War, Friendship, and Crisis: The Tale of a Torn World

A bright and fluffy room appeared into view. A reception desk sat in the small lobby area with a pegasus mare sitting behind it. She was wearing a white suit and glasses, and she was examining a few papers about check-ins and check-outs inside the Cloudsdale Weather Factory. The front doors burst open as five suited pegasi carried a metal crate into the lobby. Four of the pegasi wore dark and gray suits with helmets. The helmets possessed huge eye-shaped visors in the front and an extension in the back. The one pegasus in the front wore the same clothing, but he did not wear a helmet. Instead, it was wearing onyx goggles. His mane was a glorious rainbow, and its coat donned the color of silver. The receptionist glanced up to see the huge crate and a suited pony approach the desk.

"This is the Cloudsdale Weather Factory, right?" he said rhetorically. "I have a package that needs to be delivered right now."

"Please write the reason for delivery on this sheet." the receptionist handed a paper and quill. The paper was littered with legal notices and dates.

The stallion scoffed at the paper and glared right into her soul. "That's not necessary, miss. This package is not one of your usual supply deliveries or material ships. This is an important machine that needs to be assembled as soon as possible."

"You still need to fill out the form," the receptionist reminded in a blatant tone.

The stallion ignored her. "The main rooms should be dead ahead if I'm correct. Just place the box there and crack it open for me."

The four pegasi lifted the crate down the hall. The receptionist was getting a little weary. Delivery pegasi never appeared with these types of suits, and they didn't bring in boxes without signing the package sheet. Something was off, and she was starting to speculate a bit.

"Sir, I have to notify the staff that you're sending these supplies. This cannot continue without permission."

The crate was set down onto the cloud floor. "Pawn," the stallion ordered to one of the other pegasi, "shut her up and keep it unnoticeable."

The suited pony nodded and knocked the receptionist out with a punch in the face. Her body was carried away and stuffed into a nearby custodian closet. The crate opened with a few creaks. As the metal crate fell apart, a new device was revealed. It was in the shape of an oval with light bulbs dotting its rim. The machine was placed on a wall and activated by one of the suited ponies. A swirling and humming vortex soon spat out multiple suited ponies wearing the same uniforms. They all crowded the room and examined the building. The stallion from earlier confronted the crowd of pegasi bitterly.

"Clean out the whole factory. Everyone who works here is going to stay here. Nothing gets in or out without my verbal okay, okay?"

The crowd nodded in unison and fanned out around the facility. Distant shouts and screams materialized as the ponies seized control of the building. The stallion pointed to two of the suited ponies still on the ground.

"You two, find this pony. They'll be a great help to our cause." He held up a picture of a familiar pony. The soldiers nodded and left the building, escaping into the night. The stallion watched more metal pieces travel through the portal. Multiple tubes, pipes, blades, grating, metal panels, and glass collected in the room. The pegasi picked these pieces up and flew off with them to the other rooms. Some of the 'pawns' were sculpting different designs and pathways in the building. The entire Cloudsdale Weather Factory was getting a free renovation, and it was for a sadistic and demented purpose.

•—————•

As the quintet traversed through the Everfree Forest, they encountered countless demons. Multiple soldiers were already aiming at them from afar, and they had to act quickly to avoid any severe damage. Most of the soldiers were novice demons, but a few elite demons snuck up the ponies and caused a few scratches and bruises. Even though they dealt considerable damage and drawn blood, Pinkie Pie's healing treats negated all of these injuries. The group of ponies soon found themselves in a cloud a black dust, only able to see the looming fortress that crushed part of the forest. Demons marched along the walls with weapons primed. A large gate was kept shut to hold off any intruders, and huge, indestructible walls guarded the commander inside the fortress.

Rainbow Dash watched the soldiers march in unison along the walls and gulped her own fear. "Uh, I normally don't say this, but these punks kinda scare me."

"Okay, I'm not going to be available for a while," Travis informed.

Pinkie Pie's face shifted to confusion. "Why?"

"There's another demon attack occurring in Clogania, a planet inhabited by one of our allies. They have an ED squadron over there that needs more guiding than you five. Plus, you all are getting the hang of this setup, so I don't think you need me for a while."

Pinkie stared at the ground in woe. "Well, I hope to hear from you again, mister. Since we've already finished the tutorial session, we might as well move along without extra help." Her expression changed to happiness again. "You go on and help your fellow humans, Travis! We'll be okay!"

After that little conversation, Twilight Sparkle examined the fortress closely. She noticed a lever on one of the two towers on the sides of the gate. "Rainbow, if you can fly up there while we take out the guards, you can open the front gate."

"I can help with that!" Pinkie was climbing into her party cannon while wearing a stuntman's helmet. "Here I go!"

Twilight was about to stop her act, but Pinkie was already flying through the air. Two demons glanced over to her in shock before two spiked hooves smashed them. The last thing they saw was a smiling, pink pony with two hooves pointed at their faces. One of the other demons ran into a tower with a walkie-talkie.

"We have them!" the demon shouted in panic. "They're breaching the front gate now!"

Pinkie leaped onto the alerted demon and pummeled him into ground matter. After that sudden and helpful situation, Rainbow Dash flew up to the lever and flicked it down. The front gate slowly rose up with the sound of clanking and grinding metal. Three demons with riot shields and laser pistols exited the fortess and fired at the three ponies still on the ground. Applejack jumped behind a tree while Twilight activated her defection spell. Fluttershy also hid behind a tree, but she cooed into the wilderness for natural aid. As the demons fought back against their own gunfire, the bushes to their right rustled violently.

"What's that over there?" questioned a demon hastily.

His question was answered as three timberwolves pounced on him. He accidentally fired his pistol into another demon, damaging and panicking them. The timberwolves destroyed the first demon and moved on to the other two. The demons shifted their focus on the hostile wolves, allowing Applejack to buck one of them into a wall. Twilight released her spell and fired magic blasts at the demons, destroying them and converting them into clouds of black smoke. The Timberwolves hopped back into the overgrowth with uninterest toward the ponies. Pinkie and Rainbow Dash fell down to the gate and regrouped with the other three ponies.

"What happened?" Rainbow Dash was brushing off the dirt on her armor. "It sounded like you three were attacked too."

"Yeah, we were," Applejack answered with a pinch of exhaustion. She turned her attention towards Fluttershy and collected a smile of amazement. "How did you do that? I didn't know timberwolves respond like that to your call."

"Well, it's really simple." Fluttershy walked out of the cover and near the gate. "Naturally they don't like sounds like that, but I made it sound like those things made the noise. They usually attack anything that does that and leave peacefully." She remembered distant encounters of timberwolves while smiling a little more. "Also, I do have a close relationship with nature. They would never hurt me like that."

Applejack collected that information and headed for the gate. The quintet traversed through the first hall with caution. Torches lined the walls with blue flames, columns expressed the architecture of the demon army, and arched windows dotted the walls. Rainbow Dash noticed a distant demon and slammed a hoof into them. The demon was immediately destroyed from the surprise attack. The ponies eventually reached a T-junction with two closed doors. One indicated an armory while the other pointed the way towards the inner sanctum.

"Let's grab a few supplies before we move on," Twilight ordered politely. "We don't want to encounter these things unprepared, right?"

"I guess we could find some sort of armor or items in there," Applejack replied hopefully.

The ponies opened the door to find multiple weapons of various shapes and sizes. Multiple swords of different types littered the walls, maces with and without chains rested in containers, and different pieces of armor were mounted onto the wall. It was all made for humanoid creatures, so none of it was useful for them unless Twilight wanted to swing around a blade. They left the weapon room in disappointment and continued through the inner sanctum door.

Right behind the door was two curving staircases that led to a second floor. On the first floor stood a huge demon with disproportional shoulder pads and a close helmet that covered its entire face. Two glowing and completely white eyes stared at the five ponies. The demon raised its shield in the shape of two obtuse scalene triangles attached to each other. It also held a huge chained mace with a poison-dipped ball of spikes. The demon slowly approached in titanium armor.

"Leave now, little ones, or else all of you will receive your punishment." The demon's voice was low and threatening. It was as if it broke the ground with every boom of its voice.

Rainbow Dash rammed into the demon's head. She bounced back into a wall as the demon chuckled and swung his ace for a killing blow. She regained her senses and dashed to the other side of the room, avoiding the huge cluster of spikes that smashed into her original position. Twilight charged a magic blast and fired it at the demon. The blast punctured him and damaged his essence, but he still stood upright. He increased his speed as he raised his shield and charged at the group of ponies. All of them dodged to random areas on the left and right sides of the demon. He stopped and turned to face Applejack and Pinkie Pie on his left side. He swiped the floor with his mace, but the two ponies hopped over it like a jump rope.

He kicked Pinkie into the wall behind her and swept Applejack with his shield to his left side. Twilight fired another blast from behind the demon, damaging him again. Fluttershy flew around the demon to distract and confuse him. He simply ignored her as he swung his mace vertically onto Twilight. She dodged to her left and galloped behind the demon. Rainbow Dash and Applejack bucked at his legs, ruining his balance. He fell to the floor and slowly got back up. Pinkie hopped on his head the entire time, but she was flicked off the demon's head by a metal hand. She was slammed into another wall, this time feeling sore from the damage to her back.

Twilight fired another magical blast while aiming for his head. As the shot penetrated the thick helmet, the demon collapsed onto the ground lifelessly. The glowing eyes disappeared, and black smoke gathered around the body. All that was left afterwards was a huge set of armor, a shield, and a chain mace.

"Well, that was a lot of work." Applejack was panting from the dodging and attacks.

Rainbow Dash was kicking the metal armor in frustration. "How the hay did he take all my hits like they were nothing? Whatever this stuff's made out of, it's pretty powerful."

Twilight looked a little closer at the armor plating. "That looks like titanium, but that metal is too heavy to carry as armor. Even an earth pony would be crushed by this metal."

"So, I can't wear the awesome armor this guy was showing off?" Rainbow Dash's face shifted to disappointment as she lowered her head.

"I'm afraid so. Maybe the humans have armor better than this metal, but I'll need to check if they do. For now, these armor pieces we're wearing will have to do."

The five ponies regrouped and walked up the stairs. They opened the next door to find some tables with demons crouching behind them. Some of the tables were flipped onto their side, creating entire walls of cover for the demons. Multiple novice demons and an elite demon scrambled around the area desperately. The quintet also hid behind the flipped tables and avoided the laser blasts heading directly for them.

A special demon emerged from the other end of the room. It was covered in fire and wore a wicked grin. Flames dripped out of its eyes, mouth, and nostrils. A huge plume of fire covered its hands. The entire demon hovered over the ground, muttering ancient speak as the fire bent into different shapes. A fireball hurled towards Twilight first. She retreated her head behind the table while yelping in fear. Rainbow Dash carefully examined the demons' movements for an opening to strike. Pinkie Pie was zipping to different tables and flipping them over hastily. Some of the demons fired at her, but Twilight covered a barrier spell around Pinkie's area. Applejack rammed one of the tables into another one, crushing the two novice demons hiding behind the table.

The hellfire demon floated backwards and sneered menacingly. He uttered more ancient sounds while moving his hands in unique patterns. The fire from his hands flew into the other demons, creating a barrier of fire. Two novice demons screamed a war cry while holding out their bayonet laser rifles. Rainbow Dash hopped out of cover and ripped their bodies apart with her laser guns. The elite demon in the back primed and threw a grenade near Fluttershy's position. She shrieked and swiped it back at the demon with her hooves.

An explosion tore apart three tables on the ponies' left side. Three novice demons collapsed into smoke, and an elite demon rolled over to another table to his left. The hellfire demon screamed even more ancient words and summoned multiple fireballs that orbited him. Three crashed into Pinkie's table. She leaped out and rolled behind the elite demon's table. Applejack bucked her table into the hellfire demon, smashing him into the back of the room. The elite demon retreated once more, this time leaving from the door at the end of the room.

The hellfire demon burned the table in pure rage. His eyes changed to blue and black flames that engulfed his entire body. A circle of blue and black fire surrounded his body, creating a barrier against everything. Twilight fired magical blasts at him, but it was to no avail. The barrier grew violent from the energy inflicted upon it, and it spat out gouts of black and blue fire in random areas.

Pinkie realized what was happening and ducked behind a table. "It's about to explode! Everypony, duck for cover!"

The other four ponies ducked and fled into cover. The flames became more and more destructive and violent every passing millisecond. After a few seconds, the flames imploded into the demon and blasted outwards. Entire tables were scorched from the flames. The walls glistened with the dancing, enchanted fire that plagued them. All that was left were five ducking ponies covered in soot and broken pieces of wood and stone. They coughed from the smoke and debris in the air. They slowly got back to their hooves and examined the door. It did not even exist anymore.

A lone elite demon rushed out in desperation and loyalty. Rainbow Dash gunned it down while Applejack bucked it into a wall. The demon dissipated calmly compared to the madness of flames from the hellfire demon.

"Well, that was something," Applejack stated in surprise and exhaustion.

Twilight breathed deeply as she inched towards Applejack. "These creatures keep getting stronger. I don't know if we can keep up with them."

Pinkie rolled her eyes and sighed in frustration. "Of course you can! That's why there are side quests! Did you not notice the needy humans of New Jaminino?"

"Side quests?" Rainbow Dash peered at Pinkie in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm talking about certain jobs and journeys that can level our stats up! Twilight, you're only level eleven right now. I'm level seventeen from traveling back and finishing those quests. Why do you think I used the drop ship without you all and gained all of these amazing abilities?" She glanced at Rainbow Dash sheepishly. "Oh, right. Rainbow Dash is also level seventeen from helping me on those quests. That's why she can slay these monsters so easily. Twily, you really need to read some books on RPGs and how to play them."

Twilight couldn't even comprehend what Pinkie just said. She's known about her Pinkie Sense, her random acts, and her ecstatic personality, but nothing ever came close to what she just said. "Pinkie, are you joking with me? This might be the craziest thing you ever said to me."

"No, I'm not," Pinkie responded calmly. "That's the reason I'm not making jokes that much. You need to take RPGs seriously. If you don't–" Pinkie swiped a hoof over her neck while sticking out a tongue "–that happens to you, and nopony likes that."

"She's right," Applejack agreed boldly. "These creatures are too dangerous to mess around with. If they can cause as much damage, if not, more than Discord, then we should be very careful."

Rainbow Dash also joined the discussion. "Yeah, I agree too on that. We can't have fun anymore if there's no Equestria to live in. Plus, these punks stole and hurt all of us, so they need to pay."

The quintet agreed on the subject and traversed through the doorway. They entered another room with a lower floor. An overhang of the floor covered the outer part of the lower floor, allowing the ponies to travel to the other side safely. Demons patrolled on the lower floor in a four by three formation. All of them held bayonet laser rifles in their hands and moved around as if all of them were a singular creature. The five ponies carefully crossed the pathway with dead silence. They eventually reached the other side and slowly opened the door. They entered the room beyond the door quietly, completely avoiding a deadly confrontation.

The next room held another gate that looked identical to the front gate. A wedge of stairs gave easy access to the currently closed gate. Two blue torches sat on the sides of the gate, illuminating the room with a blue glow. Two demons stood in equal distance of each other. They wore spiked helmets with two narrow slits in front of their glowing eyes. The helmet was cut in half, allowing the perfect view of the demons' razor-sharp teeth. Shoulder pads with even more spikes sat on their shoulders, and spiked knee pads covered their knees. Two spiked boots covered their feet, and a long, flowing robe of darkness encased the demons' legs and chest. A thin layer of titanium coated the arms, legs, and chest, allowing protection from enemy projectiles. A large, electric staff with four pointed and crooked blades rested in their right hands. Their left hands wielded an acidic scattergun.

The demon on the ponies' left glared up at them. "Well well well, you five finally showed up."

The demon to their right also shifted its head upwards. "We've been expecting all of the Elements of Harmony to combine sooner or later."

"And since you five are here now-"

"Looking for your precious Rarity-"

"We can finally become immortalized."

"Not only will Equestria fall-"

"So will the humans and their wretched allies."

"Kavarians, durnoki, dark dirithians-"

"They're all against us."

"So we'll have to-"

"Shut your flocking mouths!" Rainbow Dash shouted impatiently while ramming into the demon to her right. The demon crashed into a wall and felt his essence drain. The other demon primed his scattergun and fired at Rainbow Dash. She was hit in her left foreleg by one of the acidic bullets, but she powered through the pain. Fluttershy's scared face quickly converted in rage as blood dripped from Rainbow's open wound.

"What is wrong with you creatures!" Fluttershy screamed in uncontrollable anger. "Why would you hurt her like that?"

Applejack raised a hoof and attempted to warn Fluttershy "Uh, sugar cube, I don't think you should be-"

"Who would ever want to draw blood from another pony? What is your reason in doing such a harmful act?"

The knightmare demon who fired the shot was completely confused. "We're soldiers, and you're intruders. It's our job."

"Don't you have any remorse when you hurt though? You should at least feel something!"

"Oh, we feel something alright," the other demon scoffed. "We love the idea and involvement of pain. You should have never come here if you expect a 'clean' fight."

Rainbow Dash was sick of the useless chatter and fired her guns at the demon closest to her. He rolled to his left and fired an electric bolt at Rainbow Dash. Twilight activated a deflect spell in front of Rainbow, deflecting the bolt back at the demon. Pinkie evaded around the other demon and smashed a hoof into his left arm. The demon shouted in pain and frustration as a scattergun dropped to the ground. Applejack galloped towards the same demon and bucked them into the other. Both demons fell to the ground in exhaustion, but they got back up valiantly.

One of the demons strafed around Twilight while firing electrical blasts. Twilight Sparkle fired her magical blasts, but the demon dodged all of them flawlessly. Rainbow Dash fired at the other demon, but the same outcome as Twilight's adversary occurred. Pinkie Pie and Applejack slammed into the two demons while they dodged the projectiles. Once again, two knightmare demons were on the ground. Twilight fired a stronger magical blast at both of them, critically damaging their essences.

The demons began to dissipate into clouds of smoke, but one of them slowly got back up with determination. "No, I'm not dying yet." The demon stopped dissipating and raised his staff. "I will protect Lieutenant Vyshnaam to the death!"

Twilight rolled to her left as the knightmare demon charged at her with the electric staff. He missed, but the other demon was already firing electrical bolts. Pinkie was shot back into a wall, twitching as rogue electricity attacked her nerves. Rainbow Dash flew over the demons and shouted insults at them.

"Hey, where'd you get that stick from?" she mocked in midair. "Those things don't even come close to real lightning! You're better off throwing rocks at us than those trashy hunks of metal!"

The demon that attacked Pinkie lost his focus and aimed at Rainbow Dash. Applejack bucked the demon into a wall, allowing Pinkie to rejoin the fight and finish him off. Pinkie pulled out her party cannon and fired at the fallen demon. His entire body fell apart as shrapnel destroyed his armor and matter. The other demon turned around and charged once more. He was easily dispatched when Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash fired both lasers and magical blasts at him. He fell to the ground again, dissipating while cursing the ponies.

The quintet regrouped and examined the room a little more. They noticed that there was a lever cleverly placed in a small hole. The hole was located in the left side of the stairs. Twilight walked over to the lever and flicked it with her magic. The gate slowly rose to the top of the doorway, opening the inner sanctum to the five ponies. They slowly walked up the stairs in caution. Questions raced through their heads after every step. Who was this Vyshnaam, and what did he look like? Is he a gunman or a swordsman? Does he want to kill them? They didn't have any answers to these questions, but what was about to confront them held all of the answers.

After walking through the gate, it shut violently, trapping the ponies inside the room. They noticed a huge glass window stretching from the left side of the room to the right. A big throne sat there in the middle, facing out to the glass. Multiple other chairs and control panels littered the room. The torches on the walls emitted the same blue fire as they always did.

The throne swiveled to face the ponies. It revealed a slightly taller than usual demon with glazed armor. He held a long and thin sword in its left hand and a modified automatic laser rifle in the other. Its usual glowing eyes were replaced with slits of pulsing red. Two more horns protruded from his head like a crown for royalty. His teeth were jagged but perfectly in place. The demon spoke calmly, yet he held back constant rage.

"It's a pleasure to see you five," he spoke menacingly. "I expect you're here for Rarity, right? Well, here she is!"

He pressed a button on his throne. Two large panels on the ground separated, allowing a lower platform to rise and take their place. On that platform was a screaming and shouting unicorn inside a cage. She glared at the demon in anger, threatening to smack him if she ever gets out.

"This is her. Quite the prize she is. She is a little, feisty for a prisoner."

"Unhand me you ruffian!" Rarity shouted furiously.

"Ruffian? Please, I assure you that I am no criminal. I am a commander who goes by the name Vyshnaam, but I am not one of murder. I deliver punishment, not psychotic torment."

"Well, what's the difference?" Rainbow Dash flew in the air with an irritated frown.

Vyshnaam walked off his throne and slowly circled the cage. "Have you heard of the Psychopaths?" The ponies shrugged and gave him dumbfounded looks. "Well, they are a humanoid group who takes pleasure in hurting others. As you see, I am not one of them. A soldier does not kill for amusement, he kills because it is his job. If I am not a soldier, I shall be a murderer by definition. Apparently, your world is causing an uproar in our universe." Vyshnaam continued to talk while Twilight charged a fire blast spell. "Ever since the humans began to spy on your realm, the kavarians, durnoki, and other races grew greedy. They discovered that this world of ponies exists, and that is a very big deal."

"Big deal?" Applejack was confused on what Vyshnaam meant. "How is a world full of ponies a big deal to powerful monsters like you?"

"It is the fact that all of you are ponies and that we arehumanoids. Never before have we seen a sentient species evolve into equine creatures. Sure, humans and such rode on equines to combat each other and travel from one area to another easily, but the setup is so bizarre to use as sentient life. Why use cattle as an advanced species when you can improve on the basic human form? I have encountered humanoid creatures with tails, extra limbs, multiple eyes, antennae, parapsychological abilities, and altered personalities, but none of them ever used hooves and teeth to combat their enemies."

"Why are you so interested in us if you are saying so much stuff that makes us bad?" Fluttershy timidly asked.

"It's due to your magic and abilities. Pegasi were tales of olden times, not a reality. Magic only involves the sixteen elements for us, not this homogenous bundle of confusion." Vyshnaam sheathed his sword and placed out his hand in Pinkie's direction. "For example, your pink fellow here is resonating with the element of space. It is weak to time and possesses uncanny abilities. I have seen soldiers lose their special abilities to those elemental beings." Vyshnaam was questioning the ponies' behavior. "If I could ask for a moment, why have none of you dared to attack me yet?"

"You're very calm, that's why," Rainbow Dash answered. "We've never encountered anything that tried not to kill us immediately."

"As I said, I'm not a murderer. Of course I'm not going to want to spill blood. In fact, I would rather keep you five alive due to complications with souls and such in the Nightmare World. You have two options at this very moment. You either surrender, or fight."

Twilight fired her fire blast at the cage. A hole melted open, allowing Rarity to hop out of the cage easily. Vyshnaam glared at the dripping hole in interest. "Well, I guess you six want to fight then. Fight we shall."

has been added to your party.

A challenger approaches: Lieutenant Vyshnaam, proud commander of the Infantry and Invasion Divisions

Vyshnaam drawn his sword as Rarity raced to the back of the group and dove for cover. Vyshnaam's hands gathered darkness and slowly crept up his weapons. After a couple seconds, his blade was dripping with darkness, and his gun was infused with the black.

Twilight discovered what the darkness was and screamed in horror. "That's, that's dark magic! How is he using dark magic from our world?"

"It's simple," he answered calmly. "It is called infusion. I just harnessed the powers of your greatest fears, and I plan to use them extravagantly. Now, this is your last warning. Surrender to us, or die fighting. You choose, Twlight Sparkle."

She hesitantly forged a barrier spell around the Mane Six. Vyshnaam replied with a slash into the barrier. Surprisingly, the accursed blade cleanly ripped through the barrier. Twilight backed away while charging her magical blasts. The other five ponies spread around the area to avoid any collateral damage. She fired a magic blast, but it was completely useless. Vyshnaam absorbed the blow as darkness covered his entire body. He slashed at her again calmly, this time drawing blood to her right cheek. He moved with grace and precision, avoiding any bad positions and unlucky swipes.

Twilight rolled to the left twice and gained a huge amount of distance from him. Rainbow Dash fired a barrage of lasers at him from the air, but all of the blasts dissipated as they hit the black tendrils. Vyshnaam unsheathed his sword and raised his hand into a claw formation. Green light gathered around the hand as stones and rock began to orbit his hand. He pointed his finger at Rainbow Dash and hurled multiple stones at her. She fell to the ground with exhaustion from the attack. Applejack positioned herself to get a clear line of sight with Vyshnaam. She noticed though that he was already creating high winds around his body. Applejack galloped towards him, but it was useless when the gale forced her into a wall. Fluttershy panicked and flew around the area, avoiding projectiles and landing where she thought was a good hiding spot every now and then.

Pinkie examined Vyshnaam closely. What can hurt something with dark magic? she pondered to herself. An invisible lightbulb appeared above her head as a smile grew along her face.

"I got it!" she shouted while leaping towards Twilight Sparkle. "This creature uses dark magic! What do we have that can damage him?" Pinkie pointed her pupils to Twilight's saddlebags.

Twilight took the hint and pulled out the last Element of Harmony. "Rarity, put this on now!"

Rarity was dodging laser blasts and galloping towards Twilight. She levitated the element with her magic and placed it around her neck. Vyshnaam was now targeting the ill-fated Fluttershy in the air. Three laser blasts struck her wings and drawn blood. She fell to the ground with a yelp and thud. Rainbow Dash took her quick rage and funneled it into Vyshnaam with a punch. Apparently, it failed when he submerged her in a waterfall.

Twilight called out to the rest of her friends. "Girls, I need all of you over here!"

Applejack got back up from her fall and joined Twilight. Fluttershy meekly joined the group as well. Rainbow Dash was the last to join since she was fighting rushing water. When all of them were together, Twilight signaled them to activate the Elements of Harmony. A huge rainbow beam manifested from the Mane Six and smote Vyshnaam with purifying power. He fell down and took a knee from the weight. The darkness around his body and weapons vanished, leaving nothing but a crippled lieutenant and his two weapons.

He pulled out a small box and spoke into it. "I need assistance. I am dying from six uncooperative ponies."

As he stated his near defeat, five demons fell from the pitch black ceiling and landed on the cage. Three of them were novice demons with bayonet laser rifles, one was a healer demon, and the last was an elite demon with two automatic laser pistols. Rainbow Dash gunned down two of the novice demons immediately. The rest hopped off the cage and hid behind it. Vyshnaam also rushed over to them and hid behind the cover. Pinkie crept over to one side of the cage, checking if where the demons were hiding. They fired at her once she poked her head out of the metal wall. She pulled back instantly and waved a hoof to Twlight.

"Use your magic on them!" Pinkie exclaimed.

Twilight activated her magical wave spell and fired it in the demons' direction. The last novice demon and the elite demon were knocked down, but Vyshnaam already evaded to the gate. The healer demon wrapped two of its tentacles around the injured demons and gave them its essence. Applejack halted the move with a buck into the novice demon. All three of the demons fell from the impact. Pinkie finished them off with multiple stomps from her spiked hooves. Three demon bodies dissipated into smoke from the final blows.

"I admire your power, but do not underestimate mine," Vyshnaam warned and complimented while pulling out his sword. He leaped towards Rarity and smashed the blade in her direction. She ducked under the horizontal swipe while Twilight charged a magical blast. When the blast was fired and struck Vyshnaam, it actually damaged his essence. He backed away and used his rifle instead. Rainbow Dash blasted multiple lasers at him from midair and damaged him even more. He sheathed his sword and conjured a wall of stone. He then produced a wall of fire around the stone to halt the Mane Six even further. Twilight busted the stone open with a magical blast and extinguished the flames. She fired another blast at Vyshnaam while Pinkie snuck behind him.

As another bit of his essence was drained, Pinkie smashed her front hooves into the sides of his head, severely damaging him. Vyshnaam slammed his gun into her in an attempt to push her away. Twilight fired another blast at him while Rainbow Dash fired even more lasers. Eventually, Vyshnaam collapsed onto the floor and ceased his attacks. He slowly got up and took a knee in front of the ponies. Twilight was about to annihilate him with another blast, but he held out a hand in mercy.

"You six have fought well," Vyshnaam complimented in a broken and quivering yet calm voice. "Never before has an adversary combated me and succeeded. If you six wish for me to end this assault, then I shall in honor." He unsheathed and lifted his sword to his chest with both hands. "A group of exquisite and pure fighters like you six deserve this victory." He looked down and closed his eyes gracefully. "I have always wondered what happens to demons that lose their souls. Do they live on in another realm, or is there something greater?"

He cast flames on himself as he thrust the sword into his chest. His body broke apart into multiple pieces of black dust that burned into nothing by the fire. All that was left were his titanium armor and his two weapons. The flames on the torches died, shrouding the Mane Six in a gentle darkness. Twilight shed a tear from the event and felt guilty for killing Vyshnaam.

Lieutenant Vyshnaam has been defeated!

"In a way, he felt, normal," she spoke softly. "I expected him to be ruthless, but he was fair. He was so fair, that it hurts. I guess even demons can feel emotions like that too."

"We did the right thing Twi." Applejack patted a hoof on Twilight's shoulder. "Equestria needs saving, so we had to."

"But, he's a demon!" Rarity shouted irritably. "He put me in a grimy cage!"

"He had a reason though, even if it was a bad reason," Fluttershy spoke as she nibbled on one of Pinkie's cupcakes. "Compared to the others, he was very nice."

A crackle from the communications chips became audible. "Hello?" Travis asked. "Are all of you there?"

"Yes," Twilight answered quietly. "yes we are."

"Good. A drop ship has arrived to take all of you home. We're not detecting any hostiles, so come over there as soon as possible."

"But the gate's still locked!" Rainbow Dash shouted in realization.

Pinkie flipped a nearby lever, opening the gate once again. "Hey, it's open again!"

"Well, it's best we leave now," Twilight ordered politely. "It's getting late, and we need to rest up for the next day."

The Mane Six hovered, trotted, and hopped to the drop ship peacefully. They entered the ship and rested on the seats. The pilot turned his head back and glanced at the ponies.

"We're taking all of you to Ponyville," the pilot notified. "Radar's dead, and no scheduled attacks on Equestria are present. You'll all be safe."

The six ponies waited in the ship until they landed in a rebuilt town. Soldiers were placing materials back on the houses, and ponyfolk commented and conversed about the battle that happened not so long ago. The night sky glistened with the countless constellations and a big, illuminated moon. The six ponies parted ways and said their goodbyes. Twilight entered her treehouse and checked the public section of the library. It was as clean as a whistle with every book in place. She walked up the stairs and into her bed. She pulled the blanket over her exhausted body and fell into a deep slumber. Spike was already asleep and curled up in his bed. The entire night was almost peaceful, allowing everyone to sleep calmly and without worry.

"Never demonize your foes, no matter how monstrous or barbaric they seem to be."

End of Act II: Searching for Friends