Chapters "Ponies ask, "what is self?". "What is life?". "What is space?". They all die with these questions unanswered. That's the fate of ponies" Twilight spoke, looking upon Equestria from high in the clouds, a frown present on her face. Such was the pain of an immortal, to know that in the end, their friendship was worthless. Her friends had aged, old enough to get families now. Yet Twilight was stuck in a state of perpetual youth, too young to have a family. She would never admit it, but she was envious of their mortality. They could grow, see life's wonders, she could not. Among the other problems that plagued her was that the so called "Friendship Powers" she and her friends had received against Tirek had remained with them, letting them transform as they pleased. But she now knew the truth. The power of friendship was limitless...and that scared her. The rational alicorn liked everything to have a strict hierarchy, but friendship tore that apart. No natural force could do what friendship and love did. For that reason, it was an offense against magic itself, the fabric of the universe. It was a thankless job, but someone had to do it. Friendship and love had to be destroyed, at the very least suppressed. Then, she could remake the world, create a utopia. But she needed to clear out the old management first. This was why the land of Equstria below her was scorched and in flames, Celestia and Luna flying towards her.
"CEASE AT ONCE, SPARKLE!" Luna bellowed, teal energy crackling around her body as her rage took form. Celestia followed, her own golden aura more circular.
"We can talk things over, Twilight" Celestia said sagely, keeping calm unlike her frothing sister at her side. Twilight looked up at them, smirking.
"And when ponies are trampled on, someone always shows up to rise against the hoof, not even knowing this hoof is saving them," Twilight sighed, her body flashing purple as she transformed. Her mane was now flowing like the sisters' and her wings had grown, making her considerably more regal.
"Thou art mad!" Luna spat, gritting her teeth and creating a blue hammer of magic.
"I'm sorry Twilight" Celestia said, eyes misty before steeling herself and creating twin golden katanas.
In their hearts was hope
A golden sword flew through the air, just barely missing chopping a purple wing off.
The hope of love and friendship existing.
A crash of lightning and the smell of ozone as a purple figure rocketed away.
With enormous strength, they fought
A purple beam blasting out of the skies and engulfing a blue shield
And she learned of despair
The sky turning red as a flaming alicorn let out screams of grief and rage, her golden magic now red as she viciously tried to tear apart the one who had killed her sister, flames quite literally shooting out of her and setting the air ablaze.
"Ponies ask, "why do you fight?" Twilight mumbled, looking upon the smoking land, rain cooling the fires..but not the ones in ponies' hearts. From Canterlot, there were golden flashes and explosions. Twilight giggled a little at the sight before continuing her musing, pawing the soft ground. "Ponies ask "why do you kill?". "Why do you destroy?". They die without knowing the answers, that is the the happiness of mortality." Twilight breathed, her purple body disappearing into the mists. She had enlightened someone to her way
"Foolish ponies! Tremble before my might!" Celestia bellowed to the skies, swallowing her sadness and regret in her blood stained throne room. She was doing what was best for her little ponies, it was the only way to keep them safe. "Break down your cities and never advance, stay in your villages as I command!" Celestia decreed to a shaking messenger. She had to hurt ponies, it was her existence now. A miserable one.
"For I am Celestia! The Sun!" she cried out, inviting to her throne room new creatures. A lanky draconequus who had lost his typical smile and was now embittered with anger and grief. A black centaur with a red face and arms, along with huge horns, who was smiling in sadistic glee as he sucked a pony near him dry of magic. A blue pony with red eyes and red magic, sitting at Celestia's side and having a cat like grin on her face while one hoof protected a necklace. A pink teen age foal with a tiara, covered in silvery armor and snickering as she took her place at Celestia's sides. Then a black pony with holes in its legs, a crooked horn, and bug like features flew though the window, perching on Celestia's throne. This was to be her new council, the five generals. Celestia sat on her throne, flanked by these fiends, holding in her disgust. "I'm sorry, my little ponies"
From on high, in the mountains , far away from any ponies, five ponies slept inside of tubes, dormant forever. Twilight looked upon her preserved handiwork, a pale unicorn, a buttery pegasus, a rainbow speedster, a pink earth pony, and a hat wearing farmer. They wore an oxygen mask along with tubes connected to their bodies, monitoring their vitals while they floated in the green goop of the stasis tube. Purple magic flickered across the screens showing diagnostics as Twilight checked up on them
"Good night, my friends, stay in your dreams. I should get rid of you, you're dangerous...but I love you too much" Twilight whimpered, running a hoof across the stasis tubes wistfully. Hardening her eyes, the purple alicorn created a ball to show her what was happening in the cities and smirked.
"That is your fate, it is the way I'll save you" Twilight chuckled to herself. "Stay underground, never ever, use friendship again"
What used to to be Ponyville was now a smoking husk after Discord and Diamond Tiara finished tearing the place apart, revering them to a near neolithic state. Out of the ruins, small huts formed. The ponies quickly learned that anyone who dared try to salvage their former technology or magic would disappear, stopping the attempt.
Sweetie Belle's youthful body was put to work, cutting down trees with Scootaloo. While Sweetie Belle had become quiet and forlorn after the vicious attack on Ponyville that had taken her sister as well, Scootaloo still had an air of cockiness about her. Probably because she hadn't seen the attack first hand, being in Cloudsdale at the time.
"Sweetie, do you ever wonder about the rest of the world? I mean, why don't we just leave? It's not like there's guards or anything nearby" Scootaloo urged for the tenth time that day. Scootaloo was obssessed with leaving the village and doing exploring, much to Sweetie's annoyance. Sweetie hated being reminded of the days before, when ponies were free from the grip of Celestia and the Power Above. No body knew who the Power Above was, but it was generally accepted that the Power Above had been the one to flip Equestria on its head along with killing all the princesses save for Celestia. Celestia might as well be dead, at least the Celestia they knew. It was on her orders that their towns had been smashed and families, friends, lovers even, torn apart and placed into different locations. Sweetie had only been able to stay with Scootaloo by luck. When Cloudsdale was invaded, the soldiers assumed Scootaloo was from there and relocated her to Ponyville.
"Isn't that what your mom said?" Sweetie Belle spat, her horn sawing through the tree she was working on with a muffled crunch. Scootaloo's lavender eyes dropped and her ears drooped, the orange pegasus wincing in remembrance. Sweetie Belle gasped at her her mistake and ran over to her friend, hugging her tightly. "I-i'm sorry, I didn-"
"Nah, you're right. But maybe I can do better than them, boy, that would make them proud" Scootaloo chuckled, hiding her sadness behind a facade of bravado. Scootaloo's father had died 14 years ago around the time Scootaloo was born, her mother disappeared after going on a quest to try and regain contact with Apaloosa.
"Let's get this wood back to camp, otherwise, Mayor Mare will use us for the houses" Sweetie Belle smiled, almost feeling like it was old times once more. But it wasn't. Sweetie was now an accomplished spell caster with her green magic, Scootaloo could fly, and they both had Cutie Marks now. Sweetie's was a drill, rather unexpectedly. The pale unicorn drilled the cores of trees though, so in hindsight, it made sense. Scootaloo's was one everyone expected, her beloved scooter, one of the few things not destroyed in the ransacking. Babs and Applebloom were an unknown factor, the two hadn't seen them in 6 years.
"Tch....Sweetie Belle, if I did go on a quest, would you go with me?" Scootaloo asked hesitantly to her friend, dragging the wood with muscles developed from 6 years hauling wood. Sweetie Belle sighed, looking at the ground as if it were a piece of art. Scootaloo took the hint and shut up...for about 5 seconds. "Sweetie, look!" she cried, pointing at a cloud of smoke coming from Ponyville. Sweetie blanched, remembering exactly what had happened last time there was a smoke cloud.
"L-le-" she started before screaming and jumping back as a body landed in front of her. The body was broken and bent, but clearly a pony.
"Woah, who's this?" Scootaloo asked, trotting up, completely nonplussed by the situation. Whoever they used to be, they were a fighter, equipped with a huge long sword and a helmet to boot.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! WE HAVE TO GET BACK TO PONYVILLE AND HIDE!" Sweetie squealed, breathing quickly as adrenaline surged through her system, fight or flight responses kicking into overdrive. Scootaloo turned to see her friend's panic and while she would have preferred to investigate further, Sweetie Belle's comfort came first. Scootaloo took the sword off of the body before following Sweetie Belle towards Ponyville.
The pair arrived quickly and leaped behind a hill for cover before peeking over and seeing that the place was a war zone. Ponies of all shapes and sizes brawling against...weird creatures. The creatures had no real similarities to each other, but they were clearly on the same team.
"Let's just wait and hide while they kill each other" Sweetie reasoned, popping her head back below the hill's peak. Scootaloo wasn't there anymore
"TAKE THIS, FREAKS!" Scootaloo yelled, to Sweetie Belle's horror, as the pegasus jumped into the fray, swinging her looted sword wildly and slashing into several of the monsters. This was happening all over Ponyville as the monsters were pushed back, clearly outmatched. Then the ground exploded, monsters and ponies flying about alike. Sweetie was too busy cowering to notice as out of the ground surged a monstrous bull dog made of stone, its grey hid flecked with blood. It let out a mighty bellow before noticing sparks nears its foot.
"Run, Scootaloo" Sweetie whispered, hoping that somehow, Scootaloo would get her thoughts. It obviously wasn't working since Scootaloo kept hacking on and on at the dog's leg.
"Eat this, and that, and this, and that...." Scootaloo laughed as she repeatedly slashed its leg with her sword, looking like a lizard trying to attack a dog. The dog snorted and raised its paw, about to smash the troublesome pegasus. In a brown flash, the dog let out a piercing howl of pain as its right hindleg was smashed to pieces, causing it to fall to its knees. "Who?" Scootaloo started before a powerful hoof grabbed her by the mid section and ran off with the pegasus slung across muscular shoulders.
A freckled face turned to see her passenger and grinned. The face was rounded with a red bang drooping across her green eyes and Scootaloo could have sworn she had seen her somewhere before
"Nice to see you again, Cutie Mark Crybaby"
"Cutie Mark Crybabies?..BABS?!" Scootaloo sputtered as she saw her savior's face and heard her tone.
"Yeh, it's been a while, hasn't it?" Babs muttered distractedly, shoving Scootaloo behind the wreckage of a building and then peeking in between the slats of shredded wood. Already the stony dog's leg was regrowing itself, stone reassembling. "Damn" Babs swore, preparing to charge once more, this time aiming for the heart. "Okay, Scoots, stay here, I'll go kill it by striking its hea-Scoots?" Babs whispered before pulling at her mane in despair as she saw that Scootaloo had jumped ahead regardless.
"Where'd that damn pony go?" the dog snarled, shifting its head as it looked around for the thing that had crippled it.
"Over here, dumbass" Scootaloo called, making the dog look down at the pony that barely reached past its toes. "Yeah, over here! The great Scootaloo doesn't appreciate mangy mutts stomping around in her town. Leave or die!" Scootaloo boasted, drawing her sword once more. One could have heard crickets with how quiet it was after Scootaloo's monumentally reckless charge. The dog raised its foot and stomped, smashing the spot where Scootaloo was standing. Babs winced at the sight before preparing to sneak away. Then the ground caved in under her.
"What gives Sweetie, I was about to utterly own that dog!" Scootaloo snapped from behind Babs as the brown Earth Pony shook off some dirt. Babs looked forward and smiled in realization as she saw Sweetie Belle's green magic digging a hole in the earth. Obviously the unicorn had some sense and had pitfalled Scootaloo before she got squashed.
"No you weren't, you're lucky Sweetie here was smarter than you" Babs snorted, finding the tunnel cramped and dark, despite Sweetie's magic providing some light as she extended the tunnel.
"Not with that attitude" Scootaloo huffed in response. "So, Babs, what's your story? I mean, it's good to see you and all, but what happened?"
Babs smirked a bit before replying. "From what I understand, Celestia sent generals to the 4 directions and in my case, I had to deal with that bug freak, Chrysalis. Her swarm trashed Manehattan and captured me and tons of others. Celestia's orders weren't to capture us, but I guess she doesn't keep a close eye because Chrysalis used us as food. I escaped when Shining Armor and the resistance busted in and routed Chrysalis from the area"
"Resistance? This is starting to sound like the Mare-inator" Scootaloo quipped, causing Babs to roll her eyes. Scootaloo was about to say another retort when her face crashed into Babs's tail. The earth pony had stopped moving and so Scootaloo ended up quite literally kissing Babs's ass. "Oh, real mature!" Scootaloo snapped, pulling back a bit.
"It's not my fault, perv! Sweetie just stopped!" Babs hissed back. Sweetie slapped them both with a small pebble and then pointed at the obstruction. Babs's jaw dropped and Scootaloo grinned widely.
"The Element of Magic. I guess the story about the Power Above dumping them is true" Scootaloo muttered, whistling in appreciation as she looked at the at the shiny tiara, embedded in the Earth.
"Even one Element could be enough to help us get out of here" Babs sputtered, preparing to yank the crown free. Scootaloo extended a wing to stop her eager friend.
"No, Sweetie found it, it's only right she used it" Scootaloo reasoned, causing the unicorn to blanch.
"M-me!? B-but you two are awesome and brave, you were fighting that rock dog and I was just hiding" Sweetie stammered, looking at Scootaloo with wide, confused eyes.
"You think I'm going to steal your glory? Come on Sweetie, now's your time to shine!" Scootaloo laughed, making Babs wonder if the pegasus's brain was all there. Sweetie still hesitated to grab the magical artifact, though she was looking intently at it. "If anyone here is going to wear it, it's you! You used magic to save Babs from that rock dog!" Scootaloo barked out, getting a glare from the Earth Pony.
"B-but..." Sweetie started before getting interrupted by Scootaloo.
"Listen, Sweetie. Don't believe in yourself. Believe in me! Believe in me who believes in you!" Scootaloo spoke, nudging up next to the alabaster pony and looping a wing around her comfortingly. Babs continued rolling her eyes at the display. Sweetie wasn't brave enough, right?
"...I'll see what I can do!" Sweetie growled out firmly, yanking the tiara from the Earth and placing on her head, to Babs's disbelief and Scootaloo's joy. A spark of purple magic seeped out, flowing into Sweetie's breast and heart. Then the ground exploded.
The rock dog had been sniffing around, trying to find where the pony had disappeared too. He knew they weren't dead, there wasn't any blood. The ground suddenly began shaking before a plume of dirt exploded outward in front of him, causing him to leap back in shock as a small sphere containing the ponies erupted out of the ground.
"HAHA, WEREN'T EXPECTING THAT, MUTT!" Scootaloo taunted from within the bubble of purple magic. The dog snarled in anger and lashed out with a heavy claw, crushing the magic bubble like it was a grape. Scootaloo and Babs both yelped in shock as they tumbled onto the dog's back from the heavy strike while Sweetie Belle gritted her teeth, shaking with exertion as the Element of Magic struggled against the crushing force above her. Babs and Scootaloo leaped about on the dog's back, too focused to talk as they dodged its attempts shake them off.
"I-i have to believe" Sweetie gulped, doing her best to steel herself. She wouldn't let anyone else die! "Believe in in Scootaloo, who believes in me" Sweetie grunted to herself, the tiara crackling with power as she created a new bubble, leaping past the dog's paw and ramming into shoulder, causing the massive beast to yelp and stumble back. Scootaloo and Babs seized their chance, leaping towards Sweetie. Sweetie's eyes widened as the shield made a small hole so her friends fit through before reforming. She hadn't focused any magic, she just thought it and it happened. The Element of Magic was far stronger than she had thought. The dog recovered quickly though and rammed itself towards one of the remaining buildings. The shield slid off from the force of the impact, right into the dog's mouth. Letting out a monstrous snarl, the savage monster of rock attempted to crush them. The shield bent inwards, the Element of Magic itself deforming slightly under the pressure. Babs hissed in pain, shoved into a corner.
"Damn! We're going to get crushed!" she snarled, doing her best to keep her legs stretched out as well as the shield. Scootaloo merely drew her sword, prepared to stab the dog's mouth if it came to it.
"I'll believe, I need to believe!" Sweetie whimpered to herself, trying to gain her resolve back. The item on her head flashed and her eyes turned white briefly. Memories of its past bearers, all their friendships surged through her. "I NEED POWER!" Sweetie roared, channeling the friendship through her horn with a loud "CRACK!". Green magic turned rainbow as it flowed into the tiara and amplified, shooting out magic with more force than Sweetie had ever seen.
The dog squealed in pain as part of its jaw exploded outward, the rainbow colored magic shredding through stone teeth like paper. Staggering back, it coughed up the shield and looked upon the ponies in shock and pain, realizing the pale one's horn was emitting a rainbow glow and that out of the shield stuck a massive horn, like a scaled up version of the unicorn's. The horn in the shield spun like a drill.
"All right! That's what I'm talking about! Bust through that ugly thing!" Scootaloo roared to Sweetie. The unicorn nodded, gritting her teeth before shooting their shield forward. The dog let out a wail of anger and tried to stop them with its paw. Its arm shattered, the spinning horn tearing through it and slamming into his chest.
"AHHHHHHHHHH!" Scootaloo and Sweetie yelled, feeling the strain of keeping up the friendship magic.The dog's body actually lifted off the ground, scrabbling with its remaining paw at the sphere about to pierce his chest. With a sickening crunch, the drill tore straight through his chest, tearing out the red Heartstone that powered him and emerging out his back.
"W-we did it?" Sweetie murmured, looking at the dead, house sized dog hundreds of feet below them, its chest completely destroyed.
"No, you did it" Scootaloo laughed.
The sphere created by the Element of Magic shone in the sky, almost like a second Sun...that was slowly falling.
"Hey, Sweetie, we're starting to fall" Babs started, eyes widening a bit before she hunkered into a ball defensively. Scootaloo let out a raucous laugh and prepared to tell Babs how wrong she was. Gravity took effect before she could.
"WE'RE FALLING!" Sweetie screeched, her horn shutting off as fear took hold.
"No kidding!" Babs snapped back just as their sphere smashed against the ground with a loud thud, leaving a crater and smashing what was left of the dog's body to powder. The bubble turned off and Sweetie Belle rolled forward, grabbing her head and moaning in pain. She blanched when she realized her head was underneath Scootaloo.
"S-sorry" Sweetie mumbled, red coloring her cheeks as she backed off. Before she could move much further, Babs suddenly gasped and tackled her to the ground, covering her like a lion protecting its cubs.
"Looks like the dog had friends" she snarled, looking up at another stone dog, smirking at them hungrily. It managed to take one paw step forward before a spear buried itself in the stone that was its heart. The spear had been carried by gray furred pony with bubbles for a cutie mark, her crossed eyes squinting as she attempted to pull the spear out. The dog let out a pitiful whine before falling over, letting a blue maned unicorn climb on top of it. "Shining Armor!" Babs laughed, heading up to join their rescuer.
"New friends, huh?" Scootaloo chuckled, looking around at an assortment of ponies and gryphons that had followed Shining Armor, all holding weapons of some sort. They were obviously the ponies who had been fighting the monsters in the attack that preceded the stone dog's attack.
"Yup, these are the guys who saved me from Chrysalis's bug cave" Babs affirmed as Shining Armor stepped forward. The former captain of the royal guard had one eye scarred over, but still managed to have an air of regality about him
"So, this is the Cutie Mark Crusaders that Babs told me about. I got to say, that was a nice job taking down a rock dog" Shining Armor complimented, giving Scootaloo a slap on the shoulder. Scootaloo slapped back, grinning widely. This was awesome, talking to the captain of the royal guard!
"Babs, you got your Cutie Mark?" Sweetie murmured, looking at Babs's flank. On it was a hoof with shiny metal on it, like the pony who had it was made of metal or something.
"Yeah, turns out, I'm pretty good at smithing. Made these myself" Babs replied, showing off some spiked horse shoes. Sweetie nodded in amazement at the dangerous weapons. No wonder Babs had been able to shatter the rock dog's leg with a kick. Those things were powerful!
"Everybody, tuck in for the night! We're moving to Apaloosa next and I want everyone to be at their best!" Shining Armor ordered, his voice clipped and military. The resistance began shifting about, setting up camp. Small fires were set up and tents got pitched, sleeping bags being put inside them
"You can stay with me" Babs offered to the two other crusaders, setting up her own tent. In no time, Sweetie, Scootaloo, and Babs were in sleeping bags next to each other.
"Thanks for saving my ass, Sweetie" Scootaloo murmured to her friend. The unicorn blushed and curled up, believing herself unworthy of praise. "Yes indeed, leaving Ponyville was the right call" Scootaloo sighed, snuggling in. Their peace was interrupted by a husky, female voice.
"Most likely, there is much more to see" a zebra spoke, looking upon Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle bondly.
"Zecora!" they said in unison, somehow not waking Babs. The Earth Pony slept like the dead. The zebra nodded before looking at the Element of Magic still on Sweetie's head.
"I am here to see how this crown works. From what I can see, it is your perk" Zecora appraised before turning around and winking at the newly instated resistance members. "I remember you, so I bid you adeiu" she said with a bow as she left the tent.
"I almost forgot about her. I wonder if she still makes potions and stuff" Sweetie mused, suddenly seeing a light outside. It looked like a horn's glow. Scootaloo leaped out first, ready to attack the intruder. Her sword was drawn and she slashed at the shadowy figure, expecting its head to fall off.
"Nice job soldier" Shining Armor chuckled, a shield deflecting Scootaloo's attempt.
"Oops" Scootaloo muttered apologetically while Sweetie Belle followed, looking at Shining Armor's scarred eye. He noticed her staring and touched the damaged tissue.
"It's ugly, I know. When Cadence and Luna were killed by the Power Above and Celestia lost her mind, I tried to fight Celestia...I lost badly. She let me live for some reason though and so now I use this scar to remember what we are fighting for" Shining Armor explained, putting his hoof down. "Those monsters you saw us fighting in Ponyville are Celestia's little magic pets, created out of magic. They round up anyone who doesn't stick to her regime"
"I can't wait to kick their butt" Scootaloo boasted, puffing out her chest but looking rather silly as she yawned at the same time. Shining Armor chuckled and opened up the tent flap once more.
"Alright, back to bed" he ordered, shoving them in telekinetically. Before the two were even in their sleeping bags, they were sleeping. Shining Armor rolled his eyes, closing the tent flap. "No wonder they're exhausted, it's a day of firsts for them
The camp was awakened by the sound of screams. Two monstrous beasts, one looking like a bipedal tiger, the other a huge minotaur, crashed through the camp, crushing and trampling several ponies.
"Damn! They found us!" Shining Armor swore, creating a shield to block a slash from the tiger. The tiger snarled before kicking out with its leg, trying to sweep out Shining Armor's feet from under him. The wily captain leaped above the sweep kick,drop kicking the tiger and knocking it to the floor. Before he could do much else, a powerful punch caught him in the side, sending Shining Armor backwards. The minotaur had come to help his buddy.
"Shining!" Babs yelped, deflecting a second punch from the minotaur with her brass horse shoes.
"Fall back! Tell Sweetie to get her Element going, now!" Shining barked out, receiving a chorus of "yes sir!" in response. Ponies cantered away from the two beasts, some falling to powerful horns or claws before they got behind a rocky outcropping, providing cover.
"Come, come out, uppity pony garbage!" the tiger mocked, not even chasing them behind the rocks. They could play with their prey a bit. The response was a blast of teal magic from behind the rocks, nicking the tiger's cheek and causing it to roar in rage.
"What's the hold up with Sweetie's magic?!" Shining snarled, looking back at their rear. Zecora and Sweetie were trying to get the Element to work, poking at the inset gem awkwardly.
"I-it doesn't work" Sweetie despaired, the tiara on her head remaining dull. How could she be so worthless, having the most powerful magic artifact and being unable to even use it to help her friends? Scootaloo did more work than her, kicking rocks and throwing insults at their foes.
"Come get us, furry bastard!" Scootaloo taunted, kicking a few more rocks at the beasts.
"Oh yeah?! You're furry too!" the minotaur snapped back, not caring that he sounded like a petulant child. Another rock brained him in the face and the minotaur gritted his teeth, ready to eat someone. "That's it, we're going to take out the tr-" he started before seeing a red flash zip across the sky. His eyes widened and he and his partner instantly bowed as the red flash landed right in front of them. A huge, red, winged, fire breathing dragon.
"Hehehe, time to play" the dragon chuckled, flexing her claws eagerly. Sweetie's eyes widened. That voice. That was THE dragon. The dragon who had smashed through Ponyville with Discord and Diamond Tiara. The dragon who had taken her parents and Applebloom from her.
"S-she's the reason they're gone. If it weren't for her, all my friends would be here" Sweetie hissed, the crown bursting to life, purple sparks shooting out of it. Before she could rush into the fray, a striped hoof stopped her.
"I know that you have power, but you do not yet have enough at this hour" Zecora cautioned, sensing that Sweetie needed just a bit more time to build up power. Sweetie clenched her teeth, but stood still
Meanwhile, the drake was cackling maniacally, flames bursting out of her mouth and slaughtering the ponies not protected enough by the outcrops.
"She's mine" Scootaloo smirked, drawing her sword and preparing to take down the dragon. Babs gawked at the pegasus, wondering if it was a joke or if her friend was serious. Taking on a dragon alone? Before Babs could protest, a purple blur flew past her, picking up Scootaloo. Babs coughed a bit from the kicked up dust, taking a look at the purple orb. So, Sweetie had finally gotten her act together. "Just in time Sweetie!" Scootaloo laughed, holding onto the magic orb with her hooves while her wings held her sword.
"What are they doing?" Shining Armor murmured, looking at their newest recruits as they went straight for the dragon. Before they could reach her, the minotaur swung his fists together in a double axe handle, trying to crush the bubble. Sweetie dodged around the punch, moving towards the dragon's nose. The dragon snarled angrily and began to open her mouth, preparing to breathe fire.
"Up!" Scootaloo ordered, snapping Sweetie out of looking at the glow of the dragon's mouth and making their shield burst upwards. By sheer luck, the tiger had been trying to hit them, resulting in it accidentally slashing the dragon's mouth and halting her fire.
"Sorry!" the tiger wailed, realizing he had hit his superior. The dragon merely screeched in pain, holding her cut nose and fell onto her back.
"Now!" Scootaloo yelled, leaping from the bubble and landing on the dragon's chest. "You're mine" she grinned, preparing to slam her sword through the soft underbelly.
"Get off of her!" the minotaur protested, trying to punch the intruder off. His fist came to crashing halt as it slammed against the lavender bubble.
"You won't lay a hand on her" Sweetie hissed from inside the bubble, the drill horn sprouting from the shield and into the minotaur's hand with a sickening squelch. The minotaur let out horrid bellows of pain, stumbling back and holding his ruined hand pitifully.
"Open up!" Scootaloo growled, driving her sword into the dragon's chest, making her screech and thrash, her black heart impaled on the blade. Scootaloo drove the blade further in before she heard a clang. "Eh?" she muttered, pulling out the sword and realizing it had hooked itself onto a small necklace. But not just any necklace, the red lightning bolt on it saw to it that no one would mistake it. "Oh yeah, I've got an Element too!" Scootaloo boasted, snapping the necklace onto her, posing proudly. Her shield didn't come forth. "Umm, it's not working" she grumbled, poking the necklace.
"They got Commander Guzacka! Stinking ponies, you'll pay for this!" the tiger roared, slashing Scootaloo with a blood stained claw. The only reason Scootaloo survived was a reflexive jump back, letting her lose only a notch of her ear. She didn't count of the tiger spinning around and kicking her away. "That was for the commander" the tiger hissed, rushing over to finish the job. Meanwhile, the minotaur held Sweetie's bubble in a bear hug, preparing to crush her.
"I'm sending you to the afterlife too, pipsqueak" he snarled, letting her go and using his good hand to toss her into Scootaloo, sending the two ponies rolling.
"Damn, what's wrong with this?" Scootaloo hissed, struggling to get to her hooves. She fell right back down when she saw what she was standing on. The remnants of an old cape. But not just any cape, Applebloom's cape. "Don't you dare do this again!" Scootaloo roared, the element surging to life with a red glow, giving her her own shield. It was fair bit larger than Sweetie's and shaped more like a pony, almost like a Russian Doll. The minotaur and tiger didn't notice, each one about to smash Sweetie Belle.
"End of the line, runt" they hissed in unison, preparing to kill the unicorn.
"Who the Hell do think I am?!" Scootaloo snapped, rushing forward, her avatar delivering a kick to the tiger, slamming him into his buddy. "Hands off Sweetie!" she screamed, delivering a brutal punch which actually lifted the beasts off the ground, smashing them into the rocky outcrops that the resistance had been using as cover. "Time to finish this" Scootaloo boasted, grabbing Sweetie's shield and tossing her at their foes.
"WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME!?" Sweetie protested as she was used as a living projectile, the drill horn impaling both the tiger and the minotaur in one fell swoop, killing them instantly.
"They won?!" Babs sputtered incredulously, looking at the carnage they had wreaked.
"Mhm, it seems that by channeling friendship, they can destroy even ships" Zecora noted. She chuckled a bit as she saw the two of them doing a small victory dance, holding hooves and dancing in a circle. "My, my, they are amusing. At least they haven't started to sing"
Shining Armor's eyes were narrowed, possibilities flying through his brain. They had used the Elements to concentrate friendship, but years ago, it was said that his sister had been able to channel it even without Elements. Perhaps the rest of the resistance could learn to channel without the Elements
After the brawl with the monsters, Scootaloo was fiddling around with her Element of Harmony.
"Hehe, looks good on me, huh, Sweetie Belle?" Scootaloo chuckled, sticking out her chest proudly as the red lightning bolt glimmered in the Sun. Sweetie nodded, polishing off her own tiara. Zecora had mentioned that letting the Elements rust was bad, so polishing was needed. "These babies will let us take back Equestria" Sctooaloo boasted.
"Slow down. You aren't doing that alone" Babs muttered, leaping down from a small cliff just above the pair.
"Right, we wouldn't want to take all the glory for ourselves, right?" Scootaloo laughed, causing the brown earth pony to roll her eyes.
"Same old, same old, huh?" Babs smirked, shaking off her smile and returning to her regular stoic look. "Anyway, we need some more food. Want to go forage with me?" Babs asked Scootaloo, pawing at the ground a bit nervously.
"Of course, that sounds cool. Hey, Sweetie, stop polishing that thing and tag along" Scootaloo barked out to the pale unicorn. Sweetie Belle nodded, putting the crown away in a saddle bag. Babs scowled a bit at this new tidbit, making Sweetie cock her head slightly at the earth pony's sudden sour face.
"Are you okay with it?" Sweetie asked, looking at her old friend curiously. Babs shook it off and gave a short nod and smile. "Okay then, let's go" Sweetie declared, setting off towards the Everfree forest.
A small bird tweeted from the branches of a tree, its bright feathers fluffing up. Suddenly, a spear sprouted in its chest and it was knocked from its perch, landing on the forest floor. Babs picked up another javelin from the pile next to her, hefting the throwing weapon and impaling a cockatrice.
"Nice shot" Scootaloo whistled in appreciation, looking at the clean kills. Babs basked in the compliment and shifted a javelin over to the pegasus.
"Let's see if you're any good at this" Babs giggled, stepping back, expecting Scootaloo to fail miserably. Scootaloo let out a somewhat evil sounding laugh as she picked up the weapon and tossed it straight up. "Yeah, it takes a lo-NO WAY!" Babs sputtered, realizing that by sheer and total dumb luck, the fall of the javelin happened to hit another, low flying bird.
"Oh yeah, I'll go get it!" Scootaloo crowed, jumping down from the hill they were on to pick up her kill. Her wings fluttered quickly, weaving in between the trees and taking her to a small puddle. The birds's body lay in the puddle, the javelin still stuck inside of it...and a candy cane? Why was a candy cane embedded inside the bird. Scootaloo's gut practically screamed at her and she ducked backwards, just barely avoiding a blast of purple and green magic. "Alright, who's there?!" Scootaloo snarled, magenta eyes flicking in between the trees, trying to find her assailant. A flash of brown from the corner of her eye was the only thing that alerted her to a red, scaled, tail swinging in the air, aiming for her head. The pegasus ducked underneath it, deflecting a second swipe with her wing before rolling away, getting a proper look at her attacker.
"I'm impressed" the assailant mused, straightening up to a height easily twice that of Scootaloo's. A goat like head sneered at her, the compliment clearly fake.
"You...I know you! Discord" Scootaloo gasped, remembering exactly who the draconequus was.
"Aye, it's me. I'm so happy you remember too" Discord chuckled, leaning down to look the pegasus in the eye. "You were a nice kid back in the day, and Fluttershy liked you, so I'm giving you a chance. Hand over that bird, it was my dinner" Discord ordered, holding out an eagle like talon. The bird had other plans though and began squawking with renewed vigor, apparently still alive. "YOU TRICKED ME!" Discord roared, slapping the bird aside with a lion's paw, black magic gathering in his other hand. Scootaloo leaped back once more, drawing the sword on her side in preparation.
"What happened to you Discord?! You were reformed! And it wasn't on purpose" Scootaloo snarled, holding in her wing to leave her hooves open.
"When Fluttershy disappeared, I lost my only friend" Discord growled out, creating a large spearmint to battle with. He slashed down with it, just barely missing Scootaloo's flank. "Fluttershy was all I cared about!" he snapped, deflecting a blow of Scootaloo's sword with his spearmint and slashing her side with his dragon foot. "Without her, why should I be good!?" he hissed, the eagle claw, catching Scootaloo mid jump to slice open part of her ear.
"STOP WHINING!" Scootaloo yelled, using the candy cane that had been in the bird earlier to stab the spirit of chaos in the shoulder, stumbling him back. Fortunately for Scootaloo, she had picked it up, assuming she'd be hungry later. "Look Discord, I don't know what happened exactly, but we can help you" Scootaloo offered to the wounded beast.
"Impressive, you hurt me a bit. But it won't work too well, hitting me with my own attacks" Discord chuckled, regenerating the small wound easily. He let out an animalistic roar, charging forward, ready to impale Scootaloo on his spearmint. Scootaloo mentally cursed herself. Why had she left the Element back with her saddle bags.
"Scootaloo!" a high pitched voice called, followed shortly by a purple shield that slammed the draconequus, knocking him away.
"Nice save, Sweetie" Scootaloo complimented, sheathing her sword.
"I was grabbing berries and heard shouts" Sweetie explained, a pop coming from Discord as he teleported onto a nearby rock.
"The Element of Magic?" he sputtered, eyes wide as he tried to process his greatest enemy. His reverie was interrupted as a javelin nearly impaled him, only missing due to him teleporting away. Babs growled in frustration at her missed shot as she tried for another. "Some rebels? Hehe, and I was just getting bored" Discord laughed, growing a few feet for every laugh. In no time, he was enormous, the draconequus reaching over the trees.
"Here!" Babs called, tossing the Element of Loyalty to Scootaloo. The pegasus snapped on the necklace and formed the combat avatar of red energy, reaching up to Discord's neck.
"So, the Element of Loyalty too" Discord boomed, looking at the combat avatar with amusement. "Am I too tall? Here" Discord mocked, creating a second face in his neck to talk to Scootaloo face to face. Scootaloo wasn't in the mood for games and threw a ferocious punch. Discord laughed, easily catching the punch in his left hand. "You were pretty good on the ground, but you can't use the Element right yet!" Discord cackled, slapping her away with a kick from his goat leg.
"Stop it, you creep!" Sweetie screamed, her drill bubble flying straight for Discord. Discord merely created a hand on his tail, blasting a stream of chocolate from it, knocking Sweetie from the air and into the ground.
"Take this, CANNONBALL ATTACK!" Scootaloo yelled, picking up Sweetie Belle's bubble and flinging her at Discord. Discord snickered, his eyes flashing as he used telekinesis to simply slam the bubble into the dirt. His arm stretched to impossible lengths, picking up Scootaloo's avatar and yanking her over, just so he could smash her into the ground with a fierce elbow strike.
"I GUESS FRIENDSHIP CAN'T SOLVE EVERYTHING!" Discord laughed, opening his mouth and firing a massive wave of chaos energy, warping and distorting everything in its path. A flick of his hand and the smoke cleared, revealing nothing where Sweetie and Scootaloo should be. "Where did they go? Bah, I'll find them later, it's dinner time" Discord grumbled, shrinking back down to normal and stomping off, picking up some berries on the way.
Out of the ground, came a small, purple, drill, revealing Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle hiding underground.
"W-why? Did I run away again?" Sweetie whimpered, holding her head in her hooves
"Sweetie, why did you run away?" Scootaloo asked, sitting on one end of a rock left by Discord's blast, Sweetie on the other.
"I-i was scared...I wanted to run away" Sweetie whimpered, holding her face in her hooves, shame running down her body. "I don't want to do this anymore, l-let's go back to Ponyville. They can handle themselves. I don't want to die....and I don't want to see you die" Sweetie admitted, her response being the night's silence. "We don't belong here"
Scootaloo jumped off her rock and pointed her finger at the sky, beginning to yell "Sweetie, your horn is supposed to point at the heavens. It's not for running away! Tomorrow is the final showdown! Let's get to bed!". With that, the pegasus gave a smile to the unicorn and turned, beginning to walk away. Sweetie sighed and looked at the ground, wondering if she was really worthy. As Scootaloo walked off, a brown hoof stopped her.
"Let me use the Element of Magic" Babs said, her face curled into a frown. Scootaloo paused at these words. "I'll use it instead of Sweetie Belle. If I don't, you'll die for sure. I'll get Zecora to make it work. When it comes to fighting, I know a lot more than miss crybaby" Babs explained, flinching as Scootaloo suddenly glared at her. "I mean, Sweetie's not the fighting type, she can't handle it. She was running away!" Babs reiterated, pounding the ground with her leg to emphasize the point.
"Sweetie can pull through" Scootaloo responded, turning away from Babs, her glare dissipating. Babs's jaw dropped and she grabbed Scootaloo once more.
"What are you talking about?! Why do you believe in her so much?!" Babs sputtered.
"I believe in her because I believe in me, it's the same thing. And because I believe in her, I can believe in me. That's what partners are" Scootaloo replied, giving Babs a cocky smile before continuing her walk to the tent.
Celestia's shining Sun moved up, crossing the horizon, illuminating the rocky lands that the resistance was in. Hiding in the crags and overhangs were ponies of all sorts, all ready for a fight. In front of them all, was a massive, red avatar of a pony, Scootaloo sitting in the chest with her arms crossed. The silence was shattered as rocks began laughing, mouths that weren't there sprouting. An instant later, a massive draconequus materialized, right in front of Scootaloo. He spun around as he materialized before stopping, giving Scootaloo a cocky grin.
"I must say, I thought you'd scurry underground after the whooping I dealt you. I'm happy you didn't" Discord boasted, clasping his claws.
"And I'm happy you waited for me, you half pony freak" Scootaloo snapped back, causing a barrage of magic and arrows to fly at the draconequus, backup from her allies. Discord looked down at the assault, almost looking annoyed.
"Something itches, hold on a moment" Discord grinned, creating an energy ball in his left hand and preparing to destroy the group attacking him. Before he could fire, Scootaloo charged him, her shoulder ramming into his hand and deflecting the energy shot upwards. Discord merely snorted, turning his right arm into a writhing serpent and tripping Scootaloo with the snake's constriction. "You just don't learn, do you?" Discord snarled, punting Scootaloo into the air like a football.
"Plan B" Scootaloo called out as she hit the ground with a crash, prompting Babs to toss her powerful javelin. Discord's tail suddenly turned into a shield, taking the javelin head on and being unscratched. Once more, Scootaloo tried a charge, only for Discord to smash her over the head with a huge candy cane, bashing her to the ground. Discord let out a sadistic cackle, stomping Scootaloo and barraging her with a swarm of cotton candy clouds to pin her down.
"It's hopeless" Sweetie despaired from her position in a crevasse. "We have to give up"
"Oh, shut up! Do you see her!? She keeps getting back up!" Babs snapped, having had enough of the unicorn's whining. "Why can't you do the same thing?! She believes in you! Do you believe in her?!" Babs yelled, fully prepared to see Sweetie start crying. But Sweetie wasn't crying. She was gritting her teeth, magic sparking from her crown.
"Ohohoh, getting up again, are ya?" Discord chuckled, kicking Scootaloo in the gut with his goat hoof. "You really are stupid!" Discord laughed, grabbing the stunned avatar by the left leg and spinning around, tossing her like she was a weight in a hammer throw. Scootaloo's avatar crashed against the mountain side, stunned as Discord's mouth began glowing once more. Just as the energy was about to release, a purple drill shot forward, smashing through Discord's jaw and head with a sickening squelch, causing the energy to fly upward harmlessly.
"What took ya?" Scootaloo said with a grin, looking at the purple bubble Sweetie was in.
"I'm scared, really scared. But watching you die is even scarier!" Sweetie squeaked, power coursing through her body.
"Great! Time for the last resort!" Scootaloo laughed manically, grabbing Sweetie's bubble. "We're gonna combine!" Scootaloo roared, slamming the bubble into her avatar with a crack, replacing the head head with Sweetie's bubble.
Discord's regeneration of his face was interrupted by the crack and he gasped in horror. "Can it be true?" he muttered, voice slurred a bit. "It can't be!" Discord gasped, looking at the fusion, expecting to see rainbow light pouring out. But nothing happened. It looked rather silly, the two clashing energy constructs.
"See that? We're as tall as you now" Scootaloo boasted, the purple bubble on their head letting them stack up to the draconequus's size directly.
"....You're dumb through and through" Discord moaned, facepalming hard. "It's power, not size that makes the difference" Discord lectured, preparing another energy blast from his mouth. "NOW DIE!" Discord roared, the energy shooting forward with a crack, multicolored waves about to destroy the fusion. CRASH! "IMPOSSIBLE!" Discord shrieked, gaping like a fish as his energy shot collided against a mauve barrier and stopped completely.
"OH YEAH, WE COMBINED!" Scootaloo boasted as their avatar turned mauve, growing a fair bit so it was slightly taller than Discord, even making the fusion look smooth.
"That's impossible" Discord snapped, looking at the avatar in denial. "GO TO HELL!" he snapped, creating a candy cane and preparing to smash the avatar. The avatar ducked under it, uppercutting the spirit of chaos with a mighty thud.
"Listen here, fuzzball, combining is about friendly spirits smashing together!" Scootaloo growled, grabbing Discord's horns and tearing them off, causing the draconequus to reel back, screeching in pain. "That's team Scootabelle! Who the Hell do you think we are!?" Scootaloo boasted, placing the stolen horns on top of their avatar. "From now on, we're team Scootabelle!"
"You tore off my horns, you little brats!" Discord screamed, lunging forward, energy gathering in his hands.
"It's team Scootabelle!" Scootaloo responded, grabbing the spirit's hands and crushing them with a crunch. Discord pulled back, regenerating his mangled hands and gritting his teeth. He didn't have much time to react before a foot crashed into his sternum, staggering him back and causing him to gag.
"H-how did this happen?! They don't even have all 6 elements!" Discord sputtered, panic beginning to cross his face. In desperation, he fired energy from his tail wildly
"You'll never understand!" Scootaloo roared, walking straight through the barrage and socking the draconequus in the jaw with sickening crunch, causing his head to spin 180 degrees. The massive construct shattered to pieces, spitting Discord's normal sized form out.
"So much power" Discord panted, teleporting away before he was killed
Sweetie Belle looked at a shiny pebble on the ground, dislodged after Discord's attack. A sapphire. Now that brought back memories of her fillyhood, playing with sapphires and fraying Rarity's nerves to the brink of insanity.
"Sorry" a voice called out from behind, causing Sweetie to turn. It was Babs. "Sorry for doubting ya. I said some mean things about you, I shoulda believed in ya a bit more" Babs apologized, looping her leg across Sweetie's neck.
"It's okay. I wouldn't have believed in me either" Sweetie chuckled, relieved and feeling great after defeating Discord.
"Come here, I found something you need to hear" Zecora's husky voice spoke from her make shift lab, where she was fiddling with the Element of Loyalty.
"What is it?" Babs asked, trotting over there and hoping that it was some good news for once.
"The element was inside a dragon, it remembers its cabin" Zecora rhymed, pointing out an image in the necklace. A cabin inside what appeared to be a cave.
"I remember those in Canterlot, the Crystal Caves" Sweetie mused, eyes wide.
"That must be where Celestia's base is, underneath Canterlot! We can go on the offensive!" Babs sputtered, excitement welling up inside of her. They could take the fight to Celestia and her goons!
"No, we can't. Not enough ponies" said Shining Armor, his voice clipped and military as he walked by. His stern look softened a bit. "But, maybe you guys can go recruit them. Team Scootabelle will have a reputation for defeating Discord" Shining Armor ordered, not flinching as Scootaloo dropped down from seemingly nowhere.
"Consider it done!" Scootaloo boasted, zipping off into the wasteland.
"Bye guys" Sweetie managed to squeak before Scootaloo dragged her along. Babs's ears drooped a bit. Why was Scootaloo so impulsive? If she had just let her explain...
"You can go too" Shining Armor smiled, making his magenta shield across the camp. "It's obvious you are star struck by her" the old captain joked. Babs blushed hard as her feelings were exposed.
"That's not how it is!" she yelped, stumbling off to follow her comrades. "But thanks!" she acknowledged to Shining Armor as she ran off, leaving the captain to continue his battle plans.
Just a day passed before team Scootabelle found their first recruits. A team of pegasis circling the sky, black smoke trailing from them.
"We'll take them down!" Scootaloo hissed, preparing to use her avatar. Her eyes widened and she began screeching as she got a closer look, the pegasi landing. "THE WONDERBOLTS, OH MY GOSH!" she shrieked, bouncing around like a little fangirl.
"Someone who's still a fan, that's rare. I'm Spitfire" said the pegasus in front, her orange mane sticking up like fire. "These other two are Soarin and Fleetfoot"
"We hunt Celestial Soldiers" the other two Wonderbolts claimed, flapping their wings with pride.
"Maybe you can join us then, we take them down too" Babs offered, trying to be diplomatic.
"Nice try, but we work so-" Spitfire started before noticing the Elements on Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. The mare practically choked before nodding her head up and down. She'd join them now.
"I'll be able to show the Wonderbolts how awesome I am!" Scootaloo continued squealing, making Spitfire give her a small glare.
"Heh, good luck with that kid"
"According to the map, Appleloosa should be just up ahead" Babs muttered, leafing through a battered map. She turned to look at where Sweetie Belle should be, only to see nothing, same with Scootaloo. "Where?...THERE!" Babs realized,charging after her friends and tackling a yellow earth pony.
"Applebloom, we've missed you!" Sweetie Belle wailed from her position in the group hug, embracing the farm mare.
"Same here, but what are you doing in these parts?" Applebloom asked, managing to disengage from the group hug.
"We're recruiting people to take down Celestia!" Scootaloo laughed plainly, causing Applebloom to roll her eyes.
"Nice confidence. But I'll follow my friends anywhere. Even if we're not Cutie Mark Crusaders anymore" Applebloom smiled, pointing at her flank, emblazoned with pickaxe. In no time at all, the Earth Pony was packed and ready to set off...until two foals slammed into her hind legs.
"We want to come too, mom!" they giggled, smiling brightly at them.
"Mom? You had kids?" Scootaloo asked, eyes wide.
"Yup, the boy is Sandy Dunes, the girl is Burning Cobalt" Applebloom chuckled. The male was a rusty color with a spiky mane of yellow, his sister was blue coated with a smooth, red mane. "And no, you can't come!" Applebloom ordered of the two foals, making them groan in protest.
"Come on, let them come, we can protect them" Sweetie Belle cooed, nuzzling Sandy Dunes affectionately.
"I'd be happier if they were with me..." Applebloom considered, pursing her lips. There was a loud thunk and the corpse of a wolf fell behind her.
"We can keep them safe" Babs swore, yanking her javelin out of the beast's back. Applebloom thought it over, before smiling.
"Alright" she gave in, to chorus of cheers from her children.
The reputation held by Team Scootabelle was spreading fast. Entire divisions of Celestia's monsters were being destroyed. More and more ponies flocked to the resistance, emboldened by new hope. Sweetie smiled from her sleeping bag, seeing caravans going towards the resistance in Ponyville. Things were going to change, that was for sure.
"Everything will be alright" she sighed, closing her eyes.
In a dank hole underground, trouble brewed. Chrysalis, Tirek, Diamond Tiara, Discord, and Trixie all stood in an antechamber, lit up by a golden light in the center. Chrysalis had suggested this place as a hideout, and everyone had to admit, the crystal caves where Cadence and Twilight had once been imprisoned made for a good hide out. The golden light they were looking at became even more intense, and out of it stepped Celestia, not looking a day older since the day everything had changed.
"I've heard there's some commotion on the surface" Celestia drawled. It wasn't a question and everyone could tell. "Yes, the center district has lost many warriors" Celestia noted, her mane flowing in the silent air.
"How pathetic for the great Discord's army. How the spirits have fallen" Trixie crowed, causing the draconequus to snarl at her as she chuckled. Discord had been in charge of the center district.
"More of these upstarts have been coming out than ever before. We should kill them all now" Diamond Tiara offered, her black crystal armor glinting in Celestia's glow. The pink mare flapped her wings restlessly, shuffling place. The once small town bully was now an alicorn, a savage one.
"Interesting, so the 5 Supreme Generals will do it themselves, eh?" Chrysalis sneered, buzzing her black wings.
"You're walking right into humiliation, a subject I'm sure you're all well versed on" Tirek grumbled, crossing his massive arms and closing his eyes. Celestia thought for a moment, looking up with a hint of wistfulness.
"Tirek, Discord, you two will work together to retake the central district" Celestia ordered, beginning to sit back down.
"Tirek?! He betrayed me once, how do I know he won't do it again?!" Discord sputtered, about to launch into a long tirade. His babbling was stopped by a glare from the alicorn in front of him, cowing the spirit of chaos. Long ago, he would have laughed it off. But not now, not after seeing her true power.
"Are you saying Tirek would dare betray me?" Celestia asked quietly, making both Tirek and Discord shudder.
"No, your majesty" the two said in unison, bowing deeply. Celestia nodded and slouched back.
"Don't do anything that will disturb my years of langour" Celestia rumbled, the light returning to its normal brightness.
"Yes, majesty!"
Tirek's enormous foot crashed into the desert landscape, dust and rubble being kicked up by his massive weight. Riding in on what appeared to be a huge chocolate monkey, Discord zoomed around, cackling maniacally, like a fly next to Tirek. Despite the draconequus being in his large state, Tirek was just that large.
"DO YA SEE!? BIGGER IS BETTER!" Discord boasted, flying low across the ground so that everyone could hear him. Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo stood in front of Tirek, their fusion avatar crackling.
"That thing is too big for us" Sweetie Belle gawked, gulping down a lump in her throat.
Scootaloo merely chuckled. "This 'oughta be good". She examined the massive centaur, eyes looking up and down his body. "Ever since I left Ponyville, I haven't seen anything that big. I'm going to take him down!" Scootaloo declared, making the head of her avatar jolt with energy.
"THAT'S STUPID!" Sweetie squeaked from within the head, eyes wide. Tirek let out a deep chuckle, sounding like the rumbling of a storm. Brimstone colored magic exploded from the skies, slamming into Scootabelle with a loud crack. The explosion warped the air and land, making a huge mushroom cloud towards the sky.
"Tee-hee! Scootabelle is nothing before our might!" Discord giggled, perching on one of Tirek's shoulders. His yellow eyes tracked a small, mauve object falling from the sky. "NO WAY! KILL THEM!" Discord shrieked, wildly firing yellow energy beams from his hands at the mauve object now jetting towards them. He didn't know Scootabelle could fly! Tirek himself fired a few energy bolts as well. Scootabelle dodged and weaved, making Discord squeal in helpless anger. "If it's come to this...EPIC DISCORDIAN BL-!" Discord started before a hoof made of energy slammed into his skull, cutting the spirit off and knocking him onto Tirek's back. Scootabelle rolled to its feet and turned, looking up at the huge, horned head above her.
"So, you're the big guy that ate people's magic? Nice seeing ya" Scootaloo yelled out, struggling to be heard. Tirek's upper shoulders shifted, turning his torso so he could look at the avatar on his back.
"Indeed! I am Lord Tirek, one of the Solar Queen's generals!" Tirek boasted, his voice nearly a hurricane.
"Yeah, whatever, listen up! She's the mare who holds the Sun in her hand and laughs off the heat! She lives off of willpower! When you hear of her, they mean me, Scootaloo!" Scootaloo bragged, rocketing their avatar upward, only to be slapped away by a huge, red hand. Another hand blocked Scootabell's flight, knocking them into the other hand, almost like they were the ball in tennis. Needless to say, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were fighting the urge to vomit.
"You're too tiny!" Tirek rumbled as he smacked them around. Finally, he grabbed the legs of the avatar and began pulling. "I'll rip that bravado from you!" he snarled, preparing to tear them apart. Sweetie and Scootaloo screamed, feeling the pain as if it were their own limbs. They could feel themselves beginning to shatter, the laughter of Tirek in the background. Then an explosion rocked Tirek's hands, letting Scootabelle drop from his grasp and fall on his back.
"Who goes there?!" he bellowed, enraged at whoever had dared to do that. A quick glance revealed another energy avatar, standing on top of a mountain, a horn glowing on it.
"GET CLEAR WHILE WE KEEP EM' BUSY!" the avatar commanded, obviously referring to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.
"I know that voice..Shining Armor?!" Sweetie gasped, a dopey smile crossing her face.
"Aye! Some of us have figured out how to harness friendship power to make our own avatars!" Shining Armor informed, the magenta construct flaring. It was clearly not as stable as that created by the Elements, but still surprisingly powerful. Three blue avatars flew through the air, landing right next to Shining Armor's.
"Don't forget the Wonderbolts!" they added in unison, stomping the ground. Scootabelle got up, the mauve energy restabilizing.
"How did they do that?" Scootaloo asked, keeping a careful eye on Tirek, noticing how the centaur was too busy surveying the land to attack.
"Because of you! You made a friendship avatar, now everybody's copying you!" Babs called out, thanking the speech amplifying spell mentally for letting her speak out. Spitfire grumbled something under her breath about not copying anybody before Scootaloo had a revelation.
"Everybody?" the pegasus asked, cocking her head.
"Yup! I hear plenty of our friends are coming over!" Babs replied, smiling widely.
Meanwhile, Tirek hissed as he heard their conversations "Damn dirty friendship, giving power freely!". "DIE!" he roared, firing off a barrage of small beams from his horns, spreading craters across the land. On Tirek's back, Discord woke up from his faint and rallied his own troops.
"TEACH THESE PONIES WHAT'S WHAT!" he screeched, calling on several dozen giant vampire fruit bats to descend from the sky, surrounding Scootabelle.
"Geez, nothing but cannon fodder again" Scootaloo lamented, looking around at the drooling beasts.
"GET HER!" Discord commanded, leaping against Scootabelle, followed by the savage beasts. From the ground, Babs winced as she saw the clear advantage Discord held.
"Pull back, Scootaloo, we need to regroup!" Babs pleaded, hoping Scootaloo would listen to reason. She got the exact response she hoped she wouldn't.
"No! We'll never get anywhere by running away!" Scootaloo countered, clearly taking honor before reason. Rather ironically, as soon as she said that, a bat, courtesy of Discord slammed into Scootabelle's face, sending them flying off of Tirek's back and landing them face first in the dirt. "We can't run, if we do, they'll stop respecting us. If they stop respecting us, they'll start attacking towns again" Scootaloo groaned, finally revealing her reasons. Sweetie pursed her lips at the dillemia. They couldn't keep fighting, but they had to make it look like a retreat.
"I've got an idea!" Sweetie declared, the horn of their avatar suddenly glowing as she ran way from Tirek, who was heading towards them.
"You won't escape!" Tirek roared, strafing the ground, just barely missing them.
"What are you doing?!" Scootaloo snapped, wondering if Sweetie had heard her reasons.
"Trust me!" Sweetie snapped right back, looking at the cliff they were heading towards.
"...Okay" Scootaloo smirked, letting Sweetie fully control their avatar. Sweetie smiled at the admittance and fired off a green bolt of magic into the sky. The magic ball shattered in the air, sending separate bits of it in all directions, hitting the ground in many areas. Scootabelle stopped running as it reached the edge of the cliff, skidding to a halt, Tirek stomping right behind them.
"Hehehe, looks like you failed to realize you how weak you were" Discord gloated, holding position on Tirek's equine shoulders.
"Wrong" Sweetie grinned, her horn glowing once and making large pillars of green magic shoot out of the places the energy balls had hit the ground.
"No!" Discord wailed as the ground beneath Tirek collapsed, sending him and the centaur into the rubble. "YOU LITTLE BASTARDS! DON'T GET COCKY! YOU MAY HAVE WON TODAY, BUT YOU'VE MADE ENEMIES OF THE SOLAR QUEEN!" he ranted, his voice trailing off as rubble covered him. "We'll be back tomorrow!" he swore as he was fully buried under tons of rock.
"That's our Sweetie Belle! Way to go!" Scootaloo grinned, proud of her friend
Nightfall had come, stars shining in the sky. They weren't as wonderful as when Luna painted the skies, but Celestia did an adequate job. The small camp below the stars did not care of them and clanked mugs together, cheering loudly. It was a real party, full of ponies who had decided to join the resistance. Some had even made friendship avatars for themselves by sheer force of will. Scootaloo, oddly, wasn't taking part in the festivities. The orange pegasus merely sat on top of a rock, looking at the Moon intently. Her ears flicked, hearing Babs step up to sit next to her.
"Babs, we're gonna win. We have to keep on winning until they stop attacking us" Scootaloo sighed, the typical bravado in her voice gone for now. The pegasus was tired of this war, so tired of fighting. But no one but her knew about it. "Besides, I want to give foals a place where they can look at the Sun without worrying about some freaker killing them" Scootaloo added, rubbing her hoof across a rock. "That's our battle" Scootaloo affirmed, dropping the rock and taking out her sword to sharpen it against the rock.
"Even still, don't do anything crazy" Babs chuckled, giving the former Cutie Mark Crusader a soft smile. The two had bonded in the journeys across the desert and wastelands, to the point where one might say, they were more than friends. Both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle adored the brown Earth Pony, but Babs in turn, only had lover's eyes for Scootaloo. Sweetie Belle was a good friend, nothing more. "You scared me there for a bit" Babs noted, her chuckle disappearing as she looked across the camp. Scootaloo looked at the Earth Pony, looking regretful about having frightened her.
"Alright everybody, listen up!" Scootaloo announced, jumping down from the rock as the party was winding down. "I'm glad you could all make it" she thanked, looking at all the expectant faces carefully, seeing who would do what. "You all saw that big centaur, and you'll be sure he'll be back tomorrow...in which case I say, we steal his magic!" Scootaloo loudly proposed, causing a chorus of mutters and whispers from the crowd. "Once Sweetie puts herself in between his horns, we can hijack his magic to create and even bigger avatar, which will be our headquarters! Let's see how they like that!" Scootaloo boasted, puffing out her chest as the crowd wildly cheered, finally feeling hope for the first time since the Solar Queen had come to power.
"Ummm, but how am I going to do that?" Sweetie asked, her voice timid as she raised her hoof. Zecora, who was next to Sweetie, nodded.
"I have found that your Element has an odd power, as it is magic, it can take magic to make foes cower" Zecora informed to Sweetie, making the unicorn gulp. She was going to face that monster again? Alone?
Sweetie woke up with a shriek, feeling a tap at the base of her horn.
"What?! Babs!" Sweetie squeaked, panting as she calmed down from her scare, looking at the Earth Pony tapping her with the javelin.
"Morning, how you feeling?" Babs asked, smirking widely as she plopped an apple into Sweetie's lap. "Take this, if you are hungry, your avatar won't be at full power" Babs advised.
"Thanks" Sweetie mumbled, taking a large bite out of the apple. Babs pawed the ground awkwardly, mentally debating whether or not to tell Sweetie about her relationship with Scootaloo. She wanted to be honest, but random emotions might make Sweetie unstable, something they couldn't afford today. "You okay?" Sweetie asked, looking at Babs curiously.
"Yeah. See ya later" Babs said with a shake of her head, deciding that what Sweetie didn't know couldn't hurt her.
"Thanks for the fix on my javelins" Babs noted, running a hoof across the sharp edge and smiling as part of the keratin fell away.
"It's rare you let someone else touch them, they really are quite a gem" Zecora noted, sharpening the last javelin and giving it back to Babs.
"It's because we can't fail today" Babs grumbled grimly, walking out of Zecora's tent and towards Scootaloo, who had gotten on her rock once more.
"I need power, I need to focus on what's in front of me" Scootaloo said, bravado creeping into her voice. She could forget her weariness now, the morning of their plan. "That's why I need you covering my back and blind spots" Scootaloo smirked, well aware of the innuendo behind that. Babs rolled her eyes and moved her head forward, lips extending to give Scootaloo a kiss. Scootaloo let out a happy snort before pulling away, wings buzzing excitedly.
"I always watch your back" Babs joked, sticking her tongue out. Scootaloo retaliated with her own kiss, a deep one, wings curling around Babs. When the two disengaged, having shown each other their passion, Scootaloo smiled once more.
"I'll pay that back ten times when I get back" Scootaloo swore, making Babs roll her eyes.
"Wow, very romantic" the Earth Pony drawled sarcastically, giving the pegasus a playful bop to the ears.
"Bah, let's get out there and raise some Hell!" Scootaloo yelled, tossing on her cape and looking out toward the horizon.
"I'm looking forward to that repayment" Babs said, a smile on her face as they headed their separate ways as the plan dictated, Babs to get vantage points for sniping, Scootaloo to rush in with the Element of Loyalty.
What neither of them knew was that Sweetie was watching from the shadows, jaw dropped and shaking a bit. Only a few words made it through her poor head.
"No, wait, you can't take her from me"
"Listen up, the plan is simple. First, we all draw out the enemy's forces in our avatars and brawl them. Meanwhile, Sweetie will combine with that behemoth's horns to steal his magic. Then we use his magic to crush the remainders. We clear?!" Scootaloo yelled, looking at the crowd that had assembled to see her.
"YEAH!!" a resounding cry came out from the assembled ponies(a few gryphons and minotaurs as well), pumping their arms in the air.
"Hit em' hard, hit em' fast, Iron Will will kick their ass!" a certain minotaur affirmed, stomping his hoof.
"I have made arrangements for your avatars to be able to communicate, if you want to live, I suggest you don't miscommunicate" Zecora added, rather proud of her ability with alchemy to add a way to communicate.
"Alright, ya bozos, let's get to it!" Scootaloo ordered, almost drowned out by a loud whoop as many avatars formed, friendship energy surrounding a few ponies. Babs hitched a ride on top of Derpy's avatar, somewhat upset she was unable to conjure her own friendship avatar.
"Just, empty your mind" Sweetie told herself, her own purple sphere feeling very empty now. The sight of Babs and Scootaloo together still rang through her skull, refusing to leave. She was jealous of them and she knew it. But the unicorn also knew that if her mind was scattered, the plan would fail. She had to stay focused. The Element of Magic didn't agree, sparking oddly on her head.
A small pegasus flew by the resistance, using the potion Zecora had given to send out a message. Tirek was still stuck inside the pit they had created. However, his upper body was free and it was only a matter of time before he pulled himself out. Scootaloo nodded and stayed silent for once, her squad approaching the pit. The pegasus nodded to herself before letting out a command.
"LET'S DO IT!" she screamed, jumping forward. It was by a smidgen that she dodged a spike of spear mint thrown at her. From Tirek's back, what looked like dirt turned out to be blankets disguising soldiers.
"We've been waiting!" Discord cackled, firing another spear mint at them. "We knew you'd try to sneak up on us!"
"We were counting on it" Scootaloo chuckled, turning back and picking up a huge boulder, tossing it at an unlucky dragon, smashing it flat. Discord snarled, teleporting a giant fruit bat in front of him to take a boulder aimed at him. "Suck rocks!" Scootaloo yelled as she and a few others tossed down huge rocks.
"Damn it! Just fight us face to face, it's not fair!" Discord shrieked, dodging another rock tossed at him.
"Did you just say that?" Scootaloo laughed, dancing around a few fire balls.
"Hehe, the ponies are crafty" Tirek rumbled, turning his head to fire a massive energy bolt, vaporizing part of the cliff and sending bodies of the resistance flying. "Catapault technique, stand by" Tirek ordered, grabbing Discord and a blue dragon. "Toss!" he roared, throwing the two of them up so that they could get on the cliff more easily. Discord materialized a candy cane in mid-air and slashed down, only to have his strike blocked by Scootaloo's avatar. The red avatar crackled as energy flowed to the arm that had blocked the strike.
"Eh? Where's your bum chum?!" Discord gawked, noticing that Sweetie Belle wasn't there and the color was all wrong. Discord got his answer as a purple sphere shot out from the cliff side, aiming for Tirek's head.
"Magic Impact!" Sweetie yelled out, slamming into Tirek's head with a crash, partially drilling into the flesh to anchor herself. The centaur let out a bellow of rage and pain as the unwanted passenger wedged herself in between his firing line.
"Why do I keep letting things set up?" Discord snarled, his face contorting in hatred as he disengaged from the block.
"Because you're dumb" Scootaloo taunted, lashing out with a snap kick, her foot connecting with Discord's candy cane, which he now held like a staff in a defensive position. "I put our luck and mettle to the test" Scootaloo boasted, leaping up and lunging down with a punch, again, just barely blocked by Discord. It still forced the draconequus back, eyes wide.
"How'd you get so good so quickly?!" he hissed, conjuring up a chocolate cloud to hamper Scootaloo...only for a javelin to impale the cloud and destroy the puffy creation. Babs tossed another javelin, this time killing a chimera.
"I won't let you die" Babs muttered to herself, leaping onto the ground to get a better shot and letting Derpy's avatar trip, crushing a comparatively small Timberwolf in the process. A brim stone colored beam strafed the ground near the grey avatar, nearly killing the pegasus.
"What gives, Sweetie?!" Derpy called out, her voice betrayed.
"Sorry, I can't control Tirek's magic well!" Sweetie responded, realizing that Tirek was still firing energy despite her position. She needed to concentrate more. But every time she tried, that kiss from last night just got in the way. "No, why am I failing?!"
"Forget the small fry, everyone get back to old monkey face!" Discord ordered, retreating his troops to Tirek's back. Just as the draconequus was about to join them, a hoof smashed into his spine, knocking him to the ground.
"You aren't going anywhere!" Scootaloo growled, looking up at Sweetie. "You guys keep them pinned down, I'll go help Sweetie Belle!" Scootaloo ordered, leaping off the unconscious spirit of chaos and onto Tirek's shoulders, clambering her way up to the horns of the black beast. She deactivated her avatar and landed flat on Sweetie's sphere. "Open up!" she commanded, making a rip in the purple energy as the unicorn obeyed. "SNAP OUT OF IT!" Scootaloo snapped, lashing out and punching Sweetie in the face, staggering her backwards.
"S-scootaloo?" Sweetie murmured, rubbing her sore jaw.
"Have you snapped out of it? If you ever do that again, I'll always come to belt you" Scootaloo said, giving Sweetie a playful smile. "I'll always be here, don't you forget that" Scootaloo reassured. Sweetie stayed still for a moment before cracking a grin.
"Right" Sweetie confirmed, this time with confidence, purple energy flowing into Tirek's horns. It was just just as planned, they'd take his energy and use it to make a huge avatar, able to be used as a base.
"Heh, see?" Scootaloo chuckled, remaking her avatar and jumping onto Tirek's shoulders. "You just have to-" she started before the flesh beneath her exploded with orange light. The orange beam was thin, but potent. It slashed right through the avatar, all the way into Scootaloo...and through her. Everyone on the battle field saw the orange beam, but not everyone saw what it had done.
"Scootaloo!" Sweetie shrieked, noticing the avatar had been run through completely. From the direction the energy had come from burst a smaller version of Tirek. The Tirek they were on was more akin to magical energy forming him. He had decided to ditch the corrupted magic and take the usable magic in order to make his combat worthy form for himself.
"Hahaha! I won't hand over my power so easily!" the demon growled, leaping onto the black fur of the larger, now consciousless, Tirek.
"Tirek?" Scootaloo managed to hiss before a dragon foot smashed into the small of her avatar's back, flooring her. "I learned that one from you, think I'll keep it" Discord mocked, landing next to Tirek.
"Son of a-" Scootaloo started before a brimstone blast shredded off the left leg of her avatar.
"You're tenacious, I'll give you that" Tirek laughed, bucking the avatar right into Discord so that the draconequus could smash Scootaloo into the ground with his tail. Discord picked Scootaloo back up, holding the pathetic looking avatar in the air. "But it's all over!" Tirek roared, moving his head up just as Discord slammed Scootaloo downward. A black horn entered the red avatar, cracking emanating from the area as the Element of Loyalty did its best to protect its bearer. There was a hideous crack as the horn burst through, slamming into Scootaloo's belly.
Everyone on the battle field heard the blood curdling scream of agony, the once great red avatar hanging limply from Tirek's horn. Tirek tossed his head, letting the avatar drop. It didn't get back up
"I-it can't be..." Babs murmured to herself, seeing the once hopeful red avatar lying broken on the ground. Sparks of energy shot from the gaping hole, the red avatar twitching slightly. The battle was at a stand still, the figure head of the resistance having been defeated.
"SCOOTALOO!" Sweetie screamed, rage and grief bleeding into her voice and making it hoarse. Purple energy shot from all around Tirek's head, the magic responding to her agony by lashing out blindly at everything nearby, foe and ally alike. Bodies went flying, undiscriminated as friend or foe. The ground itself shattered, fault lines shattering, lava pouring from the ground as it was melted down by blasts hotter than lightning.
"W-what happened?!" Tirek sputtered, dodging blasts from his larger self.
"Look out!" Discord interjected before he was slapped aside by the massive palm of the larger Tirek.
"Where are you going? Don't leave me to fight alone, coward!" Tirek roared after the sailing draconequus, a dot in the sky. He himself had little time to react before he was backhanded as well, slamming him against a cliff face, just barely missing falling into magma.
On the back of the larger, berserk Tirek, something in the red avatar stirred. Scootaloo's body was broken, a massive groove cut in her side from Tirek's energy shot and a gaping hole in her gut from the horn. Her body began to move.
"C-can't a girl get any sleep around here?.." she mumbled, staggering to her hooves.
"It's no use...There's nothing I can do now" Sweetie Belle mumbled, her head bowed, the larger Tirek coming to a halt. She let out a strangled whimper, the last of her rage disappearing. Then something slammed her little energy bubble. The little unicorn gasped in shock before looking towards the direction it had come from. "Scootaloo, you're still alive!" Sweetie screamed, jaw dropped almost comically.
"Who the Hell do you think you are? You are the one whose drill pierced heaven and Earth and even tomorrow. Why are you just sitting there?!" Scootaloo yelled, the remaining arm of her avatar pointing at the sky.
"S-she's here..Right!" Sweetie smiled tearfully, feeling her sadness disappear. Everything would be okay now. Purple energy flowed through Tirek, controlling it perfectly this time. "Everybody, everything is okay now! Come on!" Sweetie ordered, using Tirek's mouth to get her message across to the whole of the the resistance.
"There's no one like them" Babs smiled before joining the mighty cheer of the resistance.
The resistance's cheer was cut off by the strafe of a brimstone beam, separating them from Tirek.
"You damn dirty fiends! I received that magic as a gift from the Solar Queen herself! I'd sooner die than let you steal my larger self!" the smaller Tirek bellowed, charging into battle against the larger version, a squad of soldiers flying behind him.
"That freak doesn't know when to give up" Scootaloo sighed, the act of talking making her wince. She couldn't let any weakness show, not now. "Come on Sweetie, let's combine. We'll use Scootabelle for this last mission" Scootaloo ordered, managing to keep the tremble out of her voice.
"Right!" Sweetie affirmed, leaping her bubble from in between the larger Tirek's horns and flying towards Scootaloo.
"LET'S DO IT!" Scootaloo said as they clashed together, organs straining and muscles screaming at her. The lost limbs of the avatar came back, stronger than before. The entire energy turned mauve as the red head moved away, replaced by the bubble like head of Sweetie Belle's avatar. The horns they had stolen from Discord shined brightly in the lava, giving them a majestic appearance. "Even if you laugh at us for being reckless and rash, our friendship will carry us forward" Scootaloo boasted, feeling somewhat reinvigorated.
"If there's a wall in our way, we break through it! If there isn't a path, we make one!" Sweetie added, Scootabelle clenching raising its hoof in response.
"WE'RE SCOOTABELLE, JUST WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK WE ARE?!" they roared in unison, ignoring the lava that was exploding behind them from their very aura.
"Don't cower, take them down!" Tirek ordered, thrusting his finger forward, sending several dozen dragons, chimeras, and ogres rushing at Scootabelle.
"Make tracks, cannon fodder!" Scootaloo warned, drills bursting out of every corner of Scootabelle, impaling every single one of the squad, save for Tirek. With a flash of purple magic, the impaled bodies exploded, destroying all of Tirek's army.
"You little bastards, take this! Condemn Blaze!" Tirek snarled, firing the same orange, thin beam that had shot through Scootaloo.
"It can't break this hoof!" Scootaloo snapped back, extending Scootabelle's hoof to take the blast head on, dissipating the piercing shot.
"I-impossible" Tirek hissed, backing away slightly from the powerful pair.
"L-listen close, Sweetie Belle. Believe in yourself. Not in the Sweetie that I believe in. Not in the Scootaloo that you believe in. Have faith in the Sweetie who believes in you" Scootaloo panted, her energy slipping away.
"S-scoots?" Sweetie stammered, sure that Scootaloo was just tired, not actually hurt.
"FINISHING MOVE!" Scootaloo screamed, tearing the horns from Sweetie's bubble and tossing them at Tirek. The goat horn slashed up his hind legs while the deer antler sliced at his chest and upper arms, both spinning erratically. Finally, they were still, both horns having pinned Tirek's arms to his body, leaving him helpless. "GIGA DRILL BREAK!!!!!!" Scootaloo roared, the drill on top of Sweetie's bubble suddenly growing almost as large as Scootabelle itself. The mauve avatar shot forward, the massive drill spinning, and crashed into Tirek's chest with an audible squelch. Tirek was unable to even say anything before his words turned to a garbled gargle of death, his chest torn through completely by the drill. Scootabelle landed behind the centaur, both of the ponies inside panting. A mere second later, Tirek's broken body exploded, killing the General of Western Districts.
Scootaloo smiled, her mission complete. She slumped forward, her body failing her, organs that had been perforated falling apart.
"Later, buddy" she murmured, her heart ceasing to beat. The last thing she heard were Sweetie calling for her.
"Scoots? Scoots?"
Rain fell in deluges from the sky, the searing magma that had erupted from the ground during the battle hardening into black rock as the cold water fell upon the molten earth. The wasteland would return to normal. It had survived previous volcanic eruptions, it would survive this one. But not all were as hardy as the desert.
Drops of water flowed down the now inanimate Tirek's body, the prize of the battle that had partaken here. But at such a cost. Scootabelle had collapsed some time ago, the body sparking and disappearing. Only then did the resistance realize the truth, as they approached the broken and bloodied body, her necklace sparking a bit, trying to revive its master. Scootaloo had finally fallen at the hands of Tirek. The pegasus had a smile on her face, looking almost relaxed. The same could not be said for the ponies looking at her. Babs was star struck, tears flowing freely from her eyes and mingling with the rain. She twitched a little every now and then, but other than that, didn't move or make a sound.
"N-no..." a tiny voice whispered. Sweetie was pounding the ground helplessly, looking like a foal throwing a tantrum. She would have been screaming, but upon her realization of her friend's death, she had let out a yell of pain so raw, she had damaged her voice for the time being. So she made soft coughs and whimpers instead, mourning the loss of her friend. She didn't notice the rest of the resistance nearing her, forming a circle around Scootaloo's body, heads bowed. She didn't notice Zecora checking for signs of life. She saw nothing and felt nothing but what was in her head.
That day, they lost something that could never be replaced.
Far away in what used to be Canterlot, Discord stood straight, his body covered in bandages and casts from when the larger Tirek had backhanded him and sent him flying. Chryalis stood in front of the draconequus, her face a mask of hatred. She outranked the Central District General by a fair bit, having taken more important cities in the initial coup that had taken Equestria. That combined with Discord's enormous failure in retaking the Central District meant that he was in hot water and couldn't afford anything less than utmost respect.
"Lady Chrysalis, I heard that the Supreme Generals have orders to set out" he said, his voice even and stiff. How had the attack gone so wrong? The only other time he had felt this bad was when Fluttershy disappeared from her cottage in the night, proving to him forever that friends just use you. "Please, let m-!" Discord started before a black horn cracked across his face, reopening one of the cuts he had received in the battle. The spirit of chaos was downcast for a moment, remembering the whole of Chryalis and Tirek's relationship. It was rumored they were lovers. "Err, Chrysalis?" Discord muttered, hoping that he'd be able to finish one sentence in these god forsaken caverns without being abused by someone who hadn't been at the battle that had left him as the only survivor.
"Go on, I'm listening" Chrysalis hissed, her teeth gritted. Discord nodded and began once more.
"Please, let me-" he was cut off once more by the twisted horn slapping across his lip. With a wince, he continued. "Join". Another slap. "Your". His lip was bleeding now. "Unit". His nose was on the verge of being broken and on the verge of making him sob in agony.
"I owed Tirek! And now he gets killed by lowly, friendship grubbing slugs! I am utterly disappointed in him and you! He promised he'd come back! And you promised to finish the mission!" Chrysalis snarled, keeping her sadness shoved deep in her twisted, black heart. There was no room for weakness among the Solar Queen's generals.
"Please, give me a chance for vengeance too!" Discord yelped, his voice somewhat distorted from the abuse Chrysalis had given him. Chrysalis snorted and began walking off.
"You should thank the Solar Queen" Chrysalis grumbled, not happy at all with the alicorn's decision. "She's giving you another chance to fight. A new army as well" Chrysalis informed, making the draconequus sigh in relief. "However, if you hold me back, I'll see to it that my children eat you alive" Chrysalis warned, not even bothering to look at Discord. The changeling queen bumped into a pink alicorn, growling as she saw who it was.
"Ah, Chrysalis. Are you sad that the centaur died? He was probably the only big enough to fill you, after all the stallions and mares you've screwed" Diamond Tiara laughed cockily, putting away the rag she had been using to polish her diamond armor. Chrysalis would normally have snapped right back, but Diamond Tiara was equal in standing to her and hadn't lost any favor recently. To start a brawl with her would result in severe punishment. Keeping herself from murdering her "comrades" wasn't easy though.
"Trixie heard she was just using the stupid brute" Trixie added, the blue unicorn sauntering past. She had become fast friends with Diamond Tiara, the two of their personalities getting along well.
"I was not" Chrysalis spat through gritted teeth, containing every urge in her body to kill these upstarts.
"Sure. Let's go Trixie, leave the bug to her whining" Diamond Tiara said with a laugh, getting back up from Trixie as the two of them walked away from Chrysalis. The changeling queen let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding and stomped the ground. "I will get vengeance for you Tirek, I swear it!"
Rain continued to fall from the skies, the pitter-patter of raindrops being drowned out by the monstrous thuds of the giant centaur's footsteps. It now had a red flag on it, distinguishing it from its old ownership. The flag was wet and pitiful, drooping against its pole.
"Boy, it's really pouring" Sandy Dunes noted, wiping some condensation from his face from his mane as he pulled away from the window. Most everyone in the resistance had pitched in to help build the mobile base on the massive beast's back where Sandy was currently residing. The young foal passed a table where Fleetfoot and Soarin' were sitting, making the two look out the window at the gray, dreary sky.
"It's been seven days now" Soarin' muttered, half heartedly peeling a potato. Fleetfoot stayed quiet for a moment before sighing.
"I still can't believe it" the swift pegasus sighed, not specifying what she was talking about. Everyone knew though. Soarin' nodded in agreement before continuing to peel the potatos.
Sweetie Belle's room was stark black with no furniture other than a bed. She had denied any luxuries. The only sound coming from the room was a constant, soft, whirring noise. Sweetie's eyes were nearly blank as she absent mindedly toyed with an energy drill. She hadn't left her room in days.
A stuffed dummy met the end of its life, a spear having gone straight through it. Babs scowled as she picked up another javelin. Missed the heart again.
"It's got to be Spitfire or nobody" Flim mused, drinking some cider(made by the Super cider Squeezy 10,000).
"Yes, brother of mine, she's the one who gathered us here, right?" Flam agreed, selling cider whilst his brother rested. The base set up on Tirek's back was surprisingly large, able to house many of the more important resistance members.
"Sweetie Belle is too unreliable" Flim added, tossing away the empty mug.
"Too mopey" the twins said in unison.
"Just because she has the Element doesn't mean she's the leader" Silver Spoon sneered, taking her shift to sell the cider. The slate grey earth pony had joined up with the unicorn duo when she was displaced from Ponyville. She found that their personalities matched hers rather well and had been working with them ever since. Especially after Diamond Tiara betrayed her to the Solar Queen. "If an obnoxious, weak unicorn like her is made leader, this whole resistance falls apart". The three ponies jumped up, startled as Babs slammed her hoof down on their stand, leaving a crack in it.
"Freedom Friends" Babs hissed, her eyes dark. "Not the Resistance, it's Freedom Friends now" Babs clarified, her voice a growl that made the salesponies gulp in fear.
Cold water poured down on Babs, slicking her mane back and making her fur stick to her body. Her head was bowed, not listening to the cracks of thunder in the sky. She didn't care that she was out of the shelter. She just needed to wash these feelings away. It wasn't working.
"You said you'd repay that kiss ten times over. What's the big idea, leaving a hole in my heart that's ten times bigger. You jerk" she grumbled, her voice cracking a bit. Babs was tough, she wasn't going to cry. But if someone saw her, they would have seen the tears building in her eyes and her struggle to keep them inside.
Slavering manticores and Ursa Minors, their minds long taken due to abuse give to them from birth, prowled the cliff side, waiting for the enemy of their masters.
"Enemies detected" Shining Armor called out, firing a magic flare into the air to alert the rest of his fellow comrades.
"I'll take the Element of Loyalty" Applebloom volunteered, affixing the now dull red necklace to her neck. With a slow rumble, the magic in the necklace sparked to life, forming the red avatar that had once protected Scootaloo.
"So, you're going to wear it?" Sweetie asked, bags under her eyes from lack of sleep, staring Applebloom down from the position of one of Tirek's shoulder blades. Her eyes held no happiness, only anger now.
"I've been practicing to make avatars" Applebloom countered, her temper growing short with Sweetie being either angry or sad all the time. "You can't do this by yourself". Sweetie's eyes narrowed before she gave her verdict.
"Fine" she spat, venom clouding her words.
Manticores of all sizes were sent flying as a mauve blur slammed into them, crushing bones like twigs. Scootabelle(no one dared to change the name of the fusion) spun around, goring an Ursa Minor on its drill and spraying its guts everywhere.
"Sweetie Belle, that's overkill!" Applebloom yelled, resisting the urge to vomit up her lunch.
"HE WHO STRIKES FIRST WINS, IT'S WHAT SCOOTALOO WOULD HAVE DONE!" the unicorn snapped in reply, her will power overpowering Applebloom's so that it was only her really controlling their avatar.
"Our power is unstable!" Applebloom retorted, noting the sparks shooting from the junction of the neck and head as well as the flashing of Sweetie's tiara. Sweetie didn't listen, merely making the energy construct smash a manticore's face underneath its hoof.
"MONSTER, BASTARD, JERK, TRASH, SCUM, FU-!" Sweetie ranted as she tore the already dead creature to pieces. She was interrupted by a shot of green magic slashing the shoulder of Scootabelle. From the hillside shot out Changeling Praetorians, massive, drooling beasts the size of a bear with scorpion like tails. Applebloom shrieked in shock, only to be reprimanded.
"Keep it together! Scootaloo never screamed, not once!" Sweetie bellowed, making them leap into the air, above the firing line of the Praetorians.
"You have to keep calm, if we keep fighting like this, we'll die!" Applebloom pleaded with her friend. An explosion of green blood littered the ground as ten Changelings were smashed.
"Scootaloo never ran away" Sweetie babbled, more so to herself than Applebloom at this point. They hit the ground spinning, dozens of soldiers turning to red or green paste with a single hit. Others came, only to be met with a battle cry and an energy blast that wiped them from existence almost instantly. It was all over, the attack had come and gone. Sweetie felt bile rising in her throat. Pressure rose in her horn. Her body was fine, her spirit, that which powered magic, was not.
"No" Applebloom murmured as their connection began to sever, their avatar coughing up large chunks of purple and black magic. The Earth Pony noticed the energy around her turn red as their connection fully severed and Sweetie bounced off inside her purple orb, she herself vomiting from stress that she had put on her magic. "Don't leave" Applebloom tried to order but it was too late, the purple orb was out of sight and disappearing into the mists. Only one had kept their eye on the pale unicorn...and it wasn't a friend. The Praetorian zoomed off, following Sweetie Belle into the ravines
"Applebloom! You alright?" Babs asked, sliding down from the back of an Ursa Minor's corpse, followed closely by Spitfire.
"What happened?" Spitfire demanded, the Wonderbolt captain seething at the lack of discipline.
"Sweetie suddenly separated, and then she went down the cliff" Applebloom replied, her avatar disappearing and making her fall face first into the mud.
"She abandoned you and ran in the face of the enemy?" Spitfire hissed, trying to keep her voice calm.
"It was like her magic went berserk" Applebloom replied, spitting some mud that had gotten in her mouth.
"Sweetie..." Babs sighed, looking into the ravine in an attempt to see through the fog. Nothing
Sweetie groaned, moving her head slightly. She was curled up at the bottom of the crack in the land, battered and bruised, but alive. She placed her hooves under herself, propping up. The weight of the Element of Magic was gone. She slowly turned to see the crown embedded in the slop that fell from the erosion. Sweetie trembled in the cold.
"Why did it stop responding?..." she muttered to nothing, moving over to place the tiara on her head again. A spark of purple and the usual purple orb surrounded her. "There we go..." she murmured, willing her sphere to roll. She didn't care which direction it was in, she just moved, suspended by energy bonds. She moved across a crag before seeing something other than rocks and mud. Steaming crystals lay on the ground, some as large as an elephant. It was a veritable graveyard of the mineral formations, many of them shattered and damaged. Sweetie heard a clomping noise and looked up to the top edge of the canyon. A mule was dragging a cart full of the crystals before kicking them into the ravine and heading away. One of them bounced, landing right in front of Sweetie Belle. Unlike the others, there was a slight glow inside of it.
Sweetie stepped out of her energy bubble, ignoring the gunk staining her coat. The crystal called to her, as if it was the last piece of candy in the world. Sweetie ran her horn across the surface of it, feeling the contours of the large gem. Her horn ran over a small hole, and Sweetie pulled away. It was a simple star shape...exactly like the Element of Magic's gem. Sweetie moved her head forward, putting the crown against the hole with a soft "click". Cracks spread across the crystal, pieces of it falling away. In no time, there was nothing left but what had been held inside. A large alicorn, sleeping like a baby. His fur was a slight shade darker than Sweetie's own, more creamy than alabaster. His mane was an odd sky blue color, white streaks running through it as it flowed in a wild river down his neck. His eyes opened, revealing pink eyes that were more like those of a centaur than that of a pony.
"Good day to you" he said, every word sounding like they had been dipped in sincerity.
"G-good day" Sweetie replied, questions screaming through her head. Who was this?!
"Who are you, fine madame?" the alicorn asked, moving his head up groggily. Again, he sounded unbelievably innocent and sincere, like talking to an intelligent child. But this was no child.
"Fine madame?! I am not important enough to be called that, oh no" Sweetie squeaked, blushing hard at the compliment. The alicorn seemed to ignore him and instead smiled ear to ear, looking at the dull grey sky.
"This is the outside, isn't it?" he grinned, catching a few raindrops on his tongue. "This is rain" he noted, licking up the raindrops before stepping out of the crystals he had come in. He didn't seem to be bothered that the ornamental shoes he wore were ruined. "It's cold, what is it?" he asked, looking at the ground in awe.
"That's dirt..." Sweetie replied, confused even more now.
"It's cold,wet, and squishy, it feels wonderful" the alicorn sighed, moving his back hooves into the mud, making Sweetie cock an eyebrow. What pony did that kind of thing? Without warning, the alicorn moved over, muzzle nearly touching Sweetie's. Understandably, Sweetie froze in place.
"How come you look like me? You have no tail, nor fangs, nor armor. You have nice eyes too, not mean ones" the alicorn muttered, moving away and circling Sweetie, investigating.
"It's only natural. I'm a pony. A mare" Sweetie said, internally face hoofing at her obviousness.
"And what exactly is a pony?" the alicorn asked, innocent, centaur like eyes wide.
"Huh? Well, they're like you and me" Sweetie responded, looking for any signs of sarcasm. None. "You know, head, hooves, stuff like that"
"There are others like us?" the alicorn questioned, eyes getting even wider than before.
"Well, not exactly the same, but other ponies, yeah" Sweetie mumbled, doing her best to keep from just smiling dreamily. Curse her penchant for finding ponies with good looks.
"Oh, the rain has stopped" the alicorn giggled, looking up at the beginnings of a rainbow as the sky began to clear up. Sweetie looked up too, her jaw dropping a bit. How had it stopped so fast? Were they talking for longer than she thought?
"Yeah, but we need to get out of here" Sweetie said with a shake of her head. There were probably creatures hunting for her right now.
"Alright. My name is Neos, what's yours?" the alicorn agreed, stepping out of the shade of the crystal and into the light. Someone had sprinkled his fur throughly with glitter or something, because he literally sparkled in the light. A fairly common royal treatment, at least back in the day before the Solar Queen.
"I am Sweetie Belle" Sweetie managed to stammer out, keeping the thoughts and words about his appearance bottled up.
"Sweetie Belle...that's a nice name"
"Sweetie, is that one of your friends?" Neos said, looking at something behind the unicorn. Sweetie's look of confusion turned into wide eyed fear, the Changeling Praetorian hissing from its position on the cliff side.
"This way!" Sweetie panicked, using a bit of magic to nudge the alicorn along and make him run.
"What's that?" Neos asked, a lot less perturbed that most would be when facing a slavering beast.
"A Changeling Praetorian! They kill all ponies who aren't in their zones! They're at war with us! If we don't fight them, they'll kill us!" Sweetie babbled, her words barely recognizable as she shot a few balls of green magic at the Changeling, neglecting to put up her bubble due to being in such a narrow part of the gorge. She needed a bit more room. The Changeling dodged the blasts with ease, scurrying along the wall like some demonic spider. Finally, Sweetie found the room she needed and formed the purple shield around herself and Neos. The Praetorian snarled and fired off a few blasts of acid from his tail, splattering harmlessly against the shield. Sweetie powered up, her shield preparing to drill...then she felt nausea hit her again and her charge failed, the shield going wide and missing the soldier.
"Weak!" the black bug hissed, slapping down with his tail to knock Sweetie and Neos to the ground.
"Sweetie, are you alright?" Neos asked, shaking his head woozily from the crash.
"No. Not again. Why? Why won't you just listen, Magic?" Sweetie muttered to the Element of Magic, not caring how pitiful she sounded. The Praetorian cackled, advancing slowly, taking his time. "Run, Neos. Run and don't look back" Sweetie murmured, turning to face the beast. "I'll hold him off" Sweetie growled, her horn sparking.
"But you.." Neos started, pink eyes wide.
"Everyone important to me dies" Sweetie growled, cutting Neos off. "I'm tired of seeing ponies die! I don't care what happens to me, so long as no one else is hurt!" Sweetie yelled, firing a green ball at the Changeling. The Changeling merely chittered and leaped out of the way.
"Do you really want do die?" Neos asked, his voice even. "If you are frightened, you should run. You mustn't die" Neos spoke, pulling Sweetie back.
"I'm not afraid" Sweetie hissed, keeping her eyes locked on the slowly advancing beast.
"You mustn't lie either" Neos countered. "Come, let's escape together" Neos smiled, grabbing Sweetie's tail with telekinesis and physically dragging off the stunned unicorn. The Changeling just laughed and charged, moving at speeds that would catch them in less than second. A spear bloomed from his chest with a thunk, the pointed stick burying itself deep in his torso.
"I won't let anyone else die!" Babs snapped, rapelling down the cliff side and throwing another javelin at the squealing Praetorian.
"Not on my watch!" Spitfire agreed, looping in and slamming her hooves into the creature's impaled chest, smashing its rib cage and staining her hooves green, finishing it off. Babs landed at the bottom of the cliff and looked at the alicorn accompanying her friend with curiosity.
"Hello everyone, my name is Neos" the prince said with a smile once out of the cliff. "I'm Solar Queen Celestia's first prince. A pleasure to meet you all" Neos finished, tilting his head like a cat in front of the assembled audience of Freedom Friends that had gathered to help rescue Sweetie.
"What'd she say?" Bon-Bon sputtered.
"The Solar Queen? Isn't that the enemy's boss?" Silver Spoon asked, eyeing the alicorn suspiciously
"She's an enemy!" Spitfire growled, stomping her hoof. This opened the flood gates to an outburst of yells.
"The enemy's son"
"A deserter"
"A spy"
Sweetie ignored them and looked at Neos. How could he be so calm? He must be crazy.
"Thanks for the meal" Neos nodded, finishing up a fruit that was supposed to be disgusting and for prisoners. "It's really delicious, thank you, Pumpkin Cake" Neos told the cook of the team. Spitfire's scream broke the awkward silence.
"What are you guys, stupid?!" the middle aged mare snapped, her patience rubbing thin. "Why are you sitting around over a friendly dinner!?" Spitfire yelled to Neos's supposed jailers, the Cake Twins, who were simply talking to the alicorn. "We don't have to roll out a red carpet, this is an interrogation!" Spitfire growled out, slamming the table.
"Well, you're a spunky lady. And what's your name?" Neos asked, keeping that ridiculous "kitty face" on.
"I am Spitfire, captain of the wonderbolts, and leader of Freedom Friends" Spitfire answered, her eyes narrow.
"Nice to meet you" Neos acknowledge with a small bow of his head.
"Just because you act like a lost puppy doesn't change the fact that you're the enemy!" Spitfire roared, leaning over the table.
"What does enemy mean?" Neos asked, eyes wide, causing Spitfire to slam her head against the table in frustration.
"An enemy is someone bad! Someone you gotta beat up!" Spitfire yelled, veins bulging from her face as her blood pressure soared.
"What does beat up mean?" Neos continued, not aware of violence related terms.
"It's when you take something and then belt someone else with it" Spitfire hissed, her teeth gritting so hard, it looked like one would shatter.
"She was supposed to be interrogating him, he's interrogating her" Soarin' chuckled.
"Celestia's son, huh? He doesn't look bad" Shining Armor muttered, one of the few to use the real name of the tyrant, having had a more personal relationship with her. It made the betrayal all the worse.
"Well, it is true that one of Chrysalis's horde attacked him in the gorge" Babs replied, frowning at the "interrogation" that was being held out.
"I guess we can keep an eye on him for a bit" Shining Armor muttered before stepping out of the interrogation room.
An eerie grinding noise reverberated in the otherwise empty barracks. Rock met something harder, breaking away to form something new. Applebloom's ears twitched as she heard the noise and she turned to see the room it was coming from. Sweetie Belle, as per the usual. The unicorn's horn was the only light in the room, chipping away at a large stone hunk. Sweetie's eyes were glassy, with no emotion. That was nothing new these days.
"Do you think Sweetie will be alright?" Applebloom asked of their resident doctor, Zecora.
"We cannot worry about her now, if we don't move from this area, you are sure to say "ow". We must escape this wasteland, find a place without sand" Zecora muttered, placing sigils and potions across the focal point of Tirek's horns, where the mobile fortress's power focused. "Besides, if the Element ceases to work for her, it is because Sweetie doesn't want to be a survivor. I cannot fix that, that is a fact"
Sweetie's room was filled with small likenesses of Scootaloo, carved from rock taken from any place where they stopped to get food or water. The eerie drilling was cut by a voice.
"So this is that friend pony you talked about?" Neos asked, carefully examining one of the smaller statuettes. Sweetie jumped a little at the sudden intrusion, but remained silent and kept working on a new rock.
"He said he wanted to talk to you" Babs grumbled, not feeling all to comfortable with the son of the monster who had ordered the deaths of so many.
"I've heard from everyone what terrible things my mother has done to you" Neos whispered to the unicorn. "I would expect you all to hate me".
"Neos..." Sweetie started, taking the statuette away from the alicorn.
"I simply don't understand. You're all so kind, why is mother trying to kill you all?" Neos said, for the first time changing tone and letting a sliver of sadness enter his voice. It slipped away quickly though, returning to the overly formal tone he had before. "And you, you're so strong, why do you want to die?" Neos added, pink eyes focusing on Sweetie's green ones.
"I'm not strong. I'm not..." Sweetie mumbled, turning away, cold shame burning in her heart.
"It's well made" Neos complimented, tilting his head towards the many sculptures. "I can tell how much you cared about this person. I'm sorry"
"You don't need to apologize" Sweetie said with a slight blush, her sadness ebbing slightly when she was given something to focus on. "Besides, I don't think Scootaloo would have wanted that. She was always laughing. No matter how tough it was, she'd face it with a smile" Sweetie explained, looking at Babs a little. "A while before we reunited with you, us foals tried to escape Ponyville. But there was a storm and the water trapped us. S-" Sweetie started before Babs flinched a little.
"Hey, I know this story...No, go on" Babs sighed, nodding a little.
"I was terrified that we'd drown, like the other foals that came with us. But Scootaloo pressed us on, saying "Onwards and upwards!" while laughing. I felt my magic stabilize and I drilled a tree to make a bridge. If it weren't for her, we would have died. It's always been like that. I can't do anything myself" Sweetie said, her voice cracking in certain parts of the tale, but mostly remaining dull and even like it had been for a while.
"That's not true" Neos urged, shaking his head at Sweetie's last comment. "You saved me, remember? No matter how much you like him, you can't bring back the dead, it's against the rules of the universe" Neos spoke, his voice rising a little and standing up to get a better vantage point.
"I know, that's why when I lost her, I tried to be like her. But I can't!" Sweetie snapped, the pain in her horn and chest growing even more.
"Of course you can't, you're your own pony! Don't be fixated on someone who's dead!" Neos replied, not yelling like Sweetie, but somehow, his words seemed to have just as much, if not more power behind them. Sweetie cringed and turned away, looking like a beaten dog.
"Enough" Babs interrupted, her face dark. "You can't possibly understand what she's feeling. You didn't even know Scootaloo" she growled, preparing to lead Neos out.
"But Sweetie can do things by herself. You're you, do things your own way" Neos debated, making Sweetie wince once more.
"I can't" Sweetie whimpered, tears building in her eyes. But they didn't fall, she couldn't cry. She had to be strong, like Scootaloo...right? Babs's hoof shot out, grabbing Neos by the wing and dragging him towards her.
"Listen, prince, don't talk like you're an innocent bystander in all of this" Babs snapped, just barely having enough self control to avoid using her javelin. "You damn well know whose fault it is that Scootaloo's dead, don't you dare lecture her!" Babs hissed. "And what about you? Huh? Are you perfect?!"
Neos's calmness shattered and he broke under the storm of Babs's anger, managing to reply, "I-i asked my mother..."Why was I born?"...The next time I woke up, I was in the canyon".
"And what's that mean?" Babs sighed, her anger calming somewhat, pity taking its place.
"I want to know more. About Sweetie, about Babs, about everything" Neos finally admitted, head bowed. The atmosphere was so thick, it could be cut with a butter knife. Then, war began once more. Starting with a bang
The ground around Tirek's body exploded, the massive hooves struggling to stay firmly planted. In some cruel twist of irony, the ground collapsed and the behemoth's lower half was stuck in the ground, much as it had been while under control of the real Tirek. A maddening buzzing filled the air as a storm approached. No, not a storm, a horde of Changelings, so tightly packed they might as well be one. Chrysalis strode out on a stair case made of her loving servants and onto the crown of Tirek.
"You can't escape this fate, filthy scum" Chrysalis sneered, her changelings clicking in agreement.
"An attack?!" Babs growled, picking up her spears.
"I know that voice" Neos murmured, his ears straining as he heard the snide voice of the changeling queen echo throughout. The alicorn and earth pony rushed off, leaving Sweetie to mope as usual.
"This shell was Tirek's proudest achievement! You vile ponies shouldn't even be touching it!" Chrysalis screamed, the death of the one she cared about still fresh in her mind. A spray of green bolts rained down across the shell of Tirek, leaving scorches and burns, killing a few of the Resistance who had tried to enter the open air. All of the Resistance pulled into the many bunkers built into the shell....save one.
"Cease this, Chrysalis!" Neos ordered, wings flared wide as if using his body as a shield.
"Get away from her!" Babs ordered, trying to line up a good shot on Chrysalis's brain. But the shifting cloud of changelings made it impossible.
"The First Prince Neos, Son of the Solar Queen Celestia, commands you!" Neos yelled out, struggling to be heard over the buzzing. "I will not allow you to hurt them!"
"Grr, it can't be...Why is Neos here?" Chrysalis hissed, knowing full well the consequences for attacking one of Celestia's little brats. Her horn glowed as she tapped into the hive mind, struggling to see what could have caused this. A smirk crossed the insect's face as she realized what had happened.
"Tell me, Chrysalis, are you and the other Generals making these good creatures suffer?" Neos asked, voice quavering in fear of the answer. Maybe this was just a misunderstanding. Chrysalis stepped out of her cloud, bowing mockingly to Neos. She was confident that with Neos in the way, Babs wouldn't risk a shot.
"Very perceptive, my boy" Chrysalis sneered, getting up from the bow. "They are the Solar Queen's orders"
"My mother's?...." Neos murmured, feeling a sharp pain in his chest. The one who had raised him had truly done this then...
"The Solar Queen doesn't like having the populace leave their concentration camps" Chrysalis replied, licking her lips. "As proud servants of the Sun, our mission is to dispose of every scrap of trash that is outside of the camps"
"They are not trash!" Neos responded, indignity taking over betrayal as he faced the elder royal. "I will discuss this with my mother, take me to her at once!" Neos ordered, those pink eyes turning a seemingly deeper shade than usual.
"Hehe, go alone" Chrysalis giggled, bowing mockingly once more. "You fool, you are no longer a prince! The Solar Queen had abandoned you! Cut you off! Thrown out! I don't know what you did, but she doesn't need you anymore" Chrysalis clarified, her smile widening even more as she felt Neos's breath seize up, such a thought foreign to him. Typical palace brat. "And so I shall dispose of you along with the rest of the maggots"
"A-abandoned me?....Mother sent you to...kill me?" Neos stuttered, his brain practically short circuiting at the crushing information.
Within the bowels of the military based built on Tirek, Sweetie trembled, feeling a lance of anger cross her. Every member of the Freedom Friends could hear Chrysalis's vicious words, broadcasted through listening spells placed all through out their home.
"I-i have to..." Sweetie growled, doing her best to ignore the scuffle outside and focus on her latest carving. It was of no use.
"This can not be true! Mother would never do such a thing!" Neos blurted out, trying to justify to himself more so than Chrysalis.
"It doesn't matter, you'll die either way!" Chrysalis cackled, reentering the safety of her horde and sending out orders to form a massive changeling shape out of writhing black bodies with her at the center. In an explosion of black, the changeling horde grabbed Neos in its "mouth" and lifted her up, preparing to crunch the screaming alicorn like a cracker.
"Nuh uh, hold on there, Chrysalis" an imperious voice sneered, causing the changeling to snarl as Trixie entered the fray, smirking as she rode around on a ridiculous advertisement for herself. "Prince Neos's screams will be far more magnificent on a stage, a stage that the Great and Powerful Trixie shall make!" the unicorn boasted, red magic curling out from her horn to make a floating stage where Trixie could stand. "A stage created with gallows in the sky!"
"Even more hostiles" Shining Armor scowled, looking at the reinforcements that the unicorn had brought. "And then there's that one" he grumbled, looking behind them to see that behind Tirek approached a batallion of ground troops as compared to Trixie's SpecOps.
"Here" Chrysalis scowled, tossing the prince to Trixie none too respectfully.
"Hehe, she shall serve as a lesson to those who defy the Solar Queen!" Trixie giggled, her eyes rolling wildly in their sockets as she conjured up to massive saws around the paralyzed alicorn.
"Yeah, you guys have gotten way too happy just because you took down one general" Diamond Tiara giggled from her position on the ground troops, crystal armor amplifying the former earth pony's words. "In fact, let's show all those losers at the camps what happens to those who resist" the pink general snickered, pointing at screens flashing over every camp. Her servants had set up screens to show the battle, purely to fuel the egos of Diamond and Trixie.
"These bastards think they can say whatever they want, treat their own son like scum!" Spitfire snarled, forming her avatar and taking to the sky along with a few other pegasi avatars, letting avatar capable unicorns and earth ponies hold the fort. They avatars were set upon by a swarm of Changelings and Loyalist Pegasi, ensuing a battle in the air and preventing them from getting to Trixie.
"I won't let you kill her" Babs swore, throwing spear after spear, only to see them bounce off of a bubble around the stage.
"That won't work on Trixie" Trixie gloated as the saws began spinning. Chrysalis, for her part, used the combined magic of the changeling hive to levitate the Tirek shell upward, right into Trixie's forcefield. The shield held before bouncing the resistance across the desert ground and into another pit. Exactly as had been planned. Needless to say, those still on Tirek were either dead or injured by the rough travel. But their torment wasn't over yet, as Diamond Tiara flung out a small, glittering set of crystal knives. They shouldn't have even penetrated. But the magic powering them was strong and so when the crystals hit, they not only penetrated, they exploded, killing even more of the Freedom Friends. A yellow energy pulse finally finished the attack, sending the shell of Tirek flying into their first pit.
"Hahaha, I always did love golf, but it was always too quiet too" Discord laughed, having shown up with his own army.
"Damn it, we can't move!" Shining Armor swore from within his avatar, looking down at their nearly helpless home. "Everyone! Mobilize at once! Go to defense protocol!" he ordered, years of training paying off. But Discord wasn't going to let them.
"Fly my pretties, fly!" Discord ordered, sending forth a swarm of chocolate clouds that would explode on contact. From the ground, Diamond Tiara's manticores and ursas charged onto Tirek's back, slamming into the line trying to defend themselves from an assault on all sides. A few were repelled by Iron Will, the Flim Flam(and Silver Spoon) crew, and other assorted allies, but there were many.
"Of all the times-" Applebloom started, her Element powered avatar having significantly better luck before she was cut off by a barely missed slash of giant sawgrass. Discord!
"What's wrong?! You're terrible now, Scoots!" Discord taunted, not knowing that Scootaloo was dead and it was Applebloom wearing the Element of Loyalty. Applebloom tried a head butt, only to get smashed across the head by a King of Clubs card.
"Fire Slash!" Spitfire hissed, trying to dive bomb Diamond Tiara in her avatar. What would have vaporized any normal pony was merely laughed at by the general as her armor stood firm.
"You really don't know who you're dealing with!" Diamond cackled, moving with shocking speed to circle Spitfire and slam one of the diamond knives into the neck of the avatar. One inch deeper and Spitfire's brain would have been gone. Before she could finish the job, she was blindsided by Fleetfoot's avatar, knocking her away and letting Soarin' rescue a swearing Spitfire from the pink general.
"Trixie would like some flames in the background" Trixie sang, making her brigade of dragon strafe Tirek, blasting it with flames and melting the horns, rendering the potential power in them useless along side crippling one arm.
"There's too many" Babs growled, having just barely avoided death by hiding behind a fallen Ursa. Her keen eyes turned to something new on the haunch of Tirek. Chryalis without her swarm!
"Do not damage Tirek anymore than necessary, but kill them all" Chryalis ordered of the 5 Praetorians following her. Almost casually, the queen blocked a spear with her horn, making Babs curse in anger from her failed shot. The changeling was better than expected.
"Oh, you look so sad" Trixie sneered as she turned to look at Neos, who seemed more concerned over the ones fighting below than himself.
"Why, why is mother doing this?" Neos asked, wincing as part of the defensive line below nearly broke.
"She's not crazy, I can tell you that much. She's lived for thousands of years" Diamond Tiara interjected, speaking and appearing through a pendant Trixie kept on her neck. Neos didn't know it, but it was the Alicorn Amulet. "Making kids and taking care of them helps make her look crazy" Diamond explained. "But when she's bored with them, she just throws them away. Makes sense, you might as well be a doll" Diamond smirked, knowing just what buttons to press.
"D-doll?" Neos murmured, his hopes crushed for the second time in 5 minutes.
"I hear you asked your mother about where you came from. No duh you were trashed, no one wants a toy with an ego" Diamond giggled, relishing in seeing Neos's pain. Trixie took full joy in it as well, providing a chorus of laughter.
"Right, just a doll that Trixie will finish! Behold, come one, come all! To see the most fantastic execution in millenia!" Trixie cackled, projecting screens of Neos's imminent death everywhere. Yet, one of the screens showed something wrong.
"Sweetie!" Neos cried out, seeing that the pale unicorn had managed to somehow hitch a ride on a dragon so she could enter the field and was now struggling to climb up by using her horn to dig into the sides of the stage.
"I won't hand him over to you" Sweetie grunted, sweat beading on her face as she tried to climb up further.
"No!" Trixie shrieked, looking over the edge to see that it was true, the little unicorn was climbing up.
"Ponies may be small, but they have huge hearts. See? They are not dolls!" Neos told Trixie, getting another shock of paralyzing magic for his trouble.
"HOW DARE YOU DEFILE TRIXIE'S STAGE WITH YOUR FILTHY HORN!?" Trixie screamed, eyes bulging out and red as she wildly slashed with a magic blade at the spot where Sweetie Belle was located.
Babs looked on and finally realized the truth behind the story that Scootaloo had told her long ago. While Sweetie remembered the time that she got lost as Scootaloo's finest moment, the pegasus had had a different tale.
I was just acting tough, ya know? But Sweetie, she was the real brave one. She just kept drilling but wasn't screaming or anything. She was calm. That's what inspired me to keep going, to not give up
Trixie's blade finally caught something and the piece of wood Sweetie was holding onto was cut loose, dislodging the unicorn and sending her flying.
"Neos!" Sweetie cried out, trying to reach out in some vain way to grab him, but it was impossible. And so she fell.
"Hahahaha! See Neos?! That's what happens to those who resist!" Trixie cackled, getting back to preparing to saw the former prince in half.
"No! Just like how Sweetie believed in Scootaloo, I'll believe in her! She will come!" Neos promised, not sure if her was talking to himself or to Trixie.
"Neos...Neos is waiting for me! I can't let him down!" Sweetie cried out, in some vain attempt to change fate. But fate did change. The crown that was lying in Sweetie's barracks glowed once more and shot forward at super sonic speeds. The Element of Magic had chose once more. "Magic...MAGIC!" Sweetie laughed, tears flowing from her eyes as the familiar purple bubble covered her once more.
"TIME TO DIE!" Trixie announced, the saw just about to begin its deadly path...when a purple drill slammed right through her stage and only narrowly missed hitting Trixie. "WHAT!?" Trixie howled as the purple bubble absorbed her would be victim and jetted off even further up into the sky.
"You saved me!" Neos sobbed, tears of joy coming loose as he hugged his savior.
"Sorry I was late, but I finally understand" Sweetie nodded, referring to their conversation earlier. She had finally digested Neos's advice and regained her will to live.
"Me too" Neos smiled
Discord's blade slashed down, the harmless looking sawgrass turned into a lethal weapon. Applebloom's hooves shot up, catching the blade, just barely. Sparks shot out as the blade grinded against the hooves of Applebloom's avatar.
"Hehe, such a pity, Scoots. Here I thought you'd be tougher than this" Discord taunted, still unaware of the fate that had befallen the pegasus.
"C'mon, I'm going to die as a misunderstanding?" Applebloom grunted, feeling her forelegs be forced back somewhat by the sword. The idea of giving up crossed her mind. They were outmatched, what was even the point? Before she could capitalize on it, she saw a flash of purple in the sky. Sweetie Belle. She couldn't hear the unicorn, but she knew what she was saying, solely by guess. Drawing on a reserve of strength, Applebloom shoved upwards, surprising the draconequus and knocking him away.
"HA, THAT'S MORE LIKE IT!" Discord cackled, landing on his feet and sliding a little. His eyes narrowed as he saw the red avatar was motionless. "What are you playing at?" he hissed, a third eye sprouting from his head. All the eyes widened as the draconequus realized the threat. "No, not again!" Discord wailed, leaping for cover as the purple orb slammed into the neck of the red avatar, blinding mauve light exploding in all directions as the two constructs fused together. Ethereal wings sprouted from the avatar's back and with one mighty flap, the newly completed Scootabelle hovered in front of Trixie's floating stage.
"W-what?!" Trixie sputtered, stumbling backwards in awe and horror. From the top of the avatar, a hole appeared and Sweetie climbed out, head bowed.
"Scootaloo is dead, she's gone! But in the Elements, in my heart, she lives on as a part of all of us!" Sweetie cried out, pounding a hoof across her chest to emphasize her point. A few tears were running, but she was no longer ashamed of them.
"Scootaloo...dead?" Discord questioned, looking up at the display with a dropped jaw.
"If you're going to dig, dig towards the sky! Even if there's no end, I'll keep digging! Because once I've broken though, I've won!" Sweetie declared, unaware that she was the center of attention now. The battle had lulled, enemies and friends alike gawking at the avatar in the sky with yelling unicorn on top of it. "Who the Hell do you think I am? I'm not Scootaloo, I'm me! Sweetie Belle!" Sweetie declared, getting back inside her orb and making the construct shine even brighter, the emotions powering it pure and powerful.
"Take this!" Trixie shrieked, eyes bulging in desperation as her horn sparked wildly, her amulet powering up to even greater extents. "Ultra Mega Trixie Su-" Trixie started, only to gag as Discord's horns slammed into her, much as had been done to Tirek. The horns spun and cut her, pinning her legs eventually and leaving her floating in the air. Her own ego had cost her. "W-wait! I'm sure we can make an agreement!" Trixe whined, knowing full well her end had come.
"GIGA DRILL BREAK!" Sweetie cried out, shaking off the last of her tears for Scootaloo as the horn of their avatar grew. All three ponies inside the avatar combined their spirits, thrusting the massive drill forward. Trixie could do little more than give off a pathetic squeal before she was utterly pulverized by the drill. Cheers rang out from Tirek's body, the low morale disappearing almost instantly as Trixie was taken out of the equation.
"So Scootaloo really is dead?!" Discord gasped, feeling a sense of loss for some reason. She had been fun to play with, he hadn't wanted her to die! He wanted to keep fighting her forever! Trapped in his thoughts, the draconequus was frozen. Diamond Tiara, meanwhile, was far less distraught.
"Hehe, I guess she was good for screaming in the end" Diamond Tiara chuckled as the remains of Trixie fluttered down. Her cruel mocking was interrupted by the smell of ozone and a shock running through her tail.
"Wonderbolt Deluxe!" the assembled Wonderbolts announced, flying in formation, their avatar practically attached. Soarin' and Fleetfoot charged up balls of electricity whilst Spitfire took hold of a shocked Diamond Tiara, making the bully shut up for once in her life.
"Sweetie's busting her flank out there, we can't sit back and do nothing!" Spitfire growled just as the lightning bolt came down, sending the armored Earth Pony flying with a scream of pain. Upon Tirek, scores of small soldiers along with the paralyzed Discord were sent flying by a sweep of Tirek's massive arm.
"It's all over!" Chysalis hissed, slashing Babs across the cheek with her crooked horn. The two hadn't paused to look at Sweetie's speech, instead brawling each other for the duration. The Changeling clearly had the edge, littering Babs with small cuts. However, growing up in Manehattan made you tough, so when Chrysalis over compensated with an attempted stab, Babs took her chance. Drawing out her last javelin, she brought it down, smashing the weapon through Chrysalis's horn and pinning the bug like creature to Tirek's body. Chrysalis bit her lip, avoiding a scream of pain as she tried to wrench herself free.
"I hate to break it to you, but this is our home now. She gave her life to let us have it, we aren't giving it up" Babs hissed, preparing to smash Chrysalis's skull. The insectoid pony let out a grunt as she leaped backward, letting her horn snap off and flying into the safety of the Changeling horde. Just in time too, for Babs's avatar had finally manifested, a brown colored beast.
"Ugh, how did they get so dangerous all of a sudden?" Chrysalis moaned to herself, rubbing at the bleeding spot where her horn used to be.
"If this is how they want it, we have to fuse!" Diamond Tiara demanded, stroking her sore flank from her position on top of a dragon.
"But there's only two of us" Chrysalis noted, knowing that the fusion yielded now additional power unless it was three or more.
"I'll join you" Discord offered, the draconequus teleporting next to them. Nodding, the remaining generals began their prayer to Celestia.
"Great Orb of the Sky, please hear our cry, fuse our souls together, so we may serve you better! Envelop the land with your glow and cast your rage upon our foe! Unlock our powers from deep within so together we may win!" they declared, utter faith in the Solar Queen bleeding into their words.
"So, they require my help? Who am I to refuse?" Celestia murmured from her throne as she heard their prayer. A flash of her horn and back on the battlefield, the three generals were fused into a hideous monstrosity. Taller than Tirek, it had a thin body, blackened and covered in holes, with patches of pink fur.
"Take this!" the fusion bellowed with a mishappened mouth, firing a barrage of pink, yellow, and green blasts down at Tirek and the Freedom Friends. To make sure, they used all their energy, not even caring after they defused, the explosion was too satisfying.
"Haha! You weren't expecting that, huh?!" Diamond laughed from her position on her dragon steed.
"Riling up up this much is an achievement" Chrysalis added, licking her lips.
"Feel the burn!" Discord screamed, looking at the flaming wasteland, sand smelted into glass. The generals' mocking ceased in an instant as they saw a mauve shield in the smoke. Tirek was unharmed, courtesy of the camraderie of all on it. Friendship truly was magic.
"Stand firm everyone" Sweetie ordered, confident in her position now. As the creator of Scootabelle and owner of Magic, she was leader. None could disagree.
"Of course, with all these buddies here..." Flim started.
"Who are we to disagree?" Flam finished, the pair of salesponies riding on their newest contraption, a giant trebuchet. All ponies, minotaurs, gryphons, dragons, and buffalos gave a roar of agreement, willingly lending their power to Scootabelle.
"Let's do it!" Sweetie cried, leaping into the catapault and letting it shoot Scootabelle forward, super charged by the combined spirits of everyone in the Freedom Friends. The first to fall victim was Diamond Tiara, caught from below by the drill, she was unable to even react in time before she was torn apart.
"I won't let you!" Chrysalis howled, commanding her Changeling Hive to form a massive head and bite down on Scootabelle. The bite did nothing to slow them down, only make even more green blood fly. Chrysalis was able to see her impending death coming and spread herself, ready for it. It was true her heart had no room for love...but only because Tirek had taken it long ago. She would finally join him. And so the Changeling stayed silent as the drill flew through her, knocking aside Discord as he tried to stop it.
"It's finished" Sweetie sighed as Scootabelle landed on the ground. The generals had been vanquished, their army crippled. Their was but one mission left...Celestia.
A rousing cheer rose up from the villages that Diamond Tiara had projected the battle upon. Instead of crushing their spirits, it had made them stronger.
Hours later, Discord crawled out of the sand, coughing and wheezing.
"Chrysalis? Diamond? Trixie?" he called, looking around the desolate wasteland. Nothing was alive, he was alone here. "Why? Why am I the only one left?...Why do they leave alone, with no friends?" Discord questioned, sniffling a little. Memories of Fluttershy leaving him flooded the draconequus as he fell to his knees, sobbing. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, but a hoof fell upon his shoulder.
"You have served me well. Come, let me reward you"
Celestia lay on her throne, stretching her consciousness, looking at the land of Equestria. The land was wartorn, but a modicum of peace seemed to be coming, if only because her troops were almost gone and the camps had rebelled. She couldn't say she was upset, she had hoped this would happen. Hoped her little ponies would try to defeat her...possibly kill her. Celestia held no illusions about her moral highground, she no longer had any. All she could wish for was that someone would come along, someone stronger than her, and destroy the constricting hold of the one who had slaughtered Luna like common cattle. Celestia, last of the great alicorn princesses, sitting inside a mountain while her kingdom rotted. What a failure. She looked up slightly as the ceiling of her throne room collapsed, admitting the famed "Scootabelle" that had apparently destroyed her armada.
"You're here. I must say, I am impressed you made it this far" Celestia sighed, opening her eyes and looking at her foes morosely. She was tired, so tired of all the pain. Before Sweetie could say anything, a brown shape shot out of the ground in front of them, cackling madly.
"Good, I didn't want the party to end so soon" Discord snickered, landing lightly. "Celestia dug up some presents for me! I have absorbed the power of the Plunderseeds ol' Twilight sent into hibernation! It'll finish you!" the draconequus hissed, slashing wildly with a candy cane at Scootabelle, only to have his blows nonchalantly blocked before being slapped away like a rag doll.
"Stay down, Discord" Celestia ordered, standing up. "The power of the Plunderseeds isn't enough for you to defeat them. I granted it so that you could survive the beating you had been dealt" Celestia explained to the shocked draconequus, his ears drooping as he heard the news. "I shall defeat them myself" Celestia grumbled, tossing off her crown and ornamental shoes and letting her mane ignite. She paused as she saw a small rip appear in the top of Scootabelle. Somepony was trying to parley.
"It's been a long time, mother" Neos said, bowing slightly out of respect. Celestia's flaming mane sputtered as she stared at her finest creation, the latest in the list of alicorns she had created. So many failed attempts...Neos had been the first to not have a ticking clock on their life the instant they were born. But then he began to grow sentience. Celestia would not, could not, allow someone who trusted her so implicitly to learn the truth behind the facade. Death was a better fate. Obviously, she had messed up the job.
"Neos...you're looking well. I am happy to see you" Celestia responded, nodding her head.
"Why are you doing this, mother?" Neos asked, eyes narrow. "You commit horrid atrocities on the denizens of Equestria, hurting them, separating them. So tell me, what's your goal?"
"You don't know anything about the truth. Everything I have done, I have done to save the lives of my citizens. Even yours" Celestia said, crestfallen from the accusation.
"What are you saying? You're killing the ones you're trying to protect?" Sweetie questioned, popping out as well to support Neos.
"There was nothing more I could do! You will draw the ire of the Power Above! For this, I must dispose of you!" Celestia cried out, eyes exploding into flames as she fired a bolt of yellow magic. Were it not for the heat of her body, they would have seen tears on her face. The blast was blocked by a raised fore hoof, the mere shockwave knocking Neos and Sweetie back into the safety of their avatar.
"You want to fight?!" Sweetie hissed, their avatar's horn sparking.
"You are indeed powerful, the bonds you have forged truly do prove the strength of Magic. However, you have two Elements..." Celestia started, 4 gems floating around her before attaching to her body, turning her glow into a blinding light, powerful as the Sun. "I have 4!"
"That's why we could never find the other Elements!" Appebloom declared, gobsmacked at the power Celestia was radiating.
"Neos, we have to fight him" Sweetie said quietly to her partner inside Scootabelle's head. The prince nodded in agreement, eyes hardening. The avatar leaped back, dodging savage punch from Celestia that shattered the ground. While Celestia was smaller, it was clear she was the stronger of the two. Before Scootabelle could regain its footing, Celestia rammed her body into the avatar's chest before firing a burst of concussive power at its jaw, staggering the mauve construct backwards. Celestia was offering no mercy, savagely kicking the stunned avatar away, jostling its screaming pilots.
"Enough!" Applebloom snapped, moving their wing up to block a hook from Celestia. Scootabelle reared up, using its size to its advantage, before slamming down on Celestia. Celestia merely snorted, forming a golden barrier to protect her from the slam.
"Once I fought like you..." Celestia murmured, nostalgia overpowering for a split second and letting her shield pop. Even so, the Solar Queen was swift enough to move out of the way of the massive hooves.
"What are you talking about?!" Sweetie sputtered, completely confounded at the way Celestia spoke in riddles.
"Nothing you need to know about" Celestia replied, making a thermal wave to push Scootabelle into the wall of the cavern. She followed up with a barrage of yellow beams, trying to avoid dodging. Scootabelle recognized this and so chose to deflect them instead by slapping the blasts away. Celestia growled and tried again, but just as her her horn lit up, Discord's horns slammed into her, winding her slightly and pinning her arms, just as had been done to Tirek and Trixie.
"GIGA DRILL BREAK!" Sweetie bellowed, launching their avatar forward, horn rapidly growing and spinning. There was a sickening squeal, like metal being grinded.
"H-how?.." Applebloom stammered as she saw the source of it. Celestia had somehow managed to lean her horn down to block the drill, the alicorn gritting her teeth as her horn saved her body from being pureed by the horn. Celestia thrust her head upward, snapping the drill in half with an audible "crack!" before wrenching her limbs free of the horns.
"My turn" Celestia snarled, eyes turning pure white as an orb of heat surrounded Scootabelle, pummeling the avatar with bursts of flame before fading away, letting the avatar fall to its knees.
"How are we supposed to beat her when she's got more Elements?" Applebloo groaned, rubbing her slightly blistered flank.
"Numbers don't matter, it's the heart behind them" Sweetie responded, shaking off a few small burns. With that, Scootabelle began to slowly get back up.
"Stop resisting! You're only making this harder!" Celestia growled, launching herself forward at Scootabelle.
"Says the mare trying to stab us!" Sweetie snapped, craning their avatar up and launching their own counter punch, slamming into Celestia's chest and knocking her up slightly. From the alicorns chest bled some golden ichor, the Element of Kindness(an irony Celestia had recognized) having bitten into her flesh from the force of the punch. The alicorn looked herself over before giving a small smile. Had somepony strong enough to take over in her place come along? She shrugged off the thoughts and her smile faded. No need for false hope.
"Enough" she rumbled, flinging a golden sword straight through Scootabelle, right where Applebloom was.
"Applebloom?!" Sweetie cried out, fearing the worst.
"I'm fine, but my avatar isn't moving. You have to detatch" Applebloom said with a shudder, feeling a sting in her shoulder where the sword had nicked her. Sweetie and Neos nodded, the head detaching from the main body.
"Stay down" Celestia murmured, slapping Applebloom to the ground, the earth pony's avatar failing as she was knocked out. Not missing a beat, she turned so that the purple sphere of Magic didn't hit her horn, albeit bruising her side. "I can see it was no fluke you made it this far, still, you have no chance"
"Everyone else said that too, they were also wrong" Sweetie retorted, purple aura exploding to life around the shield bubble.
"Spare me your ranting! I'll show you the true power of the Sun!" Celestia cried out, a massive wave of power shooting from her body as she turned blue, the color of the hottest stars. Everyone for miles saw the Sun flash as a massive solar flare erupted, sending a wave of radiation down at Equestria, focusing energy on a single target. "Survive this!" Celestia challenged, firing her absorbed power in a massive beam of fiery radiation. The ray exploded against the shield, trying to burn through it and annihilate those within. But the more it tried, the stronger the purple shield grew, the ponies within grasping each other firmly, their friendship flowing strong. Slowly, but surely, the pair actually moved through the beam and towards Celestia. The alicorn gritted her teeth, sweat flowing from her brow. This madness had gone on long enough! She stopped firing her beam and punched the orb with all her might, shattering the shield. Normally, it would have held, but with the two exhausted from fighting the beam, it was easy. Neos was sent flying to the left while Sweetie was sent to the right.
"Over here, Sun-Butt" Sweetie panted, trying to draw Celestia's attention to Neos could escape. Celestia calmly turned around to look at the battered and burned unicorn before stepping towards her.
"You put up a great battle. You would make a fine second in command" Celestia mused, lifting Sweetie by the scruff of the neck. Before the alicorn could muse further, she howled in pain, whipping around to see Neos's horn smoking, the alicorn having shot her from behind. While nowhere near a serious injury, being offguard meant the blast had stung. And with her distraction broken, Sweetie Belle mashed her crown against Celestia's horn, the purple magic covering the alicorn. Celestia screamed in primal rage as the Elements were torn from her body, responding to someone who better embodied them. The gems clattered harmlessly to the ground and the alicorn fell to her knees, too weak to continue the fight. "So...your control over the Elements is greater than my own. I cannot fight you any longer, it would only lead to failure. Therefore...I submit" Celestia sighed, bowing her head in shame. She had failed to protect her little ponies, the Power Above would be coming for them. No one would believe her tales about the purple goddess who had destroyed Luna and Cadence. Still, if somepony more powerful than her was leading them...perhaps they had a chance. No, she was fooling herself. The Power Above was omnipotent.
"You did it" Neos panted, stumbling over to his smaller friend and hugging her.
"We did it" Sweetie corrected, smiling at the rising Sun, standing still in the sky without Celestia's magic manipulating it.
Far in space, beyond galaxies and star clusters, a purple eye opened.
"So, Celestia failed? Nah, she'd never let me down...still, those power readings are freaky. I'll give her 3 years, 3 years to prepare. Note to self, have to delay Andromeda program to check on Celestia. Hehehehe"
Ignorance is a dreadful thing. You believe you're in the right, but you're really wrong. I told her, again and again, don't let them get strong enough to start thinking about space and the beyond. I've given her enough time, her deadline is now. If she won't report in, I'll get the report face to face
As years passed after Celestia's defeat and eventual imprisonment, pony society began to become as it was before the fateful day when Celestia had lost her mind. Nopony knew what that had been about, and Celestia had been quiet, mumbling about how The Power Above was listening to her every word. Applebloom had taken responsibility for the rebuilding of Canterlot after its demolition and was putting skills she had learned long ago to use in the project. Adding onto that, she also helped out separated ponies find their friends and family by accessing Celestia's private records. While many of them had exploded when she tried to read them, the records were able to be read. While it sometimes brought heart ache, having to tell somepony that the one they wanted to see had their named crossed out. Usually though, the pony in question was still alive.
Avatar training, led by Spitfire, was now a must do for workers and law enforcers. Applebloom's twin foals thought the job of being a guard very exciting, and shocked even the Wonderbolt Captain with their ability to make a single avatar at such a young age. It was no Scootabelle in terms of power, but still a respectable fusion.
Of course, all the heroes in the war were celebrities now, hounded by media wherever they went. While most didn't particularily enjoy the attention, the Wonderbolts, Flim Flam Brothers, and Iron Will sucked it up like a starved fish. Applebloom had double trouble, she was in the war but due to the utter collapse of the royals and nobles, she was the only one who had a drop of royal blood in her and was eligible to lead by the old laws of Equestria. Understandably, most of the surviving reporters went her for her instead.
Discord and what was left of Celestia's ragged army held out for years after their leader's downfall, but with Celestia not even trying to break out of prison, many of them defected and what few were left had low morale. Discord's only motivation for keeping this up was solely that it was the only place he belonged, causing trouble for others. The last time he settled down, his heart had been broken. In the end though, the Loyalists were finished off and Discord's powers limited. This was so that there could be attempts to coax him into rejoining the side of Harmony.
Finally, there was the magnificent center-piece to the city, a statue made by Sweetie Belle herself of the mare who had inspired them all and sparked the movement to defeat Celestia. Scootaloo's monument stood proudly, pointing at the sky with a smile on her face, telling all who saw her to keep moving up and over your limitations and to try your best. Such optimism was not to last.
So, it wasn't just a fluke....Well, I guess that like any scientist, I have to get rid of the independent variable...the problem is figuring it out here. Note to self, infiltrators needed. Possible invasion date: Two days from now, Day 2 of Year Alpha-156
Neos smiled, the letter he had been waiting for finally coming. Tearing it open with a small burst of magic, his pink eyes focused on the wrinkled paper.
"Hey, Neos! I don't need to crash at your place anymore! I actually got a job! Sure, it's kinda boring, serving people food, but hey, I'm sure I'll be promoted soon!" the letter dictated, Babs's sloppy writing clear on it. She had been bouncing around apartments and odd jobs, staying at Neos's small house(given by Applebloom) rather often. Neos was possibly one of the closest to Babs out of all the ones who had fought alongside her. This could be said for most though, given Neos's love of friends and politeness. However, all(including himself) had decided not to reveal his identity to the general public. The son of the mad tyrant? He would have had far too many enemies. He'd have to thank his mother for that on his next visit to her prison cell, keeping his name out of the books. Neos pulled out his own piece of paper and began writing a response before he heard a knock at the door.
"It's nice, isn't it?" Sweetie said, leaving the door just a crack open to let in the fresh spring air. Neos sighed happily, dropping the pen and turning around to look at his friend. "I mean, Equestria, the land. Everything is getting better" Sweetie clarified, still feeling stupid on occasion compared to Neos. The alicorn chuckled slightly at the clarification before stepping outside, Sweetie Belle following.
"Yes. Everyone laughing and living under the Sun, with friends and family. I cannot understand why my mother wou-" Neos started, being cut off by a headshake from Sweetie Belle.
"Don't think that way. Who knows what made Celestia go bonkers? What matters is the here and now" Sweetie reassured. Even so, Neos looked somewhat depressed. Even if the war was little more than a memory, in some minds, it hadn't faded. Feeling guilty, Sweetie looked around for something to work as a distraction. Her horn plucked up a small pebble and Sweetie began fashioning it, finding that she was as good at gem cutting as sister was.
"What's that?" Neos asked, as the green magic faded away from Sweetie's horn, the pebble falling into her hoof.
"Remember when you helped me get out of my slump? Well, I'm not as good at giving big speeches, but I thought you'd like this" Sweetie offered, holding out an exquisitely beautiful gem, cut to near perfection. "I mean, sure, I'd have to get a necklace or so-" Sweetie started before being tackled in a hug by the taller pony.
"Oh, thanks! It's great!" Neos gushed, using his magic to quickly fashion a small chain out of some grasses and inserting the gem into the knot. "You're a lovely friend" Neos said, rolling on his back to let Sweetie get up, the poor unicorn panting.
"T-thanks" Sweetie gasped, trying to get back some air from the bone crushing hug. The two ponies laid there for a bit, simply enjoying the sunny weather.
"My dream...is to cover the land in flowers. So that everyone is reminded of how precious the world can be" Neos spoke out, turning to Sweetie Belle to continue the train of thought.
"My dream...I don't know. I guess that, well, just spending my life with friends and people who care and then caring back. I guess that's mine. Not so deep, huh?" Sweetie chuckled, getting a small eye roll from Neos. The unicorn could be so self deprecating sometimes. "Neos...can you promise that you won't leave me, not until I'm old?" Sweetie asked, paranoid of losing another person near to her heart.
"I promise"
"Infiltrator found. For the record, I declare that I have been pushed to the extreme. The power that I once used, but has been revived for stupid reasons, is already corrupting their world. I have had to contort my body, evolve my mind, transcend their tiny comprehension. The universe needs a goddess. And I am that goddess"
Neos let out the scream of a wounded animal as lines of magic, looking like some sort of parasitic vein system, spread across his body. His insides being reformed, he couldn't say anything. Just howl in agony.
"What's wrong?!" Sweetie demanded, eyes wide as her friend began to float into the air. Then, the sky exploded
"Will someone tell me why the sky is just looked like someone hit it with a giant flash light?!" Applebloom demanded, glaring at a team of zebras surrounding a telescope. Before the zebras could respond, a booming, telepathic voice rang through the heads of everyone on the planet.
"To all the sentient beings on your planet: Twilight Sparkle has come back home"
"Get me a source!" Applebloom commanded, her ears going flat with terror. Twilight had died when Celestia became the Emperor! This had to be a trick.
"Ma'm, we detect a massive object in the solar system!" one zebra shouted.
"It far surpasses even a galaxy's hem" another added.
"The voice matches the late Twilight" a third one informed
"I have reached sight" the fourth one declared, causing a panicking Applebloom to look into the telescope and see a floating Alicorn, projected by magic across Equestria. Neos
"Even when Celestia rounded you up, you just couldn't stay away from friendship, could you?" Twilight growled, Neos's body little more than a puppet for the self proclaimed goddess. "You're all foals who need to be educated, punished for their insolence! You play around with forces that you can't understand when you use the Magic of Friendship! But I know, I've seen beyond the fabric of space-time and seen that it's like playing with a sleeping dragon! The Elements of Harmony themselves are symbols of arrogance, trying to control it. If the Nightmare Moon, Discord, and so many others had triumphed, you would have never endangered the whole universe. If Celestia had accomplished her goal, this wouldn't have happened. Sweetie Belle, your defeat of her is the root of your new problem" Twilight ranted, though she'd occasionally return to calm.
"Neos, what's wrong with you? What are you talking about?" Sweetie gaped, trying to disregard Twilight's voice booming in her head.
"In three weeks, the Moon will leave orbit and crash into the planet, cutting out the cancer once and for all" Twilight declared, her ultimatium dropping like a bomb. Neos's body finished its transformation, four extra wings sprouting from his back and his mane turning into a facsmile of Twilight's. "And Celestia. You taught me so much, even how to deal with people in war. Well, I think I learned. Take the son of their previous ruler and turn him into a herald" Twilight stated, little malice behind the cruel words, though no doubt Celestia was cringing at this thought within her cell in the catacombs of Canterlot. "But yet, I am merciful. You may offer your bodies forth for study, so that your death won't be in vain. Good-bye" Twilight spoke out with finality, a portal opening behind Neos and dragging him into a void.
"NEOS, NO!" Sweetie Belle cried out, her cry drowned out by the buzzing that was emanating from the portal. Twilight had sent something through
Out of the swirling abyss Neos was dragged into shot a swarm of twisted creatures the size of dragons, grafted metal and bodyparts of various kinds of making an efficient mish-mash of parts. None was identical to another in terms of looks, but jets, wings, and gas allowed them all to fly. While the population of Equestria still reeled from the announcement, the drones landed in every major center of populace, their collective eyes and optics staring intently at the creatures below. There was intelligence in those red visual systems. Malicious intelligence. In an instant, the attack commenced, some swooping down to grab victims for abduction, others merely attacking buildings and ponies with everything from tooth and claw to advanced bolts of plasma from in built cannons. Entire blocks were destroyed within seconds during the chaos.
"Deploy, everyone, let's go!" Shining Armor barked out, having delegated to a command position(his muscle and bones were too weary to battle). How could his little sister have done this? Combat avatars accompanies by a couple of dragons, guard ponies, and minotaurs shot out of their barracks, reacting to the situation in the same way their training had called for.
"They have no face?" Sandy Dunes mumbled, dodging a slash from the claw of scorpion like creature before the upper half of their avatar smashed it to bits. Indeed, another thing the creatures shared was their lack of a face. Sure, many had a maw or mandibles, but the actual face...it was flat, like a demented cartoon.
"Then we'll call them...No-Faces" Burning Cobalt chuckled grimly, leaping their avatar into the air and flapping its wings, creating a pressure wave that knocked many a No-Face away. Before the brother and sister could celebrate, a heavy tail slapped them to the ground. As the pair wriggled free, they saw that in the center was a huge No-Face, a beacon pulsing on its head. Indeed, in every city, there was one of these "Focus" types about.
"Flank it" Sandy Dunes ordered, a few dragons spraying their deadly flames at the creature's sides while a couple of avatars fired magic if they could or threw massive chunks of stone. However, the creature was nonplussed, returning to its duty of coordinating the other No-Faces.
"A shield, huh? Well, let's see you tank this!" Burning Cobalt cried, unsheathing a massive blade of energy from their avatar and hacking downwards. Once again, the blade merely bounced off a skin thick shield covering the beast. With a snarl, the savage beast turned about, misshapened mouth drooling acid from its anger. A pair of spider like legs shot from its shoulder blades, impaling an avatar and causing it to fade. "Vinyl Scratch is down!" Burning cried out, dodging out of the way of the second arm.
"Their attacking us now" Sandy noted, the drones ceasing their attack on civilians and converging their attacks on the warriors instead. It took all of Sandy's will power not to vomit when a dragon she had trained with fell in front of them, desperately holding his slashed stomach to prevent her guts from falling out. Neos's body looked on from above, arms crossed impassively as the herald supervised the battle.
"No!" Burning yelped as during one of their dodges, an octopus like creature grabbed their avatar's leg and slammed them to the ground. Slithering over, it opened its beak, revealing a large spike inside of it. Before it could stab through the avatar, a blur of mauve light flew past. The octopus was dead before it could even feel the pain of being bisected. "Scootabelle" Burning squealed, over the moon at seeing the war hero.
"So, Sweetie, you managed to make Scootabelle without someone's help? I'm almost jealous" Applebloom chuckled, from her position in Canterlot Castle, knowing Sweetie would hear her over the new communications system that had been invented, the radio. "Still, you shouldn't be fighting. You're smart enough to be a leader, not a brawler".
"My duty is to protect ponies from psychos like Celestia! If Twilight has gone off the rails, she'll go down the same way!" Sweetie snapped back, anger from Twilight's possession of Neos still coursing through her. A bear like creature slammed its paws together, fusing them into a cannon, which promptly fired a blast of highly charged atoms at Scootabelle. Instead of damaging the mighty avatar though, the blast of electricity merely crackled around the energetic shell before being absorbed, making Scootabelle glow even brighter than before. "Chew on your own power!" Sweetie roared, drilling her avatar's horn straight through the beast, spraying black blood everywhere. "Now for their boss" Sweetie hissed, firing a still super charged beam of energy, causing the Focus No-Face to disintegrate with a wail of pain, the beacon on its head shutting down and making the remaining drones fly off into the air, Neos following. Sweetie didn't notice the blood of the No-Faces glowing until it was too late.
In an instant, all the spilled blood of the No-Faces ignited...and exploded
Applebloom gasped in horror as cities across Equestria burst into flame from massive explosions. While Twilight's vanguard had mostly left, a few had stayed behind and either died or killed themselves. In retrospect, Applebloom should have known that the mindless beasts had some sort of way to be useful even after death. In this case, their blood was flammable and explosive, igniting upon some sort of unknown signal, likely sent through Neos's possessed body. As for Neos, he had disappeared without a trace after the vanguard had left.
"Send out a rescue team. Tell them to keep fire damage to a minimum" Applebloom said in a tightly clipped voice to avoid showing the rampant emotion inside of her. So many lives lost in a matter of seconds. She got a report from the first emergency unit. 75% of Manehattan had been slaughtered.
Sweetie, along with Burning Cobalt, Sandy Dunes, and the ones who remained from the 1st Squad, flew back towards Applebloom's headquarters in Canterlot Castle. Maybe she had a plan for how to deal with the situation. As they reached the castle though, they saw a huge mob of ponies on the ground, many injured, all upset.
"It's your fault my family died!"
"Think actions through!"
"The Moon's going to kill us!"
"They came here because of you!"
Sweetie winced as she heard the accusations. She had tried her best, she didn't mean for any of this to happen.
"When I fight, I hurt ponies" Sweetie mumbled to herself, her avatar's color dulling somewhat as Sweetie realized the scope of the destruction.
"Make her take responsibility!" roared out the leader of a certain faction of the mob. This faction wanted Sweetie's head on a pike and thought of the avatars as demons. It was only natural that they destroy the statue of Scootaloo, the the parent of the avatars. Sweetie would normally feel angry about the statue of her best friend being desecrated, but guilt had taken hold. Maybe they all deserved it
"Sweetie was arrested?!" Iron Will snapped, smashing a machine to nuts and bolts with his hand.
"Yes, I told you several times" a rather miffed Flim responded, trying to rebuild the machine(Super Cider Squeezy: Portable Edition).
"They're holding trial right away" Flam added, showing concern for the unicorn. Sure, he was a cheating snake, but that didn't mean that he didn't like the spunky unicorn who had saved all of them from Celestia.
"Applebloom's gone nuts!" Gilda exclaimed, shocked that their leader would allow such an injustice.
"Do they really think it's her fault?" Soarin' murmured, chewing on a stalk of grass to calm his nerves. Most of the old Resistance had disbanded, but a few grouped together, like what Soarin' and a few others were doing now inside of Flim and Flam's garage.
"It's because of her that we were able to meet with people and make bonds with them again. We owe her" Silver Spoon grumbled, tossing Flim a wrench to fix the juicer. She wasn't a huge fan of the unicorn, but had some grudging respect for her. Iron's Will's hand suddenly shot out, grabbing a rock that had been about to hit the silver earth pony in the back of he head.
"Owe her? It's her fault the world's going to Hell" spat an angry mule who had overheard their talk. Iron Will growled and prepared to show him a lesson.
"Enough! Deal with it, they'll stop" Spitfire snapped, causing Iron Will to halt. The minotaur growled before sitting down again, letting the mule run away.
Sweetie's trial was decided with a smack of the gavel. The judge was Mayor Mare, wizened by age, but still sharp of mind. Applebloom looked at the proceedings from a chair next to the judge, her face stoic.
"The jury has reached agreement. Sweetie is sentenced to...this can't be right" Mayor murmured, giving the paper to Applebloom to see if it was an issue with her eyes. Applebloom shook her head and handed it back. "Sweetie is judged to...execution" the former Mayor said with a deflated sigh, looking down at the unicorn with pity in her eyes. It was to be expected, Sweetie had indirectly killed thousands. Even so, was it really fair? The crowd burst into chaos, some cheering, some demanding explanation.
"Order!" Applebloom demanded, her voice having authority like never before. The court shut up in an instant to here what she had to say. "We must calm the populace. Sweetie Belle is responsible, if indirectly, to horrific crimes. So, ponies, are you happy now? Are you happy that I am willing to execute my friend so that justice is served and danger is stopped?!" Applelboom snapped, enraged that the ungratefulness of the ponies. Applebloom hated herself for doing this, but Sweetie had done wrong, it was only fair. She told herself this anyway
"What about the Moon?" a nervous voice called back
"We are working on an evacuation plan" Applebloom responded quickly, turning on her heel and leaving the court room in a state of screaming madness. No one noticed Sweetie Belle's reactions. She seemed almost relieved by the decision. Her eyes were dull and her coat almost appeared grey, if looked at in the right way. Her horn wasn't working when she entered, so she was spared the discomfort of a suppression spell. The Element of Magic lay inside a safe in Applebloom's room, but didn't need to be. IT could have been in front of Sweetie Bell and she would have done nothing.
"What would you have done, Scootaloo?"
Sweetie idly played with a bowl of mash, her eyes following it as it moved back and forth. The mess hall of the holding cells beneath Canterlot was rather large, and Sweetie was grateful she had found a quiet place to brood. Well, somewhat quiet. She still heard all the whispers and insults, even in prison, everyone knew about the idiot war hero who slaughtered thousands with her recklessness and had provoked Twilight(some had taken to calling the former princess a deity). The quiet was shattered when a clawed foot smashed the bowl, causing Sweetie to look up, her face expressionless.
"You killed off half my squad during one of your big raids" the big, black gryphon snarled, flaring out her wings. Sweetie mentally added that to the list of failures she had committed.
"What's wrong, aren't going to eat your mash like the pig you are?" a batpony chuckled, joining in with the gryphon along with a couple of identical earth ponies. Sweetie merely looked down and stayed quiet, causing the gryphon to snarl in anger and ram his fist into Sweetie's belly, grabbing her by the mane with the other and yanking her out of the corner.
"Can't do anything without your element, Miss Belle?" one of the earth ponies tittered, his twin grabbing her left arm whilst he grabbed the right to raise her up.
"We are all going to die because of your stupidity" the gryphon accused, punching Sweetie in her gut once more and causing her to wheeze. Still, she did not fight back. She deserved this. "Remaining stoic, huh? Well, at least you have some honor" the gryphon growled, unsheathing his claws and rocketing them forward. Before they could touch Sweetie's fur, a red tail snaked around the gryphon's neck and slammed him against a wall. "Discord" the gryphon spat, wiping blood from his beak. The draconequus was covered in runes to suppress his power, but even so, he ran the roost.
"You are all so droll, picking on weaklings. I tried it once, didn't work out" Discord said almost nonchalantly, looking at Sweetie with about as much concern as someone stepping on an ant. "And how about you. You're tougher than this, you could make things fun around here. But you just sit there" Discord sneered, crossing his arms in disgust. He had enjoyed his romps with the Freedom Buddies or whatever they had been called, it distracted him from having to think about Fluttershy and how she had abandoned him. Though, now that he thought about it, Celestia might have killed her. Then again, Celestia was too much of a goodie two shoes, even as the Solar Queen, to do that.
"Get him!" the batpony squealed, a mob of about 5 prisoners rushing Discord and leaping on top of him, which led to 6 other prisoners fighting each other, and so on, until the mess hall was in utter chaos.
"Solitary isolation for you two" a gruff faced unicorn grunted, slamming the door on two cells opposite to each other before leaving the isolation wing.
"At least do it with the others too!" Discord called out after her before she left his sight. He turned to look at Sweetie, who didn't seem to be all that wounded, shockingly. Well, except for her magic not working and her coat being gray. He had heard of symptoms like this, seen them too. It happened when someone with a strong, magical connection, lost(or thought they lost) whatever they embodied. "Perk up Sweetie, you may have lost the princess, been betrayed by Applebloom, and locked in jail, but things could always be worse. How, I'm not sure, but they could be" Discord rambled, trying to get a reaction, of any kind, from the silent unicorn. Still nothing. "Come on! You defeated Celestia for crying out loud! Do something!" Discord cried out, running out of tricks to make her talk.
"There's nothing for me to do" Sweetie replied flatly. "I'm history, this place is perfect for me".
The crystal caves glowed with multicolored light as Applebloom and a teal colored unicorn opened Celestia's cell. Separated from the others, Celestia's cell was a marvel, built out of the magic reflecting crystal in such a way that if she tried anything, she'd hit herself. To top it off, it was sealed by solid rock and locked from the outside. As the rock panel broke apart, the magic holding it together dissolving from the unicorn's efforts, Applebloom went over what she was going to say in her head.
"Thank you, Lyra. Is Celestia awake?" Applebloom asked her aide.
"She should be" Lyra responded nervously, not sure as to how to answer a question that she couldn't know the answer too.
"Why would you bring a dead mare to the world of the living?" Celestia murmured, her coat dirty and matted, her ribs showing through her sides, and in general looking more like a beggar than a princess.
"Your gloom and doom stuff started to happen, Twilight is apparently alive and is starting an extermination" Applebloom responded, emnity from their last encounter palpable. "Look, I won't judge you on what happened before, but we need your help now" Applebloom sighed, trying to bury the hatred she felt for this monster. "Just tell me the whole story" Applebloom said quickly, in case Celestia had any ideas.
"I'm sure you all know about the day when I became the Solar Queen. Well, on that day, Twilight had begun scorching parts of Equestria, before sending a letter to Luna and me, talking about how she had seen the light and she would purify this world, that the Elements of Harmony should be disposed of. Then she killed Luna. She told me that if I followed her orders, break apart friends and family along with oppressing my subjects, then she wouldn't come to destroy everything. I did everything for your sake. Obviously, she has chosen to keep her word" Celestia explained, her voice cracking on certain parts of the story as old guilt was brought up again.
"Is there any way she could be lying?" Lyra whispered, shaking in fear now.
"Twilight will not do that. The Moon will crash and then all is finished. I'm sorry" Celestia responded, crestfallen
"WE'RE SAVED!" the crowd of ponies chanted, shouting their thanks to Applebloom as the Earth Pony smiled.
"It has been found that with the Elements confiscated, we can create an avatar large enough to escape the planet before the Moon hits" Applebloom continued, neglecting to mention that it had only been possible with the help of Celestia. The alicorn had agreed to help and was currently overseeing the delicate process of creating a strong enough shell so that the raw energy didn't burst apart. Applebloom was merely breaking the news. She couldn't deny that there was a sense of pride in knowing she would save Equestria. It was enough to let her forget about anyone or anything else.
The escape ship was to be a master piece, a massive, rainbow colored ship that hearkened to the designs of a comicbook. Powered by energy from couples(Applebloom figured that she'd get a bigger boost from romance than friends), it made even Tirek's shell look like an ant in comparison.
Celestia overlooked the energizing of the ship, the shell having been created with dragon scales and skin from the mutants(Twilight had manipulated their genome so they were magic resistant). This was to be her penance. Her contribution to pony kind. She knew she was the perfect one for the job. Even if she hardly embodied the elements in any way, she knew more about them anypony else. She could do things with them that no other could even dream of, provided she was allowed to work more freely. But she understood the security. She had after all been a mad tyrant, she reminded herself bitterly. Feeling her joints stiffen, she began to walk about the underground garage that made up the construction site. It was oblong in shape and had been created by herself in order to house Chrysalis's hive during her period as the Solar Queen. The honeycomb still existed in the wall, but it was used for a different purpose now. She heard moans of passion emanating from the holes and looked into a few of them curiously. She saw ponies mating, sometimes four per hole. She nodded to herself as she understood Applebloom's thinking. Love sounded stronger than friendship and would make for a better charge in the escape ship. Celestia wondered though, was love so different from friendship? Lost in her musings, she stumbled into one of the cells, shocking a pair of ponies who seemed to have been interrupted mid-climax.
"No, no, carry on. I just wanted to see if you were doing well" Celestia said with a weak smile. She didn't expect ponies to forgive her, not after what she had done. But she had to hope, hope that they would. The mare gave her a suspicious look, but the stallion whispered some words in her ear and her expression calmed. The couple gave one final stare before returning to their job of providing power to the ship, more stiffly than before. Celestia sighed and walked off, her head low. At the very least she could save her subjects, even if they wanted absolutely nothing to do with her.
"So, the evacuation's going well?" Spitfire asked, alighting on a stone gargoyle near the window of Shining Armor's humble apartment. The old captain had been put in charge of directing the evacuation, while Applebloom's children currently held military power. There was a sense Applebloom was getting too cocky, but not too much. She did come up with a way to save them, after all.
"Yeah. Tch, not much of a job though, just checking the lists to see if everyone's going in. Not much else for washouts like us, eh?" the unicorn chuckled, checking off on some boxes on the schedule. Spitfire smiled at the joke, comforted in the knowledge that something hadn't changed. They had both gotten older, that was true, but it would be a long time before their coats would gray, that was fore sure. The pair of military ponies flinched as the sky ripped open, crackles of lightning sparking as the cloud shifted. It was the same rift Twilight had created. And just like before, out came the horrific mutants, different ones this time. They had faces, but no eyes, these burlier ones.
"Not again!" Spitfire snapped, flexing her wings and preparing to take off. "I won't let these creeps destroy any more lives!" she swore as she flew off, forming her own avatar and bisecting a smaller one of the eyeless monsters. Shining Armor looked back at Cadence, the pink alicorn holding ultimate judgement. She walked up to her husband and embraced him.
"Go do your job"
"What is happening?" Applebloom demanded, as her headquarters were rocked by a creature that looked more like a boulder than an animal.
"Twilight's creatures are back. They're trying to dig underground!" Lyra reported, dodging a falling piece of pottery.
"Underground? Did they notice our escape plan?!" Applebloom snapped, her teeth gritted.
"It would explain the lack of eyes. But fear not, I have a surprise" Zecora added, the wizened zebra still a top advisor. As a vile slug attempted to reach further down, it let out a hideous screech as it was electrocuted, tumbling onto its back and wriggling wildly. "Celestia can shape the energy into shields. We won't yet yield"
"I see. But they won't hold out forever, I know enough about magic to say that" Applebloom hissed, mentally struggling. Could she throw aside what she wanted to do for what logic said was right? "We're taking off in one minute. We don't have time to load everyone in. Let out an alarm to warn everyone who's dawdling to pick up the pace" Applebloom finally commanded, walking was regally as she could to the elevator that would take the staff inside the mountain bunker down to the ship.
A malformed bird beast, its feathers gone and wings little stubs, sniffed around eagerly, sensing the energy of the Elements. It wasn't as pure as their mistress had said, it felt as if it was a cheap copy. He had no more time to ruminate on this as the ship he was looking for burst out from the ground below him, ramming into him and sending him across the city with a pained squawk.
Canterlot began to cave in, the ground structures that formed the mountain city collapsing from the massive hole that had been gouged in the earth. Neighborhoods were swallowed into the mud and rock, the remaining buildings just islands among the rubble and destruction. Applebloom turned away from the destruction, closing her eyes even after she looked away.
"We've got enough energy from couples to fully power this thing. What should we do?" Lyra asked, flipping through a file of energy volunteers just in case she had miscalculated.
"Tell the navigator to take command of the avatar, we're going up" Applebloom sighed.
Deep within the catacombs of what was left of the former mountain stronghold of Canterlot, prisoners rioted. They had been left behind in their cells as Applebloom's Ark(so went the nickname) departed. Panicked yelps and screams bounced about the rock in a cacophony of madness, grief, and hatred.
"Looks like we were left behind" Sweetie noted, still drawling her words. The isolation cells were further into the mountain and as such, she and Discord were spared from most of the rioting. "I can't blame Applebloom, she has to save lots of ponies, I'm sure we aren't important enough".
"Enough of your whining!" Discord snarled, rubbing his head at the absolute boredom of it. "You're Sweetie Belle, the mare who took down Celestia! I had a meltdown when just one pony left me, you handled tons more!" Discord snapped, having had to listen to Sweetie's depressed mood for hours on end.
"And who left you?" Sweetie asked, showing some actual curiosity. Discord flinched at the question, the suppressors on him glowing as his growing rage was held back. They finally stopped glowing and Discord huffed, dropping the subject for now.
"I know that you aren't really being held back by those suppressors. So go. You should be able to get out" Sweetie mumbled, her horn blocker sparking and shuddering as a green light appeared on the tip of her horn. Discord widened his eyes slightly at Sweetie before the light disappeared. "I made my bed, I can sleep in it" Sweetie spoke with a bitter smile. "It's what's best for everyone"
"No one can save them" a voice called out, refined, but dangerous. Sweetie peered out of the bars of her cell and gaped at the sight of Neos, the corrupted alicorn floating in the air, surrounded by pinkish light. "Did you think that I wouldn't see this coming? I'm a scientist, I have to plan for variables" Twilight spoke, reminding Sweetie that even if the alicorn in front of him looked like Neos, Twilight was in control.
"How did she know?..."Applebloom murmured, shock paralyzing her body as she looked out of the avatar, only to see hundreds upon hundreds of Twilight's drones, the savage creatures having had enormous engines grafted onto them to allow atmosphereless flight. Where had she gone wrong? Was this karma for leaving Sweetie to die? For leaving so many Equestrians behind?
"What do we do?" Lyra asked, trembling in fear of a tentacled one that was moving towards their ship. Applebloom shook her head, breathing hard.
"Get out the combat avatar worthy ponies, have them make a shield"
"The idea wasn't even all that unique. Many races have tried it. All that awaits you is despair before the bliss of oblivion" Neos spoke, his voice eerily calm. "A regrettable consequence is killing you. But it must be done, for all our sakes" Neos declared, powering up a pinkish blast and firing it from his horn. Sweetie closed her eyes, waiting for the end. But it never came. She opened her eyes and saw a trembling Discord in front of her, the suppressors on him shattered and a hole bored through his chest.
"Great, I have to play hero now" Discord spoke through gritted teeth as the hole reformed. "Doesn't matter, I'll be good as new in ju-" he started before Neos fired thrice more, inch wide holes appearing in his neck and torso. Discord shuddered, standing back up once more. "Ah, keep doing that, almost tickles" Discord said, materializing a feather and scratching himself with it. Neos flashed forward faster than the draconequus could react and slapped him across the mouth, slamming him into the stone walls of the hallway with a loud crash. He didn't get back up this time.
"Enough, Neos! Your target is me" Sweetie spoke, raising his voice just a little. Neos put his hoof back down and prepared another blast for Sweetie. "You know, I've got to thank you. When the citizens went crazy after, I felt my horn itching. There was power inside of me, kind of like what Celestia had. But I held it back, I already know what happens when you use power without control. I figured Applebloom had it all handled. Now, I know she needs my help. So beat me, if you can" Sweetie snarled out, the horn blocker on her head turning orange from the amount of magic it was trying to restrain. Even now, sparks were shooting out of Sweetie's horn. Neos maintained his stoic look and simply charged up somewhat more.
"It doesn't matter, in the end, you still don't understand" Neos grumbled, his horn glowing a brilliant magenta. His ears twitched and he leaped back, just in time to avoid a javelin from impaling him. Even so, the blade nicked his cheek, leaving a red line in his flesh. The charge he had been maintaining dissipated as he turned to look at his assailant.
"Dang, Neos, you did not age well" Babs chuckled, hefting another spear from a quiver on her back. She was an absolutely massive earth pony, rivaling Big Mac in size. "You can't stop Sweetie when she's like that, you saw what happened the last time she got mad". Neos frowned, the blood on his cheek disappearing quickly.
"I have no memories. I am just a messenger for the mother of this world, Twilight Sparkle. It does not matter what you do, the Moon will crash into the planet and then, you will die" Neos spoke, a portal appearing behind him. The alicorn gave one last look before entering the swiftly closing portal and disappearing.
A crack broke the air, Sweetie's horn blocker losing its magic as Discord turned it into a chain of daisies, having recovered whilst Neos escaped.
"I swear, I'll punch you myself, you looked real pathetic" Babs snorted, before smiling and shaking her head. "But I don't think you need anymore of that right now"
"No, what I need is more like an army" Sweetie quipped back good naturedly, experimentally lifting a few rocks to check if her magic was in check.
"Well, maybe the fellows over there could oblige" Discord added, pointing behind Babs at a group of ponies that Sweetie Belle knew well, the Freedom Friends. Well, what was left after most had disbanded or joined other organizations, but still a good dozen or so. "I mean, they helped you out once" the draconequus continued, eagerly awaiting for some action after being locked up. Normally, he'd have kept moping, but after seeing the unicorn do it constantly, it struck him as a very poor posture for someone such as he.
"Spitfire, Shining Armor! Would you really be willing to fight with me again?" Sweetie gasped, her eyes tearing up slightly at the knowledge that she was supported by at least some.
"Of course we are" Spitfire smirked, letting out a shrill whistle as all of the assorted allies save for Sweetie Belle covered themselves in avatar form. "What about him?" Spitfire asked, giving a nod in the direction of Discord.
"Well, I am personally reforming once more. Beats being stuck in prison" Discord shrugged, whispering the last part into his own ear. Most of the veterans grumbled about it, but didn't raise further objection, having seen Discord's power first hand. Silver Spoon wasn't a veteran.
"Why should we trust you?" Silver Spoon sniffed, her snout upturned in such a way that even her sparkling avatar looked semi-ridiculous in the posture. Discord merely chuckled and curled around the head of the avatar.
"How about good will?" Discord offered, before bursting into a stream of chuckles as Silver Spoon backed off.
"Discord, I've got something serious for you to do. Can you try to fuse with Scootabelle?" Sweetie asked of the draconequus, prompting a choke from Shining Armor. Spitfire quickly whacked him on the back so that he didn't choke further, but still looked at Sweetie like she was insane. Even Discord was following the same action.
"Fuse? My dear filly, when I get big, I am still me. Your "avatar" isn't really biological. And besides, you don't have the Element of Magic, so how c-" Discord was cut off as Sweetie transformed herself into the avatar with the sound of a thunder crack, having absorbed the Element of Magic's energy into herself so that she no longer needed the crown to create her avatar.
"Just try. It's our only hope of beating the horde that Twilight will bring if she's mad" Sweetie said quickly, her patience for the spirit quickly waning. Discord made a mocking bow and grabbed his head, stretching himself upward to match Sweetie's avatar before coiling around it.
"If we become a Frankenpony monstrosity, let the record know it was all Sweetie's fault" Discord chuckled weakly before the signature magenta glow began. With a sound like the aftermath of a lightning strike, Discord and Scootabelle began to meld together
"Killing them isn't hard, but there's too many" Burning Cobalt said through gritted teeth, his control of the upper half of the avatar fading a little from fear. There was silver lining in that killing the poor, misshapen things was a mercy. The few that were studied after the first attack constantly mewled in pain, even when not wounded.
"Keep it together" Sandy Dunes replied, twisting the flanks of their avatar to dodge two tentacles attempting to impale the legs.
On the enormous Ark, Applebloom paced in a room set off for herself, barking out orders alone. It was too much, too many desperate voices she had to ignore, to help the bigger picture. The only thing that kept the Earth Pony from falling at a time when her defenses were at half capacity was a simple fact. If she failed, all of the horrors she had committed and was committing now, would be pointless. Without end.
"Applebloom, the Ark is losing power" Celestia whispered, letting herself into Applebloom's room. The former monarch had lost the servile tone and instead sounded outraged. "Do you know why? It's because the ponies, dragons, buffalos, everyone on this ship is losing faith. They lose faith because they are being attacked, but most of all, because they don't see you. They think you've abandoned them. You're no better of a leader than I was" Celestia yelled, her eyes wide and her mane billowing once in a demonstration very similar to Celestia as the Solar Queen. At first, Applebloom did not respond, then she smiled weakly and looked up at Celestia, the earth pony's face haggard as if she had lived for 100 years and not the 24 she actually was.
"If I showed myself and they saw just how afraid I was...it would make things worse" Applebloom hissed, struggling to keep any emotion from showing. Celestia sighed, her mane going normal once more as the alicorn stepped out of the room. Her new leader was in no condition to lead at this moment, she possibly never was. Applebloom's eyes looked out through the semi-transparent fleshy walls of the energy construct, seeing a long, black beast coiling around the area where her room was. "Am I at my limit? Is this when I die?" Applebloom murmured, looking the snake in the eye as the savage creature opened its mouth, preparing to attack. The Ark still had its shields, but they would fail soon enough. The snake's bite was interrupted by a yellow and purple candy cane flying through space, embedding itself in the beast's head. Applebloom looked towards the source and it was none other than Scootabelle, now covered in serpentine markings and with Discord's head on the left shoulder.
"It's only over when you give up. So don't give up Discord" Sweetie spoke to her fused counterpart, the advice partially meant for both of them. Neither could afford to dwell on the past in this moment.
"Already ordering me around? Maybe you could spend that energy blasting goons away instead" Discord said, flashing his teeth and preparing another candy cane spear
"You came back..." Applebloom murmured to herself, watching the reinforcements following Sweetie Belle rush in, fending off the horde that had been threatening to overwhelm the Ark. Even so, there was a clear disadvantage. The monsters that Twilight had sent had thrusters and could easily move about, whilst most of the avatars were relegated to having to use corpses to push off from. However, it didn't matter to Applebloom. Already she could see the wall of the Ark becoming thicker as hope began to grow. Even the mating chambers had ceased their love making and were instead cheering on the reinforcement. Applebloom realized now exactly how all the magic in the world worked. "Everyone! Get up and get moving! We've got to help them!" Applebloom commanded, a surge of confidence inspiring her. Within seconds, the order had passed through the Ark and now the navigators began tilting the massive ship back and forth, crushing any foolish enough to come close.
Meanwhile, Discord's head extended from Scootabelle's shoulder, transforming one of the beasts into a marshmallow and eating it.
"Hehe, it's a lot more fun when you're on the winning side" he chortled to Sweetie Belle. His eyes narrowed as the swarm of creatures pulled back. "That's not right" he mumbled as they began to form circles. In an instant, Twilight's creations had rethought their attack strategy, breaking into two rings. The smaller ring of creatures flew for Scootabelle and surrounded them. "Ring around the rosie?" Discord questioned before bolts of black energy shout out from the inside of the ring, hitting him and Scootabelle.
"No, not again" Applebloom bemoaned as the larger of the rings set upon the Ark, shocking it as well. The avatar army outside attempted to break through the rings, but every time they killed one creature, a new monstrosity took its place to fill in the energy circuit.
"Don't give up!" Sweetie bellowed telepathically, gritting her teeth as the shell of Scootabelle strained against the assault. With a flash of green magic, the horn on Scootabelle's head grew to massive sizes and began spinning.
"Oh, I remember this! Let's do it!" Discord cackled, giving his own power to the drill as they charged for the black ring, letting out a war cry. With a crack, the energy circuit had been punctured and Scootabelle was freed from the horde. The swarm of squealing monsters howled and chased after them, still spinning in their deadly circle.
"She's heading straight for us?!" Applebloom sputtered, turning to Celestia for answers.
"Sweetie Belle has no malice in her heart. The power of her avatar proves this. She's not going to ram us. We are going to fuse our energies" Celestia explained, pride taking her as Discord and Sweetie reached the Ark's tip, avoiding the ring that surrounded the Ark. Instead of crushing the tip, the energies of both constructs flashed and crackled, lightning spurting from impact point as the magic melded together, the Elements of Harmony that powered the Ark synchronizing with the raw camraderie of Scootabelle. With a pulse of green light, both of the monstrous rings were shattered entirely as the glorious sharing of powers completed. The Ark radiated with a green aura now, Scootabelle and Discord firmly embedded inside of the bow.
With a flash of lights, Twilight's remaining minions pulled back, assembling themselves into a living wall of clamped limbs and jaws, capable of matching the powered-up Ark.
"Quick, we need a name" Discord giggled to Sweetie Belle as the assembled horde ignited their thrusters all at once and charged the Ark.
"Ark is still fine, now let's do it!" Sweetie quickly replied, gritting her teeth in preparation for the monsters bodily flinging themselves at the new combining of powers. With an enormous clash, the two forces struggled against each other. But Twilight's creations had met their match this time. With a final roar, Sweetie forced the Ark to sprout arms of magic and slam them into the underside of her foes. Hundreds of the black beasts exploded from the impact alone and the remaining alive ones broke ranks, their formation falling apart as they wildly scrambled for the portal that had brought them there in the first place. But Twilight did not tolerate failure. The portal shattered shut, the space time anomaly smoothing out. As their connection to Twilight was broken, the army froze in place, the tortured creatures floating about in stasis.
The assembled Equestrians let out a cheer, even if the lack of air made it impossible for most to hear each other. Then the Moon began to move. All present were paralyzed in shock as the pale lunar surface was lit up with purple leylines, enchantments of all types covering the Moon in distinct patterns. With a flash, the enchantments were activated and the Moon began to warp, white wisps rising from the purple as the rock deformed, taking a somewhat equine shape. As the transformation ended, the Moon was gone, replaced by a massive golem of white stone.
"Twilight, you would desecrate Luna's Moon?" Celestia hissed, disappointment and anger running through her in equal measure. She had suspected it before when she saw the tortured beings Twilight had created, but this proved it. For the white wisps rising from the purple lines weren't just anything. They were souls, millions of souls. The Moon by nature was a powerful place, the magic that had contained Nightmare Moon still there in traces. Twilight had corrupted the spell to trap the souls of all who died, for the grand purpose of fueling this construct. But Celestia couldn't blame Twilight for this abherration against nature. It had been she who taught the purple alicorn the spells necessary to perform this(though Twilight had clearly improved on them). She had trusted Twilight, given her too much free rein. Now, all suffered for it.
The white golem cracked out its joints, the shape of an alicorn now more clear as lunar soil fell off it in droves. As it finished doing so, it turned its eye on the still stunned Equestrians. The purple magic that made up its soulless eyes had no emotion as the souls on the former Moon burned as fuel. Opening its maw, the golem channeled several hundred souls into its mouth.
"Everyone, dodge!" Shining Armor bellowed desperately, aware that no one could hear him. The souls in the golem's mouth burned purple, and were fired forth in a massive beam of magic that could have engulfed a continent.
