Revenge of the Shadow Pony

The Creature attempted to bite Starlight’s head off, but she moved out of the way and scorched it with her torch. The Creature turned towards her and swiped its claws at her. She received some minor damage, but she quickly recovered and put the flame in its face, causing it to scream in pain as it rubbed its face. Looking at the malachite crystal on its chest, Starlight electrocuted the monster as a means of stunning it before grabbing a rock and smashing the heart with it.

***

Tempest continued to lead Cadance and Shining Armor across Everfree Forest. But Spike started to feel his chest ache. It was like a nail being struck by a hammer and it was hurting his chest. The trio immediately stopped and put Spike down to check on him.

“What’s the matter, Spike? Are you okay?” Tempest asked, feeling concerned for the poor dragon.

“We’re almost near Zecora’s house! Just bear the pain a little longer!” Shining Armor encouraged before hoisting him back up onto Tempest.

Just then, various creatures surrounded the forest and they were drooling with hunger.

“You may have stolen our king from us, but we still have a great meal to look forward to since you escaped!” a dragon snapped as he bared his fangs.

“Not on my watch!” a voice shouted before shooting a laser at the dragon.

They turned around and saw that it was none other than Sunset Shimmer. Zecora accompanied her and Apple Bloom joined them as well.

“Sunset? I thought you were-!” Tempest said before being taken off-guard by the minotaur.

***

Starlight was holding her ground against the Creature, but it was an overwhelming force and she had trouble following its patterns. It was moving extremely fast and all that she could do is stay out of its way while waiting for an opening against it. She tried stunning it again with her horn, but it moved out of the way and lunged at Starlight before biting her head. It performed a death roll in an attempt to snap her neck, but she used her horn and blew the top of its head off to stun the Creature. Then she grabbed another rock and proceeded to pound away at the crystal heart.

“That was for Spike!!!” Starlight shouted as she repeatedly smashed away at the heart.

The Creature attempted to slash away at the angry unicorn, but Starlight used her horn to electrocute it while she continued to destroy the heart. It was beginning to work as the heart started to show faint cracks on the surface. But before she could do any further damage, the Creature started to resist the shock and grabbed her head before smashing her into the ground and throwing her into the wall.

“DIE!!!” the Creature roared as it charged at Starlight.

But Starlight managed to dodge the attack and electrocute the Creature once more before grabbing a rock.

***

Sunset and Tempest defended the rest of the ponies while taking care of a seemingly dying Spike. The minotaur was getting closer and the two unicorns had trouble pushing it back. But they did seem to notice the minotaur stagger a bit while it continued to get closer.

“I hope Starlight’s holding okay!” Sunset said while firing from her horn.

“You distract the minotaur! I’m gonna try something!” Tempest shouted as she ran towards the minotaur.

When Tempest got closer to the minotaur, it smashed its fists into the ground in an effort to finish her off. But the hornless unicorn used that to her advantage and jumped onto its right fist. The minotaur tried shaking it off, but Tempest used the momentum to fly up into the air axe-kick it in the face. While the kick did a little damage, the minotaur was unfazed by it and continued to move forward.

“C’mon! You think we’re afraid of you!? Let’s go!” Tempest taunted in an attempt to get the minotaur’s attention.

Sunset continued to fire various amounts of beams at the minotaur’s face while Tempest went back to electrocuting the minotaur with her broken horn, even as it was focused solely on Cadance and Shining Armor while they are fending off the creatures and the monsters inhabiting Everfree Forest..

***

Starlight was nearly successful with destroying the crystal heart on the Creature’s chest, but she was worn out and nearly exhausted from all the battles she fought. But even as the Creature closed in on her, Starlight wouldn’t surrender the fight and was more than ready to use the last bit of her energy to electrocute the monster.

“You are almost out of energy, pony. What will you do? Your friends are not here to save you, you are exhausted from our battle, and you have no fire left at your side. What will you do now?” the Creature taunted.

As much as she hated to admit it herself, the Creature was right. She had no means of defending herself, no means of evading, and all she had left was one rock to bash the monster’s heart. Either way if she sliced it, there would be no escape. There was nothing left that Starlight could do except face her destiny.

“Break your heart…” Starlight said as she charged at the Creature.

The Creature charged towards Starlight as well. It had nothing but death in its eyes and it was more than ready to maul Starlight Glimmer. However, Starlight used the last of her unicorn magic to electrify the Creature grabbing a rock and knocking it on its back. She proceeds to smash away at the crystal and she showed no sign of stopping. The Creature cried and screeched in agonizing pain as the heart started to break.

"Wait! If you kill me, you kill that pathetic little dragon you treasure so much along with everybody blessed by my essence! You will NEVER BRING BACK YOUR BELOVED EQUESTRIA!!!" the Creature reasoned as it attempted to bargain for its life.

Having heard this, Starlight felt herself stop. It was the final move and her chance to save Equestria. But she couldn’t bring herself to kill the one and only creature that was close to her. While she was unsure if Spike was himself again, the last thing she wanted to do was let the Abyss take away the one dragon that she treasured. She was choked up and was in a defenseless position, almost allowing the monster to get closer. But knowing that she was now out of options, Starlight swallowed back the grief that she felt and said,

"Then I guess it's goodbye…"

With that said, she destroyed the crystal in one final blow. As the crystal shattered into a thousand pieces, the creature started roaring and crying out in pain as the various creatures that it transformed into started breaching and screaming out of its body. The Creature, in its dying breath, turned to Starlight Glimmer and roared,

"NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS NOW… OR EVER!!! I WILL LIVE ON… IN YOUR NIGHTMARES!!!"

After speaking its final words, the Creature turned inside out and let out an agonized scream before it exploded.

***

Back in the Everfree Forest, the Minotaur and the rest of the creatures felt their insides twist apart and bleed before dying all over the place. The lightning-filled clouds in the sky cleared away and it appeared to be nighttime with the stars. Spike, however, wasn't dead. But he felt his chest hurt harder than ever and it wasn't going away.