> Flash Sentry Chronicles: The Movie
>  by Banshee531
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Chapter 1
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Equestria, the land of ponies. A place where all races, be it those who fly through the skies, gallop along the ground or cast the most amazing magic lived in harmony. And it wasn't just a place where ponies lived, for other creatures also called this land home. From the strong and traditional buffalo, to the almost extinct but powerful jakhowls, while even a young but energetic dragon lived in and loved the land of Equestria.

It was a place where happiness and excitement were around every corner. Where those who were kind, loyal, generous, honest, hopeful and courageous could live in harmony. And up above the kingdom, high in the clouds of Equestria, three such ponies were flying through the air. They were pegasi that only had one location on their minds as two more pegasi joined their flock as they soared down towards the ground. Coming out of the clouds, they found themselves on a road full of other ponies heading in the same direction: Canterlot.

The royal capital of Equestria was full of different ponies. The streets were packed with booths and games that made it look like the Fantasia Festival had come early, but this event had a different name. This was the Friendship Festival. A festival celebrating the many friendships of Equestria and all they had done to make the kingdom a better place.

The main street was the very center of the party, where ponies were adding the finishing touches to the party. But as a pony placed a large jelly castle on a table, something flew down and bounced off the delicious desert. "Whoa!" The young dragon named Spike yelped as he landed next to the table, his arms full of different scrolls. "Scuse me!" He said as he ran through the crowd, "Dragon on the move!" He accidently dropped a scroll and blew some fire at it, the flames morphing into a claw shape that picked up the scroll without burning it before returning it to the pile. "Important princess documents comin' through!"

He kept running, having trouble carrying many scrolls in his claws, only for them to start glowing gold and flew out of his claws. "Need a hoof?" He heard followed by a laugh, making him look up to see a young alicorn by the name of Shining Soul smiling down at him. She was flying just above him, the scrolls floating around her without much issue.

"Thanks!" He continued running through the town, Soul flying behind him. And as they did this, they heard a pony speak up.

"Whoa! Everypony from Manehattan to Saddle Arabia is here!"

"I know, filly!" The ponies next to her stated, "We almost couldn't book a stable!"

The first pony nodded. "Princess Twilight must have her hooves full with this giant Festival!"

"Are you kidding?!" The second laughed, "She's smart and organized and cool under pressure! There's nothing she can't handle!" Soul laughed at hearing this, knowing that her teacher was likely having a serious panic attack at that very moment. She and Spike continued through the city, seeing many ponies they knew continuing to work hard on the area. There were the Wonderbolts, ready to do an awesome aerial performance, there was Cheese Sandwich and Wild Smile, both working to entertain the kids that couldn't wait for the festival to start. There was Trixie, who had slipped back into her old performer sense to prepare an amazing fireworks display. Starlight was also helping her out, waving to Soul as she passed.

But no ponies were working harder than the ones up at the castle: Rainbow had just started busting clouds while Pinkie was making a bunch of balloon animals. Fluttershy was directing a bird choir that would be performing while Applejack was working on making sure all her family's products were ready for selling and Rarity was preparing the stage for the big concert that would be taking place that night.

She waved at them all as she entered the castle with Spike. They sprinted through the hallways until they reached a certain room as Spike said, "Thanks Soul. You wanna come in and give me a claw? Might be helpful to learn how princess do things, you know, in case you ever have to do this sort of stuff."

"Thanks, but no thanks." Soul smirked. "If I do become a princess, I wanna put it off for as long as possible. Besides, Mira and I have an appointment with a jam tart booth."

"Fair enough," Spike chuckled before opening the door and heading inside. "Okay Twilight, got all your charts and graphs." Soul didn't hear Twilight's reply as the door slammed shut, the filly heading back outside.

"Hey Soul!" Pinkie cheered, "Any balloon animal you wanna see on stage?"

"Can you do an elephant?"

"Easy!" She grabbed a green balloon and blew it up, soon shaping it into the form of the animal. "Got any hard ones you want?" Soul laughed at that as she looked up at the sky, seeing Rainbow continue to blow through the clouds.

"Hey," she raised an eyebrow, "I thought Flash and Heart were supposed to be helping her."

"They were," Rarity replied as she neatly tied a bow. "But they got called to do...something with Springer and the other Royal Knights. Even Lightning got asked to head over to the training area."

"Huh," Soul spun around at this, "I wonder what it was?"





Flash Sentry, Grand Hoof, Iron Core, Ruby Scarlet, Heather Bloom, First Aid, Skybreaker, Tidal Wave and Cold Steel were all sitting in the seats of the training arena. Along with them were Springer, Lightning Blitz and the two squires known as Fire Heart and Jaden Chalice. They had all been asked there by Solid Script, who had sent them all a message asking for help in testing his latest creation.

"How much longer is he gonna be?" Heart asked, "We're gonna miss the start of the festival!"

"Calm down Heart," Flash responded, "I'm sure Script will be here soon enough."

Ruby nodded, "Patience is a virtue that every Royal Knight must master in order to be ready to serve the land." They continued waiting for about half a minute before Ruby's eyebrow twitched, "Though I wish he would hurry up and get here already."

They all laughed at this just as somepony ran into the arena. "Sorry I'm late!" Script yelled as he carried a metal briefcase in his magic. "I had to do a few final tests before we were ready to see what my invention can do."

"And what is your invention?" Lightning asked, Script smirking as he conjured a table and placed the case on it. The knights and other heroes got up and began to gather around the table.

"Behold," Script opened the case, showing off six gems. Five of them were about the size of a marble, dark red in color, with one side being triangular and forming a pyramid-like shape while the other side was completely flat. The sixth one was the same shape as the others, only it was twice the size and colored blue.

"Crystals?!" Iron asked, "You brought us all the way out here for something I could get in the Crystal Empire?!"

"Wait..." First leaned down at this, "There is something odd about these crystals. They are...charged with some kind of magic."

"Got it in one," Script nodded, "I call them the Link Gems. Using powerful Rune Magic embedded into the crystals, anypony who wears this will be able to link their magic with the other wearers. This means they can unify their magic into a single, concentrated, blast."

This statement caused the knights' eyes to all go wide. "Are you serious?" Grand asked, "If we use these, we could combine our magic?"

"Yes. I started working on them after...Lightning's birthday." Script slowly said, most remembering what had happened then. It had been several months since the last Trial monster had been destroyed, and there hadn't been another attack. It seemed Flash's message he had got from the future was true, though he hadn't told them about it. "When I heard about the other battles, I realized the reason they were so hard was because your attacks weren't strong enough to do enough damage in a single hit."

"Except for Flurry's," Flash spoke up. "She was able to destroy Trial-T's power source in a single blast."

"Outshined by a foal," Cold added, "That's embarrassing." He turned to Flash, "Especially since you've basically fought all of them."

"Oh, shut up!" Flash barked back.

"Anyways," Script interrupted, "If you had a way to combine your magic, you could have merged it into a single blast and completely vaporized the Trial. And thus, I invented these. If they work, I could also make some for the Royal Guards since they usually end up getting overpowered by...pretty much everything."

The knights shared a glance at this, only for Heather to ask, "So how do they work?"

"Simple," Script pointed to the larger gem, "This is the master gem. This is where all the unified power is sent to. Whoever wears it will be able to fire the supercharged blast. I'm hoping to one day make it so any gem could do that, but for now, I just want to get it to actually work."

Skybreaker hummed at this, "Whoever uses this gem is gonna need to be able to handle a heck of a lot of power. If they're not able to withstand and control it, they could end up destroying themselves from the backlash."

"He's right," Grand nodded before turning to his apprentice. "Flash, think you can handle it?"

The Knight of Friendship shined a big grin, "Who do you think you're talking too? If I can handle the Sacred Light, I can handle anything." The others rolled their eyes at this as Flash grabbed the large gem and took out his sword, placing it on the blade. Like a magnet, the gem attached itself to the metal before completely vanishing. "What the-what happened to it?"

"That's its incognito mode," Script replied, "When it's not in use, it'll disappear from sight and weight. A little something extra I decided to add." Flash nodded as he turned to the other knights, "Now who else will be testing them?" He glanced at Springer, "Sorry. I don't think it'll work with aura."

"That's cool," Springer waved his paw, "As long as I get to watch, I'm fine."

"So that just leaves five more," Jaden commented before turning to his mentor. "Are you gonna try and use it?"

"I don't see why not," Ruby picked up a smaller gem and placed it on her Crystal Promise. Like the master gem, it vanished as well. Then, Cold, Iron and Grand also took one and placed it on their Celestic Gears, leaving only one left.

"Any takers?" Script asked, "Lightning maybe?"

Heart raised his wing at this, "Can I give it a try?" They turned to him as he ignited his hoof. "My powers aren't exactly the same as the others, since they came from a Nirik. I just thought...maybe I could test it to see if it's compatible."

"Not a bad idea," Grand chuckled, Flash nodding as Heart took the gem and placed it in his hoodie, the crystal vanishing as the six stepped up. There was a target on the other side of the arena, ready to be blasted away by their knight's combined attacks.

"So how does this work?" Ruby asked Script.

"Just channel your magic and focus on the gem. That should activate it." They nodded and got into a battle stance, the unicorns channeling their magic while the others focused on their weapons. Heart imagined flaming up and his body formed into his fire form. The gems all appeared and started to glow, absorbing the magic being generated. Those energies began to flow out of the crystal and slither through the air toward Flash, who was holding his sword forward.

The magic flowed into the gem and began to supercharge Lightbringer, Flash feeling the heat radiating off the weapon. "Oh yeah!" He laughed as the power built, growing to a level Flash usually felt when he was in his Shining Guardian form. "This is gonna be good."

"Ready?" Script asked, Flash nodding. "Then let her rip!" Flash pulled the sword back before swinging it as hard as he could.

"Flash Cutter!" The energy exploded off the sword, the attack now being six times as powerful as it usually was. It burned the ground as it flew five feet above it and when it struck the target, it exploded. And by exploded, it completely disintegrated into a cloud of smoke that filled the entire arena.

Over at the festival area, a giant tower of smoke shot up into the air, making the ponies working all turn to it. This included Twilight and her friends, the group rolling their eyes as they knew Flash had clearly been doing something overkill.

Back in the arena, the cloud vanished to reveal the ponies and jakhowl all covered in soot and ash. Flash coughed out some smoke, the pegasi soon flapping their wings to clear the smoke. It was here that they saw that the target was completely vaporized...along with the wall behind it.

"Well," Grand commented as he began brushing the soot off of himself, "At least we know it works." They all nodded as they looked down at the gems, each of them trying to remove it, only to find it stuck. "Why won't it come off?"

"Locking mechanism," Script replied, "Its so they don't fall off you if you get hit super hard or if your opponent tries to remove it by force. There's a spell that deactivates it, but they also come with a swapping function so you can swap who has the master gem and who has the normal one. Though there may be a few side effects to that function, so best not to mess with it until I've done more tests."

The Royal Knights raised an eyebrow at this as the gems all vanished. "Well," Ruby spoke up, "Since you can't see them, I guess we can leave them where they are until after the festival is finished. We're all supposed to be on guard duty for this."

"She's right," Grand added, "And I doubt we'll need these for the festival, but it's better to have them and not need them." They all nodded and began to make their way out of the training area. Heart and Jaden running ahead for the festival.

"So how's Jaden been doing?" Flash asked Ruby once they were out of earshot.

"He's like a sponge. Soaking up anything and everything I tell him. I bet it won't be long before he's ready for a certain test," she turned to Flash. "What about Heart? You thinking of giving him the test soon?"

Flash shook his head at this, "Eh...I'm not sure."

"Are you two talking about the Great Test? Isn't it a little soon for that?" Springer chimed in, only for the Royal Knights to all laugh at this, "Hey! What's so funny?!"

"The Great Test isn't the only one Royal Knight Squires need to take," Grand chuckled.

Flash nodded in agreement. "And as much as I want Heart to take the test, I don't think he's ready...yet." He watched the colt as got closer to the main street, thinking about how far he had come since first becoming a Royal Knight. "He's got heart...but there's a lot left for him to learn."

Before anypony could say anything else, they started hearing something. Music. Springer rolled his eyes at this, "Sounds like we're missing a musical number."

"I'm not in the mood to sing anyways." Flash commented, "Come on, let's go see how the festival is right now."

They soon walked up to the event, now seeing many ponies singing and enjoying themselves. Flash spotted the Apple Family over by the food area, Rogue the thestral also there and using his sonic voice to turn a bunch of apples into cider and sauce. They walked through the city at this, passing by a petting zoo that Ace and Mira were at, the two little jakhowls laughing until they spotted Springer and ran over to him.

Flash looked up at the sky at this and spotted the Wonderbolts, who were all zipping through the clouds to destroy them and make a clear sky. He then spotted Derpy, who was wearing a party hat and enjoying a delicious muffin. "Hey Derpy!" He called out as the music continued, "So what's the song about?"

"I think Twilight might be a little stressed," Derpy finished off the muffin as Flash laughed.

"What else is new? So the others are trying to calm her down?" Derpy nodded as she started another muffin, "Got it. Thanks." The knights soon ran through the town, the knights following him as they got up to the castle. There they spotted a large crowd gathered around a stage, Flash smiling when he spotted his parents and sister at the back of the group.

They turned to see him walk up, only for something to shoot straight up into the air. It was a large cake, which arced around before falling right on a certain pony. Flash's eyes went wide before he started pushing through the crowd, arriving at the front just in time to see Twilight get buried by the cake.

"Ouch." Flash flinched, the cake soon melting into a puddle of pink slime. The ponies at the front of the crowd stepped back to not get covered in the stuff while Twilight's head popped out the center of the mess.

"Pinkie!" She screamed, turning to a massive cannon. As she did this, a lit candle suddenly fell from the sky and landed on her horn.

As it did, Pinkie's head suddenly popped out from the cannon. "Oopsie!" She yelled as she saw what had happened. "Guess my easy bake confetti cake cannon needs a little bit more fine tuning!"

Twilight let out a horse-like neigh before groaning, only for Flash to help her out of the cake. "Things seem to be going well."

"Funny," Twilight moaned as Flash wiped as much of the cake off her as he could. Heart and Jaden, jumping on Grand's back to get a better look, laughed at this before Jaden turned to Heart.

"Your mentor's kinda awesome, isn't he?" Heart raised an eyebrow at this, "I mean...Ruby's awesome too, but Flash was able to handle the power of six ponies into one attack and didn't even seem phased by it."

Heart smirked at this, "Yeah. He is pretty cool," he looked down at Grand. "One of the coolest, right?"

Grand chuckled, "Indeed. But as I've told you before, he wasn't always that way. He had to work to become the pony his is today and it wasn't an easy time."

"What was Flash like when he was our age?" Jaden asked, all of Flash's friends around them hearing this.

Grand rubbed his chin in thought, "When he was your age, Flash wasn't exactly the most popular pony. He was a well known thief and pickpocket, not that it was by choice. Almost everypony in the city knew him and saw him as a criminal, so they didn't have the best opinion of him." They looked back at Flash and he and Twilight talked, the ponies around them laughing at whatever they said. "If you had asked anypony in Canterlot to describe Flash in one word...it would be loser." This got several snickers from the ponies around them while Heart frowned.

"Yeah," Lightning laughed, "That's a pretty apt description of him when he was younger."

"Guess not much has changed," Iron added.

"Oh, come on!" Heart replied, "Flash isn't a loser!"

"Nope," Iron cackled, "Total loser."

Heart stared daggers at the pony, looking ready to explode into fire. "Be nice," Heather chimed in, "Of course he'd be defensive of Flash. He's a lot like him."

The others nodded at this, Heart's eyes going wide at this. "Well, he's a lot like Flash was as a kid," Grand spoke up, this making Heart's face drop.

"You think I'm a loser?" The others turned to him, Grand grimacing at this.

"I didn't mean...what I meant was-"

"Excuse me." They all turned to a pair of ponies in black suits and shades, walking on either side of a mare. As they did, a civilian pony gasped.

"It's her. Songbird Serenade!" The three ponies began to make their way through the crowd, catching the attention of those near the stage.

"Songbird Serenade?" An earth pony stallion gasped, "Is it really her? It is, it is!" The pegasus stepped up as her bodyguards kept the crowd at bay. She was a white pegasus with a mane and tail that were one half black and the other half two different shades of yellow, her mane styled in a way that covered her eyes and made those looking at her wonder how the heck she could see. She was wearing a black jacket and a large pink bow on the back of her head.

"Hiya," she smiled at the group, "I'm lookin' for the pony in charge." As she said that, Photo Finish suddenly appeared and started taking pictures as the song-pony posed. "I need to set up for my sound check."

"Ms. Songbird Serenade?" Twilight ran up, looking a little flustered. "Um, I was just going to check on you." She let out a series of nervous laughs, "I'm Princess Twilight, and sorry about the mess." She started rubbing her leg, unaware she was covering her hoof in the one bit of cake batter Flash had missed. "I'm usually not so-" She stopped when she waved her hoof around and accidently fired the cake batter and Songbird, hitting her jacket and causing the ponies around them to gasp.

"Caked in cake?" Songbird asked, clearly not upset by the stains of her cloths.

"Heh heh," Twilight let out another nervous laugh as one of Songbird's bodyguards used his radio.

"You have visual on buttercream?"

"Visual confirmed," the other nodded, "Go for cleanup." He reached up and flicked the cake off of her, Flash trying not to break out into laughter. Luckily, or unluckily, something occurred that made his laughter completely vanished. A crack of thunder.

The ponies in Canterlot all turned to the sound, seeing a massive black cloud that had suddenly appeared in the sky. It was almost as big as the city itself, now moving in a way that made every weather expert there realize this was not a natural phenomenon.

"Storm clouds?!" Twilight exclaimed, "I ordered perfect weather!" She turned to the friend she had put in charge of clearing the skies. "Rainbow Dash!"

Flash stepped in front of Twilight, knowing what Rainbow was about to say. "Uh...I...don't think those are storm clouds." And as Twilight looked back at them, a pitch black zeppelin appeared out of the cloud. It flew around the city, letting out a funnel of black smoke from its exhaust.

"Oh!" Pinkie cheered, "I bet those are the clowns I ordered!" But then the zeppelin came to a stop and began to float downward, looking ready to land on the very edge of the city cliff. The Royal Knights all rushed forward, several of them realising what the ship was about to do. The bottom of the zeppelin crushed some of the columns and other structures as it landed, the knights knocking away any debris that flew towards them, a piece of the column falling onto the balloon animals Pinkie had made. "...Or definitely not the clowns I ordered."

Everypony grimaced at this, wondering what the heck was going on. The Knights continued glared at the ship, none not realizing that the arrival of this ship could spell the end of Equestria as they knew it.
> Chapter 2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

All of Canterlot was on edge as the smog shooting sky ship landed. Out of all the party balloons, only a single dog had survived, only to pop when the ship lowered a metal drawbridge. Flash heard somepony behind him scream a name and then yelled no, but kept his attention on the ship.

After a few moments, something stepped out of it. It was...a box with legs. More accurately, it was something around the same size as Spike, maybe a few inches taller, staggering out of the ship carrying a large box with a strange symbol on it. When it reached the bottom, it dropped the box and stepped out from behind it to reveal a gray rat-like creature with a white mohawk that ran from its head all the way down its back. It wore a kind of black armored t-shirt with the same symbol as the box.

"Can we help you?" Grand asked, a little weirded out by the sight of the creature.

The rat touched something on the box and the top opened before extending a telescopic tube that moved up and curved around, the design making them realize it was a speakerphone. The rat pulled a microphone connected to the device out of the side before clearing his voice, some of them flinching at the feedback of the machine. "Ponieth of Equethtria," he spoke with an accent, "We come on behalf of the fearsome, the powerful, the almighty...Thtorm King!"

As he said that, the ship unfurled several banners. Some had the same symbol as the box and shirt, but the biggest showed the image of an ape-like creature with horns wearing a black cape and armor with the symbol on the front. The ponies all started whispering and muttering at the sight as the knights all clenched up into fighting stances.

"And now," the rat continued, "To deliver the evil, evil methage, put your hooveth together for Commander Tempeeeetht!" He gestured to the ship as a pony stepped out of the smoke inside. It was a dark pink unicorn with a pink mane, wearing the same type of armor the Storm King wore in the banners. But there was something not quite right about her, mainly the stump where her horn had once been.

The stump was crackling and sparking with energy, Flash hearing Twilight speak up. "Is that a...unicorn?"

"I think so," Spike nodded, "But what happened to her horn?"

But before anypony could do anything else, two other figures stepped out. One was an earth pony stallion, at least that what they figured since it didn't have wings or a horn. Their entire body was covered in a grayish black body suit that was littered with wires, tubes and pieces of metal. The pony's face was covered by a silver mask, hiding even their mouth, nose and eyes. Eye covers on the mask were bright red while the end of the mouthpiece had a triangular vent-like design. The mask had several wires that connected it to a piece of metal that connected to a large tube coming out of the chin, which was connected to a square control console on the pony's chest.

But it was the second figure that made many of them gasp, especially Flash, Springer, Ruby and Cold. For though he appeared different in design, they could never forget that armor. "Armalum..." Flash whispered at the sight of a pony-shaped figure in black and red armor.

"How's he here?!" Ruby asked, "I thought Faust destroyed him with Shadow!"

"Clearly, he managed to survive," Cold growled, "And it looks like he found somepony new to follow." As he said that, the three alicorn princesses flew down.

"Tempest, is it?" Celestia asked, getting a nod from the lead pony. "How may we help you?"

"Oh, I'm so glad you asked." Tempest smiled, "How about we start with your complete and total surrender?" This statement caused even more murmuring from the pony crowd, the knight running up next to the princesses.

"Hi there," Twilight waved. "Princess of Friendship." She took a deep breath, "Not exactly sure what's going on, but I know we can talk things out."

But then Tempest shined a grin that sent a chill down Flash's spine, "Oh, goody. All four Princesses." She glanced around at this, "My Intel also spoke of two more alicorns." Hearing this caused Heart to step in front of Soul, "Though I heard one's only a baby, so I'll let her go and take the other five." She began to step down the plank. "Here's the deal ladies, I need your magic. Give it up nicely, please, or we'll make it difficult for everyone!"

"And why should we cower before you?" Luna asked, "There's one of you, and hundreds of us."

"I was hoping you'd choose difficult." Tempest replied as a pair of bipedal creatures walked out of the darkness of the ship. They looked just like the Storm King, only bulkier and appeared to lack horns. Instead, they had metal helmets covering their faces as they carried a large shield and spear. A moment later, more ships suddenly appeared out of the darkened sky, all flying above the city and before anypony could think about running, more of the creatures began to rain down.

The heroes gasped and the knights instantly leapt into action, charging at the incoming army. And as the Storm Guards attempted to attack ponies, the knights intercepted them. "Flash Force!" A laser shot down and struck a beast before it could grab a mare, sending it crashing into another.

"Cold Lock!" Cold slammed his hooves into the ground and caused ice to grow, quickly trapping the creatures. He then formed a sword and charged, quickly disarming them before trapping them in ice.

"Gatling Spark!" Lightning roared as he unleashed a barrage of electric bullets, zapping the beasts.

"Iron Lance Fury!" Iron fired several metal projectiles that broke the beasts' armor, slashing through them before one dodged and charged at Iron, only for its foot to suddenly be wrapped up in a chain.

"I don't think so!" Heather yelled before pulling the Storm Guard back and then using her Earth Pony strength, lifted it up before swinging it into some of its teammates.

"Say adios!" Tidal laughed as he unleashed a wave of water, washing several beasts away before Cold froze them with ease.

"Aid Force!" First yelled as he used his magic to power up Ruby, Grand and Skybreaker, the three charging and disarming a full group of beasts.

Springer then used his increased speed to zip around, blasting the Storm Guards with Aura Blasts and disarming them with Bone Breakers. "Is that the best you can do?!"

Tempest frowned at the sight, making her growl, "Annoying Royal Knights."

"Well it's a good thing you've got us here," the suited pony added as he held up a green orb with an hourglass symbol inside it. He tossed it to Armalum, his armor suddenly exploding into a black mist as he caught it, the mist then shooting up and flying around the battlefield. The first one it flew too was Ruby, landing beside her and reforming.

"What are you doing here?" She yelped as she attempted to slash him with her sword, only for her blade to go right through the shadow.

"I am here to claim my vengeance on those that led to my master's death," he stated before thrusting the orb into her chest. She hissed as a mark appeared on her fur, Armalum quickly morphing back into his shadow form and flying off. The next one he flew too was Heather, who he marked within seconds before the earth pony could react.

He did the same to First, Lightning, Iron, Skybreaker and Cold, but when he tried to get Springer, "I don't think so!" He roared, putting up an Aura Guard that the shadow bounced off. Springer then started firing Aura Blasts, the shadow zipping away as it dodged the spheres.

The four princesses watched as the battle unfurled, ready to jump in if things got bad. Luckily, the Royal Knights had everything under control. And as Flash blasted down the thirtieth Storm Beast, Twilight turned to Tempest, "This doesn't need to happen! We can talk this out!"

"I don't think so," Tempest replied as Grand then appeared at her side with his hammer pointed at the mare.

"Grand Force!" He unleashed a tornado of rock and dust, but before it could strike, the masked pony leapt between them and held out his hoof. The tornado struck it and to everypony's horror, the attack was actually sucked into his hoof. "What?!" He yelped as he cut the attack, the remainder of it being absorbed by the pony. In that moment, the shadow appeared behind him and pressed the orb onto his back, smoking away as Grand swung his hammer around to hit him.

Lightning then appeared on the other side of Tempest with his horn crackling with energy, "Lightning Force!" He unleashed the massive thunderbolt, only for the masked pony to run in front of Tempest and hold out a hoof to absorb the attack. "No way!"

"Cold Force!" Cold roared as a tornado of ice and snow exploded out of his horn, only to also be intercepted by the masked pony.

"That's it!" He laughed as the ice and snow were sucked into his body, "Give me all the power you pitiful weaklings can muster!"

"How...is that possible?!" Cold gasped.

"Who are you?" Lightning added, the pony chuckling.

"I...am Void." With that, his body glowed before he pointed a hoof at Grand and Lightning. He also pointed his forehead at Cold and from it, a bolt of lightning shot out and struck the unicorn. At the same time, a tornado of ground and dirt shot out of one hoof and struck Lightning while another tornado of ice flew out and hit Grand.

"GYAH!" They all cried as they were blasted back.

"Grand/Lightning/Cold!" Ponies yelled as they saw this, Rarity running over to Lightning while Skybreaker flew over to Grand, and Heart, who had been protecting Soul, ran over to Cold with his sister behind him. "How the heck did he do that?!" Trixie asked as she and Starlight rushed over to the princesses.

But as she asked this, Tempest took out a black and green orb and threw it into the air, then leapt up and kicked it in Celestia's direction. The alicorn saw this, but before she could try and stop it, Cadance leapt in front of her and formed a shield. The orb struck the shield, but instead of breaking or bouncing off, the orb began to phase through it. "What?!" Was all she could say before the orb struck her body and shattered, unleashing a gas that enveloped the princess of love.

Twilight gasped as Celestia cried out, "Cadance!"

And as the gas began to cover her, everypony gasped as Cadance's body became enveloped in a strange black stone. "I can't...stop it!" were her last words before the stone completely trapped her, morphing the alicorn into a Cadance style statue.

Tempest let out a cackle at this, charging in next as Ruby, Trixie and Starlight got between her and Celestia, Ruby looking ready to gut her after what she did. But as she swung her sword at Tempest, but the unicorn leapt back and then spun to avoid Trixie and Starlight's magic blasts, only to pull out another orb.

"Luna," Celestia turned to her sister, "Quick! Go south beyond the Badlands!" As she said that, Tempest kicked the orb past Ruby. "Seek help from the Queen of the Hippo-" She stopped when the orb struck her, the mist flowing over her and forming the stone cocoon.

Luna gasped, but instantly rushed into action, blasting away several Storm Guards before taking to the air. However, before she could even get twenty feet high, an orb slammed into her. She cried out as her body began to freeze, "LUNA!" Ruby screamed as the statue fell to the earth, barely stopping before it crashed into the ground and shattered thanks to Twilight's magic.

As she did this, Tempest took out another orb, only for a blast of light to strike her. "AUGH!" She yelped as she was knocked back, allowing Twilight to safely put Luna down.

"Flash Cutter!" Several energy blades shot out and struck the surrounding Storm Guards, Grubber barely managing to leap away. "I won't let you get away with what you've done!" Flash yelled as his body began to glow. "You wanna mess with Equestria, then you'll have to go through me. ARMORIZE!" With that, his body exploded into light as the golden armor appeared around him.

Void laughed at the sight as Armalum reappeared besides him, "There it is. The power that will save me."

Armalum then held up a hoof, the armor around his leg reshaping into a crossbow-shape. He pointed it at the light cocoon and fired a bolt, a shadowy mist covering it as it struck the cocoon. "GYAH!" Flash screamed as the light exploded off of him, his armor fading as his clutched the space just below his chest. He fell to his knees and clutched the spot, now feeling the bolt digging into his flesh.

"FLASH!" Twilight ran over him at this, gasping when she saw the veins around the bolt turning black. "What?!" She didn't get the chance to do anything else as Tempest threw another orb at her.

"TWILIGHT!" The orb then exploded and filled the air, Tempest chuckling at the sight as Grubber walked up to her.

"Easy as pie."

"Oh, I love pie," Grubber laughed as the mist faded to reveal a winged figure with a horn. "Oh, you totally got the latht Printheth!" But then the mist fully cleared, revealing that the horn they saw was actually a party hat...that slipped off Derpy's head, the stoned pegasus looking terrified as Tempest frowned and her horn sparked with energy.

"That's not the Princess!"

"What a shame!" She spun around and saw Ruby, Trixie, Starlight, Grand, Cold and Skybreaker all glaring at her. The Storm Guards around her had been completely defeated, leaving her and Grubber alone. "Now," Ruby pointed her sword at her, "Come quietly."

Tempest glared at them, only to notice something behind them. "Oh, I don't think so." The ponies spun around and saw a bunch of Storm Guards carrying a giant dome-shaped machine covered in wires and dials. They put the dome down and as it began to power up, Void leapt onto it and held up a staff. Armalum threw him the orb from before, Void then attaching it to the top of the staff, the claws of the staff wrapping around it as it lit up.

"Sorry knights," he cackled before holding the staff up. "But your time is up!" With that, he thrust the staff into the top of the dome and the energy from it flew into the relic. Void leapt off the dome as the staff lit up, the orb glowing brightly, only for light the burst out as the markings Armalum had placed on the knights glowed. Then, Ruby, Grand, Cold and Skybreaker simply vanished.

"Ruby!" Trixie gasped as the light continued to spread, grabbing Tidal and causing him to vanish. The same happened to First and Heather when the light struck them.

"NO!" Starlight cried before the Storm Guards surrounded the two unicorns, the group trying their best to fight them off as Tempest left to find her prey.





Twilight and Rainbow ran as fast as they could, Twilight carrying a barely conscious Flash on her back. "Over here, y'all!" They heard Applejack yell, seeing her, Rarity, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Spike, the twins and the jakhowls. While they did this, Iron, Lightning, Wild and Script were off fighting the rest of the storm guards.

"We have to get out of here!" Springer added as he cut a Storm Guard's spear in half with a Steel Paw before slashing at it. But as he said that, the light flew towards them.

"What is that?" Iron asked, only for the light to hit him and Lightning...only for both to vanish.

"IRON/LIGHTNING!" They cried in horror, only to see Tempest coming for them next.

She pulled out an orb and threw it towards the youngest of the alicorns, "SOUL!" Mira cried as she quickly shoved Soul to the side, the jakhowl getting hit by the orb instead.

"MIRA!" Soul screamed when she saw her best friend turn to stone, Ace gasping at this before turning to glare at Tempest.

"Ace, no!" Springer yelled, but his ward was already charging at the unicorn with a Steel Paw active. He leapt onto a Storm Guard used it as a springboard, flying over to Tempest.

"RAAAAH!" He roared with his claw pulled back. But Tempest simply smirked before throwing another orb at him, Ace unable to dodge it as it hit him, covering him with mist. Springer's eyes went wide as he saw Ace hit the ground, only to turn to stone as Heart called out to his friend.

And upon seeing this, Springer snapped. His eyes shot open with rage as he fired an Aura Blast at Tempest, a Storm Guard jumping in to block it, only for its shield to explode from the impact. He was sent flying at this, Springer now firing rapid volleys at the beasts, blasting them all away before they could get close. The only one not struck was Tempest, who got closer and closer every second while the group headed for a bridge out of the city.

"She's gonna get us!" Soul cried as they reached the bridge, only for several more Storm Beasts to appear.

They gasped at this, only for Script and Wild to appear, "Go!" Script yelled as he started firing magic at the mare, forcing her to leap back before getting body checked by Wild's puppets. "We'll hold her off!"

"You all gotta get out of here!" Wild added, only to suddenly get tased when Tempest fired a blast of electrical energy out of her horn. "GYAH!"

"Wild!" Pinkie screamed, only for Script to summon a shield from some quick runes, using it to push Tempest back.

"GO!" Script yelled again, Tempest firing an electrical blast that broke through his shield, "AUGH!" He yelped as he fell back, only to fire another blast at her.

"You can't fight her alone!" Rarity gasped, only for more blasts of magic came to suddenly strike the ground around Tempest.

"He won't have to!" Starlight added and she and Trixie galloped up with several Wonderbolts. Soarin flew down and tackled some of the guards as the other bolts charged at the unicorn, whilst Rogue also appeared and unleashed his sonic scream upon them. "Just go!" As she said that, Springer took out the last Storm Guard and the bridge was clear.

"Let's go!" He roared, only to for a certain shadow to appear in front of him before slugging him in the face. "Blugh!" He staggered back as Armalum materialised, Void appearing beside him.

"Springer!" Heart yelped before he flamed up while the others got onto the bridge. "Raaah!" He blasted a stream of fire at them, but Void simply held up a hoof and absorbed it all.

"Pathetic," he spat before launching the flames right back at him, "give up!" Heart held up his hooves, blocking the flames from burning his friends. As this happened, Twilight unloaded Flash onto Applejack and fired a blast of magic, but Armalum's hoof morphed into a shield that deflected the magic, hitting the bridge and causing it to break apart.

They all gasped as the structure collapsed, the group now falling as Starlight, Trixie, Soarin Rogue, and Script saw them crash into the water below. "NO!" Starlight cried before a Storm Guard grabbed her and threw her into a nearby wall. The impact knocked the mare out, a gasp being all she could let out before everything went black.

Down in the water, Twilight gasped as she and the others did their best to fight against the current, only for a splashing sound caught their ears and made them turn to see the waterfall that went over the cliff Canterlot was built on was up ahead, the group grimacing at the sight.

But it was too late. The Mane Seven, Spike, Springer and the twins all screamed as they went over, disappearing in the mist.

The others didn't see this, to focused on fighting off the invaders. But with Starlight and Wild down, Trixie, Soarin, Rogue and Script soon found themselves outnumbered. "Raaah!" Soarin roared as he slammed into a Storm Guard and knocked it over, only for Armalum to appear and body check him. "GYAH!" He cried as he was slammed into a wall, only for Void to unleash a bolt of lightning from his hoof, electrocuting him into unconsciousness.

Trixie, and Script were back to back, their horns glowing as they kept firing at the guards, whilst Rogue took a deep breath and prepared to scream them into oblivion. That is, till Armalum yelled, "Surrender!" They turned to see him standing over Starlight as part of his armor extended a blade that he placed at her throat. The three then saw Soarin and Wild also captured, the Storm Guards holding spears to their necks.

They turned to one another, knowing they could teleport away if they wanted to, but no way to save all their friends. Seeing no other choice, they cut power to their magic and scream before holding up their hooves in surrender. Tempest looked back at the city and saw that the rest of the ponies there had been captured. Canterlot, and by extension the rest of Equestria, was now under the Storm King's control. Now all they needed were the ponies that had escaped.





Many many miles downriver from the waterfall they had plummeted off of, Twilight and her friends pulled themselves out of the water, the group now on the edge of a dark forest. "Everypony okay?" Applejack asked after taking her hat from the river.

Rarity let out a moan, "I think my bottom's on backward." As she said this, a cry of pain made them all turn to Flash. They had dragged him out of the water, pulling him into the shade of a fallen tree, the pegasus looking worse by the second.

"What's wrong with him?" Heart asked as Soul used her healing magic, but it did nothing

"I don't know," the filly replied, "Whatever happened to him, my magic isn't helping."

"Armalum shot him with something," Twilight frowned as she stared at the wound, now seeing the bolt. "This is gonna hurt," he told him before using her magic. The wound glowed as something began to float out of it, Flash crying out until Springer grabbed a twig and put it into his mouth.

He gritted his teeth as the others looked away, his cries making them all flinch until Twilight managed to pull the bolt out. "Gyah!" He screamed, crushing the stick in his mouth as Twilight stared at the piercing.

Soul tried to heal him again, only for the pegasi to glow gold and closed up on its own. "The Sacred Light's healing him."

"No," Twilight shook her head, "It's counteracting this." They looked up and saw the bolt was made of a black rock.

"Corrupted Shadow?" Springer asked as Flash's wound completely vanished. However, the veins around it still stayed black but pulsed gold every few seconds. "How?"

"I don't know," Twilight dropped the bolt and crushed it underhoof. "But they were ready for us. They knew everything we use to defend ourselves and found a way to stop it."

"Iron vanished," Fluttershy whimpered, Rarity's ears falling down as she thought about Lightning.

"Ace..." Heart sighed.

"Mira," Soul looked ready to cry, Twilight now seeing all the depression around her.

"We've gotta send word to the dragons." Flash grumbled as he sat himself up. "The changelings too. They'd wanna come help if they knew we were under attack."

They all nodded and turned to Spike, but the little dragon flinching, "Well...I want to, but I don't have anything to write the message on."

"So we'll find something," Flash staggered, Springer helping him up.

"Whoa there. You just took a serious blow," the jakhowl said, "Best to relax and give yourself time to heal."

"I'll be fine. I've been through worse." Flash moaned as he rubbed the wound, only for his hooves to stagger again.

"No, you're not." Twilight chimed in as she walked over and held up his other side, "We don't need you being reckless right now. Whatever that bolt did to you makes it look like you already have one hoof in the grave!"

"Oh? And what about my other three hooves?" Flash cheekily asked her.

"They're on banana peels." Twilight deadpanned before motioning to Springer to help Flash sit down for a second, "Now relax, meathead."

"But...how are we supposed to relax?!" Heart yelped as the others nodded.

"We just got our cupcakes handed to us by the worst party crashers ever!" Pinkie added.

"We gotta go back there and fight!" Rainbow yelled before Spike shook his head.

"Well, you saw the size of those goons. You seriously wanna go back?"

"Ah," Springer kicked the ground, "this is just great. Discord sure picked a bad time to go on that interdimensional vacation." 

"Do you think it'll still work if we call him?" Fluttershy asked, the others turning to her expectantly. If that would work for anypony, it would be Fluttershy. "Discord!" They looked around, praying he would show up. But nothing. "Oh," she shrank down as Applejack sighed. 

"So now what? We can't hide here forever. And let's be honest..." She glanced over at Twilight, the princess having left Flash's side to go stare at the water. "We can't go back. Look at what they did to the princesses. We gotta keep them from Twilight and Soul."

The filly shivered, Heart putting his hoof around her as Flash let out a sigh, "Scootaloo...I can't believe we left her." The others grimaced at this, knowing they had all abandoned members of their family who had been at the festival. But before they could say anything else, Twilight spoke up.

"The Queen."

They turned to her, Pinkie exclaiming, "Yeah! The Queen!" But her excitement vanished as she then asked, "Uh, what queen?" Twilight turned back to the city, barely visible from the distance with the smog cloud covering it.

"Celestia told Luna to find the Queen of the...hippos." She turned back to them, "Luna can't, so I have to."

"Uh...hippos?" Rainbow asked, "Seriously?"

"I've heard they're surprisingly graceful for their size," Pinkie giggled, "But they're always hungry."

"Hungry?" Spike gulped.

"Hippos?" Applejack asked, Rarity and Fluttershy exchanging a glance.

"So where do we find them?" Springer added.

"They're somewhere south," Twilight replied, "Past the Badlands."

Fluttershy's eyes went wide at hearing this. "That means we'll have to...leave Equestria. Oh dear!"

"I'm not even packed!" Rarity yelped.

"I understand you're scared," Twilight nodded. "And nopony else has to go. But I have to find this queen. She might be our only hope."

She began to walk away, the others sharing another glance before Rainbow flew in front of the alicorn. "Well, you're not getting all the glory. We're in this together."

"We got your back," Applejack assured her.

"Indeedy!" Pinkie nodded, Rarity stepping up next.

"I am ready to save Equestria!"

"Yay," was Fluttershy's only answer. Twilight smiled and turned to Flash, the knight nodding back.

"I might be injured, but I'm still responsible for keeping you safe." He pushed himself off of Springer and stood strong, "Let's do this!"

"YEAH!" Heart cheered, "We'll show that Storm King why ponies aren't to be messed with! We'll find this hippo queen and make her flatten him!" The others laughed as Soul nodded, putting a wing on her brother's shoulder.

"We lost our home once and couldn't do a thing about it," she turned to the older ponies and showed a determined look. "This time we won't stop until the danger's destroyed!"

"We're all behind you, Twilight." Spike finished, the princess nodding as Pinkie began bouncing off downstream.

"Let's go find this hippo!" She kept going for a few bounces, only to glance back as she saw her friends were still behind her.

"Uh," Spike pointed in the opposite direction, "South?" Pinkie giggled and corrected her direction, the ponies all heading into the dark forest. She started asking if anypony wanted to play I spy, though nopony did.

Twilight and Flash were at the back of the group, Twilight taking one final look at Canterlot. "We'll free them," Flash assured her. "Once we've got the help we need, it'll be our turn to launch a sneak attack." Twilight did a slow nod as Flash added, "Besides, we should try and look on the bright side." Twilight raised an eyebrow at this, "We're lucky Flurry Heart caught that cold when she did. If she hadn't, she and Shining would have been at the festival and..."

"Small miracles," Twilight added as she stared at Flash's wound. "I can't believe Armalum is back...and with Corrupted Shadow."

Springer glanced back at them, "He said he was after revenge for the death of his master. I guess wherever Faust sent the two of them, it was wherever these monsters came from."

"So the Storm King inducted Armalum into his ranks," Flash commented while rubbing the still black wound. "Which is why they designed a counter for my Sacred Light, and how they knew they needed to take out the Royal Knights."

"Fighting this Tempest and her minions is one thing," Twilight continued, "But Armalum and that Void pony might be a different story." She turned to Springer, "Were you able to pick up anything about Void?"

Springer shook his head. "His aura's not one I recognize. But his life force was...weak, as if something's wrong with him."

"Hopefully that's something we can take advantage of," Flash finished, "After we've got reinforcements." They nodded and turned back to the forest ahead. With no idea what lay before them, all they could do was stick together and never stop trying. No matter what, they would save Equestria.
> Chapter 3
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It had been almost two days since the forces of the Storm King attacked Canterlot. Two days since every pony in the city was captured and almost all the princesses were turned to stone. Not a single pony had been left free. The unicorns had magic suppressing rings on their horns, the pegasi had their wings tied to their sides and the earth ponies were locked in manacles so strong that even the strongest of them couldn't break free. The Storm Guards were patrolling the city, causing problems for anypony that so much as stepped out of line.

The ponies were being used as mules, forced to pull large pieces of equipment from out of the zeppelins that were now parked all along the sides of the mountain. Any ponies the guards saw slacking, though most of the time they were just trying to catch their breath, had a whip cracked at them. Nopony had been struck yet, but they knew it wouldn't be long.

Any ponies not working were either caged up or chained to large wooden pillars that had been erected. This included Starlight, Trixie, Script, Wild, Gorgenia and Soarin, the six forced to watch as their fellow ponies were turned into slaves. Whenever the guards weren't looking, Starlight tried to remove her shackles. But without her magic, she had no idea how to undo them. "Come on..." she moaned before stopping as thy ape-like creature turned to her.

She smiled at him, the beast glaring back before turning away. But before she could try again, they heard someone cry out, "Come on!" They all turned to see Grubber carrying the stoned version of Ace over to where Derpy and Mira had been put out of the way. "Why'd I hiff ta do this?!" he grumbled. "Not my thaalt those ponies got ta-way." He put Ace down and wiped his brow, "Dis is all Void and Armalum's thaalt. If they's never showed up, I'd be a lot higher up on the ladder right now." He then turned to the statue and smirked. "Maybe if I break dis sing into smaller pee-sees, it'll be easier to carry."

"NO!" He turned to the ponies yelling, Starlight adding, "Please don't. We'll move him if it's too much of a burden, but please don't hurt him!"

Grubber chuckled at them, "Alright. Then get da work." The Storm Guards carefully replaced the chains locking them to the pillar with longer ones, allowing the ponies to move over to where Ace was and carefully pick him up. "Just don't do any-vin stupid. Try and I break yah little fend, got it?!"

Soarin wanted to be snarky, but didn't risk it as they just nodded. Grubber laughed as he walked off, allowing the ponies to move the statues, "Don't worry," Trixie told the three. "We'll find a way to turn you back."

"If it's even possible," Wild sighed, the unicorn feeling lost since his puppets were taken from him at his capture. He looked over at the city, remembering all those years ago when he had been part of a similar plot, but the Battle of Canterlot was nothing compared to this. He then noticed the dome thing a ways away that had the staff the villains used to make the Royal Knights all vanish, the unicorn turning to Script. "Any idea what the heck that thing is and what it did to Lightning and the others?"

Script stared at the staff, the distance making deciphering the marks on it difficult. But after straining his eyes, he let out a hiss, "Definitely rune magic. But it's not like any I've seen before. A few of the symbols looks familiar, but they're very old. Actually...I think they're the same runes Twilight showed us a while back. The ones she found at Ponhenge."

Starlight went wide-eyed at this, "are you saying the knights have all been sent to limbo?"

"Possibly," Script replied, "But it might also be just a similar type of magic. My best guess is that Lightning and the others have been taken out of time. They're still exactly where they are, but have simply been shifted into another plain of existence where time doesn't move." He looked up at the dome covering the city, "As long as this dome is around the area they were in, they'll stay there. Days, weeks, even years could pass and it wouldn't even be a second to them."

"Where the heck did they find magic like that?" Trixie asked, "Temporal magic is insanely hard to use even for alicorns! I should know, I've tried!"

But as she said this, the Storm Guards came up and roared at them. They were quickly dragged back to the post and had their original chains placed back on their collars. "What do we do?" Soarin moaned as he sat down, "There's gotta be a way to stop it."

"A spell like that must take up a bunch of power to use..." Starlight commented.

"Exactly," Script nodded, "Which is why they're using that dome device to power it. If we can remove the staff from the dome, or even destroy the staff, the knights should return and be ready to kick flank. However..." They stared at the dome and saw that it was guarded by several Storm Guards. Any ponies moving from the zeppelins to wherever they were taking the tech were forced to go the long away around. "They're not letting anypony even remotely close to it."

"Well that's just great," Gorgenia sighed as she stared at the ponies pulling the carts of metal and wires. "Where the heck are they even building?"

"I don't know," Script responded, "I spotted some more runes on the parts that passed, but it could still be anything. Whoever these storm monsters are, they know a lot about Rune Magic."

"We just have to hold out," Starlight reminded them, "Twilight and the others will return soon, and when they do, they'll have a plan to finally beat these creeps." The ponies nodded as Starlight watched a guard snap the string of some balloons, which floated up into the air. "I hope."

The balloons flew higher and higher into the sky, eventually passing the balcony of the castle throne room. There, Tempest was staring out at the city and glared at the party objects in disgust. "Disgusting. All this power, wasted on parties." She headed back into the throne room, where the three fossilized princesses had been placed. She looked over at Celestia, her crystalized mane reflecting her. She stared at her broken horn, which sparked and sizzled with lightning.

It was here she heard a sound and looked up, now seeing a pair of Storm Guards walk in with a bottle of blue liquid fire, the source of the sound. "Well?!" She yelled, "Answer it!" The pair moved to the center of the room, where a stone basin had been placed. The ape wiped its brow before pulling the cork out and pouring the fire into the basin. The flaming liquid flew into the container and burst into fire, the pair shifting back as the fire took shape and formed an image.

Inside the flames, the mouth of a creature could be seen. "Where am I supposed to be looking?" The mouth asked, sounding almost confused. "I never understand how this spell works. Tempest!"

"Over here," the unicorn replied, "Your Excellency."

"Where?"

"Over here."

"Huh?" The mouth turned to point into the other direction, Tempest rolling her eyes.

"No. No, right. Look right."

"My right?"

"Yep." The figure shifted and its face finally revealed itself, showing the same being that had been shown to the ponies in the banner. His eyes shifted as he then stared at her.

"Oh. There you are." He stepped back so his entire head was in the picture. "Here's the deal. I'm in the middle of a big re-brand here. The Storm King is tracking well as intensely intimidating. But you know what? I need to back it up. You know what I need to back it up with?" He didn't give her time to answer, "A STORM!" The flames looked ready to explode, flaying everyone in the room. "That would be great! You promised me magic that could control the elements, and right now, I'm holding a what?" He held up a wooden staff with a crystal on the end, "A branch! A twig! Bleh!"

Tempest stepped closer at this, "That would be the Staff of Sacanas, Your Excellency, and it will channel the magic of the four rulers of this land." The Storm King nodded, giving several agreeable sounds as he continued to stare at the staff. "You'll soon have the power of a hundred armies."

As she said that, Void and Armalum walked into the room. "So that would be a yes on your locking down the four Pegacornicuseses, or whatever you call them?" Tempest's eyes shifted to the two new arrivals, their looks showing her that they had yet to track down the ponies in question.

"Give me three days," she told him. "I'll have everything ready for your arrival."

The Storm King narrowed his gaze on her, Tempest actually starting to sweat. "Remember Tempest, only I have the power to make you whole. Make this twig work, and you'll get your reward. Fail me, and your horn won't be the only thing that's broken!"

"It won't be a problem," she quickly replied.

The satyr stared at her for a moment, only to suddenly turn cheery, "Great!" The fire then began to fizzle out, the Storm King's next comments being so fuzzy that she could barely hear what he was saying before it cut out completely.

As soon as it was down, Tempest turned her gaze upon the pair. "You haven't found them yet?!"

"We found tracks leading into a nearby forest," Armalum replied, "But they started to fade when they got deeper into the woods."

Tempest's horn began to spark, but Void stepped between them. "Now now, let's not go doing something reckless."

"I need all four for the staff to work," Tempest growled, "And you want that Flash Sentry pony to save yourself. I would think you'd be a little more upset given you're the one on a time limit!"

"True," Void replied while adjusting a setting on his mask's controls. "But they're running scared. They're panicking and their best fighter has been taken out of commission for a little while. It's just a matter of time before we catch them and bring them in. Then you'll have what you want, and I'll have what I want." She couldn't be sure, but Tempest could tell his eyes were looking up at her broken horn. "Just relax and look forward to getting your horn back while I do all the work."

"Not this time," Tempest hissed, "You let them get away once, and I don't intend to make the same mistake twice! That Princess is not gonna keep me from getting my horn back!" She then heard the door open, all turning to see Grubber walk in with some pilfered spongecake from the festival. "Prepare my ship!" The hedgehog almost choked on his food, but did as he was told and ran out the room again while Tempest turned to one of the stain glass windows. "How far could one little pony get on her own?"





The next day...

The blazing sun filled the sky over the deserts south of the badlands. The lack of clouds and the way the sand absorbed the heat turned to place into a freaking oven. And as Twilight and the rest of her escapee friends trudged through it, they had found they hadn't eaten in over three days and had barely been able to sleep a wink. They were now regretting this hasty decision, all ready to collapse any moment. Their manes were a mess, their eyes had bags under them and if they didn't find drinkable water soon, their lips were gonna fall off.

"Oh geez," Springer moaned as he wiped his brow. "It's so hot out here."

"Yeah," Flash nodded. "You knew it was gonna be hot when you heard that lonesome sky guitar and hawk's cry." The others turned to him with raised eyebrows, only to then hear a guitar rift followed by a bird screech. Clearly, the heat was getting to them.

"There's sand in my...everything," Pinkie groaned as they continued to trudge over the large dunes whilst trying to not kick up any sand. "Heh...saving...Equestria..." She suddenly let out a demented laugh, then noticed something on the ground. "Oh! Look!" She picked up the skull of some kind of bird, "Maybe this little one knows which way to go!" She giggled as a bug crawled out of the skull and across her face. "What's that, friend?" She placed it next to her ear, "We're lost?" She let out another demented laugh before she started coughing, then fell face first into the sand.

"Is this what's like to be you?" Soul asked her brother, who was the only one who still seemed to be in somewhat suitable condition.

"Nope," he sighed. He was hot, but not as blisteringly hot as the others. "Hotter. I could really use a drink right now though." He looked over at a nearby cactus and licked his lips, only for Flash to grab him.

"Don't even think about it. I'm tired enough without having to suffer through you singing a song about it being quenching." Heart moaned before noticing Flash flinch, the squire's eyes glancing down at Flash's wound. It was completely gone now, but the veins around it were still black.

"Are you okay?" He asked while the others began to slow down.

"I'm fine," Flash assured him as Spike started moaning.

"We could be going in...circles!" He pointed out. "Endless...sand. Nothin' for miles...but sand..." He picked something up, "And this rock." He let out a cough before raising his tail, revealing something stuck to it. "And this cactus..." He took a deep breath before falling forward, "And this roooooooooaaaaaad...." Like Pinkie, he seemed seconds away from fainting, "This rooooooad...." But as he said that, Twilight's exhausted brain registered what he had just said.

"Hmm? A road?" She looked down and saw a bunch of rocks sticking out of the sand in an organized fashion. It lead to a sand dune. "This is...where there's a road, there's a-" She stopped and gasped, those who hadn't fallen to the ground following her up the dune and also seeing it.

"Whoa," Heart whispered after carrying Spike up the dune. It in the distance was a giant construct dead ahead of them, sitting on the edge of a large coast with a giant sea behind it. The construct was a building with large nearly flat spikes sticking out of it, which had many buildings built atop it. Almost every building was spewing a black smoke.

"Cool!" Rainbow cheered.

"What is that?" Applejack asked as Pinkie suddenly shot up out of the sand looking good as new.

"Oooh! A city!" She happily bounced on the spot, "We're doing it!"

"You know what they say," Rarity added, "Where there's a city, there's a spa!"

The others turned to her at that, "Who says that?" Rainbow yelped as they made their way to the city.

"Case yah forgot," Applejack pointed out. "We're on a mission to save Equestria."

"I can multitask," Rarity replied as they got closer, Flash grimacing at the sight.

"I don't know if this is such a good idea. I get the feeling this place isn't the kind of place ponies should be in." The others started to see what he meant, now spotting a bunch of cages and other items that didn't look pony friendly.

"It's not like we have much of a choice," Twilight responded, "There's no way we're gonna survive much longer without food and supplies, and this is the only place we'll get some anytime soon."

"She has a point," Springer nodded. "But I'll run ahead and check the place out, see if I can find a safe spot we can use to recuperate."

"Alright," Flash replied, "But check in every five minutes. If you don't, we'll assume the worst." Springer ran off at that, picking up speed before completely disappearing and reappearing atop one of the houses. He then disappeared again and reappeared on another roof, the jakhowl constantly doing this until he was out of sight.

And as the ponies walked into the city, the older ones gathered around the twins since they definitely decided this wasn't a place for ponies to be lost in. There were a variety of creatures all around the place, many of which they had never seen before. But they all had an aura about them that screamed they would happily pluck their wings to sell as dusters without a second's thought.

The city was filthy, the streets covered in large cracks and holes full of water while the building looked so run down that it was a miracle a light breeze didn't knock them over. "Ooh! Hey!" They turned to a nearby stall booth where a cloaked creature stared down at them "You with the horn, you selling?" Twilight stepped away from the booth while Flash jumped in front of her just as Fluttershy spotted a bunch of cages filled with animals that did not look happy.

"Oh..." She moaned before the birds started squawking loudly. "Ooh!" She ran back to her friends, who had just stepped up to a large bipedal turtle creature lifting giant barrels onto a cart.

"Hi there!" Twilight called out as the turtle threw the barrel onto a stack of others. But all this did was make the barrels roll off the cart. "Ooh, I'm sorry. Here. Lemme help you with that." Twilight started using her magic to lift the barrels up until-

"Hey!" He yelled, "No magic around my merchandise!" They all flinched at this, the group quickly walking away.

"You know that he only said that after you finished helping because he didn't wanna pay you back, right?" Flash commented.

"This is Springer." They all looked up at the voice, "This place is a total dump. I've been scanning everyone here and they all have some seriously nasty aura. Lots of liars, cheats and even a few criminals. But they all have something else staining their aura."

"What?"

"Fear."

"What could they be scared of?" Heart asked.

Soul gulped at this, "If I lived here, I'd be constantly scared too."

"Okay," Twilight nodded. "We just gotta stick together. Be careful who you talk to. And try to blend in." But as she said that, the sound of Pinkie's voice crying out aways off filled the air. "Oh no."

"Can I have your attention please?!" Twilight let out a groan as she ran down the street, only to see Pinkie exclaiming to a group, "Can anypony take us to the Queen of the Hippos?!" She stopped yelling at this as she saw her friends run up.

"Pinkie," Twilight barked, "You can't just take off!" Her eyes darted around at this, now seeing the creatures surrounding them before speaking through clenched teeth, "And you don't need to announce to every-"

"Relax, Twilight!" Pinkie told her. "I totally got this!"

But as she said that, an eight foot lizard creature stepped up and pointed at Spike. "How much for the giant gecko?"

The ponies went wide-eyed as Spike glared at the lizard, "Who you callin' a gecko?!"

"Uh," Twilight stepped in front of him, "Spike isn't for sale."

"I want that fancy purple hair!" Another creature pointed at Rarity's mane, "I'll give ya two storm bucks for it!"

"Two storm bucks?!" Rarity yelped, "It's worth more than that!"

A shark creature then pointed at Lightbringer. "Nice sword. I'll give you five Storm Bucks for it." Flash glared at him while the other creatures started crowding around them, bidding to try and buy them, their manes and tails and even a picture of Pinkie's sister Maud. Flash and Heart got ready to start fighting, the pegasus also preparing to send a distress signal to Springer. But before he could, someone leapt down in front of them.

"Back up, everyone! Back it up!" The newbie called out, standing tall to reveal it was some kind of humanoid cat around Springer's height with orange fur, a blue waft of hair and covered in a red overcoat. "Y'all in some serious danger!" He stepped away from the ponies, looking absolutely terrified. "Now you didn't touch any of them, did you?" He pointed at the ponies, "Just look at all those colors! You think that's natural? They're infected with pastelis coloritis!"

The creatures all gasped as Heart went wide-eyed, "What?!" He looked himself over, "We are?" The older ones all rolled their eyes as Applejack walked up.

"Now yah listen here fella, there ain't-" She didn't get to finish as the cat stuffed the end of his tail in front of her mouth.

"Don't worry, don't worry," He ran over to one of the shark creatures, Flash noticing him place his tail into a pool of purple liquid. "As long as you're not covered in purple splotches, you'll be fine." As he said that, he swung his tail around and the shark next to him got covered in the purple stuff. Somehow it didn't seem to notice, at least until the cat turned to him before jumping back. "Uh-oh." The shark looked down and saw the purple splotches covering his body, the creature gasping.

"What do I do?!"

"Enjoy your last moments and don't touch anyone," the cat chuckled, "Because parts will fall off." This was enough to terrify the shark and everyone else around him, the crowd suddenly vanishing in a cloud of kicked up dust. "Well, all right." the cat let out a purr as he turned to the ponies.

Rainbow flew over to him. "Wow! You're awesome!"

The cat nodded as Rarity added, "And quite charming." She let out a giggle while the others nodded. Flash noticed Spike cross his arm, wondering if he was still carrying a torch for the mare until he heard him say.

"Lightning probably wouldn't think so."

"Now now Spike," Rarity chimed in, "I still love Lightning, but I'm allowed to compliment a rather dashing creature who helped us out.

"Capper's the name," the cat brushed some dust of his coat before bowing. "Charming's my game." He turned to stare down an alleyway. "So...to the Hippos, then?" He began to make his way down the alley, Pinkie laughing as she bounced after him. That was until Twilight jumped in front of her, holding up her wing to stop her.

"I don't know if we should trust him."

"We could definitely use a friend out here!" Pinkie told her as Capper used his claw to push the wing down.

"You know what?" He placed a paw on their shoulders, "Little Cotton Candy Hair is right. And, if I do say so myself..." They suddenly heard the internal music that every creature seemed to have, the group realizing they were about to be part of a musical number.





Meanwhile...

Springer continued to leap from roof to roof while trying to get a better understanding of the town. He did his best to keep to the shadows, hopping to another roof, only to then notice a nearby zeppelin dock. "Huh," he chuckled, "That could come in handy. If we can find a way to get ourselves on one of those zeppelins, we won't have to walk to wherever the heck we need to go."

"Springer," the jakhowl stopped and focused, "You there?"

"I'm here. Just about to check in. You all alright?" He then noticed something in the back of Flash's mind, "Is that...music?"

"Yeah. We met this shady guy named Capper. He seems to wanna help, but I don't know. Think you can find us and check him out yourself?"

"No problem," Springer replied, "And I think I have an idea that might help us out. I'll tell you about it when I get there."

"Got it. See you soon." Springer nodded and closed the line, the jakhowl reaching out to try and locate him. But before he could, he felt a shiver down his spine.

"WHOA!" He yelped as he leapt away, seconds before a familiar black bolt shot down and hit the spot where he had been standing. He slowly turned around, only to see a familiar black armored figure standing on a higher rooftop. "Armalum."

The living armor lowered his hoof and jumped off the roof, landing on the same one Springer was on. As he did, his legs grew several black spikes. Springer made a Bone Breaker and held it up defensively as he reached out through his aura. "Flash! Flash! We got trouble!" But nothing happened, "Flash?"

"Don't bother," Armalum spat, "We studied your abilities and Void discovered a way to block the link you have with Flash Sentry." Armalum held out a crystal with runes glowing inside of it, "Now it's just you and me."

"Don't even think I'm gonna let you anywhere near my friends!"

Armalum laughed at this, "I don't need to be. I just have to keep you away long enough for Tempest and the others to grab them." Springer's eyes widened before he tried to run off, only for Armalum to turn into a shadowy cloud and flew past the jakhowl, Springer sliding to a stop.

"How are you doing that?!" He yelped as Armalum summoned a blade on his right leg and charged. "You couldn't do this the last time we met!"

"Last time I was stuck feeding off the powers of the creature I inhabited!" Armalum roared as he swung his blade, Springer blocking it with his staff. "This time, the power I'm wielding is far greater than you can imagine! A parting gift from my master." Springer stared at the blade at this, only to notice that it wasn't made from the same material as the armor, but the black rock substance that had poisoned Flash.

"Corrupted Shadow."

"Exactly," Armalum cackled as he attempted to slash him again.





Back with the others...

Capper had finished his song and brought them to a large windmill he called home. They climbed up a large flight of stairs before arriving at an attic door, quickly pushing it open, "Welcome, my little ponies, to my little manor."

He leapt inside and the ponies stuck their heads through the trapdoor, allowing them to see inside the room. It was a small round room full of bookshelves and other items that looked like they were from another world entirely.

"Ooh!" Rarity hummed, "A sort of a roco-hobo-Bohemian hodgepodge."

"Apologies for the state of my litter box," Capper chuckled, "I wasn't expecting guests." They glanced around at this, each being interested in certain items.

"Ooh!" Pinkie looked up at a bunch of bobbles hanging from the ceiling, "So many fun breakables!"

"Lookie, don't touchie," Flash told her as Rainbow and Applejack stared at a tea pot with ten spouts on it.

"Y'all sure y'all want the Hippos?" Capper asked as Twilight began looking at the bookshelves.

"Yessirree!" Pinkie nodded, "The Queen of the Hippos!"

Capper smirked. "Not like the Queen of the Lions, or Tigers, or Bears?" Fluttershy looked interested in those queens while Twilight noticed something on a nearby bookshelf. A book that looked rather out of place. The strangest thing was there was a drawing of a mountain on it, one which she also spotted a good distance out the window.

"Hey!" Soul saw a bunch of paper on a nearby table along with a quill, grabbing them and seeing the paper was entirely blank. "Can we borrow this?"

"Sure sweetheart," Capper replied, "Draw all the pretty pictures you like."

"Oh," Soul gave it to Spike, "it's not for drawing."

"Great idea," Spike responded as he started writing, "We can send a message to Ember and Thorax. No doubt they'll wanna send us support in stopping the Storm King."

"Storm King?!" Capper yelped, "You guys know the Storm King?!"

"Not really," Flash replied, "He's after us..." He saw Rarity was about to explain, but then she noticed him shake his head. "Don't worry. We'll be out of your hair before he and his goons can possibly show up and cause you problems."

"I see," Capper hummed before moving over to his bed. "So..." he sat down as Spike sent the letters, "Tell me about yourselves. I'm sure a couple of colourful ponies like you must come from a rather interesting place." The ponies smiled and began telling him about Equestria while Twilight focused on the book she had found and Flash moved over to look out the window.

Heart saw this and moved up to him, "You okay?"

"Yeah," Flash nodded before staring at his friends. They all seemed to have given their complete trust to Capper, which made him worry. "Just...gotta be on guard." He looked back out the window, "I'm the only knight left. I have to protect Twilight and everypony else, no matter what happens."

"Well, you're not alone," Heart added, Flash glancing down at him before smiling.

"You're right," he ruffled his hair as Heart smirked. "Springer's here too. He'll keep you all safe if I can't." Heart's smile vanished as the pegasus looked out the window, "But I figured he'd be here by now. Wonder what's keeping him."





"GYAH!" Springer yelped as he was tackled by the shadow through the wall of a house, landing in a bathroom where a lizard creature was bathing. The lizard screamed as Springer got to his feet, only for the shadow to dive down and wrap around his body. He grunted and groaned as he felt the cloud squeeze him, lifting him up as he kicked his legs around to try and escape.

The shadow chuckled before flinging him straight up into the air, smashing him through the roof and up into the sky. "Whoa whoa whoa!" He gasped as he got a good ten feet above the streets before beginning to fall, missing the roof and heading straight for the ground. He quickly formed a pair of Aura Blasts and threw them, the two slamming together and exploding inches above the ground, pushing him back to land safely.

Rolling along the ground, he leapt to his feet and charged while trying to connect to Flash. But Armalum appeared in front of him, slashing his blade just as Springer summoned a Steel Paw, barely blocking it before pushing Armalum back and kicking him away. He then fired an Aura Blast, but Armalum turned to smoke, the sphere flying right through him.

"You can't beat me!" Armalum growled, "So stop trying!" He raised both front legs and started firing at him, but Springer put up an Aura Guard that the Corrupted Shadows kept bouncing off. "Pretty soon, Tempest will have found your little friends and we'll have what we need."

"Don't count my friends out so easily," Springer hissed, "They're not just gonna be laying around while Equestria's in danger."





Back in Capper's loft...

Most of the Mane Seven were laying around laughing as Twilight continued her work. "Stop playin' me!" Capper told Rainbow. "A sonic rainboom? That's not a real thing!" He got up and stared right into her eyes, "Is that a real thing?"

Rainbow smirked and hovered in the air. "I'll show ya!" But before she could try, Capper grabbed her.

"Naw-naw-naw, I don't need you 'sonic rainbooming' up in my place, thank you very much." Rainbow chuckled as she sat back down, Capper turning away. When he did, he found a needle and thread hovering in the air. "Whoa, hey, hold up now." But before he could stop it, the needle dived into his coat sleeve, which had a large rip in it, and stitched it up rather neatly. "Whoa." He turned to Rarity, who smiled at him while her horn glowed and held up some buttons.

"Here you go." She sewed the buttons into place on his coat. "I do apologize. If we were back home, I could've done something truly fabulous."

As she said that, Capper raised an eyebrow, "Okay...what's the catch?"

"Nothing," Rarity replied, "After all that you've done for us, consider it a thank you."

"Oh." Flash happened to be look his way when he said that, now noticing a look of guilt appear on his face. "Uh, don't thank me. Really."

"Girls!" They heard Twilight call out, "We've been looking for the wrong queen!" She grabbed a map she had found in Capper's things and placed it on a table. "We don't need the Queen of the Hippos! We need the Queen of the Hippogriffs!"

Flash heard this and his eyes went wide. "Ahh, of course." He slammed his hoof into his head, "How did I miss that? I've actually met a hippogriff." The ponies all remembered Wingill, the strange half pony half eagle creature that had been a part of Shadow Corrupter's entourage.

"Couldn't he also transform into a fish?" Rainbow asked.

"And he could control water," Rarity nodded. "If we had an entire army with that kind of power behind us, the Storm King wouldn't stand a chance."

"Oh!" They looked up at Capper, "Oh...the Hippogriffs! Now, the trouble with that is...no one knows...where they are."

Twilight glared at him, "Says here they're on the top of Mount Aris!"

"You mean the mountain right outside the window?" Pinkie asked, pointing at the window.

Capper grimaced at this, "Objects in windows may be less mountainous than they appear. Heh heh heh..."

Twilight ignored him and folded up the map. "Let's go, everypony." They headed down the trapdoor, only for Capper to quickly run ahead of them as they reached the front door.

"Wait!" He pinned himself to the door, letting out a cat yowl. "You can't-" He stopped as the ponies raised an eyebrow at this. "You can't make it by y'allselves." He placed a paw on Twilight's shoulder, "You need an airship! And lucky for you, I can get you a ride."

"I think we can get there on our own." Twilight responded as she pushed him aside and opened the door, only to be suddenly greeted to the sight of a large mole creature in a tuxedo and top hat.

"Here's Verko!" He laughed as Twilight let out a gasp, Flash pushing her behind him as the mole turned to Capper. "These ponies better shoot rainbow lasers out their eyes if they're gonna settle your debt! Brought the big cage." He pointed behind him and they law a large cage used to haul circus animals. "Let's load 'em up!"

The girls gasped as Flash and Heart glared at him.

"You were...you were going to sell us?" Rarity screamed to the cat, Capper grimacing at this.

"I knew it!"

"Heart!" Flash called out, "Burn this place to the ground if you have too!"

"With pleasure," Heart's mane lit on fire. But then it went out as a familiar voice began to chuckle, the air filling with a crackling sound.

"Silly little ponies." A certain purple armored unicorn stepped into view with Void and some Storm Guards behind her.

"Tempest!" Twilight gasped as Spike and Soul screamed.

Tempest turned to Capper as she walked inside. "Trusting strangers? Big mistake. Big..."

"They can't help it," Void spat, "It's in their pathetic weak nature. One that we have freed ourselves from."

But before either of them could say anything, Verko leapt in front of Tempest. "Hoo-hoo! My goodness!" He grabbed the unicorn by her cheeks. "Well, look at you! With your scary broken horn and scowly eyes. What tricks do you know, my little pony-wony?" He got his answer when Tempest's horn began to spark and crackle before exploding with energy, the electricity hitting the mole and zapping him.

After a few seconds, the blast ceased and the smoking Verko coughed before wheezing out. "Not bad..." He fell back, doing so allowing Tempest to see the ponies escape through the window.

"Go! Go!" Twilight yelled as she flew out, leaving Flash as the last one.

"Flash Force!" He fired a beam of light from his sword, hitting the ground in front of the villains and causing it to explode. Tempest, Void and Capper were blasted back as Flash leapt out the window.

"Augh!" Tempest pushed herself back to her hooves. "Get...her...NOW!"





Springer and Armalum were now jumping around the town, the jakhowl unable to escape the monster. "Aura Force!" He roared, unleashing a laser that Armalum blocked with his shield. Springer grunted and panted, his lack of rest and food leaving him tired as Armalum was running on a full tank of gas and didn't intend on driving ecologically.

"Raaah!" He yelled before firing several bolts, Springer barely managing to back-flip away, "Just give it up already." He charged with both legs growing blades, Springer crossing his arms to create an Aura Guard that blocked both. The dome around him wasn't that big, and growing smaller by the second, Springer pushed down to one knee. "Seriously?! What do you have left to fight for?! Your home is conquered, your friends have all been captured and you're the last of your kind once again! Just give up!"

Springer opened his eyes and glared at the living armor, feeling his strength waning. "Wouldn't it be easier just to give in?"

"Yeah," Springer huffed, "You're right. It would be." But as he said that, something happened their caught both their attentions. A large windmill propeller a good distance away suddenly spun like crazy before ripping off the tower, the five bladed device flying through the air before bouncing off the ground several times. Springer just knew that had been caused by his friends, causing him to smile and dig deep. As he did, the spikes on his chest and arms glowed. "But the easy way...isn't always...THE RIGHT WAY!" As he screamed that, he swung his arms and the light to flew out of his spikes and into the shield around him.

The barrier suddenly exploded into a wave that blasted Armalum back, the living armor crying out as he crashed into a nearby wall. "Gyah!" He moaned, pushing himself back up.

"RAAAAAH!" Springer roared as he summoned a pair of Steel Paws and slashed at him, Armalum not able to turn to shadow quick enough. Springer then slashed him again and again, turning into a complete blur that Armalum couldn't escape. And before he could counter those slashes, Springer dealt an upwards kick into Armalum's chin, knocking him back again.

"Augh!" He crashed into the wall again as something flew off. The aura blocking gem, which Springer fired an Aura Force at, shattering it on impact. At the same time, the heavily damaged Armalum slid down the wall and groaned, his armor slowly regenerating.

Springer spun around at this, only for Armalum to moan out, "You can't protect them forever." Springer glanced back at this, "Eventually, your little friends will fall into our clutches. The princess, the filly and your shiny golden colt will be ours, and their powers will be put the better uses than harmony and friendship."

Springer let these words sink in, now going wide-eyed, "They're going after Flash as well." Before Armalum could say anything else, Springer shot off, quickly locating his friends as he raced away.
> Chapter 4
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flash panted as he, Rainbow, Heart and Soul flew behind their friends, the group working to escape from Tempest's attack. They had barely managed to get away thanks to the windmill blade ride, and after that, they were back to sprinting.

"We have to get there!" Twilight cried as they leapt out of a building they had just run through, pointing to an airship, "To the docks!" They all nodded and ran up a long flight of stairs, arriving at the top, only to find somepony waiting for them.

"Going somewhere?" Void commented as he appeared on the last step, the ponies and dragon gasping as he raised a hoof that began to be surrounded by electrified dirt. But before he could fire the attack, he was suddenly kicked away, Springer appearing as he slammed his foot into the masked pony's side. "AUGH!" He yelped, slamming into the side of a wall as the ponies rushed up to the jakhowl.

"What kept ya?!" Flash asked.

"Had a run in with Armalum!" Springer replied, "And get this, it's not just Twilight and Soul they're after. They want you too!"

This made them all go wide-eyed as the dock came into view. "All the more reason to get out of here," Twilight sighed as they kept running, only to see the only airship there leaving. "Hurry!" Rainbow spotted a piece of rope connected to the ship that was still laying on the dock, the pegasus quickly grabbing it before pulling the line.

"Feel anything?" Flash asked Springer as Applejack pushed Rarity along the rope. Springer scanned the area, only to shake his head. "Good. If Tempest doesn't know where we're going, she'll hopefully go the wrong way.

"Until Capper decides to sell us down the river," Twilight pointed out.

Fluttershy flew above the line as Spike tried to tightrope behind Applejack and Rarity, though Soul grabbed him before he could fall and the ponies managed to get across. But then Pinkie jumped on the rope so hard that Rainbow Dash lost her grip on it.

"PINKIE!" They all cried as they watched her fall into the mist below the city. Flash dived down to save her as Twilight and Rainbow grabbed Springer. The Royal Knight straightened his body as best he could, managing to reach the party planner before she hit the rocks sticking out the ground next to the ocean. He pulled her up by the tail and threw her onto the ship before diving down himself. He flattened his body against the ship's floor and glanced back at the dock, just in time to see Void and a few Storm Guards run up. Pinkie was about to say something, but he stuffed his tail in her mouth and shushed her.

After a few seconds, Void left the docks and he breathed a sigh of relief. "That was too close," Twilight moaned before a lasso flew out and grabbed the five. They all let out a yelp as they were pulled behind a bunch of boxes that the others were hiding behind, Spike then putting a finger to his lips and pointing past the boxes. Flash glanced up as much as he dared and spotted a pair of shadows.

"Did you hear something?" A gruff voice asked, being replied to by a squawking sound. "Eh, probably just the rats. If we find 'em, we'll eat 'em."

"Rats?!" Rarity yelped, Flash shushing her before clutching his sword.

"This isn't good..." He whispered before staring down at his wound, the black vein just barely showing itself now. "I have a feeling this is gonna get a lot worse."

"Why are they after you?" Heart asked, Flash giving him a shrug in response.

"What else would they be after? My Sacred Light."





Back at the city...

Armalum had reformed enough to walk and had returned to the airship, only to find Tempest and Grubber waiting. The unicorn turned to him, glaring as she saw the damage done to his still healing body. "What happened to you?!"

"That jakhowl's gotten stronger since we last met at the Lost City," the living armor growled, "He managed to get the drop on me, but I should have held him off long enough to allow you to take the princess." He looked up at the ship, "Are they on board?" Grubber gave him a look and gestured for him to stop talking behind Tempest's back. "You did get them...right?!"

Tempest glared at him as they heard hoofsteps and turned to see Void...and not a single alicorn in sight. "You lost them?!" Tempest asked, her horn sparking as Void remained silent. He then held up a hoof and started charging up the electrical energy he had taken from Lightning, Tempest ready to intercept it...only to fire it at Armalum.

"GYAH!" He cried as the bolt zapped him, forcing him down as he twitched and his armor began to crack.

"Useless!" Void hissed, "I would have had them if you had managed to do your job and take down the jakhowl! Just when I was about to grab them, he pounced on me and allowed them to escape, all thanks to you screwing up!" The bolts fizzled out at this, Armalum now smoking as he laid out on the ground, "Don't forget, I was the one that saved you when the Storm King brought you in! Found a way to allow you complete anatomy and convinced the Storm King that you could be a valuable asset!" He started coughing and fiddled with the dials on his suit, "Don't let me regret that. Understand?!"

"Understood," Armalum moaned as Void turned to Tempest.

"What do we do now?"

Tempest smiled and turned to a pair of Storm Guards, who were currently dragging a familiar cat toward them. They threw him to the ground, Tempest walking up and grabbing his chin, "Now," he looked up at her, "Where are they going?" Her horn charged up at this, the cat flinching at the sight.

"Okay. No need for violence. Uh, they're headed-" He was about to say Mount Aris, but before he could, the sun managed to break though the clouds for a second. Its light hit the button on his coat and made him flinch for a second before looking down at it, the cat remembering what Rarity had done...only for the memory of the betrayed look on her face, his heart feeling squeezed before he made a decision and smirked.

"They headed east!" He announced, pointing in the opposite direction of Mount Aris. "Yeah, to...to Black Skull Island." As he said this, he didn't see Tempest, Void and Armalum share a look, the cat turning back to them. "So uh, glad I could be of service to His Majesty, the Storm King." He carefully tiptoed backward, "I'll just be on my way."

The Storm Guards then grabbed him, Tempest chuckling as they turned him back to her, "When I get my princess..." A deadly smile began to appear on her lips. "Until then, your fate is still...up in the air." Capper's eyes went wide as the unicorn boarded the airship, the guards pushing him toward it as well.

"Tell me?" Void asked, "Did your species evolve from anything that might have had wings? I could do a few experiments on you that could cause those traits to appear." He grabbed his coat and pulled Capper, "Because you'll be needing them if it turns out you lied to us...understand?!" Capper nodded before Void pushed him away, getting on board as the cat turned his attention to Mount Aris. Hopefully, by the time Tempest figured out he had tricked them, the ponies would have found what they were looking for. And he would have thought of a way to charm himself out of the ten-mile skydive.





On the airship...

The ponies were now doing their best to stay hidden. Applejack and Rainbow were glancing out between the boxes and saw that the ship was being run by a bunch of humanoid bird creatures. One of them scratched their butt while burping, Rainbow flinching at this.

Applejack turned to Twilight, who was still looking at the map. "Whadaya think, Twilight? Should we just...ask 'em to take us?"

Twilight shook her head, "Last time we trusted somepony, he tried to sell us!" Flash was about to say that they shouldn't let that stop them from ever trusting others again, but he didn't get the chance.

One of the crates hiding them was suddenly lifted out of the way, allowing those on deck to see them as they all gasped. "Hey, guys!" A green parrot creature yelled, "Come check this out!" Another parrot, wearing an eye-patch, stepped up and smirked at them.

"Looks like a pack of stowaways." A pink parrot, who appeared female, stepped up next.

"What are we s'posed to do with 'em?" Flash didn't give them to chance as he pulled out his sword.

"Back off!" He yelled, the parrots leaping back as Springer and Heart got into fighting stances. That is, till Flash used his wing to slide Heart back to the others, "No flames. Zeppelin." Heart frowned at this as Flash turned back to the parrots. "Look, we don't want any trouble. We're just trying to get away from a bunch of really nasty guys."

"Is that so?" Flash turned to a female voice and was met by a tall white parrot with green hair, her right leg replaced by a peg. "And we should care...why?"

Flash pointed the sword at her, the blade glowing. "Don't try anything. If you do, I have no trouble throwing this up into the balloon and bringing the ship down."

"He does?!" Soul gulped.

The tall parrot glared back at him, "You think you can scare me?!" She then suddenly pulled a cutlass out of thin air, the other three doing the same before they all charged. Flash leapt and clashed with the captain as Springer used Steel Paw to block the other three's swords.

"Who are you?" The parrot asked Flash as she tried to push the pony back, only to feel the pegasi eaisly shove her back.

"The name's Flash Sentry!" He yelled, "Royal Knight of Equestria. And who, might I ask, is you supposed to be?!"

The parrot smirked, "Celaeno." She pulled her sword back and swung it at his neck, Flash barely ducking under it. "Captain Celaeno!" She thrust the blade, Flash easily deflecting it. "And when I'm done with you and your little doggy..." Springer then kicked the other parrots away, "I'm throwing you all overboard!" She charged, squawking as she did so while Flash spun like a top to counter her.

But before they could clash, a loud train whistle sound filled the air. The parrots all stopped in place, Celaeno lowering her sword. "All right! That's lunch!" The other parrots put their weapons away and turned to walk to a nearby door, leaving the others stunned.

"Uh...excuse me?" Flash held up his sword, "Weren't we in the middle of something?!"

"You freeloaders can have something to eat if you want," Celaeno replied, "If you're gonna get thrown overboard, you might as well not die on an empty stomach." With that, they disappeared through the door, leaving a bunch of very confused ponies in their wake.

"O...kay," was all Flash could come up with as the others grouped around him. "Well...I could eat."

"Are you serious?!" Twilight yelped, "They just tried to kill us! Now you wanna sit down to a meal with them?!"

"I didn't sense any deception from them," Springer chimed in, "I don't think they intend to poison us or something."

"Sounds good to me." Flash added as he began to make his way to the door.

"I still don't think we can trust them," Rainbow commented, "Watch, the second we get in there, they'll pounce and I'm gonna be ready." Twilight nodded, her horn sparking.

But as they stepped into the room, they found the parrot sitting at a table as the pink one threw some slop onto the bowls. They all sat down around the table as the pink on asked, "You want one scoop or two?" She plopped the gruel into Twilight's bowl, the mare just blinking at her.

"What?" The parrot took this as a statement and didn't give her a second scoop, and moved onto serving the others. Once she had, she sat down and the parrots got to work eating. After a minute or so, Twilight just stared at the birds, only for Rainbow to speak up.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! So you were about to toss us overboard and you stopped for a lunch break?" Twilight looked around the bird next to her, giving her a look that said 'shut up.'

"Storm King only allows one break a day for meals," the bird replied, "Then it's back to hauling goods."

"So...you're delivery guys?" Spike asked as Heart sipped some of the gruel and almost threw up.

"And gals," Celaeno responded, "These uniforms aren't exactly doing us any flavors."

Hearing this, Twilight pushed her bowl away and took out the map. "Then can you deliver us to Mount Aris?" She gave her a pleading look, but the parrot shook her head.

"Sorry." She took a binder with the Storm King's logo on it from under the table. "We do what the Storm King orders, or we suffer his wrath."

"Right," Twilight sighed, "Still going overboard."

"Eh," the pink parrot shrugged, "It's nothing personal. Pudding?"

Rarity's eyes went wide hearing this. "There's pudding?" But she got her answer when more goop was thrown down onto her bowl, making her frown and slump back. "Oh."

"You all do seem like nice birds," Flash chimed in, "But no matter what, I'm not letting you throw us overboard. Even if I have to fight you all and do the same to you."

The parrots nodded at this, only for Springer to ask, "Does the Storm King have any way of monitoring you?" The birds shook their heads, "So he wouldn't know we were here unless you told him." They shrugged at this, "So can't you just let us off somewhere within walking distance and not tell the guy we were here?"

"And what do you want us to do if he somehow finds out?" Celaeno asked, "You don't know the Storm King very well, do you?"

"Never heard of him before he attacked our home," Soul responded.

"Yeah," Celaeno nodded. "That's how it goes for everyone. No one knows where the Storm King came from. Some have heard stories that he's the last living descendant of an ancient king that once wielded a great magic, but lost it and went insane. That drove him to attack a far-off land and be defeated, leaving his kingdom in ruin."

"That sounds...strangely familiar." Flash sighed.

Rainbow stared at the parrots, then at the room around them. "You weren't always delivery birds, were you?" Celaeno raised an eyebrow, "What about before the Storm King?"

The captain put down her spoon and sighed. "Yeah." She reached over to a poster with the Storm King's face on it, "We used to be much more adventurous." She pulled the banner aside, revealing a large black flag with a bird skull and crossbones on it.

"Ooh!" Pinkie smiled, "I met that guy in the desert!"

"Whoa!" Rainbow started putting the pieces together, "You used to be...pirates?!"

"Um," eye-patch parrot spoke up, "We prefer the term swashbuckling treasure hunters."

"So...pirates," Rainbow replied, one of the birds letting out a squawk.

"Good thing Tidal's not here," Flash whispered to Springer.

Rainbow glared at them, "You birds have a choice to make." Everypony turned to her at this, "You could let some cloven-hoofed Storm King tell you how to live your lives, or..." She ran over and grabbed the poster before ripping it off the wall, uncovering the flag. "...you could be awesome again!"

Twilight's eyes went wide at this. "Rainbow Dash, this really isn't a good time for a-" She didn't get to finish as the pegasus landed on the table.


[Rainbow Dash]
"I know the world can get you down


"Song," Twilight facehoofed as Flash just shrugged.


[Rainbow Dash]
Things don't work out quite the way that you thought
Feeling like all your best days are done
Your fears and doubts are all you've got


She marched to the middle of the table as the others smiled, getting into the song as music began playing in their heads.


[Rainbow Dash]
But there's a light shining deep inside
Beneath those fears and doubts, so just squash 'em


She crushed a milk tanker underhoof, accidently spitting it over Twilight. She then flew behind Celaeno and grabbed the curtain behind her that had the Storm King's logo, ripping it away to reveal a treasure trove of pirate items.


[Rainbow Dash]
And let it shine for all the world to see
That it is time, yeah, time to be awesome


The others smiled and swept the table clear, then started drumming on it.


[Ponies]
Ah, ah, ah-ah, awesome!
It's time to be so awesome!
Ah, ah, ah-ah, awesome!
It's time to be so awesome!


Slowly, Celaeno's crew joined in on the drumming. Twilight sighed at this and left the room while the pirates got into the swing of things. Eventually, only Celaeno was left not singing and drumming...only for her to speak up.


[Captain Celaeno]
You've no idea how hard it's been

[Ponies]
(It's time to be awesome!)


She swept her food away and turned to the pirate stuff, staring at a portrait of herself dressed in pirate gear


[Captain Celaeno]
This dull routine we've been forced to do


Rainbow then flew up to her, having found the same hat she was wearing in the picture and holding it out to her.


[Rainbow Dash]
Don't let them rob you of who you are
Be awesome, it's all up to you


She flew over to the others, who were giving her an expectant look with a smile. Celaeno stared at them, then at the hat before smiling.


[Captain Celaeno]
I feel the light stirring deep inside
It's like a tale still yet to be told

[Ponies]
(It's time to be awesome!)


She threw her uniform hat off and replaced it with the pirate one, the others smiling as the parrots threw their hats away.


[Rainbow Dash and Captain Celaeno]
And now it's time to break the shackles free
And start living like the brave and the bold!


Celaeno kicked open a chest that was holding multiple pirate items. Her crew ran over, putting on their hooked hands and changing into pirate get ups. Even the ponies got in on the fun, grabbing some of their own pirate gear. Heart tried to look extra cool by putting an eye-patch on both eyes, only to then walk into a wall.


[All]
It's time to be awesome!
Let loose, be true, so awesome!
It's time to be awesome!
Go big, be you, so awesome!


Once they were all dressed up, Celaeno lead them back up on deck and kicked the door open. They leapt out into the open air, revealing to the world that they were back. One of the parrots, Mullet, swung on a rope and grabbed Rainbow as he did so.


[Mullet]
We used to soar through the clouds in the skies


The female parrot, Lix Spittle, spotted Twilight working on the map and started drawing on it, putting Xs all over it as Rainbow shot past them and plopped a pirate hat on the princess' head.


[Lix Spittle]
Elaborate schemes we would love to devise


Celaeno's first mate, Boyle, climbed up on deck carrying a treasure chest they had hid away after the Storm King took over.


[Boyle]
We rescued our treasure and stored it away


He tossed it to Rarity and the captain, Celaeno taking out a large gem and showing it to Rarity.


[Captain Celaeno]
Saving those gemstones for a rainy day


The captain then leapt up onto the figure head of the ship, Flash and Rainbow flying over to her and looking out at the sky as they did so.


[All]
We see that light filling up our skies


Flash looked up and saw something on the front of a balloon: A large metal bird with its wings folded. Rainbow then spotted Celaeno was still holding the Storm King's book.


[Rainbow Dash]
So take the Storm King's orders and toss 'em


She pulled it from the parrot and threw it away, Celaeno smiling as it disappeared below the clouds.


[All]
'Cause it's the time to let our colors fly


Celaeno turned to the others.


[Captain Celaeno]
Hey, scallywags, it's time to be awesome!

[All]
Hey! Hey! Hey! Hey!


She leapt over to the steering wheel as the others began working the ship. Dancing around and laughing up a storm, the only one not enjoying herself being Twilight. "Come on!" The captain exclaimed as she spun the wheel, "Let's show these little ponies how it's done!"

Her crew ran over to some ropes and started pulling them, the metal bird's wings beginning to unfurl. And as they did this, giant feathers of every known color began to furl outward. They grew larger as the sun broke through the dark clouds around them and illuminated the wings.

"Wow..." Flash whispered as the other ponies, Springer and Spike stared in awe. He then noticed Twilight not looking, too focused on the map. "You're really missing a sight here."

"No time to look at pretty stuff," she replied, "We've wasted enough time already."

"Are you kidding?!" Flash yelped, "We just got ourselves some seriously cool allies. Now they might actually help us find the hippogriffs and fight against the Storm King." Twilight stopped at this as he continued, "We're all doing what we can to help. But sometimes small gestures become a lot more important then-why is Rainbow flying straight up?" Twilight looked up from the map and saw Flash staring at the sky, spotting Rainbow soaring. Flash got his answer when Pinkie started chanting.

"Rainboom! Rainboom! Rainboom! Rainboom!"

"No no no no no! No!" Twilight cried, but it was too late. Rainbow dived toward the ship, picking up more speed with every second as the wind funneled around her. As she did this, lights of every color flashed around her before-

BOOOOOM!

A rainbow sonic boom exploded in the sky, Rainbow leaving a rainbow colored trail behind her as she spiraled around the ship again and again.

"Wow!" Celaeno gasped as the others cheered, Twilight now letting out a sigh.

"No..." She facehoofed.

"Hey," Flash added, "You never know. Tempest...might not have noticed."





Tempest was now staring at the massive explosion of light and color now filling the dark and dim skies. "Interesting," Void stepped up next to her. "According to our intel, that phenomenon can only be done by the rainbow colored pegasus friend of the princess."

"Is that so," Tempest continued to stare at the rainboom. "That'st funny." She slowly turned to Capper, "They don't seem to be heading to Black Skull Island."

The cat gulped as he adjusted his coat. "Like...ha ha funny, or-"

"I'd stop talking," Armalum told him from his spot at the wheel. "The less you say, the less reason we have to hurt you." He turned to Tempest, "I guessing you want to give chase?" Tempest gave him a glare that said, 'What are you waiting for?!' "Got it." With that, he spun the wheel and kicked the engines into full gear. The entire ship spun around, the balloon remaining where it was as the ship shifted direction.

"What's the plan when we get there?" Void asked.

Tempest hummed at this, "Let's see just how far they're willing the hold out. If they give the pony up, I'll be willing to forgive."

"And if they aren't?" Void got his answer when lightning exploded from her horn, "I see. I'm glad that's the plan."





"Are you nuts?!" Flash yelped as Rainbow landed.

"What?!" She asked, "I'm just trying to show the world how epic we are!"

"And signaling to Tempest and the others that we're here!" Flash countered, "How many creatures around here do you think would be capable of unleashing something that colorful and bright?!"

"Eh, I'm sure we're fine," Heart shrugged, "What are the odds they happened to-" He didn't get to finish as one of the parrots let out a mighty squawk and pointed behind the ship. They all turned to see an airship with the Storm King's symbol on its balloon.

"Storm guards! Looks like they found you!"

"Tempest!" Twilight cried, Soul leaping behind her as Celaeno pulled out her cutlass.

"Secure the rigging! Lock down the cargo! Everyone, prepare to be boarded!" Boyle rushed over to trap down and pulled it open, gesturing for the ponies to hide.

"Come on!" Springer yelled as they got below deck.

"Oh my goodness!" Fluttershy cried as they ran over to the back of the room.

"So..." Rainbow gulped, "Might have gotten a little carried away."

"You don't say!" Flash snarked as Twilight fought back the urge to scream. She did end up screaming when the ship was struck by something, rocking it as Flash then found himself at the bottom of a dog pile, moaning every second before they felt the ship get pulled in the opposite direction.

"What hit us?" Heart moaned.

"The same thing that's pulling us toward Tempest's ship," Soul added as they pulled themselves out of the pile. And as this happened, the ship came to a stop and a few seconds later, the boat rocked as several individuals hit the deck.

"Where is the Pony Princess?" They all flinched at hearing Tempest's voice.

They heard Celaeno moving around the deck, her peg leg patting against the wood. "Princess"? Prin-Cess, Prin-Cess...nope. All we're hauling is Storm King merchandise."

They heard a squawk as Tempest spoke up. "You do realize that if you were to shelter fugitives, the Storm King would be quite...explosive."

That made the pirates flinch, Twilight looking petrified as she turned to the others. "We have to get off this ship before they tell Tempest we're here!"

Rainbow glared back at her, "We helped them get their mojo back! They're not gonna give us up!"

"I want to agree with you," Flash whispered as he and Springer got ready for a fight. "But don't underestimate the power of fear. Especially given that the Storm King seems to have built his entire empire on it."

Rainbow looked ready to argue, but Twilight spoke up first. "I've got this!" She stared at the cargo bay they were in. She grabbed a large piece of fabric with the Storm King's face on it along with a load of rope. "Hold this!" She gave Rainbow the cloth and Soul the rope.

"What are you doing?" Rainbow asked as Twilight magically pulled them all to a section of the ship before grabbing a lever.

"Everypony...hold on!" She pulled the lever, the floor now giving out beneath them. Screams filled the air as they all began to fall, Flash, Twilight, Rainbow. Heart and Soul instinctively opening their wings and slowing their descent.

The same couldn't be said for the others as Rarity screamed out. "OH, FOR CELESTIA'S SAKE!" They continued to scream, or laugh in Pinkie's case, as they and several items from the cargo bay continued to fall.

"This was your plan?" Flash asked while Twilight dived down. They all did the same, hoping to catch them all in time. But Twilight had other ideas and used her magic to grab all but Flash. Rainbow looked ready to fly up to the ship and give Tempest a beating, but she was also grabbed by Twilight and pulled over to the others.

"Flash!" She yelled, "Remember my ninth grade science project?" Flash's eyes went wide as he looked around and smirked, seeing why Twilight had grabbed these items. One item was an empty crate that Pinkie had been swimming through when they fell through the trap door, which Flash shot over to and turned right side up. Twilight stuffed their friends inside while Flash worked to keep it from spinning in midair and slow it down, allowing Twilight to grab the cloth she had given to Rainbow and the rope from Soul's hooves.

"What in the hay is she up to?" Applejack asked as the alicorn got to work and within seconds, she had created a makeshift hot air balloon that Flash kept aloft.

However, they were still falling and had left the cloud line. Now, a bunch of trees could be seen getting closer, "Heart!" Twilight leapt into the balloon and grabbed Spike, "Light it up!" She squeezed the Mystic Flame Dragon's stomach and he unleashed a burst of fire into the balloon, Heart doing the same. The orb filled with hot air and after a few seconds, Flash felt the pressure of the box lift off of him.

Leaping out from under the balloon, he looked up and smirked at Twilight's work. "A lot better than the one we made last time," he chuckled as the others sighed in relief.

"Thank goodness," Rarity sighed.

"Phee-yew!" Applejack added as she saw how close they were to hitting the ground. "Quick thinkin', Twilight!"

"Yahoo!" The Princess of Friendship cheered, "Ha ha!"

"I can't believe that actually worked," Springer fell onto his butt and leaned against the side of the crate.

"That was fun!" Pinkie exclaimed, "Can we do it again?"

Twilight rolled her eyes at this as Rainbow leapt out of the balloon and got behind it with Flash. "Next stop, Mount Aris!" The pair pushed the balloon at the mountain, everypony smiling as they saw the mountain wasn't too far now.

"We're home free!" Twilight cheered, the others following suit. 

But as they cheered, Flash looked back at the ship, "I hope they're alright." If them getting away cost Celaeno and her crew their life, Flash wasn't sure he would ever be able to forgive himself. "Next time," he told himself. "Next time we meet, I'm taking them down."

"And hopefully, we'll have the help of the hippogriffs when we met them again," Springer added as they continued onward.





Back at the ship, the Storm Guards were ripping the place apart, only to find nothing as Capper and the pirates were all being interrogated by a rather annoyed Tempest. "I told you," Celaeno growled, "We don't have any ponies on board. And even if we did, we would have thrown them overboard the second we found them."

"Huh," Tempest raised an eyebrow at this, "Now see...why don't I believe you?!" The pirates backpedaled at this, only to find themselves close to the edge of their ship. "You had better start talking now, or I will turn this ship into a fireball with roasted parrot cooking inside."

The pirates all gulped as Void stepped up. "No need to deep fry the ducks," he told Tempest as the pirates glared at him. "We know where they're going."

He held up a piece of folded paper before unfurling it, Tempest raising an eyebrow at this, "Looks like they're heading to Mount Aris."

She turned to Capper, who started sweating. "Really?" He stammered out before slowly laughing, "Mou...Mount Aris? I...well, that's my mis-I didn't know that...mount Ari...my bad, I didn't...that's my...I'm sorry, I'm very very sorry." Tempest gave the map to Armalum and he returned to their ship, the rest of the Storm Guards and Void doing the same. "So?" Capper asked as Tempest strode across the gangplank, "We good? You can just leave me here. I'm sure helping out with the deliveries of this vessel will appease the great Storm King."

Tempest stopped when she was on the other boat and looked back at them, "Actually, there's a special delivery I wish for you to make. I need you to ship something to the bottom of the ocean." They all went wide eyed before her horn sparked with energy, "Your cold...dead...carcasses!" With that, she fired sparks from her horn that shot up to the ship's balloon and exploded like a massive firework, causing a massive hole to appear within it.

Capper and the pirates gasped as the ship began to lose altitude, Tempest laughing as she fired more sparks at the ship, causing fireworks to destroy the place. They all cried out as the ship was set alight, the flames causing the hull to rip apart and do even more damage. Down in the ocean below the ship, near the forest shore, pieces of the ship hit the water. Feathers from the display, cargo and treasure the pirates had painstakingly protected, and of course, the large bird figurehead that had once proudly adorned the front of the airship. The rest of the airship quickly followed suit, crashing into the ocean and sinking below the waves with its occupants still aboard.





Tempest watched the ship sink before turning to Armalum, "Set a course for Mount Aris."

Armalum nodded and grabbed the lever that powered the engines, thrusting it forward. But when he did, the entire ship started rocking as the engines started to make noises, "Whoa!" Armalum powered it down and turned to Tempest, who was now glaring at him.

"Engine must have overheated," Void spoke up, "I guess it didn't enjoy going at full power." He could see Tempest's eye beginning to twitch. "Give it an hour or two to cool down and it'll be good as new."

"You have exactly one hour to make it work," Tempest hissed as her horn sparked. "Or you and Armalum are going overboard!"

Void just stared at her, only to shrug, "Sure. I like a challenge." He turned to head below deck, Armalum following him. "But don't expect the engines to take much more punishment if you keep pushing them like this!" He didn't know if Tempest replied to that statement as he headed for the engine room. But as he did this, he suddenly felt a strike of pain in his body, "Augh!" He cried, coughing several times as he staggered toward the wall.

"Are you okay?" Armalum asked, only to get pushed away.

"What do you think?" Void growled before fiddling with the dials on his suit, his breathing stabilizing after a few seconds.

"You're getting worse," Armalum added, "We can't hold this off much longer. Eventually, even that suit won't be able to save you."

"I know," he sighed, "Looks like patience is no longer becoming a virtue." He began to head toward the engine, "Let's get this hunk of junk flying again before Tempest gives me another reason to be worried for my life." His breath filled the room, sounding like something out of a horror movie as he did so. Time was running out.





Back on the hot air balloon, the ponies watched as the mountain got closer. "It won't be long now," Twilight whispered.

"What do you think the Hippogriff Queen will be like?" Soul asked, the others frowning at the thought as they remembered Wingill.

That is, till Flash spoke up, "Let's not judge somepony by one individual. I mean, imagine if the first pony these hippogriffs met was somepony like Big Score, Shocker or even Tempest? Just because those three are bad news doesn't mean the rest of us shouldn't be trusted."

They nodded back at this, only for Heart to ask, "Say...why do you think she's working for him?"

"Who?" His sister asked.

"Tempest." They turned to him, "Why'd you think she started working for the Storm King?"

"I don't know," Twilight sighed. "Could be for any reason. Maybe she realized how powerful he was and decided that it was better to work for him then stand against him. Or maybe she just wants power and sees him as a shortcut to getting it."

"Maybe it has something to do with her horn," Soul chimed in, "I might not have always had magic, but if I had my horn broken, I would be pretty upset about it."

"Well, it's no excuse for helping to conquer our home and enslave ponies that never did anything to her," Rarity added.

"I know," Soul nodded. "I just wish...we could find a way to help her. We've been able to turn other enemies to our side before. Who says we can't do the same here?"

"I wish it was that simple," Twilight sighed, "But...Tempest has made it pretty clear she doesn't want to be friends. For now, we have to focus on saving the friends we have, and worry about trying to make Tempest see the error of her ways later.

They nodded as the mountain came into view, now seeing it was less like a mountain and more like a fortress. It was located on a large island with only a single land-bridge connecting it to the mainland, the island being surrounded by a bunch of skyscraper-sized spikes that stuck out of the water. The mountain had been carved out somehow so that it looked like a pair of wings that were wrapped around a large plot of land that got steeper the higher it got. The very top had a large spire sticking out of it with a sphere at the very top.

"Whoa," they all whispered, Heart turning to Twilight, "is that it?"

"Yup," Twilight nodded, "Mount Aris." She signaled to the pegasi, "Head for the top!"

The pegasi nodded and prepared to push the basket upward. But before they could, a powerful gust of wind swept around the mountain and struck the side. Flash and Rainbow gasped as the balloon was pushed away, "EVERYPONY!" They cried as their friends screamed, the pair chasing after them.

The wind was so strong that it pushed the balloon toward one of the spikes and before anypony could do anything, the fabric touched the tip and teared. The hot air began to escape, leading to the craft to start falling. "HANG ON!" Flash yelled as he and Rainbow dived down, Heart and Soul grabbing some of the rope connected to the crate and flying up, both trying to slow the craft down. But it wasn't enough, both soon losing their grip. The balloon continued to fall, only to miss a big spike sticking out the water, but the balloon fabric did get snagged. This brought it to a sudden and complete halt, the remaining ropes bouncing the craft back up with such a jolt that some of the occupants were thrown out.

Luckily, the balloon was only a few feet off the water when this happened, the group now finding themselves splashing into the flat without too much injury. The fliers arrived and found Springer, Applejack and Pinkie were surfacing out of the water, the rest still hanging in the balloon.

"Everypony okay?" Flash asked as they grabbed the non-fliers out of the balloon.

"Err..." Springer swam to the land-bridge, "I think I left my stomach five thousand feet above us."

"Well at least we're all in one piece," Applejack added as she got onto the bridge and shook herself dry before ringing out the water in her hat.

"Too bad the same can't be said about the balloon," Heart sighed, "Now how are we gonna get to the top of the mountain?"

"We walk," Twilight replied, the others groaning before making their way across the land-bridge before reaching the island. They soon found themselves at the bottom of a large winding pathway that zigged up one way, then zagged up the other way and so on.

"This could take a while," Springer gulped. As he said that, Spike started gagging. They all turned to him as the little dragon spat out a large cloud of smoke that began to take shape. It formed a scroll, which the dragon caught and opened.

"It's from Thorax." He read, "He says he's preparing his army and will be ready to come to our aid in a day or so." He then started gagging again and spat out another scroll, which he also caught. "And this one's from Ember. She's saying the same thing. The dragons are ready to repay the ponies for helping stop Malafear."

"Great!" Twilight cheered, "Send them back and say we'll contact them again when we're ready to go. I wanna talk to the hippogriff queen before I make any plans." Spike nodded and quickly pulled out a pencil he had found in the crate, using it to reply before sending the scrolls off again. "Now, let's go find that queen." The others nodded and began to make their way up as the fliers, minus Twilight and Fluttershy, flew straight up to get a better look and make sure there weren't any obstacles. The others walked and found the path, which like the mountain, had been carved out of rock and placed atop the dugout soil.

There was no doubt in any of their minds that the mountain was inhabited. However, getting there was another story. "We had to crash the balloon at the bottom of the mountain!" Rarity complained a good hour or so into the climb. She was the second to last of the group, Springer being the only one behind her, wanting to make sure they didn't leave anypony behind. "That's it!" The fashionista exploded, "I simply...cannot...even! I have nothing! The bad guys have won!" She fell to the floor, looking ready to pass out. "I'm so sorryyyyyyyy-y-y-y!" Her head hit the ground and she just laid there, Springer staring down at her.

"You finished?" Rarity turned to give him puppy dog eyes. "I'm not carrying you."

Rarity looked ready to cry as Rainbow called out from the front of the pack. "We're almost there!"

"Will you stop saying that?!" Rarity cried back.

"No, really!" Rainbow gestured to the top of the path, where the tips of the stone wings touched the ground. "We're actually here!" Between the stone wing-tips was a stone gate, which was carved to look just like a pair of hippogriffs whose foreheads were touching, and their bodies curved into an archway they could pass through. They couldn't see anything passed the arch, which was covered in a thick fog.

The others soon arrived, all but Springer and Rarity getting to the top. When they did, Twilight gasped. "This is it!" She looked ready to cry with joy, Pinkie letting out an 'ooh' as they stared at the entryway.

"Well I'll be," Applejack laughed as Rarity finally made it to the top. "Hippogriffs, here we come!

Rarity let out a long groan, "Time to rest my hooves!"

"No time to rest yet," Flash added, "These hippogriffs might be friendly, but they might also be ready to attack anypony that isn't them."

"Flash is right," Twilight nodded as they marched through the gate. "Be ready for anything, and try not to do anything that'll upset them. The last thing we need is to have an entire kingdom hating us."

"Err...girls," they turned to Springer as he held up his paw, "I don't think we need to worry about that."

"What do you mean?"

"I...can't sense anything." Their eyes went wide at this and they picked up the pace, rushing into the mist. It took them all a few moments to adjust to the not so clear air, only to reach the other side of the archway and their vision cleared. As it did this, they were greeted by a sight they hadn't been expecting. A large assortment of buildings surrounded them, all looking like web-like domes filled with glass. But all the houses were completely empty, with not a single hippogriff in sight.

Overgrown vegetation and cracked windows were in every direction they looked, and some of the houses even appeared to have collapsed, with the plants growing around the ruins. There was only one word they could use to describe the place, and that word caused every ounce of hope they had for saving their home to shatter. Abandoned.

The city of hippogriffs, was abandoned.
> Chapter 5
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Flash had been to some pretty creepy places in his life, as this wasn't the first empty village or city he had seen, but something about this place outdid them all. Unlike the town near Omniara and the Lost City of Faust, this place had no spark of life to it. Nothing to indicate that it had housed a living thing within it for a long time. If the hippogriffs had been here, it wouldn't have been for a very, very long time.

"Are we sure this is the right place?" Rarity asked with a slight shiver.

"Hello?!" Applejack asked as Heart ignited his hoof to give them better lighting, "Is anypony home?!"

As she said that, Pinkie began warping around the place in a way that only Pinkie Pie could. "No Hippogriffies here!" She called out before warping, "Or here! Or here! Or here or here or here!" She then appeared in front of Twilight, "Waaaaaiiit!" She lifted a stone in front of the alicorn and peered under it. "Nope!" She dropped it, "This place is emp-ty!"

"No kidding," Springer placed his paw on the wall. "There isn't even an imprint."

"But..." Twilight gulped, "Celestia...the map. They have to be here."

Flash frowned, placing a wing on her shoulder. "Look," he pointed at a nearby statue showing a hippogriff in all its bird pony glory. "They were here. But Celestia isn't all knowing. She couldn't have known they left."

"But why did they leave?" Heart asked as Spike stepped up to the statue.

"Something bad happened here," the mystic flame dragon stated, "Something that turned this whole place into a ghost town."

"A g-g-g-g-ghost town?!" Fluttershy quivered. As she said that, a new sound filled the air. An ominous noise that sounded like some kind of ghostly moan, the sound making Fluttershy gasp and shrink down, Flash rushing over to grab her before she could run off and hide.

"What is that?" Soul asked, looking just as scared as Fluttershy.

Twilight's ears twitched as she found the source of the wail. "It's coming from over there!" She ran to a cluster of rocks that was once a collapsed building, the moaning echoing out of a gap in them.

"I can sense something now," Springer commented, "Why couldn't I before?"

"You're running on several hours without sleep and a lot of physical labor," Flash reminded him. "Your senses are probably too exhausted to work right." They reached the rocks and Twilight lit her horn, preparing to go through before Flash held out a wing. "Let me. Just in case." Twilight nodded as Flash began to climb through the gap, using his sword to light the place up. "I don't see anything..."

Twilight followed, then Applejack, Heart and the others. They found the gap in the rocks led to a corridor, the moans increasing in volume until they slowly realized it was actually music, somepony singing that was being distorted by the echoes. They arrived at the end and found it led to a giant round bathhouse of sorts, with a pair of large pony heads sticking out of the walls. Water flowed from the heads, giving them the appearance of having watery manes that flowed into the pool. Though some of the water also trickled out so it looked like it was coming out of the statue's nose.

"Ew," Flash stuck his tongue out at that sight. The pool was a good twenty feet deep and in the center of it, a large flower could be seen, which the singing could be heard from as a light glowed from the center of it.

But the singing stopped when Pinkie stepped onto a piece of a staircase leading down to the pool, the old stone breaking away and causing a noise that made the musician gasp. "What was that?!" The singer then dove out of the flower and into the water.

"Hey!" Pinkie yelled, "Wait up! Cannonball!" She leapt up and curled into a ball before splashing down into the water.

"Pinkie!" Flash and Twilight cried as they galloped and jumped into the water, everypony following suit except for one.

"Did you see that?" Heart asked from the side, his sister turning to him.

"Get in here!"

"No way! What if I need to kick some butt and I can't because I'm water logged!" Soul rolled her eyes and grabbed him in her magic, lifting him over the pool. "HEY!" He yelped before she let him go, the colt falling into the liquid. After a few seconds, he surfaced and spat out some water. "Not cool."

"You needed a bath anyways," she grumbled as Pinkie appeared out of the water as well.

"She's gone!" She gasped, only for the sound of a machine's gears turning to ring out.

"Now what?" Twilight asked before Pinkie was suddenly pulled back.

"Huh?" She asked before they realized she had been caught up in a whirlpool, caused when the flower in the pool lifted up to reveal it was actually a plug keeping the water in. Now gone, it began sucking them all in.

"SWIM!" Flash screamed, the group trying as the vortex quickly snagged them under.

"Oh no..." Rarity whined as they were pulled under. "I hate epic adventures." With that, everypony was yanked down into the spiral of water.

A few seconds later, Flash found himself no longer spinning and instead in an exit-less room completely full of water. He looked around and saw that they were all holding their breath, but wouldn't be able to hold it for long. He grabbed his sword before it floated out of reach and illuminated the chamber, trying to find some kind of air pocket...only to find nothing.

The ponies began to drift off, unable to hold their breath any longer. The defender began to panic, feeling his eyes already drifting shut and could feel nothing but shame that he had allowed them to get into this situation. And with this, he opened his mouth to let the air he was holding out before breathing in the water around him. But there wasn't any. All he was breathing was pure clean oxygen, causing his body to reactivate and allow him to slowly open his eyes.

As he did, he heard several loud popping sounds, followed by his friend's breaths. "Girls?" He asked, his vision finally clearing and allowing him to look around as he relit his sword. The spotted Twilight first, the princess appearing to realize she was breathing underwater. But it was what was around her that shocked Flash as a large air bubble encased her entire head.

"Way to leave it to the last minute, Twilight!" Pinkie yelled as she too had an air bubble. In fact, they all had them now.

"I didn't make these bubbles!" Twilight yelped. told them,

"Then..." Fluttershy let out a pant, "Who did?"

As she said that, the sound of the water around them sloshing around caught their attention. Flash raised his sword and Springer summoned some Steel Paws, Heart attempting to catch his body on fire...but with no success. "What was that?" Soul asked while hugging Twilight.

Flash stared around for a second, only to facehoof, "Idiot!" He called himself, catching the other's attention. "Hey hippogriff! I know that's you! Come on out!"

"Flash!" Twilight gasped, "What are you doing?!"

"Think about it. Remember what Wingill could do?" The others blinked at him, now remembering what they had been shown back then, only for a voice to speak up.

"Did you say Wingill?!" They turned to the voice, seeing a soft glow in the back of the cavern. "What do you know of him?"

"You know Wingill?" Flash asked.

"He's my friend. But...I haven't seen him in a long time."

"Well I've...run into him before. It's a long story. So, are you really a hippogriff?" The voice didn't respond, "We need to talk to the queen."

"How do I know I can trust you?" The light asked, moving a little closer.

"Please," Twilight begged, "The Storm King invaded our land. And we need her help."

"The Storm King?!" The light yelped before it started moving toward them, eventually revealing exactly what Flash had been expecting. A yellow seapony that looked just like how Wingill appeared, though for some reason she had a blue fin-like mane with a spot that flowed forward and had a yellow light on the end of it. On her back were a pair of red fins that Flash guessed could become wings. "I'm so glad I saved you all!" She exclaimed before flying up to Twilight, "I'm totally taking you to my mom! And along the way, you can tell me about Wingill!"

She grabbed Flash and Twilight's hooves before pulling them through the dark cavern, Flash using his sword to light the way along with the seapony's light. They swam deeper and deeper into the ocean, Twilight asking how much further it was due to fearing they might be crushed by the pressure.

"We're almost there!" The seapony announced as they reached the end of a long cave of rocks, soon arriving at an opening into a larger cavern. The place was so large that every building in Canterlot could have been fitted comfortable inside it three times over. It was a massive dome-like structure with plants growing out of the sides and floor while hanging from the ceiling were a series of house sized glass objects that gave off vivid lights that filled the entire chamber. And in the very center of it all was what looked like a giant castle that was hanging from the ceiling, which looked fancier and more carefully constructed than any other building.

"Wow!" Was the only thing they could all think to say. The seapony swam up to the underwater city and as they did, Flash sensed movement and looked down to see more seaponies. They were hiding in the rocks and plants, the older ones pulling the younglings away.

"Not to friendly, are they?"

"I'm sorry," the seapony replied, "We don't often get outsiders coming here."

"How many outsiders have appeared here?" Springer asked.

"Including you?" When they nodded, she started countering. "Eleven." They all nodded at this, only to go wide-eyed as they realized they were the eleven.

"Oh. No wonder they look so worried," Flash sighed as they arrived at the entrance to the castle. The place had a moon pool, allowing them to swim up into it, only to find that the inside of the castle was just as flooded as the outside. The seapony started spinning around, showing off the place as they looked around and found it was a throne-room that was made entirely out of coral and other underwater constructs.

Flash stared at the coral throne, and when he did, he was greeted to the sight of a creamy pink seapony with a purple and pink mane fin that had three blue antenna that Flash assumed glowed. She had a pair of purple wing fins, and the end of her tail was tipped by a purple fin. She was laid out on the throne, looking almost asleep.

"Mother," the yellow seapony swam up to her, "Look what I found!"

"Is it another shell?" The mare asked, rubbing her eyes as the younger one shook her head. "Because I am telling you if it is another shell, I am-" She stopped and gasped when she saw the group, only to glare at her daughter, "Princess Skystar, what have you done?!" She turned to glare at the ponies, "You know surface dwellers are forbidden here! Guards!" As soon as she said that, four seaponies in armor swam out and pointed spears at them.

Heart clenched up at this, but Flash raised his wing...fin in front of him. "Don't." He whispered.

"No no n-no!" Skystar cried as she swam in front of her, "M-M-Mom, please! It is so not like that! The Storm King is trying to destroy their home, too!" She then pointed at Flash, "And this one says he knows Wingill!"

The mare's eyes went wide at this. "Is this true?!" She asked, getting a nod from the defender.

"Princess Celestia told us to find the hippogriffs," Twilight responded, "And...you are the hippogriffs, aren't you?"

"We were," she told her, "A long, long time ago." She turned to another guard who swam in, "Go get Soft Current. She'll want to hear about this." The guard nodded and swam off while the queen turned back to them. "So, the Storm King has invaded your home as well."

"Yes," Twilight nodded, "A unicorn named Tempest is working with him along with two others. They're after the magic of the alicorns, which is why they're hunting us."

"Well," the queen swam back to her throne. "I hope you understand why I can't just allow you to stay here. If you were followed, you could lead them right to us."

"So you've been hiding from the Storm King?" Heart asked, Skystar nodding.

"Oh, oh, it's such a good story!" She began to swim up to the top of the room while her mother glared at her.

"Don't you dare tell them!" But Skystar didn't listen and waved her fin over the wall, causing parts of it to light up and form a picture.

"Once upon a time, like, a while ago, the hippogriffs lived on Mount Aris." The image showed the mountain they had just climbed, along with the image of a hippogriff next to it.

"Oooh!" They all whispered in amazement, while her mother face-hoofed...face...finned.

"Did I not say don't tell them? But hey, I'm just the queen." She crossed her fins and sat back, "Don't mind me."

"Fine!" Skystar swam back to them, "I can't tell you!" She then smirked and sneakily spoke. "But if I could tell you, I'd say that that horned beast did show up to steal their magic!" She flew over to the wall as another part of it lit up to make an image of the monster they had seen images of before: The Storm King.

"Seriously?" The queen sighed.

She swam to another area of the wall, which lit up and to show the image of a hippogriff that looked strangely like the one sitting in the throne. "But to keep it out of his clutches, their brave and majestic leader, Queen Novo, hid them deep underwater where he could never go!" Another image appeared, showing the city they were currently in. "You've already figured out the rest. That we are...well were, the hippogriffs."

"Well," the queen grumbled, "I guess the pearl is out the oyster now." She gestured to herself, "I am Queen Novo."

"Hold on now," Applejack spoke up as she tried to swim over to the queen. "Lemme get this straight." The guard got between her and the queen. "When the Storm King came, yah just abandoned yer entire city and fled?"

"We didn't flee!" Skystar barked back, "We swam! Y'know, in order to flee."

"But...how?" Twilight asked with curiosity, "I mean, is it just an inbuilt trait of hippogriffs? Turning into seaponies and controlling water?"

"Controlling water?" Novo asked, "what'chu talking bout honey?!"

"Wingill," Flash replied, "He could control water, using it to make blades and other weapons to attack with."

"Wingill?" They all turned a new voice, now seeing a light blue seapony mare with a yellow and pink mane-fin. She appeared about the same age as Novo, the mare swimming up through the moon pool. "You know my son?"

"You're Wingill's mom?!" Springer yelped, the mare nodding and swimming up to grab Flash's shoulder.

"Please tell me he's alright! Where is he now?! Did he come with you?! Maybe up in the city?!"

"No," Flash shook his head, "Sorry, I...haven't seen him in a while. We weren't exactly...friends when I knew him." The mare frowned at this, Novo raising an eyebrow while Skystar tilted her head. The sight made Flash sigh, gesturing to his sword, "I'm...a Royal Knight. I was sent on a mission of sorts and met your son on it. He uh...kind of fell in with a bad crowd. When we met him, he was working for an evil unicorn named Shadow Corrupter who intended on conquering our homeland. Wingill was one of his most trusted...I wanna say generals. Either way, we met during a war for a powerful source of magic and...we won."

"Wingill..." Soft Current whimpered, tears appearing her eyes, "How could he..."

"It's possible he saw this unicorn as the lesser of two evils," Nova growled, "He might have made a deal that could have protected us from the Storm King." She hummed at this, "What became of him the last time you saw him?!"

Flash shared a glance with Twilight, the alicorn nodding back, "Alright. Let's just say...its a bit of crazy story. His side lost the war and his leader was killed. After that, a powerful being chose to wipe his memory and teleport him away. We have no idea where he was sent, but the being assured me it was somewhere safe. Hopefully, without his bad memories, he won't try anything stupid."

"So he doesn't remember me?" Current asked, tears starting to fall, only for Novo to speak up.

"I believe this is for the best. This way, he can hopefully live a happy life without needing to worry about us or the Storm King. Honestly, we're lucky you were the one that found him and not the Storm King. If he got his hands on the pearl shard...."

"Pearl shard?" Twilight asked.

"Oh!" Skystar spoke up, turning to her mother. "Can we show them? Huh? These are the first guests we've had in, like, foreveeerrr! Can we, can we, can we, can we, can we, can we, can we, can we, can we?"

"Well," Novo thought before swimming up to a jellyfish chandelier that hung above the throne. "I suppose I should make sure it still works." The two royals began swimming around the chandelier, causing it to glow before it unleashed a bunch of tendrils from within. The tendrils were wrapped around something, slowly unfurling to reveal a pink orb-like object with light coming off of it.

Flash's keen eyes were able to notice a small shard of it was broken off, his mind flashing back to Wingill as he remembered that he was always wearing a necklace with a similarly colored shard. "What is that thing?"

"Careful, now," Novo told her daughter as she reached for the orb. Skystar let out a squeal as her mother held the orb and started waving her fin above it, causing the object's glow to intensify before leaving it. The light shot toward them, wrapping around the group, popping their air bubbles as it did so. But instead of drowning, Flash and the others found themselves able to breathe underwater. And that wasn't the only change.

One by one, they all began to transform. The ponies found their back legs merging with their tails, transforming into a more dolphin-like form that was their body's color but was tipped with the color of their pony tails. Those who had wings found they turned transparent and morphed into more fin-like objects, while they all grew another fin on their back where their flanks would be that had their cutie marks on each side.

Spike and Springer didn't get that transformation. Instead, Spike's head, arms and legs merged with his body. His tail also shrank so that only the tip was sticking out the back end while his cheek spikes morphed into a pair of fins for him.

Springer's body straightened out against his will, his legs and tail merging into a long black shark tail with blue at the tips. His arms shrank and turned into blue fins with black on the tips while his head merged with his body to give him the appearance of a blue, black and yellow shark.

Flash's body didn't change right away, his Sacred Light flaring up to try and stop it. But then it stopped as Flash wanted to experience what the others were experiencing. When the light faded, the transformation took hold and Flash found himself turned into a seapony as well.

They all stared at their new forms in amazement, Rarity squealing, "Oh my! These fins are divine!"

Heart and Soul started swimming around one another, laughing as Rainbow swam over to Applejack. "Hey, Applejack, I'll race ya to that coral!"

"You're on!" The newly born seapony exclaimed as she grabbed her hat and swam after Rainbow while Pinkie started doing tricks and circles in the water.

"Woo-hoo!" She giggled, turning to Fluttershy, who was simply floating in the water while holding her new tail. "Ooh! Try it, Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy let out a slight giggle as she calmly waved her tail, "Yay."

"Girls?!" They turned to Spike as he began to float upward, "What is-" His entire body expanded as small spins stuck out the sides, making them realize he had become a puffer fish. "Happening?!"

"Aw..." Fluttershy smiled as Spike floated up, "So cute!"

Springer, now a shark, swam up to him and laughed. "How come you get to be something cool?" Spike asked as Springer used his tail to bat him down. "Hey!"

Flash and Twilight stared at one another, then at themselves. "So cool!" The Knight of Friendship exclaimed, "I always wondered what it was like for Wingill going from a sky based creature to a sea based one."

"This is amazing!" Twilight gasped before swimming over to Novo and stared at the pearl in her fins. "With this, we could transform everypony at home into something powerful enough to face the Storm King's army-"

"Or it could end up in his greedy claws!" Novo roared, pulling the pearl away.

"But..." Twilight's brain completely froze, unable to believe that she was refusing to help them as Novo's expression softened for a moment.

"Honey, I'm sorry about your home. I truly am." She then glared at her, "But my responsibility is to protect my subjects." She held the pearl up and the tendrils grew it, pulling the relic up into the chandelier again. "The pearl...is not going anywhere."

"But...we've come all this way."

"Can't you at least use it to turn us into something that can fight the Storm King' forces?" Flash asked, "Like a bunch of massive dragons that's maybe immune to being turned to stone statues." Novo raised an eyebrow at this, "Or at least turn Twilight and Soul into something other than an alicorn. The Storm King's after their magic but if they become...a pair of bison, then they wouldn't have any magic to steal."

"Even if I wanted too, I can't." Novo replied, "When Wingill stole a fragment of it, I placed a lock on the pearl's magic so that it can only transform a being between their natural state and a sea-based equivalent. And I have no intention of undoing that lock so you can go chasing a fantasy. You wanna stop the Storm King, then stay down here where you're safe. He'll never get his claws on your magic, meaning that his power won't rise."

"He doesn't need alicorn magic to increase his power," Flash responded, "He's doing that already! Conquering land after land because nopony's willing to risk fighting him! Evil wins when good does nothing."

"And you can't just hide down here!" Twilight added, "Trapped forever down in this place?! There's so much you're missing!"

"We are one hundred percent okay with that!" Novo barked as a small octopus creature swam up to her and gargled something. "Yes, Jamal?" It gargled again, "Ooh! Time for my seaweed wrap." The octopus gargled a third time. "Yes, a massage, too. Mama needs her deep tissue." With that, she swam out of the room with the octopus. The guards and Soft Current also left, leaving their guests alone in the throne room.

The group frowned at this, Applejack asking, "So that's it? We left home for nothin'?"

"Well...I guess I can understand where she's coming from," Flash responded, the others turning to him with wide eyes, "A bunch of strangers she doesn't know are asking her to fight against an enemy that has no trouble doing horrible things to win. The Storm King has an army, and without the Royal Knights, Princesses and even our guards, we don't exactly have a large army."

"But we also have the dragons and changelings waiting to help us," Spike pointed out after swimming over, "With them and the hippogriffs, we'd have three full-on armies to fight with."

"Maybe," Springer nodded, "But we don't know what else the Storm King has at his disposal. Plus, what if he uses the ponies he's captured as hostages to attack with? This is war, and most of the time, the winners are the ones willing to do the most heinous things."

They all grimaced at this, only for Skystar to exclaim, "Oh my gosh!" They turned to Skystar, "Best...idea! You can stay with us! FOREVER!" She cheered before laughing, "There are so many things we can do!" She started swimming around the room, showing the ponies a bunch of objects. "We can make friendship bracelets out of shells and...picture frames outta shells and...decorative wastebaskets out of shells."

"You got anything to do down here that doesn't involve shells?" Heart asked, getting a nudge from Soul.

"Well...no," Skystar shook her head. "But now I have someone new to share them with! I mean, aside from my friends, Shelly and Sheldon." As she said that, she pulled a pair of clams from behind her back. The shells had googly eyes stuck onto them, the clams jiggling open and closed. "Right? Shelly and Sheldon." She chuckled as Pinkie gasped in amazement. "Get it?" Pinkie's smile grew three times the size, but Rarity swam up to the princess before the earth made seapony could say anything.

"That sounds lovely darling, but you must realize, we can't stay."

Applejack swam up next, "We've gotta get back to our families."

"I'm a Royal Knight," Flash added, "That means I made took an oath to protect Equestria from anything, even if it costs me my life. Staying here would mean I'd being going back on my word, and I never go back on my word." Heart and Springer nodded in agreement while Skystar frowned at them.

"Oh no..." She whimpered before forcing a smile, "Of course. Of course. Heh. Of course you have your own friends back home. It's fine. It's fine. Heh..." She then held the clams away from her before whispering, "Shelly and Sheldon would get jealous anyways." She began to swim away. "Heh. It's probably for the best. Yeah, I'll just, um..." She put the clams down as she added, "I'll get Mom to, uh, turn you back so you can go home." With that, she left and Pinkie swam after her for a second before stopping.

Flash could tell she felt bad about upsetting their new friend and turned to them. "I know we have to go, but you girls saw how disappointed Princess Skystar was. Couldn't we stay for just a little longer?"

As Applejack was saying something, Flash noticed an expression on Twilight's face. One she only got when she had an idea that she would likely live to regret. "Oh, no." They turned to her. "No no. Pinkie's right."

"Say what now?" Rainbow asked.

"We can't stay," Soul chimed in, "All our friends are being forced to do who knows what. They could be fighting in a gladiator style for the king's amusement for all we know." The others gave her a look of bewilderment, "What?"

"Well, we still need to come up with a plan to get back." Twilight began pushing Pinkie in the direction Skystar swam. "A few minutes won't make a huge difference. And if there's anypony who can cram a lifetime of fun into a blink of an eye, it's Pinkie Pie!" Pinkie cheered at this, a massive smile appearing on her face. "So, go ahead and show Skystar the best time ever!"

Pinkie nodded before saluting. "I won't let you down!" She swam off and everyone except Flash followed her out of the room.

"I'm counting on it." As she said that, Twilight looked back up at the chandelier holding the pearl.

"Don't even think about it." Flash chimed in, Twilight turning back to him.

"You know what I have to do. If Novo won't give us the orb, we'll just have to take it."

"How does that make you any better than the Storm King?" Flash countered, "This isn't what Celestia or any of the other princesses would do if they were here."

"But they're not here," Twilight responded, "Tempest took them away and she's gonna do the same to anypony who gets in her way." She began swimming up to the chandelier, but Flash swam between them.

"Twilight, you can't do this. Besides, you heard Novo. The pearl is locked. What good is it gonna do us if it can only turn us into sea creatures?"

"I'll figure out how to unlock it," Twilight replied, "And even if I can't, it'll still be useful. If we run into Tempest again, I'll turn her into a seapony. She won't be so dangerous then."

Flash glared back at her, ready to argue, only for another voice to call out. "Hello?" They turned to see Soft Current, "Mr. Sentry? Are you still in there?"

"Stall her!" Twilight whispered, "Don't let her come in here."

"Why should I? You definitely won't steal anything with her in here." Twilight glared at him.

"That's an order from your princess!" she hissed, "Remember your oath!" Flash flinched at this, only to sigh as he then swam down.

But as he did this, he looked over his shoulder. "Please don't do anything you'll regret later." Twilight frowned at this before he swam outside, spotting Soft Current a ways off. "Hey," he waved, "Is something the matter?"

"No," she shook her head. "I just...I really wanted to learn more about what my son's done since leaving. Do you...do you think you could talk for a little bit?"

Flash sighed, "I guess. But like I said, I didn't really know him that well."

"Just a little information will do," she replied, "Please."

Flash stared at the seapony's face, seeing nothing but despair on her face. The sight made Flash's heart twist, the defender glancing back at Twilight before nodding to the seamare, "Alright. Where's a good place we can talk?"





At the same time, Heart and Soul were roaming the underground. While hanging with Skystar did sound fun, they also wanted to learn as much about seaponies as they could before they left. Or, more accurately, Soul wanted to learn about seaponies, Heart instead wanting to get out of the water as soon as possible.

"Ew!" He moaned when a bunch of seaweed wrapped around his tail, the pony trying to light his hoof aflame to burn it off with little success. "This place sucks. Why'd anypony want to live down here where it's cold, wet and damp?!"

"It's not like they had much of a choice," Soul replied, "What else were they supposed to do when the Storm King attacked?"

"Fight back!"

"That didn't work so well for us."

"Better than running away." Heart sighed as they soon started swimming down the passageway again, only to find a young seapony shooting out from around a corner. "WHOA!" He yelped, dodging the seapony as it came to a stop. "Watch it!"

"Oh," the seapony turned to them, "Sorry." They saw it was a female seapony around their age, who was pink in color with fins and a tail that were two different shades of light blue. She would have said more, but then she gasped. "Whoa! You're those surface dwellers that Skystar brought, aren't you?!"

Before they could reply another voice called out, "Silverstream!" The voice belonged to a seapony that swam around the corner, "What have I told you about swimming off like that?!" He was a white seapony with two different shades of green for his fins and tail, only to go wide-eyed at the sight of Heart and Soul, "Silverstream!" He leapt behind a large rock, "We're not supposed to talk to surface ponies!"

"It's fine," Silverstream waved him off. "Don't mind my little brother. Terramar's just a little nervous around new people."

"I'm not nervous," Terramar growled as he stuck his head out from behind the rock. "I just don't wanna get in trouble with aunt Novo."

"Aunt Novo?" Soul asked, "So you're Skystar's cousins?"

"Yup!" Silverstream eagerly nodded, "And you're the ponies from the surface." She suddenly shot right up and got into Heart's face, "So what's it like up there?! I've heard so much from those that have heard about the surface, but nopony who's actually been up there's willing to tell me anything! What's a cloud look like? What does it feel like when the wind blows? Are there really creature out there that walk on two legs? How long does it take to learn how to fly? I heard there are these things called stairs. How do you play hideo fames with hooves? What's it like when it rains?"

She probably would have said more, but Terramar swam out from behind his rock and placed a fin against her mouth. "Sorry about her. She gets excited when she sees something new."

"I've noticed," Heart gulped, "So...got anyplace around here to dry off? I've heard that some underwater areas have air pockets. Anything like that here?"

"No," Terramar shook his head, "Sorry."

"It's fine," Soul replied as Terramar dropped his fin from Silverstream's mouth. "Don't worry about him. He just hates being wet."

"I don't hate being wet," Heart grumbled and crossed his hooves, "I just don't like not being able to flame on."

"Flame on?" Silverstream asked, "What's that mean? Is it something ponies do? Do you burst into flames and roast everything around you?!" She got a little intense at the end of that sentence, the ponies turned seaponies slowly trying to backpedal, "Come on!" She swam and grabbed their hooves in her fins, "We'll show you all the awesome things to do underwater." She pulled them along before they could argue, Terramar following after them.





Flash and Soft Current were in her house, one of the ceiling buildings that was illuminated by a special underwater moss that somehow could be turned on and off. "After that, Faust placed him and the others in a bubble before teleporting them away. Like I said, he shouldn't have any memory now. Faust said the only thing he'd remember was his name."

"So he'll have no idea who I am," Soft sighed and shook her head, "I...I guess Novo is right. This was for the best. If he kept going the way he was, he would have eventually gotten himself killed. At least now I know there's a chance he's living a good life someplace safe from the Storm King's wrath."

Flash nodded. "I'm sorry. I wish there was something else I could do."

In that moment, Soft Current placed a fin on his hoof. "Just...promise me one thing." He raised an eyebrow at his. "I know the odds of you two running into one another again are astronomical, but...if by some miracle, you find him again, tell him about me. About where he comes from and that I forgive him."

Flash slightly grimaced at this, only to nod, "I will," he picked up the tea Soft had made for him. "But first I gotta find a way to save my home and friends before I can think of looking for him."

"I understand," Soft responded, "I can only wonder what horrors are occurring there right now."





Canterlot looked even worst then when the Storm King had first taken over. Many buildings had been destroyed, while others had been ransacked for anything valuable. The ponies were still being used like pack-mules as the Storm Guards threatened to whip them if they did anything bad. "Dat's right!" Grubber laughed, "Keep wok-in! I don't wanna see a single pon-knee slacking!"

But as he said that, a voice cried out, "Ahhhh!" 

He turned and saw one of the ponies fall to the floor, holding his stomach and screaming in in pain. The ponies around him ran to his side, Grubber slowly strolling up, "Hey, hey! What's dah big idea?"

Starlight, one of the ponies, turned to give him a pleading look. "Please, he's sick!"

Grubber looked down and saw the pony had different wings from the others. "What's wrong with him?"

"He suffers from a condition that will kill him if you don't do something," Trixie replied, "He needs a golden apple."

"A what now?"

"I know what they are!" He turned to the voice and saw it was Apple Bloom, trapped inside a cage with two other young ponies. "He brought a bunch of them with him. I know where they were before you came."

"Why sud I let you go and get them?" He growled, "This could be some kind of trap trying to make me look like an idiot! And even if it weren't, what do I get out of putting my hide on the line?!"

"Please!" Starlight begged, "Please just let us get his apples. If anything happens that you don't like...you can kill me as punishment."

Her friends gasped at this, but then nodded and all offered the same agreement. Grubber hissed at this, thinking they were just trying to make a fool out of him so that the Storm King would punish him. But just as he was about to walk away, he heard Rogue moan and turned back to him. The look of pain on his was genuine as far as he could tell, making him sigh, "Let her out of dah cage." The closest Storm Guard looked at him in shock, "Yah eard me." He nodded and pulled out a key, unlocking the cage, "Don't try any-feign!" Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle nodded as Apple Bloom got out of the cage, "Go with her!" The Storm Guard nodded and chased after her, Grubber turning to the others. "If she's not back in vibe minutes, I'll...I'll..." He let out a growl, "Ah don't know what but it'll be bad!"

Luckily, Apple Bloom didn't need five minutes. She returned in two carrying a large saddlebag, which she threw over to Starlight before the Storm Guard grabbed her and threw the filly back into the cage. The lock clicked shut as Trixie took an apple out and fed it to the thestral.

"Come on...eat." Rogue began munching on the apple, his pained expression vanishing when he did so. By the time he finished the last of it, he appeared to be back to his normal self and let out a sigh.

"Thanks," he told Trixie as she nodded.

Starlight then turned to Grubber, "And thank you."

"Wad ever," he grumbled before walking off. As Rogue pushed himself back to his hooves, they heard a humming sound and looked over to see the device the Storm Guards had been working on. It looked like a large metal ring with runes etched into the metal, several wires connected to a large control panel that was now humming.

"What the heck are they building?" Soarin asked as the humming increased and the machine powered up, unleashing bolts of lightning that shot into the center of the ring. When they connected, a strange looking vortex appeared within the ring and grew larger and larger. But before it could fill the whole thing, it suddenly sparked and the lightning died with the vortex quickly following.

The Storm Guards working on it yelled at several others, who yelled back in a language they couldn't understand before holding up a large piece of paper. The first Storm Guard glared at the page before grabbing it and turning it over, then shoving it back into the other's face.

"Whatever it is, it's almost done, and I don't think it's gonna be anything good."

The others would have said something, only for a loud honking sound to ring out from the sky. They looked up and saw another airship appear through the smog that had been constantly forming above the city by the other ships, only this ship was much more fancily decorated. It zoomed through the sky towards the castle, everypony below needing to brace themselves so as to not be pushed away by the wind it unleashed.

"Oh geez!" They heard Grubber cry, "He's here! He's here!" He looked absolutely terrified, the hedgehog looking himself over to make sure he was properly dressed. "Is everything good?! Noff-fin the king'll get mad at me for?" The Storm Guards shook their heads, "Good. Good. Then I guess I'd better go make sure he's comfortable. The rest of you, back to work!" With that, he ran off while the ponies continued to stare up at the castle.

"So," Script gulped, "The big boss is up there, huh?"

"I hope Twilight and the others have figured out how to save us," Trixie added, "If this guy is anything like the guards say he is, we'll be in trouble if he gets angry."

"Twilight'll come through," Starlight assured her. "She has too."





Back underwater, Silverstream and Terramar had taken the siblings to an opening in the seafloor, which made the water around it warm. When they placed a stone on top of it and got on board, the pair wondered what was going on. "Wait for it," Silverstream told them. "Wait for it. Wait for it."

"We've been waiting for three minutes," Heart grumbled, "What's-" He got his answer when the rock started shaking.

"Here we go!" Silverstream cheered before the rock suddenly rocketed upward, pushing the four up. They all screamed as the ceiling got closer, only for the speed to slow down. They eventually came to a stop and started floating down, the group laughing as they did so.

"That was awesome!" Heart laughed, the others nodding. "I guess being underwater isn't so bad after all."

"Yeah," Silverstream added, "But I'd sure like to see where you two come from too."

"Well, we need to save it from the Storm King before we can do that," Heart responded, "I can't wait to go up against that guy when we attack!" Soul and the seaponies frowned at this, "What?!"

"You really think Flash is gonna let you fight when they go to retake Equestria?" Soul asked, "He'll probably ask Queen Novo to keep us here or something when they go."

"Maybe you'll be left behind," Heart pointed at her. "But I'm a different story." He then remembered back to what the Royal Knights had said about him before this whole disaster occurred. "I'm gonna help save my home. I have to. Flash chose me to be a Royal Knight, and I can't let him down. Even if I have to take down Tempest, Void, Armalum or the Storm King himself, I'm gonna show everypony I'm worth Flash's trust in me! I'm not a loser!"

The others raised an eyebrow at this, but then something else caught their attention: Music.

"I think there's a musical number happening," Soul giggled as Terramar turned to her.

"A what?"

"You don't have musical numbers underwater?" Heart asked before they started swimming toward the music, the two seaponies shaking their heads. "Well, you're about too." They swam to the music and arrived back in the main cavern, where they found a bunch of seaponies singing together with the rest of their friends leading it with Skystar.

Flash and Soft Current also arrived, having heard the music and gone out to see it. Flash smiled when he saw Skystar singing, Queen Novo also appearing and was pulled into the song. "So wonderful," Soft sighed as she listened, "Do you sing like this every day?"

"Not every day. But more often than you think. Don't seaponies enjoy a nice tune every now and then?"

"We used too," Soft sighed, "But...oh how I miss those days. When we came down here, we worried even the quietest noise would be heard by the Storm King's forces."

"Don't worry," he told her. "We'll find a way to stop him." He looked down at his wound, which was now completely gone. the Sacred Light having finally defused the last of the Corrupted Shadow. "We'll make it safe for you to return to the land if you want. And I'll find Wingill and bring him back. Promise."

Soft nodded at this as the song finally came to an end. Pinkie smiled as her friends hugged her, the party pony having fulfilled her promise and gotten a ton of fun condensed into the short amount of time they had. "Well," Novo told them all, "I guess there is one small thing we can do."

Everypony smiled, thinking Novo might actually be willing to help them, only for a strange noise to fill the air. One that made all the seaponies gasp, "What's that?" Springer asked, stopping Spike as he accidently puffed up at the noise.

"The pearl alarm!" Soft Current gasped. "Oh no, the pearl alarm!" Flash's eye went wide at hearing this, quickly spotting Novo giving Skystar a glare before turning to swim off. The others followed after her, arriving at the throne room, only to gasp at a certain sight.

Twilight, who was tied up in the chandelier's jellyfish tendrils, attempted to escape the cords that had trapped her and were pulling her away from the pearl that she had attempted to steal. "No," Flash whispered at this. He heard Novo growl and swim towards Twilight so fast that he knew he couldn't get to her in time.

But all she did was grab the pearl away from Twilight, "No!" She cried as Novo turned to her. "Please!"

"All of this so you could sneak in and take the pearl?!"

"Wait!" Flash called out, "Twilight made a mistake. She's just worried about our kingdom." He turned to Soft Current, "We didn't come here to steal." He could see in her eyes that Soft Current believed him, but Novo growled as she grabbed Skystar and pulled her away from her new friends.

"This is why we don't bring strangers into our home!" Skystar looked down at this, Novo turning to Twilight and the others. "You don't deserve to be one of us." With that, she held out the pearl and unleashed a brilliant light. The seaponies around them quickly got back, Flash turning to Soft Current while Heart and Soul looked over at Silverstream, those seaponies looking sad about what was about to happen.

The tendrils threw Twilight over to the others and it caught them all, the looks of betrayal they had on their faces weren't lost on the princess. That was the last thing she saw before the light overwhelmed them, forming a bubble around them that blocked out the image of the castle. The bubble then seemed to move, propelling them through the water, away from the castle.

As they moved, they could feel their tails morphing back into their normal states and the water suddenly seemed a lot less breathable. In the blink of an eye, they all reverted back to their regular forms as the bubble suddenly popped. They found themselves surrounded by dark ocean, no idea which way the seapony kingdom was in. But they did know that they needed oxygen, all quickly swimming with all their might.

They barely managed to break their heads through the water before they all took massive gulps of air, some coughing a bit due to swallowing so much seawater. Once they had their bearings, they looked up and saw Mount Aris a short ways off. At least Novo had been kind enough to not strand them a hundred miles out to sea. But as they began to swim towards the shore, they all realized what had happened. They had failed in their mission to get help from the hippogriffs, or the seaponies. And without their help, Equestria might be doomed to an eternal storm.
> Chapter 6
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Having swam back to shore, the eleven Equestrians all moaned at the freezing chill of the ocean. Rainbow and Springer shook their entire bodies to get the water off while Heart tried to flame up, but was unable too. Rarity let out a gasp and fell to the floor, exhausted from the day's events.

"Everypony okay?" Flash asked as he saw the miserable looks on everyone's faces. Spike looked ready to keel over from the cold, a cold-blooded dragon like him not doing so well.

Applejack, after squeezing the water from her hat, turned to Twilight, who had walked a short distance from them to dry her mane. "What were you thinkin'?! Ah mean, stealin' their pearl?!"

Twilight sighed, "It was the only way to save Equestria."

"'Cept it wasn't!" Pinkie yelled, "The Queen was going to say yes! We did what you told us and that's what made her realize we were ponies worth saving!" But as soon as she said that, a look of shock, horror and betrayal appeared on her face, the earth pony gasping. "Unless...you didn't really want us to show her the best time ever!" Twilight glanced back at her, "You just wanted us to distract her!" The others gasped at this, Twilight standing up before slowly turning to the pink pony.

"I never would have done it, but this isn't Equestria! We can't just dance around with con artists, make rainbooms in the sky and expect everything to work out!" The others frowned at this, knowing she was attacking them for what they had done since leaving home. "It's not enough! We are not enough!"

"No, Twilight!" Pinkie glared her down. "We stuck together! We were gonna get the help we needed! The only thing that stopped us...was you!"

"Well, I'm doing the best I can!" She yelled back, turning away from Pinkie. "It's all on me. I'm the one Tempest wants. I'm the last Princess!"

"Well, you haven't been acting like one!" Springer chimed in, "At least not the princess we know. Did you forget your the Princess of Friendship. That meant something to you before this all started, but ever since we left you've done nothing to show you deserved that title!" The others nodded back.

"We don't need friendship right now!" Twilight yelled. "Making friends isn't going to save Equestria!"

"Newsflash!" Pinkie exclaimed, "That's always how we've saved Equestria! By sticking together, as friends! But all you've done since we left home is do what you think is right and not listened or trusted any of your friends!" Those words seemed to push Twilight over the edge, the alicorn turning to Pinkie with her horn sparking as if she was about to blast her.

"Well, maybe I would've been better off without friends like YOU!" Those words echoed along the beach, everypony's eyes going wide. Twilight, having just realized what she had said, cut the power to her horn as her own eyes went wide.

She saw Pinkie's brokenhearted expression before turning to the others, Rarity, Fluttershy and Soul looking upset while Rainbow, Springer and Applejack glared at her. Heart didn't seem to know how to take this while Spike just gulped at her words. And Flash, there was only one word Twilight could use to describe his expression: Disappointed.

The pink earth pony then began to walk away, the alicorn staring at her. "Pinkie, I-" But she couldn't get the words out, and Pinkie's sniffles didn't make it any easier.

"I can't talk to you right now." She continued, the others slowly following, passing by Twilight with different expressions on their faces. Rarity had her head and nose turned up at Twilight while Fluttershy stared down at the sand. Rainbow looked rightfully ticked and Applejack, though taking a moment to glance back at Twilight, shared her expression. Finally, Springer moved past her despite sensing that Twilight regretted her words, and couldn't bear to forgive her right now.

"Girls!" Flash called out, "Wait!" But they didn't, "We shouldn't split up like this. GIRLS!" But it was no use. The ponies walked away, their friendships with Twilight possibly broken beyond repair. And this time, there wasn't an evil draconequus to blame for it. "No..."

Spike ran up to Twilight, staring at his retreating friends. He then felt motion and turned back to Twilight, seeing she was now walking the other way. Heart and Soul stepped up to Flash, both frowning as Soul asked, "What do we do now?"

"I'm not sure." Flash responded, staring at the fleeing alicorn before slowly starting to follow her. The others came with him, the defender calling out, "Twilight! Please! You've gotta stop!"

But she didn't. She just kept walking until she reached the very end of the beach, where a large cliff was waiting for her. She dropped on her flank onto the stone, Flash hearing her begin to weep. "Twilight?" Spike asked, slowly walking up to her, "It's okay. We've still got the dragons. And the Changelings too. We can still save Equestria." But this revelation didn't seem to make Twilight any happier, "You'll figure it out."

"No!" She told him tearfully with a sob, "I can't! I ruined everything!" She continued crying, "Even if we're able to save Equestria. My...my friends will hate me." She glanced back at Flash, "I should have listened to you."

Flash frowned at this, moving up and sitting beside her, Heart sitting by him while Soul sat on Twilight's other side. He thought about what Grand or Celestia would say if they were here with them, and what he would want to hear to feel better. "You messed up. Like...royally messed up." She flinched at this, the others glaring at him until he added, "But, that doesn't matter right now."

"But I ruined everything."

"Only if you don't do something to fix it," he replied, "Everypony messes up, even princesses. You know this. I get that this isn't really a situation that might allow you to mess up, but what's done is done. What you need to focus on now is fixing this mistake instead of dwelling on it."

Twilight heard this and let it sink in, Flash knowing he was close to helping her see her was right. She just needed a few more nudges. And luckily, he had some help to do that.

"We've all messed up before. Remember Spike's greed escapade? Spike didn't think anypony would forgive him, did you Spike?" But Spike didn't reply, "Spike?" They all spun around, only to go wide-eyed at the sight of Spike being held and muffled by a Storm Guard. "SPIKE!" Flash yelled as he went for his sword, only for a cloud of darkness to appear around him and body check him. "AUGH!"

"Flash!" The others gasped as Heart ran to his mentor and Twilight sparked her horn. But just as she was about to fire, something shot down. A large cage made of a strange rock, which slammed down around the pair before the floor closed in beneath them.

Twilight's spell fired, but when it hit the cage, the magic simply dispelled before the cage was lifted up. "No, no, no, no, no! Noooooo!" Twilight cried while Soul looked up and gasped seeing Tempest's ship appear out of the clouds.

"Twilight!" Flash yelled as he got up, only for the shadow to appear in front of him. "Out of my way!" He swung his blade into the shadow, but the cloud dodged the attack before Armalum formed and thrust his hoof, "URGH!" He screamed as he felt something stab into him, looking down to see a blade of Corrupted Shadow sticking out of his gut, the pegasus feeling his energy being drained.

"Gotcha," Armalum chuckled before kicking Flash away while retracting the blade. Heart rushed to his side and saw the stab wound turning black like before. This was quickly halted by the Sacred Light, which began to glow and seal it up, only for the strain to make the pony black out.

Then, a cackle fill the air and Heart turned to see Void, "Finally. You're finally mine." Heart glared at him, the pegasi's rage building enough that he could feel the heat inside him explode.

"STAY AWAY!" He burst into fire and thrust his hooves, unleashing a massive fire stream. But Void simply raised his hoof and when the flames touched it, they were sucked inside. Heart's eyes went wide as Void laughed.

"Cute." His hoof began to heat up as the flames he had just stolen started to reappear, Heart glancing around and grabbing Flash's dropped sword and charged at the pony.

"RAAAAAAAAAAH!" He roared as he swung the sword, but Void unleashed the fire. "GYAH!" He cried as the heat hit him, smacking the colt flying into Flash. The sword fell next to him and before he could do anything, another cage slammed down from the ship and surrounded them. The floor appeared and the pair were lifted up, Void and Armalum leaping up and grabbing the chain.

Spike, having finally managed to pry the Storm Guard's claw off his mouth, breathed fire onto it and forced the ape to release him. "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" The Mystic Flame Dragon screamed as the cages were pulled into the ship. He tried to think of something, but none of his spells he knew would help. All he could do was watch as the ship's engines kicked in and the zeppelin flew off into the clouds, Spike falling to his knees. "Flash...Heart...Soul..." Tears appeared in his eyes, "Twilight."





Flash wasn't sure how long he had been unconscious, but when he came around, he knew he was somewhere very hot and very dark. Opening his eyes, the first thing he saw was Heart's worried expression. "Flash!" He cried, "You're okay." Flash slowly pushed himself up, only to blink as he saw he was in a cage that was hanging over a pit of lava. Then pain surged through his body, making him look down at the stab wound. Like before, the black veins around it rang out while a golden pulse tried to neutralize it.

"Great..." He groaned, only to look up and see Twilight in another cage, her horn flaring as she tried to blast her way through the bars, but whatever material they were made from simply nullified it. "Twilight," he moaned, "You okay?"

"We have to get out of here!" She yelled, attempting to teleport next, but the cage cancelled that out too. Instead, she magically moved around in the cage, only for the group to then hear a chuckle, causing them to turn to see Void step into the room.

"You," Flash growled, "Why are you doing this?! What did Equestria ever do to you?!"

"Nothing," Void replied as he moved closer, "But then again, I'm not in this to make Equestria suffer...yet." The others glared at him at this, only for Void to add, "I'm doing this because it's the only way to save myself." He got in close and stared Flash down, "Plus I have to settle a score with you."

"What?" Flash asked, "I've never even met you before...have I?"

"Oh please," he turned away from Flash and started unfastening the cords connecting the helmet to the control pack. "I would have thought you'd have figured it out by now, especially after seeing Armalum." He removed the mask and pulled the cloth of his bodysuit off his head, revealing he had grey fur but no mane. He slowly turned to Flash, and when he did, every eye in the room went wide when they saw a pair of blood red eyes take could only belong to one pony.

"Shadow..." Flash whispered, now seeing the alive Shadow Corrupter. However, he was nothing like before, Flash's eyes drifting up to the pony's hornless forehead, which had a large X-shaped crack running through it. "How...how are you alive?"

"Well, that's just the thing," he grumbled, "Shadow Corrupter died when you allowed that pathetic excuse for a god to strip him of the power that made him who he was. What you see before you is everything that's left once that was gone. A living husk of powerless flesh. Even my horn didn't survive the process, turning to dust and leaving what you see before you."

"Like...a corpse?"

"No, there's still some life left in *cough cough*...urgh..." He wheezed before putting the mask back on, attaching the cords and pipes back into place. After a few seconds, he managed to get his breathing under control. "And as you can see, this husk won't last much longer. I originally named myself after the power I wielded, but now that that power is gone, I can no longer hold that name. So...I decided to name myself after what I had become."

"A void," Twilight continued.

"Exactly," he nodded. "Faust teleported me far away from the Lost City, ripping the Corrupted Shadow and every other bit of magic I had out of me."

"Well it's your own fault," Heart chimed in, "If you hadn't tried to steal Faust's power-"

"Nopony deserved that power more than me! I-*cough*" Void roared, only to let out a wheeze before fiddling with the suit's dials. "I'm the most powerful pony that ever lived! I deserved as much power as was possible to acquire. But that fool didn't realize that and attempted to destroy me. It's obvious she knew that I would one day find a way to take her power. To ascend to become the god I was always meant to be. That's why she tried to silence me! But she failed..."

"Clearly," Flash deadpanned while rolling his eyes before turning to see Armalum walk in, "How did you survive?"

"I was still wearing Armalum's armor when my magic was stolen," Void responded, "When he realized what was happening, he managed to take full possession of my body, which allowed him to keep me alive. But we had very little power and I couldn't even move. All he was doing was delaying the inevitable. But then, the Storm King found me."

"He saved you?" Twilight asked.

"He was interested in Armalum's power and the Corrupted Shadow." As he said that, Armalum held up his hoof and a blade of the magical substance appeared. "When Faust removed it, my Corrupted Shadow was fossilized into what you see. Those chunks were littered all around me and with it, the Storm King grew curious. So he took me in, managed to get his claws on the equipment I'm wearing, and brought me back long enough to ask what the heck it was. I told him what it was and that he couldn't control it, no matter what he did."

"I'm guessing he wasn't too happy about that," Flash suggested.

"You'd be right," Void nodded, "He decided to destroy me, using Tempest's power to do so. But it was then I discovered a new benefit to my current predicament. With all my magic ripped from me, I was left with a void inside me. A void I could fill with other magics, such as what you've seen." They all grimaced at this, only for him to say, "But it's limited. Eventually, I run out and become as useless as...well you," he laughed as he turned to Heart, the colt growling back at him. Void then glanced back at Flash, "I need a source of limitless power. Something that can heal my damaged body and keep me alive for as long as I need to be."

"You want my Sacred Light," Flash finished, Void nodding.

"Why don't you just absorb your Corrupted Shadow?" Soul asked, "Losing it's what's hurting you so just absorb that and leave Flash alone!" She then screamed when Void ran over and slammed his head against the bars, Soul leaping back and Twilight pulling her behind her as Void stared them down.

"Don't you think I thought of that, you blasted little alicorn?! When I discovered my new power, it was the first thing I did! It was *cough* blaugh!" He spun another dial, only to sigh, "But it was no use." He pulled away and trotted between the cages. "I don't know whether Faust did this to me, or if it's just a byproduct of having it ripped out of me, but my body cannot hold the Corrupted Shadow. When I attempted to absorb a tiny piece of it, I was suddenly bombarded with unimaginable pain, and I wasn't able to absorb any new magic until I expelled it."

The ponies shared a glance, only to for Void to add, "I needed a source of power equal to the Corrupted Shadow, but also one I'd be able to hold without killing myself. And there was only one source of power capable of meeting those criteria." He slowly turned to Flash, the pegasus knowing he was smiling under that mask. "How poetic. The one that caused my downfall will now be the catalyst of my return to power."

"I'll never give you my Sacred Light," Flash instantly responded.

"Oh, I know that. If you were willing to give me your power, I would have simply asked you and not gone to all the trouble of sending my creations after you."

"Creations?" Twilight raised an eyebrow at this.

Void chuckled. "When I was sent to the Storm King's realm, I had only a single item with me aside from Armalum and the Corrupted Shadow. My sword. A sword that was still coated in the blood of my enemy. I used that to create a being strong enough to take the power I needed, saving myself and removing an obstacle in the Storm King's way."

Flash went wide-eyed at this, "You sent Mecha-Flash." His friends gasped at this, "And the other Trials as well."

"Bingo," Void cackled, "But alas, they were not enough to defeat you and take what I needed. However, they did help the Storm King's forces learn what you and your friends were capable of. The giant ape realized that you all had ridiculous amounts of skill, power and sheer dumb luck. That meant defeating you by force is practically impossible." He shook his head at this, "But you do have weaknesses. The bonds of friendship you rely on so much might make you strong, even if you're on your own, but take enough pieces out of the machine, and the whole thing comes crashing down."

"What did you do to the Royal Knights?" Flash asked, "Grand, Ruby, Iron and the rest. Where are they?" Void only lifted his hoof and tapped his nose, making Flash growl.

Twilight stared at the armored pony, only to point at Armalum. "So...who is it you have under there? Did another pony like Tempest join the Storm King, only to end up as his host?"

"Oh no," Void moved over to Armalum. "There's nopony under there." He reached up and grabbed Armalum's face, a flash of light causing the armor to vanish as he pulled the mask away to reveal a mechanical doll. Pieces of the doll were made of the black rock stuff that had powered the Trials and had stabbed into Flash twice now. "I built his artificial body and began powering it with Corrupted Shadow, allowing Armalum freedom of movement without the need to inhabit a body that might try and fight back against him." He replaced the mask and Armalum's armor reappeared around the doll as Void turned back to them, "And now we reach the end game. The Storm King gets his alicorns, I'll get my Sacred Light, and you'll have to suffer through it all. How wonderful it is to have everypony get what they deserve."

"Don't be an idiot," Flash instantly responded, "You really think the Storm King's gonna let someone with power equaling his stick around?!"

"Yeah!" Heart nodded, "Even if you manage to get your hands on the Sacred Light, I bet the Storm King wouldn't let that power be around his!"

Void simply chuckled at this. "Of course I know. There can only be one all powerful being in this world, and that...will be me. And before the Storm King can think of a plan to get rid of me...I'll have already gotten rid of him. He's an utter fool after all, and I plan to remove him as soon as I have the Sacred Light. Besides, he's already done all the grunt work in conquering Equestria's capital, the rest of the kingdom won't be a problem. Soon, all of Equestria will be mine as it always should have been. And who knows, I might just decide to free the magicless princesses from their stony prisons. I will need some entertainment when ruling gets boring." He glanced over at Twilight, looking her up and down with a smile that made Twilight shiver. That is, till he glared at Soul, the filly quickly hiding behind the older alicorn.

Flash growled again, trying to summon his Sacred Light, but a flinch of pain from his quickly healing wound made him stumble, only for Void to say, "Well, I'm going to be going." He spun aroung at this, "I have a few final preparations before we reach Canterlot." He glanced back at Flash, "I'd suggest you enjoy the time you all have left together. After it, you'll never see one another again...and you have no idea how happy that makes me."

With that, he was gone and Armalum left with him. The four ponies all hung there, letting what Void told them sink in. "We've got to get outta here!" Twilight yelled before she leapt back and charged up as much magic as she could muster, then fired. The blast struck the bars, turning into simple bursts that changed into sparkly rain that faded away. And as this happened, somepony appeared from out of the darkness where Void had left a minute ago. Tempest.

"Aww," she chuckled as she walked up to them, "The Princess of Friendship...with no friends!" She let out a cackle until she heard Flash clear his throat, making her turn to him and realize her statement wasn't true. "And no way out." She corrected as she circled around the cage, Twilight making sure to stay between her and Soul.

"Why are you doing this?" She asked, "You're a pony, just like us!" But when she said that, Tempest shot up and slammed her broken horn onto the bars. It unleashed a stream of blue electricity, illuminating the bar and sent a few rogue bolts into the cage that made Twilight gasp and push Soul back.

"I'm nothing like you! I'm more than you'll ever be!" She roared, the group all flinching at her words, only for music to start playing in their heads. It appeared even evil ponies still had the need to sing their feelings at appropriate times.


[Tempest]
It's time you learned a lesson
It's time that you understand
Don't ever count on anybody else
In this or any other land


Tempest circled around Twilight's cage all while singing, only to step away from the princess with her back away from the mare.


[Tempest]
I once hoped for friendship
To find a place among my kind
But those were the childish wishes
Of someone who was blind


She spun around as steam from the lava below them flew up in a stream on either side of her.


[Tempest]
Open up your eyes
See the world from where I stand
Me, among the mighty
You, caged at my command


She walked over to Twilight's cage and spun it around as she kept singing. When Twilight stopped spinning, Tempest grabbed her by the chin and forced her to look up into her eyes.


[Tempest]
Open up your eyes
Give up your sweet fantasy land
It's time to grow up and get wise
Come now, little one, open up your eyes


And as she sang, Tempest told them a tale. A tale of a little unicorn filly with many friends that she loved to play with since she could use her magic with incredible skill in their games. But then one day, those friends lost their ball in a forest cave outside their hometown. And when that filly bravely ventured in to retrieve it, she found that the cave was home to an Ursa Minor. The beast, with a single swipe of its claws, broke the filly's horn from her head and left a large scar over her eye. The child was barely able to escape and spent months recuperating, but there were some things that just couldn't be healed. This included her horn, which she could no longer use properly.

When she returned to her friends and attempted to use her broken horn to play, all she could do was unleash sparks of raw magic that scared them. The friends quickly abandoned her, finding another unicorn that had a lot of skill with her horn, leaving the filly lost and alone.


[Tempest]
And as you take that first step
Upon a path that's all your own
You see it all so clearly
The best way to survive is all alone


She turned to glare at Twilight as she began to ascend a staircase leading up to the cage controls.


[Tempest]
Open up your eyes
See the world from where I stand
Me, among the mighty
You, caged at my command


She pulled a lever and the cages began to be pulled upward.


[Tempest]
Open up your eyes
And behold the faded light


She stopped Twilight's cage and smiled at her as Twilight felt all hope for saving her home dwindle away.


[Tempest]
It's time to grow up and get wise
Come now, little one, open up your eyes


She let the cage go and the pair were lifted up onto the airship's main deck. And when they were, the caged ponies gasped when they saw where they were.


[Tempest]
Open up your eyes!


In the not too far off distance, the mountain that held the city of Canterlot could be seen surrounded by a thick layer of smog. It was surrounded by multiple zeppelins, clearly ready for any kind of aerial attack. Staring at it like this, Twilight couldn't see how any of her friends would hope to free the city from the Storm King's control. Even with the dragons and changelings, the odds felt insurmountable.

But despite this, she also felt pity for Tempest as she let the story she told sink in. "I'm so sorry you felt so alone."

Tempest rolled her eyes at this, "I saw the truth. My friends abandoned me when times got tough." She glanced back at her, "Looks like I'm not the only one." Twilight grimaced at this, "Face it princess, friendship has failed you too."

She walked off, leaving the ponies to dwell on those words. "Friendship didn't fail me," the princess whimpered out, "I failed friendship." She looked down in shame and the others couldn't say anything, the three simply staring at their home and the fate it was currently suffering.

"Springer," Flash whispered, "Everypony. It's up to you now." Heart heard this and sighed, hating that his mentor had given up. If only he had been stronger.





Back near Mount Aris, Springer and the ponies were all laying about on the beach. Despair had overtaken them all, the hurt of what Twilight had said stinging greatly. Fluttershy let out a sigh as she ran her hooves through her mane. "This whole journey was such a mistake." She sighed as she fought back tears, slowly shrinking down to mouse size. "All we wanted was somepony to help us."

Springer, who currently standing on the ocean angrily skimming rocks, turned to the others and could feel their pain. He himself was also feeling pain, fearing what those monsters could have done to Ace and Mira by now. He then heard Applejack sigh, "Ya think maybe it's time we talk to Twilight?"

"They've...been...TAKEN!" They all turned to see Spike running down the beach, looking out of breath.

"What?!" Rainbow yelped as Spike reached them.

"Twilight!" He yelled, "Flash, the twins...they've all been taken! Tempest! She grabbed them! And took them away on her ship!" This caused them all to go wide-eyed, Springer now shattering the rock he was holding in his paws.

"We gotta get'em back!" Rainbow told the others.

"How?" Fluttershy asked as she grew back to normal, "We'll never catch up to an airship!"

"And we got no way to defeat those monsters," Applejack added, "Dah dragons and changelin's won't attack until they get word from us, and we don't have anything to send ta them! By dah time they send us another message, it'll probably be too late."

Fluttershy sighed at this, Springer turning back to the ocean. But as he did this, he sensed something. "Who's there!" He made an Aura Blast, pointing it at some rocks, "Come out here!" A moment later, a figure stepped out from the rocks, a figure they all knew.

"No need to blast me," Capper replied, "And you're in luck, cuz I happen to know of a group of mighty heroes that could handle this easily!"

"Well!" Rarity growled, "Look what the cat dragged in! Himself!"

Capper chuckled at them as he continued his speech. "These heroes have faced the Storm King's army and escaped!" All but Springer and Applejack became very invested in his words. "I've seen them tackle the streets of the roughest towns, break out of the tightest situations, and inspire others to join their cause!"

"Ooooh," they all said before Applejack spoke up.

"Now don't get too excited. He's just talkin' about us."

"Awww," they all moaned as Capper chuckled and leapt off the rock.

"They even escaped certain doom at the hooves of Commander Tempest!"

"Yeah," Rainbow added, "That was pretty great."

"Are you kidding me?!" Another voice called out, making them look up to see Captain Celaeno and her crew atop the cliff above them. "That was awesome!" She exclaimed as they leapt down and landed next to them, one of the pirates letting out a might squawk.

"Figured you could use a claw!" Boyle laughed, holding up his clawed metal hand.

"We're on board to help you fight the Storm King!" Celaeno told them before looking sheepish, "Just not on board our...actual ship."

"That crazy unicorn sunk it," Mullet growled before pointing at Rainbow. "But you got back our argh! And we're ready to kick some booty." The other pirates all laughed in agreement as Celaeno drew her sword, the others smiling at this. But before they could say anything, a new sound caught their attention. It was coming from the ocean, the group turning to see a large circle of bubbles.

"Whoa!" They all yelped as something flew out of the water that was covered in sparkling light. It was a brilliant cocoon that burst open, shattering to reveal a young half bird half pony creature with a light blue mane and tail.

"Is that what I think it is?" Capper asked, the others simply standing there with their eyes wide.

Princess Skystar glided down and landed on a rock in the middle of the water, "Hellooooooo!!" She sang, "Me again!" She let out a series of giggles, "I'm gonna get so grounded, but I talked things over with Shelly and Sheldon and they pointed out that you were just trying to help your friends." Pinkie's smile grew huge as she walked up to her, "So I wanna help too." She flew onto the beach and smiled at the party pony, then held up her now claw tipped front legs. "'Cause ya know...one small thing..." She whispered the next part, "Can make a really big difference!"

"That's it, right?" Spike asked, "We didn't make friends with anypony else?"

The others smiled as Springer stepped up next to Capper. "Let's get to Canterlot," he cracked his knuckles. "Are friends need us and we've got a lot of ground to cover."

It was here that Capper pulled something out of his coat: A couple sheets of paper. "Figured you might need some more," he told Spike as the dragon grabbed them along with a pencil. "Ya'll ready to do this thang!?" The others nodded with a smirk as Pinkie turned in the direction of home.

"We're coming Twilight!" The others nodded, cheering loudly while Rainbow and Skystar took to the air. "As soon as we bake up a plan!" That statement got everypony to stop, "So..." Pinkie turned to the others, "Got any ideas?" There was no response. "Nothing?"

"That's usually Twilight's area," Applejack pointed out.

"Maybe," Springer chimed in, "But we know Twilight better than anypony. We know that if she was here and not one hundred percent stressed out from what was going on, she would find a way to use our strengths but also use our weaknesses."

"Weaknesses?" Rainbow asked, "How do we use our weaknesses?"

Springer smirked at her. "Rainbow, you're cocky and confident. Tempest probably thinks you'll go in guns blazing without a plan. So use that. Let them think that's what you're doing to lull them into a false sense of security, then hit 'em where it hurts with your super speed." Rainbow grinned at this as Springer turned to Applejack. "Applejack, you care about others more than anypony I know of. Especially your family. They'll probably try and use them as a shield to beat you." Applejack looked angry at this, "But a trapper's trap can trap the trapper. When we get there, find your family and anypony else you know can help and free them."

"You got it," Applejack tipped her hat as Springer turned to Rarity.

"You might seem ladylike and nothing to fear, but I've seen you become the most brutally dangerous pony when you wanna be. Show the Storm King being beautiful doesn't mean being weak." Rarity nodded and flicked her mane as Springer turned to Fluttershy. "You're one of the most special ponies in the world. You see the good in others, when even they don't see it in themselves. I can't imagine the Storm King's army is one hundred percent bad. Find those who seem hesitant and show them the Storm King doesn't have to dictate how they live their lives."

Fluttershy nodded back, not looking scared at all. "Okay."

Springer glanced over at Spike, "Spike, your loyalty to Twilight speaks volumes. You'll go above and beyond for her. And you're not some weak little kid like you used to be. You're a Mystic Flame Dragon. Son of dragon heroes. Show the world why you hold the title of number one assistant."

"Oh yeah," Spike breathed a short fire blast as Springer turned to Pinkie.

"And Pinkie. You might act like a brainless goofball, but you're one of the smartest ponies I know. Even smarter than Twilight in some areas. But it's that goofball side of you that makes you so dangerous. You're so unpredictable, it's impossible to figure out what you'll do next. So use that to throw them all off."

"He's right," Pinkie cheered, "Let's use our strengths and our weaknesses. Let's take Equestria back, save our friends and have a lot of fun while doing it!"

"YEAH!" The others cheered as Pinkie's eyes suddenly went wide.

"I think I have an idea," she turned to Fluttershy. "Remember when you and Twilight went on that mission to the Smoky Mountains?" Fluttershy nodded again, "Tell me everything that happened."





Canterlot...

Now that the ponies had finished building the strange contraption for them, they were now being led around on chains like dogs while others were forced to weight on the creatures by giving them back massages and filing their claws down. If this was what the future of ponykind was like, many were praying for their lives to end.

But some kept hope, one of them being Songbird Serenade. The mare was locked in a cage, singing a song about breaking through a storm in a hope that the ponies wouldn't give up. But she soon stopped when a Storm Guard slammed the side of her cage, saying something in its language she could only assume was a threat to shut up. She sighed at this as the sound of two carts rolling through the street made them look up, going wide-eyed as they saw Twilight, Flash and the twins being pushed through the street.

The ponies all gasped at this, seeing that the two most powerful ponies left in Equestria were now prisoners like them. Songbird and Twilight locked eyes with one another, Twilight giving her a look of sorrow and apology before looking down in shame. And as they continued through the city until they reached the castle, they spotted some of their friends still chained to a post. "Twilight!" Starlight cried, only to almost be whipped by one of the Storm Guards.

Flash glanced up and saw Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle in a cage further down the street, but he didn't spot Scootaloo or his parents. Twilight's parents were also nowhere to be seen, though he hoped they were okay. And as the carts came to a stop, they saw the device now completed.

"Excellent," Void chuckled as he looked it over. "I assume it's been built exactly to my specifications?" The Storm Guards nodded back, "It better be. You'll be using it first." They gulped at this as Void turned to Flash. "Well my friends, it seems we've reached the end of the line. I hope you've said goodbye to your loved ones."

"Where are you taking him?" Soul asked as the Storm Guards powered up the device. They watched as the lightning appeared and formed the swirling vortex, Twilight going wide-eyed at this.

"A Rune Gate...but how?! We've only recently invented that!"

Void laughed at her face, "Oh please, you think something this simple couldn't be figured out by me?! Pathetic." Void spat as the portal grew larger and larger. "This tech is something I figured out years ago. Granted, this one is only a two-way system, but I'd prefer not to have these knuckle heads work on anything too tricky."

He turned to Flash and Heart's cage as he raised his hoof, which sparked with lightning. He then thrust it into the cage and the lightning struck the pair, who started screaming while their friends called out their names. "Ahhh!" Flash fell to the cage's floor, Heart slumping down beside him. He felt himself barely able to remain conscious as Void let out a chuckle.

The floor of the cage retracted and the Storm Guards lifted it up, allowing two others to grab Flash by the front hooves and pull him along the ground. A smaller cage was brought over, this one having a tub-like floor that was filled with water. The top was open as Armalum picked Heart up and dropped him inside, soaking him to the bone as he shut the top.

The colt gasped as he woke up, lifting his head up out of the water, only to find that was the only part of his body in the small cage that was dry. He looked through the bars and gasped seeing Flash being pulled towards the portal. "Where are you taking him?" He heard Twilight ask as one of the Storm Guards carefully stepped through the portal.

"Where it all began," Void smirked as the Storm Guard returned and gave them a thumbs up. "Excellent." The two carrying Flash pulled him through next.

"FLASH!" Heart cried, seeing his mentor disappear. "No..." He then heard a noise and turned to see a Storm Guard stabbing Lightbringer into the ground.

"I'll leave that there until I'm finished," Void chuckled, "It'll make a fun souvenir to remember the day I finally triumphed over that worthless fool." He and Armalum walked through the portal as Twilight and Soul were pulled away to the castle.

"This isn't over Void!" Heart yelled, "You'll pay for this!"

Void stopped in front of the portal and glanced back at Heart, "And who'll be the one to make me pay? You?" Heart flinched at this, "That's what I thought. Face it kid, if Flash Sentry couldn't beat me, then what hope do you have? You think you're special because you can shoot fire? Any unicorn could do that if they trained hard enough." Heart looked down at this, "Sentry might have made you his student, but nothing you do will ever allow you to succeed him. I'm actually doing you a favor, since the only way you'll ever get out of his shadow is for him to not be around anymore. You're welcome." He turned back to the portal, "I'll be back once this is all over. Don't have too much fun without me." With that, he and Armalum vanished.

Heart watched this and slumped back in the cold water. "Heart!" Trixie called out to him, "What happened?!"

"We lost," Heart replied, "Because Void's right. I'm not Flash, at least not the older Flash. I'm the Flash of his younger days, just like the other knights said." Tears began to well up, "I'm a loser."





Twilight continued to hug Soul as they were carted through the now dimly lit castle. And as they arrived at the throne room, the Storm Guards pushing it open. The once beautiful room was now dark and depressing, as the stain class windows that were supposed to fill the room with light now covered by Storm King banners.

The two spotted the three fossilized princesses near the throne, Grubber using a feather duster on them and smiling when he and Tempest locked eyes. A pattern had been drawn on the floor, which was a circle along with a four petalled flower. Each statue was positioned on the tip of a petal while their cage was placed on the final petal. A hole was also in the middle of the petal, and as soon as the cage was lowered, the Storm Guards led the ponies pulling the cart away.

Grubber shut the doors and laughed as Twilight turned to her captor. "Tempest, don't do this. Don't give the Storm King-"

"Your magic?" Tempest glared at her. "Did you think you'd keep it all to yourself?!" Twilight flinched at this, Tempest grinning at the sight, "Time to share." She looked away and closed her eyes, imagining what it was gonna be like when the Storm King restored her horn. "I'd love for everypony out there to know what I can really do."

"Ooh," every head shot up and turned to a doorway beside the royal throne, "Fascinating!" The voice's owner stepped through the door, Twilight and Soul finally coming face to face with the one behind their misery. The Storm King stood tall, his staff gripped tightly in hand as he looked down at Tempest. "What can you really do?"

Tempest flinched at this as Grubber spoke up. "Your bidding, of courth, Your Mighty One." He bowed, then looked around before rushing out of the room so quickly that Twilight wondered if somepony had hit fast forward on the DVD.

The Storm King trotted up to the cage, a childish smirk appearing on his lips. "Bidding's good. I like bidding!" As he spoke, Twilight felt something in her heart drift away. Fear.

The Storm King, who she had heard again and again ruled through fear and threats, didn't sound like the kind of evil tyrants she had met. Sombra, Chrysalis and Tirek, all felt more dangerous then him. Even Discord, who liked to joke even when he was a villain, felt more threatening. Even so, Twilight knew she couldn't take him likely. Even if he sounded and looked like a joke, he still commanded the army that had actually conquered her home.

The satyr then noticed Twilight and Soul, raising an eyebrow and pointing a claw at them. "Um, what are you supposed to be?"

Twilight pushed Soul behind her and stood tall, "I'm the Princess of Friendship!"

But as she said this, the Storm King simply laughed and clutched his stomach. "Oh," he wiped away a tear. "That's nice." He turned to Tempest, his smirk vanishing with a deadly glare replacing it. "Why are these ones still moving?"

"They and their friends put up a bit of a fight, but they're alone now." She turned to smirk at them, "They won't be a problem." Her smirk vanished when the Storm King patted her on the head and stroked his claws through her mane like he would a pet dog.

"Yeah. So..." he looked around the throne room with disgust, "Speaking of problems, this place, it seems a little too...oh, I don't know...CUTE!!!" His roar echoed through the throne room as he turned to Tempest. "I don't like cute! I never did like cute! Doesn't really go with my whole big bad powerful magic guy thing, does it?! Deliver the punchline, Tempest, because this has gotta be a joke!"

With that, he thrust the staff into the hole in the center of the flower. Twilight and Soul watched as the staff unleashed a light that made the pattern light up. When the light touched them and the other princesses, veins of light flew up their legs and bodies until they reached their horns. Both mares cried out as they felt the magic flow through them before exploding out their horns. "NO!" Twilight cried as the fives lights struck the staff, the Storm King laughing.

"Check out the light show!" He cheered as all the magic in the five alicorns was completely drained from them, Twilight and Soul both falling to the floor.

Magic gone, Twilight could only cry as she heard the Storm King laugh. Soul was the same, laying behind her as the two had fulfilled their role for these monsters. And as they laid there, Twilight could only think about how she had failed her friends, her friendship and Flash. And that lost thought made her cry even harder, the princess fearing it was already too late for him.





Flash moaned as he began to come around. When he did, he felt his hooves and wings were pulled back by something strong and tight. He opened his eyes, only to see he was locked into shackles that were connected to a chain that was wrapped around a giant wooden post. He looked around, only to see his other hooves and wings were tied up in the same way.

His eyes glanced around, only to see that the wooden post he was connected to was actually a giant tree. A huge one that was even bigger and thicker than Twilight's castle. He was suspended about halfway up the tree, Flash realizing the chains holding him were wrapped all the way around the trunk.

"What is this place?" He asked, only for Void to appear in front of him.

"Morning sleepyhead," he chuckled as he was standing on a hovering metal saucer. Armalum was next to him, on his own saucer. "Ready to get started?"

"Where are we?" Flash asked.

"What, don't you recognise it? I'll admit, I was surprised to see it like this as well. If Faust had a real form, I bet she would have green hooves. That's the only explanation for why this massive tree has grown where the city once stood in such a short amount of time."

Flash let that info sink in, only to go wide-eyed. He now recognized the place, the area that the Lost City of Faust had been. Where Flash and Shadow had met and fought. Where all this started. "Why come back here?"

"To settle things once and for all," Void smirked, "This was where I was supposed to become the most powerful being in existence, so this is where my return to power will take place. Now," he held up his hoof and placed it onto the spot Armalum had stabbed, "Let's get to work." The black veins suddenly began shrinking as he absorbed the Corrupted Shadow inside of Flash, both ponies flinching at it.

Void quickly placed his other hoof onto Armalum, the Corrupted Shadow flying through his body and into the armor. When the last of it was sucked out, both Flash and Void gasped as they felt the pain be relieved.

"Finally," Void sighed. "Now," he turned back to Flash, "Unleash your Sacred Light! Give it to me!"

Flash raised an eyebrow at this, only to roll his eyes, "Oh...so you need me to give it to you. Can't drain it from my unless I'm using it, just like most of your Trials." He couldn't see Void's face, but Flash knew he was likely scowling at him. "Sorry to tell you this, but you're not getting your hooves on my power. If you think I'd just give you the Sacred Light, then you're even more crazy than I thought."

"Oh, you'll give it to me." Void held up his hoof as it began to spark, "Because you'll be feeling nothing but agony unless you do." With that, he thrust his hoof out and started unleashing a blast of lightning. The pegasus screamed at this, every nerve in his body now being frying. Void chuckled at the pain on Flash's face, hoping this process would be long and slow, wanting to see the pony suffer. And soon, he would have the Sacred Light and the Storm King wielding the alicorn magic of the four princesses, plus one filly, and nothing and nopony would be able to stop them.
> Chapter 7
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The Storm King stared at his staff in amazement, the crystal on the head glowing with the stolen power of the five alicorns. "Whoa..." he gasped as he swung it around and unleashed several bolts of lightning. "Wow! Let's get this storm started! Oh hey, that's good! I should trademark that!"

Twilight was now slumped over, slowly turning her head to her young charge. "Soul," she whispered, "Are you okay?" She heard the filly crying, the alicorn draping her wing over the filly before hearing a rumble a chuckling.

Turning back, she saw the Storm King smirking at them, the pony going wide-eyed as she saw the Storm King point the staff at their cage and fire a beam of energy. The cage was blasted into the back wall, causing both it and the cage to shatter as Twilight held onto to Soul.

"Ahhh!" She cried as she hit the balcony floor, sliding along it. Twilight wanted to scream at Soul to fly away, but knew it wouldn't work.

"Not bad," she heard the king cackle, "Actually, kinda first rate." He swung the staff around, "What else does it do?"

As he poked the crystal, Tempest stepped out behind him, "Your Excellency, you promised to restore my horn and give me-"

"Deh-deh-deh-deh-deh," he held up a hand to stop her from speaking, "Okay. Hang on." He lifted the staff, and when he did, the sun moved position in the sky, moving to where the tip was pointing. The King laughed as he swiped the staff around, the sun following every movement, even setting when he pointed at the ground. "You gotta be kiddin' me! I can move the sun?!" He laughed again and kept talking as he stepped over Twilight and Soul, not even noticing them now that they were weak and pathetic.

Twilight turned to glare at Tempest, unable to believe she would allow such a childish buffoon gain unimaginable power. Tempest seemed to also see what a waste this idiot having that power was, but she had come this far and walked over to the Storm King.

"Ha ha!" He laughed as he was at the edge of the balcony and pointed the staff toward the horizon. "Time to play!" And with that, he started swapping the sun and the moon in quick succession while also listing off the days of the week. He was like a child playing with a new toy, one that didn't belong to him...and he had no intention of giving it back.





"GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Flash's screams echoed into the dark cloud filled sky, as Void continued to electrocute him. The evil pony had been laughing at the start, only for his coughs to return, making him growl as he pulled back after a few minutes.

"Willing to play ball now?" He asked as Armalum floated behind him.

Flash took several deep breaths, his slumped over body smoking as he slowly lifted his head, "Drop dead." Void scowled beneath his mask and upped the voltage of his next blast, Flash screaming again as his entire body thrashed around.

"Just give up...give me your power already!" Void roared as Flash screamed, "The Sacred Light is mine!"





As the sun and moon continued to switch places, a small group had arrived outside of Canterlot. Capper was leading the five ponies toward the gates, the cat still not sure how Pinkie Pie had gotten them there so quickly. The ponies behind him were all chained up and muzzled, pulling a large cart with a giant cake behind them. On top of the cake, a small purple dragon was standing perfectly while unleashing a tiny flame from its mouth.

When they arrived at the main gates, the two Storm Guards crossed their spears to stop them. "Uh, yeah," the baker dressed cat told the guards. "I got a delivery here for a Mister 'The Storm King'," he showed them the order slip. "I was given explicit instructions to bring this here cake to this here castle's throne room."

The beasts glared at him before staring at the cake and letting out a bunch of growls and pointing their spears at him. "All right, then." He began to backpedal, "Look here. Could one o' y'all go be a pal and go tell your boss he's not gettin' his congratulations on subduing defenseless pastel ponies cake?" He spun around at this, "Cause I don't wanna be the one responsible for the big guy missin' his special dessert. You know what I'm sayin'?" He stepped over to the ponies and used his paws to count down from three. As soon as he hit zero, the guards lowered their weapons and stepped aside. Pinkie smiled at this and Capper winked before they made their way past the guards. "Thank you kindly, fellas. I'mma be sure and put in a good word for the botha y'all."

The ponies passed the guards, all of them glaring at them, Applejack whispering to Pinkie, "Pinkie! Quit lookin' so happy! Ya ain't foolin' nopony!"

"Oh!" Pinkie replied quietly, "Okay!" Her expression then did a one eighty, the mare now whimpering as they made their way through the city. They saw their friends all chained up, caged and forced to do labor. Applejack and Rarity spotted their caged sisters and the fillies gasped when they saw this, Applejack winking at them.

And as they made their way to the castle, Grubber walked down the street and into a stand. "Mmm!" He smirked from behind a pie stand. "Pie!" But just as he was about to eat it, he spotted the cake. "Oh," he rushed over to it, "Hello cake!" He leapt onto the cart and swiped his claw through the icing. "Ooh! Don't mind if I do!" But as he pulled his hands away, it revealed an eyeball poking out of the cake. "Mmm! That's some, like, gourmet ithing!" But then he noticed the eye, which made him blink, "Who putth eyeballth in filling?" The eye then blinked, making Grubber yelp before spinning around and yelling, "Guards!" Before one of the parrots shot out of the cake and pulled him inside.

But the outcry was heard, the surrounding Storm Guards turning to them. "Uh-oh," Capper gulped as the forces glared at the group. "Plan B?"

"The jig is up!" Rainbow yelled before slamming her hoof into the cart. Barely a second later, the cake exploded, Springer leading Skystar and the pirates out of the cake before firing a beam of light straight into the sky.

This sight was caught by the Storm King and the ponies at the castle, Twilight gasping as she knew it was Springer. "What's that?" The Storm King asked, staring up at the laser as it cut through the clouds. When it did, it revealed something that had been hiding above them. "And what's that?"

It was two large groups of creatures. One was a reptilian army while the others were pony bug hybrids: The dragons and the changelings.

"Dragons!" Dragon Lord Ember roared, "ATTACK!"

"Changelings!" King Thorax announced, "Free the ponies!" The two armies dived down, the ponies watching in amazement while the Storm Guards were in utter shock. The dragons reached the city and started launching fireballs, the flames hitting their shields and spears and melting them. The changelings also turned into giant armadillo-like creatures, rolling up and crashing into the many Storm Guards. When they did this, they morphed into maulwurfs and other large clawed creatures, all slashing through the chains and cages that trapped the other ponies. The counterattack had begun.





Flash screamed again as Void continued to zap him, the pony no longer laughing. Instead, he was growling at the defender, "Why?! Why won't you give up already?!" He asked after stopping his assault, "Don't you understand?! It's over! You lost! Equestria is no longer yours, or the princesses! It's fate now rests in my hooves, don't you get that already?!" Flash said nothing and just kept hanging there. "Think of it this way. Who would you rather have ruling Equestria? Some insane and childish non-pony, or me, an already proven leader who is actually a pony!" Flash still said nothing, "Well?!"

"You're no leader," Flash muttered out with his head lowered. "You're the furthest thing from a leader."

"Excuse me?!" Void grabbed his mane and pulled him to look into his eyes. "Wanna repeat that?!"

"I said you're no leader," Flash spat, "Leaders, true leaders, are those that put themselves last. They use the power they wield in the service of others. That's why the only leaders I'll ever bow to are the four princesses: Celestia, Luna, Cadance and Twilight. The four ponies that have earned the right to lead Equestria."

"Maybe they earned it once," Void hissed as he let Flash go with a yank, "But they lost it the moment they allowed themselves to be defeated. Now, it will belong to me, its true ruler!" He began to float away at this, "You know, maybe if they focused more on gaining more power instead of silly little festivals, then they wouldn't have lost so easily. I mean, how many times have you and your friends had to pick up the slack for Celestia?! She's thought of as all powerful, but she's needed saving so many times it's probably a running joke somewhere." But as he said this, Flash let out a chuckle, "What?! What's so funny?!"

"Yeah, Celestia has been beaten a few times. But you know what, that's okay." Void tilted his head at this. "Celestia's biggest accomplishments have never been defeating powerful foes like Tirek or Nightmare Moon. Her greatest accomplishments are the ponies she's helped raise. The Wonderbolts, the Royal Knights, Twilight and my friends...thanks to her, each of them have had the freedom to grow and discover their own version of strength. And trust me. That strength will outmatch you all a hundred times over."





The Canterlot War was now in full swing, ponies, dragons and changelings all working together to defeat the Storm Guards and rescue the citizens.

More and more ponies were freed as the fight raged on, the main battle being with the remaining Mane Seven and their new friends. Applejack used her lasso skills to tie the beasts up while Rarity and Capper worked together to trip them. "Lovely," she smiled after tying them up in a giant bowed ribbon.

"Surprise!" Pinkie leapt up to a guard and held out a present, the guard dropping his weapons and taking it as Pinkie vanished. But when he undid the box, Pinkie shot out of it while holding a cupcake. "Double surprise!!" She thrust the cupcake into his face, making him stagger back as Pinkie began to unleash a barrage of cupcakes on him.

Fluttershy continued running, but stopped when a spear stabbed the ground in front of her. "Ooh!" The Storm Guard glared at her, making her quiver, only for the mare to remember what Springer had told her. "You seem tense," she showed a caring smile. "Do you wanna talk about it?" The Storm Guard blinked at her, raising an eyebrow. "Come on, sit down with me and tell me why you're so tense."





"You said our friendship made us weak," Flash slowly muttered out, "That relying on others means your useless on your own. But you're wrong. Don't forget, I beat you because I knew my friends believed in me."

"That was just luck and the Sacred Light. Your pathetic friends had nothing to do with that!"

"No, that was the power of friendship. A power that can never exist in a world run by those like you. And when somepony sees their friends in trouble, that power will allow them to do the impossible."





Up near the portal, Heart heard an explosion. He and his friends had seen the dragons and changelings appear, the colt now staring at his cage and the water in it. He quickly began slamming into the sides of the cage, knocking it back and forth until he finally tipped it over. "Ahhh!" He cried as the water fell out, dunking his head into it. And once the last of the water was spilled out, he held up his hooves.

His friends watched as the soaked colt attempted to heat himself back up. And as he did, they began trying to free themselves. The group tried to reach over and remove the horn rings from the unicorns, but they were just out of reach.

"Come on!" Heart roared as his body began to steam up, the water slowly evaporating. And as he did this, several Storm Guards ran into the area. They pointed at the ponies and yelled something they couldn't understand, the ponies assuming they intended to use them as shields to stop the invaders.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Heart screamed as he then exploded into flames before firing a blast that melted the bars of his cage. His friends gasped at this as the pegasus leapt out of his cage and glared at the charging monsters. "BACK OFF!" He unleashed a massive burst of fire that struck the ground in front of the Storm Guards, making them cry out and run back the way they came.





"You think you've won because you captured the princess and the Royal Knights?" Flash asked, Void not replying. "You're wrong. They might have fallen, but there'll always be ponies willing to fight and protect their homes and their friends. Take down the princess, the Royal Knights or my friends will step in. Take them down, then ponies like Trixie, Starlight and others will step up. No matter how many ponies you beat, there will always be another waiting to help them."

"Then I'll beat them too," Void responded, "I am unbeatable! I will always win!"

"Oh please. Do you really think you can win every time?" Flash scoffed, "Face it, reigns like yours never last because ponies who are willing to put everything on the line will appear."





Heart turned to his friends as Starlight managed to get the ring off Trixie's horn, the mare teleporting out of the chains as Script turned to him. "Destroy that staff!"

Heart turned to the machine and nodded, flying up to it while grabbing Lightbringer. He then swung the Celestic Gear into the staff, shattering it in one blow. The energy field covering the city fizzled away, the ponies that had been taken now instantly reappearing.

"What the?" Grand asked as he glanced around, now seeing the enemy he had been fighting had vanished.

"What just happened?" Cold added as the other knights appeared.

"Everypony!" Heart cheered as he landed, "You're back!"

He hugged Grand, the knight glancing down at the colt, "Did we go somewhere?" The older knight asked, only for an explosion to appear in the distance, the knights looking up and seeing the dragons and changelings battling the Storm Guards. "Okay...clearly we missed something."

"We'll catch up later," Ruby chimed in, "Let's get back into this fight!" The others nodded, and as Trixie freed the others, the greatest warriors in Equestria charged into the battle.





"An Equestria with ponies like you in charge will begin with you and end with you, because there is no hope. The world Celestia and the other princesses created is a world with no last hope."





Captain Celaeno kicked a Storm Guard away and slashed at another, locking weapons with it until Rainbow flew down and tackled it. "Yeah!" The pegasus cheered as she soared around with a smirk on her face. That smirk doubled when Soarin suddenly appeared. "Soarin! You're okay!"

"Thanks to you all!" Soarin laughed as the other Wonderbolts appeared along with Skybreaker, Heart and several other ponies.

"Springer!" Heart yelled when he saw the jakhowl knock a Storm Guard down with a Bone Breaker, "Listen! Void is Shadow Corrupter!" The ponies who knew that name gasped as they kept fighting, "Faust took his Corrupted Shadow and he thinks the only way to keep himself alive is to take Flash's Sacred Light."

Springer blinked at the colt before saying, "Void is Shadow...but that means if the Corrupted Shadow was infused into his spirit, then having it ripped out would..." He shook his head as Celaeno knocked a Storm Guard down, "No time to think. We gotta save Flash and Twilight!"

"Head for the castle!" The parrot captain called out with a swing of her sword, "We'll hold them off!" Starlight, Trixie, Rogue, the Wonderbolts, dragons and changelings all appeared at this, knocking away more beasts.

"Come on!" Rainbow exclaimed as she led the group toward the castle, the only one staying behind Fluttershy as she was comforting the storm creature that was bawling his eyes out.

"Let it all out," she told him while patting his shoulder, only to hear her friends yell her name. "Oh!" She smiled at him, "Sorry. Your time is up." She spread her wings and flew away, "Buh-bye!" The storm creature returned the statement as she caught up with the others, smiling when she and Iron locked eyes.





"That's why, even if you and the Storm King get our magic, you won't win. Because Equestria isn't a place. It isn't a large speck of land with multiple buildings in it. It's the ponies, dragons, jakhowls and many other creatures that live there. And as long as they're alive and defy you, even if it's only one pony, you'll never win."





They reached the bridge leading to the castle and Heart pointed at the rune gate. "There! Void and Armalum took Flash through there!"

Springer ran ahead at this, before glancing back at the knights, "I know what we need to do! Grand, Ruby, Cold, Iron and Heart, I need you to come with me to save Flash!"

"Us?" Ruby asked, but saw a smirk on Springer's face that told her he had a plan. "Okay," she turned to the others, "You in?" They all nodded except for one, "Heart?"

The colt flinched at this, "You really want my help? I'm...I'm not as strong as you all."

"Heart," he turned to Springer, seeing a big smile on his face, "You can do this. I need you. Flash needs you. Are you gonna turn your back on him when you know you can help? That doesn't sound like you."

Heart stared at him, only to hear the cries of more Storm Guards appearing behind them. Skystar appeared at this, yelling, "Keep going!" They nodded and ran ahead, Heather, First and Tidal staying behind as the hippogriff took out her googly eyed clams. "Shelly. Sheldon." She threw them at the closest guard and blinded him, Tidal unleashing a blast of water the knocked another one down while Heather used her chain mace to wrap up another and throw him at the others.

The others reached the end of the bridge and found several more Storm Guards, but Capper used Spike like a flamethrower while Lightning electrocuted several more, letting the two groups pass, Springer and his chosen ponies rushing over to the machine.

As this was happening, Tempest, Twilight, Soul and the Storm King had been watching. Tempest and the Storm King were fully wide-eyed, Tempest yelping, "What?! How?!"

Twilight and Soul smiled as the purple alicorn remembered the only power strong enough to overcome any evil, "It's...It's the Magic of-"

"Yeah, yeah!" The Storm King laughed as he pretended to hug the pair. "Friendship, and flowers, and ponies, and bleh!" He stuck his tongue out in disgust before throwing the ponies aside, "I'm so totally over the cute pony thing. This...ends...NOW!" He thrust the staff into the air, unleashing a bolt of lightning into the clouds above Canterlot.

The whole city looked up and saw the clouds begin to spiral around. "Uh oh," Capper gulped before a powerful gust of wind flew past them and almost knocked them over.

Springer saw this wind hit the Rune Gate, the blow about to break it. The jakhowl gasped as he quickly put up an Aura Guard to protect it. "Come on!" He yelled as Heart ran over to the machine. He pulled the lever and the power came on, causing it to create the rune vortex.

As it powered up, a giant tornado appeared from the sky and looked ready to suck anypony away. "Move them hooves ponies!" Capper told the others, the group running into the castle.

"Come on!" Heart yelled at the machine, Springer grimacing as he tried to keep the protective barrier up. As this happened, Iron, Cold, Ruby and Grand all stepped up and struck the ground. A giant tepee of their different elements appeared around the device, wedging into the ground to not be pulled up by the storm.

"Thanks," he sighed as he lowered the shield. They watched as the tornado grew stronger and stronger, with many Storm Guards getting swept up into it. Luckily, all their friends managed to get to safety.

"You think the others will be able to stop that thing?" Iron asked.

"They can do it. We have to save Flash before its too late." Springer replied, "After all, we know Shadow will come back here and make a mess if he gets the Sacred Light." They all nodded at this, only for the portal to finish forming. "Let's go!" He leapt into it, Iron, Ruby and Cold following him. Grand and Heart were all that was left, the earth pony turning to the colt.

"Ready?" But then he noticed the look of fear on Heart's face, "You can do this."

"How do you know?" Heart asked as something crashed against the tepee due to the wind. "What if I just make things worse? You...you all said I was just like Flash when he was a kid. A loser."

Grand sighed at this, shaking his head, "Heart, that's not what we meant." Something else crashed against the tepee. "When we called Flash a loser, we didn't mean it like that. And we don't mean it like that for you either. You're one of the biggest losers I've ever seen," Heart frown grew at this, only for Grand to add, "And you know why? Its because you're somepony who absolutely hates to lose." Heart's eyes went wide at this, "And that's what we need right now. Somepony who absolutely hates to lose."

As he said this, a massive explosion filled the air and they looked back to see Spike and the rest of the Mane Seven shooting into the air. "What the?" He asked as they flew into the tornado.

Grand smirked and grabbed Heart. "Are you ready? Because we need you to be absolutely sure that you're not gonna lose if you come with us." Heart stared at him, only to shine a big grin and nod.

"Let's go!" The two leapt into the portal, both now flying through a giant tunnel of light, "So the reason I'm a loser is because I don't like to lose?" Grand nodded as they met up with the others, the group flying up to the end of the tunnel. "So why is Flash always pulling me back whenever I try and help?"

The others smiled at this, "There's times like this that that attitude is needed." Heart turned to Grand, "But you also need to learn when to accept a loss. That's not an easy thing." Heart nodded, "But that's not why Flash pulls you back." The colt raised an eyebrow at this, making Grand chuckle, "Heart, you're just a kid. A powerful kid, but a kid all the same. You'll have your whole life to become a great hero. Flash wants you to enjoy being a kid because if you make your whole life about a single goal, then you become blinded to everything else."

"Oh...huh. Okay. I get it...I think." Heart muttered out.

"Listen Heart." Grand added as he put his hoof on the colt's shoulder, "Things are different now. You're about to go into a battle that might determine the fate of Equestria. If we win, it'll throw you into the spotlight. Ponies up until now only saw you as Flash's apprentice, a pony that would be expected to do great things one day. But that'll change once this is over. If we win, it'll mean ponies will expect you to keep doing amazing things for the rest of your life. They'll be keeping an eye on you, watching you when you fulfil your accomplishments...and judging you when you make a mistake."

"Really?" Heart asked. As he said this, his brain started playing music as Grand closed his eyes. A look of pain appeared on his face as he started singing.


[Grand]
I was younger than you are now
When I was given my first command
I led my friends straight into a massacre
I witnessed their deaths firsthand


Heart's eyes went wide hearing this.


[Grand with knights in brackets]
I made every mistake and felt the shame rise in me
And even now I lie awake, knowing history has its eyes on me (Whoa, whoa, whoa)
History has its eyes on me (Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, yeah)


Heart let these words sink in, now getting what he meant. Ponies would forever remember this day, whether it be the day of celebration for defeating an invading force, or of the turmoil for losing it. Either way, Heart would a part of this day and he would be forever remembered by his actions.


[Grand]
Let me tell you what I wish I'd known
When I was young and dreamed of glory
You have no control



[Grand and Knights]
Who lives, who dies, who tells your story



[Grand]
I know that we can win


He placed a hoof on Heart's shoulder.


[Grand with knights in brackets]
I know that greatness lies in you
But remember from here on in, history has its eyes on you (Whoa, whoa)


The end of the tunnel was coming up, which meant their battle was about to begin.


[Grand and knights]
History has its eyes on you


As his friends sung that last line, Heart felt his entire body shiver. He wouldn't let himself get scared. Springer and the others trusted him. Flash needed him. Equestria was watching him. No matter what, Heart would do everything in his power to stop Void.





Back at the tree...

Flash had finished his speech, the defender now staring at a snarling Void, "You say that I'll never win...but what do you call all this?! I'm about to rip the Sacred Light out of you, then I'll use it to slay the Storm King and take my rightful place as Equestria's ruler! Even if there are those that are foolish enough to stand against me, they won't stand a chance against the power I wield!"

"But they won't stop," Flash instantly replied, "If you want your rule over Equestria to be absolute, you'd need to eliminate every single creature that lives there. And if you do that, what's the point of ruling the kingdom then?"

"I'll find a point," Void chuckled while shrugging, "After all, if I have to eliminate everyone to rule the kingdom..." He shined a huge grin at this, "It still means I won."

"And you'll have nothing."

"You couldn't be more wrong. I'll have victory, the true display of power!" Void's grin twisted at this, "And that...is something a friendship loving idiot like you will never understand!" Void then turned to Armalum. "Alright. It's clear he's not going to break. I have to admit, his will is stronger than I thought...but there are other ways. I personally wanted to bring the purple alicorn...but I'll go for sloppy seconds. Go get the kid." Armalum nodded and his craft floated down to a perfect copy of the Rune Gate in Canterlot.

"What are you doing?" Flash asked.

Void laughed at this, "Surely its obvious. Since torturing, which I have really enjoyed doing to you, won't work...I'm going to change tactics. After all, I know your greatest weakness. You might be willing to let yourself be tortured to madness, but are you willing to allow the same thing to be done to your apprentice?"

Flash's eyes narrowed at this, growling at the smirking unicorn as Armalum reached the Rune Gate. But as he was about to active the device, the machine activated on its own. "What?" He asked as he backpedaled, only for several individuals to suddenly shoot out of the portal.

"Surprise!" Springer cheered as he fired an Aura Force, striking Armalum in the chest, sending him flying. This made Flash and Void look down, now seeing Springer, Iron, Ruby, Cold, Grand and Heart appear. Springer quickly glanced up and fired several Aura Blasts.

"WHAT?!" Void roared, only for his saucer to get bombarded by the attacks. "Augh!"

"Flash!" Heart screamed as he used his fire to rocket up to his mentor, "Hang on!" He swung Lightbringer around as he reached the tree and slashed through the chains holding his hooves and wings, Flash falling down, only to get caught by Springer.

"Annoying little pests! What is that storm-loving buffoon doing?! How are you all free?!" Void growled as Iron and Grand fired attacks at him, Void quickly maneuvering his saucer away. Ruby and Cold did the same for Armalum, both summoning weapons of their elements as Springer landed and placed Flash down next to Heart.

"Don't even think about trying to escape," Grand told the masked pony. "You have a lot to answer for what you did to our home." He pointed his hammer at him, "Now...count up your sins."

"Sins?!" Void barked, "How dare you speak of such nonsense to me!"

Grand rolled his eyes at this. "Figures. Get him!" Him and Iron charged at this, Ruby and Cold doing the same against Armalum.

Springer looked Flash over, seeing the pegasi was absolutely exhausted, "You're here," the pegasus panted. "And...you saved the knights." He slowly glanced up at the jakhowl, "What about Twilight? The Storm King-"

"Is being dealt with," Springer stood up. "Our friends are handling the overgrown ape, so we came to save you before you did anything stupid." He turned to the battles, Grand and Iron trying every way to hit Void while Ruby and Cold were both firing crystal and ice projectiles around. "Catch your breath. We'll hold these two off until you're ready to fight."

With that, he ran off, leaving both Flash and Heart at the base of the tree. Flash slowly turned to his apprentice, only to see a fire in Heart's eyes. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Heart nodded, "Just...it's been a really long couple of days."

"Tell me about it," Flash laughed, "But we can't rest yet. This is where the fun begins." He glanced down at the two fights now happening, Iron swinging his spear at Void's head, but the pony flew back on his saucer and before unleashing a blast of lightning, only for Grand to slam his hammer into the ground, creating a wall of earth to block the bolt.

But before either could do anything, Void flew forward and touched the wall. The rock crumbled and was absorbed into him, Iron then thrusting his spear into the ground and summoning a bunch of spikes, but Void grabbed one of them and absorbed it as well.

"That's...not good." Heart gulped, "He's not gonna be easy to beat."

"No kidding." Flash added. "This might be our toughest battle yet." He turned to Heart, "You don't have to be here. You can go hide and-"

"No," Heart shook his head, "Springer said I was vital to doing this. If that's true, I can't just hide while others put their lives on the line for me." He looked down at this, "Grand said you don't want me growing up to soon. That I should enjoy being a kid for a little bit longer."

Flash sighed and nodded, "You're right, I don't want you to grow up too soon." He leaned back and let his strength return to him as he thought of the best way to explain it to Heart. "When I was your age, all I wanted to do was grow up so I could go on missions with Grand and the other knights. I felt completely helpless and had to follow so many rules and constantly hear ponies tell me I had to be patient. It drove me nuts."

"Yeah...I know that feeling."

"Yup." Flash chuckled, "But now that I'm older, I can see now why I had to wait to grow up. Because it's what I did during that time that shaped who I am today. Every game I played, every lesson I learned and every moment with my friends...I needed them all until I was truly ready to chase my dream of being a knight. They all helped me realize the kind of knight I wanted to be." He placed a hoof on Heart's shoulder, "And it helped me realize why I had to become a knight: So others, like you, can have the chance to enjoy their foalhoods and grow into the ponies they're meant to be. And if you miss that chance, you'll never understand why it needs to be protected for others. Understand?"

Heart nodded, "I guess. But I still wanna help fight." As he said that, Armalum fired several projectiles at Springer, Cold and Ruby, one of them flying past Cold and cutting his shoulder. "My friends are in trouble and I wouldn't be a very good pony, Royal Knight or not, if I let them get hurt when I can help. I can enjoy myself when everypony's safe."

"That's the way." Flash laughed as pushed himself up, "It's you saying stuff like that that makes me glad I chose you as my apprentice."

Heart smirked back as Void unleashed a massive wave of five, Iron and Grand leaping back before Void landed, rock and iron spikes coming next as Heart asked, "You really think we can take him?"

"As long as we stick together," Flash replied, "Then there's nothing we can't do. And besides, there's one big difference between us and him that'll be a big part of determining how this plays out." Heart raised an eyebrow at this, "Effort. He might have a lot of power, but he didn't do anything to earn it. He just stole it from others, so it'll never be able to match the power we've worked night and day to achieve."

Void then leapt at Iron with a blazing hoof, but the knight easily sidestepped the attack before spinning his spear and smacking it into Void's chest, making him cry out before he unleashed a burst of fire. But as he did this, Grand charged through the flames, his hammer going right through and slamming into Void, swinging the pony away.

"See? We've earned the power we have. We spent a lot of time learning to control and use it, so there's no way it'll fail us against somepony so arrogant he thinks he deserves to be a god just because he has a lot of power he didn't work to build." He reached down and picked up his sword. "I don't know about you, but letting somepony like that beat me would feel like an insult."

"The biggest," Heart added as he flexed his wings.

"So, what do you say we go show him what real power looks like?" Heart nodded and after taking a deep breath, master and apprentice shot off the branch.

At the same time, Springer and Armalum were locked in a close quarters, Springer with Bone Breaker in paw while Armalum had several blades sticking out of his body. He swung his leg, about to cut the jakhowl, only for Springer to backpedal and say, "You're too slow!"

Armalum responded by slamming his hooves into the ground, sending the blades flying off his body, forcing Springer to spin his staff around, deflecting the attacks. But as he did this, Armalum charged and swung his tail, which was a long chain with a metal ball on the end, which suddenly morphed into a black hammer that slammed into Springer.

"Augh!" He cried as he was thrown back, crashing into the one of the roots of the tree, causing the bark to crack. Armalum summoned a long blade on his hoof next, hopping onto his saucer, only to glance back. A giant ice blade flew through the air, making him leap off the device right before it was destroyed.

"For a bunch of heavy metal, you're rather nimble." Cold commented as he fired an ice arrow at Armalum, only for it to be shattered as the armor summoned several more blades from his legs.

"You'll live to regret that!" He roared as he swung the swords at Cold, the knight leaping back and summoning his own ice blade. But as he tried to counter the living armor, Armalum's tail changed shape again, switching to an axe. Quickly spinning around, the axe smacked the ice blade out of Cold's hooves, Armalum then slashing at Cold's chest with his swords, knocking Cold into one of the roots. Armalum laughed at the sight as he charged next, "You're wide open!"

"And so are you." Cold chuckled, only for a flash of light to shine between them, Ruby appearing with a crystal spike around her right hoof.

"RAAAAH!" She screamed as she thrust the spike into Armalum's chest, making him stagger back as the two unicorns lit their horns and each fired a burst of magic. They struck the living armor, blasting him through another root before bouncing off another.

And as he fell, a blue shadow suddenly appeared in front of him. "Huh?" He glanced up just in time to see a certain jakhowl thrust an Aura Sphere into him, the orb exploding and rocketing him toward the ground. "GYAH!" He roared as he smashed into the dirt, creating a small crater.

And as he began to pick himself up, he heard Cold's voice call out. "Cold Prison!" A wave of frost flew across the ground at this, followed by a bunch of ice that began to wrap around his body.

"Crystal Lock!" Seconds later, crystal appeared and created a second coating that locked him into place.

Springer landed on one of the roots as Ruby and Cold stood next to the trapped Armalum. Cold then looked up at him, "Go help the others. We'll keep this one in place until you're finished with him." Springer nodded and shot off, the two unicorns now glaring at Armalum. "Making a move against Canterlot while every Royal Knight was there...not a very smart move." Armalum growled at them as he tried to move, only for Ruby and Cold to add more crystals and ice to the prison.

"Grah!" Armalum snarled, only for a thin layer of ice to appear over him.

"You're not going anywhere." Ruby added.

"You..." Armalum hissed, "Mark my words. When Void has the Sacred Light, he'll make you all pay. Your pain will be so great that you'll be begging for death."

Ruby smirked as she repaired a crack in the crystal. "I can't let you kill me. I've only just begun Jaden's training, and I still have a lot to teach him." Cold nodded in agreement, the two staring at the trapped armor as he continued to try and move.





Meanwhile...

Void was in his saucer again, using it to dodge Iron and Grand's attacks. Iron had leapt off one of the roots to try and cut down the masked pony, but Void easily dodged it, only for Grand's hammer to nick the saucer. And as Void prepared to counter them, Flash and Heart flew into the battle.

"Sorry we're late!" Flash yelled.

"Flash!" Heart called out to him, "Remember, he can absorb any magical attack you throw at him!"

"I know!" Flash nodded as he reached Void, slashing the pony as Void quickly pulled back. The masked pony then responded by firing several blasts of lightning, fire and ice, but Flash barrel-rolled around them all. And as he did this, he and Heart got in close, using all their hoof-to-hoof knowledge, trying to punch the pony.

As this happened, Springer appeared in front of Grand and Iron. "We got Armalum trapped for the moment. How can I help?"

"Just stand right there." Grand replied, spinning his hammer in hoof before smacking the ground, allowing a large pillar of earth to shoot up beneath the jakhowl's feet. Propelling the blue canine in the air, he then formed an Aura Blast in his paw.

"Blasted pests!" Void growled as he blocked both Flash and Heart's punches, "I will-"

"Surprise!" Springer cheered as he thrust the orb into the bottom of the saucer, causing it to explode, sending Void flying as Flash caught Springer in a quick swoop.

"Augh!" Void yelped as he began to fall, only to spin around and unleash a burst of fire from his hooves, slowing himself down enough to land on a root without injury. Springer leapt down at this, Grand right behind him as Iron landed on a root to his left and the pegasi flew down to his right.

"You might be able to absorb magic," Springer formed a Bone Breaker and pointed it at him. "But I'm betting the same isn't true for aura. That's why you tried to get Armalum to take me out." Void growled at this, making the jakhowl smirk, "And I bet you don't have a limitless amount of magic. You can only unleash the same amount of element magic you absorbed. Once you use it all up, you'll be defenseless."

Flash and Heart nodded, Void clenching his hooves as Grand let out a guffaw, "Is that so? Then the way to beat you is obvious."

"Take you down using brute force alone," Iron added, "Sounds easy enough."

"You really think you can beat me without using magic?!" Void spat.

"We didn't become knights just because we're good at using our elemental magic," Grand countered, leaping at the pony with his hammer. Void quickly hopped back, only for Springer to appear to his left and slammed his staff into his chest.

"Gyah!" He cried, the masked pony flying into a root as his horn shined, firing a bolt of lightning at the group. The knights all side-stepped the attack, only for Void to lift his front hooves and fired a barrage of ice spikes. But as they came, Heart landed in front of the attack, flames flying off his body to melt the attack, only to cut it just as Void could try to absorb the fire. And as this happened, Flash swooped in and cut several wires on Void's suit before Iron and Grand slammed the butts of their weapons into his chest, causing the control console to explode. Springer then disappeared, only to reappear in front the pony and began to bombard Void with punches from every angle. "RAAAAAAAAAAH!" Void screamed, only for Springer to reappear with an Aura Blast in paw.

Void staggered back, only to fire a barrage of metal needles. But as they came, the jakhowl spun around every projectlie, Flash and the others deflecting the needles as the Knight of Friendship yelled out. "DO IT!"

"AURA FORCE!" The sphere exploded into a beam, Void responding with a burst of lightning. The two attacks collided and pushed against one another, appearing at a complete deadlock...only for the lightning to start sputtering out.

"No!" Void hissed as the thunderbolt weakened, allowing the Aura Force to push it back towards him. The de-powered unicorn attempted to summon another one of his magic sources, only for the beam to completely overpower the thunderbolt and strike his body. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" He screamed as he was blasted back, smashing through three roots along the way until he crashed into the final one.

"YES!" Heart cheered, only to see all the knights charge after the downed Void. The colt quickly tried to follow, the group soon seeing him now slumped over into the root, completely weakened and drained. They all glanced at each other, the knights debating what to do next, as they knew that the Storm King still controlled Canterlot, so they couldn't just arrest him and go back into a battlefield.

And as this happened, from his cage, Armalum was barely able to turn his head enough to see Void in his downed state. "Void..." he grunted as he tried to squirm in the ice and crystals. "No...Master Shadow." After another shake, his head slumped over, Ruby and Cold raising an eyebrow at this. "You freed me from my entombment. You've allowed me to possess bodies and gave me freedom of movement, even building me a body I could control without worry of losing control."

"What are you talking about?" Ruby asked, only for a dark glow to appear around the armor.

"Now, I once again give up my power to suit your needs. Even if it hurts, your will can withstand the agony long enough to defeat these fools." Cracks began to appear around his helmet, the sound of their appearance filling the air as his entire body slowly broke apart. As it did this, a black shadowy mist slowly seeped out. "Take this power and become the pony you were destined to be!" With that, his body exploded.

"GYAAAAAH!" Ruby and Cold yelped at the shockwave, their ice and crystals shattering in an instant. They both hit the ground and rolled, only for something to hit the ground in front of Ruby: Armalum's mask.

The explosion made the others turned to the noise, only to see shadowy mist start to fill the air. "What's that?" Iron asked, the others blinking at the sight, only for Flash and Shadow to both notice what it was, both having very different reactions.

"NO!" Flash cried as the energy suddenly flew toward Void, the pony raising both hooves in preparation. The Corrupted Shadow that had once powered Armalum flew into him, Void roaring in pain, but not stopping as more and more of the magic flew into him.

"Yes!" He laughed as his body began to swell, ripping apart his suit to reveal his scarred form, veins beginning to bulge out of him. "YES!" Springer could sense the sudden shift, quickly forming a Steel Paw as he leapt around the roots. But as he swung his claws down toward's Void's neck, the last of the Corrupted Shadow was absorbed into his body. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

A shockwave exploded out, followed by a powerful wave of light as it struck Springer back. The others quickly braced themselves, the wave almost knocking them back, Heart expelling flames from his back hooves to keep himself in place while Grand, Iron, Cold and Ruby formed wall of their element behind them. Flash used his sword to stab into the tree root, Springer doing the same with his Steel Paw.

And as they waited for the shockwave to weaken, the light from the blast also faded, allowing them to see Void begin to float into the air. His body was now more muscle bound, as if he had been stacking up on steroids as veins covered his whole form. The scars of his body were also visible, only now they were pitch black instead of red. Black fire was coming off his body, the ends of his hooves and around his chest were surrounded by it. The chest fire also reached out to become a pair of flaming shadow wings that sent out black embers whenever they beat in order to keep him aloft.

His mask fell from his face, revealing his deranged bloodshot eyes covered by a mask of the same black fire. And from his forehead where the crack once appeared was now a spike of black crystal sticking straight out, giving him the appearance of a dark alicorn. Shadow laughed as he hovered, staring down at the creatures that had given him so much trouble. "This game has been very amusing," he cackled as the flames around him flared, "But now it's time for it to end...and for me to collect my prize. The Sacred Light and Equestria...are mine!"

The ponies and jakhowl all glared up at him, knowing that the true battle had only just begun. They had to win. If not, Equestria and all those they cared about would be doomed...and they weren't going to let that happen.
> Chapter 8
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Twilight's eyes drifted through the completely destroyed throne room, a result of the Storm King's conquest and his childish misuse of the power he had stolen as he summoned up a giant storm, only for it all to fail. This event had left half the castle demolished...but luckily, the Storm King was dead, the storm gone and stolen magic back into the right hooves.

Twilight held the staff that was imbued with the five alicorn's magic while staring at the unicorn that had caused all of this from the start. Tempest, who had been nothing but horrible since they first met, had turned against the Storm King when he revealed he had been lying to her the entire time. When Twilight had gotten the Staff, the Storm King had attempted to use one of the orbs to turn her to stone, but Tempest intercepted it, slamming into the king as the mist turned them both to stone. Afterwards, Twilight had used the Staff's power to turn her back to normal, the storm guard commander just staring back at her now.

"Now what do we do?" Fluttershy asked the others, everypony shrugging before seeing Twilight shine a small smile towards Tempest. The Storm Commander nodded before speaking up. 

"Now...we fix everything." She and Twilight headed back into the throne room, seeing Soul waiting for them. Twilight had sent her out of the room when the storm started, but now that it was over, she was standing in the middle of the room between the three frozen princesses.

She flinched at the sight of Tempest, but those fears vanished when Twilight smiled at her. The three stepped up to the hole that the staff had originally been thrust into to steal the magic, and this time, they pointed the crystal at it instead. When they pushed it into the hole, the magic exploded out of it and flew into the room. They expected it to simply flow back into the alicorns, but it instead spiralled around the statues as the crystal broke away from them. One by one, the princesses reverted back to their true forms, Cadance gasping for air while Luna tried to fly off, only to realize where she was. Celestia then took a deep breath before turning to her former student.

"Twilight!"

"Princesses!" Twilight exclaimed as she ran up to Celestia and hugged her, "Oh!" Soul and her friends giggled at the sight, only to go wide-eyed as they saw the magic continue to spread around the throne room.

"What's happening?" Rainbow asked as the rubble that surrounded them began to move and float into the air. To their utter amazement, the castle was being rebuilt. Within moments, almost all the damage done by the Storm King was coming undone...and it wasn't just the castle. The magic began to spread throughout the whole of Canterlot, repairing the damage done during the invasion, liberation and storm. The ponies, changelings, dragons, parrots and Skystar marveled at the sight, only for some to notice a trio of statues beginning to glow.

Derpy was the first to be revived, the crystals breaking away from her as she found herself standing atop a fountain that she had been used to decorate. "Huh?"

Ace and Mira were next, the young jakhowls both falling to the ground as they gasped for air. "What the-" Ace whispered before looking up at his fellow pup, "Mira!" He quickly hugged her, Mira flinching before hugging him back. As they did this, Starlight, Trixie and some of their other friends ran over to them.

"You're okay," Starlight exclaimed, the pair nodding and the ponies all sighed, only to glance around and see the dragons, changelings and the magic that was rebuilding the city.

"We clearly missed something," Mira commented before gasping. "Soul!" She turned to Starlight, "Is she okay?!" Starlight smiled as the magic finished repairing the city and began travelling back to the castle, nodding as it did so.

"Yeah. I think they're just fine."

Back within the castle, the alicorns gasped as the light returned to the throne room and began to spiral around the five of them. One by one, it soaked into their bodies and they felt their wings begin to work and their horns begin to glow. They all smiled as they spread their wings and used their magic to make sure they didn't accidently get somepony else's. But after a few checks, they were happy to report that they were back to full power.

"Can't believe I actually missed this," Soul chuckled as she used her magic to heal them all of the injuries they had sustained during the insanity.

"Looks like everything's back to normal," Spike added as the others nodded.

"Not yet," Twilight chimed in before turning to Tempest. "Where did Void take Flash?"

The group turned to her, only for the unicorn to cringe up as she responded, "Sorry...I don't know where they went. Void never told us where he was setting up the other Rune Gate. Honestly, we didn't care at the time. All we cared about was him helping us get what we wanted."

"What's going on?" Celestia asked, Twilight turning to the three freed princesses.

"Shadow Corrupter is alive," she explained as the three's eyes went wide. "But he's dying, and he thinks the only thing that can save him is Flash's Sacred Light, so he took Flash through a Rune Gate to try and take it from him."

This made them all frown, only for Applejack to place a hoof on the alicorn's shoulder. "Don't worry Twi. Springer's gone ta save him." Hearing this made Twilight ease a little, only for Applejack to add, "He went with Grand, Ruby, Cold, Iron and Heart."

"HEART?!" The alicorns all screamed, Soul's eyes going wide in absolute horror. "They took Heart with them?! What were they thinking?!"

"Not sure," Rainbow shrugged. "Springer said Heart was vital to them beating Void."

"Oh dear..." Fluttershy gulped.





Heart could barely believe what he was seeing as Void spread his flaming black wings and slowly took to the sky. Everypony around him watched as Void began to cackle, knowing this would not be easy since he had reacquired the Corrupted Shadow. And once Void was high enough, he crossed his front hooves and black energy began to form around them. Flash quickly pushed Heart back, the colt falling into a gap located between two of the roots before leaping up along with Springer. But before they could get close enough to deal an attack, the pony swung his hooves.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He screamed as the energy exploded out of him in a ring-like wave, striking both Flash and Springer before hitting the tree behind them. As the energy sliced through the giant trunk, Flash and Springer were blasted into the roots with such force that they found themselves being pushed halfway through them.

The shockwave that followed this rocked across the battlefield, hitting the four Royal Knights, Cold and Ruby managing to stay standing thanks to the walls they put up behind themselves while Grand and Iron were sent flying. Iron then stabbed his spear into one of the outer roots of the tree, stopping him from being blown away while Grand used his Grand Force in the opposite direction, slowing himself down until the shockwave faded.

The tree was now falling back, severed from the base by the initial energy ring and the wind now pushed it to fall towards the mountains Flash and his team had originally climbed over to get to the Lost City of Faust. During the few seconds it took to fall, something happened that the knights could barely register: As Iron pulled himself up off the root, he looked up and saw Void above him, only to disappear in the blink of an eye, and reappear behind Iron. The pony spun around, only to see Void smirking at him. "So fast," was all he was able to say before Void thrust a back hoof into his chest. "AUGH!" He was sent flying again, crashing through several roots.

"Iron!" Grand yelled before Void suddenly appeared in front of him. The earth pony quickly leapt back, thrusting his hammer into the ground and unleashing several rock spikes, only for Void to dash through each one at super speed, unscathed as he reached Grand. And before Grand could do anything, Void's wings shot out and morphed into black tendrils that wrapped around his legs and neck. He moaned as he dropped his hammer, being pulled spread eagle as Void laughed. He then raised his right hoof before flying forward and performing a lariat on his chest.

"GYAH!" He screamed as he was sent flying back, crashing into the tree that was only halfway towards the ground

Cold and Ruby heard Grand's cries and turned to him, both gasping as they saw him instantly fall. "Grand!" Cold gasped, "No!" The pair turned to glare at Void, only for the pony to vanish and reappear as he back-hoofed Cold in the face. "Augh!" He was sent flying back as well, Ruby quickly forming another crystal fist on her hoof. She threw it forward, Void actually holding up his own hoof to stop it cold. The impact caused the crystal to shatter, leaving Ruby defenseless as he then thrust his hoof to her head, but she managed to pull away, Void missing his attack, only to then shift his leg in a way that made him knee her in the face.

Ruby cried out at the impact, her body sliding along the ground, making a trench. She came to a stop as the tree finally hit the mountains, the female knight moaning as she tried to push herself up, only for her legs to give out.

Heart, who had been watching the whole event, his eyes wide as he saw Ruby hit the dirt. "No way," he whispered. "He took them all down without even breaking a sweat." Void took to the air once again, "This is really bad."

Void slowly shifted in the air, zeroing in on an area of the tree. "And you're going to be next Sentry." As he said this, Springer pulled himself out of the root, Flash doing the same as he stared at his apprentice.

"Heart..." he groaned before somepony suddenly appeared in front of him.

"Found you!" Void held up his hoof at this, Flash bracing himself as he clung to his sword.

Heart was still staring at the other knights when a small explosion drew his attention to the root Flash had been blasted into, the pegasus crying out as he was sent flying through the air. "Flash!" He watched as his teacher hit another root and slid along it, managing to stop himself as Void appeared before him.

"Raaah!" He swung his sword, but Void blocked it with his hoof. The former unicorn chuckled and pushed the sword away, dealing several quick blows to Flash before avoiding the pegasi's attempt to cut his head off. He kept punching and kicking away, blood spitting out of Flash's mouth from the blow.

"Surprise!" He laughed as he slammed a hoof into Flash's stomach. He cried out as Void grabbed him by the face, but Flash then grabbed his leg. As this happened, Springer appeared behind Void and tried to strike with a Steel Paw, only for Void to block it with his wing before using his free hoof to hit him in the stomach.

"Gyah!" Springer lost his claws and Void grabbed him by the face, then spread his wings and shot into the air. Heart watched him drag the pair a hundred feet up, then dived down. And when he reached the ground, he thrust the pair into the dirt, dragging them along. Both cried out as they were bombarded with rocks and pebbles, Void laughing as he pulled them out their newly dug trenches before spinning around and throwing them. They slammed into a pair of roots next, Void cackling at the sight.

"AHAHAHAHA!" Void laughed, "Oh, this is so wonderful! I have never felt more alive!"

Heart leapt over to where they had landed, staying as hidden as he could as he whispered, "Flash..." Fear coursed through his veins as he looked up at Void, who continued to laugh, only to suddenly scream.

"Ahhh!" He exclaimed, clutching his stomach and taking deep breaths as he slowly hovered down. Heart stared at the sight, only to remember what Void had told them before about absorbing the Corrupted Shadow.

This was something Flash also remembered as he and Springer pulled themselves up, "When I attempted to absorb a tiny piece of it..." Flash began, "I was suddenly bombarded with unimaginable pain." Void turned to glare at him, "And I wasn't able to absorb any new magic until I expelled it." He and Springer stopped walking and were now only a few feet from him on either side, Flash holding up his sword. "Weren't those your exact words?"

Void let out a hiss, only for Springer to chuckle, "I see. That's why you gave it to Armalum." He cricked his neck, "But now you've absorbed it all and have gained incredible amounts of power. So much power that you're practically a different pony from a moment ago."

"Or maybe...instead of that, you're just a straight up monster through and through." Flash added.

"Oh, come on." Void chuckled, "As if you're not just as much of a monster. You wield a power you have no right to and use it on nonsense like friendship and harmony! I use mine for its real purpose! For myself!"

The pair just smirked at one another, Flash and Springer both taking deep breaths. "No, I'm pretty sure that makes you a moron. Either way," Flash's body began to glow. "Now I don't have to worry about holding back."

"We're taking you down," Springer brought his paws together and cracked his knuckles. "It's time you pay for all the pain you've caused. To us, our friends, and to every other pony you've ever hurt."

"I will pay for nothing. They all deserve the pain I give them." Void cackled as he spread his wings.

Up on the roots, Heart felt his heart beat a mile a minute. He knew this could possibly be the greatest battle in Equestria's history and he didn't want to miss a second of it. "Flash..." he whispered before his excitement couldn't take any more, "GO FOR IT!" As soon as those words echoed through the air, Flash and Springer charged.

In the blink of an eye, they both shot past Void, both spinning on the spot as Flash swung his sword while Springer thrust an Aura Blast at him. But Void crossed his hooves as they burst into black flames, blocking the two attacks and leaving him unscathed. "Finally," he chuckled, "This is actually getting fun."

Flash and Springer continued to push, smirking as their power increased. "Let's teach him a lesson!" Flash yelled as his body was surrounded in light before exploding to reveal his Shining Guardian form. "Springer!"

"Yeah!" Springer added as he morphed into his Mega Mode, "Let's go!"

Heart watched from above as an explosion of gold, blue and black light filled the area. He flinched at the brightness, but kept watching as the black light flew away with the other two in hot pursuit. The gold and blue light zigzagged around, hitting the black one several times and knocking it flying. Void slid to a stop on the ground as he spread his wings, only for Springer to appear to his side and dealt a barrage of punches and kicks. The unicorn quickly blocked them all as Flash appeared behind him, swinging his sword as Void ducked the slash and used his wings to try and knock him away. But Flash leapt straight up and spun through the air, kicking him right in the head and knocking him flying back.

He hit the ground and rolled but managed to use his wings to push himself back to his hooves, returning to a battle stance. "Bring it!" He roared as Flash flew down with his wing boosters while Springer ninja ran in his direction. The pair reached him at the same time, only for Void to dodge both attacks. Flash Cutter, Bone Breaker, the gem beams on Flash's armor, Steel Paw and many others didn't land a scratch on him.

Void then hit Flash in the stomach before spinning around and kicking him in the chest, sending him flying back, only for Flash to throw his sword, unleashing a blast from his chest gem that hit Lightbringer and pushed it toward Void. But Void's crystal horn glowed and fired a blast of ice, which knocked the sword away, only for Springer to appear and throw another volley of punches, only for Void to slam his hoof into the jakhowl's chest. But as he did this, Springer quickly caught his hoof and swung his foot up to kick Void in the ribs.

"Gyah!" Void yelped as Springer then spun kicked Void in the face. "Blaugh!" Void hissed before his horn began to shine, spit flying out of his mouth, "How dare you!" He roared, only to get kicked in the side thanks to a suddenly appearing Flash. Flash and Springer caught eyes with one another and smirked, both blows knocking Void flying back. The unicorn then unleashed the iron magic he had stolen from his hooves, forming a long weapon similar to the one his old follower Storm Blade used.

Flash grabbed his sword and the pair charged, Void spinning the weapon around to try and behead them. Flash quickly blocked the blade and pushed him back, Springer then slashing at Void with a Steel Paw. Void hissed at this as Springer went in for a second slash, but the villain raised his staff and blocked it before pushing Springer back. He then spun the blade around before slamming it into the ground, using some of his earth magic to make the ground around them break apart. But Flash and Springer quickly leapt back, both firing force attacks as the twin beams struck the spot Void was standing on and caused it to explode.

"Wow!" Heart gasped as Void was blasted up into the air, Flash and Springer leaping up at the unicorn as Void began to fall towards the stump of the giant tree.

"Gaaah!" He yelped as he hit the wood and flared his wings, sliding to a stop as Flash and Springer landed on the other side of the stump. The pair smirked as Flash punched his hooves together, Void staring them down as Springer brought his paws together.

"Go, Flash!" He clapped them, and when he pulled apart, several Aura Blasts appeared between them.

"Got it!" Flash yelled as he spread his wings and the ends opened up, unleashing the Sacred Light that made Void flinch. He quickly figured out what they were planning as Springer fired the orbs through the Sacred Light before they shot towards him. Void watched as the Aura Blasts all became wrapped in the light before completely vanishing, making it impossible to tell where they were coming from.

Soon enough, the area around Void began to explode, forcing him to try and take to the air. But as he did this, the invisible orbs slammed into him, blasting him back. "Augh!" He swung his wings around at this, only for more and more of the orbs to slam into him as Flash and Springer kept launching them. "ENOUGH!" He roared before firing a shockwave of energy, pushing away the Aura Blasts. Void began to pant at this, only for Flash and Springer to charge up at him.

Springer held onto Flash's tail as the Royal Knight flew forward, sword in hoof. The pegasus fired a Flash Cutter, but Void leapt up to avoid it. And as he did this, Flash followed him and the two shot past him, Springer letting go once they were high enough above him and throwing another Aura Blast.

As this happened, Void unleashed a fireball that struck the orb and caused it to explode right as Flash swerved in midair and dived down, "You're mine!" Void forged a long metal chain and threw it at Flash, the pegasus not able to escape as it hit him. Within seconds, everything except Flash's head was wrap up in the metal chains, Void smiling at the sight, only to see Flash grin as the horn on his helmet glowed. In the blink of an eye, the two ponies suddenly swapped places and Void was the one wrapped in chains.

"Gotcha!" Flash laughed as Void went wide-eyed, only to see Springer fall towards him with a Bone Breaker in paw.

"RAAAAH!" He roared as he swung the staff down, slamming into Void's face. The unicorn screamed in pain, flying past Flash and crashing into the stump with enough force that the whole thing split in two, burying Void in twenty feet of wood.

Flash caught Springer and the pair flew down toward the trench, only to see a light begin to stream out of the trench. "Miserable...worms," Void's voice called out, "You will PAY!" With that, the entire stump began to shake, the pair flinching before flying back.

A second later, a giant stone serpent exploded out of the crack and straight up into the air. Flash and Springer gasped at this, the serpent quickly coiling around and diving down toward them. Springer quickly leapt off of Flash and formed a Bone Breaker, extending it before swinging, beheading the snake in one stroke. But as he did this, six more heads shot out of the neck and charged, Springer smacking them away before one grabbed him in its mouth and lifted him upward.

Flash then dove after his partner, "Springer! Hang on!" But before he could get close, Void flew out of the crack and landed onto the snake that had Springer. He then thrust his hooves into the stone, unleashing a burst of fire magic that mixed with the earth magic, now turning the rock snake into a lava snake. The molten rock flew up the snake's body towards the mouth, where a pinned Springer was unable to escape.

Flash used his jets at this, overtaking the lava and his entire body shined with light, reaching Springer seconds before the lava. The head of the serpent exploded when the lava reached it, causing a massive cloud of smoke and fire that consumed the pair. Heart gasped while Void frowned, both fearing Flash might have gotten himself killed. But to Void's shock and Heart's amazement, the cloud was quickly blown away by something large that appeared within it: Flash's alicorn avatar.

The golden energy pony stood strong, its wings spread wide and its horn shining. Within the beast's head, Flash was holding Springer, his fur only lightly singed by the heat of the lava. "You okay bud?"

Springer groaned as he opened his eyes, only to see what had happened, "Yeah," he nodded, "Thanks. I'm doing just fine." They both turned to Void, who had once again taken to the sky and had a smirk on his face.

"Neat trick," he told Flash before his wings extended, "Now, let me show you one of mine!" He dove down, his wings then slamming into the ground with such force that the entire earth shook, massive cracks beginning to appear around the stump. Grand, Iron, Cold and Ruby had since recovered from their earlier pummeling, the four having pushed themselves up just as Springer was caught by the rock snakes.

And as the earth around them began to break apart, the unicorns teleported over to the earth ponies before warping them to a safe area of the tree. As they did this, Void's wings began to unleash fire magic that flew into the cracks, turning the surrounding earth into molten rock. Everypony could only watch in awe as the magma was then sucked into the sky towards Void. It swirled around him into a sphere that grew larger and larger by the second, only to reshape itself to form a new creation. It was a giant humanoid, almost resembling a Storm Guard, with giant fists that were dripping with lava. The beast roared at the avatar and charged, Flash spreading his wings and taking to the air to avoid the first punch.

He then fired a beam of energy from his horn, striking the golem and pushing it back. But the monster quickly regained its footing and pushed through the laser, reaching out and grabbing the avatar's tail. And before Flash could dispel the tail, the creature pulled him down, slamming him into the earth. The defender tried to push the avatar up, but the lava golem quickly grabbed the avatar by the neck, thrusting the form downward as it raised its other fist. Flash winced at this, but then felt a paw on his shoulder and turned to Springer. "Together!" Flash nodded and Springer unleashed his avatar, the aura flowing into Flash's and beginning to change the energy body.

Before the golem could punch him, the avatar began to reshape into a humanoid form beneath him with blue armor surrounding it. With its front hooves morphing into jakhowl paws, the beast thrust them upward, punching the magma arms. It then pulled one of its legs to its chest before thrusting it forward, kicking the golem back.

"RAAAAH!" The beast roared, everypony able to hear Void's voice come out of it. The avatar pushed itself to its feet as the golem regained its footing, the magma monster charging to swing its unbroken fist around. "PATHETIC MONGRELS!" But as it did this, the avatar's right hand filled itself with light before extending to form a sword with an aura hilt and Sacred Light blade. The avatar clutched this in both paws as it ducked under the swinging first, then slashed at the golem with enough force to create a large groove in the beast's chest. It then repeated the process, turning the scar into a giant X, making it roar in pain as the avatar charged.

"Together!" Flash yelled as he held up his sword.

"At full power!" Springer added as he formed an aura blast.

The two then thrust them forward as they yelled out in unison. "SHINING SPIRIT STRIKE!" Twin lasers of gold and blue shot out of the avatar's horn, both spiraling to form a drill-like beam that struck the golem in the center of the chest.

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Void's screams filled the air as the monster was ripped apart from the inside out, the explosion causing it to rain molten rock, the group quickly backpedaling away from the fiery rain.

"Amazing..." Heart whispered as the avatar faded away, Flash and Springer reverting back to their normal forms as they glided down to the ground.

They both landed near Grand and the others were, Flash glancing around and not seeing his student anywhere. "Flash," he turned to Grand, "You get him?"

Springer closed his eyes and sent a wave of aura, only to point at a place in the distance. They all stared at it, now seeing Void on the ground, his body badly beaten and burnt. He panted heavily as his Corrupted Shadow wings flickered and were losing size.

"He's down, but not out." Flash held up his sword, "He can't last much longer holding that Corrupted Shadow."

"So let's finish him off," Ruby added with the others nodding. But as they prepared to attack, another who had watched the battle chose to act.

"Master..." Armalum whispered, his area of the land having remained untouched despite the multiple shockwaves and earthquakes having caused him to be sent flying in multiple different directions. But now, the mask had seen his master be defeated by the two weaklings that needed to team up against him. "I won't let it end this way!" With that, he started glowing and summoned as much power as he could. "MASTER!"

His voice echoed throughout the valley, making them turn to the voice before a streak of light shot up before flying toward Void, "Armalum!" Ruby gasped as they charged at Void, only for the mask to fly down and slam itself onto Void's face. "NO!"

"Aaaaaaaaaah!" Void screamed as the mask merged into him, the armor materializing around the pony. And as the armor formed, a burst of dark light blinded them all, making them shield their eyes.

"What the heck?! What just happened?!" Iron yelped as the light slowly faded. They all opened their eyes and looked up to see Void, now sporting the armor Armalum had been generating before. Except this armor had holes for his wings and the mask wasn't on his face, instead being located on his chest.

Void's bloodshot eyes shot open and he laughed, his wings spreading as he took to the air. "I thank you Armalum," he told his loyal servant. "Now," he brought his hooves up, "Time to finish this battle once and for all!" With that, he started unloading bursts of ice, fire, rock metal, and his own shadow magic down on the group.

The ponies and jakhowl barely had a second before the bombardment came crashing down, causing explosion after explosion that knocked them all flying. As they did, Void's body became covered in Corrupted Shadow blades before he fired them all out. The group quickly recovered and began deflecting the weapons, only for Grand to get struck on his back and front leg.

"Augh!"

"Gyah!" Iron and Cold yelled as some pierced them in the sides.

"Ahhh!" Ruby screamed as she was struck in the stomach.

Flash had multiple ones come at him, his blade blocking every one until he was hit in the shoulder, left wing, stomach and both back legs. "RAAAH!"

Springer had been at the outer edge of the group, having to only deflect three blades. But as he did this, the others hit the ground as the Corrupted Shadow seeped into their bodies. "Everypony!" He gasped as the ponies began pulling the blades out of their bodies. They all went limp at this, their legs and wings refusing to move. "Raaah!" Springer turned to Void, but as he did this the pony's wings flew down and struck the ground. The next thing Springer knew, his feet were suddenly sucked into the ground up to the knee as several metal beams flew out of it to pin him down. "No!"

"This is bad..." Ruby moaned as they all tried to get up.

Void laughed at the sight, only to shine a huge grin, "Finally. I'll have you know I'm putting extra effort into beating all of you. It honestly disgusts me how much of a fight you've put up."

Flash tried to summon his Sacred Light again, but the Corrupted Shadow within him was forcing it to focus on healing him. "Damn it!" He then grabbed his sword and tried to use it as a cane, but it wasn't even enough to make him stand.

"Yes..." Void's wings burned brighter as he slowly descended, "Now you worms understand. You will all die here, and your precious harmony and friendship will end!" The ponies all stared up at him, each having a little bit of fear flowing through their veins.

But out of all the ponies, there was one who was more terrified than others. Heart stared at his friends in absolute horror, fear all over his face, only for his eyes to catch Flash's. The two stared at each other, locking eyes as they conveyed a conversation of emotions to one another.

"I'm scared," he told Flash.

"I know," Flash replied, "That's good. Remember the first lesson I taught you?" Heart did a tiny nod, but it didn't stop him from letting that fear control him. "You can do this Heart. I know you can."

Heart took several deep breaths as Void's horn began to shine, the mad pony cackling at the sight. Heart then took a deep breath and his entire body exploded into flames. This caught the attention of the others, but Void just stared at the knights, his grin growing wider as he readied a final spell. That is, till Heart rocketed through the air.

"Get...away...from my...FRIENDS!" Void heard the voice and spun around, only to see Heart right in his face, fireball in hoof. He spun like a top before thrusting it forward, the ball exploding into a giant fire stream.

Void let out a laugh, "Really?" His horn flared as he readied himself to unleash the energy he had gathered. But as he was about to fire, his entire body suddenly exploded, the Corrupted Shadow surging through his nerves. He had been able to stand the pain so far, but the surge made him scream, "Ahhhh!" His horn fizzled out at this, unable to move as the fire stream struck him. All he could do was wrap his wings around him as the flames collided, pushing him back. They all watched as Void was thrown into the mountains besides the fallen tree, crashing into it with enough force to break the rock apart and bury him.

Heart panted as turned to the others, flying down to them. "You all okay?"

"We are thanks to you," Ruby chuckled, "We would have been goners if you hadn't stepped in."

"But I doubt Void's down for the count," Cold added, only for the rocks on the mountain began to move. "We have to do something. Now."

Springer, who Heart quickly freed by melting the metal beams enough for him to break himself out, turned to the ponies. "There's only one way we can beat him at this point. Can you all summon your magic?" He turned to Flash, "Doesn't have to be your Sacred Light." Flash held up his sword and was able to make it light up, the others doing their same. The Corrupted Shadow was affecting their bodies, but their magic was perfectly fine. "Good. Then we have a chance."

"How are we supposed to win if we can't even stand up?" Iron asked, only to see Springer smirk.

"There's a reason I brought the five of you specifically." They all blinked at him as he continued, "Remember what we did just before the Storm King invaded?" They all thought back, back to the start of the party that was so rudely interrupted, but couldn't think of anything until they remembered they were gathered together by Script...

Their eyes went wide as they all looked down, the magical gems still on them. Even Flash and Heart still had theirs despite all the crazy stuff that had happened to them since attaching the jewels.

"The Link Gems..." Flash whispered.

Springer nodded, "I had a feeling Void's absorption power had a limit, so I figured one supercharged blast would be too much for him. But since he can't absorb anything right now..."

"We can blast him away," Cold laughed, only for Flash to let out a moan, his body limping over again.

"Great idea," Grand winced, "But how the heck is he supposed to launch an attack like that when Flash can't stand or fly?"

Flash and Springer shared a glance, only to smile and nod before turning to Heart. The pegasus colt blinked for a second, only to gasp, "Wait, what?! You want me to do it?!"

As he yelled that, the mountain exploded as Void rocketed out before shooting down and crashing onto the top of the stump. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He roared, sending out another shockwave from his body, only for Springer to put up a shield, blocking the blow for everypony.

As this happened, Flash turned to his apprentice. "You can do this Heart."

Heart flinched at those words, "I-I-I don't know if I can handle that much power. If I mess up-"

"I know," Flash nodded. "But it's okay." He placed a hoof on Heart's shoulder, "Nopony can be expected to win every battle they're in. Even us knights know that one day we'll probably end up falling to an evil we can't afford to lose against." The shockwave died down as Void let out another roar, "But if we let that possibility stop us, even when it's a guarantee we'll fail, then all hope is truly lost. Winning...losing...none of that matters. As long as at the end of the fight, you ask yourself...did I really do everything I could to win?"

Heart's ears went down at this, the pony twiddling his hooves as Void began bombarding them with blasts of shadow magic. And as he looked into Flash's eyes, he began to feel a fire in his chest, "You...you really believe I can do it?"

"Always," Flash nodded again. He held out his hoof and after a few seconds, Heart gave him a smirk and pressed his hoof into Flash's. Doing so caused their Link Gems to glow, connecting the pair. And as this happened, one of those unexpected side effects Script told them about kicked in. In the blink of an eye, Heart found himself watching images he had only heard off. Scenes of Flash's life, as if he was watching a movie of it on ultra fast-forward. But despite the speed he was watching them at, he was able to understand everything that was happening.

Despite it all, despite everything Flash had done and all the power he now held, it all started with a young powerless colt deciding to save a filly from some bullies. The journey he took, from being that little colt to the great hero he was today.

"Amazing..." Heart gasped as the Link Gems detached themselves and swapped places, linking onto Heart's chest and Flash's sword. Flash then held his sword up and he began to channel his magic into the Link Gem, flowing it into the Master Gem and allowing Heart to feel the power. 'So this is Flash's power...' He thought to himself as the others began to do the same, 'And everything he went through...to get to this point.' Flash smiled as the magic from the others began to flow into him, the force of it already feeling too much. But If Flash was able to go through all that and not be overwhelmed, how could Heart complain. After all, he and Flash were so similar it hurt.

Heart smiled back at Flash before turning toward Void, the pony stopping the bombardment right as Springer dropped the shield. When he did this, he saw the colt trot up, only to sense great amount of power flowing through him. "What is this?! What have you done?!"

Heart looked up at him and smirked, "I don't feel like losing today."

Void raised an eyebrow, only to laugh, "Oh please. You took me by surprise once worm, but not again." He raised his wings, "You'll be the first to fall." As he said that, Springer leapt in front of Heart and formed a Bone Breaker.

"I probably don't have to say this, but we've only got one shot. You ready?"

"Oh yeah!" Heart nodded as Springer charged.

"Then let's go!"

Void glared at them both, his body becoming covered in Corrupted Shadow blades again. "Pathetic!" He fired them at the pair, but Heart flew behind Springer as the jakhowl spun his staff around. The blades were all deflected as Springer got closer, Void sending his fire wing next. But before they could reach, Springer formed an Aura Blast in both paws and launched them at the same point. They exploded and sent out a shockwave that blew the wings back, allowing Springer to reach the top of the stump. "DIE!" Void launched a bunch of ice spikes at him, but Springer suddenly vanished and reappeared behind him.

"Not today!" He yelled while slashing a Steel Paw into Armalum's mask.

"Augh!" The mask cried as Void was knocked sliding back, then punched the ground and launched several metal spikes out of it. Springer leapt right up at this, forming a tiny Aura Blast on each and every one of his claws. With a flick of his paws, they all went flying and collided with Void. Pieces of his armor began to break off with every impact, but Void powered through and launched a Corrupted Shadow beam out of his fake horn.

"The rest is up to you now," Springer yelled to his comrade as the beam reached him. "HEART!" The attack collided and exploded, blasting the jakhowl away. And as it did this, Void felt a presence appear behind him.

"Raaaaah!" The colt roared as he leapt up onto the stump and ignited his body, his tail burning extra brightly.

"You really think you can stop me?! A mere foal?!" Void screeched, only for Heart to spin around and swing his tail, causing several fireballs to hit the ground around the stump. Flames burst out next, creating a large ring of fire around him. "Gyah!" He flinched at the heat, using his ice magic to put the fire out. But the combination of fire and ice caused a stream cloud to form, now blinding the unicorn.

And when the mist cleared, Heart was nowhere to be seen. Void's eyes darted around, only to sense a surge of magic above him. He looked up and saw Heart, the Master Gem pulsing with so much magic that it was amazing it didn't burst. "LET'S GO!" Heart yelled as he thrust his right hoof straight up, the magic from the gem exploding out of it and swirling around to form a sphere that grew larger and larger until it formed a small sun. Heart flew down and pulled the orb with him as his friends all smiled at the sight.

"Go," Flash whispered, "Fire Heart."

"RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" He swung the orb and attempted to slam it right into Void.

"No!" Void cried as he held up his wings, using them to catch the magic. But as he did this, he felt an incredible amount of pressure, a crater already forming under his hooves from just pushing it back. He tried to flare his horn at this...only for it to fizzle out. He had used the last of his absorbed magic. All he had was the Corrupted Shadow. "NO!" He tried to push the sphere away with his wings, but then something happened that made his heart almost stop. His wings...were starting to disintegrate. "NOOO!" He looked through the magic and glared at Heart, "How...how is this possible?! You...you shouldn't be this powerful! And even if you were, you shouldn't be able to control it like this! Who are you?!"

Heart smirked back as he felt the heat of the magic surround his right hoof, burning the hoof. He kept going despite this, unaware of the cracks that were starting to form on the Link Gem. "Who am I? I'm Fire Heart, a future Royal Knight, Defender of the Peace...and the apprentice of Flash Sentry!" That last statement caused something inside Void to snap. "And if he believes I can take you down...then that's what I'm gonna do!" The heat flew up his right hoof, searing him like he had never felt before. But he refused to give in and roared as he pushed the sphere down more.

Void's wings burned away at this, the sphere getting closer to him as Void let Heart's words flow through him. All this...because of one pony. The reason he had lost everything at the Lost City of Faust. The reason he had to serve the Storm King and almost died multiple times. The pony who constantly got in Void's way.

"Flash Sentry!" He roared as the orb got closer. "Even if I die...my hatred for you will survive for an eternity!" His wings completely vanished as the orb fell onto him, "No matter how long it takes, you will fall to my hatred! Even if it's not by my hooves, you will fall, and I will be the reason for it! I SWEAR TO IT!" Those were his last words before the orb fell down, completely enveloping him and his armor as the sun began to expand.

Heart flew away as fast as he could at this, the Link Gem shattering off of him from all the power that had flowed through it, the orb unleashing shockwaves that made flying difficult. It grew large enough to consume the entire stump, unleashing a light so bright they could see it even after closing their eyes. The sun then exploded into a beam that shot straight into the sky, hitting the dark clouds above their heads.

And as the explosion began to lose its power and the beam of light began to fade, everpony stared at where Void had once been. But both the pony and the stump were nowhere to be seen. Light began to stream in through the hole in the cloud, bathing the area and showing there was absolutely nothing there anymore.

But there was something being illumined by the light, which Flash, Springer, Grand, Ruby and Cold looked up to see. A young colt, hovering within the sunlight, clutching a badly injured leg that had all of its fur from the hoof to the knee burnt away. But despite the agonizing pain he was probably feeling, Heart had a massive grin on his lips. A grin that Flash and the others all reciprocated as they let the day's events finally overcome them, the group laying back as more of the clouds above them slowly started to disappear to allow more light to flow down on them.

Springer, who had been blasted quite a distance due to Void's attack, slowly staggered up before sitting down beside Flash, "Well...that was fun."

"Yeah," Flash nodded as he turned to where his friends had originally come through. The Rune Gate had been knocked over during the battle, but it didn't seem to be damaged at all. "Thanks Springer. For bringing Heart with you all."

"No problem," Springer replied as the colt slowly flew down, "I'm just glad everything worked out." Flash nodded in agreement. Despite everything that had happened, they managed to defeat Void and Armalum. Hopefully, that was the last any of them would have seen of the pair. And despite what was likely going on back home, Flash trusted his friends had been able to handle it. Equestria would be safe once again, thanks to the heroic efforts of the many species that inhabited it. Safe and sound...for now.
> Chapter 9
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

All of Canterlot was staring at the Rune Gate, fearing the absolute worst. With the Storm King dead and the Alicorns re-powered, Grubber and the rest of the Storm Guards had surrendered. Turns out, they were much like the ponies and had all been subjugated by the Storm King for years, but as their leader now laid dead, they didn't see much of a reason to keep fighting.

As such, the ponies and their many allies now stared at the Rune Gate, the final enemies on the other side. They had hoped to go through and help, but the machine refused to activate. Script and Twilight had checked the device, and while it was rather crudely built, it was still working perfectly. Whatever the problem was, it was occurring on the other end of the portal.

Everypony who had heard what had happened to Flash and those that went after him were still in pangs of fear, knowing that what was beyond could be far worse than the past few days. But as they stared at the gate, the portal activated on its own. The ponies all leapt back in surprise as the lightning shot out and formed a vortex, which grew larger until it filled the entire metal ring. And when it did, something stepped out of it. Somepony Twilight feared she would never get to see again.

"Flash!" She exclaimed as she ran up and hugged her boyfriend, the pegasi hugging her back as Springer, Heart and the others walked out. Their friends and family rushed over to them, Fluttershy hugging Iron, Lightning putting an arm around Grand, and Jaden, Luna and Trixie hugging Ruby while Skybreaker and Tidal congratulated Cold.

"Springer!" Ace and Mira cried as they ran up to him, leaping into his arms.

"You're okay," he looked ready to cry as he held them tight. "Thank goodness..."

They nodded and continued hugging him while Soul moved over to Heart, only to see his right leg, "Heart! What did you do?!" She grabbed it and looked the burnt limb over, Heart smirking.

"Oh...yeah. Just a little backlash from beating Void and saving the day."

"You beat Void?!" Jaden yelped, getting a nod from the pegasus. Jaden turned to the others and they all nodded too, the colt and those around him all now staring at the fire pony, "How?!"

"Because I'm awesome," Heart quipped before blushing. "Though...I needed the help of my friends. Oh," He turned to Script, "Sorry, I uh...kinda broke your Master Gem. We needed it to beat Void and...yeah."

Script chuckled back while shaking his head, "If it helped beat that monster, then it's fine. I'll just have to make the next one so strong that nothing can break it." Heart nodded back, showing a big grin before staring at the others around him...until his eyes fell on a certain pony.

"TEMPEST!" He pointed at her, Flash, Springer and the others spinning around and quickly getting into a battle stance. But before they could do anything, Twilight leapt in front of them.

"Wait!" She called out, "You don't need to fight her!"

They raised an eyebrow at this, "Why?!" Springer yelled, "She's the one that-"

"Hang on there." Flash chimed in as he flared a wing in front of the jakhowl before smirking at Twilight, "You did it again, didn't you? Found a way to turn an enemy into a friend." Twilight smiled back and nodded, making Flash shake his head, "I can't believe you...you're amazing, you know that?"

"I sure do," she giggled, "But it wasn't just me." She turned to Pinkie and the rest of their friends, including the new ones that they had made during their journey. Flash was surprised to see Capper, the pirates and Skystar were there, but given everything in his life that had happened, he shouldn't have been surprised. "Even after I had forgotten the power of friendship, my friends were able to remind me just how amazing it can be. No matter how bleak the world will get, friends can be made anywhere as long as you're willing to put your trust in others. Even if those others are those that betray you," Capper blushed at this. "Threaten you," Celaeno and her pirates smiled at this. "Or almost drown you," Skystar clapped at this. "Everypony deserves the chance to prove they can be a friend."

"Truer words were never spoken," Flash nodded before turning to Tempest. Looking at her, he still felt anger and mistrust, but knowing Twilight was willing to trust her after everything she had done, he was willing to do the same. "So what now?" He looked around, seeing all his friends and family gathered around them. To his amazement, the city looked like it had never been invaded at all.

Luckily, Pinkie jumped in between everyone, "Isn't is obvious?! We need to celebrate! And there's only one way that can be done!" Flash, Twilight and everypony else smiled, knowing exactly what she was about to say. "PARTY!"





That night...

Darkness filled all of Canterlot, the city experiencing the first night it got to enjoy in several days. The darkness was an almost comforting blanket to the ponies that had barely had a wink of sleep since the invasion. But at the moment, sleep was the last think on anypony's mind.

A light was now appearing near the castle, illuminated by a young Mystic Flame Dragon. Spike was wearing a pair of shades and holding up a microphone that was connected to the sound system Vinyl Scratch was controlling behind him. A bit of feedback filled the air as he lifted it to his lips and cleared his throat, then took a deep breath. "Fillies and gentlecolts," he called out while leaping into the air. Cheers could already be heard. "Changelings and dragon of all shapes and sizes. Are you ready for a little..." Trumpets filled the air as more lights appeared and completely bathed the catwalk stage. Standing on the edge of the stage was the mare everypony there wanted to see, "Songbird Serenade!"

The ponies all cheered while the non-ponies there watched with great interest. Songbird smiled at the crowd before speaking up. "And now, to celebrate the fact that we're all still here in one piece, give it up for Princess Twilight and her friends!" She pointed at a section of the crowd as spotlights shined down on them.

The heroes in question all smiled as they waved back, hearing somepony call out, "All right! Way to go!" Photo Finish took several pictures of them as Bulk Biceps flexed in celebration.

It was then that Celestia, Luna and Cadance stepped up and bowed to them in thanks, Twilight and Flash both bowing back as the lights went off. A moment later, music began to play as Songbird got into position...and started singing. As the song began, the many ponies began having a good time with one another. Spike leapt down from the stage and ran over to Thorax and Ember, the three smiling at one another as the little drake thanked them for coming when they asked.

"No problem squirt," Ember ruffled his spines. "You know I've always got your back."

"Same here," Thorax added. "This is thanks for everything you guys have done for me, Hiveena and the rest of my kind."

Spike nodded before he realised something, "Where is Hiveena? A fight like this should have been right up her alley." He noticed Thorax blushing, which made him raise an eyebrow. "Thorax?"

"She's...looking after the eggs back home." Spike's eyes went wide at this.

"You don't mean..." Thorax's face grew even redder as he nodded, Ember letting out a laugh as she gave him a friendly punch.

"Good on yah. Can't wait to see what the little grubs look like." Thorax chuckled as Spike leapt onto his back and hugged his neck, congratulating him as well.

At the same time, Rainbow was introducing Soarin to her pirate buddies while Rarity was giving Capper a proper greeting to Lightning, Sweetie and the rest of her closest ponies. "Ooh!" He smiled when Rarity slung a fancy black cloak around him and placed a top hat on his head.

"And perfection!" The unicorn declared, "I hope you'll stick around in Equestria for a little bit. A show-cat like you might be able to make a great life for himself here. So long as you use that silver tongue of yours to sell an actual worthwhile product."

"Yeah," Lightning nodded, "We have enough Flims and Flams in this kingdom."

"You have my word," Capper bowed with a tip of his new hat. "This cat will be nothing but honest...to a certain degree." Rarity rolled her eyes, but smiled all the same.

As this was going on, Pinkie and Skystar were watching as Songbird's backing dancers leapt onto the stage and started to perform alongside her. The princess then spotted something that made her gasp, "Mom!" They all looked up to see Queen Novo and four other hippogriffs.

They all landed as Skystar leapt over to her mother, the pair hugging tightly as Novo smiled at her. "You are so grounded!" She laughed as Skystar's eye went wide, then noticed Twilight walking over with Celestia by her side.

"Your majesty," Twilight bowed her head with a sincere look of shame on her face. "I'm sorry for what I did, I truly am. And I understand if you can't forgive me." She looked up at her with the most apologetic look she could muster. "But please don't take the actions of one desperate pony as proof you shouldn't trust the rest of her kind. I want our kingdoms to get along, if it's possible."

Celestia nodded, "I too would like to extend my own apology. Had I not allowed myself to be captured, I wouldn't have forced my fellow princess to take up such a great task and make her think she would have to do something horrible in order to save us."

Novo glared at them, only to sigh, "So far, you ponies have come into my home uninvited, attempted to steal our most important relic, lead the Storm King's troops to our front door, which could have led then to him finding us, causing my daughter to run away in order to fight in an insane battle that could have gotten her killed or captured and..." Twilight flinched at all this, herself shrinking every second at the lecture, "...freed my subjects from having to hide away from the world." Twilight's eyes went wide at this, now seeing a smile appear on Novo's face. "Thanks to you, the hippogriffs can return to Mountain Aris without needing to fear being captured and conquered."

"So...you're not mad?" She asked, Novo raising an eyebrow.

"I wouldn't go that far. However, I'm willing to put everything that's happened behind us and give you ponies another chance. May our two kingdoms have a long and happy relationship." Twilight smiled brightly at this, ecstatic that her actions hadn't ruined their chance of making many new friends.

At the same time, Heart and Soul were at the back of the crowd with First and Heather. "Hold still," Soul told her brother as Heather was wrapping a bandage around his burnt leg. Soul and First both using their healing magic on the leg, but what had happened would take a long time to fully heal.

"You are beyond lucky no serious damage was done," First commented, "I cannot even be certain whether or not you will completely heal. Even if Soul were to use her healing magic on you every day, you may still have some lasting damage."

"That's okay," Heart replied, "All the best heroes have scars to show off how awesome they are-Ow!" He moaned as Heather tightened the bandage as hard as it would go, the colt grimacing as the two healers finished casting the healing magic upon him.

"Either way, do not use your fire magic." Heart looked up at First in absolute shock. "You may be fireproof, but that might not equate to this injury. If you set yourself ablaze before you can properly heal, you may end up doing damage to your nerves and muscles. Best to be on the side of caution."

"But-"

"No Heart." Heather chimed in, "These bandages are hard to do. I doubt anypony, including you, will want to keep replacing them every time you flame on."

"Fine..." Heart sighed. "But I better get some mad street cred from all of this! The pony that defeated Void and saved Equestria...I think that's a pretty cool thing to put in a few history books!" The others rolled their eyes as Songbird's song began to grow more flamboyant. The pegasus mare continued singing as she leapt straight up, spinning around before diving down and gliding over the crowd. She stopped right in front of Twilight, the two mares smiling at each other. Songbird then flew past her, Twilight following and turning one eighty towards the back of the courtyard. And there, standing at the edge of the area where the ship had first landed, was Tempest.

The broken horned unicorn was staring at the ponies, changelings, dragons and many more that had helped fight against her, all enjoying themselves. She then turned to walk away, Twilight taking to the air and flying over the crowd. She spotted Flash, who was sitting on one of the columns watching the performance. He noticed her and smiled, his eyes following her as she glided down to Tempest.

Tempest noticed her landing and looked out over the edge of the mountain, staring up at the beautiful night sky. "Well, that's one thing that never changes around here. The party."

"Well..." Twilight bit her lip before saying, "I hope you'll stay." Tempest's eyes went wide at hearing this, "More friends are definitely merrier."

Tempest let out a sigh. "But, um...my horn." Tempest looked ready to start crying, but Twilight's words caught her before she could start.

"You know, your horn is pretty powerful." She blinked at the alicorn, Twilight shining a big smile, "Just like the pony it belongs to." Tempest took those words to heart, staring upward at her head before a smile slowly formed on her lips.

"I did tell you I wanted to show everypony in Equestria what I could do, right?" She slowly walked away as her horn began to spark, now surrounded by electricity that exploded from the horn and shot into the sky.

Everypony who heard this looked away from the performance, the knights, dragons and a few changelings all ready to fight. But then the lightning exploded to form a massive sphere of electricity, whizzing and popping like a giant firework. Several other bolts of differently colored lightning then flew off and exploded, filling the sky with a beautiful array of colors. Tempest and Twilight smiled as everypony began cheering, the pair nodding before heading back into the crowd. As they did this, Pinkie's head popped up over the others, staring at the fireworks, then turned to the mare responsible.

"Nice touch Tempest!" Wild and Skystar both nodded in agreement, as the unicorn blushed.

"Actually, that's not my real name." This got all her new friends' attention, Pinkie leaping over the crowd in intrigue.

"Oooh!" She cheered, bouncing on the spot. "What is it?!" She held her ear to the mare, who looked around embarrassed before whispering into it.

"It's Fizzlepop Berrytwist." Pinkie pulled back and gasped, her eyes going wide as stars appeared within them. She then leapt up and hugged the unicorn.

"Okay! That is the most awesome name EVER!" The others nodded with laughter as they turned back to watch the rest of the performance. Songbird landed back on the stage and kept singing, right as Rainbow took to the air and gave everyone an outstanding performance by flying and leaving a rainbow streak behind her. Skystar flew up and tried to follow, but just couldn't keep up with the fastest pegasus alive. As they did this, Bulk Biceps was working security and were met by the Storm Guards that had previously been their captors. The giant apes clearly wanted to party, holding up cake and presents they had somehow acquired to try and bribe their way in.

As it turned out, they didn't need to bribe anypony, and were let in without a worry to enjoy the festivities. Those festivities included the bouncy castle that had somehow survived this whole event, where Derpy, Rarity, a Storm Guard, Flash, Twilight and even Tempest enjoyed themselves.

And when Songbird finished singing, it was time for the karaoke contest, where Grubber, Mira, Sweetie Belle and others showed off their singing talents. Spike had been caught trying to gnaw on Celaeno's crystal peg-leg, while her crew enjoyed getting their pictures taken with some head cutouts.

Trixie and Starlight got a bunch more fireworks and attached them to the top of a large cake Pinkie had made, the fireworks shooting up and exploding into the shapes of the cutie marks of the heroes that had saved Equestria. At the same time, Capper was leading the Storm Guards as they performed a hilarious cancan, Pinkie also joining in along with a strange creature wearing a crown and royal attire. Fluttershy then began her bird orchestra, with Angel Bunny acting as security while the pirates enjoyed themselves at Applejack's cider stand.

Several younger ponies then enjoyed a pinata game, using a pinata that had been made to resemble the Storm King's face. When Tempest took her turn, she had trouble finding it, only to throw the blindfold off and blast the head open with her horn, the younger ponies all cheering at the candy.

It was during this time that a flash of light appeared on the outskirts of the crowd, that light taking shape before fading to reveal a draconequus wearing a hawaiian shirt and carrying a pair of suitcases. "I'm back!" He cheered, only to raise his sunglasses at the party, "Did I miss something? Like a full movie or something?" His friends all glared at him, making him flinch, "What?"

After a few more moments of glaring, the ponies all started laughing and decided to simply focus on the celebration. It was here that the party really got started, Vinyl Scratch taking over with the dance floor being cleared. There, ponies began taking turns showing off their moves. First was Queen Novo, then Rainbow, Soarin, Applejack and Rogue dancing together, followed by Tempest, who seemed rather embarrassed, but did her best and got a trio of tens from the judges. Skystar, Capper and Gummy all had high praise, while Ruby, Cold and Tidal went out onto the dance floor and danced in a rather coordinated display. Pinkie, Wild, Fluttershy and Iron were next, the two excitable ponies jumping around the place while the other two simply swayed back and forth. Grubber and Springer were after that, the pair both doing the moon walk with varying degrees of skill. Flash and Twilight came after this, dancing together with Twilight showing off her unusual dance skill. The party went on for a good while, but eventually began to die down as Spike took the dance floor.

Flash and Twilight were standing side by side, staring up at the beautiful night sky as they leaned against the banister that kept them from falling over the edge of the cliff. "Well, this festival sure didn't go as planned," Flash joked as Twilight placed her head on his shoulder.

"Honestly, when does this stuff ever go the way we want it?" Flash laughed back, nodding in agreement as they spotted a shooting star. "Do you think Void is really gone?" She asked, Flash sighing at the question as she added, "We thought he was gone the last time you beat him. What if he comes back again?"

"Honestly, I don't know. Springer couldn't sense any trace of him after Heart blasted him away, but you're right that this isn't the first time he's escaped death by the skin of his teeth."

"So..."

"So all we can do is be ready for when he shows up again," Flash responded, "And if he does appear again, we'll take him down the same way we did this time. By working together." They glanced back at the party, the many guests beginning to head on home or to their hotels, the excitement of this whole event finally becoming too much. The dragons and changelings were being shown places they could rest before returning home while the Storm Guards were busy doing janitorial work to make up for almost destroying everything the pony's cared about. "Equestria's stronger than ever. Every time something's tried to take us down, we've come out more powerful and more united."

Twilight nodded back, "Hopefully nothing will be able to stand against us now. But if it tries..." They pulled apart and stared into one another's eyes, "We'll take it on together." The pair then kissed, that action washing away all the stress and exhaustion that they had been suffering through over the last few days. They might have had a tough road getting to this point, but it was well worth it. Everything was perfect.


<The End>







Voice Cast

Flash Sentry: Vincent Tong

Twilight Sparkle: Tara Strong

Spike: Cathy Weseluck

Springer: Dan Green

Pinkie Pie/Fluttershy: Andrea Libman

Rainbow Dash/Applejack: Ashleigh Ball

Rarity: Tabitha St. Germain

Fire Heart: Pierce Cravens

Shining Soul: Lilly Bartlam

Tempest Shadow: Emily Blunt

Storm King: Liev Schreiber

Void: David Kaye

Armalum: Wally Wingert

Grubber: Michael Peña

Capper: Taye Diggs

Captain Celaeno: Zoe Saldana

Princess Skystar: Kristin Chenoweth

Queen Novo: Uzo Aduba

Grand Hoof: Garry Chalk

Cold Steel: Daegan Manns

Iron Core: David Wald

Ruby Scarlet: Colleen Clinkenbeard

Tidal wave: Brett Bauer

First Aid: Robin Atkin Downes

Heather Bloom: Dorothy Elias-Fahn

Skybreaker: Scott McNeil

Lightning Blitz: Patrick Seltz

Starlight Glimmer: Kelly Sheridan

Trixie Lulamoon: Kathleen Barr

Soarin Skies: Matt Hill

Ace: Alex House

Mira: Alyson Court

Jaden Chalice: Matthew Charles Labyorteaux

Silverstream: Lauren Jackson

Terramar: Cole Howard






Several days had passed since the defeat of the Storm King. In that time, the dragons and changelings had returned to their lands. The Storm Guards had also left, wanting to find their own place in the world now that they didn't have to worry about the Storm King.

Flash, Twilight and their friends had remained in Canterlot to properly explain everything that had happened. Starlight and those who hadn't been on the adventure had returned to Ponyville, which luckily hadn't been attacked or received any lasting damage from the invasion. And once the explanations had been completed and properly catalogued for future historic significance, the heroes got to return home. Cadance headed off with Ruby and Jaden back to the Crystal Empire, having received several messages from a concerned Shining about her sudden lack of communication. He had been quite horrified to discover his home had been invaded while he had been looking after a sick Flurry Heart.

Celestia and Luna remained in Canterlot and planned to begin proper talks with Novo about the hippogriffs joining the C.D.P.A, which would likely need to have another letter added to it when that was done. This left Twilight, Flash and their friends to return home, the group using the Rune Gate to shorten the journey's time. When they arrived, they were greeted to the sight of Starlight, Iron, Grand, Lightning and Wild all standing inside the Rune Gate room. "We're home!" Pinkie cheered, leaping over and jumping onto Wild's back.

Before anypony could say anything else, Starlight walked up to Twilight. "Something's happened," she told her. "You should come see this."

This made her raise an eyebrow, Twilight asking, "What's wrong?"

Starlight gestured for them to follow, leading the group through the castle until they reached the map room, "Prepare yourselves." She pushed the doors opened and they all went wide-eyed, now seeing the map, which many of the ponies practically knew by heart, was now different. It had expanded, not in the sense that the table itself had grown. The map had shrunken down and now filled the center of the crystal table, the remaining outer sections being filled with new environments.

"This happened while we were gone?" Twilight asked as they surrounded the table, Starlight nodding.

"This is what happens when you ignore the updates to something for so long and finally do it. When it's over, you find yourself looking at an entirely different piece of tech." Flash chimed in, the others rolling their eyes at this, wishing he didn't use jargon from the other world.

"Wow!" Applejack pointed at a section of the outer map they did recognize, "Those are all the places we went when we left to save Equestria!"

"Ugh!" Rarity grimaced at the sight, "There's that horrid town where we were almost sold!" Lightning frowned at hearing that, not liking the idea of his girlfriend locked in a cage like some kind of circus animal.

"The pirates!" They heard Rainbow call out, the group now seeing a familiar airship floating above the table. "They were pretty awesome!" She looked up before blushing, "Uh, once they decided not to throw us overboard."

They all laughed as Pinkie spotted another section of the map. "And Mount Aris! Ooh, Starlight!" She leapt onto the table and ran over to the unicorn, grabbing her by the cheeks. "Did you know we made seashell necklaces for aaaaaa..." She had to inhale halfway through this work, "...aaaaall the seaponies?!"

Starlight and those who hadn't been present during this event looked absolutely dazed by all this information. They had been told about the adventure, but actually hearing about it was another story. "I...You..." She turned to Twilight, "Really?" The princess nodded, "What about that unicorn? The one who attacked Canterlot?"

"Tempest?"

"Fizzlepop," Flash corrected, the princess rolling her eyes.

"I invited her to come to Ponyville, but she wanted to spread the word of the Storm King's defeat and share what she learned about friendship."

Grand sighed at this. "Hopefully she won't find herself running into any more trouble and get involved with ponies that want to cause problems for us and Equestria."

"You really think that could happen?" Heart asked.

"No way," Twilight shook her head. "Tempest-"

"Fizzlepop."

Twilight growled at him, "She...might have gone off the right track before, but she's learned the true meaning of friendship along with all the other ponies that we met during our adventure."

Starlight smiled at this as Applejack began walking around the map. "Y'all think that's why the map grew?" She asked, stopping in front of Fluttershy. "Friendship quests beyond Equestria?"

"I hope not," the animal lover gulped, "I've had quite enough life-threatening adventures, thank you very much."

As she said that, Pinkie suddenly summoned a builder's belt and hardhat. She pulled out a tape measure to determine the space between the map and the room's wall. "How many friendship quests do you think we need to go on before we have to expand the throne room?" Twilight let this statement sink in and turned back to the map, thinking about all the places with creatures of all shapes and sizes. Ones like the dark market and even Mount Aris, that didn't even know or believe in the power of friendship. As the Princess of Friendship, it was her duty to help spread this amazing thing as far and wide as she could. But there was one small problem.

"We can't do it all alone."

"Sure we can!" Pinkie told her before taking out a jackhammer. "We just need to knock this wall down, get some paint-"

"No," Twilight shook her head. "I mean, the world is filled with so many different creatures who know nothing about friendship. We need help if we're gonna teach them all about friendship. Lots of help."

"Perhaps," Rarity added, "But where does one go to learn about friendship?" The others nodded, waiting for Twilight to give them her answer. And when she did, it was a statement that would once again change Equestria forever.

"Here!" She pointed at a section of the map, everypony taking a closer look. "They can all go here!" At first, they thought she was pointing at Canterlot, only to see it was actually Ponyville. "Because we're gonna open a school!"


To Be Continued...