mentioned that this mare had a sister who raised the sun?" Billy asked. After seeing Jimmy give a nod, he continued. "Guess who was the one who sent Nightmare Moon up here."
Jimmy's expression turned to confusion. "This is a little girl's show we're still talking about, right?"
Before the banter could continue, more robotic soldiers made their way in.
"We need to get to the top!" Billy yelled out, before roundhousing a robot in the side of its head.
"That beacon that was on top," Jimmy noted, shoving his knee into the grappled mechanical pony he was holding. "I get ya!"
Pushing through the initial wave was easy enough as they passed into the next room. A large winding staircase caught the attention of the brothers as they began ascending them. They soon were halted by more metallic ponies that beeped unnaturally. Billy took a look at their chests to see explosives hanging off of them.
"Off the stairs!" Billy screamed, trying to push the group back.
It was too late for any of them to not feel the force of the explosion as the stairs fell back to ground level. The hunk of metal settled down and was soon pushed away by Jimmy and Leash as they rose from it.
"Timing, bro," Jimmy coughed. "You have to work on that."
Billy only let out a disdainful moan in response, still attempting to find feeling in his legs.
"How are we going to get to the next floor up now, crazy dragons?" Leash huffed, pacing under what remained of the intact stairs.
Shining Armor wasted no time on focusing on a teleportation spell, but felt a wave of pain strike his head. "Something is keeping my magic from being used. Maybe we can find another way up."
Jimmy flapped his wings and motioned to Leash to get on his back. "I'll get you on the return trip, Shining," Jimmy promised.
Shining Armor gripped Jimmy's shoulder before he moved and motioned to a gun on a pole hanging in the corner, pointing directly at him. "I don't think flying is going to work if that thing is going to do something."
"Get in close," Leash said with a confident smirk. "I just need one shot with my baby."
Jimmy gave a look of uncertainty to Leash, "It's aimed at me. I don't think I'll be able to get close without feeling some nasty firepower."
"Stupid plan, I'll agree with that," Leash shrugged. "However, between the both of you dragons, it's those kinds of plans that you like to do anyway."
Billy kipped up from his lying position and looked up to the stairs. "Doesn't look too high up," he thought. "Leash, I'll huck you up there."
Leash tried to find the right kind of look of confusion to Billy before asking, "What do you mean by 'huck'?
***
A howl of wild fear could be heard across the base as Leash was sent hurtling upwards. Her paws reached the edge of the stairs as she hung there, doing her best to pull herself up. Her legs kicked against the empty air before she finally managed to get seated.
"Alright, you're on catch duty," Billy started.
Leash barked angrily at the blue dragon below before speaking, "Don't you ever do that again! I will end you if you even attempt to put your greasy claws on me again!"
Billy looked down at his hands and observed them closely before gently wiping them on his sides, "They're not greasy," Billy mumbled in protest.
"Whatever!" Leash continued to scream. "Start bringing up the rest and I'll pull them up the rest of the way."
Jimmy went to pick up Shining Armor and was set to fling him when he noticed that Shining was stiff as a javelin. Taking that as a cue, Jimmy reeled back and let the stallion fly straight at Leash. He didn't expect to be such a direct shot however, as Leash was unprepared to take a full-body unicorn shot to the face.
"Sorry!" Jimmy shouted, cringing at the sight of Leash collapsed with Shining Armor on top of her. He looked over his brother as he cupped his hands for him to step on. "Hang on a minute," he realized. "Billy, if I get up there, how will you get up there without flying and setting off the turret up there?"
"I climb," Billy flatly responded.
"On what?" Jimmy asked with minor hesitation.
"Just step up on here," Billy sighed.
Jimmy took Billy's advice and felt himself lifted up. Gripping the step, Jimmy went to pull himself up when he felt a weight at his legs. "How'd I know? HOW'D I KNOW?!"
Billy started to pull himself up on Jimmy's body and awkwardly tried to avoid scratching or pressing on anything that could be easily hurt. "This is the only way, Jimmy. Sorry to do this to you."
Jimmy regripped the step and tried to ignore some of the pain that was occurring to him. "I hate you sometimes, Billy, do you know that?!"
"I'll repay the favor down the line," Billy grunted, now passing over Jimmy's head.
"WHEN ARE WE GOING TO FIND OURSELVES IN A SITUATION LIKE THIS AGAIN, BILLY?!" Jimmy screamed.
Without answering, Billy helped Jimmy up and finally they all got to the second floor. The second floor resembled a dojo, familiar territory for the Lee brothers as they tried to move past the awkward situation that occurred.
"So, reached the next floor, have you?" Nightmare Moon's voice came on again. "My loyal minotaur will take care of your little rebellion, posthaste!"
The sliding doors slammed open, revealing an overly jacked-up minotaur in a white karate gi. His navy blue fur just on the cusp of black, without going the whole way. His horns pointed forward, adding to his menacing stare as he focused on the group. His intensity was soon lost as he attempted to restrain himself from laughing, and then failing miserably. "Ha, Ha! Th- They brought in-! Ha, Ha! They let in-! Hoh hoh hoh, ha ha ha ha!"
The Lee's readied themselves, seeing that they were dealing with a much larger opponent. Abobo immediately sprang to mind for the two and the minotaur seemed to be the perfect fit for the body type.
"Big, not fast," Billy quietly noted to his brother.
"Means we got to hit him fast and tire him out before knocking him out," Jimmy added, finishing Billy's thought.
The minotaur finally stopped and went into a ready position, his fists meeting at the edges of his waist, still accenting his muscle mass. "I am Honor Bound! When I fight, I make no sound!" He shouted, each word making the veins on his arms stand out. "My attacks are swift! With my power, I'll give you a face lift!" He then leaned forward to the group and winked, "If you catch my drift."
"Then let's settle it," Leash spoke up, snapping her whip. Striking her whip at Honor Bound, she found it ripped from her paws and saw it flung to the other end of the room.
"We'll settle it with only ONE weapon!" Honor Bound grunted before crashing a closed fist into his open hand. "With my fists, I'll teach you a lesson!"
Suddenly, the minotaur charged forward, surprising the group as it reared his head and sent them all flying in different directions. Billy only managed to land on his feet and turned back to Honor Bound, seeing an overconfident smirk on his face.
"Scratch the big guy, slow attack angle, Jimmy!" Billy screeched. "He's big AND fast!"
"Yep," Jimmy said, his body crumpled and upside-down. "I'm quite aware of that."
"I have an idea," Shining Armor spoke up, righting himself again. "It's risky, but it may work." He waited for Honor Bound to make a charge before leaping up and wrapping his hooves around the horns on the minotaur's head. "We take the bull by the horns!"
Honor Bound was thrown off balance by the added weight and soon found himself crashing into a wall and getting stuck in it.
Billy and Jimmy took advantage of the brief opening and started bashing their fists into the ribs of Honor Bound, soon realizing that each shot they took felt like they were punching concrete.
"What is this... thing made out of?!" Jimmy grunted, opening and closing his fists to try and make the pain go away.
"Abobo 2.0, more like it," Billy mentioned backing away from the minotaur to think of another plan. "We're on the right track with the horn part, but I don't know how we're going to hurt him!"
Honor Bound ripped his head out of the wall and reaching back, gripped Shining Armor. Flipping him off his back, he sat out and brought Shining Armor's back squarely against the solid wooden floor.
Shining Armor felt all of the air in him escape as the rippling pain carried from his back to his chest. Something in him must have broke, because he couldn't force himself to get back up.
"Foolish pony," Honor Bound grunted. "When someone gets on your back, then get on the attack!"
Leash's eyes glinted, taking the words as a hint on what to do. "Dragons," she excitedly cried. "His back! Everything else but his back is ripped with muscle!"
Honor Bound suddenly felt very naked and uncertain when he heard the one secret about his incredible physique was let loose. "D- don't fool yourself in thinking that is the right answer! You're probably mad that I'm a fantastic belly dancer!"
"That doesn't even make any sense as a threat," Billy said before forcing himself to bend backwards to avoid a running clothesline by the minotaur. From the crab position, Billy continued to roll and performed a mule kick to Honor Bound's back, making the minotaur howl in pain.
Leash moved past the minotaur and reacquired her whip, waiting for a moment to step in and give a few lashes. She felt a major satisfaction to solving the problem before the dragons could. Her happy moment was cut back to reality as she remembered why she was here. She would need to explain to them why she let the changeling queen into the chambers sometime, but not in the middle of a big fight.
"I won't be beaten!" Honor Bound howled. "Not here, or during any season!" His panic was soon cut off with a solid shot to his spine by Jimmy, knocking him to his knees. His eyes rolled back as he fell, looking up to the ceiling. "Mistress, forgive me."
"Welp, see ya, big guy." Billy said as he moved to Shining Armor checking to see if anything was wrong.
"HURAGH!" Honor Bound voiced, managing to stand up again. "Systems! High alert! THE HIGHEST OF ALERTS! Nightmare Moon, the queen of Equestria, will put an end to you all, here and now!"
***Back in Canterlot***
Luna gripped the sides of her head as the buzzing became a high-pitched squeal, she knew where it was coming from, because the squeal now came with a voice.
"Warning! Warning! Intruders on the moon base!" the voice droned repeatedly, nearly driving her insane. She had no choice but to send herself back on the forsaken plane of the moon to stop whatever racket had now lodged itself up there.
A flash of light appeared in the dojo as Luna stood at its center, holding a metallic box. Taking the box, she began repeatedly bashing it to the ground, making the warning lights and signals fade and eventually stop.
"M- mistress?" Honor Bound announced, seeing the visage of his queen look completely different from how he imagined.
"WHAT DID WE TELL YOU ABOUT OUR ALARM SYSTEM?!" Luna bellowed, making the fur on Honor Bound fluff up from the gust of wind from her voice. She looked to the two dragons, the diamond dog, and Shining Armor before shaking herself to a quieter state. "Shining... Armor? What are you and these...?"
She resolutely gave up in attempting to remain calm and ask questions, teleporting them all of them back to Canterlot Castle.
The sudden change from inside the dark base to an open hallway of the Canterlot castle threw off the Lee brothers, not used to having a snap transition like that happen to them before.
"Explain yourselves," Princess Luna commanded.
Honor Bound immediately got to a knee and bowed his head to the ground. "Your greatness-"
"WE WERE NOT ADDRESSING YOU!" Luna bellowed at the minotaur, making the massive brute only shrink more in his knelt state.
"Would you believe that I'm here under the guardianship law as passed by you and your sister during the founding of your land of Ponyville?" Leash asked.
A moments pause came from Luna as she looked to the floor and then looked back at Leash. "Your left paw, show it to me."
Leash held her paw out and Luna held it close, observing a mark that was on it. "The heart symbol with a dragon's eye..." Luna sighed, her eyes closing to leaf through her memories. "This mark... why does it make me feel a sense of unnerving?"
"We can't stay too long," Billy interrupted. "Marian's still in trouble and we need to figure out where she's being hidden at."
Luna's quiet ended and her eyes looked to Billy and Jimmy Lee. "The dragon protectors," she mouthed. "We had not thought that love's avatar would be returned back to this realm!"
"How come everyone here keeps calling Marian the 'Avatar of Love'?" Jimmy asked. "She's a policewoman from New York! She's not some godly figure that is revered!"
"Not where she was sent, no," Luna explained.
"Huh?" Billy and Jimmy spoke in unison.
Luna moved to a hallway entrance and turned back to the group. "Come with me, Celestia needs to be made aware of this development."
Luna moved into the next hallway with everyone following behind. "The shadows of the changelings were becoming too great for Equestria." She started. "Many ponies fell under the illusion of love, when they were instead treated as slaves. From this, my sister and I developed a plan to create a lifeform which embodied love in its purest form. She would be kind, honest, and caring. As the illusion broke, she soon became the affection of the world. Not wanting to tip the balance to the opposite side, we sent the avatar to another plane of existence."
"She would fall from the sky like an angel to the care of two dragons," She continued, making Billy and Jimmy freeze in place.
"When two dragons soar through the sky," Billy began to speak, remembering a legend they heard long ago.
"An angel will fall to earth," Jimmy finished, now thinking back to the moment that the brothers stood over the fallen body of Marian.
Luna nodded, "The avatar searched far. We knew not where she went, but she found her dragons."
Billy and Jimmy looked to each other in shock. The Marian they had fought and fell in love with was a true goddess, hidden from even their eyes and hearts.
"Now she is in danger of losing the very thing that kept the changelings at bay, the longer she stays here," Luna continued. "And if the changelings gain a hold of the avatar's true form..."
Leash slapped herself in the head, "Stupid!" She angrily hissed at herself. "All that time!" She looked up to the group staring back at her. "I let the changelings in because I had believed... the avatar never existed."
Luna took a step towards Leash, making her take a defensive position. "Your pack and its generations are meant to be the protectors of the gates!" Luna spoke through her teeth. "You did not believe in the avatar and what could have been done if she were to return?!"
Leash's ears hung low and her tail tucked between her legs in shame. "I just... I saw what my pack was doing was a distraction to our nature as diamond dogs. We were meant to be hunters of gems and jewels, not guards of an empty alter. That's why when I was approached with the deal of gems..."
"You could have prevented all of this!" Billy yelled out, pointing an accusatory claw at Leash.
"Do you think it was easy for me to admit that I was wrong?!" Leash barked back. "I didn't want to be a part of it after seeing your 'Marian' in the hooves of Chrysalis and now I don't even have that choice! It's either I help save her and never have to deal with this again or I fail and-"
Leash cut off, trying to finish off her sentence as tears began to form. "I fail and I don't have a home to come back to."
The room grew quiet, now everyone feeling the weight of time running out for action.
"Your greatness," Honor Bound spoke up, clearing his throat. "Should a greater enemy get in our way, we should join together and fight another day." His steel grey eyes looked up to Luna from his bowed position. "Please let me help these fighting troupe. With my immense power, we can be a complete group!"
Luna huffed, still surprised the minotaur that was genetically created by her darker form was still here. "We don't care what you will do," Luna finally responded. "As your queen, we release you from your duties. Whatever choices you wish to make are your own."
Honor Bound stood back up and nodded to Luna. If nothing, his name would remain true as he looked to the dragons, the pony, and the diamond dog.
The stained-glass windows of the hallways burst open as changelings began to fly in.
"I'll send these guys away," Shining Armor said, readying his protection spell.
"Wait!" Billy yelled out. "They came from somewhere. No doubt from Chrysalis' hiding place!"
"I get ya," Shining Armor responded. "We follow the path, not remove it."
Jimmy gripped a changeling and rushed it into a wall, cracking the armored shell and letting it go.
Honor Bound stood his ground as two changelings leapt and grabbed onto his massive arms. With a loud clap, the heads of the changelings hit each other and lost their grip on the large minotaur.
Leash dodged a green blast from another changeling before responding with her whip, snapping it against the black shell. "I'm not going to be lenient against you monsters this time!" She screamed out, spinning in place and using her tail to hit against the changeling.
Billy and Shining Armor took a charging changeling and threw it over their heads, using its momentum against itself. The changeling faltered in the air for the smallest moment before its back smacked the tile.
"Save the avatar, Double Dragons," Luna proclaimed. "You will be the only ones that will be able to keep the power out of Queen Chrysalis' hooves!"
Billy and Jimmy nodded before rushing towards the broken windows and leaping out.
"How high up are we, exactly?" Leash asked before being swept up by Honor Bound. Shining Armor found himself wrapped up in Honor Bound's other arm as they all charged the window.
"When time's of the essence," Honor Bound yelled. "Danger is of no quintessence!"
"You crazy minotaaauuurrr!" Leash howled out as they all fell out of the window.
Luna looked out of the window to the black swarm cloud below. Time was running out, and she could only hope that the dragons could reach their love in time.
***
The dragons touched down, leaving small craters in the ground as they found themselves surrounded by changelings. Billy put his back against Jimmy's and readied for anything to jump out at them.
Before the changelings could make a move however, a heavy crash came in the form of a minotaur carrying a unicorn and a diamond dog. The minotaur dropped the passengers of his arms and lifted his head up in a threatening manner. "When multiple creatures act like poseurs, You need to charge through like the force of multiple bulldozers!"
The minotaur rushed forward, creating an open line for the group to go through. Some brave changelings continued to cross their path, but many felt the punishing effects of a leaping kick or shoulder tackle for their troubles. The path soon ended as Honor Bound had hit his head against a massive changeling, much like the one that Billy and Jimmy fought at the beginning of their journey.
"Chrysalis must be getting more and more power," Billy mentioned, flying up and landing a few punches in the face of the massive changeling. "We can't let this get any more out of hand than it is!"
Jimmy dropkicked the knee of the large changeling and watched it give a groan of pain before it fell. "We better, I don't want to keep meeting up with these huge dudes!"
Entering the city streets, now random ponies were leaping into the fray to jump the dragons. Billy recognized one as Twilight Sparkle, but knew something was wrong when he didn't see wings.
The others tried to keep the ponies off, not knowing how to handle against them without hurting them.
Billy took a big risk and brought his fist into the jawline of the Twilight Sparkle that was in front of him. He watched her fall before igniting in green flame and turning into a changeling. "They're changelings!" Billy yelled out. "Don't hold back!"
Jimmy gripped the stunned pony in front of him and moved over to an open table. Lifting the pony, he threw him through the table, making a crunch sound as it exploded through and hit the ground.
Honor Bound took his fists and locked them together over his head before dropping them onto his attacker, causing the pony to become buried into the ground.
Shining Armor fired off a magic bolt that sent his opponent flying into a glass window of a coffee shop, letting loose coffee beans slip and roll to the ground outside.
Leash remained focused as her leg was caught by the pony in front of her. With a grunt of effort, she flipped backward and let her free leg smash under the jaw of the pony. Completing the flip, Leash stood back up and began panting heavily, feeling exhaustion creeping up. "Are we any closer to finding where these things are coming from?"
"Have you tried Ponyville?" A sarcastic, almost overconfident voice asked.
The group looked over to see Discord floating in front of them, crossed arms as he stared right back.
"What in the-?" Jimmy reacted in shock. "What is that?"
Discord scratched an ear in disinterest to the question. "I was more expecting a 'Who' than a 'What', although 'Why' is my favorite to answer."
Billy tensed up, he knew that Discord was reformed, but in his presence, he knew that this creature was capable of everything and nothing. "We're not here to play games, Discord," Billy said threateningly. "We're here to-"
"I know, I know," Discord interrupted, blinking in a book. "I've read it all in this fascinating read called 'Double Dragon: Shadow over Equestria'." Blinking the book away, Discord began to pantomime in dramatic fashion. "The action! The romance! The continuity between universes! It's all so yuckily ordered out in a cohesive manner."
The group shared a look of united confusion before looking back to Discord.
"But! I'm here to provide not only another added conflict," Discord happily cheered. "I'm here to test you in your bonds of love and friendship!"
Jimmy's face fell in disbelief. He attempted to find the right questions to ask as he stammered. "Who-? Wha-? I just-?"
Discord sidled up beside Jimmy and wrapped his eagle claw around the dragon's shoulders, "Fantastic, isn't it?" A moment of realization crossed his face before he smacked it with his lion's paw. "What am I doing?"
Blinking back in front of the group, Discord threw up a health bar with his face posted at the far side. "Can't have a fight without the proper equipment, right?"
"Fight?" Shining Armor hesitantly asked.
"Duh," Discord answered. "Can't test you without some fisticuffs involved. Everypony ready? ThreeTwoOneGo!"
Discord vanished from sight, making the group look around them in panic. They weren't sure of what to expect, but each of them knew it was going to be wild.
"Expect some rain!" Discord called out.
The group looked up to see a cloud overhead begin to drop random objects from the sky. Pianos, Safes, Crates of hair gel, canned food, a kitchen sink at one point. Each of them dodged hectically around the objects, doing their best to attempt to not run into one another.
With the 'rain' ended, Discord came skating in from off screen, his claw and paw behind his back as he slid on the rough ground as though it was ice.
Honor Bound went to rush into the skating Discord, but was soon carried off by the god of chaos as he just kept moving along fluidly.
"Care to dance?" Discord's voice said as Honor Bound came spinning back to the group, acting as a top. Billy was unfortunate enough to not get out of the minotaur's way and was sent careening into a table.
"I'll be zere een a meenute!" A french sounding Discord mocked as Billy pushed himself up from the table.
"This guy is untouchable!" Jimmy yelled in frustration, attempting to stomp on Discord's head as it now started to poke out of the ground.
Billy looked up at the health bar that remained in the sky and had a wild thought. With a push of his wings, Billy gripped onto the health bar and waited for the right moment to strike.
Discord came skating in again, still calmly as he approached Billy.
"Outta the park!" Billy cried out, swinging the health bar with all of his might.
Before the health bar struck Discord, a moment of fear crossed his golden eyes as he was sent sailing into the air.
"Sneaky, sneaky," Discord tutted as he righted himself in midair. "I like that."
Billy felt himself lose control of the health bar as it now tried to whack him in the head. The health bar had now added itself to the mixture of falling objects, skating Discord, and now sudden spurts of water coming out of nowhere!
Leash couldn't contain her frustrations as Discord passed her. Wrapping the whip around his neck, she pulled him back, forcing him to land on his back.
"Do be gentle," Discord said with a smirk. "It's my first time dealing with a mistress."
Leash went to stomp on Discord's smug face when he vanished again. "I. HATE. THIS. SO. MUCH." Leash punctuated with absolute venom in her words.
Shining Armor was having difficulty keeping balance on the ball that now rolled in, but then saw Discord on the same ball trying to move it at the same time he was.
"Where's the ignition on this thing?" Discord asked, acting like he didn't notice Shining Armor there.
Shining Armor gave a grin and began running backward, making Discord give a look of surprise before he was run over by the ball, his body giving a squeak as it passed over.
"Surprisingly, I'm not even mad about that," Discord flatly noted.
Honor Bound felt something yank at his tail, prompting him to turn around, but see no one. Another yank happened, and Honor Bound kept spinning to find who or what was doing it.
Discord only chuckled once before his neck was clamped down on. He had been hanging off the back of the minotaur and holding the tail the whole time. Discord's face turned blue from the lack of oxygen as the minotaur eyed the draconequus.
"When you're being made a fool of, give them death from above!" Honor Bound roared before pulling back his fist and crushing the head of Discord. Removing the fist, Honor Bound felt unnerved by Discord's now flattened head still in his hand.
"Thanks for that," Discord's crumpled voice spoke before he vanished again.
The mania felt like it had gone on for awhile. Bouncing rubber balls spread out across the ground and tripped up everyone. Large chess pieces such as knights and rooks came bouncing across with little care to who or what they ran across. Pies were chucked. No, quite literally, the Pie family had managed to get roped into the fight and were projectiles. It was chaos!
And Discord was enjoying it all. Through the enjoyment, he remarked the attitudes and determination of the dragons and their compatriots. Despite being embarrassed or humiliated in many ways as they were hurt more and more, they kept going. The dragons in particular gave Discord the most enjoyment as they kept finding workarounds to some of his off putting tactics.
With enough testing done, Discord clapped his hands and everything returned to the way it was.
The group kept looking around, still panicking to what else could possibly occur.
"Congratulations!" Discord cheered, "You've proven your worth to me and completed this segment of the game!"
Billy blinked, still trying to pull himself back into a sense of normality. "Game?"
"So, how about it?" Discord spoke with his usual cheekiness. "Shall we all skip merrily to Ponyville?"
"We'll go our own way, thanks," Leash growled, still upset over what had just happened to her.
Discord put his open palms out and shut his eyes in an innocent manner. "You're right. We have our own paths. Yours will have to be riding down a mountain on a rock face."
The ground underneath the group began to rumble and split as it lifted up and over the buildings of Canterlot. Billy moved to the edge of the stone plate and looked down at Discord as he just watched it hover over.
"I recommend seat belts, if there are any!" Discord called up. "We have to worry about personal safety after all!"
Billy didn't know how to respond to the draconequus as they kept getting further away. Jimmy moved beside him and gave a wave to the god they had fought against. "Thanks! We guess!" Jimmy called out, prompting Discord to cross his legs and bow down in response.
"Different," Jimmy said, letting the word sink in with his brother. "He didn't seem as bad as I had initially thought."
Billy sat down and shut his eyes before bringing his two fists together at his chest. "We need to rest for this small moment."
Honor Bound watched as the stone platform they were on began to descend closer to the side of Canterlot Mountain, making him nervous. "A god of chaos says we need a seat belt. A large rumbling, I think, will be felt."
The platform hit the mountatin side and began to slide down, making the group bounce around for a few moments before stabilizing themselves.
Changelings swooped down from the sky to land on the platform, assaulting the group as the rock occasionally hopped and swerved.
Billy took a look down the mountain and ducked as a sudden stone came flying toward his head. The changeling behind him didn't know it came as it cracked over its head and made the creature dizzy. "It's gonna be a wild ride, guys!" Billy yelled out, feeling the wind go across his scales. With a side kick, Billy sent the changeling off its hooves.
Jimmy and two changelings circled each other, exchanging shots of fire and magic at each other. Seeing the moving mountain wall behind the changelings, Jimmy ran up and brought both of his feet into the duo and landed on his back. He watched in enjoyment as the changelings stumbled, rolled, and screamed into the distance before kipping up and addressing a new challenger.
Leash saw something capture her eye as she somersaulted to the edge of the platform and held out a claw to a large rock. Her arm crashed through and in her hand was a sparkling diamond, making her give a small chuckle. With the diamond in paw, Leash tied it to her whip and started to use the diamond-whip connection as a makeshift mace of destruction. After braining a changeling with her weapon, she smirked with confidence.
Shining Armor was on anti-air duty, keeping any flyers from firing their own magic as they hung in the air above. Sensing an opening to one of the changelings, Shining Armor fired his magic bolt and watched the changeling panic before running into three more flyers and making them all spiral to the ground. A smile of his own came as the other flyers became unnerved, now knowing that they could be next in the line to be shot down by this unicorn.
Honor Bound was having trouble protecting his back, becoming further irritated as the changelings, despite hitting his weak spot, were barely hitting him with any force. Having enough of these insects, Honor Bound gripped a changeling by the leg and began to swing it around his head and body, creating a swirling battering ram. "Don't have patience? Get some vengeance!"
A sudden jump, left the group free falling briefly before hitting the platform again. In a simultaneous motion, each member brought a fist or hoof down as they were coiled from the landing and rose up to send it crashing into the jaw of the changeling in front of them.
Billy and Jimmy high-fived each other, feeling the positive energy that they were all building up. Giving quick glances in front of them, the brothers noticed the sudden drop and their eyes nearly jumped from their sockets.
Without warning, the platform was sent sailing into the air, along with everyone on it as they found themselves falling towards the center of Ponyville.
As they fell, two young dragons were holding a conversation below them, both unaware of the falling stone and its multiple passengers.
"-and this is why I'm afraid of badgers." One of them finished.
With a loud THOOM the stone landed on top of the two dragons, and the group landed on top of it, each lying down in a mixture of pain and reaction to vertigo.
With the sun setting on Ponyville, the group got up and dusted themselves off. The town was unusually absent of activity, making them nervous as to what they might be looking for. From where they had landed, it appeared to be right on the edge of the town and its path towards the Everfree.
"Never saw the town up close like this," Billy whispered. "It's... beautiful."
Jimmy only shrugged and kept his eyes open for movement. A quick motion in the alleys made him give a tap on Billy's shoulder. "We have company."
Drakes began to surround the group, some of them stopping in response to noticing Billy and Jimmy.
"Hey!" One called out. "Our mistress told us to fight those guys, turn around and attack them!"
Billy and Jimmy felt confused at the fact this dragon was addressing them. "You must be confusing us with dragons that like Chrysalis."
The drakes gasped in surprise, "They're the ones she warned us about!" The red one that looked to be their leader yelled out. "Traitors! You will either join us, or you will be extinguished!"
The drakes leapt forward from all angles, prompting the group to split while they had a chance. Leash kept rolling from the fire breaths, occasionally giving a snap of her whip to an open target before continuing her acrobatic dodges. Some of the more lucky dodges resulted in fire being breathed into other drakes, causing frustration to some of the attacking enemies.
Shining Armor struck two drakes with a nimble leap and simultaneous blows with his right forehoof and left backhoof. Rolling through, he collided into a third drake with a crossbody. Magic against dragons would be foolish, their resistance against it making their hides legendary to anyone lucky enough to own a set of it as armor.
Billy and Jimmy found fair challenge in these young dragons, making them both consider a possibility to create a dojo specifically for them to hone a craft in the martial arts. Straight attacks were blocked and countered, forcing the brothers to rely on their advanced techniques in their hurricane kicks and spinning back fists to gain the upper hand. Billy trapped one drake in a standing arm lock, catching the incoming punch. A swift kick behind him kept another drake from approaching; giving him time to throw his grappled opponent over his shoulder.
Honor Bound brought a heavy hoof up, making a drake feel his full force of a kick. In this moment, he felt alive as he gripped another drake in a harsh bear hug and watched its eyes cloud up from the lack of air. The more that fell around him, the less brave the remaining opponents felt about approaching or even fighting against him.
Jimmy struck a drake in the shins, fooling his opponent to think that the strike was coming for his face. With the drake hopping on one leg as he gripped his wounded limb, Jimmy finished his attack with a jumping spin kick. He watched the shaky knees of his opponent still try their best to keep him up, forcing Jimmy to unload a heavy fist to send the drake flipping once before it landed on its back.
The red drake remained, stumbling backward from the advancing group that had laid waste to his friends. "You're in trouble, now!" The drake screeched. "Wait until my brother gets here!"
A confirming roar, made the confident group stop and look up at an approaching shadow, soon locking eyes with an enormous, full-grown dragon.
"Billy!" Jimmy yelled out in shock. "Why are there actual dragons here?! I thought WE were the dragons!"
The dragon gave a roar towards the group before letting off a cloud of smoke that blocked their vision. With no other alternatives besides feeling around for who was where, Billy and Jimmy shot up into the sky. With a clear focus on the dragon, the brothers went after the muzzle of the beast, hoping to break some teeth or block up the nostrils from letting out more smoke.
Meanwhile, on the ground, more drakes appeared in the smoke. Thankfully, with their shadows being seen to let Honor Bound, Leash, and Shining Armor know where they were. Shining Armor put himself between Honor Bound and Leash, hoping to focus on a spell to clear away the smoke.
Honor Bound kept his fists swinging in any way possible. He made sure to keep a wall of pain around himself, even if he couldn't tell where he would be attacked.
Leash didn't need to worry about the smoke. Her natural disposition to not being able to see in dark mines kept her other senses sharp. A lash here and there made the drakes that thought they would have an advantage, suddenly very cautious in approaching her.
With the spell completed, Shining Armor pushed the smoke away, revealing the three remaining drakes that didn't know how to get past the devastating strikes of the minotaur and diamond dog. A smile came up on Shining Armor's face as he struck a battle pose.
Billy and Jimmy kept swooping around the large dragon's head, acting like pesky flies as they would kick or punch in an area before forcibly moving themselves to a different location to try and find the weak point.
"How come we're not getting a reaction from this guy, besides annoyance?!" Jimmy roared, getting desperate. With a diving kick, Jimmy struck an open eye and made the dragon bellow out in pain.
Billy moved back to ground level, looking back up at the dragon as it gripped at its eyes for protection. "Any suggestions for taking this beast down?"
Honor Bound hummed in thought. "Perhaps a shared weakness like I, but instead of the back, his thigh?"
"You're not wrong in your theory," Shining Armor answered. "It's not the thigh, its his belly. Because the dragons like to strike from either up high or extremely close, they keep their bellies protected. It's where dragon's have the weakest scales."
"And how exactly do we get under there?" Leash asked, pointing to the gut of the dragon as it remained on the ground.
Billy kept thinking and looked back up at Jimmy, still fighting and looking for a weakness. "Armor, I hope you can lift a dragon up with your magic."
Shining Armor began to blubber. "B-B-But dragon's are resistant to magic! I can't wrap it around the whole thing!"
Billy gave a quick pat on the shoulder to Shining Armor. "You just need to move two legs." With that, he shot up again and tagged out with Jimmy, giving his brother a breather and allowing him to continue the distraction.
"What's he planning?" Jimmy gasped out, landing back on the ground.
Shining Armor didn't answer as he tried to focus on the right set of legs on the dragon.
"A way to kick a dragon's butt!" Honor Bound spoke. "By flipping it on the side, we punch its gut!"
Jimmy went silent as he thought the answer out, "Oh! Because the dragon's protect their bellies by staying way up in the air or keeping it to the ground!"
Shining Armor found his magic wasn't working at its fullest, but he at least had the legs wrapped. "I can't get him off!"
Jimmy snickered before being smacked in the back of the head by Leash.
Leash yanked on Jimmy's arm, "Come on, let's help the unicorn by pushing the freakin' thing."
"We p-?" Jimmy went to protest, before Honor Bound wrapped his arm around him and began leading him to the side of the beast.
"If it means a kick in the tush," Honor Bound cried as he readied himself for his shove. "Then we'll all give a push!"
The combined force of Shining Armor, Honor Bound, Leash, and Jimmy Lee made the dragon topple over.
Billy watched the shock on the dragon's eyes as it fell with a mighty thud. With little time, Billy Lee went into a Superman pose and built momentum in the air before aiming himself straight into the chest and hitting it with his full force.
As though Billy repeated the move from multiple angles, some involving slow-motion, the dragon fell.
In combination, the group each gave smiles to each other and picked out their air instruments. Billy and Jimmy on air guitar, Honor Bound on air drums, Shining Armor on air bass, Leash on vocals.
It was this moment of unity that made each of them feel a sense of confidence and pride. They had beaten a fully grown dragon and Chrysalis was now in their sights. Jimmy gave a grin to his brother and began to run into the Everfree with his friends.
Shining Armor, Honor Bound, and Leash chased after the brothers, ignoring the wild dangers of the Everfree as they felt the need to back in Jimmy's vocals.
(Glad I Am!) (Glad I Am!) (Glad I Am!)
Awfully familiar They try to kill ya, Every time.. It's a crime
You're getting stronger, (He's gettin' stronger!) While ever longer, You resist, With your two fists (Enemies cease to exist)
It's okay I'm here to stay,
And I'm glad I am! Glad I am! Glad I am! (I'm chasin' all the bad guys away)
Always alert, Down in the dirt, Bringin' the hurt, And I'm.. Glad I am! Glad I am!
The forest grew darker, but their speed didn't wane as each member leaped, swung, or bashed through what may have been in their way.
I get the picture They try to hit 'cha They try to kick ya When you're down and out
But they don't know ya (Yeah, they dunno ya!) Quite like I know ya I know .. what you're all about
We'll help each other Cause you're my brother We'll win no matter what the odds are..
We'll turn the heat up Even if we're beat up We'll stomp our foes without a doubt!
As a keyboard solo went off, the group crashed through a timberwolf camp. While others would have reacted in horror to see these mystical creatures, the party kept bouncing along in their joy. Some bashing through the beasts, others lighting the sticks on fire. After passing through, the remaining timberwolves gave confused looks to each other, wondering what had just happened to let two dragons, a unicorn, a minotaur, and a diamond dog to do this.
Keep gettin' wailed on, But never bailed on, Till the end, Got a friend!
I got your back now, Pick up the slack now, Never fear, Army is heeeere! (Fools better run for their lives)
I've appeared.. Alive and feared!
Aren'tcha glad I am! Glad I am! Glad I am! (You know we're grabbin' life by the beard)
Sharing our might, I'll be all right, Bringing the fight, And I'm.. Glad I am! Glad I am!
At the gates, the group looked up at the intimidating dark tower that stood before them. Each one getting serious before rushing through the door and being greeted by the low hum of buzzing wings and angry changelings. The room they had entered led to separate entrances with an etched picture of a single member of the group.
Billy and Jimmy refused to acknowledge the etchings and motioned for them to just enter one. Their hopes of maintaining unity was dashed as they all ran into a magic purple barrier that only allowed Leash to past through. Turning back, she felt uncertain of herself and tried to return, only to hit the same magical barrier.
"She's up to something," Jimmy grunted before hitting a fist to the barrier and moving back. "We'll have to play by her rules in order to pass."
Honor Bound expressed no fear as he nodded in approval and moved to his entryway, not passing through and instead peering into the looming darkness ahead of him.
"It's going to be a trap," Shining Armor argued, moving to his own entryway and readying himself for the dangers ahead.
"And we're going to walk through it," Billy proclaimed, hoping to inspire his teammates. "Even if we're apart, we can still do incredible things."
"I really hope your right," Leash moaned from behind the magical wall.
Jimmy only grinned at Leash. "Of course he is, a Lee is rarely wrong about what he believes in."
Billy laughed, "Ain't that a fact, Spike?"
"It is a fact, Hammer." Jimmy snipped.
"Are we naming ourselves as random objects?" Honor Bound asked genuinely. "I call Battleship."
Jimmy shook his head and walked down his path. "Bringing back the gang names; I'm going to smack Billy so hard when I see him again."
Jimmy moved into a hallway blocked by a changeling in a gaudy robe. Moving forward, Jimmy went to wind back into a punch only to see the changeling float up and then phase through him. Feeling the chill in his soul, Jimmy attempted to turn around to find the changeling before a sudden bolt of lightning hit him, knocking him to the ground for a moment.
Shaking his head and picking himself up, Jimmy tried to find the changeling again and felt uncertainty creep into him. This changeling was being crafty in its tactics and he wasn't liking it a single bit.
***
Leash snapped her whip again and watched it go through the ghostly changeling again, making her whimper. She didn't know how to hurt this opponent and the more she dodged, the more she felt her body draw closer and closer to the bolts of magic that were thrown at her.
What did she need to do to beat this road block that kept her from the goal?
***
Honor Bound kept pounding the changeling in front of him, again and again and again. He pulled away, sure that he had finally won the fight. His back leaned against a pillar and tried to catch his breath before seeing that same cloaked changeling rise up again, making him shake his head in disbelief. Was he not hitting this thing hard enough? He had to be, because his arms were getting tired from hitting such a puny creature over and over.
***
Shining Armor just could not hit this changeling! It dodged, countered, and weaved around every attempt to even get a glancing shot on its black armor. It should have been impossible to not miss at least once! However, there he was, failing every attempt his training had taught him in beating his opponents. Whatever this changeling was doing, it was severely messing with his head. He needed to figure out how to get an attack in soon, or he was going to tire out quickly!
***
"Look at them, Avatar," Chrysalis chuckled. "Each and every one of your heroes are slowly getting beaten and outwitted by my own creations."
Marian could only watch on, her body having grown weak as the spirit was stripped away by Chrysalis' magic. Her expression shown contempt and fury at the monster that had chosen to let her see Billy, Jimmy, and some friends that had joined them get systematically beaten down by the shadows that were placed in front of them.
"Soon, they will all fall," Chrysalis spoke, her eyes squinting to focus on her dream of dominating the world. "You will be consumed entirely, and I will be the new Avatar of Love. The world will fall in love with ME, and feed me the power to finally become a GOD!"
Chrysalis began to cackle as Marian turned back to the sight of Billy throwing a kick against his changeling enemy, seeing the determination in his eyes. Moving to the next screen, she saw the same look in Jimmy's eyes, then the unicorn, then the minotaur, then the dog. Her hope began to rise and she found her voice again.
"They won't fall," Marian flatly spoke, stopping Chrysalis from her maniacal laughter.
***
Billy kept connecting with his shots, making the changeling slowly shift back. He had to get to Marian. He fought enough to get himself here, and he had more than enough to push through.
***
Chrysalis looked over to Marian, a sneer on her face as she looked at the chained pony that continued to speak against her.
"They won't ever love you."
***
Jimmy struck the changeling with a roundhouse. He finally found his opening and was ready to push on to Marian.
***
"They are going to beat your soldiers, because they've done it against every single one you've thrown at them."
***
Leash threw a fist into the changeling, surprising it with her sudden attack. Whip or not, she had to win this fight for the dragons and for the Avatar she had betrayed.
***
"Then, they're going to come here and face you."
***
Honor Bound opened his arms and waited for a shot by the changeling as he turned around and kept looking at the unmoving opponent. "If you don't want to throw a punch, then I'll be on my way back to the bunch." A smirk crossed his face as the changeling vanished before turning around and continuing to his destiny.
***
"You'll try to beat them. I don't doubt that at all."
***
Shining Armor let his opponent throw his attack before countering it and knocking him to the floor. He wasn't going to let Cadence down and he wasn't going to let the Double Dragons down.
***
"But, you'll learn just like your puppets, that they'll kick your ass!"
Chrysalis went to raise a hoof to strike Marian but held back, knowing her time was ending. By the time they would reach her, they would be too late to save the Avatar. She instead sidled back and looked toward the entrance that the group would all run in from and began to pull the last piece of love from the Avatar.
The group continued to run as they all met up, no time to joke as they rushed to the final area. Tensions continued to build as the dark halls seemed to go for eternity until they saw the door.
Each of them leapt forward and plowed through, only to see Marian's soul being torn from her body. They all moved in slow-motion as Marian's soul began to drain into Chrysalis' body, the visage of Marian trying to reach out for a hand to save her. Billy and Jimmy jumped to reach their hands to grasp Marian's, only to fall short and land on their faces.
Chrysalis began to laugh, her body now being enveloped in a dark, purple aura. "You are too late to save your Avatar, Dragons!" She cackled out, now floating in the air. "Now, I am your god! I am your master!"
Billy and Jimmy could only look over to Marian's body, now limp on the floor, her eyes clouded and empty.
"Not again!" Billy yelled out, tears already forming in his eyes. "I don't want her to die, again!"
Jimmy grasped at Marian's body and held it tight, soon feeling his own brother's arms around him. They felt their spirits crush as Chrysalis changed her form into something more fitting an evil goddess. The holes in her hooves filled in as her body began to take the same shape as Marian's human form. Her buzzing wings became useless to her as they fell and the magic in her horn now traveled to her newly shaped hands.
"Come now," Chrysalis spoke, her voice now sounding innocent and pure. "The Avatar still requires the two dragons as her guardians, right?" She reached out to touch the mourning duo when Leash grabbed her arm.
"Keep away from them!" Leash barked out before a backhanded slap by Chrysalis sent her twirling in the air and collapsing to the ground.
Chrysalis attempted again to touch the dragons until her arm was weighed down by magic from Shining Armor.
"Don't you dare ruin their moment!" Shining Armor threatened. With a wave of her open hand, Shining Armor's horn exploded and sent him to the floor.
A final time, Chrysalis went to claim the dragons as her own and instead found her finger pointing into the barreled chest of Honor Bound.
"You want to get to them," Honor Bound grunted. "Then you'll have to go through this gem."
Chrysalis roared in disapproval and sent Honor Bound away with her magic to the opposite wall. She finally got in range to touch and claim the dragons when her finger hit a pink bubble that sent a shock of pain through her body. Gripping her wrist, she looked at her finger and then the bubble that had formed around the grieving dragons.
The brothers kept holding Marian close, letting their tears continue to fall to the ground. They failed to save her. Memories of her with them began to float through their minds. Some fights, some moments of unity, others pure in their emotion.
"Billy," Marian said, a smile on her face as she sat at the brother's table. "Jimmy. I don't want to be a problem for either one of you."
"Nah!" The brothers responded together.
"I'd probably fight 10 Skullmageddons in a row and it wouldn't be a prob," Billy boasted.
"You couldn't handle him once!" Jimmy argued.
Marian could only laugh as the brothers got into an argument again. They were more than friends. In that moment, even if it was just for that one moment... they were family.
"I'm so sorry, Marian," Billy choked out, his vision blurring from the tears. "I couldn't save you, again!"
Jimmy felt himself step back in time, seeing Billy as he approached him, a sense of failure and pain in his eyes.
"I should have been there, for her!" Billy screamed at his brother.
Jimmy tried to hold his brother back from hurting himself, feeling the pain and rage in Billy's spirit. "You would have been gunned down too!" Jimmy argued, struggling to keep his brother from lashing out in fury. "You want to feel bad for Marian? She wouldn't want that! She would want you to fight for her! Just like we did before."
Billy sniffled and stopped moving in the hug of his brother. "I... I just feel so alone."
Jimmy readjusted his hug, comforting his brother. "I know. But, look at who's here and now." Their eyes met, and Jimmy struggled to smile through his own pain. "You have me."
The brothers laid the body down and stood up, feeling a renewed sense of duty in their bodies. They had not known it, but their eyes glowed in their respective colors.
Billy's blue eyes looked to Chrysalis and his body went into a ready position.
Jimmy' red eyes looked to Chrysalis as well, and he mirrored his brother.
A yellow aura enveloped the two, before a winding blue and red stream began to circle around them.
Billy's scales began to fly off of him, his human flesh visible for a short moment before being wrapped into a blue energy that revealed to be a blue martial arts uniform after fully enveloping his body. His blonde hair flew wildly, and finally settled on his head before Billy Lee's eyes opened to reveal a fury built up inside. As the energy continued to build, his wings vanished, revealing his strong back His muscles tightened as a dragon's tattoo circled around his right wrist and worked its way up to his forearm and then froze in place. Billy struck a defensive pose as his aura faded away, revealing himself to Chrysalis and his friends. "I am master of Sou-Setsu-Ken, Billy Lee! I fight in the name of love, honor, and friendship!"
Jimmy's transformation was just the same as his brother's, his human body covered in a red gi, instead of his brother's blue. His red-brown hair blew in the high energy that had swirled around him before settling. A similar dragon's tattoo swirled around his left arm and then froze. Striking an attacking pose, his aura faded away, letting the others witness his change in appearance as well. "I am master of Sou-Setsu-Ken, Jimmy Lee! I fight in the name of friendship, honor, and love!"
The brothers collided their tattooed arms in an 'X' fashion and struck their final pose, intimidating Chrysalis with their synchronization and burning determinism. "Alone, we are strong!" Billy yelled out.
"Alone, we are formidable!" Jimmy responded.
"Together, we are Double Dragons!" The brother cried out in unison.
Chrysalis took a step back, feeling a force that was alien to her. It felt like the love she would consume, but it was stronger, more potent, and most importantly, unable to be taken away.
The group the Dragon's had fought with reacted in shock, seeing these alien forms now standing in place where the dragon's once were. Despite the fear of these changed warriors, they felt a sense of protection had now fallen in the room.
Chrysalis pointed a finger at the Dragon's, "Do you think you can beat me?" she asked with malice. "I don't care if you are dragons, dogs, or monsters! I AM A GOD! I shall not be challenged by ANYONE!"
Billy and Jimmy remained silent, still posed as they waited for Chrysalis to make the first move.
"Very well," Chrysalis angrily shouted, an echo behind her roar. "You have crushed my armies, destroyed my alliances, and spat in the face of my final glory! All I want is to rule the world and be loved by millions!" Her purple aura rose higher into the air. "THIS! ENDS! NOW!"
Constructing a sharp sword from her magic, Chrysalis charged forward and went to slash at the brothers. With sudden quickness, the brothers disappeared from Chrysalis' sight, prompting her to pause for a short moment. A quick look up led her to see Billy Lee descending with his foot extended to strike her. Sidestepping the attack, Chrysalis went to strike Billy's back with her sword, only to feel a hand grip her foot.
Looking down at the offending thing that had captured her, she watched in horror as Jimmy Lee forcibly pulled her down to the ground. Before she could defend herself she felt a thrusting kick to her chest, sending her flying to an opposite wall. Looking down at where she was hit, she noticed a pink outline of the foot on her. Snapping her head up, she growled and unleashed a torrent of purple magic at Jimmy Lee, an unending stream of pain.
Jimmy Lee leapt up to avoid the magic, causing it to instead strike the wall behind him and lead out into the open sky of the Everfree. He gave no reaction to the destruction and instead began to run toward Chrysalis to close the distance between them.
Billy Lee had recovered and ran with his brother toward Chrysalis, still focused on bringing justice to the creature that hurt and killed his girlfriend.
Chrysalis sent waves of her purple magic to keep the brothers away, and reacted in fear seeing them run through it as if it was nothing. "This... can't be!"
Billy leapt up and brought his leg up, still showing no emotion as he bore down on Chrysalis. Jimmy struck Chrysalis with a sliding kick, causing her to wobble unsteadily as Billy finished the job of striking the top of her head with his foot.
The changeling queen was slowly becoming unsteady in her control of the spirit that resided in her body, seeing the pink energy that was being struck on her with each blow by the brothers. Out of desperation, she channeled her energies into balls of explosive magic and sent them around the room, hoping that it would at least hurt ONE of these dragons.
Jimmy watched the magic draw close to their fallen friends and ran to send them away, not wanting anyone else to die under their care. Knocking a few out of Leash's way, he saw them all begin to blink red. With little time he threw himself on top of the explosives to reduce any damage that would have happened to Leash.
Billy kept fighting, throwing punches and kicks at the weaving goddess to bring the hurt. He felt all of his intensity focus and build as he collided his fist against Chrysalis' face. Continuing to smash his opponent, Billy made Chrysalis unsteadily back away, closer to the open wall of the tower.
Chrysalis finally forced herself to disappear, now teleporting around the room to fire her magic at the brothers. Constructing mystical knives that floated in the air and shot forward at fast speed to cut and impale them.
The brothers jumped, ducked, and shifted from the projectiles and continued to assault Chrysalis, still pushing her closer and closer to the edge. Her body now blinking rapidly in pink as she felt control of the Avatar slip further and further away from her.
"WHY?!" Chrysalis screeched. "WHY CAN'T I TAKE YOUR LOVE?!"
Jimmy brought a hard left haymaker into Chrysalis' face and then threw his right leg into her chest, making her step a little closer to the edge of the tower. "You can't be the Avatar because you only know how to love yourself!"
Billy struck with a right cross punch and spinning leg kick with his left foot, making Chrysalis feel the edge at her feet. "Your greed and self-satisfaction has hurt all that have crossed your path!"
Chrysalis stood uneasily at the edge, unable to bring herself back up or attempt to fly with her power. She watched in fear as the brothers reeled back and their fists gathered balls of energy. One blue, the other red.
"Your terror ends here!" The brothers yelled, bringing their fists together and punching forward.
Chrysalis felt her body tear away from the Avatar of Love, her goddess form now gone as she was sent hurtling across the sky by the power's of the Double Dragon. She watched as her tower moved away from her sight as she flew, her gathered magic of love now falling from the sky.
Chrysalis could only feel a sorrowful song enter her heart as she continued to soar across the sky over the towns of Equestria, feeling failure of her latest plan fall on her shoulders.
Never thought they could stop me Thought I had the girl, and she rocked my world
Tried to keep her away, In my hiding place, you see: Everfree
Things are fading to black, There's no turning back, I'm on a roll!
Maybe tomorrow.. Won't bring me sorrow
Fallin' right into the void Got me thinkin' that I was destroyed And I'm hopin' that you have enjoyed Beating me down
Here's a medal for your victory To remind you of what you did to me! Cause you've gotten me down on my knees Where's the ground?
Chrysalis looked around her to see some random minions also flying in the air with her as well, despite her going slightly faster than her.
Yes! Nice guitar solo! Play faster, Williams! That's Abobo on drums!
Please Remember all the friendship, I brought into your life!
For Shining, Honor, and Leash, Together, they helped ya, Forever your loyal color guard,
And I, A magical pony, A-rendered to baloney! Because I... I dared to dream..
And in my dream, I made princess three.. Love me in jubilee
And in my dream, We lived happily, They and me...
Ahh.. Back to reality...
Chrysalis continued to soar, a look of sadness crossing her face.
But it was not meant to be They caught wind and they came after me I never expected to see.. Billy Lee! (Jimmy: JIMMY TOO!)
Barely had time to prepare, They were fast on the way to my lair, The dragon, the minotaur, the monster, Caught unaware!
Yeah!
Got to my palace at last They were on a tear and i had to think fast But they fought right past
I can't believe!!!
Chrysalis shut her eyes before opening them in false confidence with a smirk.
I'll be back! Nya-ha-ha-ha! I'll return one day to antagonize YOU, Billy and Jimmy!
Twilight Sparkle's attention to her story was suddenly ripped by an unseen force as she looked out her window. She watched as ponies across the town looked up to the sky to the descending pink lights. She could feel her heart beat loudly as her thoughts began to wander to Flash Sentry. She kept looking to the sky as the lights fell, giving her a sense of wonder that she could never explain, neither would she want it explained.
***
Celestia held her sister close, letting her explanations of what had happened during this day stop. She pointed her to the open sky and led her to the balcony to watch the pink lights of love come from above. A paw placed on Celesia's shoulder and a claw on Luna's shoulder let them both know that Discord now stood between them. He also looked to the sky, in his single moment of clarity and purpose.
***
On the moon, some of Nightmare Moon's robotic ponies looked down to Equestria and stared in amazement as it glowed in a radiant pink light.
"Do you think that we can... love?" One asked.
"God, not this again," came the response of Two.
***
Back in Appleloosa, the same two ponies that sat outside the pub were still in their same positions. Giving a tip of his hat to get a better view of the sky, he grunted, "Pink orbs fallin' out in the sky."
The other only grunted to acknowledge his friend's observation.
***
Bingo, the alpha male of the Avatar Protectors and father of Leash, gave a deep breath of the outside air. He felt that the world had found peace again, now that the Avatar had returned to it. His drooping jowls moved up as he smiled, knowing that his daughter had completed her duty to the Dragon's. Holding out a paw, he caught a single pink light and watched it fade away into nothing.
***
Awakening from her sleep, Cadence gasped, now feeling a presence that overwhelmed her own senses. Throwing off the covers that were on her, she looked out to her kingdom and noticed the lights that fell. A small smile came over her face as tears began to form in her eyes. She could feel the presence of the very being that brought love into Equestria as it now entered her heart and gave a message for her to go to the Everfree. She focused on the image of the forest and let her magic swirl around her briefly.
***
Cadence stood at the edge of the Everfree Forest and waited for the Double Dragon's to exit; waiting to bring a message of hope to the brothers.
Her sight was greeted by two uniformed creatures, one in all blue, the other in all red. In the blue creature's hands was a pink pony with long blonde hair, unmoving in its arms, cradled in an almost protective way. Beyond the creatures, Cadence's attention went to her husband Shining Armor and called out to him.
"Shining!" Cadence yelled, making her husband look up at her and rush up. She felt herself lifted up in his hooves as they spun once and was let down by her personal knight. "Where are the Dragon's?"
Shining Armor pointed to the creatures that Cadence had noticed. "Those are the dragons... or they were, before something happened to them."
Cadence could only nod as she approached the two unknown creatures.
"Billy, Jimmy," Cadence began, making the brothers stare at her in a mix of confusion and uncertainty. "I only need ask one question of the two of you."
She waited for them to respond, but got nothing. Hoping they understood what she was saying, she asked the question that the Avatar had given to her to ask of the Double Dragons. "Who did you fight for?"
Billy looked down at Marian and placed her on the ground, carefully and respectfully. "I fought for Marian," Billy responded. "Even when she had passed on, I still fought for her because..." Billy felt his words cut off in his throat, his fight to restrain the tears being lost. "I still fought, because I love her, damn it!" Billy finally roared out, tears falling freely once again.
Jimmy only nodded, a silent stream of tears of his own forming.
Cadence looked to the pink pony and then put her horn's tip on the other's forehead. The pony began to glow in a pink energy and began to float upwards into the air.
The pony soon became a solid bright pink light, the form now slowly shifting into a more human form. The group all watched in awe as the female pony became fully human, clothed in a red, strapless dress; a black belt covering her midsection. The blonde hair was slightly longer than the pony version, but it fit the new form that had now appeared before them.
Billy and Jimmy just kept watching as Marian, the policewoman from New York, the love of their lives, descended from her floating position to her feet. They waited for her to open her eyes before they hugged her close.
"Marian!" Billy tearfully cried out her name in joy.
"Thank God, you're back!" Jimmy weeped.
Marian's voice echoed in an unearthly, but pleasant voice that sounded just like her own. "If two dragons soar through the sky," remember? I would never leave my protectors like that."
The trio continued to cry and praise each other as Leash, Honor Bound, and Shining Armor looked on.
"So, do they both get the girl?" Leash asked, confused to seeing such an interesting combination.
Honor Bound only shrugged. "I would think the blue one has more of a chance to have the girl."
Shining Armor shook his head and chuckled, "Jimmy's fought harder than Billy, I would think that he would win the girl's hand."
Billy and Jimmy pulled away from Marian, overhearing the conversation. A sense of tension beginning to build between them.
"You're not going to defeat me this time, Billy," Jimmy determinately spoke, his fingers flexing in a wave before they crunched into a fist. He slowly lifted his left hand and tightened his fingerless glove before getting into a fighting position. His dark blue eyes didn't leave his younger brother's own.
"You don't have what it takes," Billy responded, flexing an arm by his side. He threw up his fists and prepared for a fight.
Marian stepped back, knowing what kind of damage they could do.
Billy and Jimmy rushed forward against each other, throwing and countering punches right away. The occasional kick was also done, but those would also get offset against each other. Right, Left, Up, Down, every blow had a block and neither brother looked to be at a disadvantage.
Shining Armor, Honor Bound, and Leash all stepped back in amazement, not used to seeing such acclimated fighting between two brothers, let alone two opponents.
With hurricane kicks, the brothers bounced off each other's blows and were sent a few feet back. Jimmy leapt forward and landed on the ground in front of Billy, using the jump as a spring tightening technique before he exploded from the ground and sent his fist colliding into Billy's face.
Billy quickly caught himself from falling on his back and rolled, giving a quick rub to his chin to dull the pain quickly. Seeing his brother moving in to continue his assault, he jumped up and performed a cyclone kick to the side of Jimmy's head. Knowing it would borrow some time, Billy landed back on the ground and responded in kind to Jimmy's spring-loaded technique as he jumped forward and crashed his knee into Jimmy's chest, sending him sliding backwards.
Jimmy stopped sliding long enough to grasp at his chest, he should have seen the exploding knee strike coming. Just barely reacting in time to dodge Billy's ax kick, Jimmy rolled behind Billy and grappled around his waist. With a burst of strength, Jimmy threw Billy over his head and made his brother's head crack against the ground.
Kipping up, Jimmy immediately felt his mistake in doing so, his chest hurting bad enough for him to get back on a knee to attempt to recover. He began counting down to see if Billy could get up before 10.
At the count of 4, Billy had rolled on his stomach and picked himself up to a knee. His fist hit the ground a few times, making his adrenaline pump up. Feeling his power, Billy roared and put up his fists, letting an unseen fire build up in them.
Jimmy watched Billy approach and began to back to a tree. Recognizing an attempt to strike, Jimmy jumped up and off the tree, using his momentum to bring his foot forward into a kick.
Grabbing Jimmy's leg, Billy brought his right arm out and towards JImmy's body, a blue fire now visible as he shouted, "Dragon Punch!"
Jimmy fell back into the tree, making it crack under the force that had just struck it. He couldn't react quick enough as Billy gripped his chest and threw him over his shoulder to the ground.
Billy tried to keep himself from falling over in exhaustion, but if this was the final battle for Marian, he would struggle on. His countdown began against Jimmy and he hoped that he wouldn't get up when he reached 10.
At 6, Jimmy struggled up, making Billy moan in agony. He had to give everything he had, Jimmy lost once before against Billy, and he didn't want to come in second place for Marian's heart again!
Jimmy motioned for Billy to bring it on, trying his best to shake the cobwebs in his head. Billy approached him slowly, and Jimmy knew he had to come up with some kind of plan. Spinning in place so his back was to Billy, Jimmy brought his left elbow back into Billy's chest, seeing his brother hit the ground. Taking no chances, Jimmy began to stamp down on Billy, bringing as much force behind each stomp to try and keep Billy down.
Pulling away, Jimmy began the countdown, still praying that Billy had nothing left. At 9, Jimmy's heart sunk as Billy managed to stand.
Both of them looked to each other and knew that one attack was going to be the deciding blow. Standing where they were, both of them gathered as much power into a fist, making them glow and spark.
Rushing forward with no regard to defense, the brothers raised their fists and cried out simultaneously, "Flaming Fist!"
The sudden collision created a blinding light, its force sending a wave of energy and wind against the others that were watching.
With the light now gone, they all noticed Billy and Jimmy left on the ground.
"One," Leash began, shocking the group.
"Two," Honor Bound joined in the countdown, hoping to find out who won the fight.
"Three," Shining Armor added in, feeling a sense of uncertainty.
"Four."
"Five."
"Six."
"Seven."
"Eight."
"Nine."
The brothers both stirred, looking dead in each others eyes as they rose. Blood pumped loudly in their ears, not wanting to lose.
Billy gave a final roar of determination and pushed up to a knee.
Jimmy tried to get the same energy up, but physically could not do it.
Billy raised an arm up and lifted a single finger to the sky, declaring himself as number one. Marian hugged him closely from his bent position, but couldn't keep them both up. They stayed on the ground as Marian kissed Billy.
Jimmy managed to get to a seated position and looked to his brother with a defeated smile. In the end, it didn't matter who Marian was with, and he learned this the first time Marian had passed away. What mattered was that she AND his brother were happy.
"So," Leash spoke, taking a seat beside Jimmy as he breathed heavily. "Does this mean you don't have a girl anymore?"
Jimmy shrugged and gave a smile to Leash, "Guess I don't."
Leash returned the smile and then looked to her feet. "You don't, uh... You don't think that you and I could... ya know?"
Jimmy gave a perplexed look to Leash before putting an arm around her, "Tell you what. I'll think about it."
"That. Was. Awesome!"
The group looked up to see crowds of ponies surrounding the entrance to the Everfree, all witnesses to the great fight that happened. At its front, the Mane Six had stood transfixed at what they had witnessed.
"He was all BAM!" Rainbow Dash continued to gush, "But then he was all, FWOOSH! Then the thing with the POW!"
Billy felt a sense of completion, having witnessed an entirely unique perspective to Equestria and now seeing the show's heroes talking about how great the battle was.
CREDITS-
Billy Lee as Himself Jimmy Lee as Himself Marian Kelly as Herself Queen Chrysalis as Herself
A great party was held, the Double Dragon's being honored for their victory over Queen Chrysalis. They plan on going home after the pomp and circumstance is over, but for now, they held on to their respective dates.
Leash as Lashing Linda Honor Bound as Abobo Shining Armor as Himself Princess Cadence as Herself
After much pleading to her father to join the Dragon's on their return trip, Leash now stays with Jimmy Lee, the ever loyal guardian of the Dragons and the Avatar. Her life in New York as a singer is becoming sensational, if not for the wrong reasons.
Fake Twilight as Twilight Sparkle (invisibility spell on wings) Changelings #1, #2, #3, #4 as Themselves Guardian Diamond Dogs as Themselves Hired Diamond Dogs - Rover, Fido, Spot
Honor Bound has become business partners with fellow minotaur, Iron Will. Together they have sold workout equipment, putting on a seal of approval that with daily use, anyone can get added muscle. He also started a new form of fighting entertainment in the form of cage fighting in Equestria.
Nightmare Bots as Themselves Head Drake as Garble Drakes #1, #2, #3, #4 as Themselves Massive Dragon as Smog
Shining Armor still lives with his wife, Princess Cadence. His future journeys in Equestria have yet to be told or written.
Discord as Himself Princess Luna as Herself Princess Celestia as Herself Flash Sentry as Not Appearing In This Story
***THE END***
"WAIT, JUST A MOMENT!" A nasally voice cried out from behind the credits.
The party that was happening was halted as a rip between worlds had opened, letting out howling winds and random screams of torture out as a skeleton's arm gripped the earth. The arm continued to pull revealing more of the creature attached to it. A black asian conical hat sat atop the skull that struggled to pull himself out, a lengthy sword of metal came with the second arm. Decorative gold armor surrounded the torso and the black undersuit that accented the muscle that hid underneath.
Finally, after bringing his foot from the rip, he stood. Tall. Menacing. Your worst nightmare.
"NYA HA HA HA HA!" Skullmageddon laughed out. "Finally! Out of my own personal pocket dimension! Now, I can start all over!"
Billy let go of Marian and cracked his knuckles.
"A whole new world that I can spread my evil! A place where I can finally get a girlfriend!" Skullmageddon continued.
Jimmy gave a ruffle of Leash's fur before pushing himself up from his chair.
"And most importantly," Skullmageddon relished in relief. "NO BILLY OR JIMMY LEE!"
Skullmageddon felt a tap on both of his shoulders and turned. His eyes caught sight of Billy and Jimmy, but for few seconds, he couldn't process the possibility, neither the truth. His eyes, if he had any, widened in fear and shock.
"B- B- B- B- J- J- J- J-" Skullmageddon stuttered profusely, still unable to find an answer.
"Shall I?" Billy asked his brother.
"No, no," Jimmy responded. "Shall we?"
Billy and Jimmy wound back, building energy into their fists.
Skullmageddon only had one word escape his lips, which he had none, as the fists of the brothers that had beaten him before came careening towards his face.
