Princess Cadance paced anxiously in her throne room. On a pillow nearby, Princess Flurry Heart watched her mother with a confused frown.
Soft wingbeats filled the silence. Cadance looked up as a weary Princess Twilight Sparkle glided into the room, supported by her friend Rainbow Dash. The pegasus' ruby gaze was haunted, and both mares were covered in soot.
As they landed, Twilight bowed her head. "Discord's dead," she said listlessly. "He...he gave his life protecting Celestia."
Cadance gasped. "How...how is that even possible?!"
"I don't know," Twilight said quietly. "He...he looked so surprised...at the end."
"I never thought I'd—" Rainbow Dash swallowed heavily. "I never thought I'd feel sorry for Discord..."
"What...what about Canterlot?" Cadance asked fearfully.
"Holding, for now," Twilight said. She flumped wearily to the floor, pressing her muzzle flat against the cool crystal. "Sunset Shimmer's fire shield is keeping them out, but we had to evacuate everypony to the center of the city." Tears leaked from her eyes. "This is all my fault..."
"Twilight, no," Cadance moaned quietly.
"It is," Twilight insisted. "I should have known better! I shouldn't have been so naive! After everything she did, I should never have let Starlight Glimmer off the hook!" Twilight sighed. "Now Equestria is..."
Rainbow Dash stomped a hoof on the floor and snarled angrily. "I swear if I ever get my hooves on Starlight Glimmer, I'll tear off her horn and shove it up her—"
"So you still don't know where she's hiding?" Cadance asked.
Twilight looked up and shook her head. "We haven't really had time to look for her, not with everything else going on. Between the Changeling swarms, Sombra's forces, and those things coming out of the Everfree Forest, we haven't had a minute's peace in days."
"What about Tirek?" Cadance's face was pale with dread. "Is he still...?"
"That's about the only good news," Rainbow said. "Luna managed to kill him before he got too powerful." She grimaced. "It's bad out there. It's literally kill or be killed."
Cadance gasped, covering her mouth with her hooves.
"It had to be done," Twilight said glumly. "We've lost Tartarus. The dungeons in Canterlot aren't secure anymore. Celestia said it herself. With the way things are right now, we can't afford to do things the Equestrian way anymore. The only sentence we can pass down now is death." She sighed. "It gets worse. Thanks to Starlight abusing the Cutie Map, my castle's dead. The Tree of Harmony's sealed its cave with a wall of impenetrable roots." She looked up at Cadance with dull, tired eyes. "We don't have access to any of its power anymore."
"Oh Twilight," Cadance whispered. "I...I'm so sorry..."
Twilight threw back her head and screamed. "It's just more than we can handle!" she snarled. "Every stupid evil thing in the world is attacking Equestria, ponies can't live their lives without fear, and somewhere out there, Starlight Glimmer is hiding away and laughing at the stupid little princess she conned!" She collapsed to the floor, barrel heaving. "And...we just don't have enough power. Even with three alicorns and Sunset Shimmer fighting, we just...we can't."
"It's too bad this isn't one of Spike's comic books," Rainbow said glumly. "Imagine if the Power Ponies were here."
"Yeah, well it's not," Twilight said. "There's no such thing as superh—" she trailed off, blinking.
Cadance tilted her head. "Twilight?"
Twilight suddenly shot to her hooves, a smile slowly spreading across her face. "Rainbow Dash, you're a genius!"
"Uhh...thanks?" Rainbow frowned. "What...did I say?"
Twilight began prancing lightly in place. "You remember that enchanted comic book that sucked us into Maretropolis and turned us into the Power Ponies?"
"Yeah, it's kinda hard to forget something like that."
"Well," Twilight said, beginning to pace. "What if I can figure out how to invert that spell?"
"Invert it?" Cadance asked.
Twilight's eyes brightened. "If the comic book could send all of US to a fictional world...altering the spell could bring its characters to life here!" She spread her wings wide. "Don't you see? There are dozens of superheroes in those comic books! They could save us!"
"Uhh, Twilight?" Rainbow said, rearing back. "That...that sounds completely crazy."
"Desperate times call for desperate measures," Twilight said. "Besides, what've we got to lose?" Not waiting for an answer, she shot off into the hallway surrounding the throne room. "SPIKE!"
Cadance and Rainbow watched her go.
"Do you think, y'know, that could actually work?" Rainbow asked.
Cadance sighed. "I don't know, Rainbow Dash. But if anypony can do something that crazy, it'd be Twilight."
Three Months Ago...
Twilight Sparkle and her closest friends crowded around a cradle in which a sleeping pink foal lay. A tiny stub of a horn poked out of her fuzzy brow, and her muzzle crinkled cutely. The six mares giggled and cooed at the tiny pony. "She's simply precious!" Rarity said. "Oh, I am going to make so many adorable little baby outfits for her..."
Lying on a pile of plush pillows nearby, Cadance laughed lightly. "I'm sure they'll be beautiful," she said. "Still, you might want to wait a few months, or she's liable to outgrow them by the time you're done stitching them."
"What's her name?" Fluttershy asked.
"Well...we're giving serious thought to calling her Flurry Heart," Cadance said.
"That's a pretty name," Twilight said, giving her niece a gentle poke with her nose. The foal twitched and burbled, turning over slightly. "Where's Shining Armor?"
Cadance rolled her eyes. "The off-duty guards dragged him off to go drinking," she said. "I don't expect to see whatever's left of him until around noon tomorrow."
The mares giggled. "Well I can't wait to throw a party for you and your new foal!" Pinkie said. "A really big party! For the whole Crystal Emp—"
The ground suddenly lurched beneath them, knocking everypony off balance. Cadance shot to her hooves, wings flaring and eyes wide and wary. In her crib, Flurry Heart woke up and started fussing.
"What was THAT?!" Rainbow Dash cried in alarm, taking wing and looking around anxiously.
Two guards rushed into the throne room. "Your Highness!" one of them shouted. "Are you alright?"
"Yes, I'm fine," Cadance said, trotting over to her daughter. "What happened?"
"We don't know," the other guard said. "It felt like an earthquake, but—"
"PRINCESS!" a crystal pony aide shouted, charging into the room with frightened eyes. "Outside! The sky...!"
Looking around at one another, Twilight and her friends sprinted for the palace gates. "Cadance, stay here," Twilight said. "Spike, you stay with them."
"Got it!" Spike replied, saluting smartly.
When the six mares erupted into what should have been a bright, sunny day, they saw a deep amethyst shockwave spreading across the sky, black lightning crackling as a low, steady roll, like quiet thunder, shook the ground. All around them, crystal ponies ran in every direction, screaming and whinnying in fright; the Crystal Heart spun wildly, spraying pink sparks into the air.
"What the hay?!" Rainbow Dash cried.
"Oh my goodness," Fluttershy squeaked in fright, cowering behind Applejack.
Twilight frowned, rising into the air. She quickly amplified her voice. "Everypony, remain calm!" she shouted. "Remember, you crystal ponies power the Crystal Heart! If you panic, the Heart's protective power weakens! As long as you stay calm and focused, the Crystal Empire is safe from...from whatever this is!"
Crystal Ponies slowed in their panicked flight, visibly shaken but trying to heed Twilight's orders. The spinning and sparking of the Crystal Heart gradually slowed to its normal serene spin. Meanwhile, the purple shockwave in the sky rolled past, giving way to a thin blanket of grey clouds that cast a pall over the sparkling streets. The shaking slowly ground to a halt, the rolling thunder abating.
Twilight nodded to Rainbow Dash, who flew up into the sky, piercing the cloud cover. Less than a minute later, she dove back down in a blur. "Twilight, you gotta see this," she said in a spooked voice.
"Everypony wait here," Twilight said as she followed Rainbow up into the clouds. When they emerged on the other side, Twilight followed Rainbow's shaking hoof. Her eyes widened.
In the distance, a thick, rippling column of pale blue-green light pierced the sky over Equestria, shot through with arcs of white lightning and sickly black blobs that floated up and down its length like a lava lamp. At the apex of the column, a familiar symbol spun in the sky: a purple starburst, backed by a white four-pointed star.
"Isn't that—" Rainbow Dash began.
"Starlight Glimmer's Cutie Mark," Twilight said quietly, irises shrinking to pinpricks. "What...what's going on?"
* * * * *
As an unnatural darkness descended over the Everfree Forest, Zecora stood in a clearing, a sudden wind stirring the stiff bristles of her mane. She glanced up at the sky, where a blinding light from the direction of Ponyville pierced the perpetual gloom of the wild wood. "By the moon, what is this spell?" she whispered to herself. "I fear that this will not end well."
She looked around at the flowers she was carefully harvesting for her potions, then into the darkness of the woods. Pinpricks of green flame lit the treeline, and a low growl filled the air. She frowned. "As dearly as I hate to roam, I feel I must vacate my home."
With that, she turned and raced back to her cottage, throwing the door open with abandon. Hurrying around the hut, she crammed as many of her belongings as would fit into her saddlebags, threw on her cloak, strapped her staff to her flank, and bolted into the woods, making a beeline for Ponyville.
* * * * *
Celestia and Luna stood on the balcony of Canterlot Castle, staring up in worry at the glowing sigil in the sky. The very mountain upon which Canterlot was built shook, and nobleponies were screaming bloody murder as the sky warped and belched unnatural lightning. "Sister, what is happening?" Luna asked.
Celestia's ears folded back. "Trouble," she said simply. "I must contact Twilight Sparkle at once. I fear..." She frowned. "No. Luna, you contact Twilight Sparkle. I must see to this immediately." Without further word, Celestia launched herself off the balcony, a golden trail blazing behind her as she descended into the heart of Ponyville.
Luna watched her for but a moment. "Good hunting, Sister," she said before teleporting to her study.
* * * * *
Starlight Glimmer stood atop Princess Twilight Sparkle's throne, an evil light casting her face in an eerie glow as she leered sadistically at the warping surface of the Cutie Map. White-hot arcs of magical electricity snapped across its surface as the column of raw magical fury burned into the sky. An unholy screech arose from the Map, shaking the castle and reverberating through its cavernous halls. Above her head, the gleaming crystal walls cracked and splintered as raw magical force ripped through them. The oak root chandelier that hung from the ceiling had long since crumbled into charred lumps of ash and charcoal, the memory crystals dangling from it scattered across the floor like carelessly discarded toys.
Madness danced in her eyes as she laughed long and loud. "At last! Prepare yourself, Princess! Everything you hold dear! Your friends! Your home! Equestria! Soon, it will all be destroyed!"
"No. It won't."
The room filled with a bright golden light as Celestia appeared, a fierce scowl upon her gentle face.
Starlight leapt down from the throne, her face twisted into a savage grin of triumph. "Why, Princess Celestia! So good of you to come, Your Majesty!" She stalked toward Celestia like a lion. "I would have preferred Twilight Sparkle be the witness to my moment of triumph, but I suppose her beloved teacher will have to do."
Above them, the rippling, warping column of magic continued to spit black lightning into the air, darkening the crystal of the castle.
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!" Celestia roared above the screeching of the Map.
"I've played Twilight Sparkle and all her precious little friends for fools!" Starlight declared, stomping a hoof. "Friendship? HA! Who needs it! I don't want friends! I want Twilight Sparkle to suffer! Taking away her destiny by keeping Rainbow Dash from performing her Sonic Rainboom didn't do the trick, but all those alternate timelines Twilight kept rambling about gave me an idea!" She began prowling around the Cutie Map. "I studied Starswirl the Bearded's notes on dimensional travel. I learned about mirror portals and other worlds. Oh, I was quite amused by your little affair with an alternate version of King Sombra, by the way." Cold amusement glittered in Starlight's eyes. "Poor, deluded Starswirl. He never suspected that the careful, meticulous notes he kept to preserve his knowledge for future generations would give me everything I need to DESTROY EQUESTRIA!"
Celestia's scowl tightened. "NO!" She planted a hoof firmly. "This ends NOW!"
"GO AHEAD AND TRY IT!" Starlight yelled, lowering her head and snorting steam as she widened her stance. "You can't stop what I've set in motion! Nopony can!"
Celestia aimed her horn at the Cutie Map. It lit up with the blinding fury of the sun itself. A thick column of fiery golden magic lanced out, striking the Map...
...and bouncing off the warping, screaming magic erupting from it, slamming into a staircase and reducing it to crystal rubble.
Starlight threw back her head and laughed. "IT'S TOO LATE!" Her horn began to glow. "This is the end of EVERYTHING!" She turned and aimed her horn at Twilight's throne. A thick, sparkling ball of turquoise magic shot forth. With a resounding crack like a gunshot, Twilight's throne exploded. All that remained was a jagged black stump of broken crystal.
Celestia paled.
"Goodbye, Celestia!" Starlight's horn lit up again; she vanished in a green flash.
Celestia stared up at the column of uncontrolled magic. "Hippolyta help us," she whispered.
In the days that followed, Equestria was plunged into chaos.
Every effort made by the three alicorn princesses to shut down Starlight Glimmer's spell failed. Even Discord was unable to stop it. It continued to rend the barriers between dimensions asunder, draining power from the Castle of Harmony.
As the power of the Castle of Harmony faded, creatures from the Everfree Forest swarmed through Ponyville and the surrounding towns. Within the first two weeks, the citizens of Ponyville were forced to build a wall around their town to keep the monsters out.
Timberwolves attacked the gates of Tartarus. The pack managed to kill Cerberus, leaving the worst denizens of Tartarus free to escape and wreak havoc.
Ultimately, three alternate timelines folded into Equestria before Starlight Glimmer's spell lost its power and burned out the Cutie Map for all time. King Sombra and his army of stormtroopers now march through the streets of many Equestrian cities. Queen Chrysalis and her Changeling swarms roam free, terrorizing thousands of ponies. And as for Discord...
Discord stared down Discord, who buffed his eagle claws on his chest and returned the stare with a disaffected frown. "So," Discord said in a bored tone, "you're me."
"And you're me."
Discord looked himself up and down. "You've changed," he said.
"Yes, I have," Discord said. "For the better."
Discord snorted. "For the boring," he retorted. "Look at you. I can smell the stink of—ugh!—friendship all over you."
Discord sighed. "I don't have time for this. In case you haven't noticed, Equestria is going to hell in a saddlebag."
Discord smirked. "Oh, I noticed. Love what you've done with the place. A bit dark and gritty for my taste, but the screams of terrified ponies! Oh, it's music to my—"
Discord clamped a claw around Discord's throat. "Those are my friends," he hissed, "and I didn't do this."
Discord teleported behind Discord, holding up his hands placatingly. "Hey, hey, relax," he said. "There's no need for us to fight. You're me, I'm you, what say we sit back, pop some popcorn, and enjoy the show." He grinned. "Why, I'm sure I can even add so much fun to this little party..."
"Sorry, that isn't happening," Discord said. "Now, let me show you a little trick I learned from another so-called friend." He opened his mouth wide and inhaled.
Discord's eyes widened as all his magic flew out of his body, coalescing into a warped, wriggling little golden-brown ball. "Wh-what in Equestria—?!"
Discord seized the ball of chaos magic in his talons, opened wide, and swallowed it. His eyebrows got bushier, his eyes wilder, his snaggly fang snagglier. He rubbed his belly. "Mmm, that hits the spot," he said. "Thank you."
Discord stared at Discord, then snapped his talons.
Nothing happened.
He tried again.
Not so much as a flash.
Discord grinned at the flabbergasted Discord and waved a paw. "Buh-bye now."
And the powerless Discord vanished.
Discord looked up into the sky, his eyes glowing. "Alright, bug lady," he said, "you've overstayed your welcome..."
With the world plunged into a crisis like nothing seen before, Twilight Sparkle, Celestia, Luna, Discord, and a band of the most courageous, daring, and determined ponies in Equestria banded together to repel the invaders and protect the innocent and helpless. Two weeks into the crisis, Sunset Shimmer had returned to Equestria to lend her talents to the war effort.
Unfortunately for the most powerful beings in Equestria, they had underestimated the full impact of Starlight Glimmer's spell.
Not only had she integrated enemies of Equestria from alternate timelines into her own, she had dumped the full power of the second Tree of Harmony into her spell, warping and twisting it into something malignant. The fallout from Starlight's spell spread to all corners of Equestria, weakening the innate magic of all but the alicorn princesses and Discord, while amplifying the dark powers of the enemies of ponykind. With those still able to fight spread thin, Equestria soon fell into a dark state of war, suffering, and death...
The Crystal Castle, Today
"The enchanted comic?" Spike asked, scratching his head. "It ate itself after we beat the Mane-iac, remember?"
Twilight placed her hooves on her hips. "Spiiiiike," she said in a warning tone. "I know you still have at least one comic you bought at that shop. You never come home with just one comic book when you go to a comic shop."
Spike shuffled his feet. "Well—"
"And I know there's no way you'd throw away a comic book that'd let you live out one of your fantasies. I also know you haven't disappeared into any enchanted comics since then, so..." She held out a hoof impatiently.
Spike sighed. "Okay, okay." He waddled over to the chest containing everything he'd brought to the Crystal Empire with him and rooted around in the bottom, eventually pulling out a comic book in a plastic sleeve. "Here," he said.
Twilight took it in her magic, removed it from the plastic, and spread it out. Her horn glowed, and a magenta light washed over the comic, revealing dozens of hidden runes that glowed a pale blue. "Wow," Twilight said. "This is one really impressive spell. I'd like to meet the unicorn that created this. If there's time. You know, once Equestria is safe."
"Yeah, about that," Spike said. "Shouldn't you be out, y'know, saving Equestria?"
"That's what I'm trying to do now," Twilight said.
"Huh?" Spike blinked. "Wait, you mean you're gonna learn that spell so you can suck all the bad guys into a comic book?"
"Not exactly." Twilight's eyes lit up, a smile spreading across her face as she continued analyzing the spell. "Oh my gosh, this is amazing! Oh, and I think I see...YES!" She clapped her hooves together excitedly. "I think it'll work!" Her horn glowed more brightly; Spike watched as Twilight's magic sucked all the runes out of the comic. They writhed in midair, spinning around in a circle. Some of them began changing, wriggling around like glowing spaghetti as Twilight rearranged them. "Quick, get me a plain old Power Ponies comic," Twilight said.
"Uhh...sure," Spike said uncertainly, grabbing a well-read, dog-eared issue off a pile and holding it out.
Twilight's horn sang as she wrangled the altered, struggling runes into the Power Ponies comic. It began to glow brightly, then rose off the floor, its pages flying open. It disassembled itself, forming a blinding white door in the middle of the room.
Spike stepped back. "What the what?!"
Maretropolis...
Police surrounded the Maretropolis Arena, home of the Maretropolis Manes and popular concert venue for the city's greatest pop stars.
At the moment, a number of massive redwood trees filled the arena, towering into the sky above the city. A crowd of confused, panicked ponies had gathered behind the police tape, gawking up at the spectacle.
Without warning, a crystal slide descended into the middle of the police force from the rooftop of the nearby train station. A pink unicorn mare wearing a magenta bodysuit slid down the ramp, her steel-covered horn glowing brightly above steely purple eyes narrowed in concentration behind round goggles.
"Commissioner Cordon," she said as she landed on the street. "What's the situation?"
An old stallion with a white mane and bushy mustache, wearing glasses, a trenchcoat, and a severe expression frowned at her. "Isn't it obvious? The Lumberjerk is holed up in there, demanding a massive ransom from the city."
A white blur resolved itself into a pea green mare with a wildly angular orange-brown mane and a white bodysuit. "Ugh, Lumberjerk? I hate that guy!"
"Verily, he is among the most foul of our legion of villains," said a pegasus who had just descended from above. This mare's coat was an icy blue-white, and her spiky mane was amethyst; she wore a dark blue bodysuit with a high white collar and boots with stylized lightning bolts, and a lightning bolt pendant around her neck.
"I like trees, but..." A grey pegasus mare with a voluminous brown mane, dressed in a green bodysuit with flower decorations and a purple mask and scarf, slowly lowered herself to the street next to the unicorn. "Don't you think this is a bit...much?"
"Uhh, yeah? Because they're growing in a place they have no business being?" suggested a mare whose bluesteel mane and tail were tightly wrapped in green cloth and who wore a red bodysuit and black cowl. She scowled up at the redwood grove. "Dang it all, and there was supposed to be a ball game here in a couple hours!"
"I'm afraid your little ball game will have to wait," said a yellow unicorn with a tightly curled sapphire mane wearing a cobalt blue bodysuit decorated with pink and blue diamonds and a stylish butterfly mask. She had just arrived in a taxi made entirely of energy, which disappeared into the jeweled bangle she wore on her hoof as soon as she disembarked.
"Not if we can help it, Radiance!" the first unicorn said confidently, stomping a hoof. "Don't worry, Commissioner Cordon, we'll stop the Lumberjerk and clear this forest of fear before the band even warms up for the national anthem!" She took two steps forward, then looked back over her shoulder. "Power Ponies, it's time to pony up!"
Fillisecond zipped past her in a white blur. Zapp flew high and shot off into the arena. Saddle Rager followed at a slower, more cautious pace. Radiance lowered her head and galloped into the fray, Mistress Mare-velous at her side.
Several tense minutes passed, muted shouts and sounds of violence from inside the arena the only indication that anything was happening.
Suddenly, there was an earthshaking ROAR. The mighty redwoods began to shudder, then fall. Loud crashes and splintering sounds echoed through the block.
A giant glowing claw made of energy emerged from the stadium, carrying a massive chunk of ice. Trapped inside the ice was a burly tan stallion with a wild, shaggy black mane and a thick, bushy beard, dressed in a red flannel shirt. Even as the frozen felon was deposited in front of the commissioner, a mangled axe and chainsaw flew over the arena wall, making dents in the street as they landed.
The Power Ponies emerged from the arena to cheers and applause from the crowd.
"Good job, Power Ponies!" Commissioner Cordon said as his men began loading the Lumberjerk into a paddy wagon. "Not only have you foiled another fiend, you've saved the day for thousands of sports fans!" He paused. "Err...I hope?"
"Indeed we have, Commissioner!" Zapp declared.
"And if you'll be so kind as to call a crew of work ponies, you'll find a generous supply of firewood inside to be donated to the Maretropolis Municipal Orphanage and better homeless shelters across the city," the Masked Matter-Horn said. "Courtesy of the Lumberjerk and Saddle Rager, of course."
Saddle Rager blushed, ducking her head.
Commissioner Cordon chuckled. "I'll have someone come to clear out the wood so the Manes game can begin on schedule. Or with as little delay as possible." He turned to an officer, who nodded and ran off. "Thank you, Power Ponies. Once again, you have—"
A swirling white vortex opened in the air above the Power Ponies. A roaring wind filled the square, drowning out Commissioner Cordon's words. The Power Ponies looked up in alarm.
One by one, they were sucked into the vortex. Fillisecond was the last one through; not even her speed was enough to escape the pull. As soon as she disappeared, the vortex collapsed in on itself with a thunderclap, and all was silent.
And back in the Crystal Empire...
A silhouette emerged from the white door, followed by another, and another, then three more.
The temperature in the room plummeted.
"Where are we?" the Masked Matter-Horn asked as her glowing horn trailed condensation. "I'd say you have about five seconds to answer, or you're gonna have one really bad case of frostbite."
Alongside her, wearing various expressions of surprise, concern, and anger, stood the rest of the Power Ponies. Spike's jaw dropped.
A magenta force shield wrapped itself around Matter-Horn's horn. "No need for violence," Twilight said. "Not here, not now." She faced the Power Ponies, her wings flared wide, presenting her full alicorn bearing. "My name is Princess Twilight Sparkle. This is the Crystal Empire, the northern province of Equestria. And we need your help."
* * * * *
"HOLD THE LINE!" Shining Armor yelled as he fired a disc of magic from his horn which sliced through the armor of a stormtrooper. At his flanks, crystal pony soldiers armed with lances, spears, and axes fended off advancing troopers, struggling valiantly to overcome the augmented magical strength of the enslaved ponies.
A bomb went off in the middle of the stormtroopers' ranks, spraying sharp crystal shards in all directions. Armored ponies dropped, bleeding from gashes in their exposed sides. Shining Armor risked a glance upward to see Flash Sentry circling around, going back for another bomb. He smirked. "Okay, so the kid's not so bad," he muttered as he drew his sword and snarled a challenge to the nearest stormtrooper.
"Sire!" a second pegasus called as he swooped down from behind the enemy line. "There's another wave incoming! They're bringing in catapults!"
Shining Armor bit off a curse. "Wonderful," he muttered. "Tell Flash to save the bombs—AGH!"
Two stormtroopers rushed him, knocking him off his hooves. He crumpled to the ground, hastily raising a shield which his attackers battered against.
"SIRE!" Crystal soldiers began to rush to his aid.
"STAY BACK!" Shining Armor roared. "Don't give them ANY openings! I said hold the line and I mean it!"
"But—!"
Two quick, powerful magenta blasts picked up the attackers and threw them into their comrades. The ground shook as a lavender comet slammed into it, wings flared wide and head lowered angrily.
"Don't touch my BROTHER!" Princess Twilight snarled. Her horn flared, and huge chunks of crystal ripped themselves out of the ground, smashing into Sombra's troops. They tried to rush Twilight, but she raised a shield, then flung it outward, repelling six troops and sending them flying into their comrades.
Behind the line, atop a crystal wall enclosing the city, six mares watched the chaos below.
"Oh my goodness," Saddle Rager said as she looked down on the fighting.
Beside her, Zapp frowned gravely. "Verily, this is no mere matter of dastardly ne'er-do-wells," she said.
"No, it certainly isn't," Radiance agreed. "This is war."
"H-hey, I fight bank robbers and crazy ponies with superpowers, not whole armies," protested Fillisecond.
"Yeah, this is way outta my wheelhouse," agreed Mistress Mare-velous.
At the center of the group stood the Masked Matter-Horn, her eyes focused intently on the carnage below.
"Matty? We don't...we don't need to get involved in this. This isn't our world. That princess brought us here against our will. We're not soldiers."
"You're right, Saddle Rager. We're not soldiers."
Masked Matter-Horn adjusted her goggles.
"We're heroes."
The others looked at each other, then down at the chaos below. In unison, they nodded.
"Thou speakest true, Matter-Horn. Heroes do not run when ponies are in peril, be it from a hair-brained mare with a superiority complex or from an army of evil."
Below, the captain of the crystal ponies shouted an order and raised a shield, which Princess Twilight augmented. A huge chunk of spiky black crystal sailed through the air toward the crystal city, crashing into the shield. Arcs of crimson energy rippled across it as the crystal exploded, spraying black crystal shards everywhere.
The shield fell, and the stormtroopers swarmed.
Matter-Horn's eyes tightened.
"Okay, Power Ponies...let's go!"
To be continued...
Author's Note
This story was born from excessive binging on Justice League back in December. As you might surmise, although the primary inspiration is the Justice League and DC Comics, by necessity the Marvel-inspired members of the Power Ponies are present.
This story will feature a number of pony superheroes who are adapted from existing comic properties, mostly drawing inspiration from DC Comics--I'm going to try to avoid using Marvel characters because I need them for Avenging Equestria Girls later this year. I hope you'll be pleased with the way this story develops. Don't let the grim, dark beginning fool you--things will turn around as the story progresses.
This story will update once a month, toward the end of each month.
Equestria is in a state of complete disaster thanks to the traitor Starlight Glimmer, who usurped the power of the Castle of Harmony to merge alternate timelines with Equestria, unleashing a full-strength King Sombra and his legions of enslaved stormtroopers and an all-powerful Queen Chrysalis and her swarm. Dark creatures from the Everfree Forest are roaming Equestria, terrorizing innocent and helpless ponies.
Discord has fallen in battle. Celestia and Luna are barely holding Canterlot against the invasion forces with the aid of Sunset Shimmer, who returned to fight in the war. Princess Twilight Sparkle and her friends are tasked with protecting the Crystal Empire, the last true safe haven in all of Equestria.
With the situation growing increasingly desperate, Twilight Sparkle has come up with a completely insane plan: to recruit superheroes from comic books to protect Equestria.
After deciphering the spell used to send herself and her friends into a comic book and rewriting it to serve her needs, Twilight has summoned the Power Ponies to the Crystal Empire, which is currently under attack by Sombra's forces...
Maretropolis, moments after the Power Ponies disappeared.
Humdrum tripped over a crack in the pavement. The two boxes of donuts he carried skidded across the pavement, landing at the hooves of a unicorn beat cop.
"Careful there, junior," the cop said, levitating the donuts with his magic and opening the boxes. "Eh, no damage." He began passing them around among his cohorts.
Humdrum picked himself up and dusted himself off. "Any word on what happened to the Power Ponies?" he asked.
Commissioner Cordon frowned and shook his head. "We don't know anything," he said.
"It's a conspiracy," a voice spoke from the shadows. A stallion in a blue suit, yellow shirt, and black tie stepped out from among the police officers still gathered around the Maretropolis Arena. His blue trenchcoat flapped in the breeze. The brim of his blue fedora shaded his face...which was rather pointless, given that the off-white cloth mask which covered his head lacked any features save for a single black question mark drawn on with a marker. His hooves were encased in black gloves. He paused to examine a donut. "Sprinkles," he muttered. "Laced with mind control drugs. They make you susceptible to subliminal commands the government puts in mass-manufactured pop music."
The cop that was about to eat the sprinkle-covered donut paused, then put it down. Humdrum grabbed it and gobbled it up.
Commission Cordon sighed tiredly. "The Query," he muttered. "What rock did you crawl out from under?"
"That rock over there," Query replied, pointing absently at an alley. "The one the city's appropriations committee uses to hide coded messages for their partners in organized crime. Query: are you aware that the Maretropolis Manes are a front for a cabal of unicorns dabbling with experimental and unethical dark magic?"
"No, I...I wasn't aware of that."
"Hm." Query studied the arena, which had a steady stream of workers flowing into it. "Undoubtedly, the Power Ponies saw something they weren't supposed to see while they were battling the Lumberjerk." He nodded once. "The cabal used their dark magic to eliminate the witnesses."
Humdrum gasped. "That's horrible! What can we do?!"
"We'll look into that," Commission Cordon said dryly.
"Uh-huh." Query headed for the Arena without a backward glance.
Commissioner Cordon shook his head. "That guy's saddle's on too tight."
"Commissioner Cordon! What'll we do about the unicorn cabal?" Humdrum cried, flailing around.
"There is no unicorn cabal," Commissioner Cordon said gruffly. He stroked his mustache. "But something sinister did happen to the Power Ponies." He frowned. "We need to keep this quiet. If word gets out...Maretropolis is doomed."
The Crystal Empire, Equestria.
The defenders of the Crystal Empire watched in shock and confusion as a group of unfamiliar mares charged into the oncoming horde. Shining Armor blinked. "Twilight?" he asked numbly.
"Yes?" Twilight asked as she blasted a stormtrooper, shattering his slave helmet and leaving a listless, stunned crystal pony wobbling on his hooves.
"Are those...are those the Power Ponies?"
With a yell, Zapp called down a tornado which picked up three stormtroopers, spinning them around before slamming them into three more on the ground, sending them all flying.
"Yes. Yes they are."
Mistress Mare-velous threw her enchanted hooferangs at a stormtrooper, then used her lasso to snag another around the hooves. Lifting him up, she spun him around and threw him at a catapult, snapping its launch mechanism. In a white blur, Fillisecond moved from catapult to catapult, swiftly disassembling them. The war machines fell apart with loud cracks and groans.
"Hit their helmets!" Twilight commanded with a magically amplified voice. "That's how Sombra is controlling them!"
"Got it!" The Masked Matter-Horn's steel-covered horn glowed, and her eyes narrowed. Several thick bolts of fire lanced out of her horn in quick succession, striking a line of stormtroopers in the foreheads. The glowing green lights in their eyes flickered, but they kept coming.
"That's not the way to remove a stubborn helmet, Matty," Radiance said. She pointed her hoof at a nearby stormtrooper; the gem bracelet she wore expanded and began to glow. A giant shoehorn made of purple light appeared behind the stormtrooper, wedging itself underneath the base of the helmet. With a loud pop, the helmet went flying across the frozen plain. "That's how you remove a stubborn helmet."
Three stormtroopers hurled a black crystal bomb into the middle of the Crystal Guard. Three shards of black crystal embedded themselves in Saddle Rager's side. She glanced back at the wound, then glared at the stormtroopers. Her eyes started to glow red...
With an unearthly roar of rage, Saddle Rager exploded into her monstrous form, charging into the fray with a bellow of fury. Stormtroopers were scattered like bowling pins. Fillisecond blurred among the stunned soldiers, removing their helmets and tossing them high into the air, where Zapp smashed them with precision lightning bolts.
Shining Armor shook his head. "Wow. The Power Ponies are helping to save my kingdom. What an honor!"
"Geek out later!" Twilight shouted. "Rally your guards to give them support!"
"R-right!"
The Power Ponies, Twilight Sparkle, and the Crystal Guard fought their way through three waves of Sombra's stormtroopers. Flash Sentry provided air support with magic bombs, scattering the troopers into groups that were easily picked off by the new arrivals. Fillisecond's speed overwhelmed the slow-moving soldiers, preventing them from bringing in any new siege engines or catapults. Radiance's attack constructs stymied the enemy, as no strategy to fight her worked twice—she alternated between practical magical bubble fields and simple energy blasts to elaborate systems of traps, spinning saw blades, and even a giant kitchen sink. Zapp used lightning, tornadoes, and stiff winds to halt the foes' advance, piling them up for the others to finish off. Mistress Mare-velous combined her lasso, her hooferangs, and her immense strength to take out dozens of opponents. Saddle Rager rampaged through the masses, flattening them and taking the fight out of them. Matter-Horn's energy blasts destroyed the helmets of each fresh batch of immobilized invaders, while simultaneously providing cover fire for the others.
When the dust settled, scores of dazed, unconscious, and wounded crystal ponies—the former slaves of King Sombra—lay scattered across the tundra, their eyes glassy and their expressions foggy.
A great cheer went up from the defenders of the Crystal Empire, but it was swiftly silenced by Shining Armor. "Twilight," he said, "explain." He looked at the Power Ponies, who had just gathered around Twilight and Shining Armor.
"We'd sort of like an explanation ourselves," Mistress Mare-velous said.
"Verily," Zapp agreed, folding her hooves. "Now that the battle has been won, it is time thou...spilled thy beans."
Canterlot...
As Princess Luna leads her Legion of the Night into battle with the Changeling hordes and Everfree monsters attacking Ponyville and the surrounding townships, Princess Celestia and Sunset Shimmer lead a group of unicorns from Celestia's School and a legion of elite Royal Guards in the defense of Canterlot.
"Almost..." Sunset Shimmer's horn strobed as she strained against the force of her own spell. Sweat streamed down her face as her teeth ground together.
A teenage unicorn colt placed a fire ruby in a small notch Sunset had dug into the concrete, then fired a spark of silver magic into the gem. A rune etched on its otherwise flawless surface flared to life; the grooves connecting it to a dozen other fire rubies lit up with intertwining silver and red fire, and the wobbling, fading fire shield that protected Canterlot flared to full strength with a loud whoosh and an intense backblast of heat.
Sunset gasped for breath, her horn sputtering and smoking. "That...took way too much...out of me..." she panted, wobbling on her hooves.
Celestia caught her and propped her up, draping an angelic wing over her. "You've done well, my little pony," she said gently. "I think now you should eat a hearty meal and have a long rest. The shield will keep us safe for some time."
Sunset's eyelids drooped. "That sounds...good..." She listed on her hooves as she tried to trot in the direction of the castle. Celestia gently but firmly took hold of her with her magic, then motioned to one of her guards.
"Tell the kitchens to prepare a fresh green salad, cream of tomato soup, and a grilled cheese sandwich on thick bread," she said. "In fact, make that two; I believe I'll join Sunset in her repast." The guard nodded and ran off. Celestia gently draped Sunset over her back and carried her to the dining room.
"I can walk," Sunset said in a slow, slurred voice.
"You've overtaxed yourself," Celestia said. "You need to rest. Don't argue with me."
Sunset yawned. "'k," she murmured before nuzzling against Celestia's wing.
Celestia looked over her shoulder and smiled. "I missed you so much..."
Meanwhile, in the Crystal Empire...
The Crystal Guard and a legion of volunteers and medic ponies worked to set up a makeshift combination refugee camp, stockade, and triage center for the liberated slave troops. Nearby, Shining Armor, Twilight Sparkle, and the Power Ponies conversed in hushed tones.
When Twilight finished her tale, the Masked Matter-Horn's lips pursed, her eyes tightening. "I see," she said. She glanced at her compatriots, then sighed. "Let me be blunt here, Your Highness. While I sympathize with your plight, what you've done is..." She paused, glancing at the other Power Ponies.
"Really messed up?" Fillisecond suggested.
"Disturbing on several levels," Radiance amended. She tilted her head. "Are we truly mere fictional characters in your world?"
"You are," Shining Armor said. "Your book's been in publication since I was a teenager. I'll admit it was never one of my favorites, I'm more a fan of the classics, but...it's pretty cool."
Twilight sighed. "I know I've ripped you away from your home and everything you know, and I promise I'll send you back, but you've seen just a small taste of what we're up against here. Equestria doesn't have the resources to deal with Sombra, Chrysalis, and the beasts from the Everfree, and that's not even taking the cause of all this into consideration. She's still out there and she's still dangerous, and I can't even search for her because we keep having this kind of thing to deal with." She looked at the Power Ponies, her eyes full of pain and fatigue. "We need help. We need heroes."
The Power Ponies looked at one another. After a long moment, Matter-Horn turned to face Twilight squarely. "Our world can survive without us for a brief time. Yours..." She sighed. "We can't simply ignore what's happening here. The Power Ponies are at your service."
Twilight smiled. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you so much."
Later the same day, Canterlot.
A swarm of Changelings flew through the dark skies over Equestria, struggling under the weight of the cargo trapped in a sticky, slimy net they had worked for hours to secrete. Above them, Queen Chrysalis watched the spires of Canterlot grow larger as they flew near. A hazy red shield surrounded the city, magical flames dancing across it.
Chrysalis smirked, licking her lips. "Oh, Celestia. Do you really think to burn my children with such feeble flames?" Waves of green magic flowed from her horn, lighting up the titanic chunk of ice her followers carried. The ice began to glow green; the sheer numbing cold it was giving off intensified. Chrysalis laughed into the sky.
* * * * *
Sunset Shimmer moaned appreciatively as she slurped her soup. "Mmm," she said. A little strength had flowed back into her as she ate. She smacked her lips. "Okay, not saying the food in the human world is bad or anything? But...this is just heavenly."
Celestia smiled, daintily sipping her own soup. "I've often wondered if you've been eating well and caring for yourself there. Twilight has told me you were healthy and seemed to have prospered, but I still worry."
Sunset took a big bite of her sandwich, chewed for a minute, then swallowed. "I'm doing alright, considering I don't legally exist there," she said. "Well, I didn't at first. The first year I was there, I did some...things I'm not terribly proud of." Sunset grimaced. "Things I can't exactly undo without burning down my entire life in that world. I set myself up pretty comfortably there, and even though I regret a lot of my choices, I don't want to give up what I have, you know? Not when the alternative is couch-surfing or being homeless."
Celestia winced. "I would rather not see you reduced to that either, but if you've done something illegal—"
"No, nothing illegal," Sunset said hastily. "Just...questionable." She shrugged. "If Twilight had gotten stuck there, she'd probably have ended up having to do similar things to get by. I don't think she'd have had the nerve..." Sunset grimaced. "I don't think I'd have the nerve to do it again if I had to. But what's done is done, and all I can do now is keep making up for my past mistakes."
Celestia smiled sadly. "There are times when that is all any of us can—"
A loud explosion shook the castle. Both mares jumped to their hooves, eyes wide in alarm.
"What was that?!" Sunset cried.
A guard burst into the room in a mad panic. "Your Majesty!" he cried. "The Changelings! They've broken through the fire shield!"
"Impossible!" Celestia snapped. "How—?"
"They used some sort of amplified ice bomb! It weakened the shield long enough for them to break the plane of the circle!"
The castle shook again.
Sunset let out a string of unfamiliar, but foul-sounding, words. She started to charge out of the room, but Celestia caught her in her magic.
"You are still exhausted," Celestia said. "If you go out there, I fear you will be hurt. Or worse."
"But I can't just—!"
"You can and you will," Celestia insisted firmly. A roll of parchment, a quill, and an ink bottle materialized. "I'm contacting Twilight Sparkle immediately. I can only hope the Crystal Empire can spare reinforcements..."
The castle shuddered again. Celestia's ears pinned back.
"...and that I can hold them off until help arrives."
Elsewhere...
King Sombra stood in contemplative silence as the image in his crystal scrying mirror faded. "Hmm," he mused. "So that meddling princess has found new allies with strange powers...
"This could be problematic."
Striding out into the frozen plains surrounding the lair he'd built for himself on the edge of the Crystal Heart's protective radius, he strained his magic to unearth a massive chunk of crystal from beneath the ice and snow. Purple flames trailed from his eyes as his horn strobed with pulses of dark magic.
Slowly, the crystal reshaped itself into a massive crystal minotaur. Burning red eyes opened, and the golem threw its head back and roared.
"Yes, this will do nicely."
To be continued...
