The Five Serpentine Generals are back and are out for revenge against the Elements of Harmony and the two boys who defeated them. Will they be able to defeat them a second time around, or will the snakes have their own surprises in store?
Continuing from the defeat of King Ebon, the former Serpent King after catching a ride back to the human world reconnected with the Orochi Sword to seperate himself back into the five Snake tribes Generals with one goal in mind. To Eliminate the Elements of Harmony and their human friends.
Dustin narrated, "Just when we think we've accomplished what we've set out to do, something new comes up. Bigger and badder. From the Serpentine, to Felix, and to Ebon. Master Darius said that's part of the never ending struggle between good and evil. And you know what? He's right. This happened about a whole year ago after we've finally defeated Ebon and purified Felix of his evil. We returned home in victory, only to eventually discover evil always comes back."
The morning after the warriors victory party at the Mikael Hotel, Dustin, Alistair, Aria, Eu, Alice, Alicia, Dean, Burai, Mitsukai, Felix, Xever, Valmont, and Belmont were at the place seeing their master.
Darius spoke, "Thank goodness you all made it."
"What's going on, sir?" Dustin asked.
"Was there a steal here?" Aria asked.
"Yes. And they didn't just take anything." Darius answered.
"What'd they take?" Alistair.
"That sword you and Dustin brought home."
"The Orochi Sword?" Dustin and Alistair gasped.
"I'm afraid so." Darius answered solemnly.
"Who could've taken it?" Aria asked.
"I'll call Zyphon in and he can run a scan of the room for any possible imprints or signatures left behind by the perpetrator." Dustin suggested.
Darius replied, "That won't be necessary. We already caught the crooks on tape."
"Who is it?" Xever asked.
"Come and see for yourself." Darius said, as he led the group up to the security room. He pressed on a keyboard and showed the scene of the room right after the group left.
Dustin squinted as he saw something slither up the table containing the case, "Freeze it," Darius seeing one of his top students already spotted something froze the screen, "Now zoom in." Dustin added. Darius zoomed in, until they saw a clear up close of what Dustin spotted.
Dustin and Alistair gasped in pure shock, "No way!" Alistair gasped.
"Pythor?!" Dustin gasped in confusion.
"You know that snake?" Dean asked.
"Remember? We told you he was one of the first enemies we've encountered in Equestria." Alistair said.
"How did he get here?" Burai asked.
Dustin pondered before realizing, "Oh, no."
"Oh, no, what?" Alice asked.
"He hitched a ride on me back here."
"How do you figure that?" Aria asked.
"Remember, I said I had an itch on my leg since we got home?" Dustin asked, and they nodded, "That itch must've been him clinging to my leg."
Felix spoke, "Master, continue to play the rest of the tape."
Darius continued to play the recording, as they watched the miniscule Pythor cut a hole in the case and latched onto the sword hilt. They watched the rest of the scene play out with Pythor growing back to his normal size along with his scales becoming purple and black again. What shocked Dustin and Alistair the most is seeing Skales, Acidicus, Skalidor, and Fangtom had appeared in the room as well.
"Who are they?" Eu asked.
"The other four Serpentine generals. They've de-bonded." Dustin said in disbelief.
"And now they got the Orochi Sword back." Alistair added.
"That's bad, isn't it?" Valmont asked.
"Worse," Dustin replied, "We've got to find them."
"They shouldn't be hard to spot, right?" Dean asked.
"Normally, yes. But the Serpentine generals are crafty sneaks. And in this big city it could be even harder to find them." Alistair explained.
"We'll spare no expense. We have to find those five no matter what." Dustin replied.
"Shouldn't we alert the others in Equestria?" Belmont suggested.
"I'll do that tonight. But for now we should start looking for the Serpentine generals." Dustin suggested.
"Let's go!" Alistair called, as the group left the building to go on a snake hunt.
The whole day, the warriors combed all over New York from the streets, the park, the subway, the junkyard, all the way to the sewers, but no such luck. When nighttime came, Dustin returned to his home and plopped onto his bed looking exhausted.
"A whole day and no sign of any of them," he sighed, "Looks like I better get the word to Equestria," he yawned before falling asleep, and spoke in his thoughts, 'Princess Luna, if you can hear my voice, I plead you to come to me. There is a problem that you must be warned about.'
When Dustin opened his eyes he found himself in a dream void, "My dreams."
"You have called me here, Dustin Bowers." a familiar voice said, as the boy turned around and saw Princess Luna approach.
"Princess, I'm glad you're here."
"You sounded distressed, Dustin. What troubles you?"
"We got a real problem here in our world."
"What is this problem you speak of?" the Princess inquired.
"I don't know how else to tell you this, but Pythor and the generals are back." he explained.
Needless to say the Princess of the Night was in utter shock, "What? But how can this be?"
"I don't get it either, but sometime after we removed Ebon from Felix he hitched a ride on my leg as I came back here. He got to the Orochi sword and harnessed enough of it's power to restore his size, appearance, and released the other four generals from his body." The boy explained.
Luna looked worried, "This is indeed troubling. I shall inform my sister and the others of this." she was prepared to leave.
"Wait!" Dustin stopped her, "You can tell Princess Celestia, but I don't want Twilight and the others to know about this."
"I am surprised at this, Dustin. I thought you would want their help?" Luna questioned him.
"It's not that I don't want their help, but for now I don't want to worry them. Let me and my friends handle them here. They don't know portal magic back to Equestria so they have no means of their own to get back."
"Still, that is risky of you trying to find the generals on your own." Luna warned him.
"Alistair and I have grown since we last fought them years ago. We're stronger than before." Dustin reminded her.
"That you are." she acknowledged, while still feeling unsure.
"Please, do this for me and my friends." Dustin pleaded.
Luna sighed, "Very well, Dustin Bowers. Only my sister shall know of this. But keep me posted on your efforts of locating them."
"I shall," Dustin nodded, "Until next time." he then woke up back in his room. He looked out his window seeing the city, "Wherever you Serpentine are, we will find you." he promised.
Meanwhile down below in the sewer system in the darkness of the tunnels, hissing could be heard. From the shadows, five pairs of snake eyes could be seen as evil snickers could be heard.
Dustin narrated, "I thought we could handle the job on our own," as he narrated, he, Alistair, and their friends in New York searched all over the city for the Serpentine generals day and night, "We covered all of the city, leaving no stone un-turned or building unchecked, but every time we just kept reaching dead ends. Days turned to weeks, weeks turned into months. And here we are a year later and still no sign of Pythor or any of the generals. Every night I'd keep giving a report about our progress to Luna in my dreams. It pained me to keep telling her we've had no such luck finding them. Even thought she constantly implored me to tell Twilight and the others I insisted we could handle it. It was my pride speaking, and even though I knew it was I did nothing about it. Was I trying to prove we could handle the task? I'm not even sure how to answer it."
One night in June, Dustin Bowers who was now fifteen years old stood atop a building's rooftop looking out into the city. He looked stressed and lost in his thoughts, until he felt a presence behind him, "Any luck, guys?" he asked without turning around.
Standing behind him was his close pal Alistair Savage who let his hair grow down to his shoulders, but wasn't looking to grow a mullet like before, and Blaze Shadow whose hair reached the base of his neck, and his bangs covered his left eye.
"Nothing on my end." Alistair answered.
"What about you, Blaze?" Dustin asked.
Blaze sighed, "Dustin, how many times do you I have to keep reminding you? It's Drake Seraph Vermillion now."
"Sorry, I'm just not in my best thinking mood tonight." Dustin replied dryly.
"Dustin, you haven't been in a good thinking mood for months." Alistair reminded him.
"This whole search for the Serpentine Generals thing has you running your ass off more than ever." Drake added.
Dustin sighed, "I promised Luna and Celestia we'd find the generals and bring them to justice."
"This would've been a lot easier if we had Twilight and the others here to help us." Drake replied.
"I don't wanna keep dragging them back into our affairs. They have their own problems to deal with in Equestria. Besides I brought Pythor back to our world and led him to the Orochi Sword. That's on my hands."
"Dustin, don't even start going there," Alistair warned him, "You think you're the only one with blood on your hands? Well, I brought King Ebon to our world years ago, and look what his being here has done."
"And when I still had Ebon's darkness dwelling inside me even after my restoration, I did things I was not proud of."
"Your points?" Dustin asked wanting them to get on with it.
"The point we're trying to make is we all made mistakes, but we moved on from them and left it in the past," Alistair answered, "We're not saying you should forget about looking for the Serpentine Generals, but you shouldn't carry this load on your back alone."
"Alistair's right, Dustin. Remember, we're all in this together." Drake put in.
Dustin listened to them and sighed, "You're right, guys. I guess I just was just trying to prove I could handle a task like this without needing back up. But all it seems I've been doing was pushing our friends from Equestria away. But that stops here."
"So what're you gonna do?" Alistair asked.
"I'm going to Equestria and tell everyone about the situation."
Drake smirked, "Now you've finally come to your senses." the three laughed.
So Dustin took off and headed back to his lab in his backyard. When he got into his lab he called to his assistant, "Zyphon!"
Zyphon approached, "Good evening, master. How was the snake patrol tonight?"
"Never mind that. Start up the portal I'm going to Equestria." he replied.
"What, at this hour of the night?"
"I know, but I need to see the Princesses."
"Very well." Zyphon started starting up Dustin's dimensional portal.
Once the coordinates were set, the portal to Equestria was opened, and Dustin stood ready to enter, "Ok, here I go," Dustin was about to walk in, only for the ground to shake, "Zyphon, what's going on?"
"I'm picking up readings right below us." Zyphon answered.
Suddenly popping out from the floor was Skalidor the Constrictai General, "Hey, long time no see, pal!" he greeted Dustin.
"Skalidor!" Dustin and Zyphon gasped.
"Right. And I didn't come alone." popping out from the hole Skalidor made were the rest of the generals with Pythor being the last.
"Skales, Fangtom, Acidicus, Pythor!" He said the last general's name with a bitter tone.
"Dustin, so nice to see you again," Pythor began pleasantly, "My goodness you've certainly grown since we last saw you. Why you're just about our height now."
"Cut the flattery bullshit, Pythor."
"So serious." Acidicus said in amaze.
Dustin got into a stance, "I'm a different warrior from when we last fought. I'm a lot stronger now."
"Well, so are we." Skales replied.
"Attack!" Pythor ordered, as the five generals went on the attack against Dustin and Zyphon.
Zyphon was fighting against Skalidor and Acidicus, while Dustin was tangling with Pythor, Skales, and Fangtom. Skalidor was slinking around Zyphon and coiled himself around the robot who struggled, until Acidicus swung his staff at Zyphon's head boggling his senses.
Dustin was blocking attacks by Skales and Fangtom, and thought, 'They're stronger than before. How is this possible?' he then saw Pythor jump in fighting him with the Orochi Sword, "The sword! You've all been juiced up with it's power like before!"
"Yes. However, we're not so desperate to combine into the Serpent King so quickly. Oh, no, we have other business to attend too." he tail whipped Dustin sending him crashing onto a work table breaking it.
Dustin groaned, as he tried to get up only for Skales to look him in the eyes, "Sorry, but it's time for you to take a nap." he used his hypnosis abilities to put Dustin to sleep.
"Master!" Zyphon called, but from Skalidor's tighter grips on him than before had damaged his joints and couldn't stand.
"Pythor, this portal will take us back to Equestria." Skalidor said.
"Yes. And once we're finally home, we can get back to our roots," Pythor said, as the generals started going through the portal, with Pythor being the last and turned around seeing Zyphon trying to alert Dustin's friends, "We can't have you bringing in problems now can we?" he aimed the sword at him and blasted Zyphon with a magic beam that shut him down, "Much better." he laughed, before jumping into the portal.
Dustin saw nothing but darkness, until he started hearing voices calling to him.
"Dustin! Dustin!"
He slowly opened his eyes, and his hazy vision was growing clearer. He suddenly saw Dean, Drake, Alistair, Aria, Alice, Alicia, and Eu looking down on him.
"There you are. I thought we lost you." Dean said in relief.
"Where am I?" he groaned.
"In your lab. It's morning." Alistair explained.
"Zyphon!" Dustin gasped, as he sat up and saw his robot getting his damages repaired by Dustin's machines.
"Don't worry, master, my repairs are just about done."
"What happened last night?" Alice asked in concern.
"You were on the floor passed out, and Zyphon was roughed up." Alistair added.
Dustin thought back and remembered everything, "Pythor!"
"Pythor?" the guys gasped.
"He was here, he and the other generals."
"That explains the hole in the floor." Dean noticed.
"The portal, was the portal active when you got here?" Dustin asked.
"Yeah, but why?" Aria asked.
Alistair and Drake realized it, "Don't tell me, they used the portal to get back to Equestria?" Drake asked.
"Yes," Dustin sighed, "Once again I foolishly let our enemies slip by. And now they're back in Equestria."
"We need to warn the Princesses right away." Alistair suggested, as Zyphon got off the work table with his body properly fixed up.
"I know. Let's go!" he got up and reactivated the portal. Once the coordinates were once again set, them and Zyphon headed into the portal.
Meanwhile in Equestria, Pythor and the other generals were traveling underground, as Skales spoke, "So now that we're back in Equestria, what is our next step, Pythor?"
"Simple, we get our tribes out of Tartarus." the Anacondrai general answered.
"How can we do that?" Acidicus asked.
"Getting into Tartarus is one thing, but getting past Ceberus is another." Skalidor reminded him.
"Oh, we're not going to be the ones going in." Pythor corrected him.
"What do you mean?" Fangtom asked in confusion.
"Who else could get in and get out with our tribes?" Skales asked curiously.
Pythor smirked, "My own tribe. And it's about time I got them back together." he snickered. Skales and the other generals were confused knowing the Anacondrai were no more since Pythor went cannibal on them so he could survive after a thousand years of being locked in a tomb. What was he planning?
In Canterlot, a portal opened up and out from it came Dustin, Alistair, Drake, Eu, Dean, Aria, Alice, Alicia, and Zyphon.
"Come on, to the castle." Dustin ordered, as the group ran through the city to the castle.
Upon arriving, they saw who else but the former Chaos duo themselves Johan and Omaddon standing by the entrance like guards.
"Guys!" Dean called.
"Hey, what's going on?" Johan asked, "It's been awhile since we all heard from you."
"You're all looking much older." Omaddon noticed.
"Johan, Omaddon, we need to see the Princesses right away." Dustin began.
"Is something wrong?" Johan asked seeing they looked distressed.
"Please, we have to see them." Dustin pleaded.
The duo looked at each other, seeing Dustin was serious, and Omaddon answered, "Follow us." they led the group inside.
The two led them to the entrance of the throne room, and they opened the doors to reveal the Princesses on the throne, "Your excellencies." Johan addressed them.
"What is it?" Celestia inquired.
"Dustin and friends have come to see you." Omaddon explained, as they showed the group in.
"Oh, this is a surprise." Luna said unexpectedly.
"To what do we owe this unexpected visit?" Celestia asked.
"Bad news we're afraid." Alistair answered.
"Bad news?" Omaddon asked in confusion.
Celestia and Luna were worried, until Dustin approached, and confessed, "Princesses, "I've failed. I let Pythor and the generals through my portal back to Equestria."
"Huh?" Johan and Omaddon were confused.
"How did they get to it?" Celestia inquired.
"Last night I was planning on coming here to tell you to let Twilight and the others know of our situation, but when I started up the portal they popped out of the floor of my lab." Dustin explained.
"All five of them have fed off the energy of the Orochi Sword and overpowered both Master Dustin and myself." Zyphon added in shame.
"They left us and went into the portal," Dustin confessed, "I'm so sorry. I thought we could handle them, but in the end they got the drop on us." he looked down in shame.
The Princesses were concerned, but each laid a hoof on his shoulders. Dustin looked up at them seeing them give him a comforting smile each, "You did all you could, Dustin." Luna assured him.
"You may not have been able to stop them from returning here, but now that you wish to let Twilight and everypony know about the situation we can defeat the Serpentine together." Celestia added.
Dustin gave a faint smile, "Yes, your excellencies."
Johan spoke up to Celestia, "Might I suggest you send Princess Twilight a letter informing them of what happened?"
"Yes. I shall do that at once." Celestia started writing a letter.
Omaddon looked to Dustin and the others, "What's been going on since you guys left Equestria?"
"A lot." Aria answered.
"Walk and talk with us so we can be up to date." Johan insisted, as the group walked.
Meanwhile far from Canterlot out in the San Palomino Desert , the generals stopped before a place familiar to Pythor.
"Ah, the very tomb me and my tribe was locked away in." Pythor said, as the five slinked into the opened tomb seeing it was exactly the way it was before with bones of serpentine scattered on the ground.
"Why did you bring us back here, Pythor?" Skales inquired.
"I told you we're going to break the rest of the tribes out of Tartarus by using my own tribe." The Anacondrai general answered.
"But you went cannibal on them all in order to survive, remember?" Acidicus reminded him.
"I know," Pythor answered, before whipping out the Orochi Sword, "Which is why I will use the power of the Orochi Sword to bring them back stronger than ever."
"Can it really work?" Fangtom asked.
"We'll find out." Pythor said, as he concentrated and the sword began to glow illuminating the tomb, "Fallen tribe from the past, feel the power of the Orochi Sword!"
Suddenly the bones of the long since deceased snakes started coming together and were aging in reverse. Suddenly filling up the tomb were multiple Anacondrai Serpentine. They were purple like Pythor, had pink eyes, necks and fangs shorter than Pythor's, and each of them had tails instead of legs. Each one of them carried a sword that was long and bone-colored with jagged purple edges on the blade. The other four generals looked astonished at what just happened, while Pythor smirked.
When the magic died down, the reborn Anacondrai snakes groaned, "Ugh, what happened?" one asked another.
"I had a really weird dream." the second replied.
"My head's spinning." a third added.
"Is every one of you ok?" Pythor spoke up, grabbing their attention.
"Pythor?" one of the snakes asked.
"Yes, it's me." Pythor answered.
"What happened?" another asked in confusion.
"The last thing I remember was the Princesses banishing us in this tomb." another said.
Pythor and the other generals thought, 'They don't remember.'
Pythor smirked to himself and thought, 'This makes things much easier since they don't remember what I did," he spoke up, "Yes, we were banished into this retched tomb a thousand years ago, but we have been released and ready to take the land for our own."
"How can we do that if we already failed?" one of the Anacondrai asked.
"Because this time we have the power!" Pythor held the Orochi Sword up, "And with it, we will make the ponies this land pay for letting us rot."
The Anacondrai started liking the idea of revenge and started cheering. Pythor smiled and turned to the other generals, "Oh, how I missed the sounds of being cheered by my own tribe."
"Tell them the next part of your plan." Skales insisted.
"Ah, right," Pythor continued, "But before that we must rescue the tribes of my fellow generals, Skales, Fangtom, Acidicus, and Skalidor." he reintroduced them.
"Rescue their tribes?" one of the snakes asked.
"Where are they?" another wondered.
Pythor sighed in sorrow, "I'm afraid a band of ponies got them all locked in that dreaded place Tartarus."
"Tartarus?" the Anacondrai tribe gasped.
"Yes. This why I call upon your aid and free the tribes so that we may all reunite like we were during Sombra's reign." Pythor declared.
The Anacondrai tribe started cheering and calling out, signaling they were all on board with Pythor's plan. Pythor and the generals smiled knowing they'll be reunited with the rest of their tribes soon enough.
Slinking up to Pythor was one of the Anacondrai wearing torso armor and shoulder pads, and his eyes were green, "General Pythor, I would be honored to lead our tribe into Tartarus, should you choose to give me the honor."
Pythor smirked, "Ah, Lieutenant Arturus. I could ask for no other serpentine to carry out such a mission."
"Thank you, master." Arcturus bowed his head in respect.
Back in Canterlot, Dustin and the rest of the gang had explained to the duo what's been happening back in New York.
"So this Pythor whom we were told who led the serpentine with his fellow generals hitched a ride on Dustin's leg back to the city where he snatched the Orochi Sword weapon to restore his size and separate himself from the other four generals when they united?" Johan asked.
"Yes." Alicia answered.
"And you've spent a whole year trying to find out where they were?" Omaddon added.
"Unfortunately." Alice admitted.
"Dustin, you know you could've always called us about this situation and we could've gone back to help you." Johan told the spike haired genius.
"You two were already on board in your training to be Canterlot guards. I didn't want to pull you away from that." Dustin answered.
"Speaking of, how has your training gone?" Drake asked.
"It's been great, we're full time guards now." Omaddon answered in joy.
"We've made a lot of friends here, especially with Muse's sibs." Johan added.
"We even got on good terms with Twilight and the others," Omaddon put in, "Fluttershy even taught Johan to respect animals, unlike how he used torture animals in his basement." Johan felt sheepish about that memory.
The girls cringed recalling what they heard about the duo during their enemy days, "Well, it's nice to see how much improvement you guys have achieved since we were last here." Dean said.
"So how're Felix, Burai, Xever, the Balitons, and Mitsukai?" Johan asked.
"They're doing good," Alistair admitted, "Xever's finally got his license for hair stylist. He turns hair into art."
"Shame you guys couldn't have come to Burai's and Mitsukai's wedding." Aria said.
"How was it?" Omaddon asked.
"It was beautiful." Eu answered.
"Alice and I caught the bouquet." Alicia added, while Alice looked sheepish.
"Their next objective is to start a family." Dustin put in.
"We don't wanna miss that." Johan said, as he and his partner chuckle.
Suddenly Celestia and Luna approached, "Twilight and the others have arrived."
The group nodded and followed the two monarchs to the throne room. Upon entering they saw the girls, Wild, and Spike present.
"Yo!" Dustin called.
The ponies cheered, as they raced over to greet the the warriors, "It's so good to see you all again." Fluttershy beamed.
"And it's good to see all of you too." Alice smiled.
Rarity noticed the state of Alistair's hair, "Well, Alistair, I see we're going back to growing your mullet out again are we?"
"Not so long as before, but a good length." Alistair answered.
"And you fellas are even bigger than ya were last ya was here." Applejack noticed.
"Thanks for noticing." Dean replied.
"How've you been, Blazey?" Pinkie asked, as she ruffled Drake's head.
"All good, Pinkie, but it's not Blaze anymore."
"It's not?" she asked curiously.
"No. I'm Drake Vermillion now."
"Why'd you change your name?" Rainbow asked.
"A way for me to leave behind my troubled past and begin anew." he answered.
Twilight spoke up, "Princess Celestia told us about what happened in your world... Why didn't you tell us Pythor got to your world and stole the Orochi Sword to get his strength back and restore the other generals as well?!" she snapped.
Spike spoke up, "Jeez, Twilight, don't pop a vein."
Dustin answered, "I was certain we would be able to find them and deal with them ourselves."
"Unfortunately, that took a whole year to find them, or rather they came to us and used master's portal to return here." Zyphon added.
"Seems like you screwed up big time." Rainbow said, only for the group to frown at her.
"Rainbow, leave the talking to us." Wild said.
"But we can fix it now," Dean said, "Just use the elements of harmony like you did in the past and boom the snakes will be history this time."
The girls and Wild looked sheepish, which didn't go unnoticed by the warriors, "Is there something we should know?" Alicia asked suspiciously.
"It's about the elements of harmony." Muse began.
"What about them?" Dustin asked not liking where this was headed.
"We sort of... gave them up." Fluttershy answered hesitantly.
"WHAT?!"the warriors cried.
"You gave up the Elements of Harmony?!" Dustin asked in outrage, as Fluttershy hid behind Rarity.
"Why in the world of Equestria would you do a thing like that?" Aria asked.
"A lot's happened here in Equestria." Twilight answered.
"Then start at the beginning." Alistair suggested.
And so the group of ponies explained what happened since the warriors left Equestria when Ebon's spirit was finally defeated. When they finished, the warriors were in shock.
"So you all had to give up the elements of harmony to a tree in the Everfree Forest to keep it from spreading all over Equestria?" Dustin asked.
"Uh-huh." Pinkie nodded.
"And after that the tree revealed a chest with a bunch of keyholes that needed it's keys to be unlocked?" Alice wondered.
"That's right." Applejack confirmed.
"And the keys were actually momentos you acquired from others you've met while dealing with a situation involving the element you all represent?" Alicia wondered.
"Correct." Rarity nodded.
"And from the chest came not only Twilight's new castle, but the power you needed to defeat Tirek who escaped from Tartarus and assimilated the magic, flight, and strength of all ponykind?" Drake concluded.
"Precisely." Twilight answered.
"Whoa, now I'm glad I chose not to call you all back here when we found out about the generals." Dustin said.
"You've also had your hoofs full." Alistair added.
"Can't we just use the same kind of rainbow power you all used to defeat Tirek to stop the snakes?" Dean asked.
"It's not that simple, I'm afraid." Twilight answered.
"How so?" Alicia wondered.
"Unlike the elements of harmony, the rainbow power doesn't come natural to us as easily." Muse explained.
Dustin sighed, "So much for having an edge against The Serpentine and the Orochi Sword."
"Hey, you still got us." Omaddon reminded him.
"Yeah, that's true." Dustin admitted.
"You're darn right it is." Applejack spoke up.
"We respect you wanted to catch Pythor and the generals without wanting to automatically come to us," Twilight began, "But as you can see with their strengths even stronger than before it will take all of us to beat them this time around."
"I know." Dustin nodded.
"All right, the dream team is back together again!" Rainbow cheered, as Pinkie bounced around them in excitement.
Dustin smiled and thought, 'Twilight's right. We're always at our strongest when we're together. So look out generals, because we will find out and bring you to justice.'
That night in Tartarus, the Anacondrai tribe had infiltrated the place, and saw Cerberus on his never ending patrol.
"Ok, we're here." Arcturus whispered to the others.
"We need to the find the other four tribes." another said.
One looked around before seeing four peaks in the distance each with each of the serpentine tribes on them chained to it while also wearing mouth guards to keep them from using their fangs, acid, etc.
"There they are."
"Let's get going, and if Cerberus tries to attack us, we hit him with this Venomari venom General Acidicus supplied us with." Arcturus held up a vial containing the venom of the Venomari.
"All right, let's break." another said, as they went invisible and started their way to the peaks. They managed to slip by Cerberus who was patrolling another peak.
One managed to appear by the peak where the Hypnobrai were atop of in chains, "What? Anacondrai?!" Mezmo gasped.
"How? Why?" another Hypnobrai gasped.
"No time to explain, we're getting you all out of here," One of the Anacondrai said, as he used his sword to cut the Hypnobrai of their chains freeing them, "Come on!" he led the hypnotizing snakes down the path from the peak, while the other Anacondrai freed the rest of the tribes from their chains and shackles.
The five tribes met down in the center, "Let's get out of here." one of the Fangpyres said.
They were about to leave only for Cerberus to come charging right over. Chunk the Constrictai gasped, "Cerberus! We're all done for!"
"Not yet!" Arcturus replied, as three Anacondrai threw the Venomari vials at Cerberus' three heads getting them in their eyes.
The three headed dog yelped as its vision started distorting, "Now's our chance!" Another Anacondrai said, as the whole army of snakes charged away from the dog.
They were heading for an exit, until they heard a voice, "Honorable Serpentine," they stopped and looked to see a familiar centaur who looked old and withered, "Release me as well, and I shall help you conquering Equestria." he tempted them.
Mezmo answered, "Sorry, Tirek, but you had your chance and failed."
"See you never!" Fang added in mockery, as the snakes continued to make a break for the exit, leaving Tirek to growl in anger.
Once the five tribes escaped from Tartarus, they wound up in a forest, where the five generals were waiting. When Skales, Acidicus, Skalidor, and Fangtom saw their tribes once again they were filled with joy. The tribes themselves were overjoyed to see their leaders again.
"Skales, we missed you so much." a Hypnobrai greeted him.
"It is ok, my friends. I am here." Skales calmed them.
"Fangtom, you wouldn't believe what working under Ebon's command has been for us." a Fangpyre told their general.
"Fear not, for I have returned," one head began, as the other finished, "And am ready to guide you."
"Skalidor, you look better than ever." Chunk welcomed the Constrictai general.
"Thank you, Chunk."
"Master Acidicus, your Venom helped us all." one of the Venomari soldiers cheered.
"I'd do anything to help my tribe." he answered.
Pythor watched seeing his fellow generals reunite with their tribes, until he looked at his second in command, "Arcturus, you did well in leading our tribe into Tartarus."
"Thank you, Pythor." Arcturus bowed his head in respect.
Pythor seeing all five tribes reunited in both generals and warriors smirked and thought, 'Now that we're whole again, we can finally get onto more pressing matters.'
Back at Canterlot castle, Dustin and the rest of his friends were discussing some of the latest things to happen with them in their world.
"No way!" Rainbow gasped to Dustin, "You got a restraining order against the psycho hosebeast trinity?"
Dustin nodded with a smile, "Uh-huh. It was something long since overdo. It was a team effort with my pals to catch them in the act of harassing me beyond the point of annoyance just to get it posted on them. Now they can no longer come near me."
"Well, you must've been over the moon that day." Applejack smiled.
"Oh, I was," Dustin confirmed, "But not as much as I was when I got Clara banned from every having pets."
Spike's head shot up and looked over at him, "What'd you say?"
Dustin knowing Spike would love to hear it, "With the guys help I managed to catch Clara in the act with how she really handles animals. And through a joint committee between The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and Clara's mother, the girl is forbidden from ever having pets or bringing home any animal off the street."
"What about all the animals she had in her room?" Twilight asked.
"Taken away to animal shelters where they were promised to be given better homes." Dustin answered.
"Thank goodness." Fluttershy sighed in relief.
"You should've seen what happened afterward. Clara bawled like a stuck pig after watching all the animals get taken away, and got a series of spankings form her mother who's now determined to be a better and more responsible parent."
Spike spoke in a serious tone, "Dustin, you are a hero to animals everywhere in the city."
"Yeah. According to Domino every stray animal in the city was partying like crazy that night." the group laughed.
"And people said I was cruel to animals." Johan said.
Suddenly the doors of the chamber opened, and in came a guard, "Your excellencies, I bring urgent news."
Celestia spoke, "Go ahead.
"I've just received word from the guards outside the entrance to Tartarus, the serpentine tribes have escaped again."
"What?!" the group gasped.
"But how'd they get out this time?" Wild asked.
"Did Pythor break them out on his own?" Alice wondered.
The guard shook his head, "No. From what the guards reported were multiple purple snakes."
"Multiple purple snakes?" Omaddon was curious.
Celestia and Luna looked horrified, as the Princess of the Night spoke to her sister, "Tia, you don't really think?"
"I'm afraid I do." Celestia answered in worry.
"What? What is it?" Alistair inquired.
Celestia explained, "Pythor wasn't the one who broke the other tribes out. It was the Anacondrai that did it."
"The Anacondrai?" Twilight gasped.
"What?!" Pinkie gasped.
"That's impossible. The Anacondrai are extinct." Muse said knowing the facts.
Luna spoke, "It's very possible Pythor used the power of the Orochi Sword to bring back to life his old tribe."
"The sword can do that?" Zyphon gasped.
"I'm afraid so." Celestia answered in reluctance.
Dustin stood there with so much going through his mind with what's been happening and what he was just told. The others noticed his trembling as if he was looking ready to erupt.
"Dustin?" Fluttershy asked.
"Are you ok?" Wild asked.
Dustin looked up with anger in his eyes. He screamed in anger, before bolting for it.
"Master!" Zyphon called.
"Where's he going?" Applejack asked.
"I know where. Come on!" Alistair ordered, as they followed the dark warrior's lead.
They were on their way until they found a room up ahead, "Guys, that's the guards training room." Johan stated.
"Which is where he will be." Alistair said, as they heard loud grunts and growls coming from inside.
They entered and saw many guard trainees cowering on the sidelines, while Dustin with his spirit saber in hand was destroying target after target.
One of the trainees turned to Johan and Omaddon, "Sirs, that guy's crazy!"
Alistair spoke, "Not crazy. Just letting off some steam."
"You call this letting off steam?" Twilight asked in disbelief.
"It's nothing we haven't seen before." Alicia answered with a shrug.
"Pull up a chair. He'll wear himself out." Dean added, as the warriors took a seat, while the ponies and Spike were still unsure.
They waited patiently while watching Dustin destroy target after target. After fifteen minutes of watching him take his frustrations out on the targets, his spirit saber dissolved, and he fell to his knees.
"Dustin!" the group ran over to him, and helped him up.
"Are you ok?" Alice asked in concern.
He looked to her, "I'm ok, Alice. I needed this." he took a deep breath.
"You were really flipping out there." Rainbow noted.
"Forgive me for my outburst. I just had to do something with my anger before I ended up taking it out on you." Dustin said in guilt.
"Though why with the outburst?" Spike asked.
Dustin sighed, "Once again my mistake of letting Pythor to our world and to the Orochi Sword led to him resurrecting the Anacondrai."
Celestia laid a hoof on his shoulder, as he looked up at her, "We cannot change what has happened, but we can learn from it and make sure to prevent further accidents."
Dustin smiled, "Yeah. Thanks, Princess." Celestia smiled in response, and they hugged.
"But if there are Anacondrai among the Serpentine now, how can we fight all of them?" Muse asked.
"We need help," Dustin turned to Zyphon, "Zyphon!"
"Yes, master?"
"Go back to New York, and get me... Everyone!"
"Right away." Zyphon nodded, as he opened the portal and headed back.
Meanwhile at the Serpentine's meeting point in the forest, Pythor and his fellow generals were standing before the five tribes, "Today we have been united as one again. And this time we shall see to it that those who locked us in those insidious tombs be made to suffer." The Anacondrai general declared, as the tribes cheered.
Skales spoke, "So what is next in your plan, Pythor?"
"It's obvious Dustin and his friends have followed us back to Equestria and went to inform the princesses at Canterlot," Pythor began, "So we'll give them a little welcoming present. Arcturus!"
Arcturus slithered over, "Yes, sir?"
"You and I will take our tribe to the castle and give the ponies and their friends a little message." Pythor smirked.
"Yes, Pythor." Arcturus saluted, as he went to rally the rest of the Anacondrai, while Pythor snickered.
Back at Canterlot Castle, Zyphon had returned with the rest of the guys friends from Jethro, Jade, Elroy, Ralph, Zimmer, Thatch, Topher, Burai, Mitsukai, Xever, Valmont, Belmont, and Felix. Off to the side were the pets Tricera, Salem, Domino, Fievel, McTwisp, and Calem.
The princesses, the ponies, and the other warriors stood before them, as Dustin began, "Ok, guys. As you know we spent a year looking for the Serpentine generals for a year in our world."
"Yeah, and that was a wild goose chase." Zimmer muttered, only to get hushed by Jade.
"But I'm afraid, the generals have used my portal to make it back here and used the Orochi Sword to bring the Anacondrai tribe back to life."
"Whoa." Valmont gasped.
"Unreal." Belmont added.
"I'm afraid it's true." Alistair answered.
Drake spoke, "That's why you've all been called here. With all fives of these tribes whole again Equestria will not be safe."
"We've all had a taste of what the Serpentine are capable of," Aria began, "But these Anacondrai are said to be more powerful than all four tribes combined."
"Even so, we shouldn't let that fact keep us from trying." Dean added.
"With all of us working together, we can put an end to the Serpentine's terror once and for all." Alicia declared.
"So, are you with us?" Dustin asked the group.
Burai stepped forward, "I'm always with you."
"As am I." Xever added, as he joined Burai.
"Count me in." Mitsukai stepped forward
"Same with us." Valmont said on behalf of himself and his brother.
Eventually the rest of the warriors started joining them, leaving Felix the last one, "Felix?" Dustin asked.
Felix spoke in despair, "While Ebon was using my body he broke the snakes out of Tartarus. Though I wasn't in control I still feel responsible for that happening. But I'm gonna make things right and put them back where they belong. I'm game." he approached, and joined the others.
"And we're joining in too." Johan said, as he and Omaddon joined them.
"Team hug!" Pinkie cheered, as the ponies and warriors embraced each other.
"We'll face the Serpentine together." Twilight said.
Suddenly two guards entered the room, "Your majesties, we've just spotted Anacondrai in the courtyard."
Princess Celestia spoke, "Have all the guards stationed around every entrance and exit. Don't let any of them into the castle."
"Yes, your highness." the second guard said, as they went to inform the other guards.
"Let's go get a look at this infamous tribe." Dustin told his friends who agreed with him.
"While you do that, we'll be here from a safe distance." Salem said, as he and the rest of the animal familiars stay behind. So the group headed for the courtyard.
Once they arrived at the courtyard, they saw the Anacondrai tribe swinging their blades around at the castle guards who retaliated with their spears.
"The Anacondrai." Muse gasped in shock.
"Now those are some big snakes." Pinkie said with wide eyes.
"And they're more ghastly than the other serpentine tribes." Rarity put in.
The Anacondrai made way as the first to emerge was Arcturus, "Greetings, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. It's so good to see you two."
Celestia bowed her head as did Luna, and spoke, "And the same to you, Arcturus."
"What?!" the ponies and humans gasped.
"You're greeting a serpentine so casually?" Twilight asked in confusion.
Luna answered, "Among the Anacondrai, Lieutenant Arcturus was always one of the more noble and honorable of the serpentine."
"And what am I to you?" came Pythor's voice, as the General slinked up next to the lieutenant's side.
"Pythor." the ponies gasped.
"Hello again, everypony. It's so good to see you all again. We have so much catching up to do."
"You'll have plenty of time to catch when you're in Tartarus." Rainbow warned him.
Pythor chuckled, "Oh, I actually missed the sound of your voice when you get all serious, Rainbow Dash."
"Ya don't fool us no more, Pythor." Applejack stood tough.
"I don't?" Pythor asked feeling hurt.
"Not even close." Pinkie smiled.
Twilight stepped forward, "You may have your tribe back, but we have more allies than we did before the first time we fought."
"So I see. While they may increase your odds in numbers, can they in terms of brains?" Pythor mocked, "After all a whole year and none of them even managed to find me in their own city."
Felix frowned, "That snakes got some mouth."
"For real." Belmont agreed.
Pythor raised his sword and spoke, "Let's match the power of you ponies, spirit warriors, and dark warriors against the might of the Anacondrai Tribe."
"Anacondrai, go!" Arcturus ordered, and the Anacondrai slithered into battle.
The ponies and humans got ready, as Dustin spoke, "Ok, everybody. Let's get 'em!" And so the group charged into battle against the snakes.
Twilight and Rarity were blasting the Anacondrai with their magic, Rainbow was zipping around them at her usual speed with Wild following her lead, Applejack was bucking one Anacondrai after another along with Muse, while Pinkie bounced around them, causing some to almost hit each other. Fluttershy tried to stay clear of the fighting, but was unsuccessful.
Applejack bucked another Anacondrai, before speaking, "These varmints are even harder to fight than the other tribes."
"There's a reason they're known as the most powerful of the tribes." Muse reminded her.
The warriors were going at it with the snakes using their own spirit weapons. Ralph used his spirit energy as always to increase the muscles in his arms and fists, "I'm gonna wreck ya!" he plowed through the Anacondrai, but more kept trying to pile on him.
The snakes were using their blades against Thatch's shadow claymore, Topher's shadow naginata, and Aria's spirit sword.
"Impressive blades you got there." Aria told the Anacondrai, before the three pushed the snakes back. Topher spoke, "Well, we're getting some work out here."
"No kidding." Thatch agreed.
Burai, Xever, Felix, and Mitsukai were handling another batch of Anacondrai, "I think I liked it better when they were fighting at my side." Felix admitted.
"Don't tell me you regret being saved now?" Burai challenged him.
"Nah, I can handle them. Check this out." Felix said, as he released his four fox tails that conjured fireballs on the tips, and launched them at the snakes like catapults.
"Nice aim." Mitsukai said, as she twirled her spirit rapier.
"Look out!" Burai called, as he used his spirit dagger against an incoming Anacondrai.
"Thanks." Mitsukai smiled.
"No prob." he flirted.
"Hey love birds!" Xever called, as he was using his hand to hand combat moves against three snakes, "Less flirting and more fighting!" the two shrugged, and resumed fighting the snakes.
Johan was using his shadow whip against an Anacondrai, while Omaddon was punching a few, "Oh, yes, this is more like it!" Omaddon cheered.
"We haven't gotten this kind of action in awhile." Johan added, as he kicked an Anacondrai.
Alice, Alicia, Valmont, and Belmont were fighting like tag teams back to back while firing multiple spirit or shadow gun shots at the snakes, but saw them still coming.
"Those snakes have tough hides." Valmont noted.
They were getting ganged up by the Anacondrai, until Celestia and Luna flew in blasting them with their magic, "Their hides may be strong, but not strong enough against our magic." Celestia explained.
"Advantage." Belmont smiled, as they fought back.
Drake had used his smoke shot ability with smoke and embers against the Anacondrai, only for one to say, "Nice try, but fire has no affect on us."
"In that case, I'll try something else," Drake said, as he used video manipulation to fire a stream of pixelated projectiles at his enemies, "Now that's more like it."
Dustin and Alistair saw Pythor and Arcturus in their sight, "Pythor's mine." Dustin said.
"Then I got the lieutenant." Alistair said, as they summoned their own weapons and charged.
Pythor used the Orochi sword to counter Dustin's spirit saber, while Arcturus used his Anacondrai Blade against Alistair's shadow buster.
Arcturus spoke to Pythor, "So these boys are the two that caused you and the others so much trouble?"
"Precisely." Pythor confirmed.
"Well, don't worry, I'll see to it they don't meddle again." Arcturus fought back against Alistair, who held his ground.
Dustin and Pythor continued fighting with their weapons clashing, "How does it feel knowing once again your mistake in letting me to your world would result in my tribe returning?" Pythor mocked him.
Dustin frowned, but wasn't going to let his words get to him, "I can't change what happened. But I can learn from it!" he started fighting back harder than ever, which Pythor was getting woried about.
The general announced, "Anacondrai, make yourselves scarce!" hearing that, the Anacondrai suddenly vanished into thin air.
"What's going on?" Jethro gasped.
"Where'd they go?" Elroy asked in confusion.
"Anacondrai can camouflage themselves!" Muse called.
Zyphon turned on his infrared vision, "They're all still around you."
"That doesn't help too much!" Drake called, as he got tripped up.
"What now?" Applejack asked.
"Leave this to me," Eu raised her staff up, "Power of water. Rain!" suddenly a dark cloud appeared above them and rain started pouring down.
"What good will this do?" Rarity cried, seeing how wet she was getting.
"Look!" Alice gasped, as everyone saw the outlines of all the Anacondrai through the rain that landed on their bodies.
"Attack!" Dustin called, as they fought back against the camouflaged Anacondrai.
The snakes were soon getting tired as their camouflage was wearing off. Arcturus called out, "Anacondrai, fall back!"
Pythor spoke "You don't give the orders, Arcturus. I do, and we're not going anywhere."
"Pythor, we've exhausted ourselves. These humans as they're called don't fight like ponies do." the lieutenant warned him.
Pythor saw his tribe were slowing down and becoming restless unlike him. He was torn between ordering them to continue fighting or retreat. Finally he ordered, "Anacondrai, retreat!" and with that they burrowed into the ground making their escape.
When the snakes were gone, the ponies and the warriors fell to the ground exhausted. As they laid down, Dustin spoke, "Not bad, team. Not bad at all."
"And I thought shadow soldiers were tough." Alice panted.
"We were wrong on that." Alicia told her.
"Not bad for our first fight against the Anacondrai, huh?" Elroy asked the group who felt too tired to answer him.
Eventually they were able to get back on their feet. Dustin spoke up, "you all fought well, but this isn't the end of it."
"The Anacondrai will come back, and they'll be even harder to fight." Twilight added.
"Especially if the other tribes join them." Alistair put in.
"But as long as we stand together and fight as one, we'll overcome any challenge." Muse finished.
The group nodded with hope, as the Princesses watched seeing their fighting spirit wouldn't go out so easily.
Meanwhile the Anacondrai were back in the forest with the other serpentine resting up. Arcturus was overseeing his fellow snakes, until Pythor spoke, "Arcturus, come." he beckoned him to come over.
Arcturus slinked over, "Yes, sir?" he received a punch to the face followed by a tail whip by his general. Pythor gripped Arcturus and slammed him against a tree trunk.
"Never ever give orders to my tribe while I'm around!" he hissed.
"But, Pythor, if we hadn't called off our attack we wouldn't have lasted too much longer." Arcturus pleaded, while confused at his general's behavior.
"Silence! Next time we engage, you will fight harder and never take over my command. Is that clear?" he inquired firmly.
Arcturus answered in fear, "Yes, General."
"Good." Pythor went to join his fellow generals, while Arcturus watched him leave while thinking in worry.
As the sun rose over Canterlot, Dustin, Alistair, and the rest of the warriors woke up that morning to see the glowing sun over the horizon.
"What a beautiful morning." Dustin said.
"I'll say." Aria agreed.
"So what do we do?" Ralph inquired.
"Well, I think we should go to Ponyville, and see how things are there." Alistair suggested.
"I agree," Dustin nodded, "Plus I want to get a look at this new castle of Twilights."
"So do I." Zyphon agreed.
"Then we should go right away." Burai said.
"Shouldn't we tell the Princess about this?" Alice wondered.
"I already now," came Celestia's voice as the group turned and saw her, "I had a feeling you would want to go to Ponyville to see everypony."
"Can we really, I mean what with the serpentine threat and all?" Jade asked.
"Of course. While the serpentine are still at large there's still no way we can determine where they are or where they'll strike next." Celestia said.
"So we'll just have to wait for more developments?" Xever inquired, and Celestia nodded.
"All right. We'll go to Ponyville, but message Twilight if something comes up." Dustin insisted.
"I will." the princess confirmed.
Dustin looked to everyone, "Come on, guys. Let's fly!" he ran out to a balcony and flew off followed by the others, with Alice, Aria, Eu, and Alicia carrying their pets.
When they arrived in the town, the group looked around in nostalgia. Dustin spoke to his group, "Ponyville. It always seems to looks smaller every time we come here."
"Maybe we're just getting bigger?" Alistair suggested.
"Possibly," Zyphon answered, "My height never changes so it looks just about the same."
"Hey, that must be new." Zimmer said, as he pointed into the distance of town.
They looked and saw Zimmer was motioning to a crystal tree like castle in the distance, "That's Twilight's castle." Domino cawed.
"Come on. Let's go pay a visit." Dustin said, as they walked through town.
As they walked, many of the residents were greeting them. Cheerilee spoke up, "Dustin! Alistair! It's so good to see you boys again."
"Nice to see you too, Cheerilee." Dustin greeted her, as the others waved.
As they pressed on, Alistair greeted Zecora, "Hey, Zecora, it's good to see you again."
"And a joy to see you as well, Alistair. So nice of you and your friends to come back here." she greeted back.
"Hey down here!" Came a familiar voice. They looked up and saw Rainbow Dash and Wildcard touch down, "Sup, guys?" Rainbow asked.
"Good to see you here." Wild greeted them.
"Thanks. We just stopped into Ponyville and see how it is." Dustin explained.
"And we noticed Twilight's castle all the way from here." Mitsukai added.
"And you were going to check it out?" Wild inquired.
"You guessed it." Dean confirmed.
"Well, let's go together." Rainbow suggested.
"We were on our way there as well." Wild added.
"Well, let's hurry." Xever said, as they hurried onto the castle.
Upon arriving, the group looked up at the castle, as Alistair spoke, "Not too shabby. Not as big as the one in Canterlot or the Crystal Empire, but not too shabby at all."
"You should see the inside." Rainbow said, as they entered.
They walked through the hall, as Zyphon spoke, "Hm, not much for decoration I see."
"This is just temporary," Rainbow explained, "We're still trying to make the castle look more lively and to Twilight's taste in style."
"But we've added our own touches to it." Wild added.
"Really, how?" Drake asked.
"I put up some Daring Do posters in the library." Rainbow answered.
"And I turned one of the empty rooms into a game room. For us and you guys when you'd ever come back." Wild added.
Topher looked in one room seeing it was an office that looked like it had a theater like touch to it from drama masks to stage props, "Let me guess, Muse decorated this room?"
"Uh-huh." Wild nodded.
Rainbow opened a pair of doors, and they walked into the throne room where twilight, Spike, and the others were already gathered.
"Sup, guys?" Rainbow asked.
"Look who we found on there way here." Wild added, as they noticed the warriors.
"Hi, guys." Twilight greeted them.
"So nice of you to join us." Rarity added.
"Well, it's been a year since we've seen Ponyville from our worlds time." Elroy said.
"Plus with this new castle here, we just had to check it out." Thatch added.
"I like this room though. Especially all the thrones." Dustin said, while seeing each of the girls and Spike had their own throne.
Alice looked up seeing a chandelier looking like tree roots, "What kind of chandelier is that?"
"That's actually the roots from the old Golden Oaks Library tree." Applejack answered.
"We dug it up and fashioned it into this chandelier, that way Twilight will always have a part of the library in her new castle." Fluttershy explained.
"Clever." Burai nodded.
"Take a look at the gems we hung from it." Pinkie suggested.
The warriors flew up and looked at each gem containing a memory from their times in the library, "Hey this was from when me and Alistair first came to the library." Dustin noticed one of the gems memories.
"Certainly are a lot here." Valmont said, while inspecting one.
"And now we'll make more memories here." Muse added, as Nightfall was working on a new comic.
Alistair went over, "Hey, Nightfall. Still got that creative mind working?"
"Uh-huh. I already had some of my comic ideas distributed to various other shops in Canterlot and the Crystal Empire."
"I can assume they're selling like Pinkie's cupcakes?" Dustin inquired.
"You bet they are," Nightfall smiled, "I'm also thinking about doing graphic novels as well."
"Now that's more this century." Topher nodded.
Muse spoke up, "Yes it is a very good plan, but I still don't want my boy to get too caught up in a career at this age."
"She's right. He's still a growing colt." Wild added.
"Look at you two acting like responsible parents." Burai said in amaze.
"I hope one day, Burai and I can be like that when we become parents." Mitsukai put in.
"I'm sure you two will be fine," Aria said, "After all I'll be your child's aunt."
"That you will." Burai ruffled his sisters hair playfully, as the girl groaned.
"Bro, not in front of the guys!" They laughed much to her embarrassment.
"So share with us some more about what's been going on." Dustin said, as the warriors got comfy on the floor.
"Well, not long after I got this castle, we did have to face a crisis elsewhere." Twilight began.
"Crisis?" Alistair asked.
"What kind?" Zyphon inquired.
"Well, it all begins one day in this castle," Twilight started telling them the story about their encounter with Starlight Glimmer who sought to equalize all the ponies in a bland town she ran far from where the ponies would normally travel, "And that's what happened." she finished.
The warriors, Zyphon, and the pets were in total shock, "Whoa." Thatch gasped.
"That's unbelievable." Jade said in shock.
"This Starlight Glimmer sounded like a pony version f Hitler." Xever told the Baliton twins who nodded.
"Equalizing all the ponies? That's messed up." Alistair said.
"True that." Eu agreed.
"Especially when she pretended to be like them but was keeping her cutie mark to herself." Alice added.
"What a hypocrite." Alicia said.
"I can't believe she got away from you." Drake said in disbelief.
"We can hardly believe it ourselves." Fluttershy replied.
"Still, at least we helped bring back the ponies their cutie marks." Applejack said.
"But as long as Starlight's out there still holding onto her belief on cutie marks being bad, then there's still a lot we need to be cautious of." Twilight said.
"Hey, you think Starlight's magic could work on our energies?" Zimmer asked in concern.
"That's a good question." Twilight answered at the possibility.
"Well, let's hope we never have to see for ourselves." Dustin said, not liking the thought of losing his spirit energy.
"Yeah. But let's talk more business," Felix suggested, "The serpentine are out there somewhere."
"No way they're at the Castle of the Royal Pony sisters." Rainbow said.
"Quite so," Rarity agreed, "After we started restoring the place, Twilight made sure to cast a spell on it so that no evil can enter it. Not even the serpentine."
"That rules out that place." Zyphon said.
"Wherever they are and whatever they're planning, we'll still be ready for them." Dustin spoke up.
"That's right," Twilight agreed, "With all of us fighting together, those serpentine won't stand a chance.
"Yeah!" the ponies and warriors cheered.
Meanwhile in the San Palomino Desert, inside the opened Anacondrai tomb, the five Serpentine generals were at meeting.
"So what do we do now that the ponies and the humans are aware of our full return?" Acidicus inquired.
"Shouldn't we I launch a full scale attack on Ponyville again or somewhere?" Skalidor suggested.
"No," Pythor spoke up, "Last time we tried that it ended in failure."
"But, Pythor, you know of what's happened," Skales started, "The ponies gave up the elements of harmony. They no longer have their power to rely on."
"And with the Orochi Sword we can crush them like bugs." Fangtom added.
"I will take no such chances regardless of the facts," Pythor answered, "If we're going to conquer Equestria we need to actually think harder than before."
"So what's our first step?" Skalidor inquired.
"First off, we need better covering. But not underground or anyplace like that." The Anacondrai general explained.
"And what do you suggest?" Acidicus asked.
"We need a kingdom, and not like taking Canterlot or the Crystal Empire. No. We need a kingdom of our own. One we can mold in our old image. A kingdom strictly for Serpentine."
"An amusing plan, Pythor. But where would we build such a kingdom?" Fangtom wondered.
"Why not out here in the desert?" Pythor suggested.
Skales spoke up, "Aren't you aware, Pythor, that to build a kingdom we need a plan, tools, equipment. Stuff we cannot come across out here in the desert!"
Pythor frowned at Skales raising his voice before smirking, "Then we'll just have to steal what we need," he snickered, "And once we have our own kingdom we will have our own sanctuary to shield us from those ponies. All of you go return to your tribes. I need time to think on this matter."
The generals nodded and slithered out of the tomb. As three of them went to their tribes that were slinking about outside the tomb, Skales was planning to go back to his tribe until Arcturus slithered up.
"General Skales, a moment of your time, please?" he requested.
"What is it Lieutenant?"
"I know I shouldn't talk about my general behind his back, especially to you. But I want to know, has General Pythor acted differently from how he used to act years ago?"
Skales was curious of Arcturus' question, and answered, "Come to think of it, while we've been hiding out for a year in the human world he has acted a bit more devious."
"Then it's not just me," Arcturus said, "When we got back from our battle at Canterlot Castle he struck me and spoke to me in a tone he's never done so in. I'm not sure but Pythor is not the same as he was back then."
"With our defeat at the hands of not only ponies, but creatures not of this land you can imagine how much this damaged his pride. But regardless, he's never been like this before. I'll keep an eye on him."
"Good. I'd hate to think of Pythor doing something desperate." Arcturus said.
"So do I, Arcturus," Skales slithered off as he repeated to himself, "So do I."
Nighttime in Ponyville, while the spirit and dark warriors returned to their homes in New York, Dustin, Alistair, Drake, Zyphon, Domino, and Fievel took shelter once again in Dustin and Alistair's Ponyville HQ.
"Why couldn't we have just stayed at the castle?" Drake asked, "Twilight said she had plenty of rooms for us."
"Because this is our HQ." Dustin answered.
"Yeah. We had this place built for us years ago. We can't just ignore it now." Alistair added, as he grabbed a soda.
"Maybe it's special to you two, but I don't exactly have too many memories of it aside from when I bunked here during the whole Ebon possessing Felix spectacle."
"No sense in complaining about it." Zyphon said, as he went to a corner to power down.
"Zyphon's right. Come on, let's hit the sack." Dustin said, as the three went up to the bedrooms.
Meanwhile all the way in Manehattan, inside an architect building, some Hypnobrai and Anacondrai snakes burrowed up from below and into the office. They started stealing blueprints and schematics for buildings.
"These will do nicely." Mezmo the Hypnobrai told an Anacondrai warrior.
"Yes. Let's hurry and go." the purple snake replied, as the snakes went back down through the hole they came out of and plugged it up with soil and dirt.
Elsewhere in Manehattan, over by a construction site, some Constrictai were stealing some pipes, tools, and even heavy equipment.
One of the snakes asked their second in command Chunk, "Will this do?"
"It'll suffice for what Pythor has planned." he answered.
"Then let's go become somepony sees us." the snake said, as they took their leave.
The very next morning in Ponyville, Dustin, Drake, and Alistair were awake, as Zyphon was serving them breakfast.
"Thanks, Zyphon. All looks delicious." Dustin said.
"I try." the robot answered.
Domino flew in carrying a rolled up newspaper in his talons, "I got the morning paper."
"Wonder if there's anything good." Alistair wondered as he unrolled it, and saw the front page, "Guys, look at this."
Dustin and Drake looked over to see the front page article, as Drake read it, "Late last night Hoof 'n Cement's architect building was robbed of various blueprints and schematics of projects in development. Furthermore, various tools and equipment supplied by same company was stolen at the construction site where project Roller Dome was set to be built."
"Who would steal stuff like that?" Fievel asked.
"Someone trying to build something from the looks of it." Alistair answered.
"Someone or some group?" Dustin questioned, as they all looked curious.
"You think it's the work of the Serpentine?" Zyphon asked.
"I'm not sure, but who else would be loose in Equestria to steal this kind of stuff?" Dustin asked.
"Maybe we should consult this with Twilight?" Alistair suggested.
"Right." Dustin agreed.
"Um, can we do it after we eat?" Drake asked. Dustin and Alistair nodded, as the three enjoyed breakfast.
Later on, the three were out in Ponyville heading for Twilight's castle. As they walked through town they passed the jewlery shop and saw Wild and Rainbow in it.
"What're they doing?" Drake asked.
"I don't know." Alistair answered.
"Let's find out." Dustin said, as they went inside.
Inside the shop, Wild and Rainbow were looking at rings, as Wild held one up, "What about this one?"
"Nah." Rainbow answered.
Wild put it back, before picking up another one, "How about this?"
"Lame."
Wild scowled, "Rainbow Dash, when I asked your help in picking out an engagement ring I didn't ask for you to make such judgment."
"Hey you wanted my help," Rainbow reminded him, "Besides, if you want a good engagement ring to give Muse it needs to be as awesome as me."
"You have very high standards about being awesome." Wild said.
"I try." Rainbow boasted, as her cousin face faulted.
"What's going on here?" came Dustin's voice, as the two spun around.
"Dustin!" Wild gasped, "Oh, Alistair, Drake, Zyphon. How long have you guys been there?"
"For just a moment." Drake answered.
"What's going on?" Dustin repeated himself.
"I'm here to help my cuz pick out an engagement ring." Rainbow explained.
"Engagement ring?" Zyphon asked.
The boys looked to Wild, as Alistair asked, "Wild, are you planning on?"
Wild nodded, "Yes. I wanna ask Muse to marry me."
"Well, all right." Dustin smiled.
"Wonderful." Zyphon clapped.
"We're proud of you man." Alistair said.
"She hasn't said yes yet, guys." Drake reminded them.
"Yeah. First I need an actual ring to propose with." Wild said, "I asked Rainbow for help but she's been too critical of my choices."
"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." Drake replied.
"Sheesh, ask a pony for help and she gets fired soon after." Rainbow rolled her eyes.
So Zyphon looked at the rings with Wild, until he held up a diamond ring, "Now this is one worthy of Muse."
Wild looked at it and smiled, "It's perfect. And in my price range too."
"Price range?" Dustin asked, "You own a successful game shop. With the many customers you get, I figured you'd be rolling in the bits."
"I'd wish I was." Wild chuckled, as he purchased the ring, "Ok. Ring check. Next part how and where to propose."
"You got any idea?" Alistair inquired.
"Actually yes. I'll take her out to dinner and pop the question there."
"Does anybody else besides Rainbow here know you intend to propose?"Drake asked.
"Just Rainbow. Not that I don't trust the others, but I don't want Muse to get any possible hints at this until I'm perfectly ready."
"Makes perfect sense." Zyphon nodded.
"We should get to Twilight's castle," Alistair suggested, "There's a matter we all need to discuss."
The pegasi cousins nodded, knowing exactly what he meant. So they left the shop and went onward to Twilight's castle.
Upon entering they went into the meeting room to see Twilight, Spike, and the rest of the girls were already gathered.
"Morning, girls." Dustin greeted them.
"Morning, guys. Glad you came." Twilight began.
"You all see the front page of the paper?" Alistair asked.
"Sure did." Applejack confirmed.
"You thinking what we're thinking about it?" Drake inquired.
"If you're thinking that it's the serpentine behind these heists, than yes we're thinking it too." Pinkie answered.
"What would serpentine need all those blueprints and equipment for?" Alistair asked.
Twilight spoke, "My guess is they're looking to build something, but what it is I can't be sure."
"This is definitely unlike Pythor's first scheme," Dustin said, "Resurrect the Anacondrai, break the others out of Tartarus, and now their stealing building blueprints?"
"He's probably been secretly planning this during the year he and the other generals have been hiding." Zyphon guessed.
"He had a whole year to do it." Drake admitted.
"Ya think they're gonna be stealing more of that kind of stuff?" Applejack asked Twilight.
"Possibly, but I'm not sure if it'll be in Manehattan again."
"She's right. They wouldn't try to steal from the same spot twice, especially if security gets beefed up." Wild added.
"You do know the Anacondrai can camouflage themselves?" Rarity reminded him.
"I know, but even so. I bet they'd try to hit somewhere else." the game pony said.
"I'm going to send a letter to Princess Celestia to send some of her guards to all the cities in Equestria to keep an eye on things." Twilight said.
"Safe than sorry." Dustin nodded.
Alistair put an arm around Wildcard, "Well, now that this meeting is adjourned, Wildcard's coming back with Dustin, Drake, and I to our place. We have important matters we need to discuss." he eyed Dustin and Drake.
"Yes, that's right." Dustin confirmed.
"Very important stuff." Drake added.
Wild catching on spoke up, "Yeah, so we'll catch you girls later." the four left with Zyphon in tow. The girls and Spike watched feeling confused.
Meanwhile in the San Palomino Desert, the serpentine were constructing buildings and even a castle throughout the desert. Supervising them were Pythor, the generals, and Arcturus. Pythor looked around and saw how things were coming.
"Yes. Everything's going smoothly," he said feeling pleased. He turned to his fellow generals, "Just think, once this kingdom of ours has been finished we will have our own land to rule!"
The generals nodded, but looked uninterested, as Skalidor looked and noticed several of their soldiers were looking tired from non-stop working. He spoke up, "Pythor, don't you think our tribes have been working long enough?"
"I concur, they haven't stopped working since last night." Acidicus agreed.
Pythor turned back at them with a glare, "We can't afford to take too many breaks! We'll need every snake available for this task."
"But we're already running low on supplies from what we had stolen last night." Fangtom noted.
Pythor answered, "Then we'll just have to get more."
"Pythor, I feel you are becoming too obsessed with this whole kingdom project." Skales spoke up.
"What was that?" Pythor looked to his fellow general.
"Ever since we got back you've only been obsessed about building up our forces, and now you're looking into making a kingdom. Look at our tribes, they're restless. This is exactly how Sombra treated his subjects, and now you're turning into just the kind of creature he was!"
Pythor responded with punching Skales in the face followed by a whip of his tail. The Hypnobrai general fell onto ground wincing at the pain in his face.
"Skales!" Acidicus called, as the other generals helped him up.
Skales got up and glared at Pythor who had a dark aura in his eyes, "Question my motives again, Skales, and I promise you no mercy. And that goes for all of you!" the other generals backed away. Pythor turned to his lieutenant, "Arcturus, tonight you and some of the Anacondrai will lead a new heist in Baltimare. Bring back more tools and equipment. Understood?"
Arcturus reluctantly answered, "Yes, sir."
"Good." Pythor said as he slithered off.
Skales rubbed his cheek, "The nerve of him striking me!"
"What did I tell you?" Acrturus asked, "Pythor is not the same as I remembered him."
"He has acted differently throughout the year we were trapped in the city." Skalidor admitted.
"What should we do?" Acidicus asked.
"I think tonight we should have a word with him." Fangtom suggested.
"Agreed," Skales nodded, "If Pythor thinks he can boss all our tribes around, well he's got another thing coming."
Back in Ponyville at the warriors HQ, Wild was in the living room with the three boys and Zyphon, "Ok, so I was thinking tonight I take her out to dinner and then pop the question on her."
"Dinner and then proposal, a classic." Dustin admitted.
"Yeah, well I'd rather go with a classic than ask while in the middle of a life or death battle like Burai did with Mitsukai."
"That's for sure." Drake agreed.
"Oh, I'm starting to get butterflies in my stomach. I hope she says yes."
The three face faulted, "You're seriously that worried?" Alistair asked.
"Wild, you've been seeing Muse for quite awhile now. With all you've been through together you'd think she'd say otherwise?" Dustin asked rhetorically.
"Well, no, but what if she says no because she's not ready?"
"If she says she's not ready, than she's not just ready," Drake answered, "It doesn't mean she doesn't want it to be with you."
Wild took a deep breath and let it out, "You're right. I should just go with my gut feeling. And if she says no, it means I acted too soon and wait until times are more in our favor."
Zyphon nodded, "So then, are you ready?"
"Yes. I'll ask her tonight and be prepared for anything. But first I need to ask her out to dinner."
"Then why're you still here?" Domino cawed.
Wild got up, "Catch you later, guys." he flew off to make his move.
"I think he's gonna do well." Dustin said.
"I do too." Alistair agreed.
"Likewise." Drake nodded.
That night at Ponyville's cafe, Wild and Muse were seated outside at a table, enjoying their meal, "I'm glad you could join me for dinner tonight, Muse."
"I needed it. I'm just lucky Pinkie was able to watch Nightfall so I could go out."
"Yeah. Because we really need to talk."
"We do?" Muse asked, wondering what he had to say.
"Yes. We have been through so much these last few years, the Serpentine, Ebon, Felix-Ebon, Tirek, and now we're dealing with this whole return of the Serpentine situation."
"Do you regret becoming part of the elements of harmony?" Muse teased.
Wild did a double take, "No, of course not! I'm grateful to have become part of this circle of friendship. If not I never would've met you," Muse blushed, "Or any of my human friends. But I can tell things are going to get more hectic what with the snakes back looking for revenge and even Starlight is still out there somewhere probably wanting revenge herself."
"I know." Muse agreed, while dreading the possibility.
"And I fear of what might happen between us even though we've gotten through each and every obstacle," Wild continued, "Some thing's I fear could change us both in ways we'd never imagine. And before or if that stuff happens, I want to take the next step." he got serious.
"Next step?" Muse asked, growing concerned in her coltfriend's voice.
"Yes. That's why I called you here tonight," he reached into his vest pocket, and pulled out a little box. Muse saw what he was going and looked lost for words, "Muse, will you marry me?" he asked, as he opened the box up to reveal the engagement ring.
Muse was shocked and overwhelmed with happiness, while many of the cafe guests and the waiters stopped to see what was happening. The pony of playwright's eyes started filling up with tears of happiness, before answering, "Yes."
Wild looked surprised, "Yes?"
"Yes. I do. I do!" Muse cried.
"Yes!" Wild cheered, as the guests applauded, as the new engaged couple hugged.
Suddenly flying out from behind a bush was Rainbow Dash who had been hiding for awhile, "YES!" she cheered, and flew in to join the hug between the two.
Wild and Muse were too overjoyed to care the loyal pony had been spying on them, and welcomed her in the group hug. Wild then removed the ring from the box and lifted his mare's hoof up, before slipping the ring upon it. The two kissed, as Rainbow smiled and all the guests applauded.
'Way to go, cuz." the rainbow maned pegasus thought.
That very night back in the San Polomino Desert, the serpentine tribes were still working on construction of their kingdom, while Pythor was watching. He spoke to himself, "Yes. Just you wait Princesses, we snakes will have our own kingdom to call our own. Then we serpentine will eventually rise up further and take all of Equestria." he snickered.
"Pythor." a voice hissed.
Pythor turned and saw his fellow generals armed with their staffs, giving him glares, "What is it your four want?"
One morning at Muse's theater, Dustin, Alistair, Drake, Zyphon, Dean, the twins, Aria, Jade, Elroy, and Jethro were conversing with Wild and Muse about how they ended up helping Twilight and the others defeat Tirek.
"So how did you guys come to acquire your keys to the chest of harmony?" Dustin inquired.
Wild began, "Well, I was participating in a card game tournament, and the three time defending champion Ace Spades was my final opponent. I was so confident and caught up in my luck I abused my hope and thought I could win like that. But when I started losing I felt I was done for. And then I heard this sort of voice in my head."
"Voice?" Drake asked.
"Yeah. It sounded like my old mentor Black Jack who previously owned the game shop I run. He told me that my luck should not be taken for granted and exploited. It was then I knew I had to really work hard to come out on top, and by success I did. Though Ace Spades was revealed to have cheated throughout the game using card swaps when no pony noticed. After he lost I went to talk to him about cheating was being an excuse to avoid losing. A true champion or card player would stick to the rules and not rely on false luck. After he changed he gave me a Ace of Spades card as a symbol of our new friendship. I didn't expect that it was actually going to be a key to the chest."
"What a beautiful story." Alice smiled.
"What about you, Muse?" Jade asked.
"Well, I was meeting up with an old colleague of mine from performing arts school. And we were discussing ideas. However I found out my friend took one of my ideas and pretended it was hers. I didn't want her to get better by using an idea of mine so I felt I had to come up with an even better one. Because of that I put in a lot of work time for it, and even pushed my workers to the bone. I was going off path from the light and falling into darkness. So I canceled the one show. When I got a letter from my friend about how the play wasn't going so well was because she didn't understand the true meaning of what the play meant and how the actors were supposed to be. Not wanting to spite her I went over to help properly direct how the play was supposed to be. My friend made sure the credit went to me, and gave me the original script as a symbol of our friendship and an apology." Muse smiled.
"When we found out they were the keys to the chest, we brought them to it and they transformed into actual keys. And well, you know the rest." Wild finished.
"What a wonderful story." Zyphon admitted.
"I'll say." Alistair nodded.
Suddenly the doors opened and Twilight came galloping in, "There you all are."
"What's up, Twilight?" Dustin asked.
"I received a letter from Princess Celestia. She wants us all to meet at Canterlot right away."
"Did she say why?" Drake asked.
"All she said was it was very important."
"No doubt it's got something to do with the Serpentine." Wild guessed.
"Then we better get going." Muse suggested, as they all left the theater to meet up with the others.
The group flew the non flying ponies to Canterlot to save time, and when they entered the castle they saw Celestia, Luna, Shining Armor, Cadence, and Discord present.
"Shining Armor, Cadence?" Twilight asked.
"Good to see you made it." Shining greeted her.
"We have a lot to talk about." Cadence said.
"We can imagine, but what is the big emergency?" Jethro asked.
"It concerns the Serpentine." Celestia began.
"I knew it." Wild answered.
"Did you find their location?" Dustin asked hopefully.
"Not exactly." Luna answered feeling a bit guilty.
"Then what?" Alistair asked.
"Oh, you might as well show them." Discord rolled his eyes.
"Show us what?" Drake asked.
The royal ponies cleared some space to reveal Generals Skales, Fangtom, Skalidor, and Acidicus, and Lieutenant Arcturus. There was an awkward pause between both sides, as the ponies and warriors were in shock. Acidicus broke the silence by waving.
"Hey, guys."
Pinkie screamed, "The Serpentine generals!" the five snakes jumped back in shock of her loud reaction.
"What're you doing here, and not in chains and shackles?" Alistair demanded.
"This may come to a surprising shock to you, but we're not here to fight you." Skales explained.
"Oh, right." Drake answered skeptically.
"Do ya think we was born yesterday?" Applejack called his claim a bluff.
"Not me, I was born..." Pinkie was cut of by Rainbow putting a hoof to her mouth.
Twilight turned to her mentor, "Princess Celestia, why are the Serpentine Generals and Lieutenant Arcturus here in the castle and not in the dungeon?!"
"Actually we were kept in the dungeon last night as safety precautions." Skalidor explained.
"I wasn't talking to you!" Twilight silenced the general.
"Twilight, everypony, that's enough." Celestia silenced them, and they ceased their outraged outbursts.
"Princess, why are the snakes here?" Fluttershy inquired.
"I know it's hard to believe but they aren't here to fight us." Luna began.
"Wait a minute..." Dustin began, "Skales must've hypnotized you into thinking they're nice now!" he flew up to the sisters and others snapping his fingers in front of them constantly.
Luna eventually levitated Dustin back over to the others and spoke, "I assure you, Dustin, none of us are under the affect of hypnosis."
"Then explain to us why the Serpentine's generals are here?" Zyphon insisted.
Fangtom answered, with both heads, "Because we need your help... In stopping Pythor."
Suddenly the warriors burst out laughing, until they saw the snakes looked at them seriously, "Oh, you mean it?" Elroy asked.
"And why would you want us to help you stop Pythor?" Twilight inquired.
"Because he's gone mad!" Acidicus answered.
"Uh, yeah. We kinda got that already." Rainbow replied.
"Not like you thought of him before, but as in insanely mad." Skales explained.
"You're not making any sense." Wild said, feeling irritated.
Acrturus spoke up, "It's the Orochi-Sword. It's corrupted his mind and made him power hungry."
"You expect us to believe that?" Alistair asked skeptically.
"Actually, it's true." Shining Armor confirmed.
"What do you mean?" Twilight asked.
Cadence levitated a book over, as Pinkie noticed it, "Hey, that's the guide to the Crystal Fangs."
Cadence nodded, "Shining Armor and I have kept it close, and have done some further studying upon the weapon," she turned it to a page and showed everyone, "Apparently while the Orochi Sword is said to make any Serpentine holding it stronger, it also eats away at their sanity and corrupts them."
Twilight gasped, "Almost like the Alicorn Amulet."
"If that's true how come you guys didn't act so freakin' corrupted when you became Serpent King?" Domino cawed.
"Because we only used the weapon for half of a day." Skales answered.
"And because Pythor had possession of it for a whole year, that resulted in more time for it to eat away at his mind." Dustin deduced.
"Yes, he was too obsessed with it and refused to let one of us hold it." Acidicus explained.
"Greedy much?" Rarity asked.
"So did you just sneak away from Pythor to warn us?" Wild asked.
"No, he's enslaved our tribes to build a kingdom for us all. But now I think the kingdom is really for himself." Arcturus explained.
"So that's why the tribes were stealing building equipment." Twilight realized.
"You know I kinda find it ironic how you guys worked for a pony who enslaved his own subjects only for one of your fellow generals to suddenly do the same to his own tribe and yours." Alistair noted, as the generals glared at him.
Arcturus spoke in anger, "Pythor is nothing like Sombra!"
"Oh, really?" Applejack asked in skepticism.
"This may sound unlike the Pythor you know, but the one I knew cared about his tribe and the rest of us. That's why he suggested an attempt to overthrow Sombra and take the Crystal Empire from him." the lieutenant said.
"And what would he do with the crystal ponies in return?" Twilight challenged him.
Arcturus wanted to retort but had nothing to back it up, "Well, at least he cared about his own kind, while Sombra did not!"
"He does have a point, Twilight." Fluttershy said meekly.
"You'll have to tell us exactly what happened." Dustin ordered.
"Very well." Skales nodded, as they told the story of what happened the night they confronted Pythor.
Skales and the generals had met with Pythor that night from before
"We need to talk." Skales said seriously.
"About what, Skales?" Pythor inquired in annoyance.
"You've been pushing our tribes around in building this kingdom non stop. There's only so much to what we snakes can do on our own." The Hypnobrai general lectured him.
"Well, it's not like any other creature in Equestria will help us, now will they?" Pythor snarked.
"That's besides the point." Fangtom called.
"You cannot treat our tribes like you are the boss." Skalidor spoke.
"You forget, Skalidor, I wield the Orochi Sword! Therefore I am the boss!"
"You haven't let that sword out of your sight ever since we were separated back into five." Acidicus said.
"So what? You think it'd be better off in your claws?"
"I think it's best you drop that thing and we do things our way now." Skales ordered him.
"I don't think so." Pythor hissed.
"Then we'll fight you for it!" Skalidor called, as the four generals attacked Pythor who fought back.
They fought as hard as they could using their serpent abilities, but Pythor having been juiced up by the power of the Orochi-Sword defeated them. Pythor spat on Skales with no remorse of what he did.
Soon outside Pythor's half formed castle, Pythor stood before all of the five tribes with his fellow generals bound in chains on one side, and on the other side was their tribe staffs. Pythor announced to the tribes.
"Let this be a lesson to all those who go against my orders. And as of this day I am abolishing the rank of generals. From now on you will all answer only to me!" The five tribes were actually in shock to see their own leaders fight, and that Pythor had won and has suddenly turned all dictator-like. Pythor looked at his former fellow generals, and turned to some of his own soldiers, "Take these four to the dungeons."
The Anacondrai soldiers nodded in fright and took the other four away. As they did, Arcturus looked up at Pythor seeing the insanity in his eyes, knowing he really wasn't the same Pythor he knew during Sombra's reign.
That night, as Skales and the other generals were hanging by their wrists from the dungeon ceiling in chains and shackles, they felt miserable.
"I can't believe Pythor turned on us." Skalidor said in disbelief.
"And after all we've been through." Acidicus put in.
"What happened to him?" Fangtom asked.
"He let his own power go to his head," Skales began, "He's become everything we detested in Sombra."
"So is this how it ends for us?" Acidicus inquired.
"Rotting in a dungeon for who knows how long?" Skalidor asked in sorrow.
Suddenly they heard the dungeon door open, and entering was a figure in a cloak, "Who is there?" Skales asked.
"Generals, it's me." the figure removed his hood revealing to be Arcturus.
"Arcturus?" they gasped.
"Shh. I'm getting you all out of here." Arcturus said, as he slunk over and unlocked the shackles around their wrists.
"I don't suppose you got our staffs, did you?" Fangtom asked.
"I'm afraid not, but I did get you each these." He handed them each an Anacondrai blade.
"They'll do." Skales said, as the four took a blade.
"Should we go after Pythor again?" Skalidor asked.
"No, doing it again would be suicide," Arcturus said, "What we need is help."
"Help? Pythor told us who would be willing to help us?" Skales asked.
"I think I know some who might." the lieutenant answered.
The generals were curious until Skales realized, "What? Them?" Arcturus nodded, "Arcturus, you're crazy!"
"I know, but who else can we turn to?" he pointed out the obvious fact.
Skales sighed, "Very well. Let's just get out of here before we get spotted." And the five snuck away.
Sometime later, Pythor was on his way to the dungeon, "Oh, boys. I thought I'd give you a little visit before turning in for the night," he said with a chuckle, before noticing the Anacondrai guard knocked out, "What?" he slunk into the dungeon to see no sign of the four generals, "NO! They escaped!" he growled, before slithering off.
He went to Arcturus' barracks, "Arcturus, the four have escaped from..." he saw Arcturus was nowhere to be found, "Arcturus?" When he put two and two together he realized what happened and screamed to the heavens, "ARCTURUS!"
The flashback ended, as Arcturus spoke, "So we came here to Canterlot begging the assistance of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna."
Drake couldn't help but snicker, "You begged?" Dustin shot him a look to knock it off.
"I can't believe Pythor did that to all of you." Fluttershy gasped.
"Somehow I can." Rainbow admitted.
"So don't you see, we desperately need your help." Skalidor pleaded.
"And how can we even trust you let alone help you?" Applejack asked.
"Applejack's right, we thought we could trust you but you still stole the third crystal fang form us after escaping the golem's mine." Rarity reminded them.
"That only happened because we ended our truce." Skales noted.
"And you have to admit we worked well together against fighting the golems, right?" Skalidor asked hopefully.
The ponies, Dustin,Alistair, and Zyphon could not deny that their teamwork was excellent, but Twilight spoke, "What if we were to help you defeat Pythor and free your tribes what would you do after that?"
"We would forget all this fighting and just live in peace and isolation." Arcturus promised.
"You really think we would believe that?" Rainbow crossed her hooves.
"I do," Celestia answered, much to their surprise, "While it's true they had committed horrendous acts in the past, but remember they valued their tribes, while Sombra didn't not value anything other than his power."
"Yes. We do care for our own kind and would never have done to them what Pythor's been doing." Skalidor nodded.
"Please, we have no one else to go to. We beg of you." Skales begged, as tears came in his eyes.
Pinkie looked sad, and hugged Skales, "Oh you poor snakey." she nuzzled him.
"Pinkie!" the group called her out.
"Come on, guys. Put yourselves in their hooves, or scales. And wouldn't you feel the same way as them?"
The group started seeing things form their Point of view and felt torn. Twilight spoke to Arcturus, "Would you really be willing to put all the past issues you have and leave them behind and begin a new?"
"I would want to make an attempt and help my tribe feel the same way."
"As would I." Skales admitted.
"Me too." Skalidor nodded.
"And me." Acidicus hissed.
"Likewise." Fangtom finished.
The rest of the group still feeling skeptical about this whole thing still had to make an attempt to make nice. Dustin spoke, "Very well. We'll help you getting your tribes back and ending Pythor dictatorship."
The five snakes looked up in joy, "You mean it?" Skales asked.
"But..." Alistair continued, "If you five double cross us or get any ideas, well then you'll find yourselves in a place worse than Tartarus. I promise you that."
"We understand." Arcturus said.
"We'll show you that you in fact can trust a snake." Skales extended his claw out.
Dustin shook the Hypnobrai generals claw, followed by Twilight shaking it with her hoof. The others still felt skeptical about this whole idea, but if the snakes really felt they were their last resort than it had to be serious. They only hoped that they were doing the right thing.
The very next day after the ponies and warriors agreed to help the generals restore order to their tribes and overthrow Pythor, the Mane 8, Spike, Dustin, Alistair, Domino, Fievel, Zyphon, Drake, Aria, Elroy, Dean, Alice, Alicia, Eu, Jethro, Jade, Burai, Mitsukai, Xever, the Balitons, Felix, the Four serpentine generals, and Lieutenant Arcturas stood before the two sisters, Cadence, Shining Armor, and Discord.
The groups were all packed and ready to head out, while Skales spoke up, "I don't understand why none of you can just fly us to the desert or teleport us?"
"Then that would be too easy, silly." Pinkie smiled.
"Besides, this is a perfect opportunity for you Snakes to get to know more about us." Dustin added.
"He's right. If you really intend on living in peace after we get through this, we wanna make sure you learn how to live in peace." Twilight put in.
"And traveling like this is the perfect way." Wild finished.
Skales sighed, "Very well."
"We're ready, Princess." Burai told Celestia.
Celestia nodded before speaking, "Johan! Omaddon!"
The duo appeared, as Johan asked, "Yes, Princess?"
"I want you two to join them. If anything happens to them, I expect you both to protect them with your lives."
"Yes, ma'am." Omaddon answered, as the duo bowed their heads before joining the group.
"You must hurry now." Luna insisted.
"Good luck, you guys." Shining Armor said.
"And be safe." Cadence put in.
"We believe in you." Discord finished.
They all nodded, as Dustin spoke, "Come on, everyone. Let's go save the Serpentine... I can't believe I actually said that." The generals rolled their eyes, as the group left the castle and Canterlot.
Once they left, they had started trekking through a forest. As they walked along a path, Muse spoke up, "So Skales, out of curiosity, what was it like being locked inside Pythor's subconscious after we defeated you?"
Skales and the generals looked at her before Skales answered, "It was dark and lonely. Like we were wandering in this endless void of nothingness."
"It felt worse than being locked inside our individual tombs for a thousand years." Acidicus put in.
"Then we suddenly felt as if we were being split apart." Fangtom continued.
"We thought we were being destroyed and the next thing we knew we were all separated into five again." Skalidor finished.
"Since then we've been hiding it out in New York city's sewer systems, scrounging up whatever we could for sustenance." Skales explained.
"Well you survived a year in our world, that's giving you credit." Dean said.
"Yeah, but Ebon lasted three years in our world." Drake noted, causing the snakes to glare at him.
Felix spoke up before an argument could break out, "To be fair, Ebon was locked in a mirror and a spirit therefore didn't require any kind of sustenance."
Drake and the snakes agreed, as Pinkie spoke up, "Snack break!"
"Snack break?" Arcturus asked.
"Of course. We need to eat after all." Pinkie answered.
"You betcha." Applejack agreed.
"Plus, I need to stop and rest my hooves." Rarity added.
"All right, let's take five for now." Xever said, as the group stopped to rest.
Soon enough the group was resting, while some of them were enjoying some snacks brought by Pinkie Pie and Applejack.
As the snakes just rested, Pinkie bounded over holding a tray of cupcakes, "Here, try some of these?"
"What are they?" Acidicus asked, as they eyed the treat.
"Cupcakes of course. Everypony loves cupcakes. And I'm sure if you give them a chance, you will too." she offered them one.
Each snake took a cupcake and eyed it before taking a bite out of it. After chewing it up and swallowing, Skalidor spoke, "That was... sweet."
"Mm, delectable." Fangtom's two heads licked their lips.
"Very tasty." Acidicus said.
"I didn't know such a food could exist." Arcturus put in.
Skales was hesitant to answer, but did, "I love cupcakes."
Pinkie smiled brightly, "I knew you would."
"If ya think that's something, I gotcha something extra special to try." Applejack said, as she gave each of them a wooden mug of a familiar beverage.
"What do you call this?" Acidicus looked at the beverage.
"Mah family's famous Apple Cider." Applejack explained.
"It's the drink of the Gods." Rainbow salivated.
"It's true." Alistair confirmed.
"Give it a swig." Applejack beckoned them.
The snakes took a sip, and their eyes widened with joy, "Rapture!" they declared.
"Your family makes this delicious drink?" Skalidor asked.
"We sure do." Applejack nodded.
"I can't believe we've been missing out on so much." Fangtom said in disbelief.
"Well, now's your chance to learn more from us." Twilight said.
Skales spoke, "Let's not get too ahead of ourselves. Remember, we are on a mission."
"We know, but sometimes you have to stop and enjoy the smaller things in life." Mitsukai said.
"Listen to my wife you guys. She's always insightful." Burai said.
"Always has been." Felix confirmed. The snakes only nodded, and continued to enjoy their break.
Skalidor slinked away and went over to a pond and looked at his reflection recalling when Pythor first released him and his tribe.
Pythor had landed inside the Constrictai tribe and saw it looked empty, " Constrictai! Come on out! I have returned!"
Suddenly coming out from the shadows were the Constrictai tribe looking amazed, "Pythor?"
"Yes. Good to see you all again. Now where is your general?"
"Right here, Pythor." came a voice, as the tribe made was for Skalidor who slinked out of the shadows.
"Skalidor, so nice to see you again."
"But how is this possible? Who set you free?" Skalidor asked.
"A bunch of foolish ponies, is what did it," Pythor answered, "And I've come to free you and the rest of our tribes."
"Are we the first you've freed?"
"Of course."
"Strange, I figured you'd release Skales and the Hypnobrai first. After all Skales was closest to you."
"That may be, but I felt like I should release you first since were are the closest tomb on the map. Now come on we have lots to do."
"Is your tribe waiting for us up top?" Chunk asked.
"I'm afraid not. You see in order to survive I had to feed upon them." he answered with reluctance.
"You ate them all, even Arcturus?" Skalidor asked in shock.
"I'm afraid so, but you know the Anacondrai's code: Only one can Remain," The Constrictai slowly agreed, "Now come on. Let's go." they left the tomb.
The flashback ended, as Skalidor envisioned Pythor's reflection in the water, and punched it causing ripples to form in the water.
"Skalidor?" a voice asked, as Rainbow, Wild, Alicia, and Elroy approached.
"Oh, what's up?" Skalidor asked.
"We were wondering where you went." Wild answered.
"Whatcha doing here?" Elroy asked.
"Just thinking."
"You're worried about your tribe, huh?" Alicia asked.
"I am. I'm their leader and who knows what Pythor will eventually do to them if they don't follow his word." Skalidor said in worry.
"Don't worry, we're going to save them and the other tribes." Rainbow promised.
"Just wait, you'll be back with your tribe in no time." Elroy assured him.
"I hope so."
"Come on, ya gotta think positive like us." Wild tried to cheer him up.
"Why are you trying to hard to make me feel good?" the general wondered.
"Because your tribe is like your family, and all of us are like a family to each other." Alicia explained.
"And family looks out for one another." Elroy added.
"Looks out for one another." Skalidor pondered.
Alicia nodded, until she looked at the water seeing something big was moving around in it, "What the?" she leaned in to get a closer look.
Suddenly popping out of the water with a splash looked like a crocodile with a body made out of rocks. Alicia jumped back, as the others were startled at the creature.
"A cragadile!" Wild and Rainbow cried.
"Cragadile?" Elroy asked, "Don't you mean crocodile?"
"No, that's a cragadile." Wild assured him.
The cragadile climbed onto the land roaring, "Let's get it!" Alicia called, as they started fighting the beast trying to get it to go back into the water.
Skalidor watched them fight off the creature not sure what he should do. He noticed Rainbow was about to fly at the cragadile to give it a butt whoop, only for the creature to swat at her with it's tail sending her crashing into a tree.
"Rainbow!" they cried, as Skalidor was in shock.
The others arrived, and saw the cragadile was crawling right for Rainbow Dash, "Guys, stop it!" Drake called.
Before the three could attack it, Skalidor leaped from his position and onto the cragadile's back, "Ya wanna wrestle, rocky?!" he asked, as he rode on the cragadile as if it were a rodeo.
"Skalidor, be careful!" Skales called.
"I got this!" Skalidor answered, as he clung to the top of the cragadile.
Rainbow watched seeing Skalidor ride atop the cragadile, and realized he saved her life. Skaildor ended up making the creature go back into the water, but he was still clinging to it.
"We gotta save Skalidor." Fluttershy panicked.
Rainbow got up, "I got this!" she dove into the water.
"Rainbow Dash!" the group called.
Rainbow came up with Skalidor under her hoof. Both got on land looking soaked, as Skalidor spoke,"That thing's trying to come back up."
"We have to do something about it." Alice said.
"But what?" Jade asked.
Skalidor looked and noticed a boulder lying around, "I got an idea." he went to the boulder, and used his bare strength to pick it up. The cragadile came back up to the surface growling.
"I don't wanna be crag chow!" Pinkie cried.
The cragadile opened it's mouth ready to feast, only for Skaildor to call, "Chew on this!" he threw the boulder that landed in the cragadile's jaw causing it to get stuck open.
"You got him!" Dustin cheered, as the cragadile struggled to close its mouth.
"Let's put this guy back where he belongs. Rakka Rakka Rukka Rakka!" Omaddona called, as he used his strength to pick the cragadile up and threw him far into the water.
The ponies, humans, and snakes cheered, as Twilgiht went over to Rainbow Dash, "Rainbow Dash, are you ok?"
"I'm fine, Twilight. Nothing I can't handle," she boasted, as Wild nudged her, "But I did have help from Skalidor. Thanks, I really appreciate it."
"Hey, family looks out for one another remember?" Rainbow nodded, "And besides I owed ya for saving me for falling into that chasm back in the golem mine."
'Now we're even." Rainbow smiled, as she pulled him into a headlock and tried noogying around his head spines.
When Skalidor got out of the headlock, he gasped and touched his torso where his heart is, "What's this strange sensation I'm feeling all of a sudden? It feels warm, and nice."
Twilight smiled, "Doing a good deed by helping Rainbow and the others helped you see how important it is to be there for anyone even if they're not related."
Skalidor smiled, "I could get used to feeling like this."
"You and the snakes are with us now. You'll have to get used to it." Xever said.
"That's for sure." Drake answered, as they laughed.
Skales, Acidicus, Fangtom, and even Arcturus were curious at how Skalidor was willing to put his life on the line for one of the ponies they had been enemies with before. Would they also understand why it's so important to do things for others like he did?
When nighttime fell, the ponies, warriors, and snakes stopped to make camp. After they finished lighting the campfire, they were sitting around toasting marshmallows and making smores.
As they were relaxing, Dustin had been telling the snakes about one of his and his friends escapades, "And once we got the trinity under the bridge, we all poured buckets of ice water on them."
"Too bad it was a challenge for the internet, they could've gotten some hits." Elroy laughed.
Skales looked at Dustin deadpan, "You and your friends do some serious disturbing things in your free time."
"Actually, when you think about it, anyone's activities in their free time can be considered disturbing or outrageous." Twilight explained.
"Says the egghead." Rainbow nudged Skalidor who laughed with her, much to Twilight's annoyance.
Acidicus started spitting some of his venom into the fire making it bigger, "Impressive, Acidicus." Jade noted.
"Venomari venom isn't just for causing one to hallucinate." the general explained.
Fangtom had eaten two smores with both his heads, and spoke, "Mm, these certainly are gooey, but at the same time delectable."
"Question," Wild began, "Do both your heads have two different minds or one?"
"I may have two heads... But I assure you both are all me." the two heads answered individually.
Pinkie popped in looking at the head on the left, "So if I wanna talk to this head alone, the one here will know what I was talking to him about?" she asked before switching to the head on the right.
"Just about." Fangtom answered.
"Well, I like the idea of having two heads," Pinkie continued, "It means I can eat twice as much at the same time."
"Pinkie Pie, you're more than capable of doing that with one head alone." Rarity reminded her.
"Plus you may have two heads but still one stomach." Jethro noted.
"Which means a bigger stomach ache." Spike added, while groaning at the memory of his little ice cream binge.
The group laughed, and Alistair checked his watch, "It's late. We better turn in so we can get an early start." everyone agreed, and decided to hit the sack.
As the group slept, Fluttershy heard the sound of shivering. She looked over and saw Acidicus while curled up was feeling a bit chilly. She got up and trotted over before covering the Venomari general with a blanket.
"There we go." she said soothingly, as Acidicus started calming down. As Fluttershy went back to sleep, Acidicus had opened a single eye and saw the pony's act of kindness towards him. Eventually his eye closed, and he fell asleep.
The next morning, the group were up and once again on trekking through the forest. As they proceeded, Fluttershy and Acidicus were behind everyone giving them space.
"Fluttershy." the Venomari general began.
"Yes, Acidicus?"
"I, uh, just wanted to thank you for covering me up that last." he stammered.
The pegasus smiled, "It was no problem at all."
"But really, I've never been shown such kindness before, not even as much by my fellow generals."
Fluttershy spoke, "Well, sometimes all anypony or any one needs is a bit of kindness. I mean Discord use to only care about chaos and disharmony, but when I treated him like a friend and showed him kindness he learned to be a better him."
"Really? I wonder if I can be a better snake."
Fluttershy walked right at his side, "I think you're on the right track."
"I am?"
"Of course. Talking about this with me feels like I'm starting to get to know you more."
"Hmm. I never thought about it that way." Acidicus said.
"Hey, look alive everyone!" Burai called, as they were reaching the edge of a forest.
Upon exiting they saw a gorge, "Now where are we?" Alice inquired.
"I believe this is known as Thundering Gorge." Twilight said.
"Why's that?" Xever asked.
"Because of the constant seismic activity." Twilight answered, as they stepped onto the gorge and felt a shake in the earth.
"I see what you mean." Felix said.
"We should proceed cautiously," Mitsukai began, "I don't like the looks of those rocks up there." she motioned to a bunch of boulders planted on the edge of the cliffs surrounding the gorge.
So they proceeded with caution as they trekked through the gorge, while bracing themselves for the occasional quake. When Drake went up ahead, he saw something blocking the path, "Hey, guys, look at this."
They went over and saw the block, "What is that?" Rarity gasped.
"Whatever it is it's dark and hairy." Arcturus noted.
"Are those legs?" Alice asked, as they saw six long black hair legs.
They suddenly heard a growling sound, and whatever was blocking them turned around to reveal a giant spider with fangs, antennae, and a single big red eye.
"Holy snap!" Aria gasped.
"Wicked." Dean said in surprise.
The spider creature roared, "Ahgg!"
"Spread out!" Dustin called, as the group dispersed.
The spider started stomping around in the gorge swinging it's front two legs that acted as its arms swatting Rainbow and Wild aside.
Zyphon launched it's missiles at the spider distorting him, but the explosion sounds from it started causing some boulders to roll down the gorge and nearly flattening everyone it their path.
"Zyphon, easy with the missiles!" Dustin called.
"Sorry, master."
As the spider was stomping around, everyone was taking cover, "And I thought fighting golems was hard." Skalidor told the other generals.
"Come on, if we can take on golems, we can take on a spider!" Skales called, as they went to join the others in fighting the spider.
The warriors were launching spirit and shadow guns on the giant spider who roared, "Ahgg!" it started releasing spider web nets that covered everyone.
"Ugh, this is disgusting!" Rarity shrieked.
The humans had their hand tangled in the webbing they couldn't move them or summon their weapons, "We got to get out of here!" Xever called, as they struggled to break free only for the sticky web to subdue them even more.
Zyphon who was also covered in the webbing was analyzing the web, "This webbing should be weak against extreme heat." he opened up a compartment from his arm releasing a blowtorch that started melting the web surrounding him.
The five snakes saw their new allies were subdued and looked ready to be feasted upon by the spider. Acidicus saw it was looking right down at the captured Fluttershy licking it's lips.
"Fluttershy!" the group cried, as the pegasus panicked.
"Help!" she cried.
Acidicus' eyes firmed, and announced, "Leave her alone!" he struck at the spider just like a serpent, and scratched it's nose with its claw.
"AHGG!" the spider screamed in pain.
The group gasped, as Fluttershy spoke, "Acidicus?"
The general looked back at her, "You showed me kindness. And I will return it." he promised.
Fluttershy smiled happily as the spider growled at the snake. Acidicus slithered around the spiders legs as it tried to grab him.
The other snakes went to help the others out, as Twilight managed to escape by blasting free with her magic. When she freed Zyphon he helped her in freeing the others from the web nets.
When everyone was out, they joined Acidicus in subduing the spider, as the Venomari general saw his own reflection in the beasts eyeball, "Your eye needs a little spit shine!" Acidicus said before spitting his venom right into the spider's eyes.
"AHGG!" it cried, before blinking it's eye. Suddenly from it's vision it saw Acidicus and all the others turning into monsters thanks to the Venomari venom.
The spider cried, before backing away from everyone shrieking in fear. It ending up backing into the wall of the gorge while at the same time a quake shook the ground. The combination of the crash to the wall and quake caused a pile of boulders up top to come falling down from the cliff above that buried the spider.
The group cheered, "That spider's squashed." Omaddon called.
"Is everyone ok?" Johan inquired.
"We're all fine." Applejack confirmed.
"Thanks to the Acidicus, here." Fluttershy said, as she hovered next to the Venomari general.
"Well, when one receives kindness one will return it to another." he answered feeling sheepish.
"Thank you for your help Acidicus," Twilight began, "If it weren't for you, Fluttershy and all of us would've been spider bait."
"My pleasure, Twilight." he answered before feeling his chest, "I think I feel something. Skalidor, is this the feeling you had when you saved Rainbow and the others?"
Skalidor nodded, "It is."
"It feels nice." Acidicus smiled.
Everyone was glad to see the Venomari general had learned something, as Burai spoke, "Come on, we better get going." the group continued on while Fluttershy walked at Acidicus' side.
"Thank you so much, Acidicus."
"Well, you're welcome." he answered, before Fluttershy wrapped her hooves around him in an embrace.
Acidicus was taken aback by her show of gratitude, but nevertheless returned it. When they broke they went to catch up with the others.
After fending off against the giant spider, the group had stopped to rest at the edge of the gorge.
"Are you sure we should be safe here?" Felix asked Twilight.
"Don't worry the quakes aren't as big at this point compared to how they are back there." Twilight assured him.
"After fighting that spider we could all stand for a rest." Acidicus said.
"I'm down with that." Dean agreed.
"All right everyone. Take five." Dustin said, as they rested.
As they were enjoying a snack break, Skalidor looked around seeing one missing, "Where's Fangtom?"
Alistair answered, "Last I saw he went to collect some fresh water from the stream nearby."
"Well if he doesn't get back soon, I'm getting his share." Rainbow spoke up, as Wild nudged her.
"I'll go fetch him," Rarity offered, "I needed to stretch my legs anyway."
"I'll go with." Spike said, as he got up and the two left.
They walked before spotting Fangtom by the stream, but wasn't collecting any water. Spike looked confused, "What's he doing?" Spike asked Rarity.
"I'm not sure. Maybe we should find out?" she suggested and the two got closer.
Fangtom was looking at his reflection in the water, before the unicorn and dragon reached him, "Hey, Fangtom, what're you doing here?" Spike asked.
"Do you require assistance in getting the water, because we'd be more than happy to assist." Rarity offered.
"Oh, no. I'm good thanks," Fangtom answered. The two were about to go back, until he spoke up again, "Can I ask you two something personal?"
"Personal?" Rarity asked.
"How personal?" Spike inquired.
"Do I look like a freak?" the snake asked.
"What?" they asked in confusion.
"Be honest with me, am I a freak?"
"I wouldn't say a freak," Rarity began, "You're... unique."
Fangtom answered, "Unique, huh?" the second head continued, "Well, that's nicer than what Sombra called me."
"Called you?" Spike asked, "Well he had to have known what his magic was going to do when he created you."
"I'm afraid I didn't always have a second head."
"You didn't?" Rarity asked.
"No," his first head answered before the second continued, "You see I used to have one head like the others, but one day I accidentally bit myself."
The two cringed, "That had to hurt." Spike said.
"It did. And since I am already a snake the affects were different. I grew another head."
"And what was Sombra's reaction?" Rarity asked.
"He walked past me and looked at him with distaste and said, 'You look terrible, Fangtom'."
Rarity was surprised, "Well, how's that for rude?"
"Well, in a sense he was right," the two heads alternated, "I'm a snake with two heads but one brain."
"You think a two headed snake is a freak?" Spike asked, "Everyone here is different in their own ways."
"Spike's absolutely right," Rarity agreed, "We're all ponies, humans, dragon, and snake. Why should having two heads make you any different from us?"
Fangtom looked curious as to where the two were headed, "I mean a hydra has multiple heads, a chimera is a tiger, goat, and snake in one." Spike explained.
"And have you seen Discord lately?" Rarity whispered to him.
"I see your point," the snake admitted, "I'm just not used to receiving such words of endearment."
"Surely you must get words from your tribe." Rarity said.
"I do, but it's always the same thing," he looked at the two with both heads smiling, "Thank you both for being honest with me about my appearance."
"You're quite welcome." Rarity said, as she and spike headed back to camp, leaving Fangtom to finally do the task he was sent to do.
Once they arrived back, the group saw Fangtom wasn't with him, "Is Fangtom, ok?" Aria asked.
"He'll be all right." Spike answered.
Rarity looked back seeing Fangtom was still back there, feeling bad that he had such doubt about his appearance even with their pep talk. Suddenly as if a lightning bolt struck she had formulated a plan, "Idea!"
The group looked over at her, "What're you raving about?" Skales asked, in shock from her outburst.
"I've just had a stroke of genius." she answered.
"Now of all times?" Applejack asked.
"Of course. I know exactly what to do to help Fangtom. But, Spike, I'll need your help."
"You got me." Spike said standing ready on command.
"Rarity, what are you planning?" Rainbow asked.
"Oh, you'll all see when I'm done." Rarity said, as she levitated some fabric, and sewing materials and went someplace for some space with Spike.
"What is she up to?" Arcturus inquired.
"We'll find out when she's done." Dustin replied.
Soon enough Fangtom had returned with two buckets of fresh water, "I have returned."
"There you are. We were worried you went wandering." Drake said.
"I wouldn't think of it," the Fangpyre answered, "Anything happen while I was out?"
"Nothing really." Alicia answered.
"I'm back!" Rarity sang as she trotted over with Spike in tow, "Oh, Fangtom, just in time. I have a little surprise for you."
"A surprise?" Fangtom asked curiously.
"Voila." Rarity announced, as she levitated before Fangtom a red tuxedo jacket, with a white dress shirt, and red necktie.
The ponies and the humans figured it had to be clothing related, but were shocked to have seen she made something fitting for Fangtom.
Fangtom was amazed, "Rarity, this is... I don't know what to say."
"Just think of it as a generous gift from a pony who sees one for who they are inside and not from how they look." Rarity smiled.
Fangtom saw two neck holes in the shirt, "And a hole for both my heads," he smiled with a tear in the eyes of both heads, "This is a reason I've never worn outfits. Nothing has ever been made for anything with two heads."
"Well, now there is," Rarity replied, and turned to the other four snakes, "And I haven't forgotten about the rest of you." She levitated the other snakes a tuxedo jacket complete with a dress shirt and necktie for each.
Skales was a blue jacket, a yellow dress shirt, and a blue tie. Skalidor had a black jacket, orange dress shirt, and black tie. Acidicus had a dark green jacket, a lighter green dress shirt, and a red tie. Finally Arcturus' was a dark purple jacket, black dress shirt, and purple tie.
"Hopefully we'll have a chance to wear these." Skalidor hoped.
"Of course you will." Pinkie answered.
"We will?" Fangtom inquired.
"Well, duh. You can wear them during the celebration party I plan to throw when we save your tribes and defeat Pythor." the party pony explained.
"You really think we will succeed?" Skalidor asked.
"I believe we will." Alice confirmed.
"I do too." Drake agreed.
"So do I." Twilight nodded.
"We all agree," Dustin said, "We'll save your tribes and restore order to you Serpentine."
The snakes smiled with confidence, only for Skales to think, 'If Pythor hasn't already broken our tribes by now.'
In the desert, many of the snake tribes were still hard at work constructing the kingdom, but the process was slow due to a combination of the snakes running tired and being taken in for rest and Pythor's criticism on what was right and wrong with how he wanted things to look.
Pythor watched from a tower looking down seeing the kingdom wasn't even half way completed. He growled, as the Orochi sword continued to feed off his mind.
"I will have this kingdom finished one way or another. And when it is, I will hunt down those traitors and have them made to suffer!" he cackled maniacally.
After leaving the valley, the group found themselves trekking through a forest. Twilight looked at a map, "We shouldn't be too much further from the desert."
"Good, the quicker we get there the sooner we can free our tribes." Skales said.
"I wonder how much they've finished the kingdom since we left?" Skalidor asked.
Skales turned to him looking cross, "DOES THAT EVEN MATTER?!"
Skalidor winced, "Hey, I was just asking."
Skales groaned, "Let's just keep going."
Dustin looked up and noticed the darkening sky, "Uh, there's going to be some complications to that."
Everyone looked up seeing rain clouds were blocking out the sun, and suddenly the rain came pouring down on them.
"Well, this is certainly unexpected." Zyphon said, as he used a force field around himself to keep his chrome dry.
"We better get someplace dry." Mitsukai suggested.
"You mean stop?" Skales asked in disbelief, "A little rain doesn't hurt any snake."
"But it can give you hypothermia if you stay out in it." Burai countered.
"Can we discuss this someplace dry?!" Rarity whined as she tried covering herself from the rain.
"Come on!" Alistair called, as they searched for cover. Luckily they found an empty cave and took shelter in it.
"Not much we can do now until the rain stops." Drake said.
"Can't you pegasi simply move the clouds away from here?" Skales asked Rainbow, Wild, and Fluttershy.
"That wouldn't be right." Fluttershy answered.
"Yeah. We can't just move the clouds willy nilly." Rainbow added.
"If the pegasi from Cloudsdale sent them here there had to be a reason." Wild put in.
"Yes, to hold us up." Skales grumbled.
"No sense in complaining about it now." Applejack said.
Gathering what materials they could from their bags and inside the cave they created a campfire, with Felix providing the flames.
Soon they started warming up, as Johan looked outside seeing the rain was still coming down, "How long do you think the rain here will last?" he asked.
"It's hard to tell, the rain doesn't always come and go." Twilight explained.
"Guess we could be here for awhile." Omaddon said.
"Why don't we play a game while we're waiting?" Pinkie suggested.
"Sounds good to me." Spike answered.
"That sounds nice." Fluttershy smiled.
"Better than doing nothing." Xever added.
"Games?!" Skales called out, startling them, "We're stuck in the middle of a rainstorm, our tribes are being worked to death by Pythor, and all you can think of is playing games?!"
Pinkie spoke up, "You're looking tense, Skales. I think some snake needs a hug," she opened her hooves up, only to see Skales glare at her, "Maybe hugging later." she backed away.
"What's got you riled up?" Alicia asked.
"I just find it rather appalling that while our tribes are out there being worked to the bone, you don't seem to care." The Hypnobrai general answered.
"It's not that we don't care." Alice spoke up.
"We just can't do anything about it now due to the weather." Aria added.
"Sometimes you just have to stop and make the most of a situation." Elroy noted.
"We do it all the time." Muse put in.
Skales grunted, "Well, pardon me but this still feels like a waste of time."
"Well, excuse us, Skales, but your attitude about the situation isn't helping us either." Rainbow argued.
Skales just got crosser, "Then maybe I'll take my attitude elsewhere!" he stormed out of the cave.
"Skales, it's not wise to go out in the middle of the rain." Arcturus called, but Skales just ignored him.
"Some snake is quite the grumpy Gus." Pinkie said.
"He's just frustrated, Pinkie." Twilight replied.
"We all are." Acidicus put in.
"Guess, he was just the first of us to snap." Fangtom added.
"What do we do now?" Wild asked, "We can't leave him out there."
"I'll go check on him." Felix volunteered.
"I'll come with." Drake offered, and the two left the cave.
Skales slunk through the forest as the rain poured down on him. He finally stopped under a tree looking torn over him snapping at the others, and why he snapped.
He was brought out of his thoughts, as a voice called out, "Skales!"
He looked over and saw Felix and Drake come over and take shelter under the tree, "Why did you three follow me?"
"To make sure you didn't get into trouble out here." Drake answered.
"How much trouble can I get into during a rain storm?" Skales asked rhetorically.
"Skales, I know you're stressed right now, but keep in mind we all are." Felix explained.
"How can you know what I'm feeling?" Skales snapped, "The safety of your tribe is not at risk, so how can you understand what I'm going through?"
Felix frowned, "Because our friends are like our tribe!" he snapped back.
"What?" Skales asked.
Drake continued, "Your tribe is important to you, Skales. And we understand that. But our friends are just as important to us. You see where I'm going with this?"
"I suppose." Skales answered.
"You're willing to do anything to save them from Pythor's wrath," Drake explained, "I know what it's like to do anything for my friends to save them. Believe me I've done it multiple times."
"I see." Skales replied.
Felix spoke, "I used to be like you, Skales, thinking such things as games and fun were pointless. But since my purification and Ebon's removal I remembered the important things in life. Friends, loved ones, those willing to stick their necks out for you even if you don't deserve it."
Skales started feeling moved by their words, seeing where he was coming from. Drake continued, "It may not be as easy for you to not think about the dangers of our mission as it is to us. But worrying too much about it will only cause you to lose focus."
Skales sighed as he started realizing how right they were. Felix laid a hand on his shoulder, "Why don't we head back to the cave?"
"Won't my attitude bring down the morale there like they said?"
"Don't worry, you just need to take your mind off it." Drake said.
"Come on." Felix said, as they were about to step out only to hear growling sound.
"Please tell me that's one of your stomachs." Skales hoped.
"Mine doesn't sound like that." Felix answered.
"Neither does mine." Drake added.
"Then what was that?" Skales inquired.
They were met with the sound of a wolf howl. Suddenly jumping out from the bushes and trees was a pack of Timberwolves with the Alpha up front.
"Timeberwolves," Drake whispered, "Don't make any sudden movements."
"I won't." Skales whispered back.
Felix spoke, "Keep it calm. It's important that you don't let them smell your fear. Just follow my lead."
"What're you going to do?!" Skales asked in a loud whisper.
Felix stared the Alpha Timberwolf down hoping to intimidate it with his toughness, but when the stick lupine showed it's teeth and growled, the spirit warrior yoko panicked, "RUN FOR IT!" he took off. Drake and Skales rolled their eyes at Felix's panic, before following him with the Timberwolves in hot pursuit.
From the cave, everyone heard the growls and howls in the distance, "Sounds like a pack of Timberwolves." Applejack noticed.
"And judging from the screams they're after Felix, Drake, and Skales!" Dustin gasped.
"We gotta help them." Alistair stood up.
"Right. Come on." Twilight ordered, as they took off.
As the three tried to out run the Timberwolves, Drake stopped, "Guys, running won't get us anywhere. I say we fight these walking sticks."
Felix overcoming his panic form before stood with him, "Yeah. Let's break them up into twigs. You with us, Skales?"
Skales smirked, "Let's do this."
Felix and Drake took off and attacked some of the members of the pack, while Skales used his Anacondrai Blade to strike at the legs of one Timberwolf making them fall to pieces and unable to stand.
Felix fired a spirit gun shot at one Timberwolf breaking it apart, "Oh, yeah!" he then saw the Timberwolf's pieces started coming back together, "Oh, no."
"That's what these things are capable of." Skales reminded him.
Drake dodged a Timberwolf's chomp before using Smoke shot combined with a blast of Felix's fox fire to incinerate one. Skales noticed another Timberwolf coming up from behind the boy, "Look out!"
Drake spun and saw the Timberwolf was about to take a bite out of him, only for a shot of fire magic to blast him in the face. They looked and saw Eu, Dustin, Alistair, Twilight, and the others.
"Reckon you guys could use some help?" Dustin asked.
"It would be appreciated." Felix answered, as he dodged a Timberwolf's jaws.
"Let's get in the game!" Xever called, as they went into battle.
The whole group fought the Timberwolves in the pouring rain, but no matter how many times they took down a Timberwolf they kept reforming themselves.
"This isn't getting us anywhere." Skalidor called, as he and Fangtom used their Anacondrai blades to make a Timberwolf back off.
"What can we do to stop them?" Arcturus inquired.
"They'll only back off if they're ordered by their leader." Twilight answered, as she blasted one with her magic.
Skales hearing Twilight's words got a brain blast, "I got it! Quickly, restrain the Alpha!"
Everyone hearing that decided to put their trust in Skales, and went for the Alpha Timberwolf. After wearing it down, Alice, Alicia, Valmont, and Belmont concentrated their energies and the siblings creating a rope mixed of spirit and dark energy. The four went at the Alpha and bound it's legs making it fall flat.
"Hold it down!" Dustin ordered, as the two sets of twins did so.
The group watched as Skales slunk up to the lupine's face, and gazed at it, "Look into my eyes!" he started hypnotizing it, but the Alpha struggled trying not to look Skales in the eyes, "You will obey me!"
The others watched while avoiding the rest of the Timberwolves, as Fluttershy asked Twilight, "Can he really hypnotize an Alpha Timberwolf?"
"Let's hope." Twilight answered.
Skales continued to hypnotize the Alpha, even with the creature struggling to maintain strong, "Obey me!" Skales hissed, putting all he had into it. Finally the Timberwolf lost it's will and its eyes started looking mesmerized., "Now. Call of your pack."
The Alpha Timberwolf completely under Skales control, let out a howl causing its pack to cease their attack on the others.
"It's working." Burai said in amaze.
Skales turned to the Alpha, "Now take your pack and leave us in peace? Do you understand?"
The Alpha bowed its head in respect before barking at its pack. Everyone watched as the pack of Timberwolves took off with the Alpha in pursuit.
"It worked!" Omaddon cheered.
"All right!" Rainbow umped a hoof up.
"Skales did it!" Pinkie jumped around.
Skales watched, until he looked back seeing Felix and Drake behind him, giving him proud smiles, "Nicely done, Skales." Felix said.
"Couldn't have done better myself." Drake added.
Skales smiled back, "Thank you." To follow up, the three threw their fists back before doing a triple fist pound.
The ponies, humans, and snakes watched feeling proud to see Skales finally learned to appreciate the others besides his own kind around him. Suddenly they noticed the rain stopped, and sunlight shined down from the sky as if shining a spotlight onto Skales. The Hypnobrai general looked up at the sunlight, and smiled as he started realizing what it was his other generals felt when they accepted the assistance and friendship of the ponies and warriors.
Skales turned and fixated his eyes on Pinkie Pie, "Pinkie."
"Yes?" she asked.
"If it's all the same, and not too late. I'll take that hug now."
The group were surprised, as Pinkie's smile widened, "It's never too late to give a hug!" she bounced over and embraced Skales tightly. Despite the squeeze, Skales returned the embrace.
The others watched feeling proud as Dustin spoke to Twilight, "Skales finally learned an important piece of friendship."
"And all it took was a little Timberwolf attack." Twilight giggled.
"Looks like we found out why the pegasi had it rain here." Alistair added, and the three smiled.
Twilight spoke up, "Well, gang. Let's go and save the Serpentine Tribes. Skales, would you like to lead us the rest of the way?"
Skales looked at the Princess of Friendship and smiled before resting his Anacondrai Blade on his shoulder, "It would be my pleasure, Princess Twilight. Let's go!" he ordered, as they continued onward knowing their biggest battle was just around the corner.
The ponies, warriors, and snakes reached the edge of the forest and saw the San Palomino Desert. The group sighed in relief.
"We finally made it." Drake said.
Alistair squinted up ahead seeing towers and buildings partly constructed, "I think I see their kingdom up ahead.
"Zyphon can you get a visual in the distance?" Dustin asked.
"I'm on it." Zyphon's eyes squinted as he zoomed in using his eyes as telescopes and saw the kingdom up ahead still under construction.
"What do you see?" Muse asked.
"I see the kingdom Pythor is having built, and the tribes..."
"Are they ok?" Skales asked.
"For now, but they look tired." Zyphon answered.
"This is bad." Acidicus said.
"We better hurry." Twilight said, as they continued on.
As they trekked through the desert, Dustin spoke, "Pythor's gonna be tough to fight with the Orochi Sword in hand."
"Especially since he's held onto it for a year." Burai added.
"I don't care what happens, we have to rescue our tribes." Skales said.
"And we will, Skales." Wild assured him.
"Keep your heads up, we're coming up on top of it." Xever said, as they got closer.
"You think the guards stationed will let us slip by?" Omaddon asked.
"I don't know." Skalidor answered.
They hid behind some boulders before peaking around and noticed two Anacondrai soldiers blocking the entrance.
"Oh, no, Anacondrai soldiers," Arcturus said, "It's not certain if they're still devoted to Pythor or not."
"How do we get in now?" Pinkie asked.
"Anypony got any bright ideas?" Applejack inquired.
"We could just bust in?" Rainbow suggested.
"Far too rash, Rainbow." Rarity replied.
"She's right, we need to get in without being detected." Twilight added.
"But how?" Fluttershy asked, as everyone present started pondering, until Dustin spoke up.
"Brain blast!" they looked to him oddly, as he answered, "I got plan. Gather around." they gathered around so Dustin could brief them.
At the entrance to the Snakes Kingdom in the making, the two Anacondrai soldiers were standing guard until they saw something approach.
"Be on guard." one told the other until they saw coming into clear was Arcturus and the four generals along with the ponies, warriors, Spike, Zyphon, and the familiars in chains and shackles.
"At ease you two." Arcturus said.
"Arcturus, generals? Why're you five here?" one frowned.
"Pythor gave us strict orders to see to it you be brought to justice." the second said firmly.
"Yes, it was not smart of us to escape our custody, but we we've come home with a gift for our leader." Skales began.
"A gift?" they asked.
"Behold." Acidicus answered, as the snakes revealed the captives.
"The ponies and the warriors?" one guard asked.
"Yes," Fangtom answered, "When we escaped we captured them as a means to show Pythor how sorry we are for questioning his authority."
"If you would be so kind to take us to him, we'll tell him everything." Skalidor said.
The two soldiers looked to each other, while the generals and Arcturus looked hopeful, until one of the soldiers answered, "Follow us."
"Thank you." Skales said, as they followed the two with their captives.
As the guards led them through the under construction kingdom, the snakes looked around seeing their tribes still working themselves to the bone by order of Pythor. The sight of this got the four generals and lieutenant appalled and angry. The ponies and humans themselves while glancing around didn't look too happy about it either.
'This is so wrong.' Twilight thought in disbelief.
'Even I don't work like this without a break.' Applejack thought in shock.
The group was brought into the partially constructed castle and into the throne room where they noticed Pythor atop the throne. They all noticed his eyes looked more sinister and savage like.
"King Pythor." one of the soldiers began.
"What is it?" he asked sounding bored.
"We bring visitors." the second said.
"Visitors?" he asked before seeing the five snakes, "You! You five have a lot of nerve slinking back here after breaking out of jail, and you Arcturus, you traitor!"
Arcturus approached, "My apologies for my actions, sir. It was wrong of me to go against your word and break the other generals out."
"And it was wrong of us to question your own rule." Skales added.
"Mere apologies is not enough to make me forget your treachery." Pythor hissed as his eyes glowed.
"Then perhaps a peace offering to show how sorry we really are?" Acidicus suggested.
"Peace offering?" Pythor asked curiously.
"Behold, Pythor." Skales said, as they revealed the captives.
Pythor looked shocked and overjoyed seeing his enemies chained and shackled, "Can this be? The Elements of Harmony and the human warriors in custody?"
"Yes. We knew if we came back to apologize with words alone it would not suffice, so we got you this as a gift." Arcturus explained.
Pythor slunk around the captives, who kept their heads down in shame, "Well, I dare say I am very pleased. Perhaps I was wrong about all of you."
"Then does that mean we can be generals again?" Skalidor asked hopefully.
"Why not? Ruling all of these tribes alone can be strenuous," The Anacondrai general answered, as he slunk to retrieve the other tribe staffs. He began returning them to each of the generals, "Now with all five of us together again we really will make this kingdom one of the strongest in Equestria."
Skales was the last to accept his tribe staff, and spoke, "Of course, Pythor..." Suddenly the four generals and Arcturus smirked and announced.
"Psyche!"
The warriors, ponies, and Zyphon broke out of the chains and shackles which were all fakes and stood ready for battle.
"You fell for our Trojan Horse act, Pythor." Dustin smirked.
"What? But... YOU!" he growled at the other generals and lieutenant.
"Honestly, Pythor, you fell for the oldest trick in the book." Skales said.
Pythor's eyes glowed in anger, "I shall destroy you all!" he struck at the generals who used both their staffs and their Anacondrai blades against the Orochi Sword.
"Let's help them!" Dustin called, as the group went to join their new allies.
Pythor suddenly found himself facing all of them, but with the Orochi Sword powering him up, he was able to defend himself with no problem.
"You are all fools to challenge me, with the Orochi Sword I have more power than I've ever had before!"
"Then let's even the odds." Dean answered.
"Zyphon, the portal!" Dustin ordered.
Zyphon nodded and activated the portal. Emerging from it was the rest of the warriors, Ralph, Zimmer, Thatch, and Topher.
"About time you guys called us." Thatch said.
"We were beginning to think you'd leave us out on all the fun." Ralph added.
"Like we'd keep you away from this?" Dustin chuckled.
Pythor frowned, "A mere four additional support is not enough."
"On the contrary," Xever cut in, "Even the smallest numbers can make all the difference."
"All right, guys. Let's get him!" Dustin called, as the group took off fighting Pythor. The warriors fired their spirit and shadow attacks at him, while Drake and Felix combined smoke shot and fox fire, only for Pythor to resist it.
"Fire is not going to work on me." he explained revealing his undamaged scales.
"Then how about a punch to the face?!" Ralph called as he slugged Pythor with his spirit energized fist.
Pythor hissed angrily from getting hit and extended his claws releasing his snake restraining binds on Ralph.
"Let go of me!"
"Not a chance!"
Ralph struggled, as Pythor was planning to drag him closer, only for Arcturus, Dustin, and Alistair to jump in using their blades to cut the bonds freeing Ralph.
"We're gonna stop you here, Pythor!" Dustin called, as he flew at Pythor, tackling him out a window and the fell from it.
"Dustin!" they called, as they ran to the window seeing their friend and Pythor crashed onto a smaller building's roof and continued fighting.
"We got to get out there." Burai said, as the pegasi and Twilight flew out the window followed the warriors, and Zyphon, while the others were carried by some of the humans.
They saw Pythor and Dustin were going at it on the roof, while the Serpentine tribes saw what was going on. They ceased their jobs ad gathered around watching the two fight.
Skales had to do something, "I need something to get the tribes attention."
Pinkie whipped out a loudspeaker out of thin air, "Try this."
Skales blinked wondering how she did that, but had not time to ask. He took it and spoke into it, "Attention tribes!" the serpentine turned towards Skales who stood with the other generals, Arcturus, and their new allies, "You have no reason to fear anymore. My fellow generals and I have returned to end Pythor's tyranny upon you!"
Pythor hissed, "Do not listen to him. You obey me now!"
Skales not wanting to lose the tribes attention continued, "We all know what Pythor's been doing to you, and it is not right. He's treating you the same way Sombra treated his subjects. My generals and I now see how wrong that is. Which is why we want to protect you all even from one of our own."
Dustin spoke up, "I know this is a lot coming from me of all people, but me and my friends have also come to help. And we promise you will be freed from this cruel treatment."
Pythor struck back with the Orochi Sword knocking Dustin down. He groaned, before Pythor announced, "You can never trust a pony or a human. Follow them and they'll only lock you back in Tartarus!"
Suddenly Mezmo stepped forward, "I'd rather rot in Tartarus than continue to put up under your rule." he dropped the tools he was working with.
The ponies and warriors smiled seeing one of them stood up to Pythor. Suddenly Chunk, Fang, and Spitz took a stand and dropped their tools as well. Pythor frowned before announcing, "Anacondrai, seize them!"
"No!" one of the Anacondrai soldiers answered.
"What?!" Pythor hissed, as he saw his own tribe taking a stand.
"You are not the Pythor we've come to respect. You've just become a monster far worse than Sombra!" the soldier hissed back.
The serpentine stood together with the ponies and the humans, as Twilight spoke, "It's over Pythor, all of the tribes now side against you. Meaning you're all alone."
Pythor's mind which had been dwindling on the bring of madness had finally snapped when he saw all of the snakes rebelling against him. The energy from the Orochi Sword had fed off all sanity he had and erupted.
"I WILL NOT BE DEFIED!" he bellowed, as his body started glowing.
"Dustin, get away from there!" Aria cried.
Dustin flew away from Pythor, as the whole group saw Pythor going under metamorphosis.
"Dejavu, guys." Wild told the ponies who nodded, knowing what came next.
Pythor had once again grew to a colossal size as before with his scales white and gold again, while wielding his staff and the Orochi Sword.
"It's Serpent King part 2!" Rainbow gasped.
"Minus four heads." Pinkie put in.
"Never thought we'd be facing that again." Applejack added.
"How much powerful can he be if it's just him?" Rarity wondered.
"Obviously still plenty powerful." Alistair answered.
"I concur." Zyphon nodded.
"But we'll still fight no matter how big or strong he is." Drake spoke taking a stand.
"I'm with you." Eu gripped her staff.
"We all are." Twilight confirmed, as the other warriors summoned their weapons.
"Attack!" Dustin called, as the warriors flew up to Serpent King's level and started striking and blasting at him with their attacks, while down below the generals, and their tribes were striking at his tail.
Serpent King hissed as he was swinging his sword around trying to swat his enemies like flies.
"Stay clear of the sword!" Dustin called.
"No need to remind me!" Zyphon replied, as he launched a missile barrage upon the giant snake distorting him.
"Good job, Zyphon." Twilight spoke, as she blasted Serpent King with her magic.
Eu was blasting it with her elemental magic, as Drake was shot up above the snake and came crashing down nailing him on top of his head.
Serpent King hissed, "You are becoming more annoying by the second!" he knocked Drake with the Orochi sword sending him crashing into Felix. The two started falling only to be caught by Xever and Burai.
"We gotchas."Xever said.
"You ok?" Burai asked.
"I'm fine." Drake answered.
"Me too." Felix confirmed.
Serpent King looked down seeing all of the snakes were determined to make him fall, but he swiped his sword knocking them away.
"Guys!" Dustin called seeing the generals and Arcturus get swatted away.
Serpent King continued striking back at the ponies and warriors before he ensnared Twilight, Dustin, Alistair, Drake, Muse, and Wild in his tail. Serpent King laughed, "Don't you see it now?" he asked, "I have won! You all thought you could defeat me? Well, you were mistaken. And now all shall bare witness to your final moments, as I finish what I should have done years ago!" he raised the Orochi sword up.
"Twilight! Wild! Muse!" the ponies gasped.
"Dustin! Eu! Alistair! Drake!" the warriors cried.
The four generals saw Pythor was about to finish them off by dropping the sword on them. They watched as their memories off what they've been through with their new allies flashed before their eyes. Suddenly, their eyes tightened, and launched themselves to their restrained friends.
"NO!" the four cried, as they intended to take the sword blow.
Twilight, Dustin, and the others gasped feeling they were done for. Before the Orochi Sword could connect, however, the weapon was repelled by a force surrounding the four generals.
"What?!" Serpent King hissed.
Twilight and the others watched seeing the aura surrounding the four generals, "Skales, what's happening to you four?" she asked.
"I don't know, but I feel stronger than ever." Skales answered.
"So do I." Acidicus agreed.
"Me too." Skalidor confirmed, as he used his strength to pry them out of Pythor's tail grip.
The others landed and noticed the Serpentine generals glow, "What's going on with them?" Rarity asked.
"It looks like some kind of magic." Eu answered.
"Magic?" Applejack asked.
"But the snakes aren't magical." Rainbow said.
Twilight pondered before gasping upon realization, "Maybe the generals are."
The ponies and Spike flashed back to what Princess Luna said, when they were first told of the Serpentine.
"Using his dark magic, King Sombra bestowed upon five types of snakes powers unlike any pony's ever seen giving them bigger and stronger forms."
"It looks like a bit of King Sombra's magic still resided with them." Twilight explained.
"So why isn't it dark magic instead of this good kind?" Alistair asked.
Pinkie gasped, "Remember them saying they had this warm fuzzy feeling inside after they learned to appreciate us and accept our friendship?"
"Yeah?" Johan answered, until Twilight realized it.
"When they learned to appreciate friendship with us, it purified the dark magic inside them." The princess explained.
"This is impossible!" Serpent King bellowed in anger.
Skales and the others looked up at him, as the Hypnobrai general answered, "No, Pythor. It is not. Anything is possible when you have friendship as strong as the one we've forged with our new friends. Everyone gather close. We'll put an end to Pythor's tyranny once and for all together!"
"Spoken like a true friend." Applejack smiled.
"Uh-huh." Dustin agreed.
They all gathered around the four generals as their aura started combining with them. They all levitated up to Serpent King's level and took on the form of a giant magical snake. It punched Serpent King in the face.
The great white snake tried fighting back but was unsuccessful, as the magical Snake disarmed Pythor of his staff and the Orochi Sword.
"My sword!" The other snake fired a blast of magic at the Orochi Sword destroying it, "NO!" he screamed, as his opponent released a rainbow power mixed with spirit and dark energy upon Serpent King.
It encircled around Serpent King as he screamed and cried. On the ground the Serpentine tribes watched in awe at the beauty of the rainbow power that had been unleashed through the friendship of their generals and the ones they had always considered enemies. There was an explosion of light that blinded everyone.
When the light died down, Arcturus and the tribes that were lying on the ground started waking up and getting up.
"What happened?" Chunk asked.
"Where are they?" Spitz asked.
"Look!" Fang called, as they saw their generals, the ponies, and the humans lying on the ground.
They hurried over and woke them up. As they all got on their feet, they saw that they had won.
"We did it!" Pinkie cheered.
"We won!" Fluttershy cheered.
"Whoo-hoo!" Rainbow and Wild cried, while flying around.
Dustin and Alistair fist bumped, before they heard a groan. They saw climbing up from a crater was Pythor who was returned to his normal size and had his normal purple and black scale colors again.
"It's over, Pythor." Dustin declared.
"You lost." Alistair added.
Twilight continued, "You will never be a good ruler by using fear and suppression. And using it on your own tribes has shown them what was in your heart."
Pythor looked up, and too their surprise saw tears in his eyes. Even the serpentine themselves were taken aback. The Anacondrai general sniffled, "I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I only wanted to unite our tribes under our own kingdom." Everyone could tell Pythor's humanity had returned to him thanks to the destruction of the Orochi Sword.
"But you took desperate measures because you became corrupted by power, and ruling by power is the sign of a leader who only cares about himself." Burai explained.
"Your fellow generals and lieutenant learned by spending time with us just how important friendship is, and how it can make all the difference." Muse explained.
"You are more than able to learn about the importance of friendship or remain alone for the rest of your life. It's all up to you." Twilight concluded.
Pythor still guilt stricken for what he done answered, with tears in his eyes, "But all I've ever known since my creation was to cause pain and destruction. I-I don't know anything about friendship."
The Anacondrai general was taken by surprise, as Dustin pulled him out of the crater and spoke, "I'm sure they'd be more than willing to teach you as would my friends. Just like they taught your fellow generals."
Pythor was confused, as he looked at the ponies and humans, before looking over at his fellow generals. The four smiled, as Skales nodded beckoning him to give it a try. Pythor wanting to make an attempt slunk over at Dustin's side before reaching Twilight.
"Twilight, everypony. I know no amount of pleading for forgiveness can make up for all I've tried to do to all of you, and I know this is a lot coming from a snake like me, but would you please help me understand just how important friendship really is?" he asked.
The ponies and humans looked at each other as if trying to decide, until Twilight looked back at him smiling, "Of course."
Pythor looked flabbergasted, "Really?"
"Any one is capable of friendship. Even a Serpentine." The Princess explained.
Pythor smiled happily, "Thank you. And I am sorry."
Fluttershy fluttered over to him, "And we forgive you."
"You do?" he gasped.
Fluttershy nodded, "We do." the others started nodding while Rainbow and Drake first looked skeptical nodded as well.
Pythor smiled, as another tear fell from his eye and onto the ground. Suddenly they watched as the same glow that surrounded the four generals now surrounded Pythor. The snake gasped, "What is this feeling?"
Everyone smiled, as Twilight spoke, "You have accepted our friendship, and now the dark magic Sombra left inside you has been purified."
When the glow died down Pythor smiled, "I feel like a new snake," he then looked guilty again, "But I do not think I am worthy to be a general anymore after all I did."
Twilight knew what to do, "Pythor, let me tell you about how I started off as a Princess. It's not only a ruler's job to lead their subjects in the right direction, but they must also be kind and courageous. And the most important test for a leader is to learn humility. You've learned just that when admitting you were wrong with what you've done. You are meant to be Anacondrai General."
Arcturus slunk over with the rest of the Anacondrai, "And we would be honored to continue having you as our tribe leader." he presented Pythor with his tribe staff.
Pythor was happy as he took his staff and smiled at his tribe, "Thank you all. And, Arcturus, if you still want to be lieutenant the position is all yours."
Arcturus smiled, "I would be honored to continue being at your side, General." the two shook claws, as the ponies and humans watched seeing the Serpentine tribes have made up, and hopefully will have done more.
A few days had passed since the incident with the Serpentine, and after the group returned to the Canterlot the generals including Pythor had given the princesses a personal apology, with Twilight and the others backing him up on how sincerely sorry he was. The two sisters and even Cadence learning to forgive and forget accepted the friendship between the five generals and promised that things would be different for both their kind.
Inside a room in Canterlot Castle, Celestia, Luna, Cadence, Twilight, and the five Serpentine generals were preparing for something.
Skales spoke to Pythor and Celestia, "You both realize we'll have to use more than words to bring both our kinds together."
"All we have to do is show them the way." Pythor answered.
"And with us helping you I'm sure our kinds will be able to live peacefully." Celestia put in.
"Or as peacefully as we can get." Cadence put in.
"Excuse me your highness?" came a voice, as the group saw a Canterlot guard and Lieutenant Arcturus standing in the door way.
"They're all ready for you." Arcturus spoke.
Luna took a deep breath, "Well, this is it."
"No turning back now." Skalidor added.
"Let's go." Twilight said, as the four Princesses and Five Snake Generals left the room.
They stepped out onto a balcony to oversee the castle grounds. On the balcony stood Twilight's friends, Spike, Shining Armor, Zyphon, Dustin, Alistair, and all their friends. Down below were the ponies of Canterlot with multiple guests from Ponyville and the Crystal Empire on one side, while on the other side were all of the Serpentine tribes with a giant gap in the middle. The ponies and the snakes were skeptical and unsure about being close to each other given their pasts.
Celestia began, "Welcome ponies and serpentine. Today both our kinds have gathered together for today marks the end of an era. An era of hostility between both our kind."
Cadence spoke up, "And now we would like to turn our attention over to General Pythor who will speak on behalf of all the Serpentine."
Pythor slunk to the front to address both the ponies and snakes, "Greetings ponies of Equestria. I know seeing me and my fellow generals up here with your princesses is not something any of you would ever thought you'd see. But my generals and our tribes have come here to extend our most sincerest of apologies, especially to you Crystal Ponies. During our time serving Sombra he made us believe our only purpose was to cause pain and to see you all obeyed him. When we tried to overthrow him we failed and all we could do was flee."
Skales spoke up, "We spent years roaming the land looking for a place to call our own but sadly we were rejected and cast out. We thought by trying to take Canterlot for our own to fight Sombra was all we had, but the truth is we had a choice to try and make peace, but we never even considered it."
Luna added, "And we ourselves are also to blame for we never even once considered giving them a chance. We let our own fear blind us into thinking we can't trust no other creature unless they are a pony."
Celestia spoke, "But that will all end today. We shall never judge a snake again. For as you can see our dear Princess Twilight Sparkle and all of her friends have shown the five generals and their tribes kindness and friendship that we were never able to show."
Pythor finished it off, "And we want to continue to understand friendship the way you ponies know it. I know we have our differences, but we've learned that Equestria is more than just ponies it's all kinds of creatures. And when it comes down to it, it's home to all of us. So from the bottom of mine and all of our purified hearts, help us to see the beauty and power of friendship."
The ponies and snakes felt moved their by speeches, but still shared uneasy glances with each other. The others noticed this and looked worried, "This doesn't look like it'll go well." Spike said.
"Oh, I hope nothing bad happens." Fluttershy said in worry.
"Wait, look." Dustin said, as they looked down.
They saw the Ponyville filly Dinky stepping out of the pony crowd while walking through the gap in between both the ponies and the snakes. Doctor Whooves was concerned and was willing to try and bring her back over, only for Derpy to hold a hoof out signaling him to not do anything.
From the Serpentine's side, Mezmo walked out from the crowd of snakes all the way into the gap. When the Hypnobrai and filly met face to face, they stared at each other curiously, until the filly raised her hoof out to Mezmo. The Hypnobrai soldier was concerned about what to do, until he remembered about making peace and did the one thing that was right. He reached out and his claw shook the filly's hoof. Both the ponies and snakes were surprised to see how well they were starting off. Dinky seeing the Hypnobrai wasn't so bad smiled, and reached up embracing the snake.
Mezmo was taken aback by the little pony's embrace, until he felt comfortable with it and smiled before returning the hug. Seeing this, the ponies and the snakes started walking away from their sides and into the middle before both kinds met and started to bond.
On the balcony the whole group was astounded by the play out, "Well, whadaya know?" Applejack asked.
"Looks like we're off to a good start." Acidicus answered.
Soon enough the ponies and the snakes started to get close to one another and started making friends. Some Constrictai were chatting it up with some of the Canterlot ponies and Crystal Ponies, as if the past between them never happened. Photo Finish was straightening out a Fangpyre making sure it was standing up straight with his chin up before taking it's picture. Spitz of the Venomari was talking to some ponies from Appaloosa, before the three ponies each spat into a nearby spittoon. Spitz smirked as he took a big spit nailing it into the spit bucket. The cowpolk ponies laughed and cheered as his shot. Granny Smith, Big Mac, and Applebloom were selling some Zap Apple Jam products to some of the Anacondrai, while one had drank some of their famous apple cider.
As the ponies and snakes continued bonding they saw the Princesses and Generals stepping out, with the generals wearing the tuxedo jackets Rarity made for them, and even made one for Pythor as well. As the generals slunk along, some of the young colts came trotting up to them looking excited.
"Mr. Pythor, can me and my friends have yours and the other generals autographs?" one asked.
"I'd like a picture with you as well." another requested.
Pythor and the generals smiled, as the Anacondrai general answered, "Of course." and so they started signing autographs for the kids and taking pictures with them. Even Muse's child Nightfall wanted to get to know the generals more. With the idea of making them characters into a graphic novel idea of his.
The humans and Mane six were looking around in total shock, "I can't believe I'm actually seeing this with my own eyes." Rarity said in disbelief.
"Ponies and Serpentine together, I can hardly believe it myself." Rainbow added.
"And yet it's all become possible thanks to all of you." Luna congratulated them, as Ven, Aqua, and Terra came over congratulating their sister and future brother-in-law.
Discord appeared, "Yes, even I find it to be a wonderful accomplishment."
"If somepony like you could get reformed then there was hope for the Serpentine as well." Twilight admitted.
Pythor came over laughing joyously, "Oh, now this is what I call a party. Pinkie, remind me to hire you to cater all our celebrations and festivities."
"I would be honored, Pythor." Pinkie saluted.
Celestia spoke up, "Pythor, about the kingdom you were trying to have constructed."
Pythor cringed recalling why this whole thing started, "Yes, but during the rampage as Serpent King I ended up flattening a good majority of the buildings that were still under construction."
Celestia smiled, "Well, maybe we can help you with that?"
Pythor did a double take, "Say what?" the Princesses smiled knowing he would be pleased with what they have in mind.
The next day out in the desert like before the serpentine soldiers were busy at constructing a kingdom for themselves, but this time they had Canterlot construction ponies from all three types to help pick up the slack. The Princesses, the Serpentine Generals, Twilight's friends, and the warriors were overseeing the progress seeing things were running smoother than before when it was just the Serpentine working.
"Yes, this is more like it." Pythor said feeling pleased.
"At this rate your new kingdom will be done in no time." Dustin added.
"But what're you going to call it when it's done?" Pinkie wondered.
The generals were curious about that, and huddled together and talked. The others waited for their answer until they broke. Pythor answered, "Well, we've talked about it, and we've decided to call our domain the Kingdom of Ouroborus."
"Actually, that's a good name." Twilight admitted.
"Very fitting." Rarity put in.
"Thank you." Skales answered.
Eventually the Kingdom was finished, and Celestia had officially declared the Kingdom of Ouroborus was officially the newest kingdom in Equestria, with all five generals as it's rulers. And then the opening party for the kingdom was started with Pinkie putting everything together. As it was getting late, the ponies, princesses, humans, and Snake generals were standing atop a mountain overseeing Ouroborus.
"It's beautiful from way up here." Fluttershy said.
"That it is." Fangtom agreed.
Skalidor who had been holding onto a scroll slunk over to the Princesses, "You highness."
"Yes, Skalidor, what is it?" Celestia inquired.
"My fellow generals and I have talked about it, and in dedication to our new friendship, we have put together a friendship report for you." he presented the scroll to her.
The ponies and humans were surprised, but looked curious as Celestia unraveled the scroll to see its contents. She looked at it, until an idea came to mind, "Why don't you read it, Twilight?" she levitated it over to her pupil.
"Me?" She asked in surprise, before feeling sheepish, "Well, ok," she began reading as everyone listened.
Dear Princess Celestia,
For a long time we always believed we only had one purpose, and that there was no option to change. But after spending time with your subjects and fellow Princess we've learned that we always have a choice to be who we want to be and not the way others make us out to be. And from this point on we'll be sure to let future generations know the importance of friendship just as your little ponies have shown us.
Your new friends and allies
The Serpentine Generals, Pythor, Skales, Fangtom, Acidicus, and Skalidor
The groups looked at the generals, as Dustin smirked, "You guys really do have a soft side, huh?" The five generals looked away feeling sheepish.
"Oh, group hug!" Pinkie cheered, as the whole group gathered around in a group hug with their new snake friends.
"This calls for a commemorative picture." Mitsukai suggested.
"Excellent idea." Aria agreed.
"Allow me." Zyphon said as he removed a camera from inside his storage torso, and set it up.
Everyone started gathering together, as Zyphon started the timer. He ran around to join them and the picture was taken. Zyphon had developed the picture and gave one to the girls, the snakes and to his master and friends.
"Well, looks like our work here is done." Burai said.
"Yeah. We better get going." Alistair agreed.
"You're going back?" Skales asked.
"Afraid so, Skales." Dustin answered.
"But you'll come and visit us here at our kingdom, right?" Skalidor asked hopefully.
"You bet we are." Drake confirmed.
"And we won't be gone long." Dean added.
"Everyone here is invited to mine and Wild's wedding. Even you and your tribes." Muse explained.
Pythor smiled, "We wouldn't miss it for the world."
"And this whole adventure we've been on will make the for the perfect play on how the ponies and serpentine united." Muse added.
"I would love to see that." Acidicus said.
"Me too." Pinkie added.
Zyphon opened a portal back to New York, as the warriors started stepping through. Dustin was the last one before looking back at the generals, "And guys, make sure you stay out of trouble?"
"Oh, trust me we will." Pythor promised.
Dustin nodded, "I'll hold you to it. Catch you all later!"
"Bye!" the ponies and snakes bid a farewell, as Dustin and Zyphon entered before the portal closed.
Pythor sighed, "Oh, those humans certainly grow on you, don't they?" he asked his generals and pony friends, who all agreed and laughed.
That night back in New York, Dustin was sitting on the ledge of a building looking out into the city.
"Don't tell us you're brooding again?" Alistair asked, as he and Drake arrived.
"Oh, I'm not. Just admiring the sight before me." he answered, as the two joined him.
"Yeah. It's wonderful." Alistair agreed.
"We've all been through a lot these last few days." Drake said.
"Yeah, but look at what happened from it," Dustin began, "We reformed the Serpentine, and united both them and the ponies. I'd say we did ourselves a damn good job."
"Uh-huh." they agreed, as they continued to look out into the beautiful city.
While inside Canterlot castle in the hall of windows, another had been added to it. It was a window depicting the union of the ponies and serpentine. In the center was Twilight on the left with her hoof out, Dustin in the center with his hand out, and finally Pythor on the right with his claw out, and all three were linked up forming the bond between Pony, Human, and Serpentine.
