A Wacky Read

"I hate when he does that." Hati stood up and dusted himself. Close by he found Princess Twilight, her friend Pinkie and the Human woman Carter. They all looked rather rattled by the fall through the castle ground.

They checked if everyone was okay and then where they were. The castle was far in the horizon on the other side of a wide forest, above the top of the Canterlot-Mountain. The four lost adventurers were placed on top of some grass hill at the far end of Ponyville.

The daylight was off, the sun straight above the pink floating castle and slowly sinking lower. Soon it would reach the castle halls and then Rex would be unstoppable.

"You're telling me he did that before?", Twilight yelled at the green Lizard.

"Well, the portal thing, not the castle thing. Or the sun thing."

"Or the murder thing", Sam added.

"No, he actually does that a lot." The three ladies looked at Hati, speechless. "What?", he shrugged, "It's not like I'm asking him to do it, alright?"

"But you will help us to stop him?", the Princess sincerely asked.

Hati nodded, "Yeah, of course. Wouldn't be the first time either. He gets lost, sometimes, y'know? He's not a bad guy. He saved my life more often than I got fingers on both me hands, alright?"

"Probably took more lives than that too."

Hati chuckled nervously, "Haha, yeah, probably. I'm really sorry about all of this."

"Save it for after the battle", Sam said while checking on her P-90.

While they walked down the hill, he asked her, "Is that a gun? Can I have one?"

Mitchell found himself in the company of young Elisa, her friend Knom and the two natives Rainbow Hair Lightning Butt and Spike the Dragon.

"The name's Rainbow Dash, got that?"

"Dash, alright. Where's your horn?"

They all fell into some dark place covered by tree tops, deep within the forest and no visuals on a way out. It was wild and undiscovered territory, a danger zone no Pony ever entered.

"Ehm, I'm a Pegasus, I have wings. Horns are for Unicorns."

Cam checked on her from head to hoof with a slightly confused look, "Right! I thought I heard about stuff like that before."

Elisa was some steps further off and landed in a treetop, where she was stuck, because it was too high to jump down and too slick to climb.

When the two on the ground stood under the tree, Cam held his arms wide open. "Jump, I'll catch you."

She looked around but only saw those two. "Where's Krator?"

Cam turned and whispered, "Do you know who that is?"

"One of the Lizards, right?", she whispered before Elisa answered, "Yes, the yellow one!"

They froze for a moment and looked at her before Dash whispered again, "You think she can hear us?"

"Yes, I can!"

"Hmm", Cam nodded, "Maybe."

"Certainly! I have excellent hearing."

"Look, Honey-"

"Elisa!"

"Look, Elisa, Honey", Cam yelled up to her while she rolled her eyes, "Krator isn't here, alright? We got separated. It's just us. But we'll find him together."

"Then go find him, I'll wait here. Bring him to me."

Cam slowly nodded, "Alright. Right."

"Bad idea", Rainbow whispered while floating on Cam's shoulder height, "If this forest is somewhat like the Everfree Forest, it's haunted by monsters and magical creatures."

"Monsters?"

"Yep."

"Magical Creatures?" Cam looked around.

"Yep."

"I don't care!", Elisa yelled, "Better find him quick then! Go hurry."

"Harry?"

"Hurry", Rainbow explained.

"Oh, alright." Cam turned to the tree again, "My name is Cameron. Cameron Mitchell. I'm a soldier. You can trust me, alright?"

"Soldiers killed my father!"

"I'm sorry about that." Cam looked at his feet and pulled his nose, then looked up again, "Look, Kid."

"Elisa!"

"Look, Elisa, Kid. We should really get out of here. This isn't safe. And we need to save the world still, right? Today, probably."

"I will not jump into your arms! You're crazy! Look at your size, you're tiny!"

Cam caught Rainbow nodding. "What, what's that supposed to mean?"

"She's not wrong about that, y'know."

"You're a tiny Pony, you're the one to talk. Don't even got a horn."

"I can fly, and I'm fast."

"Oh, alright. Then why don't you fly up to her and get her down, alright?

"I'm still waiting for Krator."

Which made Cam yell in frustration, but he couldn't leave her here. He calmed down and danced nervously on the spot.

"Elisa", Cam smiled, "I don't wanna be that guy, but you gotta come with me, if you wanna live."

That sentence sounded familiar to her and so she accepted. "Okay, but I'm not looking after him", she pointed at Knom and started to slip down the branch.

"Him, what?" They both looked at the expressionless boy Knom and almost missed Elisa.

Only thanks to the fast reaction of Rainbow Hair Lightning Butt she was caught savely and placed back onto the forest grounds.

Once Elisa smiled again, Spike came around and told them about a path way he found.

Together they walked by the never ending trees and across the leaves' shade, in hope to find some kind of direction soon.

"My friends call me Cam."

"I'll stick to Cameron."

When Krator looked around to grasp the situation, he almost broke his oath that bound him not to curse. Not only had he to defeat the Master of Thieves, Rex, that revealed himself to put up another one of his villainous schemes, but to top it all, none of his friends made it to the other side of the portals. Especially Elisa, who he had sworn to protect, was out of his sight.

They were brought to a cave that was only lit by the magical glowing gemstones imbedded into the surrounding granite. Multiple types of gems shone a variance of colours into the chamber. And Rarity knew them all by heart.

A few steps down the tunnel, Rarity and Krator could find Applejack and the Humans Jack, Vala and Daniel.

"Your friend needs to be taught a lesson", O'Neill said to Krator.

"He's not my friend. I tolerated his schemes for the sake of our mission. But you're right, this is going too far. He will take the sun of this planet away, so it might not shine ever again, and then leave to return back home. A dark rock, covered in eternal night, is all that will remain of this place."

"My, didn't we hear that story before?", Applejack cynically added. "What's so special about the sun that every villains wants to get rid of it?"

"I'm not sure", Krator answered her, "It has something to do with how the magic of your world works. Rex isn't used to it and he needs a powersource native to your world to compensate for it."

Daniel wrinkled his forehead, "But you're not sure?"

"How does he look like if he's sure?", Vala commented jokingly.

"Then do come along, y'all. We need to get back to the castle if we ever want to stop this Rex." Applejack followed Rarity down the tunnel, who knew her way around here.

They came along, but Daniel had to ask, "You seem to know this place."

"Oh, yes, dear. I come here hunting for rare gems whenever fashion demands it."

Krator shorty stopped by a gem and ripped it out of the wall. "Are these gems magical?", he asked while he went on.

"No, not at all, just regular gems", Rarity explained, "I'm making them glow with my magic, dear."

"That is quite interesting. I wish we had time to learn more about Unicorn Magic."

"We did start on the wrong foot, didn't we?", Jack asked the Templar, "All this huzzle with the Mirror and the Gate, finding a way home. It really robbed us of learning from this place."

Daniel was surprised, "Curious to hear that from you."

"Yes, well, I'm getting older and once you do, you start to think more about those things, y'know?"

"Yes, General", Krator nodded, "We never did take the time to just breath in. Even though breathing this air might kill us someday."

Vala grabbed Krators muscular arm and smiled at him, "How old are you, Mister?"

"I'm not Mister, Lady. I'm Highpriest Krator, Templar of Karinthor, and to answer your silly question, I'm counting sixteen glorious Harvesting Seasons."

She chuckled, "You're sixteen? You're a child."

"If I were a Human, then yes, even though a Human that age would be married with children where I come from. It's not my fault your bodies grow as slowly as your minds."

She let go of his arm. "Ouch." And fell back to Daniel.

"You're making friends?"

"Shut up you."

Soon they arrived at a dead end in the tunnel, but Rarity assured that this was the way.

"There must have been a cave in. Clearing his path will take ages", she complained.

"Pathetic", Krator barked and went up to the wall of pebbles and rocks.

Powerful he rammed his gauntlets into the rock and ripped it apart. The wall split in the middle like a secret entrance and made way for the group to pass.

"How did you do that?", Jack mumbled, "How did he do that?"

"I'm Highpriest Krator!"

"Yeah, we got that part", Applejack said.

"Master of the elements!" He went up to Rarity, "I'm surprised you possess magic but are unable to bend the elements to your will."

"Why, you see", she nervously smiled, "I never tried to, I mean, I'm more into fashion, really. The magic stuff is more Starlight’s and Twilight's cup o'tea, you see?"

And so they went on through the chambers, leaving less gems behind than they encountered on arrival.

"Are you clinking?", Daniel asked Vala.

"No?"

When they finally saw the light of day again, they rushed to the outside, but what they saw there was unsettling. On the other side of the wide fields and forests of Ponyville they saw the castle swallowing the low setting sun.

"We must hurry!", Krator yelled and expanded his bat-like wings on his back.

"Wait, this isn't right." Discord looked around but saw himself in the same dark, eel infested hall, that he came from.

"No, it is", Rex's smooth voice claimed. "I made the mistake to send you off with them before. I'm not tending to make the same mistake twice."

"If you want to dance!", Discord added boxer's shorts and mittens to his outfit and threw a few punches, "You picked the wrong opponent."

From the darkness around, Rex stepped into the light in front of Discord. He had a smile on his face and his hands behind his back, which held the Inaji.

"Playing with you could have been amusing, if I wasn't so short on time. Look up, it's over."

"Nice try." But suddenly a beam of light shone down on Discord and the middle of the hall. The ceiling started to open and welcome the massive sun core. The night of the hall was turned into pure white.

Rex and Discord both had their shades on and faced one another. "And now what? What's next?"

"Nothing", Rex shrugged, "I merely have to wait."

"Then allow me", Discord snapped his fingers. Since nothing happened, he snapped them again. But still, his spell didn't work. "Now, that's a first."

"A second, actually, but never mind that." Runes on the floor lit up and revealed a ring around Discord. "I might not be able to get your magic for myself without more Inaji to store it in, but I can rob you of it to leave you powerless."

"You ... you took my magic away? That's impossible, only ... only Tir-"

"Tirek? Yes, he was very cooperative. Well, more or less."

Exhausted Discord fell to his knees. "Do you have any last words?", Rex asked him while he got closer.

"Last words? What do you want to do to me?"

"This", the runes darkened and with them the floor in the circle. The ground disappeared and Discord fell into the void beyond. Standing on the edge, Rex looked after him and watched his powerless body freeze solid in the eternal cold.

Once the portal closed again, Discord's remains were out of this world.

"Okay, I know this looks bad, but if you cooperate, I can promise you a puppy! You do want to have a puppy, aye?"

"A puppy?", Fluttershy rubbed the tears off her cheeks, "What kind of puppy?"

Rook looked confused and straightened his back, "Puppies have kinds? The more you learn."

"You didn't just bargain for another puppy, did you?", Morty asked him in an angry tone. The flaming skeleton had his arms crossed and his fire was an indicator for his bad mood.

"It made her stop crying, didn't it?"

Morty hissed through his closed teeth, "You don't have any puppies."

"She don't need to know that, savvy?"

"It's okay", she stood up on her hooves and even smiled again. "The thought of puppies alone cheered me up. Thanks." Fluttershy reached out her hoof, "We haven't really met yet. I'm Fluttershy."

Rook grinned, sat down and shook her hoof, "Name's Rook. And this is the Doc."

"Ugh", Morty grunted, "It's Doctor Mortanius Kältezorn."

"A doctor?", Fluttershy wondered, "I wouldn't have guessed."

"Hey", Rodney yelled, "I'm a doctor too, I let you know. Doctor Rodney McKay, physictis."

"Not a real doctor then", Morty mumbled.

"Oh yeah? What", Rodney nervously asked, "What are you a doctor in, medicine?"

"Yes!"

"Oh, wow. I hope I'm not getting sick."

Rook whispered loudly to Fluttershy, "He's more of a surgeon anyway."

"That's", Rodney mumbled, "Actually really creepy."

"You could say he worked himself to the bone", Rook joked.

Morty rolled his glowing eyes, "Funny. Never heard that one before."

Fluttershy smiled, "Really?"

"No", Rook explained, "I'm making that same joke every day."

"Great", Rodney walked around the dark room, "We're doomed. I'm never getting home ever again. I'll die here. Some villain is taking over the world and I'm sitting here in this dungeon with a bunch of morons, great! Just great!"

"Hey!", Rook yelled, "No one's calling Fluttershy a moron, pal!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. Morons plus a talking horse. My apologies!"

"Doctor Rodney McKay!" Teal'C came back from his scouting. "This way leads to the outside. Follow me."

"Yes, yes!", Rodney cheered and followed him.

Ever since the portal brought them here, they looked for a way out. They got trapped in a maze of walls and dark chambers. Dust piled up in the corners and spiders’ webs hung from the ceilings. But there was no light, no windows and no torches. Only Mortanius provided them with a fire's flicker while they walked down the shady pavement.

At the end of some narrow corridor, there was finally a light shining down some stone stairs. Once the group climbed up the stairs, they reached a fine hallway, made from white marble and decorated with red carpet.

Rodney knew this scenery. "This looks like we're back in Canterlot."

"Indeed."

Checking back on the entrance revealed that they came from a secret entrance hidden behind a door sized painting of some Pony general in uniform.

The windows in front of them born an unsettling picture. The light of the sun was dimmed and low in its angle.

"The thief really done it now", Morty grunted with his high, sick voice.

"We need to stop him, now!", Teal'C added. But Rook and Morty shared a look and only shrugged.

"I have no idea how to stop him", Morty explained, "He was a legendary mage before but now he's provided with unlimited power. I'm immortal but fighting him would still remain madness."

"Madness?", Fluttershy gasped. "This is Equestria! And we never give up, never give in. You go up into the castle now and put your friend into his place or Celestia help me, I'll drag all of you off this planet myself!"

They looked at Fluttershy hovering above the floor. Their faces showed the awe they were put in and they remained silent for a moment before sharing some looks.

Teal'C nodded eventually and went on down the hallway. Rodney skipped after him.

"Impressive", Morty admitted, "You remind me of my late wife."

"Oh, I'm sorry", Shy apologised.

"No, it's fine. You didn't know. We all have our luggage that pulls us down, don't we? Now", he went on down the hallway, "Let's put Rex into his place, shall we?"

"Wow, mate", Rook went after him and Fluttershy, "I didn't think I'd die today."

From a pink flash of magic, Sam, Pinkie, Hati and Twilight appeared near Ponyville. Only a few steps down the dusty road, they could see the first buildings that surrounded the marketplace.

"We're almost there", the Princess said.

"Wow!", Hati looked dizzy, "Enough of the teleports, alright? This cannot be healthy, come on!" The green Lizard was fighting to stay on his feet and waited for the world to stop spinning.

"But it's the fastest way. Look, he already has the sun hidden in the castle."

The land beyond the Canterlot-Mountain was sparsely lit by sharp rays of white daylight that pierced the windows of the pink, reshaped castle. It was now bigger and owned a dome that born the sun.

"Like a disco ball, nice", Pinkie liked how it looked. "Indeedy."

Hati eventually bent down, supported his hands on his knees and took deep breaths. He really didn't want to throw up now but his stomach had become his enemy, thanks to the Princess's spell. "If we get there first but half dead, it won't do us any good."

Sam used the pause to check on something but her hand that went for her belt grabbed nothing but her butt. "Dammit", she sighed, "I lost my computer."

Hati spit into the sand of the pathway, "What does that computer do?"

"It has a library of our maps, it knows where we live."

"In that case", Hati stood up again, "You didn't lose it. Rex took it."

"That can't be, he never touched me."

"Lady, he's a thief, King of Thieves actually. He just stole the sun while we were watching. Trust me, if you're missing something, Rex has it."

Twilight was watching her world falling into misery. The strong wind of the upcoming storm was waving through her long mane and shook her feathers.

"What did he mean earlier?", she asked Hati. "He said something about this time and remembering."

"Last time", Pinkie said, "We didn't remember it last time, he said."

"Yes, that. Do you have any idea what that was about?"

Hati sighed, "Yes, sadly I do. Rex told me once about this teacher he had in his youth. He was teaching him forbidden magic and therefore was executed by the Templemaster."

"But that's terrible", Sam commented.

"The Master is a tyrant, it's not surprising. To save his teacher from death, Rex used his magic to go back in time."

"I know what that feels like."

"Me too", Twilight sighed, "But it never works."

"I guess every time traveler has to learn his lesson", Hati continued, "Rex got stuck in a year’s time. It kept repeating, so Rex had the chance to train and retry. But whatever he did, he couldn't save his teacher to an acceptable price. But when he wanted to end the spell, he couldn't. He spent six hundred years figuring out how to end the spell, while mastering magic. That's why he's that powerful, but also that cold hearted."

"He doesn't look his age."

Hati smiled at Sam and chuckled, "No, he really doesn't."

"And you think he did that spell again", Twilight concluded.

"Yeah, I think he's looping us. That way he can control the outcome to his likings. That's why we had no chance. He knew what we were going to do."

"Aww, come on now!", Pinkie wrapped her arms around Twilight and Hati and pulled them together, "We can still do this! We just have to act unexpectively!"

"You mean unexpectedly?"

"Ex-actly."

"That's", Hati admitted, "Not a bad idea. But how would you do that?"

"We also have to break his time spell", she ripped herself free from Pinkie's grasp. "What do you know about Time-Spells?"

"Me?", Hati looked confused, "All I know? Time is a valuable thing, watch it fly by as the pendulum swings. Watch it count down to the end of the day. The clock ticks life away."

"Yes, yes", Twilight nodded at first but then realised, "No. That's", and shook her head, "Not what I had in mind."

"Cool", Sam gave them a thumbs up, "We're all going to die." She shook her head as well, "No, you know what? I've lived through so much bullshit, I'm not going to die here on this piece of shit of a planet."

"Hey!", the two Ponies rebelled.

"Sorry. No offense."

Twilight turned to the castle again, "If only Starlight was here, or Starswirl -"

"Or anyone else with Star in their name."

"- They knew how to counter his spell."

"That's probably why Rex took them out first. They were his greatest threats", Hati explained.

"Well", Sam said, "We're still here."

"Yeah, right! Because he knows that we can never defeat him. But", Hati nodded seriously, "That doesn't mean we can't try."

Twilight's brows sank down onto her eyes, giving her a murderous gaze, "Let's go kick some serious butt."

"Wow", Hati chuckled, "That sounded almost badass, gurl."

"Are you ready to teleport again?"

"Yeah, but, let's jump as far as we can, alright? Straight to the city, if you can."

"I'll see what I can do", Twilight assured him and cast her pink flashy spell to relocate them into battle.

Rex's eyes glowed in a bright green tone when he cast his spell. Above the groups he sent into the four winds, a floating glass marble was carried by black bug. They were following their progress and decisions, since everything the marble reflected was visible to Rex.

Behind him was the sun's core floating under the ceiling. The white light was slowly dimming, the more magic was drained from it. "Very well", Rex monologued with his eyes upon the groups, "Time to slow them down, just a bit."

And while he was making his preparations, Elisa was leading Spike and Knom out of the forest. Cameron and Rainbowmane Pinkeye were following them.

After the next tree, they were able to see the sandy pathway that lead to Ponyville. And Spike was already up and about to rush to it, but Elisa grabbed his tail to stop him.

Her ears twitched, "Hold on, cutie. Something's wrong."

Cameron mumbled, "Why is he the cutie now?"

"Hush", Rainbow Buttzapp put her hoof on his mouth.

Elisa was looking around. She had a bad feeling about this.

“I have a bad feeling about this.”

"I don't see anything", Spike said. "Everything is quiet."

"That is exactly what I'm afraid of", Elisa explained. "There's no wind, no birds, no rattling of the leafs."

She let go of Spike and he dropped to the ground. Staring straight ahead she took a branch from the grass and tossed it at the pathway.

A few steps in it stopped in the air and was frozen in time.

Cameron walked up to Elisa in awe, "I've seen this before. It's a riddle."

"No, it's really not. It's just a trap", she sighed. "I wouldn't be surprised if the pathway was fake too."

"Do we", Spike asked, "Walk around it?"

"Well, we can't go through it. So", she shrugged, "Yes, I guess."

"Or we just fly over it!", Painshow Bash flapped her wings and dashed into the clouds, catapulting her quick body over the forest in a wide bow. Until she was stuck in the timefield.

They could see her from the ground, just standing still in the air, with her cocky smug on her face, probably forever. "Yep", Elisa nodded, "There goes one."

She turned and went on her way around the field, when Cameron grabbed her arm, "Hold on, we can't just leave him like this."

Elisa looked up to him with tired eyes, "Uh-huh? And how would you help her?"

"Her? I don't know. But we have to do something."

Elisa pointed her index up into the sky, where Buttface McCrack got herself caught, "She's stuck."

"Yeah, she is."

Spike pulled Elisa's jacket, "Please."

"Aargh", she grunted and rubbed her face, "I'm just fourteen, why do I have to be the adult here?"

Spike rose his hand, "I'm nine."

Elisa slowly started to nod. Then she sat down to talk to the little Dragon. "She's stuck, but she's safe. She's unharmed, just frozen in time, okay? We can help her by making Rex stop the spell. So let's go do that."

Spike nodded seriously, "Okay, let's go then."

And so they walked further around the forest, taking the long way around. Repeatedly Elisa would throw something into the field to see where it was.
This was delaying them for quite some time.

Morty, Teal'C, Rodney, Rook and Fluttershy were standing on the great balcony of the Castle Canterlot, with their necks bent and their eyes directed upwards at the floating fortress of the Lizard Wizard.

There was still a lot of mountain between the highest tower of the castle and the end bits of the fortress.

"How are we getting up there?", Teal'C asked mainly Rodney.

Morty jumped at the question, "I could fly up there but I can't carry anyone."

"Oh", Fluttershy added, "I can fly too. But someone has to hold my hoof. Flying that high is getting me scared."

"A Pegasus", Rodney sighed, "Scared of heights. Great." His eyes fell upon Rook but he defended himself.

"Don't look at the beak, mate, I can only fly down stairs."

"OUT OF THE WAY!", they heard a gigantic scream and without even a second to turn around and check, they were pushed off their feet.

Humans and Ponies fell from the sky and rolled across the balcony marble.

But once they all came to a rest and looked around, they felt most happy. Fluttershy rushed to Applejack and Rarity and hugged them nearly to death. And Teal'C too came to help the old General.

Eventually Krator landed gently in between the crowd and folded his gigantic wings. He had a vine in his hand and started to roll it into a ring.
The Highpriest had carried his group, the three Humans and two Ponies, on a vine across the forest, up to the castle.

"So", Morty walked up to the Brass'Ka, "Did you have a good trip?"

"Nothing we couldn't overcome. What about you?"

"I'm fine", Jack said. "In case anyone wondered." The group gathered around.

"We were just wondering how to get up there. But now that you're here", Morty explained to Krator.

"I cannot carry that many people. Not because I wouldn't be strong enough."

"No, of course you would."

"It's a matter of safety, you see."

"Yes, yes", Morty nodded.

Teal'C spoke up, "Then we'll find another way."

"No, no, I can get us there", Krator admitted. "But you have to say it."

"Say it?", Morty wondered.

"Ask me, how we are going to get up there."

Morty shrugged, "How, in all of Vox's power, your grace, are we ever going to get up there?"

Krator grinned and smashed his gauntlets together, "With vigor and valor!"

He bent down like a whip and rammed his fists into the balcony floor. A shockwave went through the stone that cut out a platform around the group. Once it started to get a move on and rose from the rest of the ground, a cliff started to form. The pillar of rock shot upwards into the sky, leaving the castle behind and catapulting the heroes alongside the mad Templar in a matter of seconds into the floating fortress.

Before they crashed into the cluster of earth on the bottom of the fortress, Krator rose his fists against the granite. His will commanded the rock out of the way and so, while the pillar was shooting them upwards into the guts of the pink castle, the will of the Templar created a tunnel in front of it. The loud rumble of the rocks rubbing together was only interrupted by the high pitched screams of panic of the Pony folks and Rodney.

It only stopped when they reached a hall in the lower parts of the castle and the earth-magic came to a halt.
Krator changed the element and reached out his hand to ignite it into flames. His torch, the flaming skull of Morty and the glowing horn of Rarity painted them a picture of the windowless hall in absolute darkness.

"Next time you’re planning doing something like that", Vala grunted in pain, "Please don't. Okay, big boy?"

"As long as it works, I cannot afford to hesitate." Krator wandered off, "Let's move. We need to find our friends."

"You mean, we need to find Elisa."

"Yes, old man. That is my quest."

On their way through the dark halls of the pink castle, they didn't notice familiar places. It looked essentially like the old thing, but bigger and darker. However, the corridors did change. The ways they used to take to get around, didn't apply anymore.

"So", Jack asked his team while they were following the yellow Lizard-Bat, "Do we have a plan how to beat this Rex?"

Teal'C was showing him his staff-weapon. "Yes", Jack nodded, "That's a good start."

"I don't think it will be that easy." Daniel was worried how a fight with a basically god-like wizard might end. "We should try to talk to him."

"And ask him to stop?"

"Yes, Jack. Why not?"

"Please, Rex, Wizard of Oz, spare this world, spare our lives and go forth in peace."

"Well, not like that, but yes. I don't think we can fight him."

Vala commented, "It's just goin' to make him mad."

"Yes, that."

"It's not like we had the weapons for it anyway."

"I got a pistol", Vala grinned.

"And what good will that do you?"

"You know what?", Jack admitted, "Daniel is right. If the talking fails, we can still blast his ass."

The tip of the group, the first to walk down the dark halls in sparse flickering light, had to stop in the meantime. Rarity shrank her eyes in suspicion and the bad feeling that something was moving in the shadows ahead. "What is that?"

"Oh, no", Krator yelled, "Prepare yourselves!"

Teal'C joined him with his weapon aiming ahead, "Incoming!"

But they all startled when not a trap or some guard appeared to stall them, but the floor got covered by thousands of black bugs, crawling at them in stunning speed.

Rarity stumbled back in panic, Rook grabbed her and ran behind the line of fire.

Teal'C and Vala shot at them but her pistol was soon out of ammunition. Krator waved his arms and legs in a fluent dance while his magic bursted out with every powerful swing. Ice and Fire formed at his will, burning the bugs and stunning them in a shell of frost in wide cones ahead.

Morty stood in the swarm and fed his flames with anger. His heat ignited the air around him and the bugs alike.

Fluttershy's attempts to talk the bugs out of it, weren't fertile.

Soon the two fire mages noticed that the bugs had a high resistance to heat and flames. Of course they had, they were made by Rex and he knew that Morty was all about fire.

Krator switched to ice entirely and kept sticking the bugs to the floor.

Every bug that made it past them was squashed by Applejack's hooves. "Stomp them, y'all!", she yelled and gave Krator an idea.

"Of course!" The Highpriest reached out his hands and concentrated on the rock beneath his feet. When he kneeled down and smashed his fist into the marble, the ground reacted to his magic. The marble plates separated from the stone below and clashed into each other like folding hands, squashing the bugs on them in the process.
The noise of countless tapping little legs stopped and when the plates laid down again, the guts and juice of the bugs spanned gooey strings between them, accompanied by a fitting wet sound.

"That works", Jack commented.

"Quick!", Krator barked, "There might be more coming any moment." And once they heard the tapping sound of countless little legs in the distance getting closer, they all got a move on in the opposite direction.

Once the bugs were visible in the flickering light and catching up to them, they started to spread their wings and take off the floor. The hall was now filled by the buzz of countless little wings. And the heroes in despair had a problem they could only run away from.

In their panic they chose to run down another hallway. Right into Rex's trap.
The flickering flames and the Unicorn's glow revealed, the corridor ahead was infested and blocked by gigantic, black eels and their slimy, slick bodies.
With the swarm behind them and the eel-pit ahead, the group had no choice but to make a stand.

Planless they fought off the bugs, everyone for himself. But soon the air was blackened by their little bodies. Aimlessly the group was pushed towards the eels and soon they started to leash out.
The Humans tried as hard as they could to grab the bugs and kill them bare handed, but they were overrun and covered by them.
Applejack did a lot better holding them off, using not only hooves but tail and hat to strike them off the air.
Rarity used her horn to shoot laser beams at them, one at a time. As talented she was in her field of magic, she never learned any variety of battle-spells and so it came that she was pushed back step by step.
Fluttershy tried to stay near Rook and Morty, who weren't attacked by the bugs as heavily due to Mortanius' heat. As fire resistant as the bugs were, there was no way they could land on Morty directly or close to him.
And as hot as that was, Rook and Flutters were up to put up with the heat, rather than getting bitten to death by bugs.

And that left Krator in the eye of the storm, casting his magic at bugs and eels alike. His ice shards pierced their shells and cut their bodies open. His stones boxed them back into their corners. The Highpriest had quite the experience in working his magic on a battlefield, but what he couldn't do while he was busy, was protecting the others.

Angrily Applejack throw her glance at the eels and yelled at the others, "We need to push through! Come on!" And once she jumped into the slick wall of black, moving eels, she started to punch a pathway into it.

"Excellent plan!", Krator yelled, smashed his fists on the ground and sent a spiking wave of ice crystals her way. They ripped their edges into the eels and tore their flesh apart. Soon the floor was covered by black, oily blood.

And Rarity stepped in it.

When she started to slip and lose her stand, she looked down in disgust. Like on a frozen lake, she drifted off into the eel-wall.

"Rarity!", Rook yelled when the teeth of the eel surrounded her, and it caught Krator's attention.

With a clap of his hand he summoned a supersonic wind to rush through the room in a spherical wave. It pushed all the bugs aside and made way for the Highpriest and his friends to rush forward.

The snout of the eel had already closed when Krator pushed his hands between its teeth. But only when Rook sent a bullet through the eel's brain, it relaxed enough to let go and Krator broke apart its jaws.
He reached into the throat of the dead beast while the bugs returned. Morty stood in front of them, sending out his heat to create a shield, but the Humans were unprotected.

"I can't reach her, she's gone!", Krator yelled in despair while his arm and shoulders were buried in the black, stinking cadaver.

"No! That's not supposed to happen!", Rook screamed and pulled Krator aside. He started to crawl down the throat but was stopped by Krator. He didn't let go of his foot and held onto it while the crazy bird slid into the eel.

A muffed "Eyegoder!" commanded Krator to pull him back out. But the first relief he felt when he saw that Rook had the white Unicorn, died off once he noticed that she didn't breath.

Stunned and silent they looked at her, how she was sleeping ever so peacefully in Rook’s arms.
Suddenly a pink blast conquered the hall. The spherical wave of magic shot across all surfaces and took bugs and eels with it alike. Once it reached the end of the hall, their bodies were pushed into the stone and flattened beyond recovery.

The darkness returned for a second to then be replaced by a shining spark a moment later. Krator, Morty and Fluttershy looked at the blinding light that started to come closer.

Soon Hati stepped out of the white curtain, angrily looking down at the Unicorn and the bodies of the Humans. "He crossed the line this time."

Krator nodded and walked up to Hati. "Glad you could make it."

"Oh, no! No-no-no!", Twilight cried when she came to Rarity. Even Pinkie was stunned.

"What happened?!"

"The eel", Krator calmly explained, "Ate her."

"I'm a doctor!", Morty said and started to check on her. His bone fingers were deaf to the touch but his expertise on examining bodies was unreached. "Her ribs caved in", he concluded, "She couldn't breath."

And while Twilight's rage was paralyzed by her tears, Morty offered a solution.

"I might have a way to save her." Twilight was all ears. "But you won't like it."

"Do it, please!"

"Boy!", Morty looked at Hati. "Help me, she needs ... the fire."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Quick, before her flesh becomes too cool!"

Hati took a deep breath but then kneeled down by Rarity. Morty took her into his arms and Hati revealed his curseth hand to the Princess by laying it onto Rarity’s head.
Hati's arm, just like Morty's body, was nothing but magical bones, cursed to be free of flesh forever. However, it had the ability to pass down the blessing of immortality.

Flames started to consume Rarity, her colours vanished into black. The ash crumbled off and fell onto the oily floor. A moment later, there was nothing in Morty's arms but the bones of a Unicorn.
The dark pits that once held the eyes were soon lit by piercing fires.

"What?!", Rarity asked in shock and started to wiggle her way out of Morty's arms.

She stood between her friends but she saw no smiles on their faces. "What happened? Why do I feel so ... warm?"

"You'll get used to it", Morty assured.

She looked down at her hoof. It was pale and in flames. Screaming and dancing around she tried to shake off the flames.

"Stop, Rarity! It's okay!", Twilight said.

"What is this, Twilight?"

She looked at the aliens, "They saved you."

"Saved me? Look at me!"

"It doesn't matter. You're still here!"

"I'm a monster!"

"But you're alive."

"Well", Morty commented, "More of less. Undead is a term that comes to mind."

Hati walked up to the flaming Unicorn, "I know this isn't easy." He reached out his bone arm to her. "But you can use this as opportunity. Use your rage to beat the one that took your life. Help us avenge your world."
Rarity laid her hoof into Hati's claw and chuckled, "You didn't have to convince me, really."

In the meantime, Sam was checking on her team. Except for Teal'C, they had all died in the bug swarm. She came around with Teal'C leaning on her shoulders. His skin was covered in bites and bleeding all over. Only because of his Jaffa healing powers, he managed to survive the attack. And still, he never let go of his staff.

"Can you do the same for my team?", Sam asked of Morty.

"I'm afraid they are gone for too long now. The body needs to be alive or having just died that moment."

She swallowed her grief and nodded, "Alright, thanks."

"Let's go", Hati said and went on through the opened wall of eel cadavers.

"Where's Applejack?", Rarity asked the group and they all went for the search.

Step by step the group stumbled over the slick, black tubes of eel bodies, sliding down their backs and wading through their slime and blood. They called out for Applejack repeatedly until they heard a grunt from the messy battlegrounds.

They uncovered the orange coated appletree bucking machine from underneath a dead eel. She was exhausted and looked unharmed.
When they helped her up, her smile was soon replaced by a grimace of pain. "Ah, my leg!", she grunted. "I think it's broken."
And a closer look confirmed, her left hind leg, Bucky McGillicuddy, was bent the wrong way.

Morty rushed to her, "I can help you with that", but everyone yelled "NO!" in a choir.

Twilight used her magic instead to stretch the leg out and fixate it with binds. It had to heal on its own terms however, since they had no healers with them.

Applejack was now ready to go on and the group went down the hall again, cautious for the next trap. "What happened to you?", she asked Rarity.

"You know, the usual. Died, came back to life, cursed by fire. What happened to you?"

"Y'know, the usual. Fought, kicked in some teeth, got bitten by an eel."

They both laughed and walked side by side, while the Lizards lead them into a new battle.

A stone was cast into a field and rolled through the grass.

"I think that's it", Elisa guessed, "The end of the field."

The small group of Cameron, Elisa, Knom and Spike had their share of the forest for today. Miles over miles they had to walk around Ponyville to evade the magical field of the Lizard Wizard that already froze Rainbowmane Hurricane in time forever.

On their path down the fields and shady woodlands, Knom managed to grab the flying eye that was spying on them, and crushed it.
That way Rex was not able to know where they were right now and make another field to stop them. By the time he sent another bug their way, they would already be in the castle. Hopefully.

Following their procedure of throwing things around, they had managed to make it into Ponyville, where from now they had a great view of the end of the world.

The pink castle dome was pierced by beams of sunlight while the rest of the world drowned in a skyless night.

"Knom!", Elisa shouted at him. "You see that flying castle?"

Knom nodded.

"You think you can bring that back down to earth?"

Knom shortly looked ahead and nodded back at her.

"Then don't wait for us."

Knom nodded and sprinted ahead.

His inhumane body was enhanced by mechanical parts of the latest Kältezorn design, what gave the boy that had died access to speed and strength that no Human could ever reach.
Every step catapulted him a few dozen meters ahead. Every tree, house or Pony in his way was shred into pieces. With stomping might and sonic speed the boy turned himself into a projectile with course at Canterlot.

"Alright", Cameron slowly nodded, "And how are we gonna get up there now?"

"Easily", Elisa smiled and pointed the right way. "We'll take the train."

The next minute was passing with Elisa throwing off everypony from the heartly train of Ponyville and hijacking the locomotive. Once the train rushed over the trails and passed the houses and trees like the wind, Cameron realised there was a child on the engine controls and that he really, really hated trains.