The Hero Within

Everything was smudged the moment Twilight opened her eyes.  It was like if she was trying to open her eyes while in the Ponyville river. A second or two later everything became clear again.

She was in the healing room of the castle. Pink drapes separated her from the other beds. Except them and her bed she only saw a small table.

The purple mare stood up and sat on her bed. She sighed. Everything was over. Primal Shine had killed Hase and now all what left to them was to figure out a way to go back to the past.

She couldn't be happier when one of the curtains was pulled aside with light blue magic and Rarity appeared. Her unicorn friend rushed to the bed. Sitting on the bed, Twilight was with the exact height of her friend.

After the hug, which was inevitable, Twilight asked:

" Rarity, when are we leaving? "

Rarity's smile faded. Twilight wondered was this because of her true love was dead... or probably somepony else also was.

" We're not there yet, Twilight. Hase survived, as Fury guessed before. It's unclear how, but now his full arsenal is reforged and he's mobilized all of his armies. Now they are on the north entry to Ponyville. Dash took a flight to see if some rockets from her suit can bring rocks from the mountains down, to smash the Voidians. The armies spread at least half the way to Canterlot. We have no chance of winning. Hase had only given us one - the Princesses and Primal Shine must surrender to him in, " Rarity stared at the watch on the wall, that could be seen. It was next to a big window, that was probably a door which handle couldn't be seen, since there was a big balconee behind the glass.

Out there, Twilight could recognize Cadence, Vortex, Luna and Celestia. There was also a fourth alicorn with a white coat and a golden mane. The purple mare guessed he was Primal Shine.

" The others got up about a minute before you did. " Rarity knew what she was looking at " So far they can't get Celestia and Luna out of their father's hug. "

Twilight laughed. Her unicorn friend never lost her sence of humor. But than she remembered, that there was something more importrant

" Rarity, " she turned to the Queen of the Moon " , how is it going with you and the others? "

" Nothing new, actually. " the unicorn replied " Hase is keeping his squads on a leash. There were few impatient groups, but Pony and Pepper took care of them. I guess it's their way to reunion. "

Twilight slipped off the edge of the bed. Her hooves were barely keeping her up. The alicorn felt Rarity's magic slightly lifting her up in the air.  The lavender mare was grateful for her friend's help.

The two mares got out. In the hall, outside of the pink curtains, there were her friends, awaiting her. None of them were wearing their superhero outfits, like if it was a long time ago, when the only villains they had to worry about were Discord ,Chrysalis and Sombra. Ironically, now all of these supported them, and one of their friends was their enemy.

" Sic transit dies. " Rarity's words had no meaning to Twilight. Usually it was the other way around, so the purple mare looked at her friend with confusion. The unicorn blushed and the reply came immeadietly:

" Light Warrior thinks I should be able to speak fluent Lunlatin, since I am the Quuen of the Moon. It means something like " That's how the time passes by. " "

" Have you... found about your new powers yet? " the lavender alicorn asked. Her friend's smile became a frown as she explained:

" Not really. Even Light Warrior can't find out why. He believes it should appear latest tomorrow. The problem is, that there would be no tomorrow. The final battle is today - one way or another.  " Rarity sighed.

Twilight's friends neared and greeted her. Than Rarity relinquished Twilight from her magic's grip and, with the help of Applejack, got to the balconee.

The other alicorns turned around and nodded as a welcome. After Twilight nodded in responce, Primal Shine thanked her for bringing him back:

" I am extrememly pleasured you have participated in my rebirth. " he said.

" Believe me, from the two I was the more rebellious one. Primal Shine... well, he was stuck with the fans, up around the point of Celestia's... multiplied by one thousand. It will take him some time to forget his royal etiqette. " Vortex whispered in the purple alicorn's ear. She smiled and replied to Vortex's brother:

" Leave the etiquette for later. We're all friends here. "

" Very well. " Primal Shine sure sounded a lot better when he wasn't speaking like before " I am indeed very happy I am back. I guess that's normal enough. I'm also happy to see you two. " he rubbed Luna and Celestia's muzzles with his left hoof, which kind off made the atmosphere more relaxing. The two Princesses blushed as their father described Celestia's foal pink mane and Luna's light blue one. Luckily, he laughed, remembering of the old times, and returned to the main topic.

" So, you've told me how you're doing and about these two, " his wings spread, pointing Twilight and Cadence " , young fillies, but this still doesn't explain a lot. I don't understand what is my brother, obviously reformed, doing here, and who is our enemy? "

" I'll take it from here. " Vortex told Luna and Celestia " Your spell... obviously you didn't hate me enough to make the spell permanent. I awakened ages after that, only to find out your fillies have taken the lead. At first I was planning to conquer Equestria. I found somepony with simillar interests... "

Queen Chrysalis got through the door. Twilight admitted, that she looked dazzling: her white coat was in full contrast with the dark sky and her green mane and tail were waving behind her. Her butterfly wings were catching the small amount of light there was and emitting it reflected. She smiled nervously. The purple alicorn knew she wouldn't smile honestly until she has her son in her hug.

" O -ho -hoo! Vortex, you old diamond dog! " Primal Shine pat his brother, which made the Dark Emperor grin nervously.

" When are you two planning to expand the family tree.... wait a second. " Primal Shine turned back to Chrysalis

" We've met before. The Changeling dimension. You're the queen of the changelings, right? What are you doing here? "

" My dimension... was consumed. " Chrysalis' beatiful void reflected her grief.

" Well, I'm sorry for that. " Primal Shine lost his optimism for a while.

" So anyway, who's our enemy? "

" He's our son. " Vortex replied

" He was magically modified to  be the perfect pony to face your foals. Back than they were still unexperienced and I believed I could do any better... " the alicorn shook his head.

" I'm responsible for all of this. "

" So... actually I would be fighting my nephiew? " Primal Shine asked

" Obviously, fighting eachother runs through our veins. "

" Now it comes to strategy. " Cadence joined the conversation " How do we defeat an enemy, immune to the power of the sun, the moon, love and friendship? Let's also not ignore his army. "

" This won't work. " Twilight was surprised to see Rarity arrive on the balconee " No matter what we threw at him, nothing worked. Except one. " the unicorn looked at Cadence.

" Talking? " Cadence guesed.

" He won't talk to us, Rarity. " Celestia said the Queen of the Moon

" He hates us... and I think we deserve it. We were the ones, who ruined his life. "

" His life isn't ruined, your highness. " Rarity smiled " Nopony's life is ruined when she or he has somepony to love her or him. And I love him. You're right, blinded in his hatred, he won't talk to you. But he will talk to me. "

'A.. are you sure? Rarity, I will not risk your life... " Rarity put a hoof on Twilight's mouth and smiled:

" Nopony says the power of Love or Friendship works only with it's bearer. I have suffered for too long. But I will not surrender and fall on my faint couch. I shall fight in the name of love! "

An oreol with the same colour as Rarity's magic surrounded her. Blinding light made everypony around close their eyes. When they opened them again, they saw, that Rarity's back was covered with a silver armour and a strange scepter levitated around her. With a simple design - a long silver stick, resembling a column with a crescent on it's top - it indicated, that now Rarity was truly the Queen of the Moon.

" Are we saving Equestria or what? " she asked.

Time was running out quite quickly. After an hour Hase would have no choice but to let the Voidians attack. He wondered how did he even become their ally. If he didn't think they were just innocent victims he would of never done such things. Those monsters were making him nervous.

Luckily, the first squad was entirely Sentinels. First Hase thought them for his ultimate creation, but now he realized they were nothing more than killing machines. The pegasus swore to himself he would dismantle all of them (  maybe except Vinyl ).

What was it? A large group was coming from Ponyville. Were those troops Royal Guards or Celestia's escort? He could of sent a Voidian raven, but he didn't want to. The ruler of the Voidians decided to wait and see for himself.

As the ponies neared, Hase saw, that there were all of Ponyville's heroes. Big Mack, who had taken the form of the Colossus, was slowly walking, making the ground shake beneath his hooves. Near him Applebloom was sinking in the ground and than jumping out of it. The reflection from Scotaloo's visor could be seen from miles away, but now after she was near...

What were the light reflections doing there? Hase looked up and saw the moon setting. He tried to stop it but somepony as strong as him, helped by Luna , was keeping it down. Only one pony had such power and Hase hoped she wouldn't appear.

But there she was. Rarity was walking between Twilight and Celestia. If there was one thing Hase would never do it was hurting Rarity. Why the hay was she there?

Hay? He stopped using " hay " and replaced it with "Tartarus " 15 years ago! What was happening?!?

Those, who weren't mutants, were his old allies. Fluttershy showed signs she was going to turn to the Shyulk if something went wrong, as the green sparks in her eyes indicated. The Mark 42 iron Stallion looked as if it was new and was acompanied by the Iron Patriot and Rescue. Previously Hase craved for such technology, which he would use to upgrade the Sentinels, but now, as he compared the two kinds of war machines, he realized, that if he had put some more effort in quality over quantity in those Sentinels the mutants would be extinct by this moment. He cursed. If he was thinking for technology and not destruction when building those they would of been much better. Now, after he looked at them, they looked as old, rusty 30 feet robots, compared to Pony Stark's iron Stallion suit. Probably this was because Pony had whole 41 upgrades of his armour and most of his Sentinels were still first or second version. And, Celestia, they were buggy. Hase thought that if he didn't dismantle them, he would at least upgrade them to the max and turn them to beatiful statues, that would defend the towns if somepony attacked. He liked that idea.

The group stopped 35 feet away. Rarity continued to walk forward. That made Hase even more nervous. Was she going to speak with him?

The pegasus flew to her. If he was going to speak to her, at least he wanted it to be away from his army.

" Rarity... you shouldn't of come. " Hase spoke sadly, as he landed.

" Why? Are you... afraid of me? " the unicorn smiled.

" You know, that I can't ever possibly hurt you. Why do you torture me by coming here? You also know, that I am not giving up my cause. " he caressed her face with the end of his right wing.

" There is always hope, Hase. You're almost there. Just ask yourself, what do you know about the Voidians? " Rarity neared the pegasus.

" This doesn't matter... " the stallion tried to retilliate.

" It matters, Hase. What if you're wrong? What if you're being kind and caring to those monsters and ignoring your friends and making them take hard decisions? " the Queen of the Moon was worried.

" Ask them. Just for me. If you're right, I shall no longer bother you. "

Hase frowned and turned around. At a telepathic command another pegasus flew to him. However, when he neared, Rarity saw, that he had holes, filled with darkness, on few spots. This Voidian had a good disguise.

" I have made a decision I didn't ask you for. " Hase spoke to him.

" Well, of course, my lord. You're our king.  " Rarity disliked his obvious flattery.

" It's about... the condition. I've agreed to make a compromise - you will not destroy this dimension. Instead, you will be reformed by me and you'll live together. "

Hase surely didn't expect for his subject to laugh:

" But, your highness, what are you speaking about! We need to feed. Otherwise we can't reform. And most of us will overeat. You see, we are true gastronoms... "

Hase summonned the Furious Nine- Tail and slapped the Voidian across the face.

" You're speaking about billions of lives! Don't be so ignorant! " he shouted.

" They've had their time. Now it's ours. Lead or step aside, my king. " the words of the Voidian were surprising for Hase. So after all this he had fought on the side of.... monsters? The pegasus held his head in his forehooves, as his wings flapped and kept him an inch over the ground. What had he done?

Well, anyway, it wasn't late to fix it.

" You've failed my expectations! Return to the Void! " the stallion commanded. The Voidian just shrugged his shoulders nad smiled. Than he yelled:

" There has been a change in the command! Voidians, attack and take no prisoners! "

Hase was stunned. His own subjects had tuned against him. He had no choice but to command:

" Sentinels! Thetha Protocol! "

A weird calculation noise was heard from the machines as the four- legged pony- resembling Sentinels turned around. Simillar robotic voices kept chanting:

" THETHA PROTOCOL: BETRAYAL. ELIMINATE FORMER ALLIES. AT ALL COST. "

The stupid ponylike monster sure didn't expect that. While he was blankly staring at the robots, Hase summonned his staff and turned him to dark trails of smoke and ashes.

Meanwhile the Sentinels were unleashing their full arsenal. Rockets flew chaotically and smashed in the countless Voidians. The Sentinels' hoof beams ( complete imitation of the repulsors of the Iron Stallion, but, hey, imitation is a flattery) were also doing a fine job, but the Voidians were a lot more than the Sentinels. The giant robots would grant them about two minutes.

Now Hase flew back to Rarity. His mane was now with a srange colour between violet and dark blue.

" Who would guess. You're right. As you always are. " he smiled.

" Well.... " Rarity didn't have time to reply because soon she found out she was in Hase's grip. The two of them hugged and looked in each other's eyes. The violet had permanently dissapeared, leaving Hase with dark blue mane and tail and stunning blue eyes. The two ponies looked at each other for a second and than their lips joined for a kiss.

" Score! " Deadpool noted and played a triumphant tune on his weird looking instrument, that was a combination of a piano, a violin and DJ equipement.

Meanwhile the iron Patriot dismantled spontaneously and Dash fell out. The Element of Loyalty on her neck shone and so did everypony else's, except for Rarity's.  Cadence was separated from Shining Armour, as the pink oreol of love surrounded her. It fired at Rarity and the Elements of Harmony fired at Hase. The two of them shone so brightly, that the sun looked like a small flame. After the two of them landed, it was revealed, that now Hase's armour reflected him being the King of the Moon. The others rushed to them and greeted Hase.

" You're a stubborn pony. Kind of reminds me of your father. " Primal Shine smiled.

Hase separated from Rarity and nodded at his father. The both of them stood and closed their eyes.

A huge hole in the matter of the world opened, slowly sucking all of the Voidians and Sentinels inside. As Twilight looked at it, she saw many things that once were or would be. The Void wasn't like Hase's darkness. It was tempting, really, but Twilight knew those were just the same illusions that made Hase believe the Voidians were good.  4 minutes later, as the last Voidian was sucked in, the primal portal closed. Hase and Vortex opened their eyes.

" Well, you lead us. How do we stop that future of happening? " the Dark Emperor asked his som.

" Quite simple, actually. We must return to the time when we first fought Sabredance. Our obsolete versions will vanish and we'll only have to return to Equestria on time. " the pegasus replied.

" That's why we also need Chrysalis and Sombra to come along. We won't need to reform you, mom, or Sombra either. "

Two groups were formed. The first was consisted of the Mane 6, the Elemental Lords, the Avengers, the two Princesses, Hase, Chrysalis, Sombra, Primal Shine and Vortex. The rest were staying.

" Make sure I don't destroy the barn. " Scootaloo spoke to Dash. She nodded and that was the last thing the second group saw before their guests from another time vanished in a portal.

" Let's don't forget the main attraction... " waves of light flickered as a portal opened and the future selves of the confused participants in the pre- Equestrian expedition poured out, causing a chaotic blast. Twlight only remembered how confused she looked like. Now the roof was gone and the stars could be seen.

" Nice job. " Crescent noted. Twilight turned around and saw their Prequestrian friends sitting around a knocked out Sabredance. Obviously the destruction of the roof had caused a stone to fall on his head.

" You too. But now farewell, Ms. Crescent. " Thor noticed and bowed. The prequestrians tried to immitate the gesture and for the second time the time travellers ended up in a portal.

" Wrong adress? " Derpy was staring blankly at a letter, when suddenly a hole of darkness opened and a big group of ponies fell on her head.

" Now that's just great! " the postmare got a bit cross, but it turned to a surprise when she saw what landed on her head.

" Princess! " she tried to bow, but her lower half was burried.

The group certainltly drew a lot of attention, so the ponies had no choice but to stop by Stark Mansion (  Pepper was surprised by Sombra ringing the bell, which ended with some bruises under his left eye ) and equip the non- flyers with PFDs. Twilight decided she could fly, but realized she had practised even less than Hase.

" Don't worry about that. " Dash spoke after she got into the Iron Patriot.

" I'm going to teach it to you very soon. "

In the late May night a strange group of wings and turbines flew towards Canterlot. Nopony had ever seen such flying fair before.