Two years after the fall of Twilight's Regime, she and Celestia are forced to put aside their differences and join forces to save Equestria from the invading Storm King.
Two years have passed since the defeat of the Equestrian Magical Regime. Twilight is imprisoned in Tartatus along with her followers and Celestia is struggling to put Equestria back together. But when the Storm King and the villanous First Order appear on the scene, will she be able to swallow her pride and join forces with her former student and friend in order to save Equestria? Is there redemption to fallen tyrants? And how does a lone, orphaned unicorn named Luster Dawn come into the picture?
Not even a month had passed since Princess Twilight Sparkle murdered Queen Chrysalis in retaliation for destroying Canterlot which would mark the beginning of her power struggle against her former mentor, Princess Celestia to take over Equestria and form the Equestrian Magical Regime as the Empress of Magic. And yet in a small village sitting on the northern border of Equestria right next to the region of Stalliongrad, another attack against their home was already in full swing.
The entire village looked like a battleground. And that was putting it kindly. That would imply that a battle had taken place, but since the villagers didn't have means to fight back, it was more akin to a massacre. They didn't even have the chance to alert any nearby towns or villages where Royal Guard units may have been stationed to get help. The attack happened in the blink of an eye and their village was so far off the north that no one in the country probably even knew about what was happening there right now. Most ponies in the country probably never even heard of this place before.
A young pink unicorn with a golden mane and the setting sun for her cutie mark was running through between the destroyed buidings, careful not to run into any of those strange creatures who were currently invading her village. Hiding behind some rubble, she peeked out to make sure the coast was clear. To her diappointment, it wasn't. The hulking behemoths with silver fur and black armor, were still patroling the streets, rounding up anypony they encountered. She had to force herself to look away when she saw that they were killing all of the stallions and colts. The mares and filles were gathered together and all given a thorough examation, but when it was finished, the invaders killed them too with frustrated expressions. It was almost like they were searching were somepony in particular.
The young unicorn was thinking about how should she get past the invaders in front of her and she didn't notice that one of them had been searching through the ruins she was hiding in and spotted her. It grabbed her by the neck, making her cry out in surprise and used the same scanning device she saw the others using on those ponies before killing them. For a moment, she was afraid that she would share their fate, but to her surprise, upon finishing the scan, the creature smiled in satisfaction, as if it found what the others were looking for.
The creature reached behind it's back and pulled out a glowing green orb. The unicorn had no idea what it would do, but she was in no hurry to find out. She began looking around for anything that might help her escape and saw a piece of wall above them that was held by a broken suppot beam. She used a magic spell to destroy the support beam and the wall came down upon the creature, crashing it under it before it even had a chance to realize what was happening. The commotion alerted the other creatures who were searching through the streets and they headed towards the ruins. The unicorn hid between the rubble and when most of the creatures were busy searching the ruined building, it finally gave the unicorn a chance to get out and head down the streets undetected.
The unicorn didn't even stop until she reached her house. Or what was left of it. Surprsingly, it was mostly intact. Intact enough to head inside and hope to be safe between the walls. At least, until she found her parents.
"Mom! Dad! Are you here?!" she yelled in distress, fighting her tears. She was hoping that they were both at home when the attack hit the village.
"Luster!" yelled a beige colored unicorn with dark blue mane as she rushed out of the living room and embraced her daughter. "Thank Faust! I was fearing the worst!"
"Where's dad?" Luster asked. "Is he alright?" her mother looked down sadly.
"He went out to look for you. I don't know if he made it, but he told me if you come back before he does, I should leave with you." Luster's eyes widened.
"No, we can't leave without him!" her mother put her forelegs on her shoulder and looked firmly into her eyes.
"Honey, if we don't go, they'll find us and then your father's..." she had a hard time saying the next word. "...sacrafice will be for nothing. We have to go down to Canterlot and warn the princesses about this!" Luster wanted to protest again, but she couldn't. Deep down, she knew that her mother was right. In the end, she just nodded. Her mother left to prepare some supplies and Luster looked out the window.
What she saw was straight out of a nightmare. The entire village was in flaming ruins, bodies of dead ponies were littered across the street, but what caught her attention the most was a huge, black zeppelin ominously hovering over the ruined village. It had a strong, evil vibe radiating from it. Luster looked up at it with horrified, wide eyes. She was so fixated on it, that she didn't even notice two of the invading creatures patrolling the street and noticing the unicorn staring out the window. She didn't spot them until it was too late.
The two behemoths burst through the walls and one of them grabbed Luster by her neck. Her mother heard the crash and ran up to see what was happening.
"GET AWAY FROM MY DAUGHTER!" she screamed, charging at the two creatures. It proved to be a futile effort as the other one grabbed her and held her down.
"Mom!" Luster shouted as she struggled to get free. The creature holding her tightened her grip on her neck, until the other one snapped back at him.
"Careful! The Storm King wants this one alive!"
"Don't worry, she won't be struggling for much longer." the creature chuckled as it pulled out another of that green orb she saw at the one who captured her back at the ruins. But Luster's mother wasn't about to let that happen. She used every bit of her magic to unleash a blast that knocked them off of their legs. Luster immediately ran to check on her.
"Mom!" the mother panted in exhaustion as she looked up at her.
"Go." she whispered. Luster shook her head vigorously.
"No! I'm not leaving you!"
"Luster, you have to. Go to Canterlot and warn the princesses. I will hold them off." she insisted. Tears began freely flowing from Luster's face.
"Mom..." she didn't have time to mourn as the creatures behind her recovered and advanced towards her. Her mother got up and pushed her towards the back door.
"GO!" Luster had no choice but to run. She ran out on the back door and headed down towards the river where her parents set up a small rowboat for them to escape on. She could use it to get away far enough from the village until she could find a safer way of transport.
"She's there! Get her!" her pursuers burst out of the house, which meant that her mother was... she held back a sob and kept running. She reached the rowboat and started untying it, but the two creatures were getting dangerously close. In the end, Luster just used her magic to sever the rope and jumped into the rowboat, but one of the creatures managed to touch her with the orb it was carrying. As the rowboat moved away from the shore, Luster felt her body starting to freeze.
"What's happening?!" she panicked as crystal formations began to form around her body, petrifying her.
"No!" she screamed as the magic washed over her and completely encased her. "NOO..." her voice died down as her entire body was encased and the river carried her uncontrolled boat off. The boat reached a branching where it was divided into two. The left stream lead towards Canterlot where Luster was heading before she was frozen. But the river carried her down the right stream towards the region of Stalliongrad.
"In my years defending Equestria, I've learned one truth." Celestia told the nobility and reporters gathered around the former throne room of Canterlot Castle as she stood on a podium in front of them. "Every villain is the hero of their own story. Twilight was no exception. Chrysalis foalnapped her parents, used her changeling magic to give them the appearances of changelings and tied their life forces to the crystal bomb that destroyed this city seven years ago. So when Twilight killed Chrysalis, I understood why, we all did. But once that line was crossed, there was no turning back. So she gave herself and Equestria's defenders a new mandate: to stop all attacks against our country before they began. And she couldn't see that her actions were taking her down on a path of disharmony and evil, turning her into everything she was supposed to stand against. This is how Twilight Sparkle, my best and most faithful student and Equestria's greatest defender became it's greatest enemy." she finished her speech with a sad sigh as she prepared herself to relive those fateful events once more.
7 years ago...
Celestia was making her way out of the Ponyville Town Hall in a state of shock. She still couldn't believe what just happened. Twilight had murdered Queen Chrysalis in cold blood. Though maybe after everything the changeling queen did, it shouldn't have come as a surprise. Even when Twilight bursted in, she could tell that she was in a berserk state. And Chrysalis' mocking and taunting only increased her murderous rage. Moments before Twilight arrived Chrysalis told Celestia that her goal was to break Twilight in an attempt to destroy the harmony and friendship that tied Equestria's defenders together. And it looked like she succeeded. She still remembered the sickening laugh Chrysalis let out when Twilight's forehoof went through her chest.
After the deed was done, Twilight just tossed away Chrysalis' body and flew out of the building on the hole she had created upon entrance. Celestia didn't know where she could have gone, but what she did know was that she needed to find her as quickly as possible. Before she did anything else that she is going to regret for the rest of her life. She spent the past hour asking around Ponyville if anypony saw Twilight, but she received a negative answer from each of them. She was about to give up and return to her carriage on the town border, when she ran into a familiar face.
"Auntie Tia!" Celestia looked up and saw her grand niece, Flurry Heart flying towards her, her face full of despair and her eyes watering. "Tell me it's not true!" she bawled as she flew into the older alicorn's chest and looked up at her with tear soaked eyes. "Please tell me my dad made it out of there!" it broke Celestia's heart to deliver the crushing news and for a brief moment, she even considered telling the filly that she didn't know if her father made it out of the city. But in the end she decided that it would merely delay inevitable and it would cause the little filly even more heartbreak when she found out later. Eventually Celestia just closed her eyes and nodded sadly with a tear visibly sliding down her cheek.
"I'm so sorry, my child." was the only thing that she could say before opening her arms and embracing the young foal in a comforting hug. Flurry just buried her face into the older alicorn's chest and cried. Celestia did her best to comfort her, but knew that it will do little good. Celestia knew it all too well what it's like to lose a loved one, having lost several ones during the many centuries she had been alive, but now she needed to focus on the most important thing and that was to find Twilight.
"I know you are hurting, my child but please, I have to know you have you seen your aunt Twilight?" Flurry slowly stopped sobbing and looked up into Celestia's eyes.
"I have seen her on my way to Ponyville, but she didn't want to talk to me right now. She said she had a very important task that needed to be done. I believe she said something about gathering up changelings somewhere around a clearing in the forest not far from here." Celestials eyes widened in horror. No. She wouldn't. Surely she wouldn't do it. But seeing as she only killed Chrysalis an hour ago, it had to be considered.
"That's not good." Celestia whispered to herself. "I have to stop her. Twilight had lost herself. She's going to kill them all." Flurry's sad expression hardened into a glare.
"Well good riddance! Those monsters need to die for what they did to Equestria!" Celestia looked down her grand niece with a hardened and firm expression.
"Flurry no matter what they did or what they are, killing them is not the answer. It isn't Justice. This isn't what I taught Twilight. She can't see this right now. She's in pain and is mourning. And so are you for that matter. I need to stop her before she descends even deeper into her darkness." Celestia began running towards the edge of the town where she left her carriage, with Flurry in tow.
"Yeah? And what if the changelings did this to Luna? Or Twilight? Or me? What would you say or do then?" Celestia didn't seem to have an answer to this question. She just kept running. "Thought so." Flurry muttered under her breath. Celestia's carriage came into view, but as the alicorn princess was about to reach it she bumped into something that made her stop dead in her tracks. She and Flurry looked up in confusion and raised their hooves to reach forward and they felt that their way was blocked by a magical barrier. Celestia sternly looked down at Flurry who raised her hooves in defense.
"I didn't do it!" she protested.
"I did." The two alicorns turned to see Twilight's student, Starlight Glimmer standing a few meters away from them. Celestia narrowed her eyes at the Unicorn.
"Starlight, I would appreciate it if you lifted this barrier." Starlight just shook her head sadly.
"I'm sorry, Princess, I'm afraid I can't do that. Twilight knew that you would oppose what she was about to do, so she sent me to keep you in Ponyville if you decided to interfere." Celestia was shocked at Starlight's words.
"Are you meaning to tell me that you support Twilight's folly?!" Starlight narrowed her eyes at the princess.
"Do you know how many ponies we have lost at Canterlot?! There were so many of them from Our Town! I have known them personally! They were friends and family. And so many others from Equestria! Scootaloo, Rumble, Soarin, The Cakes, Shining Armor and Spike. All gone because of those monsters! If we do this, that will never happen again!" Celestia's expression softened and she looked at Starlight with sympathy.
"I know you are angry, Starlight, but that doesn't make what you and Twilight are about to do right." she then tried to use a spell to disperse the barrier herself, but to her shock, Starlight stopped her with a blast.
"As I said, I cannot let you pass!" Celestia was starting to lose her patience.
"Starlight Glimmer, as the sovereign ruler of Equestria, I order you to stand down and let me pass!" Starlight's eyes narrowed and she started to approach the princess menacingly.
"No I won't! I think it should be you who stands down." Starlight than tried to use a containment spell to incapacitate Celestia, but the alicorn princess was far too strong for something like that to work on her. She unleashed a blast that destroyed the containment field Starlight conjured up around her and then glared at the unicorn. She decided to put her in her place.
In the future, after Twilight had developed the Alicorn Pill, Starlight would be powerful enough to take on Celestia, but this was not that time yet and the princess was easily able to subdue her. After she incapacitated Starlight, she could easily disperse the barrier and then motioned for Flurry to follow her. There was no time for the carriage, they would get there faster if they flew.
The two alicorns reached the clearing Flurry was talking about. Even from afar, they were able to spot the the changelings who were being rounded up by several royal guards. Celestia flew down and started heading towards the clearing, but she found her path being blocked by a group of guards. Celestia stepped back in shock. She didn't expect the royal guard to turn on her.
"Guards, as your princess, I order you to stand down." she told them once she collected herself.
"We're sorry, princess, but we answer to Princess Twilight. And she ordered us to keep you away." the leader of the unit replied. Celestia stomped with her forehoof. She was starting to lose her patience.
"I don't have time for this, commander. Step aside or be removed force." the guards didn't back down and Celestia nodded grimly. "Very well." she unleashed a magical blast to subdue them, but to her surprise, it barely had any effect on them. They stood their ground.
"Princess Twilight taught us how to resist strong magic." the commander of the unit told her. "Please, Princess, stand down! We do not wish to harm you." Celestia just sighed in response.
"Well then, the direct approach." Celestia used her magic to pull away the spears they were holding, then took hold of one of them and bashed the commander pony in the face. The rest of them scattered to reclaim their weapons, but the princess was faster. She was twirling the spear in her hooves elegantly and literally swept them off of their hooves with it, making sure not to cause lethal wounds. In a few seconds, they were all lying on the ground, moaning in pain and holding their injured body parts. Flurry who was watching from afar was impressed with her great aunt's skills but couldn't help but point something out.
"So you don't want changelings killed for blowing up Canterlot, but you're fine with causing crippling injuries to guards who are just fulfilling their duty?" she asked, but Celestia ignored the question.
"Stay here, Flurry. I will have a thorough talk with my student." She headed towards the clearing, but she was stopped again. This time, by somepony landing right in front of her from above. It was Rainbow Dash and rather uncharacteristically, she didn't look happy to see the princess.
"Here to help, Celestia?" she asked challengingly as she blocked her path. The princess looked back at her with an unamused expression.
"Yes. To keep you and Twilight from making a terrible mistake." Rainbow Dash didn't back down.
"We didn't want this either, but Chrysalis and the changelings forced our hooves! Equestria had changed forever after this day and we will have to change with it if we want to make sure it never happens again." Celestia glared at the pegasus.
"The changes you two are trying to make will never have a place in Equestria." Celestia scoffed. The very idea of it made her sick to her stomach. "Now Rainbow Dash, please step aside and let me talk to my student."
"She doesn't want to see you right now." Rainbow retorted. "In fact. she specifically asked me to keep you away from her should you show up. She is kind of busy now."
"I've noticed." Celestia spoke bitterly. "If you won't let me through, I will have to remove you from my way." she didn't expect Rainbow Dash, the supposed Element of Loyalty to throw herself at her like that and that allowed Rainbow to take her by surprise. A mistake Celestia didn't intend to make twice. She tried to take her down with a spell, but Rainbow Dash wasn't the fastest flier in Equestria for nothing. Celestia couldn't hit her.
Rainbow then went on the offensive. She repeatedly flew at Celestia and rapidly hit her in the face. Of course, Celestia wasn't going down that easily. She waited for Rainbow to fly at her again and when she hit her, she used her magic to shield herself from the strike. Of course, Rainbow didn't give up. She kept pressing forward and punching the magical shielld.
"It's over, Rainbow Dash!"
"I didn't hear no bell!"
Their struggle went on for a few seconds, before Celestia used her magic to knock Dash back and then used a spell to temporarily paralize her wings. This made Rainbow even madder than she already was. Her wings were sacred to her and combined with the fury she was feeling over losing the filly she saw as a little sister, that lead her to throw hersefl at the princess without thinking. But that only made things easier to Celestia. Rainbow attacked mindlessly and she was easily able to subdue her.
"I'm sorry, Rainbow Dash, but you gave me no choice." Celestia said before continuing her way towards the clearing.
"Celestia..." Rainbow gurgled, groggy from the beating she received, making the princess turn back to her. "You... can't turn your back on her... she needs you..." Celestia nodded at her.
"I know. That's exactly why I'm here."
The changelings the guards were gathering up were herded together in the middle of the clearing and forced on their knees. They were understandably nervous as they had no idea what the ponies had in mind for them, but none of them dared say or do anything, given that there were several armed guards around them. But it was only a matter of time before one of them snapped. A random changeling soldier who was being moved towards the others by having a spear constatnly poking his backside was about to lose it.
"What is this? What are you going to do to us?" he demanded in a state of panic. The guard behind him just poked him again.
"Be silent and move!" he barked. The changeling snapped. He spun around and tore the guard's spear out of his hooves, before grabbing him and holding the weapon aginst his throat.
"I am not moving anywhere before you tell me what's going on?!" he yelled. The other guards moved towards him, ready to intervene, but he backed away, holding the guard hostage. "Back off!"
"LET HIM GO AND GET BACK IN LINE!" came a deafening roar from afar. Everyone turned to see Princess Twilight Sparkle hoover down from the air with her horn lit up and her eyes burning dark purple. "NOW!" she yelled on the Canterlot Royal voice. The changeling was quick to oblige. Twilight floated towards him and she looked like she might do something, but it never turned out what that would have been as the crowd was interrupted by Princess Celestia dropping down in front of her, glaring sharply into her eyes. Twilight glared back with equal intensity.
"Two minutes." she said. The changelings looked at each other before taking off and after a moment of confusion, the guards took off after them, leaving techer and student alone in the middle of the clearing.
"This isn't what I taught you, Twilight." Celestia said firmly, causing Twilight's glare to harden. She's had enough of her teacher's lectures.
"Changelings are irredeemable! Horrible, love-sucking monsters and they all pose a threat to Equestria! They're just like their queen! Every last on of them! Freindship and harmony won't solve our problems with them!" Twilight yelled. Celestia was horrified. Her student looked absolutely maddened with grief and fury. Every word that left her mouth was practically spat with insane anger. She wasn't sure if she could reason with her at this point, but she had to try.
"And executing them will? You're talking about genocide! This is not what Equestria stands for!" but as she expcted, her words had no effect on Twilight.
"And look where that got us!" Celestia sighed and decided to try a different approach.
"I could have killed Chrysalis. Or Discord. Or even Nightmare Moon. And I would be lying if I said I didn't want to at some points. But I knew that this isn't what my little ponies would want for me. And it's not what they would want for you either. Nor would your family."
"Don't go there, Celestia!" Twilight growled dangerously with her eyes lighting up with dark purple energy. She marched up to Celestia until their muzzles were almost pressed together. Celestia stood her ground. Twilight noticed something glowing on the other princess' horn. It was a familiar rainbow colored light.
"The elements." Twilight uttered in slight surprise.
"A little project of mine to restore them. I haven't tested it yet, but I believe this is the perfect opportunity. Unless you come to your senses, of course." Celestia warned. Twilight was scared, but she tried to remain stoic before her fellow princess.
"You wouldn't." she challenged, hoping to call Celestia's bluff, but Celestia still didn't back down.
"I used them on my sister, Twilight. I would choose my next course of action very carefully."
It goes without saying that Twilight had no intention of sepnding a millenium on the moon. She tried to attack before Celestia could use them, but she wasn't fast enough. Celestia unleashed their power, but Twilight managed to knock her off balance enough for the shot to miss. Celestia cursed under her breath. It would be a while before she could gather enought magic into her horn to use the elements again.
"You're supposed to be my friend!" Twilight cried.
"I am, Twilight. That's why I can't let you do this."
Twilight knew that using the elements had taken much out of Celestia and she used it to her advantage. She used her magic to tear some trees out of the ground and threw them at Celestia. The white alicorn hadn't recovered enough to use her magic to protect herself, so she had to evade them the old fashined way. Twilight then flew into her chest and knocked her down towards the ground. Celestia landed with a huge crash and Twilight flew down at her to beat her even further into the ground, but Celestia recovered enough magical energy to blast her away before she could reach her.
Twilight growled as she recovered from the blast and charged up for another magical attack before charging at Celestia. Celestia did the same and the two alicorns collided in the air.
"I'm ending this nightmare!"
"Equestria needs my protection!"
After a few moments of struggling, Celestia came out on top and she pushed Twilight into the ground hard and knocked the last bit of fighting spirit out of her with an almighty punch, sending her crashing against a tree.
"I'm sorry it had come to this, Twilight." Celestia said solemnly as she approached her with the intention of taking her into custody. "But you need some time to calm down, before it is too late." Twilight crawled back on the ground, trying to get away.
"Stay away from me!" she muttered in a panicked state. Celestia almost reached her, but then she heard a horrible crash from between the trees, before a changeling was knocked out from between them and crashed into the ground. The assailant of the creature turned out to be none other than Flurry Heart who walked up to it and lifted her into the air with magic. Celestia watched in horror.
"Flurry, what are you doing?" she demanded.
"This freak tried to attack me!" Flurry yelled glaring up at the changeling who struggled to break free. "It must have thought I was an easy target due to my age. But did it get the wrong pony!" she then tightened her grip on the changeling who looked like he was suffocating. "Disgusting parasitic filth! How many ponies did you drain like this?" she demanded with a glare. Though the changeling struggled to breath, he did managed to answer.
"Twenty... Twenty one..." Flurry's glare hardened."Twenty one." she repeated before looking back at Celestia. "That sounds like a threat to Equestria to me."
"Flurry, let him go!" Celestia shouted, completely forgetting about Twilight. "Don't do something you'll regret for the rest of your life! This isn't what your father would want for you!"
"Is it not?" Flurry responded sharply. "My father was captain of the Royal Guard. He was a soldier through and through. Soldiers protect their country. They destroy their country's enemies." she glared back up at the changeling. "And this is my first contribution to that legacy."
KRCK!
Celestia watched in horrified disbelief as Flurry snapped the changeling's neck and tossed his body away. "For Equestria. For my father." she snarled. It took Celestia a few moments to find her voice again. Even Twilight looked horrified at what happened.
"Flurry..." she whispered. "What have you done?"
"I stood up for what I believe in! What Twilight believes in!" Flurry responded, jumping in front of Twilight protectingly. "And I won't let you get in the way of that." she snarled, charging her horn up for a blast. "Get away from her!" Flurry unleashed a blast at the princess, who panicked as she was unprepared for such an attack and hastily unleashed a spell of her own. The spells they let out clashed in the middle, but since Flurry was so young and untrained, Celestia's attack easily overpowered hers and she was sent flying, crashing into a tree.
Celestia recoiled in horror as Flurry moaned in pain. What had she done? Due to her shock at being attacked by her grand niece, she didn't have time to react, so she used a very strong counter spell, way stronger than she intended. As Flurry slowly got on her hooves, Celestia tried to slowly approach her.
"Flurry... I... I didn't mean to..." but Flurry was having none of it. She shot her great aunt the most sever glare she ever used in her life.
"You coward! You hold back against these monsters but you use your strongest magic against your friends and family?! Do you think spewing your harmonious nonsense makes you better than them?! We are at war with these animals! You let Chrysalis keep on scheming against us! This whole day is your fault! You couldn't save my father or those ponies in Canterlot! You couldn't save ANYPONY!"
Flurry raised her hoof to strike Celestia, but her hoof was held back by something. Flurry turned to see Twilight blocking her attack with her hoof.
"Flurry, that's enough." she said softly. It was clear that despite her recent personality change, the events of the day was taking their toll on her as well. "Let's just go." Flurry blinked in confusion.
"But... but the changelings..." Twilight held up a hoof to silence her.
"Not today. Let's go."Twilight shot one last look at Celestia before taking off. Flurry followed her before stopping mid-air and casting one last, conflicted look at her great aunt. For one moment, hope raised inside of Celestia when she saw the uncertainty on her grand niece's face, but it came crashing down when Flurry's face hardened and she just kept following Twilight, leaving Celestia alone.
The princess looked at the body of the changeling Flurry murdered. Fear and desperation filled up her being as she just stood there and wondered just how much worse things can get from that point and what other horrible things could follow.
"Well, Chrysalis, you crazy, vile monster, you did it. Friendships are shattered and harmony lies in ruins."
Present day
After a long struggle, Celestia successfully prevented a tear from escaping as she recalled the events of that day. It was seven years ago, but it's effects are gonna be felt across Equestria forever. After that day, Twilight set out to recruit her friends and other citizens who thought like her to create the Equestrian Magical Regime and reform Equestria into what she felt like was gonna be for it's betterment.
At the beginning, Twilight didn't completely shatter connections with her old mentor. Celestia could remember how she approached her a few days after the day she just recalled and tried to convince her to see things her way and join her. But Celestia just told her that she was going down a path that she can't follow her on. She was then about to try and convince her student to come to her senses while she still could, but Twilight just walked away before shooting one menacing last glance at Celestia, telling her that if she wasn't with her, she was against her. That was the day Celestia knew she had to do everything within her power to oppese Twilight's endeavors.
From that day, things only got worse as Twilight became increasingly more ruthless. She began using terror methods to keep the citizens who didn't agree with her in line, oppressing and chasing away non pony species from the country and recruiting villains and criminals into the Regime like Cozy Glow and Lightning Dust. But all of these paled in comparison to what she did to Luna. Her sister had been supportive of Twiilight from the beggining, despite Celestia's attempts to talk her out of it. So Twilight convinced Luna to once again embrace the personality of Nightmare Moon. That day was not pretty. It was one of the only times in Celestia's life where she lost control of herself. She lashed out at Twilight in fury and didn't hold back. For a moment, it looked like she was going to cut the takeover of her former student prematurely short. It wasn't until the newly returned Nightmare Moon interfered that saved Twilight from her former mentor's wrath. That was not a day Celestia remembered proudly.
And that was only the beggining. The Insurgency's fight against the Regime was brutal. Celestia lost dozens of ponies she held dear, including her husband, Sombra. It had been two years since he sacraficed himself to take out Twilight. A sacrafice that eventually turned out vain. She lost him before they could put their biggest plan of all into work. The plan of starting a family. This and making Luna fall back into her corruption were two things that she will never be able to forgive Twilight.
She tried to chase those memories away as she looked out the window of her mansion at the city of Canterlot that was still under heavy rebuild. Even two years weren't enough to put the city back together after Twilight ordered the Regime to tear it down for not supporting her and daring to have an issue with her killing Sombra. The rebuild was going well, thought there was still much work left to do. The bane of being such a big city, Celestia assumed. The other town that the Regime attacked, Ponyville was almost completely renewed by now.
"Nice view. You picked your new place well." Celestia turned around to see the pony who just spoke. She smiled, when she recognized a fellow politician in the mare who just walked in.
"Mayor Mare!" she greeted cheerfully. "It pleases me to see you back in your rightfully elected position." the Mayor bowed her head in greeting.
"Well, Princess, that makes two of us."
"I'm no longer a princess, Mayor. You don't have to call me that." Celestia reminded, causing the Mayor to rub the back of her neck sheepishly.
"Sorry, force of habit." Celestia noticed the troubled look on the mare's face.
"I doubt that complimenting me on my choice of a living space is the sole reason of your visit. What can I do for you?" Mayor Mare adjusted her glasses.
"Well, frankly, I read your hearing in the newspaper today and I had some concerns about it." Celestia blinked in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"As you know, the repairs to Ponyville are nearly complete. But..." Mayor Mare had a hard time saying what she wanted to say. "Well, it's hard to convince ponies to move back into the town when they still feel like anycreature could just knock it down anytime." Celestia nodded in acknowledgement. This was indeed a valid concern.
"I reassured everypony that Twilight is never getting free."
"But she's not the only threat out there." Mayor Mare responded. "Discord is still out there and with how Twilight hunted him, how can we tell if he's not plotting revenge?"
"Discord helped us take down Twilight." Celestia interrupted. "He got his revenge." But the Mayor still didn't look reassured.
"And the dragons and griffons that have been chased away by the Regime? And what about Princess Cadance who is still hostile towards us for keeping her daughter prisoner? We still haven't recovered, Celestia. We are vulnerable and our ponies know it. They're scared." Celestia lightly scoffed at this.
"I thought that's why you had those overpaid P. R. Ponies." Mayor Mare narrowed her eyes.
"Don't be so cynical. You know ponies are looking for answers from you. You need to reconnect with them. I think maybe... letting them in on the existence of your 'SkyWatch' project would be a good start." Celestia sighed. Not this again. In the past year, Celestia traveled around Equestria to examine the rebuilds in the entire country. But that was just a cover story. In actuality, she has been setting up a network surveillence devices she called 'Watch Stars'. They were very small, almost unnoticable magical crystals that hovered over every major Equestrian city and the borderline. They overlooked the cities and channeled what they saw back to a secret location that only Celestia and a select few others knew about. Of course, she had to let in the leaders of these cities on the existence of the project, but even they were sworn to secrecy.
"Mayor, I have been through this before with several of your colleagues. The secrecy of 'Project S. W.' is vital. Our enemies can't fight something they don't know exists." Mayor Mare saw that she once agian wasn't going to convince Celestia otherwise, but she still didn't want her visit to be completely in vain.
"Then would you at the very least accept an actually useful suggestion that I've heard from those 'overpaid P. R. Ponies'?"
"What would that be?" Celestia asked, though she had little fate in the idea. The mayor's face finally softened into a friendly smile.
"Be a little less almighty alicorn hero and a bit more pony. Get out a little, interract with your ponies and most importantly, smile! Take it from an expert politician, ponies are more calm when they see their leaders in a good mood." Celestia looked down in thought. Ponies have been asking many things of her during the past two years, but what she just heard from the mayor was probably the hardest. She had very little reason to smile nowadays. In the end, she just turned to back towards the window.
"I will consider it." she said finally. The mayor sighed and headed towards the door. But before she left, she turned to say one last thing to the alicorn.
"You'll have to come out of your shell eventually, Celestia. No one can shape the world by themselves. Not even you." she said before she left. Celestia turned to look after her once she heard the door close. She remembered the alternate Cadance saying something similar before she returned to her world. Back then she wasn't sure if she could ever open up to others again, but these past two years have been crushing and she wasn't sure how much longer can take it on her own. Maybe the mayor was right. Maybe it was time she widened her circle of trust.
Captain Flash Sentry stood in the Statue Garden in front of the statue of a unicorn stallion holding a banner with the symbol of the Equestrian Magical Regime on it with another guard, a yellow male unicorn standing next to him. Whether the statue behind them was a captured Regime soldier serving his sentence or just a sculpture for history telling purposes, Flash did not now, but it was giving him the creeps. That symbol certainly didn't bring back pleasant memories for the former Insurgency General.
"As a reception area this place needs a lot of work." he said to himself and the unicorn guard nodded in agreement. Celestia told him that she was expecting important guests today and she wanted to greet them in the Statue Garden as she had something important to show them. And him as well. She said it was a matter of national security.
"I second that." Flash turned to see a pegasus mare approaching him from behind the bushes. It was none other than the famous adventurer, Daring Do. Daring spent the years of the war between the Regime and the Insurgency searching for powerful magical artifacts that might turn the tides in Celestia's favor. She was quite disgruntled when she learned upon her return that all of her efforts were wasted as Celestia just yanked over alternate versions of Twilight's friends to take her down.
"Daring!" Flash greeted with a smile. "I didn't know you came back!" Daring just scoffed.
"Apparently you weren't the only one." Flash saw the mare's frustration, but decided against asking about it. He didn't want to irritate her even more. Daring sat down between the two guards and they waited for Celestia to arrive. It was getting pretty awkward and Flash started silently praying that Celestia will arrive soon. He sighed in relief when his prayers were answered.
"Good day, my little ponies." Celestia greeted as she walked up to them. The guards saluted and Daring just nodded at her to acknowledge her greeting. Celestia immediately noticed her sour mood. "Is something the matter, Daring Do?" the Pegasus Mare glared up at her.
"Yes, there is a problem. I spent the last five years exploring the most dangerous parts of Equestria to find something that will help you beat Twilight and then I come back to find that you just decided to summon another Twilight from a mirror universe and thus making all of my efforts pointless! I mean, couldn't you think of that before you sent me away?"
"I understand your frustration, but getting interuniversal help was not a decision I made lightly. The Regime was closing in on me and I had to act quickly." Daring just rolled her eyes.
"Whatever. Can we just get to why you dragged me up here?" Celestia nodded.
"Certainly." Celestia walked past the two pegasi and stood in front of the statue behind them. Her horn lit up and the statue moved back, revealing a secret staircase. "Shall we?"
The four ponies made their way through a dark tunnel only illuminated by a few torches. Flash looked over at Daring who still looked pretty angry. She decided to try and lighten the mood.
"So... found anything during your travels?" he asked with a friendly smile.
"A couple of things. But since Celestia obviously doesn't need them, I think I'll keep them to myself." she grumbled. Flash saw that his attempt failed so he quickly tried to change the subject.
"Uh... Where are we going anyway?" he asked the alicorn.
"The old caverns beneath Canterlot. This is where Chrysalis kept Cadance hostage during her wedding and where she set up the bomb that destroyed the city seven years ago. After we reclaimed Equestria from the Regime, I cleaned up this place in secret and set up a little something that will help us make sure that similar tragedies never happen again." Celestia explained as the group entered the cavern. Flash and Daring looked around in awe at the several screens on the walls, showing different parts of Equestria. "Welcome to the Eye of the Sun!" Celestia announced with a small hint of pride in her expression once the two pegasi got over their wonder.
"You've been peeping over all of Equestria over the past two years?" Daring asked, trying to sound casual.
"Not the most tactful way of putting it, Daring, but yes, you managed to get the point." Celestia replied in mild annoyance.
"No wonder you kept this a secret!" Flash said, his eyes still roaming over the screens. "You are violating several equine rights down here."
"A necessary evil, Captain Sentry. This surveillance system has already helped tracking down and incapacitating many who would upset order in Equestria."
"Sounds neat, but I doubt that your hidden camera show is the only reason you brought us here." Daring concluded, which got Flash thinking as well.
"Speaking of which, you told me that you were expecting multiple guests. So, where's everybody else?"
"Other than Daring, I've invited only one more. And he's already here." Celestia replied. Daring and Flash looked around, trying to locate him, but all they saw other than the princess was the yellow unicorn guard who entered with them. Celestia rolled her eyes with an amused look on her face.
"Alright, Thorax, enough games. You can show yourself now." suddenly, the yellow unicorn guard's body lit up with green flames and he turned back into what Flash instantly recognized as King Thorax of the changelings. But he looked very different. Instead of the black, hole ridden body, his chitin was now full yellow with no holes in his body whatsoever, his wings were now fully grown, glimmering and on his head next to his horn, he was wearing antlers.
"Uh... what is a chengeling doing here?" Flash asked nervously. "And why does he look like... that?" Celestia gave her guard a stern look.
"Flash Sentry, behave yourself! King Thorax is an important ally of Equestria and you will show him his due respect!" Thorax just raised a hoof to calm her down.
"It's alright, Celestia. I'm not here for pleasantries after all." he said on a slightly sad tone. It was clear that he was used to this kind of welcome. Celestia looked at him in concern, but Thorax just smiled at her reassuringly. "I'll be fine." Celestia nodded and turned back to the ponies.
"King Thorax is the reason we are here today. He has brought my attention towards a very likely threat to our nation. Thorax?"
"As you know, during the time of the Regime, changelings were hunted and exterminated all over Equestria. After Twilight's defeat, I've been spending my time rallying the survivors. We are building a new, independent changeling nation that is built on the belief on sharing love rather than stealing it. My new appearance is the result of that. Turns out, sharing love will cause a metamorphosis in changelings that makes us look like this." he explained, motioning across his body with a foreleg.
"But I digress. Unfortunately, not every changeling shares our new philosophy. There are still many among us who would rather have revenge on Equestria and continue the old ways. My brother, Pharynx is among them, despite my best efforts to convert him. He's been disappearing for days recently and last time that happened, I sent scouts after him and they came back with an interesting report." Thorax then looked at Celestia who continued.
"It turns out, Thorax's scouts have discovered an organization that wishes to take advantahe of the power vacuum created by the Regime's fall." Celestia then summoned the image of a black unicorn mare with dark red mane and tail and a broken horn.
"They call themselves "The First Order" and they are lead by this pony, Tempest Shadow. With SkyWatch, I was able to locate their base of operations in the Badlands and even track one of their operations to the Everfree Forest. They are gathering several resources there that can be used for creating dangerous potions and other magical weapons. This is where you three come in. I need you to go over there, find out what they are doing and shut it down." Falsh and Daring looked uncertain about all this.
"Us three?" Flash asked. "You mean, you're not coming? I'm sure they would be intimidated into submission even by your presence." Celestia frowned grimly.
"Unfortunatley, I can't leave Canterlot without worrying the public."
"And what about the Guard?" Daring suggested. "If you know where their base is, can't you just send them there and shut it down?" Flash Sentry rubbed his foreleg nervously upon hearing this.
"Actually, Daring..." he started. "...the Guard is not strong enough yet for that. In order to completely wipe out Twilight's influence from every part of Equestrian society, we needed to rebuild everything from the ground up. Most of the guards are still just rookies. They're eager, but they lack experience. And not many Insurgency veterans continued to serve after the war." Daring then turned to Thorax.
"And what about your changelings?"
"Same deal. We're focusing on building our new country and we don't have an army yet. If we could have dealt with it, I wouldn't have even come here." Thorax explained.
"Of course, I understand if it's too much for you." Celestia said, causing Daring to frown.
"Who said it's too much? You happen to talk to the greatest adventurer in the history of Equestria! I'm more than up for it!" Celestia smiled.
"Excellent! I shall have you three escorted to Ponyville via Air Balloon, but I'm afraid you will have to proceed on hoof from there. Be on your guard! And not just because of the enemy. The Everfree is a dangerous place by itself." she turned to Thorax and placed her hoof affectionately on his shoulder. "Please be careful." The changeling king reassuringly stroke the alicorn's hoof.
"Don't worry, Tia. With the greatest adventurer in Equestria leading us, what can go wrong?" Daring and Flash raised a brow at the tender scene in front of them. The changeling and the mare left the cave, but Flash stopped and pulled Celestia aside.
"I know things have changed much in the past two years, but... are you sure we can trust a changeling?" Celestia sighed. Even though Chrysalis has been dead for years and the Changeling Resistance played a vital role in tearing down the Regime, there were still many ponies who viewed them with suspicion and prejudice or simply couldn't let go of their grudges against them for their past actions.
"Captian Sentry, Thorax is not like Chrysalis. He brought harmony and friendship to his changelings and have been one of my biggest supports during the past two years. I trust him with my life. Besides, without the Changelings, we couldn't have defeated the Regime. I think they've earned a second chance." Flash looked at Thorax's receding form and saw him changing back to his pony disguise and gulped. He didn't exactly feel reassured.
The two ponies and the changeling were making their way through the Everfree Forest with Daring leading and clearing the way with a machete. Flash Sentry was sporting a crossbow gun with a quiver of arrows while Daring was wearing a mysterious artifact on her neck that looked like a bird shaped whistle. Thorax was just walking between them casually.
"So... what was the deal with you and the princess back in Canterlot?" Flash asked. "You two seemed awfully close."
"Of course we're close!" Thorax replied. "We practically spent the last two years together. She taught me so much about how to rule with love and friendship and when I felt her sadness over losing her husband, I just had to be there for her. She needed support and I'm happy I could be the one to give it to her."
"Weird. I was also around her the past two years and I don't recall seeing you ever."
"Shapeshifting, remember? Sadly, I couldn't risk showing myself to anypony other than Celestia. They still don't like changelings all that much." Thorax said as he looked down sadly. His look made Flash feel guilty about what he said to Celestia about Thorax.
"Well, I'm sure if Celestia helps you out as much as you say, they will all come around." Flash smiled encouragingly, putting a supporting hoof on Thorax's shoulder. Thorax smiled gratefully, but before he could respond, Daring interrupted their bonding.
"Before you fall for each other, we have arrived."
Indeed, the three heroes reached the field where Celestia's surveillance device last spotted Pharynx and his rogue changelings. Hiding behind a tree, they peeked out to see that they were still there and packing crates onto boats on the river running through the field.As they were observing the crowd, Pharynx himself suddenly walked past the tree they were hiding behind. Next to him, was an earth pony mare with a beige coat, pigment blue mane with a rose pink streak, cerulean eyes and three candies for a cutie mark. The three heroes' eyes widened in shock when they recognized as the pony Bon Bon.
They had no idea what she was doing here. During the time of the Regime, the existence and the activities of S. M. I. L. E. were all exposed by Twilight, as were Bon Bon's involvement with the agency in retaliation for refusing to join the Regime. She had every reason to hate Twilight, but she fought alongside Celestia during the war. They had no idea why would she join Tempest, though from her expression, it was clear that she wasn't happy to be here.
"Can't they work any faster?" Bon Bon complained. Pharynx just chuckled in amusement. He was well aware of the reason behind the mare's discomfort.
"Don't worry, Bon Bon. We will be ready for tomorrow's attack." he mused. Bon Bon glared at him.
"I couldn't care less about that. But if Tempest hurts Lyra again because we're late with another shipment, I'm going to hurt you." she threatened. Pharynx just maintained his smug smirk and kept walking.
"Tomorrow's attack?" Daring repeated nervously.
"Sly little mare." Thorax couldn't help but compliment. "While we're still struggling to rebuild our countries, she builds up an entire army in our backyard and plans to catch us by surprise.
"Before they could form a plan to intervene, they heard a cough coming from behind them. They turned to see a blue dragoness standing behind them with her arms folded and giving them an unwelcoming stare. Despite her look, Thorax's face lit up when he recognized her.
"Ember!" he greeted cheerfully. "Long time no see! Here to help us take down these suckers?"
"Not exactly." Ember replied before putting two fingers in her mouth and letting out a sharp whistle. The trio were suddenly yanked up into the air by dragons and dragged to the middle of the field, right in front of Pharynx. The rogue changeling had a look of smug satisfaction on his face as he saw his brother lying on the ground by his hooves as Ember walked up next to him.
"Nice catch, Ember." he mused. Ember narrowed her eyes at him.
"That's Queen Ember to you." she snapped.
"Since when does a Queen take orders from the likes of Tempest?" Pharynx chuckled. Ember growled at the changeling, but before she could incinerate him, Thorax interrupted her.
"Wait, Ember, you're with them?" he asked with a devastated look.
"Real quick on the uptake, Thorax." Daring said, rolling her eyes. Ember glared down at them.
"We don't appreciate the treatment we received from Twilight during her reign. And your new marefriend, Celestia hasn't been doing much to improve our situation. From where we stand, she's not much better than Twilight."
"Yeah, try to send diplomats to find migrating dragons who would burn you to ashes before you make your offer." Flash Sentry snarked. "And you're a few scales short of a lizard if you think your new friends care about your species, Ember." the dragoness just smirked in response.
"Tempest knows she's gonna have to keep her promises. She's swayed many dragons, changelings and griffins to her side with her silver tongue. And knows that angering them would be bad for her health."
"You're breaking my heart, Ember." Thorax said sadly. "But at least it makes what we're about to do easier." he nodded at Flesh Sentry who pulled an arrow out of his quiver and fired it in front of their captors. The arrow exploded in a blinding light making their enemies cover their eyes and giving the heroes a chance to attack.
"Now let's see what this baby can do." Daring said, reaching for the artifact hanging on her neck and lifting to her mouth. She blew the end of the whistle and it released a huge sonic blast that blew away several of the creatures in front of them.
"So that's what her new toy does." Flash commented before leaning over to Thorax. "Remind me not to piss her off." Before Thorax could reply, he received a pinch from the dragon lord the sent him back several meters. Ember flew after her and tried to punch him into the ground, but Thorax rolled out of the way and kicked Ember's legs out from under her, causing her to collapse. He didn't follow it up with another attack, but it gave him time to stand up.
"Come on, Ember, be reasonable. If you help us, I'm sure we can convince Celestia to help you and your dragons. We can be a team again, like in the Insurgency." But Ember just glared at him.
"You mean before Twilight chased us away from Equestria and Celestia did nothing stop it." she yelled.
"You can't blame her for that. She had her own subjects to worry about back then." Thorax reminded her.
"So did I." Ember snarled before attacking again. She tried to punch the changeling king again, but he was just too swift and kept dodging all of her attacks. Frustrated, Ember reached for his antlers and managed to get a hold of them. She was about to unleash a fire breath on him, but Thorax interrupted her by blasting her in the face, making her stagger back.
Thorax then flew up and grabbed Ember, carrying her off and throwing her into a tree. Thorax then flew into her, ramming both of his forelegs into the Dragon Lord's stomach, before pulling back and punching her across the face several times. He pulled back for another punch, but Ember blocked it with an arm and headbutted Throax, making him back away. The changeling managed to recover fast and turned to kick Ember into the tree again. Before she could recover, Thorax used his magic to pull the tree's roots up and wrap them around the dragoness, trapping her in the process.
"Sorry, Ember. I'll put in some good words for you." he lamented before heading off to help his friends. Flesh and Daring were in the middle of their fight with the changelings and the dragons when Thorax ran up to them, but before he could help them, he was stopped by a blast landing in the ground right in front of him. It was fired by none other than his brother.
"I have been waiting for this." Pharynx snarled. "Once you're finally out of the way, every changeling will follow me. No longer will you weaken our race." Thorax looked back at him sadly.
"Even after all the times I showed you what changelings can accomplish if they share love instead of taking it, you still refuse to see the truth. I'm starting to lose hope in you, brother." Pharynx rolled his eyes.
"Are you about to give me another of your lectures, brother?" Thorax narrowed his eyes and gave his brother an angry look he rarely displayed before.
"No. You have made your choice. Now live with the consequences." If there was one thing he learned from Celestia, it was that personal feelings sometimes have to be put aside. The two changelings entered a fierce duel. Pharynx was more aggressive than his brother, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get the upper hoof on him. Thorax easily countered even his strongest attacks and with every counterattack, Pharynx was getting more and more weighed down. He was utterly confused.
"How?" was all Pharynx muttered. He flew at his brother again and punched him repeatedly, but his strikes had no effects. "Why can't I hurt you?!" he asked with a punch between every word. Thorax just remained still and stoic.
"I told you. If changelins share their love, they are much more powerful." All throughout the encounter, his thoughts were centered on the alicorn who became so important to him during the past two years. "Sharing love is true power and you doomed yourself to never feel it with your narrow mindedness." Thorax gathered all of his power and sent his brother back with a powerful blast. Pharynx looked up in shock, before turning around and running off deeper into the woods. Flash Sentry just finished dispatching another wave of enemies and was about to take off after him, but Thorax held out a foreleg in front of him to hold him back.
"My brother is my problem. Go help Daring." Flash nodded and Thorax took off after Pharynx. After a few minutes of looking through the trees to no avail, Pharynx was about to give up and head back to the field to aid his allies, when he suddenly noticed movements in a bush in front of him.
"Pharynx! Show yourself! It's over!" he ordered, preparing his horn for an attack. The only response he got was a laugh, but he was certain it wasn't his brother's. The voice was female, but it was very familiar. The thought of the creature that the voice reminded him of sent shivers down his spine and when the exact same creature emerged from the bush, Thorax found himself overwhelmed with fear.
"Chry... Chrysalis?" he stepped back in shock. The former changeling queen looked down at Thorax with a look of amusement.
"Oh, Thorax. Look at you! Such a big grub. Playing king, reforming the hive into spreading love rather than taking it and trying to get between Celestia's backlegs. But you hear it, don't you?" she asked, grinning savagely.
"Hear what?" Thorax asked in both fear and confusion.
"The real changeling inside you. Trapped beneath the floorboard. Banging, kicking, scratching to get free!" Chrysalis walked up to Thorax and lifted a hoof to his chin. "You want Celestia's love. So go on and take it!" she turned Thorax's head to the side and he saw the mare of his affections chained to the floor struggling to get free.
"Go on, Thorax. I can feel the hunger inside you." Chrysalis whispered in his ear. "Take what you want." Thorax walked up the Celestia, who looked up at him with pleading eyes, silently asking for help. Chrysalis stood behind him, almost encouraging him to go through with it. Thorax felt the temptation inside him. It was there. He wanted to do it. But he felt something else too. Something that made the longing inside him feel completely irrelevant and gave him the strength to resist it.
"You're right." Thorax whispered, causing Chrysalis to grin wickedly. But what Thorax said next, made the grin disappear. "I do want Celestia's love. But I love her too much to take it by force. I want to earn it, to be worthy of her love." Chrysalis' face grew into a horrible, twisted glare and surprsingly, so did Celestia's on the ground.
"You pathetic, sentimental fool! Why do I even bother with you?!" Celestia morphed into a changeling and lunged at Thorax, but he just stepped aside and the attacker ended up crashing into Chrysalis who morphed back into Pharynx upon impact.
"As expected." Thorax mused as he watched the two changelings knock each other out. "No one puts a changeling in love into a corner." he declared proudly before running back to the field. When he got there, he was greeted by an unpleasant sight. Flash and Daring were becoming overwhelmed by the enemy's numerical superiority. They were hiding behind a tree which was getting bombarded by changeling blasts and dragon fire.
"Thorax!" Daring shouted when she noticed him. "There's too many of them! They're going to get away with the crates!" Thorax looked out from behind the tree and indeed, he saw Bon Bon leading the creatures loading the carts onto the boats. The three heroes' situation was not looking very good. They were pinned down by the enemy, they were about to lose the enemy shipments and they were probably about to be captured or worse.
"At this point, we're gonna need a miracle!" Flash said. Almost as if on cue, a thick fog descended on the forest, confusing everycreature on the battlefield. The changelings and the dragons who were attacking the heroes were suddenly hit by vials that seemingly came out of nowhere. They broke upon impact and their content leaked onto the bodies of the creatures, paralyzing and incapacitating them. Flash, Daring and Thorax wathced in awe.
"How's that for a miracle?" Daring asked in wonder. Before they could get over their shock, they saw the silhouette of an equine creature walking out of the fog. It was wearing a cloak, so they couldn't recognize it at first, but as the it got closer and removed it's hood, it's identity became clear.
"This forest is my domain! From it, you will take no ill gain!"
"Zecora!" the heroes yelled in surprise. The zebra fell off the radar when Twilight took over and no one has seen her ever since. Zecora heard them and turned her head to look at them. She glared upon spotting Thorax.
"Vile changeling, your presence is unwelcome! Leave now, or be undone!" she growled as she pulled out another vial. Thorax gulped, but knew that he had to find a way to deal with her.
"Get those crates! I'll handle her." he told the two ponies who ran off to do as he said. Thorax slowly started to walk towards Zecora, raising a foreleg in submission. "Zecora, you got your changelings mixed up! Colorful, holeless changelings: good, black, holey changelings: bad! I'm on your side!" he tried, but Zecora wasn't having it.
"Your silver tongued lies don't work on me! And you just wasted your escape opportunity!" Zecora threw the vial at Thorax, but he managed to dodge it. The zebra narrowed her eyes and pulled out another vial from her saddlebag.
'I need to get that saddlebag. Maybe once she's out of ammunition she will be more willing to hear me out.' Thorax thought. But first, he needed to make sure that none of it's content will land on him. It became increasingly harder to dodge the vials being thrown at him as he also had to look out for not stepping into any of it's leaked content. Getting tired of jumping around, Thorax took off into the air and flew straight at Zecora and ripped off her saddlebag.
"Zecora, listen to me, I'm not here to fight you!" the zebra ignored him and pulled out a staff, which she used to try and get back her saddlebag. She managed to reach it, but her hold on her staff slipped and instead of pulling the bag back, all she accomplished was that the remaining vials fell out of it on the ground.
Zecora's eyes widened in horror as the leaked potions were flowing towards her. She had no means to escape as the puddles of potion she threw at Thorax prevented her from running away. Thorax saw the zebra's distress and he quickly flew down to scoop her up and carry her off to safety, which was easier said than done.
"Man, you should consider a diet." Thorax panted, putting the zebra down before landing in front of her. It was clear on Zecora's expression that she was shocked that she was saved by a changeling. "Now are you ready to listen? It's my brother and his black changelings you want! They and Ember's dragons have been smuggling your magical herbs out of the forest right under your nose! We came to stop them." Zecora looked over at the river and saw Daring Do and Flash Sentry struggling to get through the waves of enemies and the changelings trying to launch their boats. Ashamed, she was forced to realize that Thorax was speaking the truth.
"Perhaps I was too hasty in my act. A mistake I will now correct." Zecora said as she picked up her staff and dipping it into the leaked potion on the ground and running over to the two pegasi. Once she was in range of the boats, she threw her staff towards on of the crates, knocking it into the river. None of the battling creatures knew what this meant, but Zecora knew exactly the effect her potion would have on those herbs mixed with water. Before anycreature knew it, huge plants came bursting out of the river and wrecked all of the boats and crates on them. When the recently freed and recovered Ember and Pharynx came back to the field, they saw what was happening and knew that their operation was ruined.
"I believe it's time for a retreat." Pharynx said.
"Tempest won't be happy about this." Ember reminded him, but Pharynx just shrugged.
"Scared of the boss? Some queen you are!" he replied before flying off and signaling to his changelings. They all followed him into the air with Ember and her dragons following suit. Ember took a detour to save Bon Bon out of the river and soon, all of the First Order's forces have left the field.
"Shall they return, I will be ready. No longer will they raid the Everfree." Zecora said with determination once the dust has settled and the heroes recovered.
"Oh, Zecora, you are amazing!" Thorax yelled jovially, wrapping a hoof around her. Zecora gave his hoof an unamused look, before redirecting it at the changeling, who quickly took the hint and removed it. Zecora then turned to leave, but Thorax called out to him. "Uh, hey, Zecora! You know, we finally took out Twilight and Celestia is back in charge."
"Well, unofficially." Flash quickly added. "Technically, there's no elected or crowned ruler yet and everyone is just following Celestia's advices."
"My point is, the Regime is gone and we're trying to put Equestria back together. If you would like to help, we'd love to have you!" Zecora thought for a few moments before turning back to them.
"I can tell you mean your offer. I promise you. I will consider. But now, I must ask you to leave. The Everfree needs peace and relief." she said before walking away and disappearing into the dark of the woods.
"That mare always gave me the creeps." Flash said once she was gone.
"Hey, she saved our flanks, didn't she? Lay off of her!" Daring scolded the stallion.
"We should probably inform Celestia." Thorax said, pulling out a comm crystal and summoning the image of the alicorn.
"Thorax! I am glad to see you're alright! How are things on your end?" Celestia asked. Thorax smiled proudly.
"Mission accomplished! Pharynx and his goons flew away empty hoofed." he informed her. "But I'm afraid it doesn't end here. We've overheard them talking about an attack tomorrow. Whatever they're planning, it's about to come into action." Celestia frowned when she heard this.
"Then we have no choice, we're going to have to launch a preemptive strike. I need you three to head to the Badlands and capture Tempest Shadow." Flash's eyes widened when he heard that.
"Hold on! You want us three to barge into the Badlands and extract Tempest from in front of her entire army?!"
"An organization like hers won't run efficiently without their leader." Celestia replied. "If we capture her, the First Order will be thrown into disarray. But of course, I understand if the task is too much for you. I'm sure I can find another team to handle it."
"I can't back out of this!" Thorax said. "The First Order is a threat not only to Equestria but my changelings as well. It is my duty to stop them."
"Hey, I wasn't going to back out!" Flash joined in. "Just wandering if that was the most logical approach. Of course I'm going too!"
"Same with me!" said Daring. "I wasn't here to finish the fight against Twilight! I'm definitely finishing this one!" Celestia smiled upon seeing their determination.
"Thank you all. Me and all my little ponies are counting on you. Good luck." she said before ending the transmission. The three creatures looked at each other. None of them wanted to say it, but they weren't as certain about their next assignment as they showed.
"Well then, I guess it's another balloon ride for us." Flash said in resignation before they headed back to their vehicle on the edge of the forest. They were all hoping to swiftly apprehend Tempest Shadow and end this threat quickly, but they couldn't help but feel like there was something else in the background. Something that even Celestia couldn't see.
Luster Dawn watched with admiration as the first rays of the sun peaked out from beneath the horizon. She did this every morning ever since she was freed from her frozen state. Not only was it beautiful, but it set her mind at ease, which she needed more than ever as she found herself remembering the attack on her village seven years ago.
And yet, for her it still felt so fresh. It had been only two years since she was awakened. Her mission of warning the princesses of the attack on her village was still on her mind, but after what she heard from the ponies who freed her, that wasn’t going to be an option for her. She still didn’t believe that Princess Celestia could turn on Twilight Sparkle like that!
Chrysalis tricked Twilight into killing her family and destroying Canterlot and instead of helping her rebuild and cope, Celestia stripped her of her magic and her status then tossed her into Tartarus as Luster was told. Celestia was afraid that Twilight will gain too much sympathy and support from this ordeal and after rebuilding Canterlot, she would take the throne for herself, so she just disposed of her before she could do that. She never thought Celestia was capable of something like that, but apparently she didn’t know the solar princess as well as she thought.
Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt something wrapping around her gently.
"Are you thinking about it again?“ asked Rainbow Dash as she sat down next to her. Luster just nodded. Though she never told Rainbow and the other refugees of her village’s destruction, the news of Celestia’s betrayal and Twilight’s imprisonment hit her almost as hard. Rainbow just gave her a reassuring smile.
"Don’t worry kid, one day we’ll return to Equestria, bust out Twilight and Celestia will pay for everything.“ she told her. "But sitting around here and moping won’t do you any good. Come on, let’s go back. It’s time for your lessons. Luster nodded and followed the pegasus back to the palace.
At the palace, another of her new friends was waiting for her.
"Luster Dawn! You can’t just wonder off like that! Especially not so close to the border!“ Blueblood complained at the younger unicorn. "Celestia’s agents are on a constant ponyhunt for us! If they saw you…“
"Give her a break, will you?“ Rainbow snapped. Luster rolled his eyes. Those two were her mentor figures ever since she awakened, but they just couldn’t seem to get along. Luster would never admit it to Rainbow, but she felt like she wasn’t giving Blueblood enough credit. If it wasn’t for him, none of them would have found refuge here. Blueblood had a couple of friends in high places in Stalliongrad and they agreed to keep him and other regime fugitives out of Celestia’s hooves.
"Stop it already! How are we ever going to return to Equestria if you two can’t stop biting each other’s throats?“ Luster asked. "We need Princess Twilight! We have no proper leadership without her!“
"And we will get her out, Luster.“ Blueblood replied. "We have already gotten Rainbow Dash out of Cloudsdale and there you already showed that your training is almost complete. The time is near, Luster.“
"I can’t believe I’m saying this, but he’s right.“ Rainbow added. "We’re almost ready to free Twilight and with her Equestria will once again have the leader it needs.“ they both smiled at Luster, who was happy to finally have some agreement in the group.
"Now come, it’s time for today’s lesson.“ Luster followed the Stallion, leaving Rainbow by herself. She stared off into the rising sun with a hard glare as it just reminded her of the treacherous alicorn who ruined everything.
'Soon, Twi, we’ll get you out and Celestia will pay. For everything. The Regime will rise again.‘
The Badlands looked just as hostile and uninviting as they always imagined. Daring, Flash and Thorax just passed an abandoned Regime labor camp and winced at the mere thought that they forced ponies to live and work here.
„As if we needed another evidence that Twilight’s lost it.“ Daring muttered. "How much further?“
"We’re almost there.“ Flash replied. "There is no way to miss that huge flag they set up. That has to be their base.“
Indeed, the heroes soon reached an encampment with several griffons, dragons, changelings and even some ponies gathered in front of a large podium in front of a gigantic flag. They hid between the trees and watched as the leader of the First Order, Tempest Shadow walked up to the podium. The black mare with the broken horn looked over the assembled crowd before slamming her hoof down on the podium to gather their attention. She smiled in satisfaction when she saw that every eye was now on her and began to speak.
"Oppressed creatures of Equestria, the day of your salvation has come!" she roared. "For years, you have been forced away from your homes into the wasteland for not bowing to a tyrant. And before that, you weren't welcome because you didn't agree with the sentimental nonsense the princesses were spewing. But tomorrow, that will be over! No more Regime! No more princesses! Tomorrow, Equestria will bow before it's new masters: THE FIRST ORDER!" upon the unicorn's announcement, the crowd in front of her erupted into an enthusiastic cheer and seven more creatures stepped onto the podium next to Tempest.
Flash, Daring and Thorax weren't surprised to see their enemies from the Everfree Forest, Pharynx, Ember and Bon Bon standing there. What actually surprised them was when they saw Pinkie Pie on the stage. Why on Faust's green earth would she join an army about to take over Equestria? That wasn't like her at all! And even more bafflingly, her expression was the same cheerful smile as she wore most of the time. Like she didn't even realize she was part of a scheme to overthrow Celestia.
Next to Pinkie, was a male unicorn that the heroes recognized as the conpony, Flam. He was wearing a tank full of dark brown liquid on his back and had a strange looking gun holstered on his side. They still remembered the day Twilight executed his brother along with several other criminals and Insurgency agents, but Flam managed to escape when an insurgent attack hit the sight of the execution and hasn't been heard from ever since.
Next to him was Lightning Dust. Flash narrowed his eyes when he recognized her. Her death squad that she lead during the time of the Regime has killed several good ponies he fought side by side alongside with within the Insurgency. She was sentenced to Tartarus after the Regime fell, but managed to escape when she broke free during the time she was being delivered to there.
Lastly, there was the griffon Gilda. Many griffons were chased away by Twilight, but she really did a number on Gilda. She was one of Twilight's test subjects when she was developing her mind control spell. She thought Gilda could be a useful weapon. But eventually, Gilda's resolve was too strong for her to break and she gave up on her before throwing her out of Equestria like trash. It wasn't surprising to find her here. Tempest waited until the cheers died down and continued.
"Tomorrow, we will show Equestria our true strength as we rain fiery vengeance upon them! Tomorrow, we will take our rightful place in the world! Tomorrow, we'll remind the princesses how insignificant and inferior they really are! Tomorrow, we will bring them all To! Their! Knees!" she screamed as the crowd erupted into cheers once more.
"That mare certainly doesn't have self-esteem issues." Flash deadpanned before the heroes retreated behind the tree.
"Okay, listen up!" Daring said. "We'll need a plan. Thorax, how good are you with teleportation spells?" Thorax sweated nervously.
"Well, there were better casters than me. Exactly, how far do you want me to teleport?"
"Could you teleport us back to the balloon?" she specified, causing Thorax to sigh in relief.
"Oh, yeah! That I can do." the changeling smiled.
"Then here's the plan." the mare explained. "Flash, we'll track Tempest and capture her when she's vulnerable. Thorax, you disguise yourself and blend in with the crowd. Follow us and when we signal, bail us out. You guys got that?" the two males nodded. It was a simple enough plan. "Then let's go!"
Flash and Daring were carefully sneaking in the shadows of the dead trees as they followed Tempest and the First Order officers who retreated behind the podium once the speech was over.
"That was some speech you gave back there, Tempest!" Pinkie Pie cheered as she bounced next to the broken horned unicorn. "Did you hire Twilight's speech writer?" Tempest scoffed at her.
"In case you haven't noticed, we are about to go to war." she told the earth pony harshly. "Our soldiers need to be properly motivated. And what better way to motivate them than appealing to their hatred of Equestria and ponykind?"
"Ooh, ooh, don't tell me, I can guess! Early Heart's Warming gifts? 'All you can eat' coupons to Sugarcube Corner? A PARTY?!" Tempest groaned as she tried to ignore the party obsessed crazy pony's antics. She turned to Bon Bon.
"How are we doing, Bon Bon?"
"First wave is ready to go. Pharynx and Ember are just waiting for you to give the word. I have made traps and instructions on how to set them up at key equestrian defense locations to the changelings. What little defense they have will be thrown into disarray before they even realize what hit them." she replied without enthusiasm. Tempest smiled.
"Good dog." she said, making Bon Bon look up at her with a glare that would have incinerated her could looks kill. "Gilda, Lightning, what about you?"
"My griffons are gathering on the eastern border of the Crystal Empire." Gilda replied.
"And my pegasi are just about ready on the west. Divide and conquer. They won't be able to hold two fronts." Lightning added. Tempest smirked.
"Excellent. Flam, Bon Bon, you go with the first wave. Secure the territory south from Canterlot. Once Gilda's and Lightning's forces are finished at the north with the Empire, they will join you. We'll encircle their capital, then we can toy with then however we want to. Our plan has been proceeding flawlessly. Our silent partner is very satisfied with you all."
"For now that is." Flam added cynically. "I wonder if we have to watch our backs from the troops he provided us once we've accomplished our objectives at the capital."
"As long as we have a common agenda, Flam, you have nothing to worry about." Tempest ressured. "Now go and get ready." Bon Bon, Flam and Gilda walked away, leaving Tempest alone with Pinkie and Lightning.
"Hey, Tempest!" the pink mare started. "I was just wondering, since we're relying so much on our mysterious 'silent patner', don't you think this should be the part where you let us in on who he is. Or she. I will have to organize a welcoming party for him once we've conquered Canterlot!" she offered with a huge grin, holding up a variety of party supplies. Tempest had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes. Did this mare ever shut up?
"There will be no need for that, Pinkie Pie. He is not one for public events. But rest assured, he will soon make his presence known. But first..."
"First you should throw a different kind of party, Pinkie!" Flash yelled as he and Daring flew out of their hiding place and landed in front of the trio. "A 'Farewell Party' for your new boss, because she's coming with us!" he then turned to Daring. "How was that for witty banter?" he asked. Daring smiled.
"Flash, you've got more in the looks department. Don't ruin it by trying to use your head."
"You think I look good?" Flash asked teasingly. Daring blushed and her eyes widened when she realized what she just said.
"What? I just called you stupid, you featherbrain! Don't flatter yourself!"
"But you said I'm good in the looks department." Flash smirked.
"I said you've got more in the looks department! More than in brains and your look is already..." Daring wanted to come up with an insult, but she couldn't bring herself to say it out. He was right, he really didn't look half bad.
"Dreamy? Enticing? Hot?" Flash teased again. Daring was about to punch him, but a cough from Tempest reminded her of the real problem at hoof.
"The saboteurs from the Everfree Forest, I presume." she scoffed before turning to Pinkie and Lightning. "Give our guests a proper greeting." Lightning grinned and cracked her hooves.
"With pleasure." she mused as she and Pinkie approached Flash and Daring who got into defensive positions.
"Which one do you want?" Daring asked. "The bitch or the clown?"
"Definitely the bitch." Flash said as he walked up to Lightning. "I've got some dead comrades to avange. Your Exterminators killed a lot of my friends in the war." Lightning just smirked.
"Would you like a headcount? We marked our guns for each of them." Flash suddenly saw red and lunged at the mare, but she easily dodged and took off into the air with Flash taking off after her. Meanwhile, Daring was facing Pinkie.
"First, Twilight, now Tempest, Pinkie? No wonder you weren't the element of loyalty." Pinkie just waved her off.
"Well, you know the funny thing about loyalty is you get to pick who and what are you loyal to." she then pulled out two party horns and put one in her mouth. Daring raised an eyebrow, not intimidated in the slightest, but then Pinkie blew the party horn and it hit the pegasus right in the face.
"Ow! You breeding mare! That..." Daring yelled, holding her cheek. It stung like a whip. Daring quickly reached for her bird whistle and blew a sonic blast at Pinkie, but to her surprise, Pinkie barely even flinched. She pulled up her ears and revealed that she was wearing ear plugs.
"Damn it!" Daring inhaled to unleash an even bigger blast, but Pinkie blew her party horn again and it knocked the whistle out of Daring's hooves. The whistle landed on the ground and Daring flew to retreive it, but Pinkie hit her again with the party horn right in the flank.
It took all of Daring's strength not to fall on the ground, but she managed to stay in the air and flew out of the range of Pinkie's horns. The pink mare acknowledged the fact that she can no longer hit her with frustration. She then noticed Lightning Dust flying circles around a stunned Flash Sentry in the air who was trying in vain to hit her with his crossbow.
"Hey, Lightning! On your 9!" the pegasus mare turned around and saw Daring floating near her. She immediately knew what Pinkie was thinking. She flew in front of Flash and then charged straight at her at full speed, knocking him out of the air and sending her plummeting towards Daring and the two pegasi ended up crashing into each other and falling on the ground.
"I was hoping that you would fall for me. Not the other way around." Flash moaned in pain. Daring was in too much agony to snap back. They looked up to Pinkie and Lightning standing smugly over them. They glanced at each other.
"Switch partners?" Flash asked. Daring looked up at Lightning and realized that Flash was right. Fortunately, she ended up landing next to her whistle. She picked it up and blew a blast at Lightning and managed to catch her by surprise and sent her flying back with Daring flying after her. Pinkie tried to intercept her with one of her horns, but Flash destroyed her toy with an arrow. The earth pony glared menacingly back at him.
"Now you've done it! That was my favorite party horn!" Flash fired at her again, but Pinkie used her remaining party horn to knock the arrow away. Flash smirked when he saw that as it gave him an idea. He loaded another arrow and fired it at Pinkie, who tried to knock it away as well, but when the horn connected it, the arrow exploded with a blinding flash, making Pinkie scream as she covered her eyes.
"A flash from Flash! Appropriate, wouldn't you agree?" Flash said, before he loaded a third arrow and fired it. The arrow split in half and turned into a bola with a rope between the two halves. The rope wrapped around Pinkie and she fell onto the ground.
In the other fight, Daring tackled Lightning to the ground and repeatedly punched her across the face. Lightning managed to recover and raised a hoof to block Daring's strike, before headbutting her in the muzzle. Daring stumbled back and it gave Lightning the opportunity to attack. She knocked Daring back on the ground and flew up into the air before diving towards her opponent to finish her off with a dive bomb strike. But Daring recovered enough to fly up and counter her attack.
"Gonna shove my hoof up your..."
"What are you waiting for?"
The two mares struggled to push back the other, but the struggle was a stalemate. In the end, Daring realized this and instead of struggling further, she just reached for her whistle and before Lightning could react, she blew her away. This not only threw Lightning off course, but it also gave her a nasty ear ring which all but incapacitated her and Daring took this opportunity to finish it off. She flew above Lightning and used her whistle again to send her crashing towards the ground, right into the tied up Pinkie Pie.
"Flash!" she called to the stallion, extending her hoof. The stallion took the hint and flew up to her. They interlocked their hooves and flew towards the ground together at full speed, crashing into the two ponies below, knocking them out for good. Daring looked at the two defeated mears in satisfaction, but when she looked over at Flash, she noticed that they were still holding hooves, which did not go unnoticed by the stalliong, who gave her another teasing look. Daring just glared at her before pulling her hoof away.
"One word and I'll put it in your muzzle." she threatened, but Flash merely chuckled. "Can we just go? We still have a job to do." Flash just motioned in front of himself.
"Ladies first." he smirked. Daring ignored him and was about to run off in the direction where Tempest went, but she was interrupted by a blinding orange flash in front her, which forced her and Flash to cover their eyes. When the light died down, they both looked up to see a familiar unicorn standing in front of them wearing glasses, a goatee and a cape with stars on it. The pegasi immediately recognized him.
"Sunburst!" Flash exclaimed in shock. "What are you doing here?" the unicorn turned to his former Insurgency comrade with a grim look.
"I am looking for you, Flash Sentry. The Crystal Empire is in peril. The Crystal Heart is losing power, our ponies are becoming pale and losing their glimmer. Our power is being drained! I believe it to be the work of a dire threat looming on the horizon. And I do not know if we can stop it." Flash and Daring glanced at each other in confusion.
"You mean Tempest and company?" Flash asked uncertainty. "We got that covered." but Sunburst shook his head.
"Tempest Shadow and the First Order are merely tools of an even greater evil. If we allow it to spread, not just the Empire but all of ponykind will be at risk!" Flash and Daring were horrified at this. "Come with me! After thorough studying, I've discovered that the Crystal Heart can be stabilized with the Elements!" Flash looked alarmed when he heard this and looked over at Daring who raised an eyebrow.
"The Elements? What do they have to do with any of this?" as far as she knew, the Elements of Harmony were no longer intact and even if they were, what did they have to do with her and Flash? Sunburst looked at Flash accusingly.
"I take it Celestia kept it a secret." he said, making Flash back away nervously. The unicorn then turned to the mare. "Celestia managed to restore the Elements. Flash is one of the new bearers. Loyalty I beleive after Rainbow Dash's fall from grace." Flash gulped, but tried to save face.
"Even if what you said is true, Sunburst – and I'm not saying it is – I wouldn't be allowed to go with you. We're on a mission by Celestia. She needs us to remove a threat to Equestria." To Flash's surprise, the unicorn's face hardened.
"Don't you see?!" he asked, stomping his hoof. "Celestia has no say in this! None of us do! He won't stop at the Empire, all of ponykind is in danger! Our lands are being drained of magic! Life as we know it will cease to exist! This need to be dealt with now! You will come with me!" Sunburst approached them as he talked, igniting his horn. "By force if necessary!"
"I think you spent too much time talking to your crystals, Sunny." Daring spoke, trying to calm him down. "They've gotten to your head. What do you say we calm down and..."
"Be silent, Daring Do! This doesn't concern you!" the unicorn yelled uncharacteristically before pushin the mare back against a nearby tree.
"Daring!" Flash yelled in panic before glaring back at Sunburst. "Alright, crystal brain, it is on!" Flash began firing arrows at Sunburst in blind fury. Most of them missed and the ones that did hit just pounced off of a magical barrier. Flash growled in irritation before loading his crossbow again with arrows that contained a little surprise.
"Let's see you block this." Flash whispered as he fired. The arrows once again hit the barrier, but instead of bouncing off of it, they all exploded, which shattered Sunburst's barrier and sent him back on the ground. Flash then loaded his crossbow with a net arrow, but Sunburst finally had enough of playing around.
"Enough!" the unicorn snapped, unleashing a blast that knocked Flash off balance. Sunburst then used his magic to take hold of Flash's crossbow and pull it out of his grasp. The pegasus flew up and tried to regain possession of his weapon, but Sunburst's magic was too strong. In the end, Flash gave up on pulling it away and instead pushed it towards Sunburst and before he could react, he bashed him in the face with it, knocking him out cold.
After he was done with Sunburst, Flash ran to check on Daring. "Come on, Daring. Don't do this to me. Wake up." he said frantically as he shook Daring, trying to wake her up. He checked her pulse, her heartbeat, everything was normal so he didn't understand why wasn't she waking up.
"I think I might have to do CPR." Flash said nervously. Suddenly, Daring's eyes shot open and she sat straight up.
"I'M OK!" Flash was shocked for a moment, but it was instantly replaced by relief over seeing the mare was alright.
"Daring!" he yelled happily before embracing the mare. "I'm so glad you're OK." Daring was taken aback by the sudden gesture, but she couldn't deny it felt good. With a soft, slight smile growing on her lips, she was about to return the embrace, but the tender moment was interrupted by a groan, coming from the defeated Sunburst.
The unicorn came to and was about to stand up, until he found himself shoved back against the ground by Daring's forehooves and and having Flash's loaded crossbow pressed against his throat.
"You were saying..." Flash asked coldly, his voice making it obvious he was still furious about his attack on Daring. Sunburst sighed.
"I'm sorry. I got a little carried away." he said in remorse.
"I'll say." Daring said, stepping off of Sunburst's chest and extedning a hoof to help him up. "What's gotten into you?"
"After I returned to the Crystal Empire following Twilight's defeat, Cadance wasn't too thrilled that I helped Celestia during the war. As punishment, she cast a binding spell on me to make sure I'll stay loyal to her. She sent me to retreive the element bearers to stabilize the Crystal Heart before it is too late." Flash and Daring still didn't understand anything.
"Too late for what, Sunburst? What's going on here?" Daring asked. Sunburst looked like he was about to reply, but then he recoiled as if stopped by an invisible force.
"Cadance's binding spell bars me from saying more. The best I can do for you is return to her and try to convince her of cooperation. I hope you succeed in your mission. For the sake of all of us. For what comes next, mere ponies cannot stop. For better or for worse, our fate lies in the hooves of the princesses." Sunburst said ominously before he disappeared in an orange flash. Flash and Daring looked on in concern.
"That was... spooky." Flash commented. "What do you think he was talking about?"
"I haven't the foggiest. But I'm not sure I want to know." Daring replied before shaking her head to shoo away the troubling thoughts. "Let's just bag Tempest and get the hay outta here." Flash just nodded and the two headed off to find their target.
It didn't take long to locate the broken horned uniorn. She stood in front of a barrack in front of a group of bulking, armored creatures. One of them stepped forward and tossed something on the ground in front of the two approaching ponies. Flash and Daring were horrified to see that it was the battered and bruised Thorax. Apparently, his disguise wasn't good enough.
"You've overstayed your welcome." Tempest snarled. Flash and Daring narrowed thier eyes at her.
"We're happy to check out, but you're coming with us." Daring said as they adopted fighting stances.
"I don't think so." Tempest replied, motioning for the creatures behind her to attack. The creatures leaped, but Daring used her whistle to stun them. They were too strong to be blown back by it, but Flash fired an arrow into the ground, which unleashed an electric shockwave that incapacitated the creatures. Tempest scoffed.
"If you want to do something properly...." she muttered, pulling out a helmet with a horn and put it on. Flash fired arrows at her, but she could block them with a barrier. Daring flew at the mare, trying to get the helmet off, but Tempest fired the arrows she caught at her and Daring had to stop to dodge them.
Daring then flew up and blew her whistle at Tempest who had to form another barrier to protect herself from the sonic blast, but in doing so, she left her rear side defenseless. Flash took advantage of this and got behind her, crossbow ready at hoof and fired two arrows at her which had a long rope between them. The black mare was caught off guard and the arrows tied her up and throwing her off balance long enough to break her barrier spell, giving Daring time to fly down and tear off her helmet, leaving her incapacitated.
Daring and Flash approached the tied mare to take her away, but to their surprise, she looked at them with a smirk and gave a dark chuckle.
"Oh, boy.“ Flash said nervously. "It’s never a good sign when you tie up a mare and they start giggling.“ Daring gave him an odd look. "Never mind how I know that!“ he added quickly.
"You think this is over? You may have won this battle, but you have already lost the war.“
"Well your position tells a different story.“ Daring retorted. "You’re in ropes and we’re taking you back to Celestia to face judgement. This war is over, Tempest!“ Tempest just laughed more.
"On the contrary, Daring Do.“ she looked up at the sky between the heads of the two pegasi. "This war has only just begun.“
Flash and Daring gasped when they noticed a huge shadow being cast over them. They turned around and saw a huge, black zeppelin emerging from between the clouds. Before they could even utter one word of a reaction, a magical beam shot down from the zeppelin right around the two pegasi who found themselves immobilized. They couldn’t even struggle when they noticed that they were being lifted up into the air, right towards the enormous airship.
When they were able to move again, they were no longer at the Badlands in front of a tied up Tempest Shadow, but in a dark room, no doubt on board the airship. They slowly got up to look around.
"Flash?“
"No comment.“
"You have fought your way through the First Order and defeated Tempest Shadow despite the powerful artifact I provided her.“ came a third voice, making Flash grab loading his crossbow and Daring grabbing her whistle as they backed up against each other, looking for the source of the voice. "I wonder what strong magical capabilities you possess to accomplish such a feat.“ Suddenly, a door opened up in the darkness, revealing the owner of the voice. A tall ape-like creature walked into the room with white fur, covered in black armor and carrying a staff. Flash and Daring weren’t sure what to make of it.
"Who are you?“
"And more importantly, what are you?“ the creature looked them over and his expression changed from curiosity to dismissiveness.
"You can call me… The Storm King.“ he then banged his staff into the ground and released two green magical orbs that flew straight at the two pegasi. They tried to fly away, but the orbs were too fast and they found themselves trapped inside them. They tried to break out by banging on their walls but it was useless. As a last resort, Daring took his whistle and blew it to break out with a sonic blast. At first, it looked like this might actually work. The orb cracked, but when the Storm King noticed this, he made the orb shrink in size, squeezing the mare into a ball. Flash immediately stop struggling when he noticed this.
"Stop! Please! Your going to crush her!“ the Storm King grinned cruelly.
" Surrender, and it stops.“ he mused coldly. Flash didn’t like to admit defeat and concede, but at the moment, he saw no alternative.
'Fine.“ he spat. "Just ease up on her.“ the Storm King smiled in victory and the orb around Daring suddenly increased in size, making her breath in relief. "Trinkets and primitive weapons. How disappointing. I was hoping to harvest your special powers. But it seems my confidence in Tempest Shadow was misplaced if you could beat her with toys.“ Flash glared at him.
"Well if you’re so sure of your superiority, why don’t you let us out and show us. We might surprise you.“
"You might not be what I expected, but you might still prove useful to me." He then turned around and walked out of the room with the orbs containing the two pegasi floating next to him.
"I’m guessing you’re the 'dire threat‘ Sunburst warned us about.“ Flash said. "What do you want?“ The Storm King gave the stallion a dismissive glare.
"I seek your alicorn princesses. Especially Twilight Sparkle. I’ve heard a lot about this 'magic of friendship‘ and how powerful it is. It sounds like a power worth collecting.“
"I guess you didn’t get the memo.“ Daring taunted. "Twilight isn’t all that friendly anymore. And ever since she lost her horn, she’s not that powerful either.“
"I am aware of her recent personality change.“ The Storm King replied as he walked up to the window of his airship. "But while she may have lost her ability to cast magic, her power is still inside her. I will rip it from her body and with it and the other alicorns‘ magic, no one will ever be able to stand against me.“ Flash and Daring raised an eyebrow skeptically.
"And you expect them and the rest of Equestria’s protectors to just lie down for you while you do that.“
"The princesses and the rest of Equestria's 'protectors‘ are too busy with their petty squabbles against each other and too severely weakened from their civil war.“ The Storm King chuckled, before he levitated the two ponies in front of himself. "I on the other hand, have spent decades conquering land after land, harvesting them and their populace of their magic. As I will do to Equestria. The chances of them stopping me are slim to none.“
"Don’t underestimate ponykind.“ Daring snarled. "Especially Celestia! She will find a way to stop you!“ the Storm King chuckled again.
"She is more than welcome to try.“ a few of the Storm King’s guards then approached them. "Lock them up until I find some use for them.“ they took the ponies away and the Storm King turned back to the window to look down upon Equestria once again with an evil smirk, barely able to wait for the crack of dawn when the attack started. He laughed as he recalled Daring warning her about about Equestria’s protectors. There were no protectors here. No alicorns, no Elements of Harmony. This land will fall, like all the others.
As usual, Friendly Discount finished setting up his stand on the Ponyville market before the first rays of the morning sun peaked out from beneath the horizon, ready for another uneventful day. Of course, being the most successful merchant in the town ever since it was rebuilt after the Regime attack two years ago meant that even an uneventful day will be quite busy for him. Sure enough, he barely finished placing all the groceries he sold onto the stand when his first customer of the day approached him.
"Fluttershy!" he greeted the yellow Pegasus approaching his stand with her saddlebag and her pet bunny, Angel on her back. "How are you this fine morning?" he asked with a friendly smile, which the mare returned.
"I'm fine Mr. Discount. Thank you." she responded, but the stallion groaned in response.
"Flutters, we've been over this." he said in mock annoyance, causing Fluttershy to blush.
"I'm sorry, Friendly. It's just... I'm not used to being so casual or... Well friendly - no pun intended - with other merchants since I moved back to the town. Or anypony for that matter." Friendly gave her a sad look.
"Are the others giving you any trouble?" he asked.
"They tend to overcharge their products with me and with my pet daycare and veteranian business not going as well as I'd like, I'm barely getting by." she replied, hanging her head down.
"I'm sorry to hear that, Flutters." the salespony replied, petting her on the shoulder.
"It's not like I hadn't expected it. I knew that ponies won't be thrilled to leave their pets in the care of Fluttershy, 'Convicted Regime Criminal.'" she said sadly.
"Pardoned Regime Criminal." Friendly corrected. "Give them time. They'll come around." he reassured. Fluttershy wished to share her friend's optimism, but it had been two years since she moved back into the town and it hadn't been getting any easier for her. She was about to order the usual, when she suddenly noticed her surroundings becoming very dark. And she was not the only one to notice it.
Everypony on the square looked up to the sky in confusion to see waves of zeppelin airships coming out from between the clouds. Their confusion turned to fear when they saw huge, armored creatures jumping out of them and landing all around the town. They wasted no time. They started rounding up ponies on the streets and tearing apart buildings looking for those who were hiding inside.
When one of the creatures grabbed Friendly Discount with the visible intention to take him away, Fluttershy got over her shock and fear and let out a sharp whistle. A moment later, the creature screamed in pain as a bunch of hornets came out of nowhere and stung him in the backside. He took off with the swarm following him and Fluttershy helped Friendly up.
"Thanks, Flutters. You already validated my faith in you." he smiled at her. He then looked up at the sky and saw the airships heading towards Canterlot.
"They're heading towards the capitol!" Friendly exclaimed. "Fluttershy, how many animals can you take there very fast?" The pegasus' eyes widened at the question.
"Uhm... My pardon agreement made it clear that I'm no longer welcome there!" she replied.
"You think that matters when the country is being invaded?!" Friendly snapped, making Fluttershy back away in fear. Friendly calmed himself and adopted a more encouraging tone. "Look, Flutters. Celestia decided to give you another chance. Because she felt like you deserve it! And if she says you can redeem yourself, who are you to argue?" Fluttershy mulled over what he said and Friendly saw that his words were getting through to her. "Go! We can hold out! Canterlot needs you more than we do right now!" Fluttershy looked back at him and gave him a determined nod before taking off. Friendly was right. It was time for the Element of Kindness to fly again. And Equestria's living creatures would be right there by her side.
Celestia entered the Eye of the Sun. She hasn't heard anything about the Flash, Daring or Thorax since yesterday and she was getting worried. She decided to use her surveillance system to see how were they doing in the Badlands, but she was both frustrated and surprised to see that the crystals were not responding.
"What is wrong? Why aren't they working?" she jumped back in fright when the room was filled by a deep evil laugh.
"Because they are no longer under your control." the screens around the room all moved out of their position and lined up in front of Celestia to form a larger, unified screen in front of her. The giant screen then went black and the Storm King's face came up on it, grinning down at the startled princess. "But mine."
It took Celestia a few moments to get over her shock. When she did, she tried to wrestle the control over the system back from the Storm King with her magic, but it was a futile effort.
"Don't bother." the Storm King laughed. "I wield magic far beyond yours in your weakened state." Celestia glared up at him.
'Who is this creature and how does he know so much about me?' she pondered.
"You have lost your throne, your power and your student. And you are about to lose your country as well." the Storm King mocked.
"I wouldn't boast about victory prematurely." Celestia cut back. "Who are you?"
"You can call me the Storm King. And I have already won. As we speak, my forces have already decimated the majority of yours in every major equestrian city. Your greatest defenders have all turned against you and your precious Elements of Harmony are gone. Equestria is basically free for the taking." the Storm King gloated. Celestia narrowed her eyes.
'So he doesn't know about the restored elements. That could work to my advantage.'
"But your country is just the cherry on the top. I am far more interested in your magical abilities. You may have been weakened by your student but your alicorn magic inside you still remains powerful. You and your fellow alicorns will all belong to me." Celestia was taken aback by the fact that he knew about this as well, but she wasn't about to show it.
"I may have a few surprises left in store." she said clamly, before turning around to leave.
"I can't wait to see them." the Storm King laughed before the screen went black. Celestia left the underground chamber, pondering what she should do next. If what the Storm King told her was true, Equestria's defenses were already overwhelmed. If she wanted any chance at winning, she needed to rally whatever allies she had left and hit the Storm King directly. Which would not be easy if she didn't know anything about her enemy. But maybe there was a way to find out more. The Storm King seemed to be very familiar with recent events in Equestria. Especially the ones regarding her and her former student, Twilight Sparkle.
'Could it be that her and this Storm King have crossed paths before?' she wondered. She couldn't be sure, but it was the only lead she had. Immediately, Celestia knew what she'll have to do next. She wasn't eager about it, but it seemed like she would have to pay a visit to an old friend.
True to the Storm King's words, Royal Guard units in Canterlot were quickly overwhelmed by the Storm King's forces. Pegasi and Earth Pony civilians quickly fled, but the unicorns were not so lucky. They were being rounded up by the enemy soldiers whose leader was scanning them with a strange device.
Around them were four more of them standing guard. The results of the creature's scans apparently didn't bring the desired results as he groaned in irritation when he finished and motioned for his underlings to finish the ponies, but before any of them could move, they were interrupted by the roar of a bear who quickly rushed in and banged two of the creatures' heads together, knocking them out. A third one was attacked by flocks of birds and the fourth found his head wrapped up in spider web. Their leader could only watch in shock before he was knocked out from behind by Fluttershy who slammed into him at top speed from behind. She then turned to the hostages.
"Get yourselves to safety!" they didn't need to be told twice. While the situation was dire, Fluttershy couldn't help but feel good that she was able to do good for the ponies of Equestria again. Maybe Celestia and Friendly Discount were right. There was hope for her after all.
The Storm King and Tempest Shadow were on the airship serving as the conqueror's base of operations, observing the events in Canterlot on a magical screen. The Storm King was pleased to see how his invasion was going, which only made the interference of Fluttershy and her animals all the more angering for him.
"The former element of kindness has returned to action." he growled in frustration. However, Tempest's confident smirk remained.
"Nothing unexpected. I have already dispatched a group to give her a proper greeting." this news was more to the Storm King's liking. He returned Tempest's smirk before they turned their gaze back to the screen.
They were not the only ones observing the events. In Stalliongrad, Blueblood and Rainbow Dash were watching the invasion commence through a magic screen of their own.
"Only Canterlot?" Dash asked. Blueblood shook his head.
"Sadly no. Ponyville, Manehattan, Baltimare, Appleoosa. It's a full scale invasion."
They were watching so closely that didn't notice Luster Dawn behind them. She was also watching the screen and her blood went cold when she saw a familiar black airship.
"It's him." she whispered with utter dread, making Dash and Blueblood finally noticed her.
"Who Luster? Who is it?" Luster didn't answer. She had seen firsthoof what the Storm King is capable of. If he finally gathered enough power for himself to launch a full scale invasion against all of Equestria, then that meant...
"We need to get Princess Twilight! NOW!"
Fluttershy had just finished dispatching another group of the Storm King's forces when her bird friends brought her news of another captured group of unicorns near the palace. She was currently on her way there, but unknown to her, she was anticipated. On a nearby roof, Bon Bon was standing with a bola launcher, spying the sky for the yellow pegasus. A whirl in the air let her know that her target just passed and after locking on her, she fired her weapon.
Fluttershy never saw it coming. The bola wrapped itself around her and she ended up crashing into the ground. After a few seconds, she managed to free herself, but her joy was short lived when she saw a set of hooves approaching her, which was accompanied by a familiar voice. A voice she didn't remember fondly.
"An excellent shot, Bon Bon! But of course, you wouldn't expect anything less from Equestria's greatest monster hunter." Flam mused as he looked down at Fluttershy in contempt. "Oh, darling Fluttershy. You look absolutely horrible. How would you like a dose of Flam's brand new Hard Cider to make you feel better. It's on the house." he snarled, aiming his weapon and firing a blast of liquid at Fluttershy. Flam didn't joke when he said this stuff was hard. Fluttershy could feel her coat and wings getting stiff as the cider dried on them fast. It was getting hard for her to move her wings.
"What are you doing, Flam?" Fluttershy demanded as she struggled to get the stuff off of her. "Can't you see what's happening around here?"
"It sure is a crazy day, no argument there." Flam replied casually before his expression grew dark. "Kinda like the one when Twilight went nuts and you went right along with her." Fluttershy looked down in shame.
"I know the Regime was a mistake. And I have no excuse for following Twilight into her madness. We have committed many injustices. Even against criminals like you. Punish me if you want, but don't take it out on these innocent ponies." she begged, but her words fell in deaf ears.
"You mean the same 'innocent ponies' who cheered Twilight when she executed my brother and almost did me in too?" he growled, venom practically dripping from his voice. Fluttershy narrowed her eyes. She knew Flam was right to be angry at her and Twilight for what they did, but she was not going to back down. She had ponies to save.
"I really am sorry for how you suffered, though you probably don't believe it. But I'm not going to let you hurt these ponies. I'm going to save them and if you stand in my way, I will not show you mercy. Sympathetic motive or not." Thankfully, Flam was too busy with his rant to notice some of Fluttershy's smaller animal friends sneaking on her back and licking the hardening cider off of her wings.
Soon enough, Fluttershy felt that she could move her wings again and she took full advantage of the element of surprise. She managed to catch Flam off guard and tried to yank his gun away, but she didn't see that it was connected to the tank on his back by a tube. She couldn't take possession of the weapon. Flam tried taking advantage of this by bashing Fluttershy in the face with it, which made her stumble back. The unicorn then took aim once again and blasted Fluttershy with the liquid, sending her back on the ground.
Fluttershy cursed under her breath. Her animals won't be able to get her out of it now. She'll have to stay on the ground. She tried to run out of the way of Flam's weapon, but the liquid hardening on her coat made it hard to move. Flam shot at her again and hit her in the flank. Fluttershy felt her entire body growing stiff from the liquid. Flam walked up to her with a smirk and aimed his weapon for a finishing blow that would leave her incased. He pulled the trigger, but was surprised to find that nothing came out of it.
"What the..." Flam uttered, lifting the weapon to his muzzle and looking into the barrier. "It can't be empty yet." he looked back at the tank and saw something he wasn't prepared for. Angel Bunny was standing on Flam's back with a smug smirk, holding the tube connecting the gun to the tank tied into a bow. When Flam looked at him, he untied the bow and the liquid instantly flown into the barrel.
"Oh, horsea...AHHHHH!" Flam screamed as the cider hit him in the muzzle. The wave he took in the muzzle was so massive that the liquid instantly immobiliized him. Angel then hopped over to Fluttershy and tried to lick the cider off of her, but the pony quickly realized that it wasn't working.
"It's no use Angel. It's gotten too solid. Try biting it off instead." the pegasus suggested. The rabbit was about to do just that, when suddenly a bole hit him out of nowhere and sent him crashing into a nearby wall with a squeak.
"ANGEL!"
Fury filled Fluttershy as she shook her wings so furiously that she ended up breaking free of the solidified cider and flew straight into the direction where the projectile came from to give whoever who hurt her precious bunny the beating of a lifetime, but another bola hit her and knocked her back. Fluttershy crashed into a wall, but slowly managed to get up and free herself of the ropes to see Bon Bon approaching her, aiming her bola launcher.
"You're no Rainbow Dash, Flutters." she said. "Just stand down, okay? I feel bad about this already." but Fluttershy wasn't in a cooperative mood.
"You hurt my bunny." she snarled.
"For what it's worth, Fluttershy, I AM sorry about this. But with Lyra's life at stake, I can't afford to play nice." Bon Bon replied sadly.
"What does Lyra have to do with this?"
"Tempest has her. So whether I like it or not, i have to do her dirty work." Fluttershy just couldn't bring herself to care at the moment. All she saw was the creature who hurt Angel Bunny. She grabbed the bola she just struggled off of herself and whipped it at Bon Bon, knocking her weapon out of her hooves. She then threw the bola at the earth pony, but Bon Bon easily dodged it.
"You don't become Equestria's top monster hunter by being slow." she said. She then went on the offensive. She tried punching Fluttterhy, but she could manage to avoid her hooves. Realizing that this was pointless, Bon Bon jumped back and grabbed the bola Fluttershy threw at her. She then ran at the pegasus and whipped her side with the bola. Fluttershy fell on the ground and held her side in pain, but she had no time to make a sound as Bon Bon walked behind her and wrapped the bola around her neck and pulled it back, strangling Fluttershy.
Fluttershy gagged. She had to think of something fast. She gathered all of her remaining strength and brought her head back, bashing Bon Bon in the muzzle. The earth pony let go of the bola to hold her bleeding nose and Fluttershy took the opportunity to fly away and grab Bon Bon's bola launcher lying on the ground. It had only one more left in it, but that was more then enough. She fired it at Bon Bon, wrapping her up and then threw the weapon at her, hitting her in the head and knocking her out. She had no time to savor her victory as she heard weak and desperate squeak coming from her still trapped bunny.
"Angel!" Fluttershy went to check on her rabbit and release him from the bola, but before she could reach him, another pegasus came in and crashed into the mare at full speed, jamming his forelegs into her stomach and sending her back to the ground. Fluttershy groaned in pain as she held her stomach and looked up to see who was her attacker. Her shock made her forget about her pain.
"Tempest knew that a little mayhem would lure you out of hiding." the stallion smirked down at her.
"Zephyr Breeze?!" Fluttershy cried in disbelief. "What are you doing here?!"
"Oh, I wouldn't miss this family reunion for the world." he mused before flying at Fluttershy and delivering several punches into her muzzle and sending her further back with an uppercut. Fluttershy was caught so off guard about how her own brother was attacking her, she couldn't react in time to defend herself. When she landed on the ground again, she tried to fly away, but Zephyr was right in front of her again.
"Leaving so soon?" he snarled before trying to punch her in the face again, but Fluttershy managed to get over his shock in time to lift a foreleg and block. Zephyr growled and swung around to deliver a buck into his sister's stomach. Fluttershy clunched her stomach in pain and Zephyr took advantage of this by punching her in the muzzle again. "Stay a while." he siad, banging his forehooves together as he floated over his sister.
"Wh-" Fluttershy coughed in pain. "Why are you doing this? I'm your sister..." Zephyr narrowed his eyes at her.
"Oh, NOW you remember?!" he roared before kicking her in the side, sending her back further. "You had no problem forgetting that when your Regime buddies threw me in a labor camp in the Badlands!" Fluttershy looked down in shame. That was Twilight's favored method of keeping some of her disgruntled officers in line. She implied this threat towards her on several occasions as well when she felt like her loyalty towards her was wavering, but she never thought she'd actually go through with it.
"Did you know that Mom and Dad also ended up in there with me?" Fluttershy looked up in alarm.
"What?"
"Yeah. Those Regime bastards literally worked them to death. They almost did with me too. There was only one thing keeping me going. That one day, I would get out and pay the debt back." Zephyr launched himself at his sister again but Fluttershy got out of the way. Her wings were operational again, so she took flight and left the square. She needed to be as far away from there as possible in the light of what she just learned.
But Zephyr gave chase. The two pegasi zipped through the ruined streets of Canterlot, dodging the Storm King's patroling guards and fallen debris. Zephyr's speed greatly increased during his time in the labor camp, but he still couldn't catch up with his sister. They ended up flying out of the city. Fluttershy tried heading back towards Ponyville, but she ended up flying towards a forest area just outside the town.
Fluttershy had to slow down to take turn between the trees, which allowed Zephyr to catch up with her. She needed to be at the edge of her reflexes to dodge his attacks and keep flying. Fluttershy scowled as she realized what just happened. Zephyr had purposefully chased her towards these woods to slow her down. She had to think fast.
She grabbed a branch and pulled it back before letting go of it, making it slap Zephyr in the face. It threw him off course for long enough for Fluttershy to fly above the trees and keep flying towards Ponyville. She managed to reach the town, but she needed to get out of sight to avoid fighting her brother. She found refugee in a broken barrel lying behind a cart. Zephyr managed to catch up with her, but he was unable to locate her hiding place. After a few moments of looking around, he growled in frustration and flew away.
Fluttershy crawled out of her hiding spot and shook off the cider drops that dropped on her inside the barrel.
"I'm not sure how many more reunions I can take." she said.
"Guess Ah can come back later."
Fluttershy spun around in shock to see an old friend walking up to her. It was Applejack, but she looked different from the last time she saw her. Gone was the peaked cap and the green officer west. She was now wearing her signature stetson hat and a green kerchief with Apples on it. But most surprisingly to Fluttershy, she was giving her a friendly smile. As if they weren't fighting each other on this exact same spot two years ago.
"Applejack?!" Fluttershy stepped back with a shriek before shooting the farmmare a glare. "No! Not you! Not now!" Applejack was visibly hurt by her friend's refusal of her approach.
"Geez, Flutters! Nice to see you too." she deadpanned. Fluttershy maintained her glare.
"Which one of your family members' dead head did you pry that hat off of?" she challenged. Applejack stepped back in shock at her friend's accusation, before stepping forward and meeting her glare.
"Ah did not do that! Ah earned the right to wear this hat again! They gave me another chance!" she countered.
"Even after you bailed on them to serve Twilight?!" Fluttershy yelled back in anger. Applejack's expression darkened at the accusation. But it wasn't normal anger. Fluttershy could swear that she saw a dark glint in Applejack's eyes before she started approaching her menacingly.
"And what about ya?!" Applejack roared and for a moment Flutterdash thought that she heard her voice echoing. "What were ye doin' while Twilight tossed yer kin in labor camp and had them worked to death?! You were cowerin' in the corner! So don't ye give me that holier than ye talk!"
She suddenly lunged at Fluttershy and swung her hoof at her. Fluttershy managed to pull back in time to avoid being punched. She then grabbed Applejack's leg and threw her over her shoulder. The farmmare landed far from the pegasus, but she instantly turned back to her with the same furious look and charged like a raging bull. Fluttershy could only dodge the repeated attacks but the fact that she was unable to hit her made Applejack even madder. She turned around and bucked Fluttershy in the chest, sending her back against the abandoned cart she was hiding under just a minute ago. Applejack then ran up to her and raised a hoof to strike her again, but Fluttershy flew out of the way and Applejack's hoof went through the wood and got stuck.
While she struggled to pull her hoof out, Fluttershy flew up and grabbed the barrel she was hiding in and threw it at Applejack which made her stagger back and collapse on the ground. She then immediately got up and Fluttershy thought she was about to attack again, but then Applejack suddenly stopped and held a hoof against her head while grunting in pain. Fluttershy could only watch her in confusion. Applejack shut her eyes close as she collapsed on the ground and grasped her head between her forelegs. Fluttershy approached her carefully, her eyes changing to concern as she watched her friend struggling in pain.
"Are... Are you alright?" she asked as she cautiously placed a hoof on her shoulder. Applejack finally stopped struggling and opened her eyes, looking up at Fluttershy in sadness and shame.
"Ah... Ah'm sorry, Shy. Ah don't know what came over me." Being the former - and unknowingly, the current - Element of Honesty, meant that she was very poor at telling lies. And Fluttershy spotted it immediately. She felt like Applejack knew exactly what came over her, but she decided not to push it.
"Why... Why are you here?" she asked, returning to her usual timid voice.
"Ah'm helpin' the folks in the town escape these attackers and fight back wherever we can." Applejack replied. Fluttershy raised an eyebrow.
"We?"
"De whole Apple family." her expression then changed to a warm smile. "It sure feels good to fight side by side again with mah kin. Though Big Mac still gives me de stink eye most of de time. He was always good at holdin' a grudge."
"Did you... mean what you said earlier?" Fluttershy asked uncertainly. "About your family giving you another chance?" Applejack nodded.
"Ah'm tryin' to make things right, Shy. That's why ah have been lookin' for ye. Because we are in the same position. Ah betrayed mah country, mah family and mah friends. That's the worst part." Fluttershy knew exactly what she meant.
"Everyday since the Regime's fall, I've been reminded of how I failed everypony and everything that mattered to me." she lamented.
"We both got a long way to go, Shy. Ah reckoned it would be easier if we went together." Applejack said, extending a hoof towards the pegasus. Fluttershy was uncertain at first, but in the end, her desire to reconnect with her old friend overcame her fears. She took the offered hoof and shook it. The Mane 6 will never be whole again - Twilight made sure of that - but at least two of them were together once more.
Celestia walked through the halls of Tartarus, heading towards the cell of her former student and friend in the hopes of getting more information about the Storm King. As she passed several cages, she could feel the inmates' gazes upon her. Many of them of the most notorious criminals of Equestria's history, but there were also several former Regime members like Spitfire, Starlight Glimmer, Luna and even Flurry Heart. Celestia didn't look back at them. She spent more than enough time mourning the fall of these ponies. And there were more important things at hoof.
She finally reached her destination, the cage of Twilight Sparkle. The broken horned alicorn was lying on her side with her back turned to Celestia. She didn't know if she was actually asleep, but when her shadow loomed over Twilight, cast onto the ground in front of her, Twilight turned around and looked up at her former mentor. Twilight then sat up and turned towards Celestia with a curious look. She obviously didn't expect Celestia to visit anytime soon. The two alicorns kept staring at each other in silence for a few moments before the purple one broke the silence.
"I didn't expect to see you again so soon. How long has it been?"
"Two years." Celestia replied bluntly after a short pause. Twilight snorted.
"Right. Did you decide I was ready for a shot at reformation so soon or did you just miss me so bad?" Twilight asked cynically. Celestia wasn't in the mood for her games.
"Does the name 'Storm King' say anything to you?" Twilight's eyes suddenly went wide.
"Where did you hear that name?" she asked nervously. Celestia just nodded.
"I'll take that as a yes. And your even afraid of him. He must be quite formidable. He's invading. He says he wants our alicorn powers and conquer Equestria." she explained. Twilight looked down in concern.
"Yeah, that sounds like him. I had my Regime intelligence do a little digging into this guy during my time. He's a conqueror. He invades nations and drains them of magic to increase his power. He's already a powerhouse. With our power, he will be pretty much unstoppable." Celestia tried not showing her concern in front of Twilight. This was troubling news indeed. But she could see that Twilight was holding something back from her.
"There's something you're not telling me." Celestia said with a raised eyebrow. Twilight nodded.
"Oh, yes. It gets even better. Turns out, this bastard was the one who gave Chrysalis the bomb that destroyed Canterlot." Celestia could no longer hide her shock. If what Twilight said was true, then this creature was responsible for the destruction of Canterlot and everything that followed. No doubt he wanted to weaken Equestria for his invasion. But be that as it may, Celestia had to collect herself to deal with the current situation.
"Well, if you know so much about him, you obviously know how to stop him as well." she said. Twilight gave her a grim look.
"You can't. Not without me." Twilight replied. Celestia let out an inner growl.
'How did I know this was coming?' she thought.
"Of course you would say that. But I don't see how a broken horned, depowered pony can be of use to me in this crisis." Twilight narrowed her eyes, but soon, a confident smirk grew on her face.
"You're depowered too, remember? I was thorough with that spell. And I can feel you're still recovering. Without me, you don't stand a chance." Celestia returned Twilight's glare.
"You know me, Twilight. I always find a way." And with that, she turned around and left. Twilight was furious. She screamed in anger and lunged forward as much as her chains allowed.
"It's always about you, isn't it, Celestia?! That bastard helped Chrysalis destroy my family! This is my fight too! You'll need me!" Celestia paid her no mind. "Celestia?!" She just kept walking. "CELESTIA!!!"
Her talk with her former student still rang throughout Celestia's head. She was well aware that her powers still haven't been fully restored ever since the Regime's fall. But to let out Twilight to help? Even if Twilight had a way to restore her own powers, it would have been way too risky. It was sad to say but she could no longer trust Twilight. What if she overthrew her again the instant they defeated the Storm King? She had to find another way.
Seeing as the Storm King's forces have overrun the castle and the Eye of the Sun, Celestia needed a temporary base of operations. She silently complimented herself for not shutting down the old Insurgency base where she lead her war against Twilight from. She knew the time would come when it would be useful again. And apparently, she wasn't the only one who had that idea.
"Fluttershy!" she exclaimed in joy when she saw the yellow pegasus. "I was hoping the reports of you fighting the Storm King's forces in Canterlot were correct! Hurry! We must make haste! We have to gather any available defender we can!" Fluttershy eyed the princess nervously.
"Uhm... well... you see... I... I have... already gathered one." she then stepped aside to reveal Applejack standing behind her. The farmmare held her head down with her eyes turned up towards Celestia.
"Howdy, Princess? How are ye doin'?" Celestia was shocked to see Applejack again, especially in her base. But after she got over her surprise, she narrowed her eyes at the earth pony.
"I am no longer a princess, Applejack. And I have your former employer to thank for that." she then turned to Fluttershy. "What is she doing here?" Fluttershy decided to put her timid nature aside and stand up for her friend.
"You said it yourself, we need any available defender. Here's one." Celestia wasn't convinced.
"I'm not sure this is a good idea, Fluttershy." she turned to walk away, but Fluttershy flew in front of her.
"You gave ME a second chance." Fluttershy offered.
"Because you got your head straight and helped me take down Twilight. But if she was still in charge. she would still wear a peaked cap instead of her stetson."
"Ahm not that pony anymore!" Applejack blurted suddenly, making the other two ponies jump. Apparently, even Applejack was surprised by her outburst and her voice once again held that anger and dark power Fluttershy felt when they fought in Ponyville. But before she could comment on it, Applejack walked up to Celestia. " Look, I git why ya don't trust me, but you SHOULD trust my kin. Dey put me through Tartarus to re-earn deir respect 'n trust." Celestia remained silent, though her expression softened a little. Applejack took the silence as a refusal.
"Never mind. De other apples already have their plates full and dey need me. Just thought it would be easier if we cooperated." she said as she turned around to leave. Celestia watched her leave towards the exit, she was still conflicted, but then she remembered the words of the other universe's Cadance.
'You never know, Celestia. Sometimes you have to take a leap of faith. It might pay off greatly.'
"Applejack, wait!" she called out, making the farmer turn her head back. "I have been considering widening my circle of trust for a while now. Perhaps it would be ideal to start with you." Applejack smiled brightly before walking back to Celestia.
"What do ya need me to do?"
"You're going to the Crystal Empire." Celestia instructed. "Cadance's and the crystal ponies support is going to be vital for our defense." Applejack and Flutterhy shared an uncertain look.
"Cadance and the Empire haven't contacted us ever since the Regime's fall." Fluttershy said. "She wasn't happy that Twilight dragged her and her country into the attack on Canterlot."
"And de fact that we threw her daughter into Tartarus probably also didn't help." Applejack added. "She's not gonna be happy to see me."
"You might want to get used to that." Celestia replied before walking away. "Now go. Fluttershy, follow me. We must make preparations."
"Ouch." Applejack said upon hearing the alicorn's comment. "Don't ya think that comment was uncalled for?" she asked Fluttershy.
"Frankly, no. I think it's quite accurate." she replied sadly before she went to join Celestia. Applejack nodded. Fluttershy wasn't exactly thrilled when they met again either. But Applejack could only shudder when she thought about how she would have reacted if she knew the little secret she was now carrying. It was best not to think of it, so she just decided to leave for the Crystal Empire. Before she lost control again.
"Hey, let me out of here!" One of the Storm King's troops demanded from within a cell. The other two standing outside just groaned in irritation.
"Nice try, changeling, but it won't work for the third time." they responded. The guard in the cell sighed in defeat as he morphed back into Thorax.
"Actually, it would have been the fourth, but close enough." he replied. He's been trying to escape from his captivity at the First Order's base in the Badlands for two days. While the guards fell for his shape-shifting trick the first three times, his cover was always blown before he could get back to the air balloon they left outside when they snuck in. He was running out of ideas.
Suddenly, Pinkie Pie bounced in, humming a happy tune and carrying two boxes on her back, before stopping in front of the two guards.
"Commander Tempest sends these as a token of her appreciation for the great work you have been doing." she announced happily as she offered them the boxes. The guards gazed at the boxes before exchanging a confused look.
"Even though we let the prisoner escape two times?" One of them asked.
"Three times." Pinkie and Thorax corrected together.
"Just take it. Before the commander changes her mind." his colleague told him as he took the boxes off of Pinkie's hooves.
They opened them happily, only for their expressions to turn to terror when they saw what was inside them. Two giant boxing gloves sprung out of the boxes and hit them right in the middle of the face, knocking them out. Pinkie then took the key of Thorax's cell as the changeling king watched in confusion.
"Pinkie what was that?" he asked dumbfounded.
"Well, what do you think, silly? This is the part where the mole helps the captured hero escape. Haven't you read the script?" she answered as she opened the cell.
"The what?" Thorax asked before something else caught his attention. "Wait. You're a mole?!"
"Yuperooney!" she replied cheerfully. "Celestia sent me to find out what Tempest is up to. Sadly, I couldn't get her to trust me enough to reveal the Storm King part of her plan to me."
"The Storm King? That's the name of the weirdo these creeps work for?"
"I'll tell you more on the way back to Canterlot. We should hurry. Celestia needs us. And I'm sure she's worried about her suitor." she teased with a wink. Thorax blushed.
"Let's just go, alright? The balloon's on the edge of this base."
As expected, Princess Cadence was less than thrilled when Applejack showed up in the Crystal Palace. The alicorn was looking out the window at the horizon where the forces of the Storm King were closing in on the capital, refusing to even cast a glance at Applejack. Sunburst was standing nervously in the corner, dreading the result of the conversation. His attempt to convince Cadance to swallow her pride and stand with Equestria again was fruitless. All he managed to accomplish was angering Cadance further. He had a feeling that this meeting won't end well for Applejack.
"So Celestia wants us to fight her war for her?" she growled coldly before finally turning her gaze at her unwelcome guest. "Like when Twilight forced us to attack Canterlot?" Applejack hung her head in shame.
"We were both on the wrong side in dat war." she replied. "But dis is not de time to..." she started, but Cadance cut her off.
"The next time the Crystal Ponies will bleed, it will be for the Empire and not for anyone else's kingdom!" she yelled. "We have enough trouble as it is, trying to fend off the First Order's forces! Celestia's and Equestria's concerns are not mine!"
"Your highness." Cadance turned her head to see Sunburst approaching her nervously. "Maybe we should consider..." Cadance lit up her horn and Sunburst backed away, grabbing his head in pain.
"Speak when you're spoken to, Sunburst! You already failed to bring me the new Element bearers! You are in no position to question me!" she then turned back to Applejack. "Now leave! And remind Celestia, stay out of my empire!" she barked before turning back to the window. But Applejack wasn't having it.
"And when dat shows up on yer doorstep?!" Applejack asked harshly as she pointed at the Storm King's airship hoovering in the distance. "Wat den?!" Cadance just shrugged.
"The Crystal Empire will defend itself." she replied without looking back at her. Applejack couldn't believe how casual Cadance was about the fate of her homeland.
"Ye can't do dis Cadance..."
"Princess Cadance!" Cadance corrected sharply, but Applejack ignored her.
"Yer one of us too! Yer from..."
"I'm from Equestria! I am well aware of that! But my duty is to the Crystal Empire! Don't try to sweet talk me into this, Applejack! I don't trust you! You or any Equestrian! Now for the last time, begone! I do not need your distractions!"
Applejack felt something snap inside her. She narrowed her eyes at the princess as they lit up with rage. Cadance actually found herself backing away nervously as she felt the dark energy radiating from the farmmare.
"You've got some guts talkin' to me like dat! Where was all dis patriotic talk when ye sold out the empire to Twilight, huh?!" she yelled accusingly. Cadance suddenly felt all of her nervousness go away as she returned Applejack:s glare.
"Leave. Now!" She snarled through her teeth. Applejack stomped with her front hoof.
"NO!" she yelled, making the room echo. "Ah will not leave!" Cadance had had it. She flapped her wings and rose into the air above Applejack.
"Need I remind you whose empire this is?!" Cadance roared, trying to intimidate the other mare, but Applejack didn't even flinch. In the blink of an eye, Applejack pulled out a lasso and threw it at the alicorn floating in front of her. Cadance was so shocked by this that she didn't even have time to react. The lasso wrapped around her forelegs and Applejack gave it an almighty pull, causing the alicorn to crash into the floor.
Applejack then started pulling the downed towards herself, but Cadance managed to pull herself together enough to blast a spell at Applejack. To her surprise, the spell barely made her stumble. All it did was make her madder. She dropped the lasso on the ground and charged at Cadance like a raging bull. Cadance didn't even have to cast another spell. She and Applejack became engaged in a rapid exchange of blows with their forelegs.
Cadance may have been an alicorn, she had nothing on Applejack in terms of physical strength. Applejack tackled Cadance and the ground and raised a hoof to bring it down hard into Cadance's muzzle, but she was interrupted by Sunburst who placed a hoof on her shoulder and gave her a pleading look.
"Applejack, stop! This is not you! I don't know what possessed you into acting this way, but you have to snap out of it! This is not the time to turn on each other!" Applejack was about to buck Sunburst back, but his words reached a part of her that was still struggling against the dark urges consuming her. She closed her eyes in an attempt to regain her senses and after a few moments, managed to calm down enough to let Cadance go.
"Ahm... ahm sorry." she said in shame as she backed away from the alicorn. "Ah did not come'ere to fight ye. Ah'll be leavin'" Applejack turned away to leave, but before she even reached the door, the palace was shaken by an explosion.
"What was that?" Sunburst asked in alarm. Cadance's eyes widened.
"Damn! They managed to infiltrate the castle! And with all our guards on the front, we're defenseless!" she cursed.
"The Crystal Heart!" Sunburst yelled. "We have to make sure it's still full! Without it, the Empire is done for! Not only our civilians, but our soldiers would also lose their will to go on!"
"Refilling the Crystal Heart would take both of us!" Cadance reminded him. "We would be defenseless against the attackers!"
"Leave dat to me!" Applejack offered. Sunburst shot Cadance a pleading look. This was not to time to let their pride blind them. Cadance looked back at Applejack and eventually let out a defeated sigh.
"Me and Sunburst will go up to the balcony to make sure the Crystal Heart is still functioning. Make sure no one is interrupting us!" she ordered. Applejack nodded affirmative.
"Ye got it!" Cadance and Sunburst left through the door leading to the balcony and closed the door behind them. They got out just in time, as when the door slammed, a group of griffons and pegasus ponies broke into the throne room through the windows. They immediately turned their attention towards Applejack, obviously surprised to find her there instead of the princess. Applejack shot them a smirk and raised her lasso.
"Sorry, fellas. Princess Cadance is busy at de moment. Yall have to settle for little ol' me." she didn't even wait for their response before attacking. She threw the lasso at one of the pegasi and swung him around the room before crashing him into one of the griffons still in the air and making the pair crash through the wall.
Applejack was then suddenly yanked up from the ground by another griffon-pegasus duo holding her by her forelegs. She managed to raise her backlegs enough to buck the pegasus holding her left hoof away. The griffon couldn't hold her on his own and they ended up crashing into Cadance's throne.
Applejack stood up with a groan, holding her head before looking up and see two more griffons throwing themselves at her. She jumped to the right and kicked one of them into the other, knocking them both out. There were only two pegasi left in the room. They flew up into the air, but not before Applejack threw her lasso around the leg of one of them. She then pulled that pegasus towards herself with a mighty pull and bucked her towards the other one. She crashed into her partner with such a force that they both cashed through the castle wall.
Applejack wrapped up her lasso and scanned the room for any further threats. Not finding any, she was about to savor her victory, but before she could, she felt a sharp pain stabbing into her backlegs. Applejack collapsed on the ground with a scream. Turning around, she saw Gilda and Lightning Dust descending down from above. Gilda's claws were red with blood. Applejack's no doubt.
"Well, well. Applejack, what a pleasant surprise!" Lightning mused with a smirk.
"Indeed." Gilda added, wiping her claws clean. "We thought the only regimer to torture in the Crystal Empire would be Cadance. We might go easy on you if you tell us where your friend, Rainbow Dash is."
"Ah don' think so!" Applejack snapped back, still rubbing her backlegs to ease the pain. "First, ah unfriended Rainbow a long time ago. So did most of Equestria for dat matter. Second, even ah didn', ah'd still wouldn' tell ye spit." Lightning and Gilda were obviously unamused with that answer.
"Go break down the door to the balcony. I will handle her. She will talk." Gilda told Lightning, raising her claws. "One way or another. But remember, we need Cadance alive!"
"Yeah, whatever." Lightning grumbled as she left for the door. She didn't like being told what to do, but even she knew better than to piss off her new employer. Gilda approached Applejack.
"Let's see how long until I claw the truth out of you!" Gilda once again unleashed her claws and was about to dig them into the flesh of the earth pony, but Applejack still had enough strength kick her in the face before backing away and getting back on her hooves. She then grabbed her lasso and threw it at the griffon, but she flew away before it could touch her.
She then flew at Applejack at full force and the earth pony could only block her attack, locking the two of them in a struggle against the the other.
"Don' make me call Celestia!"
"You'll bleed before that happens."
Gilda was much stronger than the average griffon. She managed to push her claws towards Applejack's face and slashed her across the eyes. Applejack screamed as she backed away and covered her eyes and Gilda took full advantage of the situation. She grabbed Applejack by the shoulders and carried her off into the air, before throwing her down towards the ground and flying down to deliver a drop kick into the apple farmer's stomach.
Gilda then grabbed Applejack's neck and squeezed it tightly with her claws slowly penetrating the skin. Applejack tried to punch the griffon in the face to make her back off but it was too far. In the end, she grabbed her arm but she couldn't wrestle it off with the claws inside her neck. She had to get Gilda to let go of her.
KRCK!
"AAAAAAAH!" Gilda screamed in pain as Applejack twisted her arm and the pain forced her to abandon the grip on Applejack's neck. Applejack then collected all of her strength and delivered an almighty kick to the griffon's head, sending her into unconsciousness.
Gilda's body crashed into the door that Lightning Dust was vehemently trying to break down, much to the surprise of the pegasus. It took her a few seconds to figure out that this meant that Gilda had been defeated, but when she did, she sighed.
"Never send another creature to a pony's job." she said before turning to face Applejack. "I'm surprised to see you here Applejack. You're family decided you were trustworthy enough again to let you off the leash?" she mocked.
"Yes. And so did Celestia " Applejack replied without without hesitation or shame. "It's nice to be back where ye belong. Kinda like ye and a prison cell. Where we will be puttin' ye back to!"
"Even back in the Regime you never showed me the proper respect!" Lightning roared. "Now I will show you a little taste of what's to come for your family, friends and everyone else who opposes us!"
Lightning flew at Applejack with one of her forelegs raised. The earth pony knew that Lightning's biggest strength was speed, but she couldn't match her strength. So she merely stood her ground and countered Lightning's strike with her shoulder. Lightning staggered back from the impact and Applejack took advantage of her momentary stupor by kicking her back against the closed door and then charged at her, but Lightning got out of the way in time and Applejack's hoof connected the crystal wall.
Lightning landed behind her and bucked her in the flank, crashing her into the door again. Applejack became so disoriented that she couldn't even buck back properly. But she had to try. But before her back legs could even contact anything, Lightning grabbed them and carried her up into the air.
Using the same move Gilda used before, she threw Applejack down towards the ground, but Applejack was lucky this time. She landed next to her lasso which she lost during the previous fight and before Lightning could finish the drop kick, she threw it up and managed to wrap it around the pegasus' neck. She then yanked on it and pulled Lightning down, causing her to crash into the ground.
The pegasus was still conscious and upon seeing this, Applejack tightened the loose around her neck and pulled on it until Lightning started passing out from the lack of oxygen. But somehow, Applejack didn't feel that this was enough. She pulled on it harder and harder until Lightning started choking. All it would take now is one hard yank. One hard yank to put this mad dog out of her misery.
"Go ahead, Applejack. Do it." a voice in her head said. Applejack looked down at the struggling pegasus with contempt in her eyes. "She deserves it. You know she does. It would be so easy. Just pull on the loose and snap her treacherous neck."
Applejack gripped her lasso even tighter and was about to do just that, but suddenly something stopped her. One last spark in her soul was still struggling. The darkness inside her was close to taking control of her several times in the past, but nowhere near as much as in that moment. Not when she fought a hated enemy.
"Oh, don't tell me you still believe. That your family and friends would forgive you and take you back like nothing ever happened. They will never trust you again Applejack. They will never really forgive you."
Applejack let go of the lasso and grabbed her head, trying to resist. But it was more difficult than ever before.
"But what is it? I sense something else." the voice inside her head mused. "Ah, I see. It's not them you're worried about. It's yourself. Yes, I see how that would trouble you so. You have betrayed and turned your back on everything and everyone that ever mattered to you. Even if they forgive you, how could you ever forgive yourself?"
Applejack struggled. She wanted to argue. To yell back her defiance with all her might. But for the first time since this began, she couldn't find the answer she wanted.
"Ah... Ah... AH CAN'T!" she yelled. She could almost feel the darkness in her mind smirk.
"THEN BURN!" it screamed. Applejack felt the darkness consume her mind. She fell on the ground and screamed in agony as a dark, mystical aura appeared around her, looking like it was about to consume her.
"Give in! Accept me!" the voice commanded. "Become Nightmare Apple!"
Applejack felt like she was loosing the fight. Every part of her was ready to give up and succumb to the Nightmare. But one thing inside her still remained defiant. There was something inside her that the Nightmare simply couldn't consume. Applejack desperately tried crawling towards this thing to see what it was and when she got there, she saw...
"A... Apple Bloom?"
Applejack's little sister was the one who still unconditionally loved and believed in her sister. When everypony else treated her with suspicion and contempt, Apple Bloom still remained the adoring little sister she always was. She sneaked Applejack treats into the room she was confined to, had secret sleepovers with her and tried to smooth things over between her and the rest of the family.
Applejack closed her eyes. She concentrated on all the love she had for her sister and all the good time thez shared together. And suddenly, she felt like she found the strength to resist the Nightmare again.
'Ah will never let ye down again, lil' sis.'
Applejack suddenly found the strength she needed. She slowly got back up on her hooves and managed to completely calm herself and banish all negative feelings from inside her mind.
"Git. Out." she whispered softly. Suddenly, the dark energy whirling around her stopped and dissipated like it was never there. Applejack could feel the Nightmare's surprise in her mind, but it was short lived as it let out an amused chuckle.
"You won't be able to resist me forever. I'm part of you now. Equestria is burning and once everything and everyone you ever loved have perished with it, you will be begging for vengeance!" the Nightmare retreated inside the head of the farmmare who shook her head to regain composure.
"Thank Faust it's gone. At least for now." she then turned around only to see a wide eyed Cadance staring at her in horror. 'Ah, horseapples.' Applejack moaned in her head.
"How much did ye see?" she asked.
"Enough." she replied once she got over her shock. "Since when?"
"Ah spent a lot of time around Luna durin' mah time in the Regime. When the Regime went down and Luna was thrown into Tartarus, it needed a new host. Guess since ah was around it so much, it thought ah was the best pick."
"And you managed to resist it until now?" Cadance asked in amazement. "That's incredible, Applejack! You must be very strong willed!" Applejack smiled at the praise.
"It's easy when ye have somethin' to be strong for." she replied, thinking of her family. "But enough about me, how's de Crystal Heart?"
"It's stable for now." Cadance replied. "I left Sunburst with it just in case it goes haywire again. And I'm gonna have to call back a few guards from the frontlines to stabilize the castle."
"So where does dis leave us?" Applejack asked. Cadance looked unsure how to answer.
"You put yourself at risk to protect the castle. To protect me. Maybe you can be trusted." hope rose in Applejack when she heard that...
"So... are ye in?"... only to come crashing down when Cadance shook her head.
"I can't. I belong here. Defending the empire." Applejack groaned.
"Ah knew ah was just wastin' mah time here." she snapped as she turned to leave, escorted by Cadance's apologetic gaze. But before she left, she threw back one more thing at the alicorn. "We need each other, Cadance. Ye won't last long without us."
Tempest Shadow entered the bridge of the Storm King's airship. Her master was looking out the window, marveling in his work.
"Phase one is complete. Equestria's defense is irreversibly compromised. What little was left of it anyway." she reported. The Storm King smirked.
"Good. Then it is time to begin phase 2." he then summoned several columns from the floor of his ship which all held orbs on them. He walked to the middle of the room and pressed his staff into the floor. It began glowing with black light as black beams shot out from beneath his airship towards the land below. The staff began emitting black beams of energy towards the orbs in the room, filing them up with the stolen magic.
Things were not looking good for Celestia and Equestria. The Royal Guard was all but wiped out and only a few civilian resistance cells remained in the cities. Celestia didn't like hiding like a rat while her country was being overwhelmed, but she was used to it during her war with the Regime.
"How are we doing?" she asked her officers.
"Not good." Replied Captain Thunderlane of the New Wonderbolts. "Air strikes only go so far."
"The Apples do their best." Applejack replied, standing next to her brother, Big Macintosh. "We're tough, but we're still not soldiers. Even with Cadance and de crystal ponies, we're still badly outnumbered."
"My animals keep me updated on everything going on in the country." said Fluttershy. "But it's not much help without any power to act. The best we can do is coordinate resistance cells." Celestia wiped her forehead. This was becoming even more hopeless than her fight with Twilight. "What should we do?"
"Are ye sure ye don' have anymore heavy hitters we can call in?" Applejack asked.
"Just my new student Sweetie Belle and her bodyguard, Apple Bloom." that immediately got Applejack's attention.
"Hold on! What is mah sister doin' here?"
"When I took Sweetie Bell on as my new student, Apple Bloom insisted that she wouldn't lose another friend like she lost Scootaloo. So she came along and received training from the Royal Guard to become her bodyguard."
"And why didn't you call them in yet?" Thunderlane asked.
"Cuz they're just little fillies yet?" Applejack asked, obviously not liking the idea that her little sister was doing dangerous military stuff.
"Your little sister is stronger than she appears, Applejack. Even during my war with the Regime, she was on the frontlines." Applejack didn't like it, but when she remembered the part she played in that conflict, she couldn't help but feel responsible and shut up. "Sadly, we can't rely on them. They're busy."
"I'm pretty sure they could find time for this." Thunderlane said.
"No, Thunderlane. They are required to guard Twilight in Tartarus. With how bad things are getting, some ponies, like the Regime refugees might find a good idea to let her out to help."
"Why don't was just snatch those counterparts from the other world who helped you take down Twilight?" the black pegasus asked.
"Captian, we can't just rely on help from other worlds whenever things get hard. We need to learn to rely on ourselves." Celestia replied.
"Isn't there anypony else we can call in?" Fluttershy asked.
"Hey, everypony!" as if on cue, Pinkie Pie bounced into the room, accompanied by King Thorax. "Sorry we took so long. Bad traffic."
"Pinkie, we were traveling in an air balloon." Thorax said.
"I know right? Haven't you seen all those birds? They didn't even use turn signals! How rude!" Ignoring Pinkie's random nonsense, Celestia just ran up to her coltfriend and gave him an affectionate nuzzle.
"Thorax! I'm so happy to see that you're fine!" she exclaimed happily. Thorax just chuckled nervously.
"Tia, not in front of your subjects." Celestia just ignored him and gave him a kiss on the cheek as they parted. Pinkie bounced over to Fluttershy and Applejack.
"Hey, girls!" she greeted them brightly. "Nice to see you again. You look good, Applejack. Your original hat looks so much better on you. And Fluttershy, I see you made up with your animal friends!" she said, noticing Angel Bunny on the top of her head. Applejack and Fluttershy exchanged a confused look.
"Does dis mean she's back bein'a good guy too?" Applejack asked.
"I don't know. You can never tell with Pinkie Pie." Celestia finally let Thorax go and walked up to the girls.
"Don't worry, girls. Pinkie has been my mole within the First Order ever since Thorax let me know about them. We can trust her." Pinkie happily wrapped her two friends into a tight embrace, which they gladly allowed themselves to be overtaken by after hearing Celestia's words.
"I'm so happy to be back! We can have a reunion party after we kicked the mean out of the Storm King's butt! Oh, how about we hold it in Twilight's cell. I know she's not that friendly anymore, but we can still be friendly to her. If only we could find Rainbow Dash and invite her too... " Pinkie kept on blabbering, but Fluttershy and Applejack barely heard it. They just shared a smile. Classic Pinkie.
As the reunion took place, Big Mac walked up to Celestia. "Dob' get me wrong, äh trust you an' äh trust AB and her friend, but are ye sure they'll be able to handle dis? Dey are barely mares yet." Celestia just smiled reassuringly.
"Don't worry, Big Macintosh. They may be young, but together, they are the strongest team we have."
In the realm of Tartarus, Twilight Sparkle was sitting in her cage, watching the two young mares in front of her cage with an unreadable expression. Apple Bloom was now sporting a shining armor of the Royal Guard and a sword on her side as she watched Twilight like a hawk. She looked like she was ready to slice and dice the broken horned alicorn if she even twitched. While this staring contest with Apple Bloom was amusing, it did little to prevent her frustration from the other teenaged mare, Sweetie Belle march up and down in front of her cage, grumbling. And for once, Apple Bloom was in a complete agreement with her, even if she would never say it.
"Ah swear, whatever they put through the poor souls thrown in here, it's gotta be a picnic compared to her fumin'." Apple Bloom groaned as she watched Sweetie Belle pace around the room, grumbling with an angry look on her face. "Will ya knock it off?!" the yellow earth pony asked in annoyance. "Yer givin' me a headache!" Sweetie turned towards her.
"How are you so okay with this?! Equestria is under attack, ponies are being captured and killed, our magic is being drained from us and Celestia puts us on guard duty?!" the unicorn complained. Her friend shot her an offended look.
"Ah'm always on guard duty, remember?!" the yellow mare cut back. "In trainin', ah learned that we should never go lookin' for trouble. Ye would do better if ye settled down too!" Sweetie Belle immediately realized her mistake.
"Sorry, AB. I didn't mean to sound like I'm degrading you. But how do you expect me to settle down? I am the personal student of the most powerful pony who ever lived and you are my bodyguard trained by the best of the best and wearing a magically enhanced armor! Hay, we have inherited Elements of Harmony for crying out loud!"
It was true. After Twilight's fall from grace and Rarity's death, the Elements of Magic and Generosity chose Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom respectively when Celestia managed to bring them back. And from what Apple Bloom heard, Applejack had also regained the Element of Honesty, even if she didn't know it yet. It gave her a great sense of joy to know that she was now connected to her sister on an even deeper level.
"I just don't get it, AB!" Sweetie continued to complain. "We should be out there on the front lines! It's a crisis out there!"
"Celestia told us to stay put and watch over her." Apple Bloom said as she pointed at Twilight with her head. "The Storm King's attack is bad enough. That is a crisis alright. But both him and Twilight runnin' around? That would be an armageddon."
She saw that Sweetie Belle's face brightened somewhat when she said that, so she knew she found the right path to calm her down. "So right now, we are the only ones standin' between a crisis and an armageddon." Sweetie Belle smiled upon hearing that.
"I can work with that." she said brightly. Apple Bloom sighed in relief. Now that she finally managed to get Sweetie Belle to relax, maybe the time they spent here won't be so unbearable anymore. But her relief was short lived when she heard a huge explosion that shook the entire room and made them collapse on the ground.
"What was that?!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "Is someone breaking in?!"
"Why would anypony break into Tartarus?" Apple Bloom asked before an idea hit her. "Is it the Storm King?!" she panicked.
"Either him or the Twilight fan club." Sweetie Belle replied, shooting a distasteful look at the former Empress of Magic.
"Let's go check it out!" Apple Bloom yelled and was about to take off, but Sweete Belle pulled her back.
"What about her?" Sweetie Belle asked, pointing at Twilight? "We can't leave her unsupervised."
"The Storm King is too much for Celestia." Twilight said. "I'm your only hope." Apple Bloom glared at her.
"Here's de deal, Twi, Celestia asked for our help. She didn' force us to sign a loyalty oath or threaten us with prison!" she yelled at the former empress.
"And she didn't kill our family members either. Sweetie Belle added. No matter who it was who broke in, they won't be taking Twilight. This monster killed Rarity. If Sweetie Belle had her way, Twilight will never again see the light of day.
"Don't worry. She ain't goin' anywhere." Apple Bloom smiled reassuringly.
She then put a hoof in her mouth and let out a sharp whistle. Sweetie Belle yelped in surprise when she saw Cerberus, the giant three headed dog leap over her bodyguard and sit down in front of her.
"Down, boy. Stay here and watch her for us." she instructed the huge creature and to Sweetie's bewilderment, it obeyed. "We Apples are friend to all critters." Apple Bloom explained when she saw her friend's shock. "Now let's go. Whoever it is, they ain't breakin' out Twilight!" she spoke in determination as she took off with Sweetie Belle following after a few moments when she finally got over her shock.
Twilight watched them go with the same unreadable expression she was wearing ever since those two showed up. But when they finally disappeared from view, the corners of her mouth curled into a slight smirk as a subtle purple light flickered in her eyes.
Starlight Glimmer watched as the two young mares who have been watching Twilight for the past few hours bolted past her cell. She also heard the explosion that shook the place. They were probably off to investigate.
Maybe it was the right time for her to break out. And even free Twilight and the rest of the regimers. Together, they could easily overpower the beast guarding Twilight and the two fillies. She was about to start thinking of a plan on how to do it, when she heard a loud crack from outside.
"Who's there?!" she demanded as she backed up into a defensive position. The door of her cell broke down and a young unicorn entered whom she didn't recognize.
"My name is Luster Dawn. I'm here to rescue you." the unicorn replied. Starlight looked her over.
"How did you get in here?"
"She had help." replied a familiar voice. Starlight walked past Luster and her face immediately brightened when she recognized Rainbow Dash.
"Long time no see, Starlight." Rainbow smiled. "Ready to bust out the big mare?"
Flurry Heart was so used to the silent monotony of life in Tartarus that when the explosion occurred, it nearly made her jump out of her skin. When she got up, she saw Blueblood standing outside her cell, trying to open it, which he eventually succeeded in.
"What took you so long?" she grumbled to the stallion.
"Nice to see you too." Blueblood replied dryly as he handed Flurry a blade with the Regime's symbol on it's handle. The young alicorn took the weapon and examined it thoroughly before turning back to Blueblood.
"It is... adequate. Now come on, we need to rescue Twilight!"
But Blueblood just raised a hoof to calm her. "Calm yourself. Rainbow Dash is taking care of that. We are to provide a distraction for her guards."
"What?!" Flurry exclaimed. "You should have taken care of those two already! This is a waste of my training!"
Blueblood raised a hoof to rub his temples. 'And they call me stuck up.'
He then heard a gasp coming from behind a wall near them.
"Blueblood?!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed. "What's he doing here?"
"I think it's obvious, Sweetie. He's bustin' out Flurry Heart. And he's probably here for the rest of the regimers too!" Apple Bloom replied. "But not on mah watch! Here's what we're goin' to do. Ye use yer magic to quickly shove back Flurry back in her cell and shut it closed then we'll tag on Blueblood." Blueblood and Flurry exchanged an unamused before they used their combined magic to blast the wall the fillies were hiding behind.
"Good enough, plan. But there's a small problem. Plans tend to work better when you don't discuss them in front of your enemies." Blueblood smirked upon seeing their frightened expression.
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle exchanged a worried look before jumping back into defensive stances. Flurry Heart chuckled upon seeing their discomfort.
"I had to listen to you two bickering among yourselves for countless hours and days!" she snarled. "Now I can finally shut you up." she raised her sword and took a menacing stance towards the two, but Apple Bloom intervened and pulled out her own sword to counter her strike. Flurry then used her magic to blast her away, but to her surprise, her spell had no effect.
"What is this?!" she gasped in shock. Apple Bloom smirked smugly before taking advantage of the alicorn's shock and pushing her back.
"Celestia used her magic to enchant mah armor. It's completely magic resistant. Can't have just anypony guardin' her new student after all." she boasted. Flurry Heart glared at them.
"Why you posers put so much effort into pleasing Celestia, I will never understand. She's a weak failure of a ruler! Twilight is the only alicorn princess worth anything!" she spat.
"You would pick that crazy tyrant over even your own mother?!" Apple Bloom asked, horrified. Flurry just scoffed in response.
"Cadence is just as weak and worthless as Celestia!"
"Oh, yeah?" Sweetie retorted. "Well, if your mom is weak and worthless, what does that make you?" Flurry opened her mouth to respond, but she was stunned to find that words failed her this time. Even Blueblood found it amusing how she struggled to come up with a clever comeback.
"I... Uh... I take more after my father." she said finally. Apple Bloom just about had enough of this. Family had been the center of her whole life, so to hear someone talk like this about her own she found nothing short of blasphemous.
"Take care of yer sister's ex-crush." she told Sweetie Belle before walking up to Flurry. "Ah'm gonna teach dis brat to respect yer family." the two fillies exchanged in a sword fight as Sweetie Belle faced the prince.
"My aunt's standards have dropped considerably for whom she takes on as her student. I suppose she wants to make sure her new pupil definitely won't become more powerful than her this time around." Blueblood taunted. But Sweetie Belle just smirked.
"Still mad she didn't pick you over Twilight? I could meet those standards, you couldn't. What does that say about you?" Blueblood glared at the filly.
"Let's see you say the same after this!" he blasted Sweetie with a knockback spell, but she countered with a shield spell before redirecting the energy at Blueblood. The stallion jumped back and the magical energy hit the ground near his hooves. Satisfied with the dodge, Blueblood was about to attack again, but was shocked to see that his hooves were stuck to the ground.
"What?! How?!"
"I didn't just redirect your magic, I transformed it!" Sweetie explained with a grin. "Now you'll see why Celestia chose me to become her new student!"
Sweetie Belle charged her horn and released a massive energy wave to blast Blueblood away, but the stallion also had a few tricks up his nonexistent sleeve. He used a shield spell of his own and he didn't just deflect Sweetie's attack, but he managed to redirect the energy towards the matter that held his hooves to the ground, successfully destroying it. Blueblood took advantage of the situation by charging at Sweetie and surprising her enough to give him an opening and deliver a magical powered punch that sent her backwards.
"But you still have a lot to learn." Blueblood growled. Sweetie quickly recovered and sent another blast at the stallion. But this time, he was ready. Blueblood used a shield spell on himself that deflected Sweetie's attack. Sweetie tried to hit him again but it had the same effect. Confident that he finally had the upper hoof over Sweetie, Blueblood began slowly advancing on her and charged up his horn for another attack. Sweetie was still focusing on offense, so she didn't have time to get out of the way and get knocked back against the wall.
Sweetie got up and realized there was only one thing she could do. She didn't like doing it, but this was an emergency. She summoned all of her raw, untamed power into her horn and unleashed an all powerful blast at the stallion that ended up breaking his shield spell and knocking him against a wall hard. When he fell on the ground he was already out.
"Class dismissed." Sweetie Belle said as she raised her hoof to her horn. She had more power than most unicorns. Her magic was exceptionally powerful, but also unstable. She hoped that Celestia will soon find a way to help her gain full control. She also hoped that she won't find out about what she just did.
Meanwhile, Apple Bloom and Flurry Heart were duking it out with their weapons. Flurry was the more aggressive fighter, but Apple Bloom learned from the best. She was disciplined, tactical and more cautious. She was on defensive, but she already felt that Flurry was getting worn out.
The alicorn filly had a lot of power and skill, but she still couldn't manage to overcome her anger issues. She fought well, but blindly. Blinded by her rage. And Apple Bloom took full advantage of that. Flurry flew back and charged at Apple Bloom, swinging her sword at her, but the earth pony easily blocked.
"Ah'm so goin' to beat ye."
"Quit embarrassing yourself!"
Apple Bloom knew her time finally came. She pushed forward with all her might and managed to throw Flurry off balance. She then spun around and bucked the alicorn's lights out so hard that she flew back against the wall and landed on top of Blueblood.
"Hope ah never have a foal like you." she told Flurry harshly. She then turned to see Sweetie Belle walk up to her.
"Naht too shabby, huh?" Apple Bloom asked Sweetie Belle as she extended heer hoof to her.
"Not as stylish as my finish, but it will suffice." Sweetie replied, banging her hoof into her friend's.
"Cutie Mark Crusaders, Prison Guards, Yay!" they exclaimed together.
"Why did we never try dat one?" Apple Bloom asked jokingly.
"I don't recall there being a prison in Ponyville. And even if there was, they probably wouldn't allow little fillies to work there." Sweetie deadpanned. Apple Bloom rolled her eyes.
"Whatever. Dis proves we would have been awesome at it." her expression then dropped a bit. "Ah wish Scootaloo would have been here to fight with us."
"Yeah. It's just not the same without her." Sweetie Belle added with a nod. As triumphant as this moment was, without the third crusader, it just felt emptier somehow. But there was nothing she could do about that, so there was no point in dwelling on it. "Come on. We're done here. Let's get back to our post."
Twilight sat in her cell, listening to the sounds of battle coming from the distance. As the sounds died down, she couldn't help but wonder who won. She also wondered who would ever break into Tartarus and why. But she got her answer soon enough as a familiar pony walked up to her cage.
"Starlight!" she smiled upon seeing her old student. "You're a sight for sore eyes, that's for sure! How did you get past Cerberus?"
"I had that covered!" Twilight heard another familiar voice and turned to see Rainbow Dash floating over the hogtied three-headed dog before flying down next to Starlight. "Long time no see, Twi? Ready to fly outta here?"
"I've been ready since day one." Twilight replied happily upon seeing her old friends, but then a thought occurred to her. "Hold on. If Rainbow was busy with Cerberus, who let Starlight out?"
"I did."
Twilight turned to see Luster Dawn coming out from behind Rainbow shyly.
"Who are you?" Twilight asked curiously as she looked over the young unicorn.
"My name is Luster Dawn. I escaped my village when the Storm King attacked it seven years ago, but I was frozen in the boat I escaped in. Rainbow Dash and Blueblood found me and told me what Celestia did to you. I came to help." she explained.
"She's a good kid, Twi." Rainbow assured the alicorn, wrapping a hoof around Luster. "And quite a talented mage. She soaked up everything Blueblood taught her like a sponge."
Twilight was glad to hear that, but she was more interested about what Luster said about the Storm King. "The Strom King attacked your village?" Luster nodded sadly.
"I was the only survivor. I escaped to warn you and the other princesses about him, but my boat was derailed and it floated into Stalliongrad instead of Canterlot. That's where the others found me frozen until they manged to thaw me out. Sorry I'm a few years late."
Twilight was shocked. Immediately she saw herself in this little unicorn. Her whole town was gone, everyone and everything she ever knew was destroyed and she was now all alone, facing the monster that caused her suffering. If the bars wouldn't have been in her way, she would have wrapped Luster up in an embrace. Instead, all she could give her was a warm comforting smile.
"Don't worry, my little pony. I will get out of here and together we will stop this evil tyrant and avenge your village." Luster smiled up at her gratefully, but before she could answer, they heard several set of hooves heading their way.
"Damn!" Twilight cursed. "Looks like my jailors are calling in the cavalry."
"We'll take care of them." Rainbow Dash declared as she motioned for Luster to follow her. "Starlight, you get her out of there!" the unicorn nodded as the other two ran off. They ran so fast that they didn't even notice Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom hiding behind the corner.
"Damn! Flurry and Blueblood were just a diversion!" Apple Bloom fumed. "Good thing ah called reinforcements."
"Yeah." Sweetie nodded. "Come on! Let's take down Starlight before she frees her!"
Starlight was trying her best to open Twilight's cage, but it wasn't only tightly locked, it was also sealed by a magical barrier cast by Celestia herself.
"This barrier is good. But it never met me." Starlight boasted as she cast a spell of her own at the cage. "Give me just a minute and you will be free as a bird." Twilight was about to settle down and wait for her student to work, but then she saw two fillies running at her from behind and one of them held a sword, ready to strike.
"Starlight! Behind you!" she warned, just in time for Starlight to turn around and avoid having her horn sliced off by Apple Bloom's blade. But Sweetie Belle was there to launch another strike that pushed Starlight away from the cage. Starlight growled in fury as she stood up.
"Amateur hour is over, rookies." she snarled before firing a blast at Sweetie Belle, but Apple Bloom got in the way and let her armor absorb it.
"Sweetie, try to counter the spell she used on Twilight's cage! If she shuts down the barrier, we won't be able to stop her from escaping!" Sweetie nodded and ran off to the cage while Apple Bloom raised her sword and approached Starlight.
"Yer just another fallen hero like Twilight." she taunted. "Only difference is, he already know what it's like in de dark."
"Indeed." Starlight admitted. "I've been in the dark more than once. So I know exactly how to deal with good little fillies like you!"
She ignited her horn for another blast. Apple Bloom stood her ground, fully trusting her armor to take the hit, but she was in for a surprise as the blast was powerful enough to not only knock her back, but knock the sword out of her hooves.
'Son of a broodmare!' Apple Bloom cursed in her head, clearly surprised by what happened. The sword landed in the middle between the two opponents who gave each other fierce gazes, daring the other to be the first to try and fetch it. Starlight then shot Apple Bloom a smirk as she used her magic to pull the sword towards herself and grab it.
Apple Bloom knew that without her weapon, she didn't stand a chance. She only had her armor left, but that gave her an idea. Not knowing what else to do she charged at Starlight with her helmet tilted forward. The unicorn tried blasting her again, but it was nowhere near as powerful as the first one. The armor took the hit and that was all Apple Bloom needed. She rammed her helmet into Starlight's chest, making her recoil in pain. Apple Bloom then threw herself at Starlight and easily knocked her out, while also regaining her sword.
"Guess all dar dark blinded ye, Starlight." she taunted one last time. Sweetie Belle then walked up to her.
"It's done. I fixed the barrier. She's not going anywhere." she told her friend proudly.
"That's what you think!"
Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom spun around to see Rainbow Dash and Luster Dawn now facing them. Apple Bloom's jaw dropped.
"What de... How did ye get past all de guards?!" Rainbow Dash smirked cockily.
"Ever heard the phrase 'quality over quantity'? Those guards were good, but I'm still me! And this kid here? She's the real deal!" Rainbow boasted pointing at Luster. Sweetie and Apple Bloom narrowed their eyes at them before charging. Rainbow Dash easily carried Apple Bloom off into the air and Luster Dawn easily countered Sweetie Belle's strike, knocking her back.
"We need Princess Twilight's help!" Luster begged desperately, hoping to avoid a fight. "You have no idea what the Storm King is capable of!"
"No, but I know what Twilight is capable of! And I know letting her out isn't help for anypony!" Sweetie Belle tried to subdue Luster with a spell, but Luster easily dodged them and launched a counterattack with a spell of her own. Sweetie was so preoccupied with her attacks that she didn't even see it coming. One spell from Luster was enough to send her down on the ground. Sweetie groaned in pain as every part of her body was stinging from Luster's attack. Rainbow Dash was right, she really was powerful.
Sweetie slowly got up and realized that simple spell casting wasn't gonna cut it. She had to try something else. She ignited her horn again to cast another spell at Luster, but this one was different. As the spell hit Luster, she felt her power slowly leaving her body. Luster panicked as she realized what was happening.
"My magic! You're draining me!" Luster tried everything she could to break the connection between her and Sweetie Belle, but with her power dwindling and this being one of Luster's strongest spells, all effort proved futile. "Ugh... You're just as bad... as Rainbow Dash and Blueblood said." Luster groaned as she grew weaker. She looked around for any means to escape and noticed a stalactite hanging over Sweetie Belle. With her last bit of strength, she blasted the stalactite and it fell crashing down towards Sweetie Belle, who barely noticed it in time to react.
Sweetie Belle blasted it to pieces and levitated the pieces in front of herself before turning them into sharp, pointy rocks and throwing them at Luster. Though Luster was slightly depowered from the previous ordeal, she still had the strength to summon a shield, albeit a weak one. It managed to deflect the first few rocks, but eventually they managed to break through her shield and knock her unconscious.
"And if you help her, then you belong here too." Sweetie growled triumphantly as she gazed upon the beaten unicorn. She then heard hoofsteps behind her and turned around to see Apple Bloom walking up to her. "Where's Rainbow Dash?" she asled. Apple Bloom smiled in response.
"She may be fast, but she's frail as all pegasi. A few armored knocks to the head an' she's out cold."
The two Crusaders shared another hoofbump, but the triumphant moment was interrupted by a slow, clapping sound that came from behind them. They turned around to see Twilight mockingly clapping at them from her cage with a smug smirk on her face.
"Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant." she said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "So why don't you show me what you plan to do about... them?" she pointed at something behind the Crusaders and they turned to see all of Twilight's former Regime supporters surround them. Blueblood and Flurry Heart have come to and they were reinforced by Luna, Spitfire, Trixie and Cozy Glow. Starlight also came to and helped up Luster Dawn and even Rainbow Dash came back, landing right in front of the fillies with a visible lump on her head, giving a dirty look at Apple Bloom.
"You're good, I'll give you that, but this is where it ends. We're freeing Twilight. Like it or not." she snarled at them as they all approached on them and the cage. But Sweetie Belle stepped forward. She wasn't done just yet. She still had one card she hasn't played yet. She was hoping it wouldn't come to this, but now she was out of options.
"AB, get out of here!" she yelled at her friend before summoning all of her remaining power into her horn and created a small, yellow, magical orb of energy, which started growing larger and brighter by the second. Apple Bloom quickly realized what was happening and she didn't like it one bit.
"FAUST ALMIGHTY, SWEETIE BELLE! YOU'RE GONNA BLOW ALL OF US UP?!" she screamed.
"It's the only way! Now go!" Apple Bloom wanted to comply, but she was still Sweetie's bodyguard. It wouldn't be right for her to abandon her.
The orb was now larger than Sweetie Belle herself and her eyes began glowing yellow as she approached the Regimers, who realized the threat by now and started backing away.
"LEAVE NOW! ALL OF YOU! OR YOU'LL GET THE WORST SUNBURN OF YOUR LIVES THAT EVEN CELESTIA WOULD BE JEALOUS OF!" She demanded with her voice echoing through the chamber.
"You would blow us all up rather than let Twilight go?!" Rainbow Dash shrieked in horror.
"I would blow up every single city the Storm King has occupied rather than let the monster that killed my sister go! Now, this is your last chance!" Rainbow Dash quickly realized that Sweetie wasn't bluffing, but she wasn't about to back down now. If she was quick enough, maybe she could incapacitate her before she went off. She was about to do just that, but a voice stopped him.
"SWEETIE BELLE, THAT'S ENOUGH!"
Everypony in the room immediately froze as Celestia's voice boomed through the chamber. Even Sweetie Belle was so shocked that she ended the spell and the orb of magical energy disappeared. In the next moment, another group of ponies were standing between the Regimers and Twilight. Besides Celestia, there were also Thorax, Fluttershy, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Big Macintosh and Thunderlane. The Regimers and the former insurgents glared at each other for a few seconds before Celestia turned away from them and faced Twilight's cage. Twilight narrowed her eyes at her.
"You can't beat the Storm King on your own, Celestia." she spoke. Celestia returned her glare, but eventually let out a sigh and pulled out a box from under her wings.
"You're right, Twilight. I can't." She then ignited her horn and cast a spell on the cage that dispersed the magical barrier around it and the bars fell apart. Sweetie Belle gasped in horror.
"WHAT ARE YOU..." she started, but a stern glare from Celestia quickly silenced her. Celestia then opened the box and used her magic to pull out the pieces of Twilight's broken horn. She then mended them together and in a magical flash, Twilight found that it was once again on the top of her head. It was a weird, but familiar sensation. Twilight smirked upon seeing her horn being back where it belonged, then walked up to her former teacher and looked her in the eye.
"So are you ready to stop the Storm King by any means necessary?"
"By the means at hoof." Celestia corrected. "Make no mistake, Twilight. I am not following you down on your path to darkness." Twilight raised an eyebrow.
"What's your game? You always have something planned for everything."
"Saving Equestria is enough for now." Celestia replied, her tone and expression betraying nothing about her intentions.
"And you expect me to just walk back to my cell when we're done?" Celestia remained completely stoic.
"We'll cross that bridge later. Right now, Equestria needs us." Twilight knew that she had something in her mind for her, but she decided to put it aside until the crisis at hoof have been dealt with.
"Well, at last we agree on something." she replied.
The two mares kept eyeing each other in suspicion, clearly knowing that this fragile alliance will not last long. The ponies who surrounded them were also feeling it. But one thing everypony in the room agreed on was that the next few hours are gonna be very interesting.
The Storm King was sitting on his airship, watching as the orbs around him were slowly filling up with Equestria's magic. Everything was going smoothly until now. His forces met little to no resistance and the drain was going on steadily. But suddenly, he felt something. A strange surge of power that arose from deep within Equestria. But it was different somehow. It wasn't something he could just drain so easily. He quickly realized what it was and it greatly surprised him.
"Celestia. I did not expect you to make this move." he muttered to himself before summoning his general.
"What happened?" Tempest Shadow asked as she walked onto the bridge.
"An unforeseen development." he replied. "Twilight Sparkle is free and is regaining her powers." Tempest's eyes widened at this.
"They let Twilight out?! They must be getting desperate." the Storm King nodded.
"Indeed. But there is also something else. I feel something I haven't felt in years. It's..." his eyes suddenly widened in realization. "Oh... I finally found it." he mused with a sharp grin.
"Found what?" Tempest asked in confusion. But her master didn't respond. There was no reason to let underlings in on everything.
"Notify the First Order of this development and proceed as planned." he ordered. Tempest bowed before turning away, but the Storm King called out to her one last time "But remember, the alicorns belong to me!" he told her over his shoulder. As Tempest left, a vicious grin spread over the Storm King's face. Things might still get interesting during this invasion after all.
"I almost feel nostalgic coming back to this place." Thorax said as Celestia's and Twilight's forces were gathering in the old Insurgency HQ to discuss their next move against the Storm King.
"Nostalgic is not the word I'd use." Celestia replied dryly as Thorax entered the room where most of their allies were already sitting around a round table with a map of Equestria rolled out in front of them. The only seats that were empty were Celestia's and Sweetie Belle's. Said unicorn was about to enter the room as well, but Celestia's wing blocked her path.
"Sweetie, a moment please." she told her pupil on a calm and neutral tone, but Sweetie immediately knew that she was in trouble. The two mares closed the door and walked into a quiet corner. Sweetie had a pretty good idea about what Celestia wanted, so she just brought it up right away.
"Uh... Listen, Celestia. About what happened in Tartarus..." Sweetie started to explain herself, but Celestia held up a hoof to silence her.
"That was reckless and stupid. You know how unstable your magic can be. You could have easily lost control and then we wouldn't be having this conversation. I didn't teach you to act so irresponsibly." Celestia scolded. Sweetie Belle hung her head in shame. The alicorn then sighed and her gaze softened somewhat. "But you can make up for it by finishing another assignment for me. Discreetly." Sweetie Belle's face lit up as she heard her mentor's words. She would do anything to make up for her mistake. And the assignment Celestia gave her was not only interesting, but quite to her liking as well.
If somepony told Apple Bloom that one day she is going to hold a military briefing, she probably would have laughed it off. Then again, she also wouldn't have believed that Twilight would one day go crazy and become a ruthless tyrant. It's crazy how times have changed. But seeing as how Flash Sentry was M. I. A., it now fell upon her to take charge.
The tension in the room certainly didn't help. The two groups on the two opposite sides of the table didn't even try to hide their animosity towards each other. Thunderlane and Spitfire were glaring flaming daggers at each other, the latter clearly not amused with the former's takeover of her position as Captain of the Wonderbolts. Rainbow Dash, Starlight and Trixie were eyeing Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie with anger and bitterness. They still believed that the Regime was right and they didn't forgive their old friends for what she considered treason.
Flurry Heart and Cozy Glow were sitting across Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom. The teenaged alicorn was still unhappy about her defeat at their hooves in Tartarus and looked like she wanted nothing better than to carve them up right there, while Cozy looked like she really didn't want to be there, but taking on the Storm King still beat doing time in Tartarus.
Luna was staring in a rather unfriendly way at Thorax. While she probably wouldn't admit it, part of her was still sad that her sister and her parted ways on such a brutal level and she wished things could have been different. And she was not happy that this upstart changeling took her place at Celestia's side as her closest and most intimate companion. Thorax was doing his best to avoid her gaze while gulping nervously.
Blueblood and Big Macintosh were glaring each other down. It was obvious that the two stallions at the two opposing ends of the social ladder with radically different world views would have nothing but contempt for each other. But all the bitterness and anger in the room paled in comparison to what Celestia and Twilight were giving each other. And lastly there was Luster Dawn, who didn't understand anything that was going on and looked at everypony in confusion. Apple Bloom cleared her throat.
"Right." she said as she rolled out a map on the table. "Thanks to de Wonderbolts' recon, we have a pretty good idea about de layout of de Storm King's forces and how much of our cities dey hold. We now have de means to organize resistance from here, but before we launch a counterattack, our first priority is evacuating as many ponies as we can. But before we can do dat, we're goin' to need to need to reclaim Celestia's SkyWatch system. Dis requires a magical expert. Ah think Starlight would probably be de best for de job." The unicorn in question was not thrilled with the idea.
"Now hold on a second! Just because we agreed to work together doesn't mean you get to boss me around. Twilight is the only one I take orders from."
"And that is why you will do as she says." Twilight told her student firmly. Starlight's jaw dropped.
"What?! But... But I..." Twilight held up her hoof to silence her.
"Luster Dawn told me in great detail how easily the Storm King overtook her village. Without tight coordination we'll lose valuable time." she explained.
"And that means we'll have to reclaim the SkyWatch system." Celestia added with just as much firmness. Starlight gave Twilight a pleading look, but her expression remained unchanged. Finally she gave in with a sigh. Celestia continued. "Pinkie Pie and Thorax will accompany you. You will need their help to get inside the Eye of the Sun."
"Just tell me where it is." Starlight responded dismissively. "I'll simply teleport there."
"You can't." Celestia said bluntly. "The chamber is protected by a magical barrier specifically designed to use advanced defense against Regimers."
"Simply put, if you try teleporting in there, instead of Starlight, you'll become Stardust." Thorax told her jokingly. Luster Dawn actually snorted at his remark, but a stern glare from Twilight quickly silenced her.
"So how do we get in?" Starlight asked annoyed.
"The entrance is under the statue garden next to the castle in Canterlot." Celestia explained. "The three of you can move quickly without drawing attention. And Thorax knows how to deactivate the defenses of the chamber."
"Oh, great." Starlight groaned nervously. "Into the statue garden with a crazy party pony and changeling king in the middle of an invasion. What can possibly go wrong?"
"And what about the rest of us?" Rainbow Dash demanded. "We can't just sit here and wait for them to succeed!"
"We won't, Rainbow Dash." Celestia responded. "We'll plan our attack and once SkyWatch is back under our hoof, we'll mobilize. But before we leave, there is one thing I want to make clear." she then turned towards the side of the table where Twilight's supporters were sitting.
"There is no Regime anymore. Equestria is under my protection and this is my operation, so we're doing things my way. If I catch any word of any of you doing anything behind my back that I don't approve of, you will answer to me. If one of you steps out of line, believe me, I'll know. Do we understand each other?" Nopony in the room said anything as Celestia's narrowed eyes scanned over them, but from their intimidated expressions - minus Twilight's, of course - she assumed they understood. "Good. Now let's go."
Everypony left the room to carry out their tasks, with the exception of Twilight who stopped in front of a large object covered with a large white sheet in the corner of the room. She then turned to Celestia.
"Why did you keep it?" Celestia raised an eyebrow.
"Keep what?" Twilight used her magic to pull the sheet off of the object, revealing it to be the statue of the Mane 6 raised after they defeated Discord for the first time. Celestia cast a short glance at the statue, but her stoic expression remained unchanged.
"Oh. So this is where I put that." she said casually before walking past Twilight, but she couldn't fool her old student. Twilight caught the break in her tone. The break that betrayed the longing Celestia had for those old days when Twilight and her friends were still Equestria's defenders and her trustworthy subjects. Twilight cast one last glance at the statue and she allowed herself a small, soft smile. To know that Celestia still harbored those feelings was somehow... nice.
Pinkie Pie peeked out from behind the hedge to make sure the coast is clear before rolling out from behind it to hide between another one and signaled Thorax and Starlight to follow her. The unicorn simply rolled her eyes at the pink mare's antics, but tried not to pay attention to it. She and Thorax just walked on silently, trying their best to ignore the pink mare.
"How much further?" Starlight asked, not even bothering to hide the frustration in her voice.
"We're almost there." the changeling king replied, earning a groan from the unicorn.
"That's what you said half an hour ago! I don't know how much more of this I can take! I swear, if she starts humming the theme of Mission Neigh-possible, I will get violent!" As much as Thorax enjoyed Starlight's rumbling, he had to admit that Pinkie was starting to get on his nerves too. Fortunately, they were really getting closer to the secret entrance.
"Over there!" he pointed to the statue that covered the entrance when it came into sight. The three of them approached it and Thorax was about to open it, when Pinkie noticed something.
"Is it hot around here or is it just me?" she asked as she looked around, as if looking for danger. Starlight rolled her eyes.
"Don't flatter yourself."
Thorax also felt it. It was like the heat was coming from the statue. He touched the statue, but suddenly, he recoiled in pain as he let out an agonized cry. He held his right hoof in the other one to try to ease the burning feeling.
"It is hot." he whimpered.
"It will be even hotter in a minute." The three looked up to see Ember and a group of dragons emerge from behind the statue and the bushes. "Did you really think we would leave this place unprotected?" The dragon lord sneered, folding her arms. "Tempest knew about your little surveillance system and she wanted us to keep it shut down. We used our flame to seal it down. So sorry, but there's no way you're getting past us." she boasted as the dragons all got into attacking positions.
Starlight and Pinkie looked frightened as they backed away, but Thorax, despite still holding his agonizing hoof remained calm.
"Don't count the hatchlings before they hatch, Ember." he said before putting his hoof in his mouth and letting out a sharp whistle. Ember watched in surprise as half of the dragons in her group jumped to Thorax's side and revealed themselves to be changelings, ready to defend their king. The Dragon Lord was furious by this deception.
"Why you little... ATTACK!" she roared to her dragons as huge fight broke out between the two groups. Thorax's changelings did a good job at defending their injured ruler, so Pinkie and Starlight could fully focus on Ember.
Starlight tried blasting her with her magic, but the dragon kept dodging her attacks. She then used her wings to launch dust from the ground into the air, which temporarily blinded the unicorn. Taking advantage of this, Ember tackled her to the ground and was about to incinerate her with her fire breath, but she was saved by Pinkie in the last moment, who fired her party cannon at the dragon, blasting her off Starlight.
Pinkie jumped next to Starlight and offered her a hoof to help her up. Though, Starlight was hesitant, she was humbled enough to accept it.
"Thanks." she said as Pinkie pulled her on her hooves.
"No problemo." Pinkie cheered before loading her cannon again. Starlight gave the device a confused look.
"Was this with you the entire time?" Pinkie opened her mouth to answer, but didn't have the time because Ember flew up to her and carried her off into the air. Before Pinkie even had time to react, Ember threw her towards the ground, exactly where her cannon was. Starlight saw this and caught Pinkie in the air with her magic, just before she hit it.
Ember growled in frustration before diving towards Starlight, who was still holding Pinkie and didn't have time to react to the attack. Ember stomped her into the ground, but before she had any chance do serious damage, Pinkie bucked her off of the unicorn. Ember was slammed into one of the statues and didn't even have time to recover as Starlight hit her with an energy beam right in the stomach. It held her in place just long enough for Pinkie to run up to her and slam her head into the stone behind her, finally sending her down for good.
The two mares panted in exhaustion after the fight. They walked up next to each other and gave the other an approving nod.So far, the teamwork was going much better than anticipated. They ran to check on Thorax and were relieved to see that the fight between the changelings and the dragons had ended with the former's victory. Thorax's changelings have rounded up several dragons and were tying them up, while the two ponies carried the unconscious dragon lord over to them. Thorax gave her a pitying look.
"In the end, she just couldn't let go of her anger." he said sadly. Pinkie put a supporting hoof on his shoulder, but Starlight just shrugged.
"She made her choices, now she has to live with them."
"Having your changelings disgusied as her dragons was a clever move of you, Thorax. I wouldn't have expected it from a happy-go-lucky guy like you." Pinkie complimented.
"I may be optimistic, Pinkie, but I'm not naive." Thorax replied. "And I know Ember too well. I knew words weren't going to get through her head this time."
"Can we see that secret entrance now? We have a job to do here?" Starlight interrupted casually. Pinkie just gave her an angry stare, but before she could say anything, Thorax stood up.
"You're right." he replied, walking up to the statue. "Starlight, could you cool it down a bit?" The unicorn did as she was asked and used a spell to break the seal. Thorax then used the spell Celestia showed her and the statue moved back to reveal the hidden stairway.
"Ladies first." Thorax motioned for the two ponies to move on before turning to his changelings. "Take the prisoners to Celestia. Losing the dragons will be a significant blow to the First Order." he then followed the ponies down the stairway.
The three creatures were making their way through the dark tunnel that lead to The Eye of the Sun as Celestia called it. They were walking mostly in silence, but Pinkie noticed that Thorax had a troubled look on his face. Since she was never one to see someone unhappy, she had to ask about it.
"Why the long face, bug-boy?" Thorax looked down sadly.
"It's just... I'm worried about Flash and Daring. I haven't seen them since we got seperated in the Badlands. I hope they're okay."
"Don't worry." Pinkie replied in the most reassuring tone she could muster with her loud voice and hogh energy. "I'm sure we'll find them once we get to that meanie Stormy guy." Thorax smiled at Pinkie, gratefulfor the support, but to the surperise of them both, Starlight let out a chuckle.
"I wouldn't have high hopes if I were you." Thorax immedately grew concerned, while Pinkie gave the unicorn an interrogative look.
"Starlight, why you have to be a party pooper like that?" The unicorn rolled her eyes at Pinkie's innocense.
"From what Twilight told me, the Storm King is a conqueror and a collector of magic. From every land he conquers, he takes the most powerful magic and artifacts and discards the rest. And I don't think a poor pony's Shining Armor and a treasure hunter would be particularly high on the list of things he's interedted in." Pinkie gave her a dirty look.
"I would pick them over you anyday, Starlight!" sheb snarled, greatly surprising the other two. She wasn't usually so angry. Or even direct with her words. But somepony badmouthing her friends like that just brought it out of her.
Starlight turned to her and was about to respond, but suddenly, she jumped and turned her head towards something at the far end of the tunnel.
"What is it?" Thorax asked in concern. Starlight narrowed her eyes at the spot she was staring at.
"We are not alone. I can sense two other creatures in here. Tempest apparently had a backup plan in case someone makes it past the dragons." Pinkie's and Thorax's eyes widened in alarm.
"What do we do now?" Pinkie asked. Starlight turned to Thorax.
"Thorax, head back to the entrance and make sure no creature gets out of this tunnel. Me and Pinkie will deal with them." the changeling king nodded and ran back towards the exit while the two ponies entered a battle stance.
Starlight ignited her horn and looked around. She didn't see anycreature around, but she did see something fly out of the darkness, directly towards Pinkie Pie. She jumped in front of the party pony and summoned a shield to deter the object, which turned out to be a pair of bolas. The weapon hit Starlight's shield with a loud clang and slid down on it to the ground. The two ponies looked up to see the shadowy figures of two other ponies step into the light. It was Lightning Dust and Bon Bon.
"I told Tempest that you were loyal to the Princess." Lightning growled at Pinkie Pie. "She called me paranoid. But at least she listened to me when I said Celestia wouldn't give up this place without a fight." Starlight glared at the other two.
"You want a fight, Lightning? We'll be happy to provide." Lightning replied with a smirk.
"Starlight! My old comrade! You seem to be switching sides more often than I do." she taunted.
"Comrade? Hardly." Starlight scoffed. "I was never down with Twilight's little death squad she put you in charge of. That was her own operation! You were nothing more than criminals!"
"We are both considered criminals right now, Starlight." Lightning replied. "So tell me, what's the difference between you and me now?" Starlight has had enough. She stepped forward to teach this punk a lesson.
"The difference between you and me? I will still be standing in a few minutes!" She charged at the pegasus with her horn ready for a blast. Lightning flew up to evade it, but Starlight expected this and cast a barrier over her, causing Lightning to crash head on into it. Enraged by this little trick, Lightning decided to take on Starlight head on. She flew at her, greatly surprising the unicorn mare. She punched Starlight in the stomach, making her lose balance and fall over in pain, then carried her off into the air and slammed her into the ceiling of the tunnel.
Starlight started falling towards the ground, but she came to just in time before she crashed. She managed to land on her hooves and quickly spun around and fired a blast at Lightning, who didn't expect her to recover so quickly and Starlight managed to take her by surprise. The blast hit her right in the chest and sent her back, crashing her against the ceiling. Starlight noticed a large rock formation hanging over her and used her magic to bring it down on top of her. But Lightning noticed it in time and gathered all of her speed to bolt out from under it and headed straight at Starlight. She dashed through between her legs, tripping the unicorn, then charged upwards and turned around to smash Starlight into the ground. Starlight quickly summoned a barrier around herself which halted Lightning's charge.
"The Regime won't pardon traitors!"
"I do not need your respect!"
Starlight was struggling to keep up the barrier, Lightning was pushing too hard. In the end, she got an idea. With the last bit of her magic, she teleported out from under the pegasus and Lightning ended up crashing into the ground. Starlight reappeared above her and dropped down on top of her, landing with all four of her hooves slamming into Lightning, finally ending the fight.
Meanwhile, Pinkie Pie picked up the bola Bon Bon fired at her and was now twirling it as a lasso.
"Now I show you how I deal with mean party poopers like you! And then your boss is next!"
Pinkie stroke at the other earth pony with the end of the bola, but Bon Bon got out of the way before it hit her. She then fired another one at Pinkie. But Pinkie - much to Bon Bon's bewilderment - managed to snatch it from the air and was now armed with two of them. Bon Bon realized that this tactic won't get her anywhere, so she threw her weapon away and engaged the party pony hoof-on-hoof. Pinkie had the advantage with the two bolas she now held, but Bon Bon managed to wrestle one away from her and then managed to wrap in around Pinkie's legs before pulling them out from under her, making her fall on the ground.
"I don't want to do this Pinkie, but I have to fight. For Lyra's sake and mine." Normally, Pinkie would have been empathic about that, but at the moment, her home was being invaded and her friends were putting their lives at risk out there to protect it from a horrible tyrant.
"I understand." she replied on her usual, cheerful tone. "I don't want to do this either. As long as you understand that I will have to kick your flank into the next week. For my friends' sake and mine." Pinkie swung her hind legs into the air and kicked Bon Bon in the chin, knocking her down. She then ripped the bola holding her hind legs together and jumped up into the air, stomping into Bon Bon's stomach. Finally, she brought her forehooves down, smashing Bon Bon's head into the ground.
Bon Bon still wasn't done. She tried weakly reaching for her bola launcher, but Pinkie used her own pair of bolas to wrap Bon Bon up. She then dragged her off to her party cannon. She then stuffed the tied up mare into it and aimed at the defeated Lightning Dust who was lying at Starlight's hooves before firing. Bon Bon was shot straight into the pegasus, leaving both of them incapacitated at last.
Starlight and Pinkie panted heavily as they stood over their defeated opponents. They were exhausted, but they finally had time to catch their breath. Starlight looked up to see Pinkie leaning against her party cannon.
"Seriously, how do you drag that thing around everywhere?" she asked.
"Ask the writer!" Pinkie retorted, motioning towards the 'screen'. "He's the one too lazy to come up with an actual explanation." Starlight just gave her an odd look, before deciding to drop the argument and keep moving.
"Are we there yet? If Tempest stationed Lightning and Bon Bon here, then we must be close."
"Celestia gave me the exact layout of this place. It's just a few more meters. And it seems like the First Order's forces already shut down the defensive barrier. The only thing left to do is for you to take the SkyWathc system back from the Storm King." Pinkie explained as they kept walking.
Sure enough, after a few more seconds of walking, they finally reached the Eye of the Sun. Starlight stared in awe at the various magical screens on the wall, which showcased almost every major equestrian city and location. She had no idea this system was so detailed.
"This thing is bigger than I thought." she said. "It won't be easy to wrestle back control from the Storm King and lock him out of the system."
"I suggest you don't even bother trying."
The two mares jumped in surprise when they heard the voice and the screens around the walls all rearranged themselves into one huge screen in front of them. When they all finished assembling, they found themselves staring at the smugly grinning face of the Storm King.
"Ah, Starlight Glimmer! I was hoping to get a chance to meet you." he mused when he recognized the unicorn, which made Starlight back away nervously.
"You know me?" she asked. The Storm King's grin widened.
"I know more of you than you can imagine. A unicorn who managed to remove cutie marks of other ponies and mastered time magic. Your talents are exceptional. You unfulfilled potential is even greater." Starlight raised an eyebrow.
"Unfulfilled potential? What are you talking about?"
"Wouldn't you like to know? How about this? Join me and I will help you not only to understand your potential, but fulfill it completely and beyond!" The Storm King offered. Pinkie's eyes widened in horror.
"Don't listen to him, Starlight! He's just playing with you! And not the kinds of fun party games that I would come up with, but mean, evil pranks that hurt ponies!"
"I know, Pinkie." Starlight replied, then shot a glare at the Storm King. "I would never help you conquer Equestria and steal it's magic! I am no longer that pony!" The Storm Kings sighed.
"I am disappointed to hear that, but not surprised. I guess I will have to give you a little taste of what you could accomplish on my side."
The magical screen lit up and a white lightbeam was fired at Starlight, who screamed in agony. Pinkie watched in horror and confusion as the magical energy started ripping something out of Starlight. As the process went on, she started recognizing it as the outline of another pony.
"What... What is this?" Pinkie asked.
"A blast from the past." The Storm King replied as he finished his spell. When Starlight came to, there was an exact replica of her standing in front of her, with one striking difference: in the place of her cutie mark, was an equation mark.
"You!" The Starlight replica snarled. "How could you give up everything that you worked for tirelessly ever since you were a foal. You have become weak and pathetic! I will enjoy taking your place in this world at The Storm King's side!" Starlight backed away in fear. This wasn't the first time she faced a replica of herself, but this time, it was more frightening. The Starlight form the other universe was just a reminder of happier times with Twilight and her friends, but this was a reminder of the times she was so desperate to forget. Shaking her head to snap out of her stupor, she turned to Pinkie.
"Keep her off of me! I need to get into the system and kick him out." she said, motioning towards the Storm King with her head. Pinkie nodded with a firm expression. Pinkie ran to tackle the fake Starlight, while the real one ran up to the screen and cast her magic on it.
Pinkie was struggling to hold down the Starlight replica, but she blasted her off of herself with a spell. Pinkie quickly got back on her hooves and got between the real Starlight.
"I will not let you hurt my friend!" Pinkie panted, slamming her forehooves into the ground.
"Friend?" Replica Starlight scoffed. "If she made friends with the likes of you, she's become even more pathetic than I thought." The replica then grabbed Pinkie with her magic and threw her against a wall. She then started advancing on Starlight, but Pinkie came to and grabbed the bola she took from Bon Bon. She threw it around Replica Starlight's legs, which successfully halted her. Replica Starlight tried using her magic to cut the rope, but Pinkie stopped her by throwing a cupcake on her horn.
"Seriously?" Replica Starlight asked in an unamused way. Pinkie just shrugged before throwing a few more at the replica. Replica Starlight removed the cupcake stuck on her horn and used her magic to grab the ones Pinkie was throwing at her. She threw them back at her and manage to hit her in the eyes.
"Ahhh!" Pinkie yelled in agony. "How can the sugary sweetness of cupcakes, sweet, delicious, yummy cupcakes cause such pain?!" she hollered, trying to wipe her eyes clean. Replica Starlight used this time to free herself from the bola wrapped around her legs. Pinkie finished clearing her vision just in time to see and avoid magical blasts from Replica Starlight. Pinkie had no trouble avoiding her attacks, but knew that she can't hold this up for long. She needed a way to end this fight for good.
Replica Starlight got tired of this and gathered all her magic for one almighty blast that would surely knock the annoying earthy pony off her hooves. But she needed to charge up her horn for the blast and by doing this, she unwittingly gave Pinkie an opening. She rushed at Replica Starlight at full speed and crashed into her.
"No magic, no chance!"
"I've killed parasprites braver than you!"
Pinkie was slowly winning the clash, but she realized she was tiring out. "Starlight, I don't know how much longer can I hold her!"
"Keep it up just a little longer!" The real Starlight yelled to her, trying to maintain the magical connection between her and the screen. The Storm King on the screen laughed coldly.
"Don't bother! No unicorn, not even one as powerful as you can overcome the vast magic I've collected." To his surprise, Starlight's only reaction was a cocky smile.
"Not trying to overcome it. Just isolating it from SkyWatch's system. And since you so generously showed me a sample of your power when you created that replica, I have a much easier job at it." For the first time since they've met, The Storm King lost his composure and narrowed his eyes.
"What are you..." his eyes then widened as he realized his mistake. Starlight felt his power when he tore the replica out of her and now she knew what she was looking for when she had to separate SkyWathc from his connection. Before the Storm King could counter her actions in any way, it was already too late. He could feel the connection between him and SkyWatch fading.
"This... This minor victory will change nothing..." he seethed as the screen stated to fade. "Equestria and all of it's all of it's magic... will be..." He never got to finish. Starlight finally severed the connection completely and the magical screen on the wall jumped apart and returned to their original places on the wall, showing the cities and other locations they were supposed to.
Pinkie was still struggling with Replica Starlight. She only noticed that Starlight was successful when the replica faded out of existence. "Whoa!" Pinkie exclaimed as she fell forward with the object she was pushing against no longer being there. She looked around in confusion, which turned to joy when she saw the real Starlight's face greeting her with a triumphant smile. Pinkie squealed.
"Starlight! You did it!" she screamed as she pulled the unicorn into a bone crushing hug. It caught Starlight by surprise, but it felt really nice. But as much as she enjoyed it, she had to cut it short. Celestia had to be notified of this development immediately. They have won a major battle, but the war was far from over.
The Battle for the liberation of Equestria had begun. With SkyWatch being back under their control and the dragons and the pegasi of Lightning Dust being taken out of the equation, the tides were beginning to turn. Resistance cells were becoming more organized, surviving, and newly freed members of the Royal Guard were rebuilding their corps and eager to get some payback, and with Equestria's greatest defenders reunited, the ponies were finally able to counter the Storm King's invasion.
Rainbow Dash and Luster Dawn just finished leveling another group of the Storm King's soldiers in Canterlot. The young unicorn blasted off the head of another of those hulking monsters and she wasn't ashamed to admit that she imagined it was the same one who killed her mother and encased her in stone all those years ago.
Meanwhile, Rainbow Dash, having put bladed armor on her wings was now more lethal than ever. She performed spins in the air with her wings spread out and decapitated two more of those monsters. Another one charged at her from behind intending to crush her and she turned too late to counter, but luckily for her, Luster picked up a steel pipe with her magic and sent it right through the creature's heart just before it could harm the pegasus.
With the last of the enemies defeated, Luster looked around the area. The monsters they defeated have been rounding up civilians and taking them away as prisoners. When she and Rainbow ambushed them, the prisoners all ran away, but a few of them were stopped when some debris fell on them, trapping them beneath it. Luster quickly used her magic to lift the debris off of the trapped ponies, while Rainbow was busy fighting off the remaining creatures.
"Don't worry, it's all gonna be alright now." she told the two survivors with a reassuring smile. "We won't allow anycreature to hurt you anymore." The two ponies smiled in gratitude before they noticed something appearing behind Luster and took off in horror. Luster spun around with her horn ignited, expecting to see another one of the Storm King's soldiers behind her, but to her surprise, she saw only Rainbow Dash.
"Easy there, tiger." Rainbow said, holding up a hoof to calm her down. "The coast is clear. For now." Luster sighed in relief, but then raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"Oh, it's just you. But wait, why were they afraid if it's just you?" Rainbow acted like she didn't even hear the unicorn. She looked up at the sky where the Storm King's airship was still ominously looming over the city and growled.
"This isn't right. Celestia's plan is all wrong." she fumed to herself. "We should be taking the fight to the Storm King instead." Luster was surprised to see Rainbow like this. She was always impulsive, sure, but to see her so dismissive of other ponies to throw herself onto the enemy? This was not how she envisioned the Element of Loyalty.
"Rainbow, what are you talking about? We still have more ponies to save before we launch a counterattack." she argued, but Rainbow didn't seem concerned.
"For every pony we rescue, the Storm King's forces slaughter a thousand more! He needs to be stopped!" Rainbow snapped, making Luster back away in fright. But she couldn't back down. These ponies needed help and she needed to convince Rainbow of that.
"Rainbow. Have you forgotten what Princess Twilight and the Elements of Harmony stand for? They are supposed to give the ponies of Equestria hope and protection. And while I may not be an element bearer but I spent my whole life wanting to be like them. Like you. That's Rainbow Dash I know. The one I look up to. She never leaves anypony behind. Because she is the Element of Loyalty."
Rainbow Dash sighed and shook her head. Luster was so young and naive. She still had much to learn. But for now, she decided to humor her. She reminded her much of herself with that fiery determination. And the fact that she was also looking for vengeance for her lost loved ones. With an affectionate smile, she followed the young unicorn deeper into the ruined city.
The Storm King's forces were escorting a long line of captive ponies in chains towards the airship that landed in front of the ruins of Canterlot Castle. As one of them fell behind due to exhaustion, one of the soldiers hit him with a shock stick to make her move on. Another one fell down and was about to receive the same punishment, but the soldier was interrupted by a sound of fabric ripping apart and he turned towards the airship to see Rainbow Dash and Luster Dawn in an energy bubble bursting through the airship's ballistics and charging straight at them.
Rainbow took the shock stick from the soldier and before he could do anything, she shoved it down his throat, frying the creature from the inside. Meanwhile, Luster crushed the head of another of them in with her energy bubble, before dissipating it and using her magic to cut the chins tying the ponies together.
"Get out of here!" They didn't need to be told twice. The ponies all scattered as Luster and Rainbow went back to battling the Storm King's forces. Luster lifted the body of the one she killed and smashed it into another one that was charging at her. The impact immediately crushed the creature's neck. Rainbow raised the shock stick she took and launched herself at a new target. She impaled the creature and flew through it's chest, coming out on the other side and throwing the stick at the last enemy. She hit him right between the eyes. The stick pierced the creature's head and fried it from the inside before the creature collapsed lifelessly on the ground next to the others.
With the fight over, Luster panted in exhaustion and allowing herself a moment of rest, she collapsed on the ground. She looked over at Rainbow Dash, expecting to see her sharing her relieved expression, but to her surprise, the pegasus looked worried. Rainbow was about to follow her example, but then she heard a voice.
"Help!"
There was one more pony on the streets, stuck under some fallen debris. Rainbow was about to take off and rescue her, but just before she reached her, she felt a sharp, burning pain in her backlegs. She was suddenly pulled back and crashed hard against the ground. When she came to, she started rubbing her aching legs to ease the pain and looked up in an attempt to locate her assailant. Which she quickly did.
"Gilda!" she snarled. The griffon returned the gesture.
"Lure them out with live bait." she mused, floating over the trapped pony. "The most basic hunting technique." she then unveiled her claws and was about to put the poor mare out of her misery, but Rainbow threw herself at her and tackled her to the ground as Luster went to free the pony from beneath the rubble. Rainbow raised her hoof to pummel the griffon, but before she could, she was hit in the muzzle with something so hard that it knocked her back several meters.
Rainbow was sent crashing through a window and slammed against a wall, knocking down a shelf full of bottles on them. She groaned in pain as she got up and looked around. She could make it out that she was in a bar of some sort. She saw some ponies cowering behind the counter and looked up to see who crashed into the building. Upon seeing it was Rainbow Dash, they immediately backed away in fear.
This hurt the pegasus mare. She knew that ponies still haven't forgotten about the Regime's attack on Canterlot. Seeing these poor ponies in terror not because of the invaders, but because of her touched a part of her inside that she buried deep. A part that held doubt. Just like Twilight, she had often asked herself if the actions of the Regime were right. But Twilight's example taught her that to do what is right for Equestria, they had to bury doubt. Still, it didn't make the fearful and even angry gazes of these ponies hurt any less. She was about to reach out to comfort them, but then the doors were blasted open by another shot of the same material that sent her in here. Rainbow raised her eyes in confusion. It looked familiar.
"Is that... cider?"
The door then burst open and two stallions walked into the bar that Rainbow recognized as Flam and Zephyr Breeze. They looked down at the injured pegasus mare with malicious smirks.
"All that flying around in the city probably tired you out, Rainbow Dash." Flam snarled. "Care for a hard drink of cider?"
The unicorn stallion fired his weapon at Rainbow, who was still hurt from the crash she went through, so she wasn't sure if she was gonna be fast enough for her next move, but she had to try. She used all of her remaining strength to achieve the highest speed that she could and slowed time down around herself. She then flew circles around the liquid and managed to affect it by creating a small whirlwind. She then directed the wind and the liquid towards Zephyr Breeze. The Stallion never saw it coming. It hit Zephyr right in the chest and covered him entirely, making him completely immobile.
"Nice." Flam smirked, clearly impressed by Rainbow's move.
"Why would you ally yourself with Tempest, Flam?" Rainbow asked.
"Ponies stopped paying you for all those junk you've been trying to sell them over the years?" she mocked. Flam narrowed his eyes at her.
"I'm doing this one for free. You and the rest of those Regime bitches executed my brother! I'm just repaying the debt." Rainbow held no compassion for the stallion's grief.
"Since you were the older brother, I assume that you were the one who lead him into a life of crime. If so, then his death is on your conscience. He paid for your mistakes." That was all Flam needed to lose all composure. He aimed his weapon at Rainbow Dash and fired, but of course, it was a useless tactic against the fastest flyer in Equestria. Rainbow effortlessly dodged all of the blasts and even managed to land some punches on Flam between them.
Flam finally decided to change tactics and adjusted his weapon to fire a slightly less hardened version of his cider. He then aimed up towards the ceiling and fired, causing a literal cider rain in the room, which soaked Rainbow's wings to the point that she became unable to fly and crashed into the ground. Flam smirked upon seeing this and reset his weapon to hardened cider and fired a blast at Rainbow, who could barely roll out of the way in time.
Rainbow could feel the liquid getting harder on her wings. It won't be long until it completely solidifies and then she'll be screwed. Flam prepared to fire again and Rainbow was forced to jump over the counter to take cover. She had to come up with something and fast. She looked around to find anything that could help her. When her gaze fell on the ceiling, she noticed the fire sprinklers and an idea hit her. If she could activate them, they could wash the liquid off of her wings before it hardened. She then remembered that she knocked over quite a few bottles when she crashed in here. If she could somehow start a fire...
"Dashie... come out to pla-ay..." Flam sang as he slowly walked around the counter and prepared to fire at her again. Rainbow jumped over the counter again and grabbed a bar stool which she threw at the unicorn. He managed to catch it with his magic but it gave Rainbow time to look around for something useful and she noticed a lighter next to an ashtray on a table. Grabbing it, she threw it at the spilled alcoholic beverage, launching the chain reaction that she needed. The flames that roared up briefly activated the sprinklers and they quickly put out the fire as well as cleaned Rainbow's wings. Rainbow smirked as she pounded her forehooves together.
"My turn."
The tables have been turned. Rainbow launched herself at Flam and snatched his weapon away from him, before unleashing an endless barrage of attacks that quickly left the now defenseless stallion lying on the ground, moaning in pain.
"My condolences." Rainbow snarled, before throwing Flam's gun at his head, knocking him out. Her moment of triumph was interrupted by crackling sounds and she turned around to see Zephyr Breeze, who with the water from the sprinklers raining on him too, started breaking free from the hardened cider that trapped him. Rainbow groaned in annoyance.
"Look, Zephyr, I don't know why you're running around with this loser..." she started as she pointed at Flam. "...but I'm not in the mood for you hitting on me at the moment. I'm kinda busy right now, so if you could just get out of the way..." Rainbow never got to finish as Zephyr launched himself at her, which gave her the element of surprise and allowed him to punch her in the muzzle and send her crashing against the wall. Rainbow slowly got up and looked at Zephyr in shock. Did he just punch her?
"2 years, 7 months, 3 weeks and 4 days." Zephyr spoke as he banged his forehooves together. "That's how long I've rotted in the Badlands in your labor camp. For every one of those years, months, weeks and days, I'm going to break your wings in three places." he spoke with venom practically dripping from his voice. He picked up a barstool and was about to bring it down to break in Rainbow's skull, but she managed to roll out of the way just in time.
"Zephyr, what are you doing?" To Rainbow, Zephyr was still just Fluttershy's dimwitted little brother. The fact that he could be working against Equestria was unimaginable.
"No more goofing around, no more sleazing off, no more flirting." he snarled. "I will saw off your wings and drag you to Tempest in pieces." Rainbow Dash found herself getting frightened. Zephyr's eyes mirrored madness. He was out for blood. He grabbed two pieces of broken bottles and launched herself at Rainbow with the clear intention of shoving them in her eyes. Rainbow got out of the way and kicked Zephyr away.
"Zephyr, stop this, I don't want to hurt you, but..."
"SHUT UP AND DIE!" the stallion roared as he resumed his attack. He lifted another broken bottle and stabbed it in Rainbow's leg. The mare screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground. Zephyr then got on top of her and pressed his hooves against her throat. Rainbow choked as she struggled to get Zephyr off of her. She pulled her backlegs up and kicked him away. She finally got over the shock of being brutally attacked by her former unwanted admire and began to fight properly. But no matter what kind of attacks she threw at Zephyr, he just refused to go down.
"Since when are you so resilient?" Rainbow asked.
"Labor camp toughened me up." Zephyr countered darkly. "The one thing I do have to be grateful to you Regimers. You won't be rid of me so easily! You will all pay!" he flew behind Rainbow with surprising swiftness and brought her forelegs down on her wings.
KRCK
Rainbow screamed in pain and once again collapsed on the ground, but Zephyr didn't stop. He brought his hoof down on her muzzle.
KRCK
And again...
KRCK
And again...
KRCK
Rainbow's muzzle was burning with pain and her nose was bleeding severely. But she still had some fight left in her. She finally pulled herself together and raised a hoof to protect herself. She then headbutted the stallion in the muzzle. This pushed Zephyr back slightly and gave enough time and space for Rainbow to crawl out from under him. She then grabbed the same barstool that Zephyr used earlier and bashed him in the head, sending him on the ground. Zephyr still looked like he was about to get up, but another hit with the barstool finally sent him down for good.
Rainbow fell on the ground and panted in exhaustion and pain. She kept staring at Zephyr's unconscious form, not being able to look away. The fearful look of those ponies who were hiding behind the counter earlier but have fled when the fighting started was hard enough. But Zephyr Breeze turning on Equestria because of the Regime's actions felt like another huge blow to her. She heard stories about the labor camps, but even she didn't want to believe that Twilight would go that far. But now she faced not only the reality of their existence, but the extense of Twilight's ruthlessness. As she kept staring at Zephyr's body, only one thought found it's way into her aching mind.
"We did this..."
Rainbow felt horrified. She felt sick to her stomach. She actually found herself vomiting on the ground. She had pushed this side of herself for so long that she had forgotten it existed, but now the realization hit her like a speeding train.
"We did this..."
She grabbed her head in despair and started panting in a panic attack. She felt like she was in a terrible nightmare that she could not wake up from. Tears began to fall from her eyes as it all came back to her. Rarity's death, the attack on Canterlot and Ponyville, the lies she fed Luster Dawn. She did and stood for things that would have made her old self spit her in the eye.
"We did this..." she sobbed pathetically.
"Yes we did." Rainbow spun around to see none other than Twilight herself entering the ruined bar through the broken door. Rainbow stood up and looked her in the eye.
"Is it true? Did... did you really send him and who knows how many ponies into labor camps?" Twilight just nodded casually.
"Of course. The only thing he was good for was to keep her sister in line. Had I known that Fluttershy would turn on us eventually, I would have killed him in front of her myself." Rainbow couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"No..." she uttered as more tears came from her eyes. "No..." she fell back on the ground.
"What's the matter, Rainbow Dash? You were my biggest supporter through and through. You even approved of my attack on Canterlot and using the Wonderbolts for it. Clearly this is nothing you can't stomach." Twilight spoke with the calmest voice imaginable. Rainbow felt numb in her mind.
"What... what have we become?" she asked herself. Her breakdown was interrupted by a laugh.
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA..." She was so numb that she didn't even notice that it was coming from Twilight at first. She looked at the alicorn and saw her laugh maniacally as she threw her head back and started glowing in yellow light. Her voice suddenly changed and her appearance started changing too. Rainbow stood back in horror as Twilight became a changeling.
"...HAHAHA!" Pharynx laughed as he returned to normal. "Isn't that interesting? There is a little doubt in Twilight's second in command after all." Rainbow's eyes widened. She was tricked by this changeling to break down in front of him and he caught her in her most vulnerable moment. This brought back the memories of Chrysalis tricking Twilight into destroying Canterlot. Rainbow's mind became overflown with rage.
"You..." she snarled. "You tricked me... YOU TRICKED ME!!!" Rainbow roared in rage as she launched herself at the changeling. Pharynx was surprised to see Rainbow still being able to fight. He expected that Flam and Zephyr have already tired her out and he could take her to Tempest. But rage can be a powerful fuel. Rainbow tackled Pharynx and punched him in the head repeatedly as strongly as she could. She screamed in rage as she continued the savage onslaught, beating the helpless changeling within an inch of his life.
Rainbow panted in fury as she pulled her hoof back for another punch, but before she could strike again, she noticed all the blood on it. She recoiled in horror. She looked down at Pharynx and saw him lying in a pool of his own blood, motionless and not breathing. Pahrynx was dead. And Rainbow Dash had killed him.
"No... NO! I... I didn't mean it... I..." Rainbow grabbed her head in despair. She wailed and cried until there was nothing left. No tears, no sorrow, no regret... Nothing. She looked up to see herself in the reflection in the broken glass. Lying on top of Pharynx's dead body covered in blood. Not just hers, but her victim's as well.
Rainbow Dash was dead too. She was now really a monster...
Luster Dawn laid on the square in front of the ruined Canterlot Castle in defeat as Gilda the griffon was towering over her triumphantly.
"Poor little pony." she taunted as she pinned her to the ground and raised a claw to her cheek. She pulled her claw down her cheek, drawing blood. Luster struggled to get free, but her fight with the Storm King's soldiers tired her out. She didn't even have enough strength left to cast a spell. "It can't be easy being a prey species." Gilda lowered her talon to Luster's throat and tightened her grip on it to the point where her claws almost penetrated skin. "Where is your big, strong pegasus friend now?"
"Right here!" Gilda turned around to see a rainbow-colored blur heading towards her at full speed. Rainbow rammed her forelegs into Gilda's stomach and punched her away from the unicorn, right into a piece of fallen debris. She then turned to Luster. "You okay, kid?" Luster slowly sat up and nodded in response. "Stand back and let a pro handle this." she said as she walked towards Gilda. Gilda just got up and relocated her shoulder that went out of place when she hit the debris. She went to confront the pegasus.
"Finally! We meet again." Gilda mused. "How long has it been? Seven years?" Rainbow scoffed in response.
"Not long enough. Why am I not surprised to see you running with Tempest? How could I ever think that you could change and adopt equestrian values?" Gilda narrowed her eyes at her.
"How could I ever think that they were worth adopting? I was right about you ponies! All you're good for is meat! After what your friend Twilight did to me, the least I can do is help Tempest tear this place apart! The fact that I get to kill you is just a bonus!"
Gilda wasted no more time and attacked Rainbow. Flying at the pegasus, she raised her talons and slashed her across the chest. Rainbow winced in pain and tried to fly back, but she choked when Gilda grabbed her throat. She was about to scratch out Rainbow's eyes, Rainbow blocked with her foreleg and kicked Gilda in the stomach, making her release her grip on her throat.
Rainbow then tackled the griffon and prepared to punch her in the face, but Gilda grabbed her hoof and deepened her claws into it, drawing blood and causing a great deal of pain. Rainbow backed away and rubbed her hoof to try and ease the pain and Gilda took advantage of this moment of vulnerability. She flew at her and pierced her side with her claws.
Rainbow screamed in pain and Gilda pulled her claws back to slash Rainbow's face, but the pegasus jumped back in time and Gilda wasn't able to pull back in time and fell forward. Rainbow then lunged forward and brought her hooves down on Gilda's forelegs with full force. The griffon screamed in pain as her forelegs snapped, leaving her incapacitated. Rainbow then kicked her in the side and forced her on her back.
"To think we were friends! Twilight was right! The only mercy your kind deserves is this!" Rainbow declared as she raised her armored wing and Gilda's eyes widened in fear as she saw the bladed edge of the armor glint in the sunlight.
The whole world was a blur to Luster Dawn. That griffon she wrestled with earlier was tough. She underestimated her opponent just because she didn't have magic and if Rainbow Dash didn't show up in time, she wouldn't have lived to regret that mistake. As her vision became clear, she saw a set of hooves appear in front of her. She jumped back in fright, expecting an enemy attack, but she calmed down once she saw who the legs belonged to.
"Hey, kiddo, you ok?" Thorax asked, giving Luster the warmest and most friendly look he can muster. Luster sighed in relief before nodding affirmative. "Good. Sit tight, I'll handle this." Luster was a little confused as to what he was referring to as her vision still didn't return completely, so she didn't see Thorax run up to Rainbow and Gilda and using his magic to teleport the griffon out from under the pegasus before she delivered the finishing blow. Rainbow looked around in surprise and saw Thorax standing in front of Gilda protectingly.
"What's the big idea, Rainbow Trash?" he asked angrily. Rainbow sneered at him.
"This isn't your business, changeling." she snarled.
"You already beat her. She's had enough. I don't think Celestia would approve of murdering an already defeated opponent!"
"You lecture me?!" Rainbow challenged incredulously. "How much blood is on the ledger of your species?"
"Oh, buckets full, honey. We changelings put way too much faith into the wrong leader. Kinda like you with Twilight."
It was true. Rainbow knew that what the changeling was saying was one hundred percent true. And she hated it. She couldn't handle the fact that she sunk so low that she could be now compared to one of the worst monsters in Equestria's history. And there was only one possible reaction she could give to that. She already took the life of a changeling today. What's one more?
Rainbow flew at Thorax with her vision blinded by rage. Thorax tried to use a defensive spell, but Rainbow was too quick. She got behind Thorax and used her bladed wing to penetrate him through the chest. Luster Dawn gasped in shock. Her vision finally came back and she couldn't believe what she was seeing. Rainbow Dash, her mentor and one of Equestria's greatest heroes was about to murder one of Celestia's greatest allies in cold blood!
Luster Dawn felt as if her entire being was frozen with shock as the blades on Rainbow Dash's wing penetrated the changeling king. What was Rainbow Dash doing? Attacking her own ally during a battle when their enemy was all over them? This was not the pony she knew and looked up to during her youth and the past years of training under her and Blueblood. For a moment, she wasn't sure what she should do. But training under the fastest flier in Equestria taught her how to think and act fast. She made her decision.
Luster ignited her horn and blasted the unsuspecting Rainbow - who have pulled her wing out of her would be victim and was about to slice off his head - away from Thorax, before running over to him to check on him. He was doing just as well, as one would expect from someone who just got stabbed through the torso. He was losing a lot of blood and wasn't going to survive without medical attention. But he won't make it to a hospital unless she treats her wound first. And she could only think of one way to do that.
"You're bleeding out! I'm gonna have to close your wound or you'll die before I can get you to a hospital. I'm not gonna lie, this will hurt. A lot." she told Thorax, who only smiled up at her lightly.
"Do your worst." he said, lying down and closing his eyes in preparation. Luster ignited her horn and fired a heatray at the open wound. She wasn't lying when she said it would hurt. Thorax screamed in excruciating agony and Luster had to hold him down to keep him from withering. She managed to seal his wound in a few seconds and was about to pick him up and take him away when a voice from behind her stopped her.
"Luster, what are you doing?!" Rainbow Dash asked incredulously. The inocrn stood up and turned around to face the pegasus.
"I'm stopping you before you make a mistake!" she retorted. Rainbow scoffed. She had made hundreds of mistakes in the past. It was a little too late for that.
"You are protecting a changeling! They are nothing horrible, love stealing parasites! They are the reason Canterlot was destroyed in the first place! I was doing Equestria a favor by killing him!" Luster backed away in horror. She never saw Rainbow Dash this cold blooded. It was like looking at an entirety different mare.
"It doesn't matter right now! Thorax is our ally! Our sole priority is stopping the Storm King! Killing our ally isn't war, Rainbow, it's murder! I thought you were honorable!" Rainbow narrowed her eyes at the young unicorn.
"You still have much to learn about the world. Now step aside and let me finish the job!" she roared at her. But Luster glared back at her and stood protectingly in front of Thorax.
"No! I will not let you kill him!"
Rainbow was surprised by her firmness and defiance, but she didn't have time to deal with her childish tantrum at the moment. She had a bug to exterminate. Quickly, she flew around Luster and went at Thorax, intending to finish him off, but Luster managed to intervene in time and blasted her away from him.
Rainbow crashed into the ground and Luster ran at her to knock her down for good, but Rainbow saw this and swiped Luster's forelegs out from under her with a kick, before flying up and trying to land a dropkick on Luster's head. But the unicorn managed to conjure a barrier just in time to repel the attack and knock the pegasus back. Rainbow crashed against a piece of debris and groaned in pain as she slowly got up. Luster slowly approached the injured unicorn with her horn ignited.
"Stay down." she pleaded. "I don't want to hurt you anymore." But to her surprise, Rainbow merely chuckled.
"Looks like you don't know me as well as you like to think. I never stay down."
Rainbow launched another attack, throwing a barrage of punches at the unicorn's muzzle. Luster tried to raise a defensive barrier, but Rainbow was so fast she didn't have time to cast one. The only way out of there would have been teleporting away, but that would have left the wounded Thorax at the mercy of the bloodthirsty pegasus and she couldn't allow that. She needed to get Thorax out of there as soon as possible. He already lost a lot of blood. There was no telling how much longer he'll last.
With a newfound determination sprouting from the knowledge that he had a life to save, Luster did the one thing she could think of. She gathered all her magic into her horn and threw herself at Rainbow, greatly surprising the pegasus and she managed to knock her back against another piece of debris, knocking her out and ending the fight.
"I trusted you, Rainbow." Luster said somberly, staring at her defeated opponent and mentor with disappointment. But she didn't have time to lament on it. Thorax needed medical attention immediately. Luster ran up to injured changeling king and threw his body on her back before running off.
"Don't worry, Thorax. I'll get you to the nearest hospital. You're gonna be alright. Princess Twilight will protect you." Thorax was close to passing out, but not before giving the unicorn a cryptic response with a weak chuckle.
"Heh... Twilight... protecting a changeling? Oh, kid you're funny." Thorax muttered before succumbing to unconsciousness. Luster didn't know what Thorax meant by this, but she had bigger concerns at the moment. After getting Thorax to a hospital, she will need to have a talk with Princess Twilight. As if the Storm King attacking wasn't bad enough, Twilight's supporters were going crazy. Just what happened to this country in her absence?
Twilight Sparkle, former Princess of Friendship, former Empress of Magic and former leader of the Equestrian Magical Regime was standing in the throne room of the Castle of Friendship. Before joining the fight against the Storm King, she needed to regain her magical powers. Celestia may have given her back her horn, but she was still pretty much completely drained after two years of not having it.
Fortunately, she had hidden a few magical artifacts in her castle, in which she stored away a little spare magic, just in case she was left powerless again like during the time when Cozy Glow tried to take over. Good thing Celestia didn't tear it down yet. After she refilled her powers as much as she could, she summoned Flurry Heart and Blueblood into the throne room. They have spent the past few hours searching through the castle's extensive library, searching for anything they could use against the Storm King. She could only hope they found something.
"What did you find?" she asked the two ponies as they entered the room. The looks on their faces already let her know that she will not like what they're going to tell her.
"I have went through every book in the library just like you asked." Flurry reported. "There was nothing useful."
"And I have analyzed the reports of Regime Intelligence agents." Blueblood added. "They just couldn't dig up anything on the Storm King." Twilight frowned in frustration.
"There's gotta be something we can use!" she growled as she paced around the room, deep in thoughts. "A weakness we can exploit! Anything!" as she kapt pacing around, Blueblood approached her.
"After your power's been restored, I need to go back to Stalliongrad. Make sure it's defenses are prepared." he said, his voice full of concern. The ponies of Stalliongrad took him and his fellow Regime refugees in during their time of need. He couldn't turn his back on them in theirs. Twilight looked up at him with a surprised look.
"The Storm King hasn't attacked it yet?"
"Stalliongrad is protected by a magical barrier that protects it from prying eyes. Even the Storm King's. But I don't expect him to be fooled forever." The stallion replied. Before Twilight could comment further on that, she was interrupted by Luster Dawn, who just entered the room.
"Princess Twilight, may I have a word with you?" she asked as she walked up to her. Twilight stared at her in contemplation for a few moments, before she eventually nodded.
"Give us a minute. Both of you" she told Flurry and Blueblood, who nodded and left. Luster was left alone with the princess, but before she could speak, Twilight beat her to it.
"Starlight told me what happened. Is Rainbow Dash ok?"
"She'll be fine." Luster replied." But it's Thorax you should be worried about. The doctors say he's still in critical condition. Rainbow Dash impaled him with her wingblades. She was gonna murder him. I never saw her so bloodthirsty. It was horrifying."
"Yes." Twilight said haltingly. "It's unfortunate..." she started, but Luster cut her off.
"I know. What was she thinking?" the unicorn scoffed. Twilight scowled at the interruption.
"It's unfortunate..." she continued, emphasizing the word to make sure Luster knew that the behaivor of the pegasus was not she was talking about. "...that Rainbow chose now to deal with the changeling influencing Celestia." she said, before narrowing her eyes at Luster in a disapproving glare. "More unfortunate that you got in the way." the unicorn stared up at the princess with a blank expression as she processed what she said.
"Excuse me? What?" was her blunt response. Twilight sighed.
"Don't tell me you're actually buying Thorax's little sugar coated story about him reforming the hive, Luster!" she laughed bitterly. "Changelings cannot be trusted. For all we know, Thorax is manipulating Celestia for his own ends. Just like Chrysalis did with my brother during his wedding and with me during Canterlot's destruction. When they come to Equestria, ponies end up getting hurt."
"Ponies are getting hurt now!" Luster argued back. "Even killed! Thorax and his changeligs are helping us fight the Storm King!"
"I will not hear any more of this, Luster!" Twilight said firmly, slamming one of her forelegs onto the floor, making the unicorn jump in shock. "And I am done discussing those vile, evil creatures! Even saying their name out loud leaves a bad taste in my mouth. My only mistake was not dealing with them sooner. Back during the time of the Regime." Luster was so shocked by Twilight's hateful comments and violent claims that she didn't even stop to wonder what 'Regime' she was talking about.
"How can you even say that?!" she shouted in horror, so loud that she startled even the hardened alicorn herself. "You're supposed to be the Princess of Friendship!" Twilight recovered from her shock and stood her ground.
"Friendship won't protect us from our enemies!" she roared back. "There are creatures who won't acceot out friendship! The ones who only seek to harm us and take advantage of us! Like that damnable Chrysalis!" she snarled with such venom she never felt before. "And for the safety of Equestria and our true friends, they have to be destroyed!" The dark way Twilight said that triggered a horrible realization in Luster's head.
"Rainbow Dash told me Chrysalis was executed." she whispered in horror. "Princess... were you... were you the one who..." She couldn't bring herself to say it, but Twilight's lack of a response was all she needed.
"I took one life to save millions, Luster!" Twilight insisted, but Luster was having none of it.
"It always starts that way." Luster replied with disgust. "It always starts with one. This is how justifications work. But the problem is, if you use them once, you can use them anytime you want. It never stops with one. How many has it been, Princess?" she spat out the last word like it was poison. When Twilight refused to answer, Luster stepped forward and shouted. "HOW MANY?!" Twilight didn't even jump this time and Luster saw it on her face that she was struggling to find an answer.
"Luster..." she started slowly and unsure of herself. "It's not how I wanted thngs, but... Equestria has been at the mercy of the most despicable and nefarious creatures in the world for centuries! We have offered friendship to creatures who didn't deserve it and it brought us nothing but losses and suffering! I put a stop to that! Equestria needed strong leadership! Celestia's harmony made us weak and complacent!" Luster couldn't believe what she was hearing. This was not the Twilight Sparkle she knew and admired for years. She backed away from the crazed alicorn, shaking her head in horrified disbelief.
"Whose student were you? Celestia's... or Nightmare Moon's?!" Luster snapped with angry tears before turning around and dashing out of the room. Twilight stared after her with wide eyes. Never before did she hear anypony call her out like that and compare her to one of Equestria's greatest villains. One she even had in her employment during the time of the Regime. But that didn't matter right now.
She followed Luster out of the room and tried calling out for her to come back, but she was already too far away to hear it. So instead, she turned to Flurry and Blueblood, who have been standing by the door, staring at the alicorn in surprise after witnessing Luster barging out of the room and Twilight running after her.
"Don't let her leave." she ordered simply. The two ponies nodded and ran after the departing unicorn.
Luster Dawn was almost at the entrance of the castle, when she suddenly felt her hooves no longer touching the ground. She looked down to see that she was now floating in the air, surrounded by a magical aura. She was then turned around in the air to see Flurry Heart and Blueblood standing right in front of her, with the young alicorn's horn glowing, making it obvious who halted her escape.
"Let me go, Flurry Heart!" Luster demanded, but Flurry just shook her head.
"I don't think so, Luster. Twilight said not to let you leave."
"Flurry, Twilight has gone mad! Don't listen to her!"
"On the contrary. Twilight is the only sane one left who is worth listening to." Flurry argued, much to the unicorn's shock.
"You did hear what she was talking about in that room, right? I saw you standing by the door when I ran out! The things she said in there..."
"...are absolutely right!" Flurry stated with utter conviction. "Creatures who threaten Equestria deserve no friendship and should be destroyed to ensure our safety. I lost my father to those monsters! I will never look at a changeling and not feel hate!" Luster stared down at her in deadpan shock as she processed what she said. In the end, she could only find one response.
"You know, I'm starting to think maybe your great aunt locked you up for a good reason." she then turned to Blueblood. "And you! You've been deceiving me from the start! Everything you told me about Celestia and Twilight was were lies and half truths to cover up your own evil!" she yelled accusingly. But Blueblood didn't seem affected at all.
"You see the world as a foal does, Luster." he said, shaking his head in disappointment. "Good and evil are not constants. They are defined by those in power. During her time, Celestia declared everything even slightly deviating from her idea of friendship and harmony evil. And she stood down on them with full force. What makes her so different from Twilight?" he challenged.
"The fact that Celestia was right!" Luster shouted from inside her barrier, before gathering her magic inside her horn and unleashing a blast that destroyed the barrier and sent Flurry and Blueblood back in against the wall hard. Blueblood was knocked out, but Flurry stood up with a groan.
"Blueblood wasn't kidding about you. You really are good." She pulled out her sword and pointed it at Luster. "But I'm better. Now, you either come back with me to Twilight in peace, or I'll drag you back myself."
"How can you follow her so blindly?" Luster asked in shock. "Your own mother is the Princess of Love! She spent her whole life spreading love and caring across the lands! And Celestia's harmony made that possible! Twilight had become a threat to everything they stand for!" But Flurry merely scoffed in response.
"Celestia failed all of Equestria that day in Canterlot seven years ago. And Cadance failed me, the Crystal Empire and our whole family. Twilight's been more of a mother than she could ever be."
Luster clearly saw that the alicorn will not listen to reason. If she wants to get out, she will have to fight her way out. Flurry charged at Luster with her sword. Luster used her magic to grab the blade and tried to pull it out of Flurry's hooves, but the only thing she could accomplish was pulling her towards herself. However, this did manage to throw Flurry off balance and Luster took advantage of that by spinning around kicking her away towards the wall.
Before Flurry crashed against it however, she managed to regain balance with her wings and flew back at Luster, who didn't expect her to make such a quick recovery. Flurry did manage to catch Luster off guard with this and the unicorn could barely avoid the blade that was swung at her. Luster rolled out of the way, but she was now at a sever disadvantage. She was on the ground and Flurry was turning around for another swing already. She had to come up with something fast.
Using her magic, she created a shield construct that absorbed the strike of Flurry's sword and the impact left the alicorn literally shaken. Luster took advantage of this and sent the shield construct forward, slamming Flurry against the wall and knocking her out cold.
With her victory complete, Luster was about to leave the castle and she almost reached the gates when she was suddenly pushed aside by a wave of lightning. Luster's entire body ached, but she still managed to get up to see what just hit her. It was Blueblood who had come to while she was busy with Flurry Heart.
"Submit, Luster Dawn!" he roared as he fired another wave of lightning from his horn. Luster summoned her shield construct again and while it did absorb most of Blueblood's lightnings, some of them still made onto her body. Eventually, the pain became too much and she collapsed again. She will not be able to keep this up for long. She will have to cut end this fight as soon as she could.
She looked around for anything she can use and noticed a large metallic door leading into another room. Her eyes widened in realization. She saw from the corner of her eyes that Blueblood was charging his horn up for another attack. As quickly as she could, she tore the door out of it's frame and threw it at the stallion just as Blueblood unleashed the lightning. Luster's little makeshift lightning rod worked like a charm. It absorbed all of Blueblood's attack and became a giant electric projectile that proved more than sufficient to send the male unicorn on the ground and keep him down.
"Twilight should be setting a better example." Luster groaned at the two defeated opponents.
"I once thought like that too." Luster jumped in shock and turned to see none other than Twilight Sparkle herself blocking the way between her and the gates. Luster gulped. Even with everything she learned from Blueblood, she knew she wouldn't have much chance against the Princess of Friendship. Luckily for her, Twilight didn't look like she was in a mood to fight.
"Luster, I assume Blueblood and Rainbow already told you what happened to Canterlot seven years ago." After the unicorn nodded, she continued. "I was tricked into causing the death of my family and destroy Canterlot in the process. Because the idea that I can make any and all creatures my friend made me complacent. That day I realized, I can't hold back. Ponies with such great power like us cannot hold back. Or the ones we love pay the price."
"I'm sorry about your family." Luster started in a final desperate attempt to get the Princess to see reason. "I'm sorry about everything you had to go through. But Canterlot wasn't your fault!" She was hoping she would get through to her, but Twilight's face just hardened.
"I promised myself, what happened to Canterlot that day will never happen again. No matter how far I will have to go to assure it!"
"Princess, this isn't who you are!" Luster pleaded with tears in her eyes. "This is everything that you are not supposed to be the Princess of!"
"Friendship isn't enough to protect Equestria!" Twilight countered. "If I haven't been willing to go that extra mile, there would have been thousands, ten thousands, hundred thousands more dead in the past years!"
Before Luster could launch another arguement, the two ponies noticed something. The crystal chandellier above them was flickering and starting to lose light. Luster's eyes widened as she realized what this meant. In the Castle of Friendship, everything was powered by magic. If the Castle's magic was fading, then...
"Oh, no!" Luster gasped. "The Storm King's draining process is almost finished! It won't be long before he takes everything!"
"Then we fight back!" Twilight declared with determination. Flurry heart and Blueblood who have come to in the meantime were also ready to fight.
"I have to go to Stalliongrad!" Blueblood insisted. "They won't last long without our aid!" Twilight nodded at him.
"Go. We'll head to Canterlot."
"What about her?" Flurry asked, motioning towards Luster with her head.
"All that matters now is stopping the Storm King." Twilight assured, but she did issue an ominous warning towards the unicorn in question before they left. "But when this is over, Luster, you will have to choose. You're either with me, or against me."
The last stand of Equestria was drawing near. The country's defenders have finally gathered in the capital of Canterlot for the final showdown. After they evacuated anypony they could and pushed the Storm King's ground forces back, their main goal was to take out Storm King's dark airship which was currently hovering over the city.
"We will be able to hold the key locations in the city now." Celestia instructed Captain Thunderlane and the Wonderbolts. "Our primary objective is the Storm King's airship. If we take it down, we will cripple his entire army. But remember, the goal is to infiltrate, not destroy! The magic he stole from our lands is collected up there. There is no telling what will happen to it if the ship crashes!" the pegasi all nodded before saluting her and taking off.
As the Wonderbolts Squadron approached the airship, the Storm King was sitting on the bridge, where he had a prefect view of the approaching enemy. But he didn't appear worried in the slightest. He just smirked smugly as he watched the ponies trying to get into his ship... only for all of them to be collectively knocked back by an invisible barrier. Celestia and Thunderlane saw this from the ground and gasped in shock as the pegasi fell out of the sky. Fortunately, their comrades who were still preoccupied on the ground were quick to save them from falling to their deaths.
"Magical barrier." Thunderlane sighed. "We should have seen this coming."
Celestia cursed under her breath. Of course it wouldn't be this easy. As she started thinking about what should she do now, she was interrupted by a gust of wind hitting her from behind. Before she could turn around to see what it was, she saw none other than her former student, Twilight Sparkle fly by and rocketing up into the air, right towards the Storm King's airship. Celestia's eyes widened as she realized what she was about to do.
"Twilight, no!" she called out, but it was in vain. The purple alicorn was already too far to hear her and even if she did, her velocity would have prevented her from stopping anyway. Twilight smashed into the airship's shield with such a force that it pushed her back so hard she smashed into the ground down below, crashing through the pavement and creating a small crater, pushing Celestia and Thunderlane back in the process. The two ponies had to cover their eyes to protect them from the dustcloud created by the impact.
If Twilight wasn't an alicorn, she more than likely wouldn't have survived the crash. But her enhanced endurance allowed her to just stand up and brush herself off. She then heard Celestia clear her throat.
"Now do I have your attention?" she spoke on a calm, almost sarcastic tone. "His airship is shielded. And from the looks of it, it is an adaptive shield spell. Meaning the harder we hit it..."
"...the harder it hits back." Twilight finished. "Right." she said with determination before flying back up. Twilight stopped mid-air, hovering right in front of the Storm King's ship. She collected as much magical energy into her horn and fired it at the ship, but the shield absorbed it and fired it right back at her. But this was just what she wanted. Twilight gathered the magical energy fired back at her around her horn and shot it back right at the ship. But the spell was becoming harder to keep up and it didn't look like the shield was weakening at all.
"What is she doing?" Thunderlane asked on the ground. Celestia wasn't sure what to answer at first, but eventually she figured it out.
"She's trying to overload the shield! Turning the counterenergy the shield fires back against it!"
It was a genius move. But Celestia found it dubious that Twilight would be able to keep it up by herself for long enough to overload shield. Twilight herself was adamant to prove her wrong, but even with all of her might, she felt herself weakening more and more. As she tried to muster up more energy, she saw that there was a hole opening in the shield.
For a moment, she felt like her efforts were paying off, but then something fired out of the airship through the hole and surrounded her body. Twilight screamed as the magical energy around her exploded in a blinding white flash that forced everypony around her in the air and on the ground to cover their eyes. And when they opened them and looked up, Twilight Sparkle was nowhere to be seen.
"NO!"
Celestia turned to see a young blue unicorn with blonde mane staring up at the sky where Twilight was just a second ago with horror. Tears were escaping her eyes as she collapsed on the ground and buried her muzzle in her forelegs and wept silently. Celestia slowly approached the crying mare and tried to lay her comforting hoof on her shoulder, but it was firmly rejected.
"I spent the last two years thinking that you took everything away from her. That you became a heartless monster and abandoned her when she needed you the most after Canterlot's destruction. Now I know that is actually the opposite of what happened. But I still respected her and always looked up to her." Luster wept as she glared up at Celestia. "But I bet this is the best thing you think happened all day." Celestia didn't react to the accusation with anger or resentment. Her expression remained kind and calm, never losing any of her motherly warmth.
"You wound me, my little pony." Celestia whispered softly. "To assume that I would ever wish for harm to fall upon one of my subjects. Especially the one that I considered a daughter. My former student may have strayed from the path I guided her upon, but that doesn't mean I loved her any less. And her loss pains me more than you can imagine. It has been hurting ever since that day."
Luster Dawn looked up at the alicorn with an inquisitive look. Even after finding out that Twilight wasn't the wronged hero Rainbow Dash and Blueblood painted her as, she still wanted Celestia to live up to the horror stories she heard from them. She wanted to spot lies and deception in her words, but couldn't. No words have been ever spoken more sincerely than the ones she just heard from the alicorn. She hung her head in defeat. She can no longer lie to herself. She has been lied to and mislead by her mentors. Whatever good intentions Twilight may had, she was the villain of this story, not Celestia.
Celestia once again offered her hoof to the young unicorn and this time she took it. After Celestia helped her on her hooves, they heard the unmistakable sound of magical energy surging from a few meters away. They turned to see a portal opening in front of them and Starlight Glimmer exited out of it, followed by Applejack and Princess Cadance. The appearance of her niece greatly surprised Celestia, as from what Applejack had told her, she wanted nothing to do with her or Equestria anymore. Cadance wore a particularly depressed expression, which didn't go unnoticed by Celestia as she approached her.
"The Crystal Empire?" Was the only thing Celestia said to her, causing Cadance to hang her head in defeat and shame.
"The Crystal Empire had fallen." she announced grimly. "I was too stubborn to listen. Flurry was right. I'm a useless ruler too consumed by her self pity to do anything when the time comes to fight. And now we have lost everything." A tear slid down on Cadance's cheek, before Celestia put a hoof to her chin and gently lifted her head to meet her gaze.
"Nopony is giving up yet, Cadance." she said on an encouraging tone. "We have been in worse situations before." Cadance wasn't fully convinced and just hung her head back down. Celestia then turned to Applejack.
"Any word on your sister and Sweetie Belle?" she asked.
"No." Applejack replied in concern. "And ah'm really startin' to worry." Before Celestia could attempt to reassure her, two more ponies entered the scene. It was Rainbow Dash and Blueblood. The pegasus shot a brief glare at Luster Dawn before turning her attention on the alicorn.
"This is all your fault Celestia!" she accused aggressively. "I knew we shouldn't have listened to you and just straight up take the fight to the Storm King! If we did that, we would have found a way to take down his shield by now. Instead, we wasted our time with evacuation and now we don't have time to find a way on that ship before that bastard drains all of our magic! You should have followed our lead!" Celestia wanted to reply, but the one pony she least expected to came to her defense instead.
"Enough, Rainbow Dash!" The young unicorn has had enough of the reckless and entitled behavior of the pegasus. And that combined with the lies and deception she's been feeding her for the past two years just added to her frustration with her. "Instead of yelling accusations at each other, we should be working together and find a solution!"
"Working together with her?!" Rainbow Dash snorted as she motioned at Celestia. "Didn't that lead to enough disasters already?"
"Oh, yeah! Dat is so you, Dash!" Applejack joined in on the argument, who was also quite fed up with Dash's behavior. "It's always somepony else's fault! Ye never done anythin' wrong in yer entire life and ye are never wrong! Because heavan forbid anythin' takin' a strike at yer Faust damned ego!"
"You would know all about that, wouldn't you, Applejack?!" Thunderlane yelled, joining the argument. "As I recall, you spent your years within the Regime trying to pin the blame on your family as an attempt to justify everything you've done!"
"You're talking about justifications, Thunderlane?!" Starlight questioned accusingly. "How many times have I heard you trying to convince yourself that you're doing what you're doing to honor the memory of your little brother and to make sure what happened to him won't happen to anypony else before you betrayed us?!"
"I'm sure you went through the same a lot during your time as a cult leader Starlight!" Cadance snapped at her. "At least, Thunderlane had a proper motivation for his actions! I wonder what was your motivation for trying to destroy time if your friend moving away was all you needed to enslave a village. Did your favorite team lose a hoofball game?"
"Hypocrisy at it's finest, Cadance!" Blueblood chided. "Starlight at least had conviction! You were just a mournful widow who couldn't even comfort your daughter in her time of loss! And you were willing to sell your whole empire out to us if that meant getting her back!"
Celestia could only watch helplessly as members of the former royal family and Equestria's greatest defenders bickered amongst themselves. But before she could interrupt them, she was beaten to it by a low and sinister chuckling coming from right above them. The voice made the arguing stop and all of the ponies present looked up to see a magical holographic projection of the Storm King floating over them.
"Chrysalis did a better job at breaking up the harmony between you than I expected." he gloated smugly. "Too bad she didn't live to see the fruition of her work." The ponies on the ground glared up at him in disdain.
"Did ye call in just to gloat?" Applejack asked bitterly, causing the Storm King's expression to turn serious.
"Very well, let's get down to business. The way I see it, your country is overrun, your forces are hopelessly outnumbered and soon all of your magic will be mine. Your Equestria is about to become a thing of the past, Celestia." Before Celestia could give a defiant response, the Storm King raised a finger." Unless..." And pointed it at Luster Dawn. "...you surrender her."
Everypony looked at the young unicorn standing in the middle of the group, staring up at the conqueror with fear and confusion. "Me? Why do you want me?"
The Storm King glared down at her darkly. "Do you think I attacked your pathetic, insignificant little village all those years ago because I wanted it? Because it had any significance or strategic importance to me? No, girl. The target was always you."
Luster Dawn's expression turned from one of fear to hate. How could this monster speak so casually of his atrocities, he slaughtered so many innocent lives that day, including Luster's parents without a care in the world and now he had the gall to throw it in her face? And all because of her?
"Why? What makes me so special to you anyway?!" Luster snapped. "What makes me worth slaughtering an entire village of ponies just to find me?!" The Storm King looked like he was hesitant to give an answer, but eventually, he replied.
"Not everypony can become an alicorn. Only those born with a special magical spark inside them are gifted with the possibility. You, Luster Dawn, carry this spark inside you." Everypony reacted in wide eyed shock to this revelation.
"Aunty, is this true?" Blueblood asked as he turned to Celestia. All eyes were on the white alicorn now. She also looked hesitant to answer, but eventually gave in.
"Yes, it is." she answered. "That's why I was always so careful with picking my students. That's why I also rejected you in favor of Twilight Sparkle, nephew. The magic of alicorns are hidden deep inside only a few ponies. I can only help to bring it out. Nopony knows why is it this way. It simply is."
"I... I can become an alicorn?" Luster Dawn asked in surprise.
"You carry that magic deep inside you, yes." The Storm King replied. "Now do you understand? You are my opportunity to obtain the most powerful of magics. Raw, untamed alicorn magic at it's purest. Surrender yourself to me and I will spare Equestria's autonomy. I will still take my collected magic of course, but it's a bigger mercy I've ever shown anycreature."
Luster was unsure of what to do. She wanted the Storm King to face justice for his crimes, but if they couldn't defeat him, she could at least ensure the safety of everypony in Equestria by sacraficing herself. She was about to take a step forward and offer herself to the tyrant, but she was stopped by one of Celestia's wing blocking her way. The alicorn of the sun stood in front of the young unicorn protectingly and gave the Storm King an uncompromising glare.
"Even if we were certain you would honor that offer, we wouldn't take it." she said firmly. For the first time since this invasion began, the Storm King dropped his smug facade and actually looked shocked. He didn't expect Celestia to be this defiant. But he quickly got over his shock and regained his composure.
"You have one hour to reconsider." he replied before the hologram disappeared. Luster looked up at Celestia in appreciation. She was grateful the she stood up to her, but she wasn't sure if it was the right call.
"Thank you for giving the new girl a chance, Celestia, but... if there's even a slight chance that we could save Equestria by giving me up, shouldn't we..." she was stopped when Celestia placed a hoof to her mouth.
"i will not let that monster have any of my little ponies. Not as long as there's anything I can do about it."
"What is there we can do?" Thunderlane asked. "Our magic is getting weaker by the second! How will we be able to get past that shield?"
"Twilight was trying to overload the shield." Luster offered. "Couldn't we do that ourselves?"
"That would require an insane amount of magic power." Starlight countered. "With the Storm King's draining process, we have to use our magic sparingly. We don't have that much magic left."
"Maybe not in Equestria."
Everypony turned to the source of the voice, which was revealed to be Prince Blueblood. Celestia raised an eyebrow.
"What do you propose, nephew?" Blueblood looked hesitant at first, but eventually realized that he couldn't hide this information in a situation like this.
"When we were hiding in Staliongrad, me and a few other of our unicorn followers have gathered up a large supply of magical energy in a hidden vault beneath the palace. In case we ever needed it against... well, you." he explained nervously, but to his surprise, Celestia didn't look angered and just motioned for him to continue. "It should be sufficent to overload the Storm King's shields, but I'm not sure if a single unicorn would be able to channel such power. Even ten unicorns wouldn't be enough to transfer that power from Staliongrad to the Storm King's ship."
"How about an alicorn?"
Everypony turned to see Cadance step forward with a determined look on her face. She was ready to strike at the monster how took her kingdom away from her aynway she could.
"Yes!" Blueblood exclaimed in realization. "That could work." Celestia nodded.
"Then that's our plan. Blueblood, Cadance, get to Staliongrad and use that vault to take out the Storm King's shield. The rest of us will stay here and delay the invasion as much as we can." The ponies around Celestia found their spirit restored. They now had a plan to take down that abomination that invaded their home and take their magic back. They could only hope that it will be enough.
On the Storm King's airship, the conqueror was standing on the bridge, overseeing the progress of his invasion on a holographic map. It won't be long now. In less than an hour, all of Equestria's magic will be his. But he suddenly noticed something. Out of nowhere, a new area appeared on the map that so far has been concealed. His eyes widened in surprise. How did the ponies managed to keep this hidden from him? He shook his head. It didn't matter. A new area meant new conquest for him and potentially more magic to collect. Yes, he felt it already. From this new area, he felt a huge magical concentration deep beneath the surface. This required further investigation. He summoned his general.
"Did you summon me?" Tempest Shadow asked as she stepped on the bridge.
"The ponies have revealed to us a new, hidden area that hides enormous magic under the surface. Looks like somepony was smart enough to make an emergency spare amount of magic. It couldn't have been Celestia as that would have been revealed to us already. But it doesn't matter. Commander Tempst, the First Order will secure this new land for me and bring me back this magic." Tempest looked a little nervous upon hearing that order. It was clear that she had news that her master will not be happy to hear.
"The First Order has disbanded." she told him. "Turns out, those cretins were more clever than you gave them credit for and realized what you were really up to. They thought Equestria will be theirs to rule, not yours to drain and leave a barren wasteland." If the Storm King was upset by this turn of events, he did not show it.
"And what about you, Commander?" he asked coldly. Tempest scoffed.
"Equestria can go to Tartarus. I serve The Storm King." she replied with a bow.
"As you should." The Storm King replied, pleased with her loyalty. "I will give you new soldiers and transport to Staliongrad. Secure me my newest conquest and your loyalty will be rewarded."
Tempest smirked. Her time has finally come. WIth the replacement-horn helmet the Storm King provided to her and the vast magic this land was hiding that she could take for herself, it won't be long until the pathetic, broken horned unicorn mocked and abandoned by everypony became whole again and more powerful than ever before. Soon all of Equestria, the former princesses and even the Storm King would refer to her as 'Master'.
Blueblood was right. Stalliongrad was indeed untouched by the Storm King so far. But with what they were about to do, that was going to change very soon. Every available military personnel was already in position outside the palace where Blueblood and the Regime Remnants have been hiding. The two royals entered and sealed the entrance behind themselves.
"This way." Blueblood motioned for Cadance to follow him and the two headed off towards the gate that Cadance assumed lead to the vault. "We'll have to hurry. Stalliongrad has a small military, there's no telling how long they'll last against Tempest's forces. Once they get through, we'll be on our own."
"Just let them come." Cadance snarled as she cracked her front hooves. Blueblood raised an eyebrow as he saw her reaction.
"You surprise me, Cadance. I never saw this violent side of yours."
"I lost the love of my life, my only child and now my whole kingdom, Blueblood. How do you think I am supposed to feel?" Cadance cut back.
"I'm not saying I disapprove, I'm just surprised, that's all." the stallion replied with a shrug. "Though I'm wondering where exactly have you been hiding it before? We could have used it in the Regime."
"I couldn't have cared less about your Regime, Blueblood! That's the honest to Faust truth!" Cadance snapped. It felt great to finally admit this out loud. "The only reason I supported it was because Twilight forced me into helping them and she turned my daughter against me! And just what about you? The pompous, stuck up. arrogant Blueeblood was all too willing to follow Twilight on her path to turn Equestria into a totalitarian regime. I thought you considered yourself above following other so blindly." Blueblood was actually hesitant to answer.
"I already know what you're thinking, Cadance. That I was just afraid to stand up to Twilight and I told myself that she was right to hide my fear. Would that make me any better than you? Of course not. But it also wouldn't make me any worse." The prince retorted. Cadance found herself unable to come up with a reply. Blueblood's words actually hit her pretty deep and she cast her eyes down in sorrow.
"What happened to us, Blueblood?" she asked sadly. Blueblood's expression actually grew softer and more mournful upon hearing that.
"Canterlot has changed us all. As much as it did Twilight." He didn't wait for the alicorn to reply and walked up to an old metal gate that towered in front of them. "The entrance to the vault is here, but it is protected by a magical seal. I know how to open it, but I'll need some time."
"Too bad you and your countries have no more time left!" The two ponies jumped in surprise and turned to see Tempest Shadow standing behind them with an evil smirk on her face. "Your little garrison is fighting admirably. They have gotten so carried away that they didn't even notice me sneaking past them. My main target is not them or Stalliongrad, but whatever magic you are hiding in there. Once I have it, it will be easy to force this pathetic little country into submission." Blueblood just about had enough of this.
"Your master will not defile this land, Tempest!" he exclaimed in determination as he and Cadance ignited their horns. "The Storm King may have given you that helmet to replace your horn, but you still cannot take on the both of us alone!" To their surprise, Tempest's grin merely widened in response.
"Who said I was alone?"
As if on cue, three other ponies walked out from the darkness and stood next to Tempest. Blueblood's and Cadance's eyes widened in shock. It was Daring Do, Flash Sentry and Apple Bloom, but it was obvious that there was something wrong with them. Their eyes were wide open and their expressions were blank and emotionless. Their movement was also jerky and still, almost like machines. Cadance immediately realized what was wrong with them.
"The Storm King took control of them!" she exclaimed in horror.
"A fate your beloved Equestria and Stalliongrad will soon share." Tempest growled with a savage glare. "Too bad you won't live long enough to see it. Kill them!" She ordered Flash and Daring, while she and Apple Bloom walked through the gate to the vault.
The two pegasi started approaching the ponies standing between tempest and the vault with their wings spread wide. Blueblood and Cadance exchanged a worried glance. They knew that they will have to be careful or they could serious harm to their allies turned slave to the Storm King. And that probably was exactly what bastard was counting on. But they couldn't afford themselves to hold back now. In the end, they silently agreed upon sharing the opponents by gender. Stallion against stallion and mare against mare.
Flash aimed his crossbow at Blueblood and fired some arrows at him. The prince raised a barrier to block them, but to his surprise, the arrows just went right through it. Blueblood barely had time to react and avoid the arrows ny jumping out of the way.
"How is this possible?!" Blueblood exclaimed in shock. Flash smirked at him.
"Arrows laced with the Storm King's magical energy. Far more poweful than anything you can muster up." Blueblood groaned at this revelation, but the boasting of the pegasus gave him an idea.
'Thank you for the tip. Let us see how you fare without your precious crossbow then.'
Flash loaded his crossbow again, but Blueblood used his magic to grab the weapon and rio it out of the guard's grasp. Blueblood hoped that this move would throw Flash off guard and he was right. Flash was so surprised by this move, that he didn't even have the chance to resis his weapon being yanked away from him. He tried to fly after it and grab it again, but he was forced to fly back when he saw Blueblood turning the weapon against him. However, instead of firing, Blueblood used his magic to incinerate the weapon and turn it into ash. Flash was utterly dumbstruck by this move, which didn't go unnoticed by the prince.
'He probably expected that I would turn it against him. But I won't make his mistake. Only a fool trusts his life to a weapon.'
Blueblood used his magic to blow the ash that was once Flash's crossbow at his face, which temporarily blinded the pegasus. Flash started to shake his head and wipe his face to clear his vision and Blueblood tried to use this to his advantage and tackle him. But Flash flew up and managed to avoid the attack. Of course, this had the drawback of Flash not seeing where he was flying and that bit him in the flank as he ended up banging his head into a stone column. This along with his blurred vision gave Blueblood the chance he needed to pull him back on the ground.
He was about to knock him out, but Flash, in a last, desperate attempt, lunged forwards and bashed Blueblood in the head with his muzzle, making him stagger back. Flash used this small break to clear his vision and once he could finally see properly, he charged at Blueblood. The prince raised a magical shield in front of him just in time to block the attack.
"Your quiver's run empty!"
"Who said I need arrows?"
The two stallions struggled against each other, but Blueblood's magic eventually gave him the edge he needed. He made the magical shield in front of him explode and it sent Flash crashing back against the wall. The Pegasus finally reached the limit of his endurance and passed out, slowly collapsing to the ground. Blueblood waited a few moments to make sure that his opponent was indeed unconscious, before running off to see how Cadance was doing.
Said alicorn princess got a little in over her head and believed she will easily be able to best Daring. But Daring wouldn't have become the greatest adventurer in Equestria if she didn't know how to deal with magic users. She quite effectively dodged the magical bolts Cadance fired at her and when the aicorn let her guard down, she countered with her whistle. The sonic blast knocked Cadance off of her hooves and sent her tumbling backwards on the ground.
Daring tried to take advantage of the situation by flying up and dropping down on Cadance from above with her back legs placed together. Cadance was still drowsy from the attack, so Daring probably would have knocked her out, if it wasn't for the magical bolt fired by Blueblood that knocked the pegasus mare away. Cadance looked up to see Blueblood offering her his hoof to help her up. But her pride didn't leave her.
"I required no assisstance." she rebutted firmly as she stood up on her own. Blueblood just rolled her eyes before turning back to the recovering Daring. The pegasus mare got up just as the magical seal that held the gates to the dungeon shut broke open and the Storm King's soldiers marched into the room, surrounding the two royals. Blueblood and Cadance backed up against each other as their opponents closed in on them.
"And Olympus has fallen." The Strom King's voice mocke throug Daring's mouth. "Fitting that you two die together. Ponykind's last royals." But Cadance and Blueblood weren't ready to call it quits just yet.
"I've had my fill of your charade!" Blueblood shouted before firing a magical bolt at the whistle hanging around Daring's neck. The artifact exploded form the blast, sending a giant sonic blast all round the room, knocking Daring and the Storm Guards off of their legs. Cadance just had time to rase a magic barrier that protected her and Blueblood from the effects of the blast, but even that barely held, breking apart as the sound waves subsided. Cadance even fell from exhaustion and Blueblood had to catch her and help her back on her hooves.
The blast knocked all of the Storm Guards out, but they had a different effect on the two brainwashed ponies. The blast seemed to have completely wiped the effects of the Storm King's control off of them. Flash and Daring groaned as they slowly got back on their legs. They rubbed their aching heads and looked around to see where they were.
"How's your head?" Daring asked from the stallion.
"So not much has changed." she then turned to the two royals. "So from what I gathered, you two have a means to take out this bastard." Blueblood and Cadance were surprised the Daring was aware of the surrounding events while they were under the Storm King's control, but it made their jobs easier, so they were not going to complian.
"We have enough magical energy stored in there to bring down the barriers of his airship and allow Celestia and the rest of our allies to get up there." Blueblood explained as he pointed at the doors that lead to the vault behind him. "We need to get down there and stop Tempest from stealing it."Daring and Flash looked at each other. Though they and the two royals were on the opposing sides in the war between the Regime and the Insurgency, quickly understood that they needed to work otgether to win this.
"How can we help?" Daring asked.
"We can handle Tempest. If you want to help, get out and help the guards fight off the Storm King's forces." Blueblood instructed. The two pegasi nodded and were about to head outside, but Cadance stopped them.
"Wait!" she then used her magic to reconstruct Daring's Canary Cry whistle and Flash's crossbow and gave it back to them. "These might help. Good luck!" The pegasi took the weapons and headed out, both ready and willing to join the fight. Cadance and Blueblood then turned around and headed towards the vault. They had a certain unicorn general to pick a bone with.
Cadance's eyes widened as she stepped into the vault. Never before had she witnessed such a sight. The huge, blue magical orb floating in the middle of the room was truly a sight to behold. It waved and sparkled with energy and shined so brightly that Cadance was afriad to look at it. She couldn't possibly imagine how will they be able to transfer all this magic all the way to the Storm King's ship. But they had to cross that bridge when they got there. They had to get through Tempest Shadow first.
The dark unicorn was busy gathering all of the magical energy into her artificial horn. Cadance and Blueblood arrived just in time to interrupt her. But before they could stop her, the unicorn mare noticed them and motioned for Apple Bloom to step in. The brainwashed earth pony jumped into the way of the magical beams Bluelood and Cadance fired at her and her armor absorbed the blasts with ease. Cadance cursed under her breath.
"Hiding behind a child, Tempest?" she scoffed. "Coward."
"A child your magic is useless against." Tempest retorted without even turning around to look at them. "But whose blade will be very useful against you. KIll them, Apple Bloom!"
Apple Bloom wasted no time and lunged at the two ponies. Her sword barely missed Blueblood's horn. The adult ponies jumped back to avoid the earth pony's barrage of attacks. Which was easier said than done as the royal guard did a more than adequate job at training her. After a few blows, Blueblood and Cadance were starting to get tired, they had to find a way to cut this fight short.
"We have to find a way to deal with that armor of hers!" Blueblood exclaimed. Cadance, sensing that she will not be able keep it up for much longer, in a desperate attempt, used her magic to raise a force field and throw the young mare back several meters. To their surprise, it worked! Apparently, magic may not have been able to damage the armor, but it could interact with it. This gave Cadance an idea.
"Hold her down!" she yelled to Blueblood. The prince used his magic to hold Apple Bloom down. It took all his might as the earth pony struggled with all of her strength to break free. Fortunately, as she fell on the ground, she dropped her sword, which Cadance noticed and grabbed it with her magic. She then threw the sword at the beam the connected Tempest's horn device to the magical beam of energy, severing the connection between the two. The resulting flash when the connection was broken forced Tempest to back away and cover her eyes. The hornless unicorn growled as she turned to Cadance.
"How did it feel to lose you empire, Cadance?" she taunted, earning a fierce glare in response.
"I didn't lose it! It was taken from me! You hurt my empire, my subjects and my family, Tempest! In their name, I will have justice!"
Tempest wasn't worried. She had a few tricks up in her helmet that she still hasn't revealed. Cadance fired a magical blast at Tempest, but the unicorn blocked it effortlessly. Not only that, but she actually fired the blast back at Cadance, who didn't expect such an attack and had to jump out of the way. Tempest took advantage of this and fired another blast at her. Cadance had to raise a shield to block them.
"You were never fit for the throne of the Crystal Empire anyway." Tempest taunted as she charged her helmet for a blast that overloaded Cadance's shield and send her to the ground. "You lack the will and backbone of a true leader like me!" Cadance flew up and charged at Tempest in an effort to snathc her helmet, but Tempest just dodged and fired another blast at her, which Cadance managed to dodge.
"You call yourself a leader?!" Cadance yelled in fury. "What kind of a leader sacrafices her homeland and followers for a monster like the Storm King?!"
"My loyalty isn't to Equestria, the First Order, or the Storm King. It is to me!" Tempest smirked smugly. "After I took the magical energy from this vault for myself, I will be strong enough to kill him. With all his magic and his army, I will be unstoppable!" Cadance was shocked by Tempest's ruthlessness.
"You're deluded, Tempest! And your delusions end here!" Tempest fired up another shot and fired it at Cadance, who flew out of the way. The blast hit one of the columns that held the ceiling of the vault, which cracked and broke. With the column losing it's support, it started to collapse, right on top of Tempest. The unicorn's eyes widened in fright and she had to summon all of her strength to muster up enough magic to stop the falling column.
This was the opening Cadance needed. She flew right at Tempest, grabbed her helmet and started pulling it with all of her might. Tempest didn't have the strength to stop Cadance and the falling column at the same time. Cadance managed to pull Tempest away, but the helmet was tightly attached to her head. After pulling the unicorn on the ground for a few moments, she finally managed to tear the helmet off of her head and threw it into the or of magical energy sphering in the middle of the vault, where it exploded and the energy released from it became one with it.
Cadance noitced this with satisfaction. No doubt this will make taking the Strom King's shield down easier. She then looked away and noticed that Blueblood was now standing beside her.
"Where's Apple Bloom?"
"I managed to break the Storm King's mind control. She joined Daring Do and Flash Sentry outside in the castle's defenses." Before Cadance could reply, she was interrupted by a groan coming from Tempest who was still lying on the ground. She tried to get up, but Cadance held her down with her magic. She and Blueblood were standing over the unicorn mare and glaring down at her with venom. The only thing the now defensless unicorn could do was match their glare.
"Damn you and all of Equestria." she spat at them. Both figuratively and literally.
"The ponies of the Crystal Empire demand justice." Cadance snarled. Tempest chuckled darkly.
"Heh. Against the Strom King? You've only seen a dash of what he's capable of. He has conquered dozens of nations and collected hundreds of different forms of magic. His army is relentless, his power nearly infinite. He can't be stopped."
"They said the same thing about Discord, Nightmare Moon and even Twilight." Cadance replied calmly. "Rest assured Tempest, we will find a way to deal with your master. But first, we deal with you."
Cadance then lifted Tempest off of the ground and slammed her against the wall hard. Blueblood then lifted the fallen column into the air and levitated it over Tempest before letting go of it. The last thing Tempest saw was the column descending down upon her before it hit the ground and broke into pieces.
With the last remnant of the First Order finally dealt with, Cadance and Blueblood could finally return to their original task they came here to do. Theyturned back towards the giant orb in the middle of the vault and aproached it, but Cadance grew a little nervous as she got closer to it.
"How will this work exactly?" Cadance asked unsurely.
"I will be able to direct the magic out to the square in front of the palace. You will have to receive it there and transfer it to the Storm King's ship. Your alicorn body should be able to handle it." Blueblood explained. Cadance was still unsure. This amount of magical energy slightly intimidated her. But it's not like they had other options and after everything they went through here, it was not the time to quit.
"I'm ready."
Outside the castle, the remainder of the castle guard was easily able to round up the Storm King's forces with the help of Apple Bloom, Flash Sentry and Daring Do. The three ponies were currently overseeing how the guards carried the prisoners of war away and loading them onto carriages.
"It feels good to finally strike back against the Storm King's forces." Daring mused in satisfaction. Flash nodded in agreement.
"You said it!" he then turned to Apple Bloom. "Nice work, kid. Your training really paid off. I'm proud of you."
"Thanks. Dat means a lot." Apple Bloom replied humbly and a little embarrassed from the praise. Their celebration was abruptly cut short as the palace gates were slammed open and Cadance ran out, running faster then ever before.
"Out of the way, everypony!"
The ponies in front of her obliged and allowed Cadance to run past them and stopped at the middle of the palace square. Down in the vault, Blueblood bucked his backlegs into the sphere of magical energy and concentrated with all of his might to direct it to the square where Cadance was waiting for it. The radiant light of blue energy shot through the corridors of the castle and out the gates before slamming into Cadance.
The alicorn felt a little pain from the sudden surge of magic entering her body, but she quickly got over it focused to direct it straight towards Canterlot where their target was hovering. With a heavy grunt, Cadance fired the magic gathering inside her out. It took all of her concentration and endurance to keep channeling it, but thankfully, the process was finished quickly. By the time the last bit of magic left Cadance's body, the alicorn collpased from the exhaustion and passed out. They did their part. Now it was all up to Celestia.
The clock was ticking. The Storm King's one hour time limit on his ultimatum was almost up, but there was still no sign of Cadance and Blueblood succeeding in their mission in Stalliongrad. Luster Dawn was nervously pacing on the square before Canterlot Castle, taking a fearful gaze up at the Storm King's pitch black airship looming over the city.
And while she didn't want to admit it, Celestia was growing nervous too. If they didn't get an update from Stalliongrad soon, she didn't know what they're gonna do. The worried duo was interrupted by Starlight coming up to them, carrying a saddlebag.
"Here you go." The blue unicorn said as she hoofed over her bag to Celestia. "I managed to fill these crystals with magical energy of the same nature the Storm King used to take over the SkyWatch system. It should be effective enough to stop and reverse his draining process. But to make sure he won't interfere with it, you're gonna need to knock him out before using it." She instructed. Luster Dawn narrowed her eyes.
"I wouldn't have it any other way." She replied, cracking her forelegs. Celestia took the saddlebag from Starlight and placed it on her hip.
"Thank you, Starlight. But if Blueblood and Celestia don't come through, I'm afraid this won't be of much help to us."
As if on cue, the calmness of the air was interrupted by a huge lightning of blue magical energy bursting through the air and hitting the Storm King's airship. The ship's shields held on for a few seconds, but the fact that their outline was growing bigger and bigger as they absorbed more and more of the invasive energy and they were starting to vibrate more and more violently was indicating that they won't last much longer. Sure enough, a few more seconds later, there was a blinding explosion of magic that forced the ponies on the ground to cover their eyes.
"They did it!" Starlight exclaimed. "I can feel it! The ship's shields are down!"
"They completed their part." Celestia said with determination. "Now it's our turn. Come, Luster!"
The unicorn didn't need to be told twice. She grabbed onto Celestia's hooves and the alicorn took flight. As the two of them neared the Storm King's airship, they were both expecting to be met by some sort of resistance on their way up, but to their surprise, their flight was uninterrupted. The Storm King had other worries at the moment.
The magical wave that washed over his ship actually managed to briefly knock him off his feet. His ship being hit by such a huge wave of magical energy was something he did not expect. Especially since he had almost managed to drain Equestria dry. This amount of power could have only come from that other region he detected not too long ago. Which meant that Tempest had failed. But that was a minor inconvenience at worst.
He got back on his feet just in time to see Celestia carrying Luster Dawn flying up to his ship. He frowned. He couldn't stop them from getting on his ship now, but if they thought that once they boarded the ship meant that they have already won, they will have another thing coming. He may have lost Tempest and the First Order, but he still had some things up his sleeve.
Celestia narrowed her eyes as she closed in on the Storm King's ship.
"Brace yourself!" She yelled to Luster, before summoning some magical energy into her horn and charging onto the ship. The two ponies crashed through the wall and landed on the corridors leading to the bridge. Their initial plan was to rush to the bridge and put an end to the Storm King's nefarious schemes. But they were shocked to find that their mission will not be as simple as that, as they found themselves surrounded by a large horde of the Storm King's guards. But their shock was short lived.
Celestia quickly approached the guards blocking her path and blasted most of them away with a huge blast of solar energy. One of the remaining ones lunged at Celestia, but she caught the creature with her magic and slammed it into another one. Another one caught her horn in it's claws and tried to push her head to the ground. Celestia gathered some more magic into her horn and unleashed it in a blast, making the creature's hand explode. A fourth one attempted to tackle her, but she managed to fly up in time to avoid it amd the creature crashed into the one which's hand she just took off. Celestia then slammed onto another of them still standing on the groumd and pierced it's chest with her horn, before grabbing the last one with her magic and throwing it out the hole she created in the side of the ship.
Meanwhile, Luster Dawn was dealing with her part of the enemy group. And she was doing it quite efficiently. She was waiting for this moment for years and she was fueled by the flames of vengeance. While she already brought down several of these monsters on the ground, she swore that for everypony she saw dying in her village, she would sent ten of these things to Tartarus. And she still had some catching up to do.
Luster used her magic to rip off the sharp blades and armor off of the Storm Guards' bodies and created a whirlwind to send them circling around the corridor. The whirlwind of sharp objects sliced the creatures in several lethal places, including their throats and their arteries, as well as cutting off several of their limbs. Luster noticed two of the creatures trying to sneak up on her from behind her. She launched several of the blades in her magical hold at them, impaling them and sticking them to the wall.
Another one tried to strike her down from above, but Luster dodged and the creature ended up with it's fist stuck in the floor. Luster sliced it's hand off, then plunged another blade into it's heart. A fourth creature tore out one of the blades from it's deceased comrade's body and tried to take Luster by surprise with it. It managed to catch Luster off guard enough for her whirlwind spell to cease. The remaining two creatures threw themselves at Luster along with the one with the blade. Luster raised a barrier around herself and managed to counter their combined strike with it. The creatures kept pounding the barrier. Luster knew she won't be able to keep it up for long, so she had to think of something. She charged some electricity into her horn and then loaded it into the barrier. It traveled from the barrier into the creatures' bodies and knocked them all out. After all the enemies have been neutralized, Luster shut off the barrier and went to join Celestia. After the alicorn swiftly looked Luster over to make sure she was alright, she turned back towards the corridor leading to the bridge and was about to lead Luster away, only to find somecreature blocking their path.
"Enough!" The Storm King yelled as he fired two magical restraints at the two ponies. They were still too caught up in their surprise to dodge and they were too weakend from the draining process to resist the Storm King's magic. The ponies were trapped. The Storm King slowly and menacingly walked up to them, looking them over with a furious, but analitic expression. He leaned over Luster Dawn and his expression turned into a smirk.
"Luster Dawn. The last pony with untampered alicorn magic inside her. I thank you for coming to me so willingly. Once I've drained you. No creature will be able to stop me." He then motioned for two more of his guards behind him. "Take her away." The two hulking cratures carried the uselessly struggling unicorn away and the Storm King turned to Celestia.
"As for you. You have failed in all of your efforts to oppose me. Just as I predicted, you have lost your power, your allies and now you will lose your kingdom." He then turned around to walk back to the bridge. "Dispose of her." He told his guards dismissively.
The guards walked up to Celestia and picked her up, before carrying her to the hole she blew in the wall of the ship. It was obvious that thier intention was to throw her out. Despite the hopelessness of the situation, she still struggled. She refused to give up. But as the creatures carried her closer and closer to the hole, she started to lose her hope. She saw no means of escaping her predicament.
She was almost ready to resign herself to her fate, when she saw from the corner of her eyes that one of the doors at the opposing end of the corridors was shaking violently and a purple light was starting to peak through it's cracks. Suddenly, the door exploded with a blinding purple explosion and to Celestia's utter shock, she saw none other than the presumably dead Twilight Sparkle flying out of a holding cell as a blazing ball of magical energy, cutting down the creature's in her way, before making her way to Celestia and finishing off her captors as well. Celestia fell on the floor, while Twilight panted heavily as she regained her strength. When she recovered, she offered her hoof to Celestia. The alicorn of the sun was hesitant at first, but she took the offer.
"I thought the Storm King killed you." Twilight rolled her eyes.
"Sorry to disappoint. Turns out I was still too valuable for the Storm King to just kill me." She then looked around. "You didn't bring anypony else with you?"
"Only Luster Dawn. The others are still on the ground fighting the Storm King's forces. Just in case we don't pull through." Twilight narrowed her eyes in determination.
"We will. We have to. But where's Luster?"
"Captured. Somewhere on board." Celestia saw the frightened look in Twilight's eyes as she heard this and quickly reassured her. "We'll find her. If we take down the Storm King, she will be freed as well." Twilight nodded.
"Then what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Twilight turned away towards the door leading to the bridge and ran off, with Celestia right behind her. When they gallopped through the first set of doors, they stopped in surprise. Blocking their way to the bridge were not the Storm Guards, but two very familiar faces: Sweetie Belle and Zecora. Celestia's eyes widened with horror. Just what did this monster do to her new student?
"Sweetie Belle! What are you doing here?!" She exclaimed. It was obvious that there was something wrong with the unicorn. Her eyes were completely wide and there was no expression on her face. Zecora was in the same state.
"Isn't it obvious? They're under the Storm King's control." Twilight concluded swiftly. "We have to get through them to get to him." Celestia wasn't happy with this turn of events. She knew that Twilight lost her restrain and self-control after Canterlot was destroyed. There was no telling how far she was willing to go to get to the Storm King, even if she had to face her own allies and former friends.
"The Storm King stabilized my magic." Sweetie replied on a monotone, almost mechanical voice. "No more power surges, no more random outbursts. I can finally safely use my powers. And with this new stability, I am now stronger than ever."
"How do we get past her?" Twilight asked, worried. "She nearly blew herself up in Tartarus along with all of us when the others came for me." But Celestia knew exactly how to deal with her. And there was no way she was going to let Twilight face her student in a fight. After what she did to Rarity, there was no telling what she might do.
"I can handle her." Celestia told her firmly. "Go and deal with Zecora." Twilight looked rather disappointed by the instruction.
"Pity. I've been looking forward to testing myself against your new student." She lamented, but nevertheless complied and went to confront the zebra. Meanwhile Celestia stood face to face with her student.
"Master versus pupil?" Sweetie taunted. "Kinda cliché, don't you think?" Celestia didn't reply. But she appreciated Sweetie wasting time and her attention on taunting as it gave her an opening to fire a spell at Sweetie without her dodging it. The blast barely did any damage on the young mare, but she felt it taking effect immediately.
"My magic!" Sweetie cried in panic as she felt her magic decreasing inside her. "That... That was"
"Twilight's depowerment spell." Celestia finished ir for her. "You did a good job perfecting it like I asked you to. Once you're free of the Storm King's control, I will be very proud of you."
Enraged, Sweetie Belle threw herself at Celestia. The alicorn easily avoided the attack with the use of her wings and flew up into the air, but before she could execute her counterattack, Sweetie fired a blast at her. Celestia assumed that the unicorn would want to pull her down on the ground and pulled herself back in the air to resist it. But this was exactly what Sweetie Bell was expecting.
The spell she fired actually pushed Celestia back towards the ceiling and since she pulled back so much that it actually made it easier for Sweetie to push her back. Celestia crashed against the ceiling and fell back on the ground, giving Sweetie a chance to strike again. She charged her horn to fire again, but in doing so, she gave Celestia just enough time to recover enough to perform a shield spell.
Sweetie kept firing her magic at Celestia in order to shatter her shield, but she didn't notice that the alicorn wasn't simply deflecting the magic, she was collecting it into one big ball of energy in front of herself. Once Sweetie exhausted herself, Celestia knew the time was right for a counterattack and she unleashed all the magic she had collected right back at the unicorn. Sweetie Belle was helplessly swept away by the large burst of magic like a ragdoll and crashed against the wall before slumping down on the wall to the ground, knocked out cold.
"Power is nothing without control." Celestia lectured. "Something you still have yet to learn."
Meanwhile, Twilight was facing off against Zecora.
"Your resistance is a feeble plan. Under the Storm King, Zebrica will rise again." Zecora rhymed, her voice just as monotone as Sweeties's from the Storm King's control.
"As the Storm King's puppets. Is that really what you want for your people?" Twilight retorted. Zecora would have probably rolled her eyes at the hypocrisy if she had her free will.
"We always followed. First Celestia, then you. But the Storm King is the leader we should have pledged ourselves to." Twilight narrowed her eyes. Zecora needed a little more 'convincing'.
"That's the Storm King talking! If you're not gonna fight his influence, then I'll beat it out of you!"
Unlike Celestia, Twilight didn't wait for Zecora to make the first move. She immediately fired a spell at the zebra that would clear her of the mind control, but to her surprise, the spell did nothing. Twilight backed away in shock.
"What?! How?!" Zecora smirked and held up an unfamiliar looking wooden amulet with her foreleg.
"I was prepared for your treachery, so I crafted and brought this with me. As long as this amulet is mended, against your magic I am protected." Twilight raised an eyebrow.
'Thanks for the tip.' Twilight decided to avoid using her magic and flew at Zecora as fast as she could to swipe away her amulet. This surprised Zecora enough that she had no time to prevent Twilight from taking a hold of her amulet, but it was tightly attached to her neck and it wouldn't come off.
Zecora pulled a vial of potion out of her saddlebag and tosssed it at Twilight. The alicorn was so preoccupied with tearing off Zecora's amulet that she didn't notice the vial flying towards her chest, allowing it to hit her. Twilight backed away in surprise as the cold liquid spread across her body.
Zecora smirked and pullerd out her staff before bashing Twilight in the chest with it and the liquid covering her started glowing. Twilight felt a burning sensation which became hotter and hotter, before a giant explosion sent her crashing against the wall.
"I hope you like my latest remedy. I made it from the Storm King's recipe. This potion affects your magical power and makes it burn you like no other." Zecora boasted before twirling her staff around and slamming it into Twilight's chest again. The purple alicorn screamed in agony as the Storm King's potion started burning again.
Twilight had felt quite a lot of physical pain before in her life, but she always managed to endure. Everytime the fate of Equestria was at stake, she knew she couldn't give up. Because if she did, it will mean the end of everything as she knew it. And this time will be no different. Despite the pain, Twilight forced herself on her hooves and grabbed Zecora's staff with her forelegs. She gathered all her strength and pushed back until she managed gain control of the staff and yanked it out of Zecora's hooves, before using it to smash Zecora's amulet to pieces.
With the source of her resistance to magic gone and her staff in Twilight's possession, Zecora could no longer pose a threat to the alicorn. Twilight blasted the zebra against the wall and before she could get up, she bashed her in the head with her staff, knocking her out cold.
Before Twilight could do anything else, she saw from the corner of her eyes Celestia walking up next to her, carrying Sweeties Belle in her foreleg and laid her next to Zecora. She then turned to Twilight.
"Do you remember the mind control spell you used on Tirek?" Twilight immediately knew what she was trying to say.
"Yeah, but I won't be able to lift it from them if it was somecreature else who cast the spell."
"There may be a way." Celestia responded before reaching into her saddlebag and pulling out two magical crystals. "Starlight was able to analyze the Storm King's magic when she reclaimed the SkyWatch system. These crystals are filled with similar magical energy. If we used these with that spell, you might be able to do it." Twilight thought about it for a moment. She wasn't sure if it would work but it was worth a try.
She took the crystals from Celestia and placed one on each of the two unconscious mare's head. She then used the spell to reverse the mind control as if she was the one who cast it. Her magic passed through the crystals, resulting in a bright flash as they exploded into white light and dematerialized. Twilight and Celestia wathced Sweeties's and Zecora's bodies on the floor, eagerly waiting for something to happen. After a few moments of nothing, Twilight was about to accept that it didn't work, but suddenly, their eyes snapped wide open and they slowly sat up.
"Ugh... what happened?" Sweeties groaned. "I feel like I just had a head on collision with a speeding train."
"I share your sentiments, young one." Zecora added before looking up at Twilight and Celestia. "An explanation would me most welcome."
"The Storm King messed with your heads." Twilight answered casually. "We fixed them for you." Sweeties Belle looked skeptical. She looked up at Celestia, but her mentor confirmed Twilight's words with a nod.
"It is true. But you two are no longer his puppets." Celestia confirmed before helping the two mares on their legs.
"If you're done with the reunion, we have a world to save." Twilight snapped at her former mentor before turning away to head to the bridge. Celestia nodded at her.
"You go ahead. I'll make sure there isn't any remnant of the Storm King's magic left in them." Twilight nodded and left the three alone. Once Celestia was certain Twilight was out of earshot, she turned towards her student.
"You have done well..."
Once Twilight and Celestia reached the bridge of the Storm King's ship, they were surprised to see that there was nocreature there. The only thing they saw were the Storm King's staff in the middle of the room stabbed into the floor as it transferred the magical energy into the orbs around the room.
"The bridge is unmanned." Twilight observed. "Quick, give me those crystals! We have to reverse the process before it's too late." But Celestia just held up her hoof as she looked around the room in suspicion.
"It cannot be that easy. He wouldn't leave the prizes of his conquest unguarded. There has to be something here."
As if on cue, a blinding flash irradiated the room, forcing the two mares to cover their eyes. When the light died down, they looked up to see another familiar face standing in front of them. And if it was possible, his presence was even more surprising than the previous two creatures they have encountered.
"Sunburst?!" Celestia exclaimed. "The Storm King has enslaved you too?"
"Don't tell me. He improved your magical capabilites." Twilight guessed. The possessed stallion nodded.
"No more pathetic little Sunburst to be bossed around by Cadance. I now have what I need to fulfill the potential I once had." He replied on the same mechanical tone as Sweetie Belle and Zecora.
"And in exchange, all you have to do is help him destroy Equestria." Twilight spat. Celestia desperately wanted to avoid another fight. She looked at the orbs around the bridge. They were almost completely full. They didn't have much time left. The Storm King had to be stopped now.
"Keep him occupied. I will handle the drain." Celestia told Twilight before she trotted off towards the orbs. Sunburst was about to stop her, but she was interrupted by Twilight.
"Going somewhere?" The stallion's eyes turned into a vicious glare.
"You took Starlight away from me and turned her into a criminal." He lamented. Even under the Storm King's control, his rage and sorrow were audible. "Once I've killed you, she will join me at the Storm King's side. Forever!"
Twilight wasn't concerned. With or without the Storm King's power boost, Sunburst was nothing compared to her. She didn't even want to waste any time and simply blasted the stallion with a knockout spell, but to her utter surprise, he cast a perfect counterspell that fired Twilight's own spell back at her. She was so surprised that she didn't even have time to react and her own spell hit her right in the face. Of course, being an alicorn, it didn't immediately knock her out, but it did make her feel a little drowsy. She shook her head. She had to focus.
Twilight gathered all of her strength and fired another, much more poweful blast at Sunburst. But to her dismay, his shield absorbed even that. She had to come up with something else. She teleported behind Sunburst and grabbed him from behimd, attempting to press her horn against his head to use a knockback spell on him without his shield spell interfering. But Sunburst managed to absorb enough energy from Twilight's previous attack to resist and blast her off.
Sunburst then went on the offensive. He fired blast after blast at Twilight, but the alicorn easily avoided them with her wings. She could tell Sunburst meant business as the floor where his blasts landed have been rendered pitch black. While she doubted an alicorn like her could be incinerated so easily, she wasn't about to take that chance.
Twilight glanced behind herself and saw Celestia trying to shut down the Storm King's draining process. Without much success it seemed. The staff in the floor was protected by a powerful magic. That gave Twilight an idea. She charged all of her remaining power into her horn and fired it at Sunburst. To the same result as the last time. Sunburst absorbed all of it and fired it right back at Twilight. But this time, Twilight was expecting it. She flew up into the air and Sunburst’s counterattack flew right at the staff in the middle of the room.
"Celestia, look out!“ Twilight yelled. The white alicorn heard her just in time to get out of the way before the magical blast hit the staff. Twilight smirked as she saw her idea working. Sunburst redirected her attack at the staff and her energy was just enough to overload the field protecting it. Celestia instantly realized what Twilight was doing and when the magic dissipates, she tore the staff out from the floor and threw it to Twilight. Twilight then aimed it at Sunburst and channeled her reverse mind control spell through it. Her spell combined with the Storm King’s magic was enough to liberate the unicorn’s mind.
Sunburst screamed in agony as the magic coursed through his body. When it dissipated, the stallion collapsed on the ground, panting in exhaustion. When he looked up, he saw the two alicorns looking down at him in concern.
"Welcome back, Sunburst." Celestia said as she offered him her hoof, which the stallion took.
"I'm sorry I attacked." Sunburst apologized as he stood up. "The Storm King forced me to."
"We know." Twilight replied. "Don't worry, he can't control you any longer." Sunburst glanced up in Twilight and then back at Celestia in wonder.
"To see you two fight together again. I never thought it possible. But you need to keep it that way! You must not fall apart again. Equestria's fate depends on it. Through the Storm King's magic I have had visions. Of the future. The lack of harmony and friendship is going to tear our land apart. If not through the Storm King then...
Sunburst never finshed that sentense. The three ponies didn't notice that the Storm King's staff started levitating behind them and before they could notice, it flew straight at the stallion and impaled him through the chest before flying out through his back... right into the Storm King's hand. Sunburst barely had enough time to look donw at his wounded chest before collapsing on the ground and bleeding out. The two alicorns could only stare in horror, before turning their hate filled look at the Storm King.
"Even a magical expert like Sunburst sees that your struggle is hopeless. He and my other puppets occupied you long enough for the draining process to be almost complete. Soon enough not only you, but all of Equestria and it's magic will belong to me." he boasted with a savage grin. Celestia and Twilight only narrowed their eyes further in response.
"Unless we stop you." Celestia retorted, making the yeti laugh.
"HA! I doubt that. Your allies are scattered and fighting amongst themselves, if they're not dead already. You have exhausted almost all of your remaining magic and your armed forces are decimated. You cannot win."
"We'll find a way." Celestia countered, spreading her wings and igniting her horn, ready to attack.
"We always do." Twilight added before mimicking her mentor and leaping to attack.
Twilight charged her horn and rammed herself into the Storm King. She lunged herself forward in an attempt to pierce through his chest, but his armor repelled her horn magically. The Storm King then pushed Twilight back with his staff and blasted her away. Celestia was next. She used her magic to blast a hole in the floor to make the Storm King fall out. It almost worked, but the Storm King managed to react in the last moment and used his staff to stop the fall by placing it on the two sides of the hole as he fell, before leviatating himself up.
Twilight clearly saw at this point that the staff was the source of his power. She needed to get it. She fired a blast at the Storm King to blast the staff out of his grasp, but he was protecting himself with an energy bubble. Twilight growled. She needed a distraction.
"Distract him." She told Celestia before falling back.
Celestia flew at the Storm King to block his view from wherever Twilight was running off to. She crashed into the energy bubble and pushed forward with all her might. The Storm King used his staff to blast the princess off of him, but she responded with an energy bubble of her own to protect herself. However, with her magic dwindling and the Storm King being in his prime, it was becoming increasingly harder to keep up the bubble. The Storm King pulled his staff back and was about to unleash the final blast, but suddenly, he felt his staff being yanked out of his grasp. He turned around in shock and saw Twilight hoovering behind him, holding his staff over her head with her magic, before bringing it down, bashing the Storm King in the head with it.
The mighty tyrant had fallen on the ground with a sickening crack, but as much as this disappointed Twilight, not in his head, but in the staff itself. Twilight glanced at the staff and noticed that it's head was fractured and magical sparks were jumping out of it. At first. she was satisfied with this development, this must mean that the Storm King's powers would be deteriorating, but her satisfaction was short lived when the storm king got up and let out an enraged scream at the alicorn.
"YOU FOOL?! DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?!" Twilight was about to reply, when she felt the entire ship shift, as if it was falling down slowly. Celestia had a startling realization.
"The ship! It's gonna crash!" Twilight's eyes widened. The Storm King must have controlled it with his magic through the staff. Her horror grew as she came to another startling realization.
"If we crash, all of the Storm King's collected magic..."
"...will be destroyed." Twilight finished for her. She cursed her impulsiveness. She had to come up with something. Fast. She looked at the center of the room where the staff once sat, draining Equestria's magic and an idea hit her. She flew there and stabbed the damaged staff back into the floor.
"What are you doing?!" The Storm King demanded. Twilight ignored him and began channeling her magic through the staff, into the ship.
"Twilight, what are you doing?" Celestia asked in both shock and concern.
"The Storm King controls this ship with his magic through this staff! If I take over, I can land it safely!" Twilight responded before turning all of her energy onto the task at hoof. Celestia's concerns did not abate.
"Twilight, with the amount of magic you've lost, controlling this enormous ship will drain everything from you! You could die!" Celestia warned, but Twilight wasn't deterred.
"Never stopped me before."
For a moment, it looked like Twilight might just do it. The ship began to stabilize and slowly descend towards the ground. However, the Storm King wasn't about to let all of his hard work go down the drain. This ship and the magic he collected was his and his alone! Nocreature will take it from him, let alone a pathetic fallen princess like that. He began marching towards Twilight in fury.
"You will not take my ship from me!" He was about to grab Twilight and pull her away, but he was stopped by Celestia.
"Oh, no you won't!" Celestia snarled, before throwing the Storm King back against the wall. The Storm King punched the ground in anger before getting up and leaping at Celestia. He reached to grab her throat, but she flew back swiftly and blasted him away with a magic bolt. With the source of his magic out of his control, it was no longer protecting him and the magic had the desired effect of blasting him away.
The Storm King realized he was now at a disadvantage. He needed a new strategy to tie down Celestia's magic. He punched the floor with both hands and tore out a large piece of it before throwing it at Celesta. The alicorn had to use her magic to stop it in mid-air, but just as the Storm King predicted, this gave him an opening. He leaped at Celestia and tackled her on the ground. He then grabbed the debris he threw at her and was about to bash her skull in with it, but Celestia managed to recover in time to cast a barrier.
Enraged, the Storm King began to smash the barrier with the debris. He brought it down repeatedly in an attempt to break the barrier. It started to crack so Celestia knew she had to come up with something. When the Storm King raised the debris one more time, Celestia dispersed the barrier and grabbed the debris in her telekinetic grasp and brought it down on the Storm King's head. Which gave Celestia the chance to pull up her backlegs and kick him away.
The Storm King had completely lost his composure, he flew into an animalistic rage. He threw himself at Celestia, blindly clawing at her and trying to grab her, but the alicorn easily eluded the attacks and countered with a magical attack each tim. She could feel the Storm King becoming exhausted and knew that her time had come to deliver the finishing blow. She flew up into the air and dived onto the Storm King from above, shoving him into the floor with as much strength as she could muster. She then gathered all of her remaining magic into her horn and unleashed a mighty blast right into the Storm King's face. She kept up the fire for as long as she could and didn't even stop when he heard the Storm King scream in agony or when his screams startd dying down, which signaled that the Storm King was finally losing conscousness. She then raised her right foreleg and delivered a mighty punch into the yeti's face, finally wearing him down and neutralizing him.
Once she made sure the Strom King was down, Celestia ran back to Twilight who was still trying to take control of the ship and land it safely. She was slowly but surely getting the hang of it as Celestia felt the ship becoming more and more stable and slowly descending on the ground. When Celestia felt a large thud that slightly made her stumble, she knew that the ship landed. Twilight had done it. But there was still one matter at hoof.
"The stolen magic. Can you restore it?" Celestia asked as she pulled out the magical crystals Starlight gave her. Twilight was panting in exhaustion already, but knew that she couldn't quit now.
"I'll try." Twilight took the crystals and channeled their energy into the staff before focusing her remaining energies into the orbs around her and pulling the magic out of them and transferring it back into the land. As Twilight reversed the draining process, Celestia noticed that a few of their allies, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Flutterhy, Cadance and Blueblood have arrived on the bridge. They obviously saw the airship landing and went to take the fight to the Storm King. They were late, but Celestia doubted they minded. Following them was Luster Dawn who easily escaped captivity after the Storm King's defeat.
The ponies in the room wathced in awe as Twilight restored Equestria's magic from the Storm King's collection. The magical energy inside the orbs has flown through Twilight and out of her horn as it rained over the land. After the orbs have been emptied, Twilight finally gave into her exhaustion and letting go of the staff, she passed out on the floor.
"Twilight!" Rainbow Dash excalimed as she and Luster ran to the alicorn's side and helped her up.
"I thought all was lost." Cadance said. "But I can feel the Crysral Heart refilling. The Crystal Empire's magic is restored!" She cheered. "You did it, Twilight! The Storm King's work is undone!" But Twilight couldn't find it in herself to share the joy of the Princess of Love.
"Not..." She panted. "Not all of it..." The ponies in the room became confused.
"What do you mean 'not all of it.'" Fluttershy asked nervously.
"Some of the magic is still in the Storm King's collection." Celestia answered when she saw some of the orbs were still full.
"That's not all of it." Twilight added grimly. "I couldn't restore everything. The weather control of the pegasi. the earth pony connection to the land. It just... slipped through. They're... gone..." She sounded like she was ready to cry. Applejack and Rainbow Dash received these news in alarm.
"But... but we can still restore 'em, right?!" Applejack asked franticly. "Earth pony magic can't be gone! It is our livelihood! And we have de entire nation to feed! How are we supposed to do dat without our connection with our land?!"
"And without pegasus weather control, Equestria will be at the mercy of the elements!" Rainbow Dash added. But Twilight could only shake her head in greif.
"I'm sorry, girls." She replied, much to Applejack's and Rainbow's devastation. Rainbow Dash narrowed her eyes. Her doubts and concerns about the actions of Twilight and the Regime that have ariesen throughout the war against the Storm King have all disappeared. This atrocity demanded retribution.
"It's not your fault, Twilight." She consoled the alicorn. "There's only one creature here to blame and we all know who that is! As well as what we have to do!" Twilight couldn't have agreed more. She glared towards the unconscious body of the Storm King with a murderous look and began marching up to him to give that wannabe conqueror exactly what he deserved, untill she was stopped by a white wing in her path.
"Twilight, no!" It was Celestia. Twilight looked up at her former mentor in shock. How could she still not see what they needed to do? "Even if I agreed that he should die, you can't. We need him alive to restore the rest of the stolen magic." Twilight however saw things differently.
"No, we don't. With enough time and Starlight's help, I will figure out the Storm King's magic. I will be able to control it more than he ever could and easily restore everything he's ever stolen!" Celestia became worried. Twilight's eyes once again burned with that immense fire they did on the day she killed Chrysalis. But she didn't back down. She couldn't
"Or we could lose even more of it. Are you willing to take that chance?" Celestia asked, meeting Twilight's gaze. Their debate was interrupted by a meek cough.
"Um... I'm sorry to interrupt, but I think Celestia is right." She said as she walked up next to the white alicorn. "We can't be sure what meddling with the Storm King's magic will result in."
"What we can be sure of is that the Storm King puts everypony in great danger!" Cadance stated as she took a stand besides Twilight. "We have to deal with him. Permanently."
"She's right!" Rainbow Dash added as she marched up to Celestia. "This is no different than Chrysalis. If we just killed her the first time..."
"It is not that simple, Rainbow Dash!" Celestia interrupted.
"Yes, it is, Celestia! It is that simple!" Twilight yelled as she began advancing on Celestia. What she failed to notice however, was that Celestia's horn was ever so slightly started to glow. "How many more tragedies must befall Equestria before you accept that friendship and harmony are no longer enough to protect it!"
Celestia didn't reply. Instead, she blasted Twilight with a spell. As an alicorn and a powerful mage, Twilight should have withstood the spell easily. But that wasn't what happened. Instead, Twilight fell back on the floor as a sack, much to everypony's shock. And Twilight also felt herself becoming weaker.
"My magic!" She yelled as she felt it fading. "What did you do to me?!"
"I used your depowering spell that you used against me so many years ago." Celestia replied. "Perfected by Sweetie Belle. She had more than earned her place by my side as my new pupil, don't you think?"
"Twilight, are you just gonna take that laying down?!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Get up!"
"I wouldn't recommend that." Celestia said warnigly. "This was just a warning shot. But a well placed blast will permanently depower you. Stand down!" But Twilight didn't look deterred.
"This madness has to end, Celestia!" She seethed as she stood up, being backed by Rainbow Dash, Cadance and Blueblood. Celestia sighed. She hoped it wouldn't have to come to this.
"So be it." She charged her horn and saw from the corner of her eyes that Applejack, Fluttershy and Luster Dawn also took stances beside her. This was it. However their feud would end, it will end today.
Celestia immediately tried to make short work of her former student by firing the depowerment spell at her, but she was interrupted when Rainbow Dash slammed into her and knocked her on her back, making her blast miss. Rainbow was about to continue the assault, but as she raised her hoof to strike the alicorn again, she found herself being held back. She turned around to see Fluttershy holding her foreleg in her hooves, looking at her with a pleading expression.
”Rainbow, please! It's not too late to stop!” Rainbow looked down almost remorsefully before looking back up at Fluttershy with determination.
”It is to me, Flutters.” Rainbow then used her backlegs to buck Fluttershy off of herself and the poor pegasus flew across the room and crashed against the wall.
”Fluttershy!” Applejack cried out upon seeing her friend being brutalized in such a fashion. She then turned back towards Rainbow with a fiery glare and threw herself at the blue pegasus in rage. ”Dat's it, ye no good varmint! Ah'm gonna buck the tar outta ye until ye won' fly ever again!”
Applejack pounced, but Rainbow flew out of the way just in time to avoid the raging hooves of her former friend. She then dropped down from above to crash the spine of the earth pony, but Applejack jumped out of the way just in time to avoid her. Rainbow crashed into the floor behind her, giving Applejack the perfect opportunity to give her a good buck, sending her crashing through the window of the airship. She was about to run after her and finish her off, but she found herself being lifted into the air by a purple aura of magic. She needn't be a genius to figure out who was responsible for it.
”That's enough now, Applejack!” Twilight chided. ”Calm down and listen to reason!” But Applejack wouldn't be listening to Twilight. Never again.
”Ugh...” Applejack groaned as she managed to muster up all of her willpower to resist Twilight's telekinesis and raise her backlegs for another kick. ”Listen to this!” Applejack shouted, bucking Twilight in the face and sending her flying right after Rainbow Dash. She fell out of Twilight's magical grip and quickly pulled herself together before hurrying after the two ponies she just sent flying.
Celestia was about to go after them, but then she noticed something. She saw Cadance heading towards the Storm King's body, no doubt to finish him off. This she could not allow. Cadance jumped in surprise when her aunt suddenly materialized in front of herself, giving her a questioning look.
”Just what do you think you're doing, Cadenza?” Cadance quickly got over her shock and matched her aunt's glare.
”Making sure this monster never hurts anypony again!” She replied before attempting to get past Celestia, but the larger alicorn blocked her path with her wing.
”There is no need for that. The Empire is safe now. It's magic is restored. You can go home.”
”And what's the proof that it will stay that way?!” Cadance retorted, spreading out her wings in a sign of aggression. It became clear to Celestia that she won't be able to resolve this conflict without violence. ”The Crystal Empire is an ancient state, Celestia. With an old fashioned sense of morality and laws. Aggression against us is punishable by death!”
Cadance blasted Celestia with an energy beam, but the taller pony didn't even stumble. Cadane growled and used her magic to summon a crystal sword radiating with pink magic. Celestia's eyes widened when she saw her niece resorting to such leathat tactic and she almost paid the price for this moment of hesitation when Cadance nearly pierced her shoulder, but she recovered quickly enough to flap her wings and get out of the way, even though the sword still sliced her side.
Celestia hissed in pain as she raised her left foreleg to her wounded side. This gave Cadance the opening to lunge forward with her sword. Celestia could only avoid serious injury by raising a magical barrier that blocked the sword strike. With her bleeding side, she wasn't going to last much longer. She needed to cast a healing spell quickly. But she also needed to hold up the barrier to repel the crazed mare's attacks. Cadance lunged back as she raised her sword for another strike and this gave Celestia the chance for a counterattack. She quickly dispersed the barrier and flre straight at Cadance, and using her own strength against her she managed to knock her back, while also knocking the sword out of her hooves.
While Cadance recovered, Celestia had enough time to cast a healing spell on her side. But she also had to act quickly before Cadance could recover her weapon. The pink alicorn just got up from the ground and flew to get her sword. But just before she could reach it, Celestia grabbed it with her magic and yanked it away from her. Cadance used her own magic to grab it and the two alicorns ended up locking their magic together over the sword. Cadance could see that Celestia was slowly winning this duel, so she decided to try something unexpected. She broke the spell and flew at the sword in the air.
This surprised Celestia enough that Cadance managed to snatch the sword from her magical grip. However, by doing this, she also made a mistake: she left herself open for an attack, which Celestia immediately realized. She blasted Cadance away, causing her to crash into the ceiling. She then fell on the ground and the sword fell on her, the blade plunging itself into her backleg. Cadance screamed in agony before trying to remove the sword, but it was deeply impaled in her flesh. Suddenly, a golden glow surrounded the sword and painlessly pulled it out of Cadence's backleg. Cadance looked up in shock and she saw Celestia using her magic to heal her wound. The wound was now patched up, but the pain was still there, leaving Cadance incapacitated.
”I would have expected you of all ponies to help the Empire get with the times.” Celestia chided her niece as she catered her injury. However, her kindness was punished as it forced her to let her guard down. Before she could offer aid to Cadance, she was hit from behind by a streak of lightning which shoved her to the ground. When the lightnings subsided, Celestia slowly got up and saw her nephew, Prince Blueblood standing over her with a beaten and unconcsious Luster Dawn behind him. Celestia frowned up at him, but despite her anger at his transgressions, she decided to try to reason with him one last time.
“Go back to Stalliongrad, nephew. The ponies there will welcome you back with open arms, but if you stay here, I will have no choice but to prosecute you along with your allies.” Blueblood scoffed dismissively.
“You would have to defeat us first, Celestia. And we underestimated you for the last time.” Blueblood gathered a large concentration of lightning into his horn and fired it at Celestia. The alicorn raised a magical barrier to protect herself, but she realised that the lightnings will eventually overpower it. She needed to come up with something quickly. She used her barrier to channel as much of the lightnings into her own horn as she could and once she had gathered enough, she fired them back at the stallion. At first, Blueblood's lightnings were stronger, but eventually Celestia have gathered enough of them into herself to overpower her nephew's attack. The lightnings Celestia reflected eventually broke through those that Blueblood fired at her and electrified the stallion.
Of course, Blueblood was not going to go down by his own attack. He trained himself to resist his own magical lightnings and managed to absorb it into himself. This actually made him even stronger and allowed him to fire back even more powerful lightnings. Celestia tried to use the same tactic as before, but eventually realised that it was futile. It became clear to her that their duel will not be decided by their raw magical energy, but by their skills of using it. Celestia released a huge energy blast that broke through Blueblood's lightnings and knocked the stallion off of his legs for a short time. She then trapped him in a medical forcefield in the hope that she can hold him long enough until he passed out due to a lack of oxygen.
Blueblood realised what her plan was and tried to break through the forcefield by summoning even more of his lightnings. But all the unicorn accomplished was frying himself with them. He then noticed Cadence's sword lying behind his aunt and used his magic to lift it into the air and send it flying directly at his aunt from behind. The sword didn't impale her deeply but it threw her off balance long enough for Blueblood to break out of the force field. He then levitated Cadences sword into his own hooves and went on the offensive.
Blueblood went straight at Celestia's horn, trying to slice it off, but Celestia was prepared for this. She teleported behind the stallion and the sword ended up being impaled into the floor. As Blueblood struggled to pull it out, Celestia blasted him away from it from behind. Blueblood crashed into the wall but he was not quite done yet. He fired another wave of lightning at her. Celestia flew up into the air and then flew straight at her nephew, punching him further into the wall. She then pulled back her foreleg and delivered a mighty blow at the stallion's skull, sending him into unconsciousness.
After the conceited prince was that with Celestia ran over to Luster and helped her up.
"Are you ok?" Celestia asked in concern. Luster shook herself and looked up at Celestia with reassurance
"Don't worry about me. I'm tougher than I look." She then sighed and look down sadly. "I... I can't believe what she's become! It's like she's not even the same pony anymore!" Celestia could only nod sadly
"I know. Nopony is more pained by that than I am. When this invasion began and I was forced to release her, I was hoping that maybe I will be able to get through to her. But the Storm King got to her the same way as Chrysalis did. And once again I couldn't quell her anger. I have failed my student once again and I don't know what lengths I will have to go this time to stop her." Luster's expression turned to one of determination.
"We will. We have to." Her eyes then lit with realisation. "And I might just have an idea how!"
Luster ran through ruined city of Canterlot in search of the former Princess of Friendship. She was so caught up in her mission that she barely paid any attention to the horrific devastation that the city suffered during the Storm King's invasion. Running through the streets littered with debris and pony corpses, she finally managed to locate her target directly in front of the steps of Canterlot Castle.
When she saw her, eyes widened in horror. Twilight Sparkle, the Princess of Friendships, the pony she looked up to, the one who were supposed to love and protect her friends and Equestria was standing over the badly wounded bodies of her best friends, AppleJack and Fluttershy. The earth pony was moaning in agony due to her broken back legs and Fluttershy was weeping due to a similar injury in her wings. Luster Dawn's first thoughts were horror and disbelief at how Twilight could do such a thing to her friends, but the second was sick resignation that she probably shouldn't be surprised anymore. She was now well aware of how Twilight had turned into somepony who would do such a thing to anypony who crossed her.
Fear swelled up in Luster's chest. She knew just how powerful Twilight was, but the freedom of Equestria was at stake. She couldn't allow her fear to hold her back. Gathering all her courage Luster stepped forward.
"Twilight!" Luster called out in anger at the fallen princess. Twilight turned to her with a firm expression.
"You have made up your mind, Luster and you have picked your side. Now live with the consequences!" Twilight spoke as she fired a spell at Luster. Luster managed to block the blast with a magical shield before matching the princess' intense stare.
"You have turned into a monster, Twilight! And I'm going to stop you!" Twilight firm expression remained unchanged.
"I've been called the worse throughout my years of leading the Regime. I used to think that way too Luster. And don't believe for a moment that the thought hasn't crossed my mind. But if becoming a monster is what I have to do to defend Equestria, then so be it! When I followed Celestia's harmony, it lead me to the loss of my family and devastation Equestria had never seen before. If I don't use all my power, the ones I want to defend will pay the price. And that is why I don't hold back anymore! No matter who gets in my way!"
Twilight fired another blast at Luster. the unicorn jumped out of the way and started running away. Twilight raised an eyebrow in curiosity at this.
"Running away? I expected more from you." She then flapped her wings and flew up into the air, where she could trail Luster's every move easily. Especially when Rainbow Dash joined her. The two followed Luster from the air, but she managed to keep her distance. Twilight couldn't capture or attack her with her magic.
"Catch her!" She ordered the pegasus who nodded and descended towards the Unicorn. Luster looked back and saw Rainbow hot on her trail.
"Give it up, kid! You know I'm faster than you!" Luster's only response was a magical bolt into Rainbow's face, which sent the pegasus back, crashing into a piece of debris. Luster then kept running, trying to put as much distance between her and Rainbow as possible before she came to. But before she could run on, something crashed into the ground in front of her. After the dust settled, Luster looked up to see Twilight Sparkle towering over her.
"Give up, Luster! You cannot get past me." Luster glared at her.
"Like Tartarus!" Her horn lit up and Twilight was surprised to feel that the ground was raising under her. And it was because Luster just enchanted a piece of the concrete and flipped it over, slamming it upon Twilight, before running on. The concrete was then blasted apart from beneath by Twilight before she flew up and continued the chase.
Luster looked back again. No matter what she did, she just couldn't throw them off. But she had to keep running. She was almost at the place she needed to lure them to. They started closing in on her and Twilight's horn lit up, but so did Luster's. She was almost there. Luster kept running towards a fallen building and gathered magic into her horn just as Twilight and Rainbow closed in on her and jumped forward.
The next thing the three ponies knew, they crashed through a piece of concrete and landed in a dark tunnel. Luster stood up first and smirked at the two other ponies looking around in confusion.
"Where are we?" Rainbow Dash asked. As if on cue, a bunch of screens lit up around them in the room, displaying several locations in Equestria. Rainbow was still confused about this, but Twilight's eyes slowly widened in understanding.
"So this is the..."
"The Eye of the Sun." Came another voice. Rainbow and Twilight turned to see Celestia slowly emerging from the darkness. "I see your skills of observation have not left you along with your sanity, Twilight." Rainbow's eyes widened, then she turned to glare at Luster.
"You ungrateful shrew! You lead us right too her!" Celestia nodded.
"Correct." She then used her magic to seal the hole the three ponies crashed through, as well as every other exit. "She knew well enough how to avoid further damage to the city by leading you right to me. It is over, Twilight." Twilight matched her former teacher's fierce glare.
"For the first time in a very long while, Celestia, we actually agree or something."
Celestia charged her horn to attack Twilight, but Rainbow Dash beat her to it and flew at her at breakneck speed, tackling her to the ground. Rainbow pulled back her foreleg and smashed Celestia across the muzzle several times before Celestia finally overcame her shock, raised a leg of her own too block Rainbow's and blasted her off of herself with a magical bolt. Rainbow groaned in pain as she got up and looked up to see Celestia looking down at her with a look that was equal part angry, sad and disappointed.
"I have rarely seen such hatred and anger as I feel in you, Rainbow Dash. What happened to you?" The pegasus scoffed. She felt like the answer should be simple, but for the first time, she found herself at a loss for words.
"I don't know." She answered eventually, lowering her head in shame. For a brief moment, hope raised inside of Celestia.
"But I can feel the doubt in you. It in not too..." Rainbow interrupted her by raising a hoof in front of her.
"I'm gonna stop you right there. Yes. It is too late. At least for me." Her tone was regretful but unwavering. "If you want to stop me, there's only one thing you can do." For a breif, moment Celestia could swear that this sounded like a plea, but she didn't have time to ruminate on this, as Rainbow attacked her without hesitation. The quick attacks surprised Celestia enough that Rainbow actually managed to land a few hits. And even once the alicorn recovered, she had a hard time countering with the speed the pegasus was dictating.
Even with all her alicorn might, Celestia knew she will not be able to keep up with a speed demon like Rainbow Dash, she had to find a way to slow her down. Celestia raised an invisible barrier around herself and the next time Rainbow crashed into her, she hit the barrier and the force of the impact sent her back on the ground. Celestia then grabbed her wings with her telekinesis and lifted the pegasus directly in front of herself and delivered a hard blow right into her head.
The blow made Dash all dizzy, but she wasn't about to call it quits just yet. She spread out her wings and started flapping them at such a speed that her body was starting to produce electricity. Once her entire body was vibrating with energy, she threw herself at Celestia again and while the alicorn managed to dodge the first few ones, Rainbow eventually hit her, causing a burning injury. Celestia hissed in pain before pushing herself away from the electrified pegasus with her wings. But she didn't have time to rest as Rainbow kept up her attacks relentlessly.
Celestia knew she was gonna tire herself out at some point, she had to find a way to end this fight soon. She saw all the magical screens floating around the room and she got an idea. She lifted herself off of the ground and started slowy flying backwards towards one of them while still dodging Rainbow's attacks. She was slowly luring Rainbow towards one of the screens and when she was directly in front of one of them, she fired her magic at Dash and managed to push her back. While this caused no harm to her, it had the desired effect of enraging her enough to lose her focus and fly straight at the alicorn. And that was the moment Celestia was waiting for.
She teleported out of the way and let Rainbow Dash crash into the screen. As the magic from the screen collided with the electricity from the body of the pegasus, a huge blast shook the room. Rainbow Dash screamed in agony as the electricity coursed through her body and she crashed into the ground in a smoking ball of energy. Once the smoke cleared, Celestia walked up to the downed pegasus and saw her badly burned body barely holding onto concsiousness. Celestia shot her one last, pitiful look before she turned away.
"The Element of Loyalty." Celestia scoffed. "What a joke." Rainbow Dash let out one last cough before passing out. But for a moment, Celestia could have sworn that sounded like more of a bitter chuckle. Almost like Rainbow had agreed with her. Shaking her head to clear it from that distracting thought, Celestia turned to the last remaining pony in the room. Twilight Sparkle was now standing over the unconcsious, beaten body of Luster Dawn. A pang of guilt washed over Celestia. She should have never allowed the young unicorn to face her foremer student, but Rainbow Dash's interference left her with no choice. With a heavy sigh, Celestia stepped forward.
"It's over, Twilight." Twilight turned around and Celestia saw that her expression was just as hardened as hers.
"Fighting on the same side... It felt like old times again." Twilight said solemnly. "But I guess we both knew it would end this way." The two alicorns stared at each other for a few moments, neither knowing just what their next move should be. Some part of Celestia believed that perhaps she could try one last time to break through to the old Twilight inside.
"Do you remember that day? When you came over to Canterlot and asked me to help set up the anniversary for your parents?" Twilight actually smiled at the memory.
"Pinkie Pie already had a to-do list written for both of us. Even before I visited." The two mares chuckled.
"And Luna proposed to raise the moon earlier for a romantic setting." Celestia added, earning another chuckle.
"A good memory." Twilight said before her smile turned sad. "Maybe one of the last." Celestia's smile faded as well.
"What happened to us, Twilight?" She asked sadly. "They were such happier times. I would give anything to go back to them. Twilight closed her eyes and let loose a few tears.
"So would I." Celestia was about to approach her former pupil and offer her the comfort she couldn't through all these years. But she came to a startled halt when she saw Twilight's eyes snapping open and radiating with purple magical energy. "But we can't."
Twilight then shot forward with lightning speed and attempted to smash Celestia into the ground, but Celestia cast a shield just in time to use Twilight's own power against her and push her back into her starting position. Twilight dusted herself off and glared at the other alicorn.
"Would there be any sense in asking you to give up?" Celestia narrowed her eyes in response.
"Twilight, I spent years fighting you. I gave up everything to protect Equestria's freedom from you. I watched my friends, loved ones and husband die to stop you. Do you honestly believe that I would give up now?" Twilight spread out her wings and lit up her horn.
"For old time's sake, I gave you a chance." Celestia lit up her own horn in response and the two mares charged at each other in one final battle that would decide Equestria's fate.
Twilight made the first move. She leaped into the air and jumped on top of Celestia, tackling her to the ground and attempted to pierce her heart with her horn. Celestia deflected the strike and kicked Twilight off of herself. She then flew up and grabbed Twilight with her forelegs and crashed her into the ceiling before striking her across the muzzle. She then allowed her to fall on the ground, charged herself with magic and flew straight down at Twilight at brekneck speed. Twilight managed to teleport out of the way just in time to avoid the falling strike, before appearing behind Celestia and blasting her across the room.
Twilight then flew up into the air and fired an magic bolt at Celestia. The white alicorn saw that the bolt was huge and very bright so raising a barrier this time was out of the question. So instead, Celestia ran out of the way and Twilight's attack hit the wall, creating a huge hole in it. Huge pieces of debris flew everywhere and one large piece of metal landed right in front of Celestia, which gave her an idea. She levitated a piece of metal in front of herself and threw it at Twilight. The metal absorbed Twilight's magic and it knocked her out of the air and landed right on top of her.
Celestia then went on the offensive. She lifted the matel debris back into the air and brought it down on top of Twilight again. The purple alicorn was still pretty shaken from the first strike and couldn't react in time before it struck again. Celestia attempted to bring it down on her a third time, but Twilight charged up her horn again and blasted the debris to pieces before it hit her. This gave her time to recupirate for another attack.
Twilight jumped out of the hole the debris created in the ground and leaped straight at Celestia with her foreleg extended forward and punched Celestia straight into the wall. She then pulled her hoof back and punched her again and again repeatedly. Celestia tried to raise her own hoof and block, but all those years of fighting made Twilight physically stronger than her. So she had to use her own strength against her. When she raised her hoof and pushed it forward again, Celestia raised a backleg and kicked Twilight in the knee of her backleg.
Twilight screamed in pain as her knee went out of place and she collapsed on the ground. She reached down to rearrange it, but Celestia was faster. She grabbed Twilight's foreleg and twisted it as well. Twilight gritted her teeth in pain. But she had enough remaining composure to blast Celestia away from herself. She used her magic to rearrange her limbs. She was able to stand up, but her legs still hurt like Tartarus. She could barely get out of the way of Celestia's next attack.
The white alicorn realized that she added sore spots to Twilight's body and she could exploit them. She fired more blasts at Twilight's injured limbs, but Twilight managed to avoid them by flying into the air. She then fired another blast at Celestia and Celestia ended up doing the same. The two spells collided in the air and neither was able to overpower the other. The collision of the two blasts formed a magical orb in the middle of the room that grew bigger and bigger until it couldn't handle all the magical energy inside it anymore and exploded.
The explosion caused a blinding white and purple flash and stirred up smoke in the whole chamber. Twilight and Celestia both cried out in pain and shock as the smoke blinded them and the explosion sent them back against the wall. Once the smoke cleared there was only one pony left standing in the room. That pony was...
Princess Celestia.
The former ruler of Equestria slowly limped up to Twilight's unconscious form and looked down at her sadly.
"I'm sorry, Twilight. But you have chosen this fate."
As Celestia turned away, she saw that Luster Dawn was slowly recovering and was now standing next to her, also looking down at Twilight with regret.
"I... I'm sorry." Celestia slowly raised her hoof to Luster's chin and soflty raised her head to make her gaze meet hers.
"You have nothing to apologize for, my little pony." Luster shook her eyes as tears threatened to escape.
"For years... I thought you unjustly condemned her. But to see what she turned into after all that..." She wiped her eyes and sighed. "At least it's finally over." But Celestia knew better.
"No. Not yet." She sighed with a heavy heart. There is still one task that needs carrying out."
Twilight Sparkle was standing on in the middle of the statue garden of Canterlot Castle on a small stone platform with her wings chained to her back and a magic dampener ring around her horn. On one side, she was surrounded by her former friends, Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. On the other, there was Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Flash Sentry. And each of them were wearing an all too similiar necklace. Twilight knew perfectly well what was coming, but she showed no fear, she just kept glaring daggers at Celestia.
"This stone prison couldn't hold Discord, Celestia. It won't hold me for long either. I will be back." Celestia matched her glare.
"And we will be ready." She then nodded to the six ponies standing around Twilight and their necklaces lit up. Magic fired out of the jewels and surrounded Twilight. Her legs were slowly becoming incased in stone and it was slowly making it's way up her entire body. But she ignored it. All the time, her eyes were fixed on Celestia with a cold and hateful stare. It remained on her face even after the spell was finished and she was completely trapped in stone.
The element bearers, old and new have left the scene, leaving Celestia alone with the petrified reminder of what was once her greatest pride, but now had become a memorial of her greatest failure. But she wasn't alone for long as she heard hoofsteps behind her. She didn't need to turn around to know who it was. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Luster Dawn standing beside her, looking up at the statue with just as much sorrow as she was.
"So what happens now?" Celestia looked at Luster and the unicorn saw that her expression was now more hopeful.
"That depends entirely on you." Celestia responded before turning to face her. "Despite their misguided beliefs, Rainbow Dash and Blueblood had taught you well, Luster. You have become an exceptionally talented little unicorn. But you still have so much to learn. If you would like to, I could help you reach your full potential."
"You mean... help me become an alicorn?" Luster asked nervously, the Storm King's words still ringing in her ears about her possible ascension. The mere thought of sounded scary. But Celestia just kept smiling warmly.
"Perhaps even that. But let's not get ahead of ourselves. For now, I believe your friendship studies are severely lacking. I would like to fix that." Celestia offered, extending her hoof. "If that is what you want as well, of course." Luster didn't think for long. "Welcome to the circle of trust."
A few months have passed since the Storm King's invasion and Equestria was slowly starting to recover. The imprisoned conqueror was forced to restore all of the magic he has stolen before being sent into Tartarus along with the former Regimers who stood with Twilight after their alliance with Celestia's forces split up.
The members of the First Order have all defected to Celestia as well after the Storm King's true plan was revealed, so they have been all pardoned. With the exception of Lightning Dust, who still had many crimes that she committed during her time with the Regime to answer for. But even Celestia couldn't deny that she lead the Regime's special forces most effieciently, so she was given a choice: she could either organise and lead a black ops unit under Celestia's strict supervision or spend the remainder of her days in Tartarus along with her former Regime superiors. Suffice to say, she picked the former option.
The dragons and the griffons all left Equestria and the rogue changelings returned to Thorax. Thorax was heartbroken that his brother was no longer among them, but it gave him solace that his killer, Rainbow Dash was paying for taking his life. Bon Bon was reunited with the abducted Lyra, but the same could not be said for Fluttershy and her brother. Zephyr Breeze had firmly rejected all of her sister's attempts at reconciliation so far. The pain he suffered when Twilight was in charge obviously still hasn't left him. So Fluttershy gave him space. She hoped that they would make amends one day, but with each passing day, that hope was fading more and more.
Losing the weather control magic of the pegasi and earth pony connection to the land was a bitter blow, but Equestria had to adapt to this change. Since they could no longer control the weather, they had to predict it's natural changes and make preparations for it. The pegasi were now in charge of forecasting the weather at every part of the country and report it to the locals so they could prepare. As for the earth ponies, Applejack and her family received help from the last pony they ever expected it from, Flam. The former conpony buried the hatchet with the apples and helped them modernize their farm, which lead to a sort of industrial revolution in the equestrian agriculture. Instead of their magic, the farmers were now harvesting their crops with advanced machinery.
As for Celestia herself...
"Would you stop fidgeting?" Sweetie Belle complained as she was trying to make adjustments to Celestia's dress in front of a mirror. Celestia chuckled.
"I apologise. I've forgotten how nerve wrecking getting married can be." The alicorn replied. "Fixing the wedding dress of a former princess with such a perfectionist attitude, Sweetie Belle. Your sister would be proud." Sweetie Belle smiled sadly as she finished fitting the dress around her mentor's form.
"I hope so."
The door to the room swung open and Apple Bloom and Luster Dawn entered.
"Are you ready?" Luster Dawn asked. Celestia nodded.
"As I'll ever be. Are you?" Apple Bloom nodded.
"I just talked to Flash. The guard is ready on every side of the castle. There will be no repeat of Cadance's wedding." Celestia frowned at the mention of her niece. Ever since the Storm King's defeat, relations between Equestria and the Crystal Empire didn't improve much. Cadance once again isolated herself in the Empire. But at least this time, she wasn't alone. During the final fight, a Crystal Commando unit sneaked into Equestria and smuggled Flurry out. She was now reunited with her mother, though their relationship probably still wasn't ideal. Celestia didn't know. She received no response to any of her messages. Not even the wedding invitation.
"Geez, Apple Bloom! You're one of the bridesmaids. Turn off your guard mode for a bit, will you?" Sweetie rolled her eyes. Celestia cleared her throat.
"Girls, please. I will not have my bridesmaids bickering amongst themselves like that." Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked down sheepishly. Luster chuckled at them as she shook her head.
"Come on! It's time to get this show on the road." Not the words Celestia would have used, but she agreed with their meaning. It was time to start. Thorax was already waiting for her at the altar.
Celestia immediately tried to make short work of her former student by firing the depowerment spell at her, but she was interrupted when Rainbow Dash slammed into her and knocked her on her back, making her blast miss. Rainbow was about to continue the assault, but as she raised her hoof to strike the alicorn again, she found herself being held back. She turned around to see Fluttershy holding her foreleg in her hooves, looking at her with a pleading expression.
”Rainbow, please! It's not too late to stop!” Rainbow looked down almost remorsefully before looking back up at Fluttershy with determination.
”It is to me, Flutters.” Rainbow then used her backlegs to buck Fluttershy off of herself and the poor pegasus flew across the room and crashed against the wall.
”Fluttershy!” Applejack cried out upon seeing her friend being brutalized in such a fashion. She then turned back towards Rainbow with a fiery glare and threw herself at the blue pegasus in rage. ”Dat's it, ye no good varmint! Ah'm gonna buck the tar outta ye until ye won' fly ever again!”
Applejack pounced, but Rainbow flew out of the way just in time to avoid the raging hooves of her former friend. She then dropped down from above to crash the spine of the earth pony, but Applejack jumped out of the way just in time to avoid her. Rainbow crashed into the floor behind her, giving Applejack the perfect opportunity to give her a good buck, sending her crashing through the window of the airship. She was about to run after her and finish her off, but she found herself being lifted into the air by a purple aura of magic. She needn't be a genius to figure out who was responsible for it.
”That's enough now, Applejack!” Twilight chided. ”Calm down and listen to reason!” But Applejack wouldn't be listening to Twilight. Never again.
”Ugh...” Applejack groaned as she managed to muster up all of her willpower to resist Twilight's telekinesis and raise her backlegs for another kick. ”Listen to this!” Applejack shouted, bucking Twilight in the face and sending her flying right after Rainbow Dash. She fell out of Twilight's magical grip and quickly pulled herself together before hurrying after the two ponies she just sent flying.
Twilight landed in front of the Storm King's airship and groaned in agony before she slowly got herself on her legs. Once she finally got herself together, she saw Applejack standing in front of her, staring her down with a look of determination. Twilight was confused beyond belief. The Storm King took the magic of earth ponies which pretty mjuch destroyed Applejack's and her whole family's way of life. And she was fighting her when she tried to avenge it all?
"How could you be against me on this? He destroyed the magic of not only you and your family, but your race as well!"
'She's right, you know.' A voice inside Applejack's head whispered. 'Are you just gonna let him get away with that?'
'No! Not you again!' Applejack grabbed her head in a futile attempt to chase the source of the voice away. 'Not now!' And Twilight's didn't make her struggle easier.
"Think about it, AJ! The Storm King has to pay!" Applejack had to admit that the thought of bucking the life out of the Storm King was tempting. But despite the temptation, she was well aware of where giving in to her dark urges took her the last time. Her stubbornness eventually won out and she managed to block out the voice of the Nightmare and glared back at Twilight.
"No, Twilight! Revenge won't bring back our magic back! Just like it didn't bring back your family!" Twilight saw that she won't be able to convince her former friend to support her again. But as much as it pained her, she couldn't allow her feelings to prevent her from carrying out her duty. She will have to destroy the Storm King to protect Equestria. And if Applejack stood in her way, then she was her enemy.
The earth pony pulled out her lasso and threw it around a piece of debris. She then hurled the debris towards Twilight, but the alicorn simply blasted it to pieces before it could hit her. Applejack tried the same thing again with another piece of debris, only to get the same result, but this time, she managed to throw the lasso again and wrap it around Twilight's neck.
Applejack then yanked the lasso down towards the ground and banged Twilight's head into it. Applejack then yanked the lasso again and started pulling Twilight towards herself. Twilight tried to resist, but she was no match to Applejack physically and due to hitting her head in the ground, her vision was all blurry so she couldn't cast a spell at her.
Then only thing Twilight could do was fly up into the air. Applejack still managed to hold onto her, but it was becoming harder to pull her in. Especially since Twilight briefly managed to lift her off of the ground a few times. And Twilight managed to remain in the air long enough for her vision to clear. She was ready to go on the offensive.
She blasted Applejack from the air with a magical beam and it made her let go of the lasso. With her main weapon gone, Applejack had no other option than to make a tactical retreat. Twilight took off after her, but after a few moments, she lost sight of her among all the rubble. Frustrated, Twilight circled around the ruined city for a few more minutes before landing in front of the castle. She started looking around for any movement, but she could see nothing.
She did however hear something from behind herself, a grunt delivered by a familiar voice. It was the voice of an apple farmer preparing to buck a tree. Fast as lightning, Twilight turned around just in time to catch both of Applejack's backlegs in her magical hold. Applejack struggled to get free, but it was useless. Twilight tightened her grip on Applejack's legs more and more until she heard a sickening crack and the painful screams of Applejack. The earth pony collapsed on the ground, weeping as both of her backlegs were broken.
"Applejack!" Twilight quickly spun around when she heard the startled scream and saw Fluttershy speeding towards her with a look of pure rage. Fluttershy crashed into Twilight, but the alicorn held on. Slowly the strength of Fluttershy's charge ran out and Twilight managed to push her away easily.
"This is on you, Fluttershy!" Twilight yelled at the yellow pegasus accusingly. "When you defected, the Regime fell! You left us vulnerable to the Storm King! You shouldn't have lost your nerve!" Fluttershy usually lost her nerve when she was yelled at, but this time, her glare didn't even falter.
"I lost my nerve when I didn't stand up to you the first time, Twilight! Never again!"
Fluttershy threw herself at Twilight in an enraged state and struck her several times across the muzzle. Twilight took the hits easily, before lifting her own foreleg to hit Fluttershy in the stomach and pushed her away. Twilight then tried to blast the pegasus with her magic, but she easily avoided them by taking off into the air.
Twilight took off after her and kept firing at her with magic, but Fluttershy, while she was no Rainbow Dash, was agile enough to dodge the blasts. Twilight growled in frustration. Magic won't do her any good in this fight. She'll have to outmaneuver her opponent.
Twilight flew under Fluttershy and attempted to hit her from below by flying up. Fluttershy noticed this and managed to react in time. She stopped herself mid-air by stretching out her wings, but this was exactly what Twilight was expecting. She spun around in the air at breakneck speed and shot down towards Fluttershy, catching the pegasus off guard and slamming her into the ground. Twilight then raised both of her forelegs over her head and brought them down on Fluttershy's outstretched wings, earning another sickening crack and agonised shriek from her current opponent.
"Stand up to that." Twilight spat at her cruelly.
"Twilight!" Twilight turned around upon hearing a voice calling her name in anger. She saw none other than Luster Dawn glaring up at her from the bottom of the castle's staircase. Twilight shot her a firm look.
"You have made up your mind, Luster and you have picked your side. Now live with the consequences!" Twilight spoke as she fired a spell at Luster. Luster managed to block the blast with a magical shield before matching the princess' intense stare.
"You have turned into a monster, Twilight! And I'm going to stop you!" Twilight firm expression remained unchanged.
"I've been called worse throughout my years of leading the Regime. I used to think that way too Luster. And don't believe for a moment that the thought hasn't crossed my mind. But if becoming a monster is what I have to do to defend Equestria, then so be it! When I followed Celestia's harmony, it lead me to the loss of my family and devastation Equestria had never seen before. If I don't use all my power, the ones I want to defend will pay the price. And that is why I don't hold back anymore! No matter who gets in my way!"
Twilight fired another blast at Luster. the unicorn jumped out of the way and started running away. Twilight raised an eyebrow in curiosity at this.
"Running away? I expected more from you." She then flapped her wings and flew up into the air, where she could trail Luster's every move easily. Especially when Rainbow Dash joined her. The two followed Luster from the air, but she managed to keep her distance. Twilight couldn't capture or attack her with her magic.
"Catch her!" She ordered the pegasus who nodded and descended towards the Unicorn. Luster looked back and saw Rainbow hot on her trail.
"Give it up, kid! You know I'm faster than you!" Luster's only response was a magical bolt into Rainbow's face, which sent the pegasus back, crashing into a piece of debris. Luster then kept running, trying to put as much distance between her and Rainbow as possible before she came to. But before she could run on, something crashed into the ground in front of her. After the dust settled, Luster looked up to see Twilight Sparkle towering over her.
"Give up, Luster! You cannot get past me." Luster glared at her.
"Like Tartarus!" Her horn lit up and Twilight was surprised to feel that the ground was raising under her. And it was because Luster just enchanted a piece of the concrete and flipped it over, slamming it upon Twilight, before running on. The concrete was then blasted apart from beneath by Twilight before she flew up and continued the chase.
Luster looked back again. No matter what she did, she just couldn't throw them off. But she had to keep running. She was almost at the place she needed to lure them to. They started closing in on her and Twilight's horn lit up, but so did Luster's. She was almost there. Luster kept running towards a fallen building and gathered magic into her horn just as Twilight and Rainbow closed in on her and jumped forward.
The next thing the three ponies knew, they crashed through a piece of concrete and landed in a dark tunnel. Luster stood up first and smirked at the two other ponies looking around in confusion.
"Where are we?" Rainbow Dash asked. As if on cue, a bunch of screens lit up around them in the room, displaying several locations in Equestria. Rainbow was still confused about this, but Twilight's eyes slowly widened in understanding.
"So this is the..."
"The Eye of the Sun." Came another voice. Rainbow and Twilight turned to see Celestia slowly emerging from the darkness. "I see your skills of observation have not left you along with your sanity, Twilight." Rainbow's eyes widened, then she turned to glare at Luster.
"You ungrateful shrew! You lead us right too her!" Celestia nodded.
"Correct." She then used her magic to seal the hole the three ponies crashed through, as well as every other exit. "She knew well enough how to avoid further damage to the city by leading you right to me. It is over, Twilight." Twilight matched her former teacher's fierce glare.
"For the first time in a very long while, Celestia, we actually agree or something."
Celestia charged her horn to attack Twilight, but Rainbow Dash beat her to it and flew at her at breakneck speed, tackling her to the ground. This left only Luster Dawn to take on Twilight. Just like with Applejack, Twilight had trouble understanding why Luster would stand against her.
"You should want the Storm King better than anypony, Luster. You told me what happened. He destroyed your village, killed your parents and everypony you've ever known and cares about. How can you defend him?"
"I'm not defending him. I'm defending Equestria!" Luster responded. "How can you not see what you have become?! You have killed your own subjects and friends along with your enemies, enslaved Equestria and reverted Princess Luna into Nightmare Moon! You freed her from the Nightmare's corruption with the magic of friendship and now you're destroying everything you created with it! Is this what Celestia taught you?!" Twilight just about had enough of this brat.
"Well, maybe if Celestia was more like Nightmare Moon, she could have saved my family!"
Luster didn't even have time to be shocked by that exclamation as Twilight immediately attacked her. She barely had time to jump back to avoid the furious strikes of Twilight's hooves. Luster then fired a magical beam at Twilight's chest. It didn't do much damage but it did manage to push the alicorn back, if only a little. Luster maintained the beam and started slowly advancing toward Twilight, but Twilight fired a magical beam of her own at the one Luster shot at her, creating a small explosion that sent the two ponies apart.
Luster then tried using a different spell. She fired another beam at Twilight and Twilight was shocked to discover that a layer of ice was forming across her chest, which was slowly spreading. And as Luster maintained the beam, it was spreading faster and faster. Twilight couldn't let this go on.
"Ugh... You're good." Twilight moaned as the cold was taking over her.
"For all his faults, Blueblood taught me well." Luster replied proudly. Twilight fired a blast at Luster, making her jump back and break the connection between them and Twilight took this opportunity to break the ice that was forming on her chest, before leaping at Luster.
"You're good with magic. But are you fast too?" Twilight asked as she tried to hit Luster from above. But to her surprise, the unicorn leaped forward under her and managed to dodge the attack, before bucking Twilight away from behind.
"I am. Courtesy of Rainbow Dash." Twilight was impressed. With each movement the young unicorn made, she was regretting that she wasn't her student. She had the chance, but she threw it away by siding with Celestia. And Twilight was going to give her a harsh reminder of that.
Twilight cast a spell that surrounded Luster on all sides. The panicked unicorn had no idea what to do as the purple magical energy formed a cage around her. The cage then started decreasing in size and the sides closed in on Luster, before slamming down on her. The unicorn screamed in pain as the magic shocked her body and created a small explosion, sending her on the ground. Twilight stood over the fallen unicorn with a hard expression that was both disappointed and sad.
"Such wasted potential."
"It's over, Twilight." Twilight turned around to see Celestia staring at her with a look that was just as hard as hers. A pity that her suspicion that she was too much for Rainbow Dash were confirmed. Twilight sighed.
"Fighting on the same side... It felt like old times again." Twilight said solemnly. "But I guess we both knew it would end this way." The two alicorns stared at each other for a few moments, neither knowing just what their next move should be. Some part of Celestia believed that perhaps she could try one last time to break through to the old Twilight inside.
"Do you remember that day? When you came over to Canterlot and asked me to help set up the anniversary for your parents?" Twilight actually smiled at the memory.
"Pinkie Pie already had a to-do list written for both of us. Even before I visited." The two mares chuckled.
"And Luna proposed to raise the moon earlier for a romantic setting." Celestia added, earning another chuckle.
"A good memory." Twilight said before her smile turned sad. "Maybe one of the last." Celestia's smile faded as well.
"What happened to us, Twilight?" She asked sadly. "They were such happier times. I would give anything to go back to them. Twilight closed her eyes and let loose a few tears.
"So would I." Celestia was about to approach her former pupil and offer her the comfort she couldn't through all these years. But she came to a startled halt when she saw Twilight's eyes snapping open and radiating with purple magical energy. "But we can't."
Twilight then shot forward with lightning speed and attempted to smash Celestia into the ground, but Celestia cast a shield just in time to use Twilight's own power against her and push her back into her starting position. Twilight dusted herself off and glared at the other alicorn.
"Would there be any sense in asking you to give up?" Celestia narrowed her eyes in response.
"Twilight, I spent years fighting you. I gave up everything to protect Equestria's freedom from you. I watched my friends, loved ones and husband die to stop you. Do you honestly believe that I would give up now?" Twilight spread out her wings and lit up her horn.
"For old time's sake, I gave you a chance." Celestia lit up her own horn in response and the two mares charged at each other in one final battle that would decide Equestria's fate.
Twilight made the first move. She leaped into the air and jumped on top of Celestia, tackling her to the ground and attempted to pierce her heart with her horn. Celestia deflected the strike and kicked Twilight off of herself. She then flew up and grabbed Twilight with her forelegs and crashed her into the ceiling before striking her across the muzzle. She then allowed her to fall on the ground, charged herself with magic and flew straight down at Twilight at brekneck speed. Twilight managed to teleport out of the way just in time to avoid the falling strike, before appearing behind Celestia and blasting her across the room.
Twilight then flew up into the air and fired an magic bolt at Celestia. The white alicorn saw that the bolt was huge and very bright so raising a barrier this time was out of the question. So instead, Celestia ran out of the way and Twilight's attack hit the wall, creating a huge hole in it. Huge pieces of debris flew everywhere and one large piece of metal landed right in front of Celestia, which gave her an idea. She levitated a piece of metal in front of herself and threw it at Twilight. The metal absorbed Twilight's magic and it knocked her out of the air and landed right on top of her.
Celestia then went on the offensive. She lifted the matel debris back into the air and brought it down on top of Twilight again. The purple alicorn was still pretty shaken from the first strike and couldn't react in time before it struck again. Celestia attempted to bring it down on her a third time, but Twilight charged up her horn again and blasted the debris to pieces before it hit her. This gave her time to recupirate for another attack.
Twilight jumped out of the hole the debris created in the ground and leaped straight at Celestia with her foreleg extended forward and punched Celestia straight into the wall. She then pulled her hoof back and punched her again and again repeatedly. Celestia tried to raise her own hoof and block, but all those years of fighting made Twilight physically stronger than her. So she had to use her own strength against her. When she raised her hoof and pushed it forward again, Celestia raised a backleg and kicked Twilight in the knee of her backleg.
Twilight screamed in pain as her knee went out of place and she collapsed on the ground. She reached down to rearrange it, but Celestia was faster. She grabbed Twilight's foreleg and twisted it as well. Twilight gritted her teeth in pain. But she had enough remaining composure to blast Celestia away from herself. She used her magic to rearrange her limbs. She was able to stand up, but her legs still hurt like Tartarus. She could barely get out of the way of Celestia's next attack.
The white alicorn realized that she added sore spots to Twilight's body and she could exploit them. She fired more blasts at Twilight's injured limbs, but Twilight managed to avoid them by flying into the air. She then fired another blast at Celestia and Celestia ended up doing the same. The two spells collided in the air and neither was able to overpower the other. The collision of the two blasts formed a magical orb in the middle of the room that grew bigger and bigger until it couldn't handle all the magical energy inside it anymore and exploded.
The explosion caused a blinding white and purple flash and stirred up smoke in the whole chamber. Twilight and Celestia both cried out in pain and shock as the smoke blinded them and the explosion sent them back against the wall. Once the smoke cleared there was only one pony left standing in the room. That pony was...
Twilight Sparkle.
"Now it is over, Celestia."
Twilight walked up to Celestia's badly bruised body as the older alicorn coughed on the ground, unable to get up. She looked up at Twilight with a sad, pleading look that seemingly implied she knew she lost.
"Twilight..." She coughed. "You don't have to do this..." Twilight narrower her eyes.
"Yes, I do! I will not let your soft hearted weakness endanger Equestria again because you lack the will to do what is necessary!" Celestia looked down in defeat. She has given up and resigned herself to her fate.
"So you're gonna kill me too?" She asked bitterly. "Go ahead, Twilight! Do it! Show me the villain you have become!" Celestia challenged, but instead of the finishing strike, she was surprised to hear her Twilight laughing darkly.
"Oh, you'd like that wouldn't you? If I put you out of your misery and martyred you for generations of ponies to gather around against me? No, Celestia." She then leaned down to Celestia's ear and whispered the same words into it as her old mentor did two years ago after her defeat. "You will not get off that easy." She then knocked her out.
As Twilight was looking over the defeated alicorn, Rainbow Dash who had come to in the meantime slowly limped up to her.
"You didn't kill her." The pegasus observed.
"If she dies she dies a martyr. I want her kept alive."
"And what about Luster?" Rainbow asked. "I know she turned against us, but she's still just a kid." Twilight nodded.
"Indeed. She is still young. I'm sure if we give her time she'll come around." Rainbow raised an eyebrow.
"And if she won't?"
"She will." Twilight assured forcefully as she turned around to leave the room, but not before delivering one last, ominous sentence. "This time, everypony will."
Luster Dawn woke up with a terrible headache and something cold against her back. It didn't take long to realise that she was laying on a stone floor. She quickly shit up but immediately regretted that decision as her headache worsened.
"Wow! Easy now!" A voice reached out, trying to calm her down Ye received quite a beating."
Luster looked up to see Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle sitting in front of her. She then looked around to see that they were in a cell.
"Where are we?"
"The dungeons of Canterlot Castle." Sweetie Belle answered. "Twilight had us all brought here after we were defeated."
"Why?"
Before Luster could receive an answer, the door of the dungeon slammed open and their captor, Twilight Sparkle herself entered through it.
"Good. You have woken up, Luster. I was hoping all of you would be conscious by the time I arrive." Luster raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"All of us?"
Twilight lit up her horn and lit up torches around the dungeon, which illuminated the other occupants. In the cell facing their own, were sitting Applejack, Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie. In the one next to them were Daring Do, Flash Sentry and Thorax, then Bon Bon, Flam and Zephyr Breeze. Luster squeezed her head through the bars and in the cell next to them she saw, Big Macintosh and Thunderlane, while in the one at the end of the room we're Lightning Dust, Ember and Gilda.
With the room illuminated, the imprisoned creatures got a good look at Twilight and they all gasped in horror. The alicorn was dressed in armor similar to the Storm King's and she was wearing a crown with repaired magic crystal from the Storm King's staff as it's crown jewel.
"You... You have absorbed the Storm King's power!" Luster cried out. Twilight narrowed her eyes.
"The Storm King is dead. His stolen magic was restored and Equestria is safe and at peace."
"More like under yer hoof, Twilight!" Applejack snapped at her. Twilight sighed.
"I wish you would come around, AJ. I wish all of you would come around. I have restored the magic not only to Equestria, but to every other land the Storm King has ever drained. And in return, the inhabitants of these lands pledged their allegiance to me. And not just ponies. Dragons, griffons, changelings. With them, I will build an army that will restore peace not only to Equestria, but the lands beyond. And I want you all to lead it with me."
"Uh, how about no?" Apple Bloom was the first to refuse.
"You killed my sister, you monster!" Sweetie Belle was next. "I would throw myself into the lowest pits of Tartarus before following you!"
"Ye said it , sugarcube!" Said Applejack. "Ah will not make de same mistake again! Ah'll never turn mah back on mah home an' kin again!"
"Eeyup!" Big Mac agreed.
"Nor will I!" Fluttershy joined in. "I am done fearing you, Twilight!"
"No more parties for you and your Regime meanies!" Pinkie huffed before turning away her head.
"The Royal Guard only answers to Celestia!" Flash Sentry declared.
"As do my Wonderbolts!" Thunderlane concurred.
"My changelings have made the mistake of following horrible tyrants before." Thorax joined in. "Never again."
"My dragons serve no one!" Ember roared. "Least of all you!"
"Nor will any griff who has any backbone!" Gilda agreed.
"Have you and Rainbow Dash boss me around again?" Lightning Dust snarled. "Forget it!"
"I allowed Tempest to blackmail me into following her through Lyra." Bon Bon said. "But now I realise no matter the circumstances, she would never want this!"
"I will not spit on my brother's memory by siding with his killer!" Flam declared.
"There's nothing you can do to me that you haven't already, Sparkles." Zephyr Breeze said with a voice full of venom. "Go jump off a cliff with your wings tied!"
Daring Do's answer was much more blunt. "Buck you."
Luster was the last one to give her answer. "Never, Twilight!"
Twilight was disappointed by their defiance, but she expected it.
"I'm sorry you don't see things my way. But I will no longer allow myself to be held back by such sentiments." The creatures in the cells really didn't like the way she said that.
"What's dat supposed to mean?" Applejack asked nervously.
"It means Applejack, that if you cannot make the right choice, then I will have to make it for you."
Suddenly another figure emerged from the darkness behind Twilight and as the torchlight illuminated her, all creatures in the room recoiled in horror. Standing in front of them was Princess Celestia, dressed in the same armor as Twilight, but what really horrified everycreature were her eyes. They were completely white with no pupils, bland and lifeless, almost as if there was no conscience behind them, just an empty shell of a being.