The True Power of Friendship!
“Oww…” Twilight groaned in pain as she was levitated out of the body-sized crater she'd been slammed into. Blinking in disbelief, she saw her opponent hovering over her.
“I deeply apologize for attacking you. I had no idea that really was you, Twilight Sparkle.” Raven apologized as she cast a recovery spell, healing all of her injuries. “You're certainly a better fighter than I would have assumed. Just… don't ever make me fall in love with a rock again."
Twilight let out a sigh of relief as the gray tone of her body slowly returned to its natural lavender color, all of her aches and pains vanishing in an instant. "Apology accepted. I genuinely had no idea I'd summon a living being when I used that spell..." She explained as she was lowered to the ground.
Raven lowered herself down to Twi's level and gave her a soft smile.
"I see. So you were practicing a spell, were you? I guess the secret's already out that you're based on toys, huh?"
Twilight chuckled at this. “In a sense; after hearing Pinkie Pie talk so much about this ‘fourth wall’, I had to study things for myself.” She smiled as she stretched her wings. “Though ‘based on’ is a bit of a stretch… if my theory about your world and the enchanted comic dimension is correct, then there's a possibility that-”
Suddenly, an anthropomorphic alicorn wearing a white bodysuit touched down on the ground behind the duo.
"-that that could happen?" Raven asked in confusion.
"Hold that thought..." She said, turning her attention to the new arrival. Needless to say, his appearance was... baffling, to say the least. However, given her experiences in the human world, she was more curious of, than confused by, his anatomy. "Excuse me, sir, can I help you?"
Lightning looked around for a bit. "Huh...this looks all too familiar. It looks like Equestria before it was-" He began. However, once he heard Twi's voice, he looked to her, shock and disbelief evident on his face. "I-It can't be! You have to be some kind of trick; Twilight Sparkle died!"
THIS statement got Twilight's attention, this Alicorn was no doubt from an alternate universe, but the idea that she had died in his world was a jarring and very somber thought.
"I... I'm sorry to hear that, but I can assure you that I'm not the same Twilight from whatever world you hail from..." She began to explain.
Lightning quickly pulled out his Rainbow Rod, which he borrowed for this very occasion. "Enough talk, impostor! Stop toying with my head!"
Twilight took a step back while Raven arched a brow. “But, I'm not an imposter. You're just in another dimension…”
“Something tells me he's not going to listen…” Raven added, getting Lightning's attention… and his expression changed from disbelief to outright rage upon seeing her.
“You again...! I thought you were dead too!?"
“Do I look dead to you?” Raven replied sarcastically. “Now are you actually going to explain who you are, or are you just going to keep making false accusations?”
Lightning pondered to himself. "I see...so you came back to life, brought Twilight back with you, and since she's too weak to stop you, she joined you in your evil plots!"
Twilight narrowed her eyes and Raven rolled hers. “I guess that answers my question…” She sighed as she aimed her right hand at Lightning, summoning an orb of magic. “You want me to get rid of him?”
“No. It’s clear he won’t listen to reason, I'll handle him myself.” Twilight answered confidently as she took a few steps forward. “But do me a favor? Place a shield around Ponyvillie so that there's no collateral damage.”
Raven scoffed at this but gave Twilight a reassuring smile. "Best of luck to you." She said before teleporting away.
Lightning chuckled confidently, looking towards Twilight. "You really think you can take me on? You couldn't even handle her, remember? Nopony could. And you always were the weaker of the two of us."
The lavender Princess growled, but quickly took a deep breath to compose herself. She glanced behind her opponent and noticed a black dome suddenly appearing over her town, a telltale sign that Raven had already taken the measures needed to protect her home. "Insulting me is one thing, but speaking ill of the dead? That's a line no one is allowed to cross!"
"You're not dead NOW, are you!?" Lightning shouted rushed towards her, his fists charged with the power of the Uniforce, more than enough power to land a serious blow.
FIGHT!
Twilight swiftly teleported out of the way just as he got close enough, resulting in his supercharged punch obliterating several trees instead. She reappeared in the clouds a few feet above the battlefield and observed the damage. 'Okay, he seems to know combat magic, but he likes to rush in head-first into battle.' She thought to herself, studying her opponent. 'And he's arrogant too, thinking himself superior to others. I can use that to my advantage...'
She was brought out of her thoughts when her opponent spread his own wings and took to the air as well. "Where did you go, impostor!? Come out and fight me like a real warrior!" He shouted in an annoyed tone. "If you don't come down soon, I'll have to destroy your master instead! I don't know where she learned to look like less like a Unicornicopian, but it can't be anything good!"
‘Wait, a Uni-what?! Oh, nevermind!’ Twilight sighed, she quickly flew out of the clouds and fired a weak beam of magic at Lightning's back. 'Now it's time to test your skills.'
Just then however, Lightning sensed the oncoming attack with his visor and blocked it with his own hands. "Nice try! Did you really think a sneak attack would work?"
Twilight smirked at this. "No. But I've got more tricks up my sleeves!" She said before her horn began to glow. Suddenly, she separated into seven copies of herself, all of them surrounding Lightning in a circular formation. "Now then, let's see you dodge this!" All of them stated at once as they fired several beams of magic from multiple directions.
Lightning quickly dodged each blast with little effort. However, one of them managed to strike his in the chest, sending him flying back a few feet.
"H-How!? You were not this strong before!"
"I've always been strong." All seven of them replied. "If you really believe your version of me was weak, then you obviously didn't know me that well!"
And with that statement, all seven of them fired upon him at once, sending him crashing in to the ground next to Twilight's old crater. He slowly crawled back out, officially ticked off. "Now I know what happened...! You bargained with Raven for power! This can't be forgiven!"
The seven Twilights rolled their eyes in annoyance. "For the hundredth time, I don't know what you're talking about!" They all shouted before charging down at him. Lightning smirked at this and quickly summoned the power of the Uniforce once more, slamming his fist into the first clone that got close enough. However, the moment one of them came into contact with his fist, it vanished, revealing that it was an illusion. Taking advantage of this, the real Twilight teleported behind him and grabbed him with her magic before tossing him into the sky, not giving him any breathing room she fired multiple blast of magic at him, throwing him further into the air with each impact.
Lightning was thrown up beyond the clouds before creating a shield around himself. "I didn't realize she was this powerful now...normally, no magic can affect me!"
"Now then, I'm gonna give you one last chance to back down." Twilight stated as her clones vanished. "Otherwise, things are going to get ugly!"
Lightning shook his head and shot back down towards his opponent. "I will not stand by and let evil beings like you take over the Dimensional Universe!"
"Suit yourself!" Twilight shouted as her opponent rushed towards her, quickly summoning a spherical shield as she braced herself….
But to her surprise, the impact was stronger than expected as Lightning punched right through the shield and delivered as sharp uppercut to her jaw, sending her flying into a nearby rock face. "It's about time I stopped holding back!"
The Princess of Friendship groaned as she pulled herself out of a hole for the second time that day. 'Well then, looks like he won't be pulling his punches... I just have to-WOAH!' She was brought out of her thoughts as she quickly teleported out of the way before Lightning slammed his fist into the crater.
"Unlike you Equestrians, we Space Ponies have trained ourselves to not need magic!” Lightning gloated as he ripped his arm out of the hole. “But I'll gladly use everything I’ve got to defeat you!"
"And yet you can't see the truth even when it's right in front of you!" Twilight shouted as she reappeared a few feet away, firing more powerful blast of magic.
Lightning barely managed to block it and got pushed back a great deal. "What truth!? The only truth I see is what the Grand Ruler has taught me!"
"Well then, he's taught you poorly if you believe you're superior to me based on my species." She replied as she took to the air once more.
"You have NO right to judge my mentor!" Lightning shouted in rage, following behind her as he charged up another energy beam and fired it at Twilight, letting it split into multiples that surrounded and closed in on her. Thinking fast, Twilight summoned another spherical shield around herself just as various energy beams assaulted her from different directions. At first, her shield did a decent job deflecting most of the blasts; however, they quickly started to wear down her endurance as several cracks began to spread across the surface. As they did, Lightning rushed in and slammed his fist into the shield, causing it to break, following it up with another, more powerful Uniforce beam.
Twilight screamed in pain as she was sent plummeting towards the ground below. Quickly regaining her composure, she fought through the pain and spread her wings to stabilize herself in mid-air. 'Ok, looks like that ego isn't completely unwarranted… but that means I can use that to my advantage…time for my magic to run its course!’ She thought as she glared up at Lightning, smirking as her spell quickly surrounded her, right when another beam was fired at her… then at the very last second, Twilight flew upwards at a surprising speed, narrowly avoiding the beam as it created a massive hole in the spot she once occupied.
Lightning growled in disbelief. "How did you...?!"
"Surprised by my sudden increase in speed?" Twilight smirked at her opponent’s baffled expression. "Well, I technically have you to thank for that!"
“What?!”
“It's actually quite simple; when you attempted to hit me while I was in that crater, I cast a spell that allowed me to adapt my body to match your strength and speed!" She explained as she landed on a nearby cliff, slamming her hoof down and creating a spider web crack which emphasized her newfound strength. "A little spell I learned when I had to help my friend get back her wings from some unfavorable ponies..."
"Well, then..." Lightning whispered as he started powered up. "This just got a whole lot more interesting!" He shouted as he rushed towards her, constantly attempting to land blow after blow on Twilight; who expertly dodged each blow, much to his frustration. What he didn't know, however, was that he was constantly feeding Twilight every bit of experience he had in the physical combat department. The spell Twilight had cast not only allowed her to physically match his speed and power, but also allowed her to fight him on a more instinctive level by "linking" herself to Lightning on a mental level. This allowed her to not only match his moves, but strategize well enough to counter his style.
Unlike the incident with Rainbow Dash where she was guided through the steps by her friend, Lightning was basically handing Twilight the keys to her victory and didn't even know it. Without realizing any of this, he backed off and began mixing his Uniforce energy with the power of his Rainbow Rod, enchanting it to fire a powerful blast at her; more than what he needed to finish normally.
"RAINBOW FORCE!!!"
Twilight smirked as the massive beam rapidly approached her, her horn glowed intensely as her body shifted into her Rainbow Form. ‘This is what I’ve been waiting for!’ Not wasting a second, she responded with her own beam of magic, her body now adapting to properly utilize her power as it mixed with the boost in power her spell was providing her. Twilight gritted her teeth as the two beams met in the middle, her magic clashed with Lightning's. 'Don't falter, you can't lose here!' She thought as she took a step forward, sweat dripping down her forehead as she poured as much of her magic into her beam as possible.
Lightning glared at his opponent with mixed emotions, not only had his pride as a Space Pony been shattered by this one version of his former "best friend", but he was clearly no match for her. Enraged, a strange, new aura began to surround him. "You...! You're a lie! You're nothing like this in my world! I absolutely will not stand for this...! I WON'T STAND FOR THIS!!” His body began to glow silver, and his mane color changed to a golden. He was finally done with this; the Enticorn had been let out.
Twilight gasped in shock as a burst of magic flew through her beam, slamming into her and sending her flying across the sky...
*THUMP*
....straight into the shield surrounding Ponyville.
"....OW!" She groaned as she pushed herself off the shield, greatly dazed from the impact. "Oooooh.... what the HECK was that!?"
"You can do it, Twilight!" A familiar voice called out. Looking to the side, she noticed that on the other side of the shield were Pinkie Pie and Deadpool, eating a pile of assorted sweets while watching from the balcony of her house.
"C'mon, Sparky! Show that jerk what-for!" Deadpool shouted, giving her a thumbs-up. "Also, you might want to dodge."
"Why would I do-WOAH!" Twilight yelped and she swiftly dodged to the right, avoiding another powerful beam of energy from the enraged Lightning, which bounced off of the shield and shot straight into the sky.
"You think you're so powerful! You don't know what I've been through! I became stronger through the Grand Ruler's training and through my own beliefs! You just lived a life of luxury! You can't defeat anyone without your precious friends” Lightning hollered as he bolted towards her and started delivering punches left and right, striking every vulnerable point on her body he could see. Despite his usual control over this form, all he was focused on was destroying this so-called "traitor". Nothing else mattered to him any longer. ”You can't be this strong! I refuse to allow this as fact! You're nothing but a weak, defenseless, false Equestrian!"
Twilight bit her lips in pain as she was assaulted viciously, trying her best not to cry out in pain as she created an aura around herself to, at the very least, lessen the damage. Sadly, even with the spell giving her a bit more durability combined with the strength increase she received from "linking" to Lightning himself, it still wasn't enough to completely shield her. 'This power, it's not enough... I need... I need to finish this, and finish this NOW!' She mentally screamed as she opened her eyes and let out a cry of anger as she teleported out of his range.
Reappearing five feet away from him, she gave him a death glare that would make even the Pony of Shadows shiver in fear. "You DARE to judge ME? MY LIFESTYLE!?" She roared as her Rainbow Form started glowing more intensely, her coat suddenly becoming a lot more translucent as the images of several stars appeared all over her. Her mane became an elegant flowing display of various galaxies and stars, not unlike Princess Celestia and Princess Luna's own manes. And the finishing touch was each of the Elements of Harmony appearing around her.
"YAY! GO TWILY!!" Cheered Pinkie and Deadpool.... who were now wearing cheerleader outfits for some reason.
"Rick 'em, rack 'em, rack 'em, rake!
Punch that smug-ass in his face!"
They both sang, waving pom-poms around.
"BE SILENT!" Lightning snapped at them.
The two of them gave him a blank look before Deadpool pulled out of small martini-umbrella sized flag with an "L" on it.
"Lightning, Lightning, he's our man.
If he can't do it-GREAT!"
Lightning growled before turning his attention back to the Princess of Friendship, looking her dead in the eyes. His aura became even more intense as he rushed in, firing Uniforce beam after Uniforce beam at her, eager to make her suffer. "After you're finished, all your friends are next!"
The moment one of them came close, however, the Elements glowed as she casually deflected the beams with a diamond-shaped shield, the image of Rarity appearing behind her. "You have no right to judge our way of life... I worked hard to get to where I am today and didn't demand everyone love me for it!" Twilight stated in an ominous tone as she spread her wings wide, the image of Fluttershy's “stare” replacing Rarity's image, freezing him dead in place before Twilight darting straight towards Lightning with AJ's image replacing Fluttershy's, socking him across the face hard enough to draw blood and knock out a few teeth. "My friends aren't just there to hold my hooves!" She shouted as she delivered a sharp uppercut to his jaw, sending him flying into the sky. RD's image appeared next as she shot up into the air right above Lightning before slamming him in the back with a powerful kick, sending him spiraling down towards the ground. "THEY SUPPORT ME, DRIVE ME, AND HELP ME BECOME A BETTER PONY!" She screamed as she darted down at twice the speed he was falling, Pinkie’s image taking Rainbow’s place as she rapidly bounced off of each cloud they passed on the way down, striking him at every opportunity before he could react.
Lightning kept attempting to block and dodge her attacks, but he kept receiving beating after beating as this continued on. It was like this was Twilight's own variation of the Enticorn form, her own kinship with the others giving her the power to fight back….
Just before his hit the ground, Twilight teleported next to him and blasted him into a plateau, quickly bursting out of it in anger, he began to seethe with more rage than ever thought possible. "I...I can't believe this...! This alicorn traitor actually drew blood...!? I...I can't stand for it...! I REFUSE TO STAND FOR THIS!" He shouted as high as he possibly could, charging a powerful blast into the Rainbow Rod, pouring every ounce of his power into the attack. "Try to dodge this if you can! Regardless of whether it hits or not, this entire world will be blown to bits! You and your false race! Space Ponies are the strongest! No one else! PREPARE TO DIE!”
Twilight looked up at the oncoming blast in terror then glanced back at her home. She knew for a fact that if she didn't find a way to stop this, she'd lose everything. Bracing herself, she flew towards the attack at top speed, charging up her horn with everything she had before firing back an equally large blast of magic! Both attacks met in the center as it turned into a complete war of attrition, both sides desperately trying to dominate the other....
However, after a short period of time, Twilight felt herself being slowly pushed back by the attack. 'No.... I can't lose here! I can't let them down!'
"You got this, Twilight!" She suddenly heard Rainbow Dash call out.
"Put that varmint in his place!" Applejack called out.
"You can win this, Twilight!" Fluttershy shouted. "We believe in you!"
"Show that ruffian what-for!" Rarity chimed in.
"Show that partypooper how we Equestrians handle meanies!" Pinkie cheered.
"Twilight... I know you can win..." She heard Spike call out.
"I'm just here for the food..." Deadpool casually said. "....but what the hell? KICK HIS ASS!!"
With these words of motivation, a newfound rush of energy flowed through her body. The Elements, as if hearing her friends’ cheers, glowed intensely as they circled around her, allowing her respective beam to become twice as big as Lightning’s, to the point where it was on the verge of tearing through his own. "You see, Lightning, you're wrong on so many levels. I don't rely on my friends to pull me out of harm's way..." She stated confidently as she poured more of her magic into the beam. "We help each other, and support each other through thick and thin. Yes, we've had a few hiccups along the way, because no friendship is objectively perfect. But friendship is still worth it in the end, because it's worth fighting for!" She shouted as her aura enveloped her and took the form of a much larger Alicorn. "AND THAT'S WHY YOU WILL NEVER TRULY WIN, BECAUSE YOU CAN NEVER UNDERSTAND THE TRUE MAGIC OF FRIENDSHIP!!"
And with that final statement, she let loose all the magic she had, her energy fueling her beam and tearing right through Lightning's, giving him no chance to dodge or shield himself. Lightning screamed in pain as it physically ripped him apart, barely able to comprehend what was happening. "This...can't...be...! Beaten...by a common...pony...!? I...NO...! NOOOO!!!"
As the beam finally died down, Twilight slowly reverted back to her old form as the Elements vanished, returning to the Tree of Harmony. Twilight took a few deep breaths and looked up to where her opponent once stood... only to see that nothing remained aside from some ashes that were immediately blown away by the wind, and his golden horn, which fell from the sky and into Everfree Forest...
"And that's... that ..." Twilight whispered as she teleported away.
She REALLY needed some rest.
K.O.!
“Man oh MAN! Princess Purple sure packs a punch!” Deadpool exclaimed, applauding wildly while Pinkie happily pulled out a massive flag with Twilight's Cutie Mark on it and started waving it around.
“You can say that again! Twilight may not be very skilled in the training department, but she has something over Lightning: strategy!” Pinkie explained, pulling out a book listing several of Twilight's accomplishments over the years. “Granted, there are some times where she doesn't make the best decisions, but when she does a right, she really does a right! Something tells me if she hadn't held back, even Raven would have been out of the fight!” She briefly glanced over at the Teen Titan, who was healing up Twilight while the rest of her friends congratulated her for a fight well won. “Maaaaaybe stretching it a little, but dang!”
“Wouldn't blame ya for thinking that, Pinks!” Deadpool agreed as he started reading through the book. “She had several spells that could turn the tide in any one way she wanted. And that power-scaling-spell-thingy really helped her out in a bind! But I know what you're all typing in the comments: 'But Twilight's a pony and she didn't beat Raven! Smarts never won her anything! So there! Nyeh-nyeh!’” The Merc-With-a-Mouth stated, doing the best whining impression while wearing a bizarre outfit that made him look like a discounted Digimon Emperor. “Y'know, I'm just gonna stop you all right there... Raven may have been overall stronger, but Twilight was still able to keep up with her just fine! Besides, at least Raven’s consistently written to be as powerful as she is! So stop being a dick and get with the program, people!”
“Lightning Dawn, on the other hoof, was just a huge dope. He may talk a big game, and his feats are meant to be incredible, but do we ever see them properly? Nope! We're just told them.” Pinkie chimed in. “Even if it is true, his writing is incredibly inconsistent and depends entirely on the writer's input. Like the time we were told he'd be strong enough to withstand a full power kick from Applejack and yet was easily blindsided by a possessed Cheerilee; and when he and his team got their butts kicked by a bunch of Diamond Dogs who were only classified as wearing “strong armor” and had no enhancements whatsoever. Then there's also the fact that he's gotten injured by magic before. So that immunity is out the window. Then there's also the fact that his race is supposedly fast enough to circle the globe ten times; we never see him use that ability to any meaningful ends, especially when he could have easily searched every city and area in the entire world when looking for the big baddie.” Pinkie Pie explained, taking a moment to let all of that information sink in. “So basically, someone is either lying about his abilities, or he's too stupid to remember them when the situation calls for it. I’m calling for the latter, since he's always tended to charge in and get himself hurt, and it's always thanks to his own teammates that he got out of his jams. Is it just me, or do I smell irony?”
“Either that or the cherrychangas cooking. But yeah, Lightning's not the brightest bulb in the shed, and his common sense only dwindled when he entered Enticorn mode.” Deadpool replied as he pulled out a folder with Lightning’s name on it. “Even though he's learned to control it, Lightning is still a certain someone's author avatar and would gladly adopt his crueler nature if pushed too far. Heck, it happened back in Starfleet Humans; just ask Sci-Twi and Principal Celestia. And that's not even getting into his superiority complex. Considering the fact that he seems to believe that every single member of his species is objectively superior to any Equestrian (or other races, for that matter), that arrogance cost him dearly.”
Pinkie nodded in agreement.”In the end, our bonds with our friend allowed her to don the Elements of Harmony and blast that meanie to kingdom come!”
“But wait, I thought the Elements of Harmony could only be used by all of you as a group?” Deadpool asked curiously.
“Many think so, but in reality, the Elements have allowed single individuals to utilize their power when the situation called for it,” She replied before pulling out a stack of comic books. “For example, in our comic series, a heroic version of King Sombra from an alternate Equestria was able to use them against evil versions of Celestia and Luna. Then there was also that time where Celestia herself used them against Discord's Accord form. And then there's way back when Celestia used the Elements against Nightmare Moon despite them being bonded to both her and her sister… “
“Ah, good point! At least Twilight has more consistency on her side!” Deadpool agreed. “In the end, Lightning thought he could take on anypony, but ended up finally meeting his match. And besides, let's be real here: none of you believed he would actually win, did you?”
“The winner is Twilight Sparkle!” Pinkie giggled. before leaping onto the table. "Now then, LET'S PARTY!!"
As the Equestrians began to celebrate Twilight's victory, in the Everfree Forest a single glowing light fell into the dried-up moat that surrounded the Castle of the Two Sisters. Lightning's horn, all the remained of him, hit the ground and rolled into the cave containing the Tree of Harmony, coming to an abrupt stop at the base of the tree.
The Elements, having returned after aiding Twilight, glowed lightly for a moment before a multi-colored aura of magic surrounded it....
After a few seconds, several cracks spread across the horn, followed by it crumbling to dust. it's shards were then carried away by the wind, never to be seen again...
