My Brave Pony Starfleet Magic: Season 4

Days had passed, and while the royal twins and Professor Brain were busy preparing the complicated potion, which required several days to perfect, training continued for every single one involved in the upcoming battles.

In the future, Tnaig appealed to the Dark King his latest plot to wipe out the ponies. “Is this wise?”

“I believe so, sire.” said Tnaig “All our previous efforts have been tried and failed miserably and hopelessly, but perhaps the best way to wipe them out would be to fight them on our own grounds, and my removing them from their appropriated places in time—think of the incredible advantage we will have.”

The Dark King thought it over. “Very well, you may continue. However, you must not underestimate our enemies and their resourcefulness. All the others met with this misfortune, and it cost them dearly. I do not wish there to be anymore constant blunders, Tnaig.”

Tnaig grinned sinisterly “Fear not, my king…” he held up his cardinal. The last one! “This time there will be no mistakes.”

This was the day. The royal twins had announced that the potion would be ready by midafternoon. The time to head for the future was near!

Never had the heroes been so incredibly excited, and so incredibly afraid at the same time. As the royals twins had said, this would be a battle unlike any other.

Even the Grand Ruler and the Queen were freaked out by all this, especially Grand Ruler, knowing that the Dark King’s creation was because of him and his legions. Now he was as equally determined as the others, if not then more to put a stop to all this.

He and the queen trained a lot together. Princess Luna trained with them, as did Shining Armor and Cadance, but of course it was also decided that Luna and Shining Armor would have to stay behind when the time came to head for the future. There was no point in risking everyone, and the planet in the present would still need protectors if more attacks came.

“Well, who knows… maybe we won’t really need them.” said Buddy Rose, but the others were never more unsure of anything in their lives, even he himself felt that was silly what he had just said.

“That Dark King is defintely not going to be pushover.” said Rainbow.

Pinkie left up and down thrusting her fists in determination. “Just let me get my hands on him. I’ll give him a one-two, and three-four…!”

Artie was staring out the window at the world all around. The Spanish twins joined him, both feeling the same as he did. “It’s so calm and quiet out there.” said Artie.

“And to think, we’re about to leave it, and we might never see it again.” said Dyno.

“But if we don’t, it’ll probably all collapse anyway.” said Myte “We just can’t let that happen.”

The others couldn’t help but overhear them, and finally began to full absorb just how incredibly serious this would be. Fluttershy felt very nervous “What if some of us don’t make it back? What if we get destroyed?”

Rhymey comforted her, though he was just as scared himself, he had to think positively.

“As probable as it is, we cannot think that way.
We should all keep our faith, that’s what I say.”

Everyone agreed with him. Whatever came their way, they would be sure to fight with everything they had. The future, the present, everything was depending on them.

“No pressure, huh…?” Krysta joked. The others couldn’t help but chuckle.

Later on, the royal twins held a meeting in the throne room. “Our labors have been completed.” said Castor. “Behold, the protection potion.” He held up a flash of plain liquid; practically identical to ordinary water.

“That doesn’t look very magical?” said Rainbow.

“Ahh, but you forget the rules of magic; Things are not always what they seem.” said Leilani, and she explained how while the work was completed, the potion still needed another whole hour for the magical qualities to start working.

“So, in other words, it’s still not quite ready yet.” said Lightning.

“At the moment, no.” said Professor Brain “But their highnesses inform me, that it shall be ready. I must say, I have found their ingenuity to be most fascinating.”

The twins felt flattered, and their parents felt proud they had spawned two such powerful and creative ones.

Castor and Leilani informed everyone that even when the potion would be ready to use, its effects would only be temporary. Once they entered the future, they would have to keep this well in mind.

“I guess it’s nearly time.” said Lightning. Everyone else nodded with excitement and determination. “The time for the final showdown with the Dark King has arrived!” said Castor.

Suddenly, the alarm sounded!

“What’s happening now?” snapped Cadance.

Goldwin looked around out the window with his telescope. “I can’t see anything. Wait…!” he paused “It’s a dragon!”

“DRAGON?!” everyone cried out.

“This is it-- the final cardinal.” cried Starla.

“I better go get the ponies in the village out of here.” said Krysta, and she flew off like a shooting star. Lightning gazed at their majesties, and then nodded telling the team to get going. “Let’s go!” shouted Lightning.

Everyone transformed, and they all dashed out.

This dragon, known as the cardinal Dragoon, was unlike the usual breed found in United Equestria. It was the size of a house, and had dark scales, sharp claws, horns, fangs, a blade-like fin going across his face up to his head, and a mace head at the end of his tail. The worst of it was it could attack with dark electrical light, not fire.

That snarling beast struck fear in everyone’s eyes. Krysta and her fairies worked their hardest to warp the civilians to safety, but they just weren’t moving fast enough. “We need help!” one of the fairies cried.

Many other Starfleet fighters tried their hardest to stave Dragoon off, but as expected, without the special powers that were given to Lightning and the others, they didn’t have a chance. They got bashed, they got pummeled, and some even got a taste of the dragon’s light blasts.

Several of them were knocked down, and the dragon loomed right over them, ready for the kill, but the dragon suddenly got blasted by a strong beam of uniforce, knocking it back hard. Lightning and his team leapt down from the skies and dashed over to help their fellow fighters up. “We’ll handle this. Go help the civilians.” said Lightning.

“Yes, Sir!” hollered the fighters.

Soon, all the civilians were warped to safety. The other fairies warped away with them, and Krysta headed back to the palace.

Dragoon stared the team down and snuffed angrily. Fluttershy felt her knees quivering, but she stopped them and acted as brave as she could.

“Go!” shouted Lightning, and the fight was on.

They all charged at him! Dragoon launched his dark light at them, but thanks to all their intense training, the friends were able to evade every shot with ease. One-by-one, they struck the beast hard.

Dragoon swung his mace tail, but Spike caught it in his bare claws. “Catch a dragon by the tail.” He joked as he whirled the beast round and around and slammed him hard on the ground. “And this is supposed to be a challenge?”

The others felt the same, and managed to fight the monster with ease, it was then they began to feel the fight was going just a little too easy, even for their training. Still, they decided now would probably be the best time to finish off the dragon while they had the chance.

“Fall in line!” shouted Lightning, and everyone stood together, preparing for their formation attack.

Up in the palace, the others could see it all. “I can hardly believe this.” said Shining Armor “This is like their easiest battle ever. It’s creepy.”

The others agreed, feeling it was too easy for their tastes as well. “The Dragoon is the Dark King’s most powerful cardinal.” said Castor. His sister nodded “Even though our forces have trained well, the fight should not be as easy as this.”

“Hey, they’re ready to attack!” cried Cadance.

The team stood tall and proud, with their magic and weapons glowing brightly “Ready… FIRE!!” shouted Lightning. The magic all combined into the huge force, and was launched straight at the dragon, but suddenly it was intercepted and blocked off by another force of magic.

“What?!” snapped Lightning.

“What happened!” cried Artie.

Then they could see why. It was Tnaig. He was standing right near dragon and snickering deeply at everyone.

“What are you doing here?” snapped Lightning.

Tnaig didn’t answer directly and just grinned wickedly. He zapped them all hard. Sparks and small explosions flew everywhere.

“Now I’m mad!
It’s time to get bad!” growled Rhymey.

Tnaig snickered “I couldn’t agree with you more.”

“And just what do you mean by that?” snapped Rarity. She got her answer when Tanig and his cardinal began to glow, and in bright flashed of swirling light, they merged together!

The ponies gawked in shock at what they saw!

Tnaig’s body was bigger, and dark in color. He had scaly skin, dragon wings, claws, fangs, even the mace-head tail. “He’s merged with his cardinal!” cried Dyno “I see it, but I hardly believe It.” added Myte.

“Oh, believe it!” hissed Tnaig. His voice sounded snarly and raspy. “There is a reason I was the leader of the Dark King’s minions. I told you before; I knew more about the darkness than either of my fallen comrades had ever hoped to master. Until now, it was not necessary that my true power be revealed to you, fortunately my comrades proved useful in exposing your abilities to their finest.”

The friends thought that was sick. He sounded as though he was using his fallen teammates like pawns in a game. To which Tnaig cared nothing about. “I am a creature of darkness…” he roared “Compassion and understanding is for the weak and spineless who dwell in the light.”

“All right, we’ve heard enough out of you!” growled Lightning “Strong or not, we can take you like we did all the rest.”

They all stood ready for battle, and Tnaig felt he was really going to enjoy this.

Lightning charged forth, and aimed a huge punch at Tnaig, but he swiftly zipped out of the way causing Lightning to miss, and then he got hit hard by the mace tail, knocking him hard into a wall of a house, crumpling it.

“Lightning!” cried Starla. Now she was really steamed, and armed her bow. “STARLIGHT ARROW” her attack hit him full force, but did absolutely nothing. Tnaig snickered, and then dashed straight at her, tripping her up and then socking her hard, sending her skidding along the ground.

All the other friends charged at him, and they all got bashed, pummeled, even blasted a few times by Tanig’s super power “DARK LIGHT ATTACK” now it was ten times stronger than ever and caused massive explosions.

Rarity summoned up all the power she could in her horn and fired a huge burst at Tnaig, but all he did was stomp straight onward as if he felt nothing, and he finally reached her and kicked her hard.

“Rarity!” cried Spike. Now he was really mad, and pulled his sword out “Let’s make this interesting; dragon to dragon.”

Tnaig snickered. “Your pitiful weapon is no match for my power.”

Spike growled fiercely and charged forth roaring loudly. He swung his blade all over, but Tnaig dodged his every swing, and actually caught the sword in his claws. Spike struggled all he could, and lost his temper hard. “DRAGON FLARE” blasting his fire right in Tnaig’s face, the result was explosive and caught him a little as well.

“SPIKE!!” everyone shouted. Spike was alright, but when the smoke cleared he and every else gawked in shock when they saw Tnaig still had hardly a scratch on him. “You really ought to watch your temper.” he hissed.

Spike gasped in shock as Tnaig leapt right for him, and knocked him ever so hard out of the field like a baseball. “SPIKE!!” cried Rarity.

He was heading straight for the palace. “Watch out!” cried Goldwin.

Grand Ruler quickly used his magic to halt Spike in midair just inches away from the window. “Are you alright, Spike?” he asked.

“Just barely.” groaned Spike.

The battle was getting so intense. “Let’s get down there and help them.” said Celestia. The others agreed, and left Goldwin to watch over things.

Down below, the fighters continued to get bashed about until they were all huddled together in one spot. “Exactly, where did we lose control here?” groaned Rainbow.

“I can’t believe how strong he is.” added Fluttershy.

“We can’t give up.” said Lightning.

“Oh really…?” hissed Tanig “Then perhaps it’s time we took this battle elsewhere, or should I say… when.”

Everyone was confused, and before they could react, or even make a sound, Tnaig enveloped them all in a dark wave of magic currents. They all screamed and yelped, and then vanished in a bright flash.

…only seconds before the royal gang had arrived. “Lightning!” cried Krysta.

“We’re too late!” cried Celestia.

“Where did they go?” asked Cadance, but her cousins had their suspicions. “Oh, no!” cried Castor. “That was time-warp magic.”

Everyone’s blood turned cold. “Time warp?” cried Shining Armor.

“He’s taken them to the future!” cried Leilani.

“But the potion…” peeped Grand Ruler “Oh my stars. This is not good!”

“Rarity.” Spike peeped.

The ponies screamed as they felt themselves swirling through a dark vortex. Pinkie Pie felt she was going to hurl, and suddenly they crash landed. “Wipeout!” groaned Rainbow.

“Is everyone alright?” Lightning asked.

“I think so.” groaned Starla “Where’d Tnaig go?”

“Never mind that.” said Buddy Rose “Where the heck are we?”

Everyone got onto their feet and took a look around. The skies were stormy with extreme darkness and shadows. The whole area was a wasteland of ruin and destruction. Fluttershy was shivering more in fear than the coldness. “Oh! I don’t like it here.” she squeaked.

Rhymey comforted her, but felt equally as feared, and then something glowing caught his eye.

“Do you see what I see?
Could it possibly be?”

Everyone gazed in awe and in shock. “That stronghold, I recognize It.” said Artie “The royal twins told us about it.”

Applejack swallowed hard “Then… that must mean that we’re… we’re…!”

“...Welcome!” thundered a deep dark voice, making Rarity jump! “Oh! What was that?!”

“...You have entered a world of impenetrable darkness where the light never dwells, and evil reigns supreme over all. This is your future!”

Ever so slowly, the ponies turned round, and saw him. Many of them gasped hard and whimpered madly.

“I am the ruler of this world, and all the worlds beyond. I am the Dark King!”

“So, that’s him!” cried Starla.

“We meet at last!” growled Lightning

The Dark King’s sinister laugh echoed all across the darkness as he gazed down at the helpless ponies.

The Dark King continued to laugh as he glared down at the ponies. To him, they were as small as Krysta were he their size. Never had the ponies faced anything so incredible large before. Even the Grand Celestial Ruler would hardly be about the length of the King’s massive fingers.

“We are in some trouble!” cried Dyno.

“Really, you don’t say.” said Myte.

Then they heard the sound of Tnaig laughing. “Take a good look around, for this is exactly what your world will look like one day.”

“Not a chance!” snarled Lightning.

“…Yeah!” snapped Rainbow “We won’t let you or even some creepy horned-giant wipe out our world.”

Tnaig felt deeply outraged “You dare insult the Dark King, in his very domain and presence?!” he shouted, and with that the darkness began to swirl in large gusts around him and his body was shrouded in dark light. “I think you shouldn’t have said that, Rainbow!” cried Starla.

When the light and winds had faded, Tnaig had grown in size a bit and he was as dark as the Dark King. “This will be my greatest honor-- destroying you all in the presence of his majesty.” he hissed.

The ponies stood their ground, clenching their fists. “Let’s get him!” shouted Lightning. Everyone nodded, and they all charged forth roaring loudly. Tnaig just stood where he was as all the ponies rammed a huge punch, or kick straight at him from all ends…

…but Tnaig felt nothing. He didn’t even flinch! It was like hitting a solid wall, and before the ponies could react, Tnaig’s eyes glowed, and a big burst of darkness emitted from him, blowing everyone off and sent them rolling along the ground.

“Wow! What just happened?” cried Pinkie.

“It’s as if being so close to the Dark King is making him even stronger,” said Buddy Rose.

“That’s not fair!” cried Fluttershy “How can we take him down on his home ground?”

“There has to be a way! There simply must.” cried Rarity.

“Fools!” thundered The Dark King “If you believe your super powers will save you here, you are sorely mistaken. Only the darkness reigns supreme. The light has no practical use here.”

The ponies refused to believe that and all stood back on their feet. Tnaig was far from amused by their determination. “You should have remained down. Now, Starfleet prepare to meet your end!”

The battle waged on, but ultimately the ponies were powerless against Tnaig’s supreme power. Not a single one of their attacks could even tickle him, while he continued to mercilessly strike them all hard. Their weapons and super attacks were no good either.

“DARK LIGHT ATTACK” Tnaig blasted at them. Lightning tried to counter the attack. “UNIFORCE” but his attack hardly amounted to snuff in the Darkness just as the Dark King had warned him, and Tnaig’s blast hit the team harder than ever, knocking them all down.

The ponies were starting to look really beat up-- all bruised, and burned, and their armor suits were dented a bit. Some of the girl’s manes were all tangled. “This dude’s tearing us apart!” cried Rainbow.

“Maybe we could try the mega modes.” suggested Buddy Rose.

“How can we, our powers are too low.” snapped Artie.

Tnaig couldn’t help but chuckle at them. “It is no use. Nothing can save you here. Why not surrender now and spare yourselves all the more agony?”

“Never!” shouted Lightning “No matter how tough the odds, Starfleet never gives in!”

“Ha! Fools!” shouted Tnaig and he zapped them again. All of them felt pretty weak and sore. Lightning was really fed up with all this now as he slowly struggled up. “My word, you are either very brave, or very foolish.” hissed Tnaig.

Lightning said nothing and gazed down at his friends. They barely managed to struggle up on their feet as well. “Lightning…” Starla said “You have to do it.”

“You don’t have any other choice.” added Rarity.

Lightning reluctantly agreed.

“Does this mean you surrender?” asked Tnaig.

Lightning gazed at him sharply and sneered “…Far from it.” and he began to concentrate hard until his horn was glowing brightly, along with the rest of his body in golden lightning.

“What is this?!” snarled the Dark King.

Finally, Lightning transformed completely, and now stood as an Alicorn. Tnaig hated the sight of all that glowing light. “Very impressive, but your efforts will be all for naught.”

Lightning dashed forth and punched Tnaig hard, really damaging him and send him soaring up high. Lightning then zipped up fast, and kicked him hard sending him crashing to the ground.

Lightning roared ever so loudly, and his glowing increased brightly. Everyone shielded their eyes, even the Dark King winced back on his large throne.

Tnaig got up to his feet, and dashed straight back towards Lightning. “I’ll show you true power!” and the two went at it hard, but Lightning showed no mercy. He dodged every one of Tnaig’s attacks, and attacked him back hard.

Lightning blasted Tnaig hard and sent him skidding along the ground. Tnaig growled, but then he could see the gang of out the corner of his eye, and turned to fire at them. “No!” shouted Lightning.

“WATCH OUT!!” screamed Pinkie, but they wouldn’t be able to dodge in time. Tnaig fired, and the gang would have been toasted if Lightning hadn’t zipped in the way just in time to take the blast, damaging him, hard, and he fell to his knees. “Lightning!” cried Starla, and she dashed over to him.

“Starla!” shouted Artie; he was worried Lightning would take his fury out on her again, but surprisingly, he didn’t. “Lightning…?”

Her husband gazed at her smiling, not snarling. He didn’t even make any attempt to raise his fists at her. “Starla, I’m okay!”

His wife smiled with joy, and the others overheard.

Lightning stood and glared at him “It’s something evil like you would never understand.”

“All I understand is that you will fall before my dark magic!”

“Not before you fall to the power of the light!”

The two dashed for each other again…

Meanwhile, in the past, Spike was really upset over everything. He slammed the ground angrily with his claw “I can’t believe it! He took them away!” he growled and continued to pound the ground in anger.

Krysta stopped him and urged him to calm down “We’re all worried and upset, Spike, but throwing an angry fit isn’t going to help.”

“She’s right, at the moment there’s nothing we can do.” said Grand Ruler.

They had already agreed they couldn’t just head into the future, not until the potion was fully set or they’d be risking their own safety, but the potion still needed another thirty minutes to be ready and could not be used in its current state.

“But what if we don’t make it in time?” cried Spike “What if we get there and it’s too late?”

The royal twins knew he had a point there. It wouldn’t be long before the ponies began to suffer from the decomposition without the potion to strengthen them, and worse, actually facing Tnaig and possibly the Dark King himself on their home grounds.

Now everyone was feeling as equally as worried as Spike, and starting to feel maybe they couldn’t wait, but it just wasn’t safe enough. “Isn’t there anything we can do?” asked Spike. He gazed at their majesties “Maybe you two could go to the future? You’re stronger than most of us and you could hold out longer.”

“Out of the question, Spike.” snapped Cadance, but her aunt and uncle disagreed. “He has a point, Cadance.” said Grand Ruler. His wife agreed “There’s one thing we never considered yet, our fusion power. That should suffice us with plenty of power until the potion is ready.”

“What about them?” Cadence asked, referring to Sapphire’s pokemon, Sienna, Mako, Kudos and Snowflake. “We wanna help them too.” Mako said.

“They can come too.” The royal twins were intrigued, having remembered their father telling them stories about how he and their mother used to be able to merge into the Grand Celestial Ruler. Since Celestia had originally died, the fusion magic was never used again.

Though the risks were still pretty high, even the twins agreed it would probably be their best chance. “I say we go for it” said Shining Armor “…I mean what have we got to lose?”

The royal twins agreed too. “We’ll send you both to the future, but we must stay behind until the potion is ready, we’ll join you as soon as we can.” said Castor.

“Remember, we are still uncertain this will actually work well.” added Leilani “And whatever you do, do not try and battle the Dark King until we’ve arrived.”

Their majesties nodded, and then everyone headed outside where their majesties prepared to transform. Taking out, each, their respective halves of the rainbow rod, and joining the two pieces together. In a fright flash of swirling light, their majesties merged, and formed the Grand Celestial Ruler.

Everyone gazed in awe at the giant creature, and the royal twins were astonished beyond their wildest dreams. The ruler gazed down at their children and said in their mixed voice “It is time to go.”

Their children agreed, and prepared to warp the ruler to the future.

The battle continued…

Lightning and Tnaig were really going hard at it. The two attacked each other hard, sending each other soaring away from one another. “This… this can’t be!” groaned Tnaig “I cannot accept this?! I WILL NOT LOSE TO THE LIGHT!!”

Lightning growled angrily as he glared at his opponent, and the two charged at each other again, but suddenly, Lightning began to slow down, and his light began to fade softly. This gave Tnaig the edge he needed to bash him hard.

“Lightning!” cried Starla, but then she started to feel weary as well, as did the others.

“What’s… happening?” cried Dyno.

“I feel… like I’m going to… fall down…” groaned Myte.

Rhymey suddenly realized what it was…

“Our bodies are not fit to hold up in this time.

We’re slowly… degrading… to dust and grime!”

Tnaig continued to attack Lightning mercilessly, and gave him a huge blast from his Dark Light, so hard, combined with Lightning’s exhaustion from decomposition, that he transformed back into his casual clothes, flat on his back. “It’s… no good.” he panted “I can’t… keep up… my power.”

The others struggled all they could but they all were far too weak to fire as much as a spark of magic, or even lift their weapons. Sapphire was the only one not affected by this.

Tnaig snickered wickedly as he approached Lightning “Poor little ponies… You went through all that fuss, getting in our way, destroying our cardinals and my comrades, only to end up here; unable to attack, unable to defend yourselves. Why you can’t even move!”

He hung his hand claw over Lightning “And now… for the darkness!” His claw began to glow, ready for the kill.

“NO!!!” Everyone shouted, believing Lightning had had it, but suddenly, a large beam of light fired at Tnaig, knocking him away hard.

Everyone looked up and saw Grand Celestia Ruler, hovering in the skies. At first they thought they were all hallucinating, but they weren’t when the ruler used their magic to gives them all a much needed boost of energy, so they could all get up again.

The Ruler smiled at them all and then turned to glare down at Tnaig “Where there is darkness there will always be a light to show the way, but no matter what way that is, good will always triumph over evil.”

Tnaig sneered and scoffed “A very touching gesture, but if you think me to be intimidated, you are sorely mistaken… just as you are ABOUT TO FALL BEFORE ME!!”

He furiously dashed up to attack The Ruler, and the ruler dashed forth. Despite being more than twenty times Tnaig’s size, Tnaig managed to sock The Ruler hard in their gut, and kick them hard in the back, but the ruler managed to fire a zap of magic from their sceptre sending him skidding along the ground.

“Ye-haw…! Show ‘em who’s boss!” cried Applejack.

Tnaig was not amused “So, you are capable of harming me. I knew that you were powerful, but I never dreamed of experiencing it.”

The Ruler narrowed their eyes at him and said “We are capable of much more than you and your kind could ever understand.”

“Too bad you’re not capable of winning.” snarled Tnaig.

Lightning stepped forth “We are capable…” he said as his friends all stood beside him “And we will win.”

As they stood near the ruler, the light from their glowing was enough to make their insignias glow. “Let’s do it.” said Lightning.

Everyone agreed and transformed again.

“MEGA MODE ACTIVATE!!”

“VALKYRIA!!”

“Enough of this!” shouted Tnaig, and he powered up for a really big attack. “Everyone, let us band together.” said The Ruler. The ponies nodded and they all began to concentrate hard, as their magic was absorbed into The Ruler’s sceptre. “TIME TO DIE!!” shouted Tnaig as he launched his strongest Dark Light Attack.

“MYSTIC LIGHT” The Ruler and the ponies fired their power straight at the big blast. The two forces collided, and seemed to be at equal strength. “We’ve… got to… try… harder!” shrieked Fluttershy.

“Give it all!” shouted Rainbow, and they all poured on more power, actually forcing Tnaig’s attack back slowly. “It’s working!” cried Rarity.

“Keep it up!” shouted Starla and poured on more magic as the blast continued to head for Tnaig, but he just laughed at them “Fools, you really thought this was all the power I had left? Here in the darkness, my power can be limitless!” He began to absorb more of the darkness around him which began to push back on the opposing force immensely. The ponies and The Ruler just couldn’t hold it.

“No!!” Lightning cried as the blast got nearer and nearer.

“It’s no use! We’re goners!” shouted Pinkie.

Tnaig really felt this was it. Sapphire growled and charged towards Tnaig. “Sapphire, no!” Lightning cried. Sapphire leaped into the air and her hand was coated in light and she punched Tnaig, sending him flying back and stopping both attacks. Suddenly the Dark King appeared. “This is all your fault, you wretched little ponies!”

The team couldn’t believe what they were seeing-- The Dark King then raised his huge hand and zapped him hard again, vanquishing him into the darkness. “BUT I WAS YOUR MOST LOYAL SERVANT!!!!” his last words echoed as he vanished into nothingness.

“He’s gone…” said Buddy Rose.

Applejack was livid and thundered at the Dark King “What in the hotel bills did you do that for! He worshiped you! He carried out your will!”

“He was getting reckless.” the Dark King said “I couldn’t risk anything happening to the Grand Celestial Ruler. They are a fusion of your queen and Grand Ruler Celesto. He is an essential factor in my creation. I could not let him be destroyed.”

“So just because he was a little reckless,

You vaporized him into the darkness?!” snarled Rhymey.

“You’re just sick!” screamed Rarity.

The Dark King laughed and sneered “Perhaps, but then again what would any of you know about anything?”

The team was most confused what he meant.

The Dark King gazed all around him as it got really, really dark for a brief moment. “Silence… emptiness… complete and total nothingness-- That is what it means to exist in the dark. Already nearly every planet, every world in this universe is under my dominion. Once all of you are exterminated, there will be none to stand in my way of total eternal darkness.”

The Ruler clenched their fist “You are truly evil, Dark King.” they said “It was our folly that you were ever created, and now we all intend to end that error.”

The ponies all nodded and looked ready to fight, but the Dark King could only laugh. “The only thing that shall end is your existence, along with the power of the light!” he raised his huge hand and began to sap at their energies, and once again everyone, even The Ruler was suffering from decomposition. The Ruler even diffused into Celestia and Grand Ruler, and everyone’s armor and suits powered down.

“And to make it so I have no further problems…” The Dark King hissed as he raised his hand again, and the Grand Ruler began to float up into the air. “Celesto!” cried Celestia.

“Master!” shouted Lightning “No! Let him go!”

Grand Ruler shouted in anguish as he vanished dark glow. The others were all shocked, and some near tears. “Is he… he isn’t…?” cried Starla.

“Silence!” snarled the Dark King “He has merely been sent back to his appropriate time. I told you before, he is essential to my creation.”

“Celesto.” peeped Celestia.

Grand Ruler crashed on the floor in the palace, back in the past. “Father!” cried Castor. The gang ran over to him. “Daddy, are you alright?” cried Leilani.

“That time travel… really takes it out of you.” her father groaned. He did manage to explain what happened, and these made Spike feel all the more edgy. “We can’t wait anymore. We’ve got to go now!”

The others were inclined to agree, and the potion was ready as well.

“I’m going as well.” Grand Ruler said.

“Uncle, you’re weak. You should stay and rest.” protested Cadance. Princess Luna agreed too. “You are not strong enough to handle another jump through time. You must rest before you can fight again.”

“She is correct, father.” said Castor “However, we can leave you this…” then he and his sister left a small bit of their magic. “It will let you warp to the future again.” said Leilani “But you will have to recover your full strength before you can use it.”

“I will, but please, hurry. I don’t know how long the others can last.” Grand Ruler cried out.

The team agreed, and Cadance transformed into her Ninja form. The royal twins then gave her a simple spray of the magic potion, and though Cadance didn’t feel any different, her cousins assured her she’d be protected, but only for a short while.

“Cadance…” Shining Armor said. His wife turned to him, and he blew her a kiss, and she gestured blowing another one, since she couldn’t speak, and then she, her cousins and Spike warped to the future with cases of the potion in hand.

“I sure wish I was going with them.” said Krysta.

“That makes two of us.” said Shining Armor.

“There is very little any of us can do, and we cannot leave our world unprotected.” said Luna.

“We must have faith.” Grand Ruler said as he meditated on the floor softly to help restore his strength faster. He was also silently praying that everyone would be able to hold out.

In the future, despite being incredibly weak, the ponies still gave it everything they had. The ponies fired what little of their attacks they could.

“UNIFORCE”

“PULSAR LASER”

“LEAF SWARM”

“PAINT BOMB”

“DRILL QUILL”

“BOOM-BOOM FLARE”

The others all fired whatever magic their respective elements of harmony could give them. All those forces fired directly at the Dark King, but of course even all that hardly did amount to a mosquito bite on the giant demon. The Dark King could only snicker. “This is almost rather entertaining to watch.”

By this point the ponies felt so weary was lack of energy, and decomposition, they could hardly see clearly. “We… can’t… give… up!” cried Applejack.

“But… what can… we even do?” groaned Dyno.

“He’s… just too strong… for us.” added Myte.

Lightning struggled all he could but fell flat on his chest. He felt as heavy as a meteor and could barely move an inch.

The Dark King prepared to destroy them once and for all. “It is time to put an end to this conflict that has kept us all close.” he teased, and his two monstrous hands began to form a large ball of dark energy to fire at them all.

“Hey… if we die here in the future, does that mean we don’t get reborn in the past?” Rainbow wondered aloud.

Poor Fluttershy was so scared, but she could hardly even squeak.

Rarity, she felt this was it. “Oh, Spike…” she cried in her thoughts “Goodbye… I… never got to tell you...” She finally knew it, but seemingly too late.

“Celesto…” Celestia peeped “Goodbye, my darling!”

“BE GONE!!” shouted the Dark King as he fired his shot straight for them all. Sapphire leaped in front and unleashed her Element’s Magic creating a large barrier that became a large beam of light and she teleported the team away. a huge crater in the ground, but the Dark King growled angrily. “You are just prolonging the inevitable! I WILL FIND YOU!!”

The friends felt so weary, they didn’t realize what was going on, until they felt their weariness disappearing, and as their visions slowly regained, they looked up and saw the twins, and a transformed Ninja Cadance.

“What’s happened?” Celestia groaned.

“Shh, steady, Mother.” said Leilani “It’ll be alright.”

They all gave everyone extra doses of the potion, and soon they could feel their strengths slowly returning, and they didn’t feel so weary anymore, and found they were sitting within a deep dark trench that would serve as a temporary haven. At the moment they couldn’t travel back in time to safety, and there wasn’t much point anyway

Spike was really relieved to find his friends were all safe, especially Rarity, but still he couldn’t muster the courage to talk to her.

“We haven’t much time.” said Castor “It will not be long before the Dark King finds us.”

“And when he does, we’re goners.” said Rainbow “All our best attacks couldn’t even scratch him.”

“He’s got to have some weakness, but what?” asked Lightning, but sadly not even the royal twins had the foggiest. The Dark King had never shown any signs of any weakness, except from the light, but even then their best shots were not enough to beat him. The others all turned to gaze at her, and Rarity explained the theory, and that the only way to beat the Dark King was to strike him from inside as well as out… right where his heart would be if he had one.

Not a single one of the other ponies or Spike had a more fretful look on their faces. “Go inside the Dark King?” Pinkie Pie rhetorically asked.

“You scare me, Rarity.” said Rainbow.

The royal twins realized the full risk involved. “Never has there been a longshot as great as this one.” said Castor “Could it work?”

“I see no other alternative, and we never once considered it.” said Leilani.

“I say we do It.” said Buddy Rose.

“Count me in.” added Artie.

“It’s all we can do.

I’ll try it too.” said Rhymey.

Soon, all the friends, Lightning, even Celestia were in full agreement. “But how can we pull this off?” asked Fluttershy.

“Girl’s got a point.” said Applejack. “We can’t even get near the Dark King. He’ll crush us like freshly laid eggs.”

“And what about Sapphire?” Pinkie said.

“Come again?” Lightning said.

“Sapphire, your magic and light are the only weakness the Dark King has, so if you just released a large, LARGE amount of it.-”

“It will completely destroy him!” Future Castor exclaimed. “The question is how?”

“I’ve already got an idea. Do you all remember when we faced Fratello and Doomdroid?”

Cadance remembered especially, and it made her feel a little sad, but she and the others remembered how Lightning managed to get absorbed, by coating himself in uniforce, the enemy’s energy absorption took him right inside. “I bet I can do it again.”

Cadance tapped her hand on the ground in Morse code; “We’d have to get the Dark King to absorb energy, and once your inside, we’ll do what we can out here.”

“We’re going to need backup though… and lots of it.” said Celestia.

Her children nodded and they both knew where to get it. “Your future selves…” said Castor. The minute he said that, everyone immediately agreed. The royal twins used their magical telepathy to send a warning message across the darkness that would reach the lighted city where their allies were… but it would still take a while for them to get there as they would have to assimilate a lot of fighters and power.

The Dark King was really getting angry “Come out!” he thundered “You can’t escape from me!”

He sounded close, very close! “Do you think we can hold out until the others get here?” asked Dyno. “No, definitely not.” said Myte.

Their power levels were only nearing fifty percent. That wouldn’t get them very far, so Celestia decided to transfer some of her energy to theirs to boost them back up. “But your majesty, you’ll become even weaker!” said Artie.

“I realize that.” said Celestia “But we have no other choice.”

Cadance walked up to her aunt gesturing that she would stay behind and keep her safe. “I will too. My power’s still full.” said Spike.

Celestia smiled thankfully at them both. “All right, stand together ponies.” The ponies did as they were told, and she magically transferred every bit of energy she could spare to them all, restoring their powers to near full, but as expected, Celestia nearly collapsed from exhaustion.

Cadance caught her.

“Mother!” cried Castor.

“I’m… alright.” Celestia groaned softly “Really, I’m fine. I just need to rest.”

Her children vowed to stay and protect her as well, and the others all exchanged looks of determination, and they all leapt out of the trench, onto the main ground. “Hey!” shouted Lightning.

At once, the Dark King turned and saw them all standing there. He could see for himself that their power had been restored, and he laughed. “You are far more resourceful than I ever thought, but if you are still confident you can win, you are more foolish than you are courageous.”

“You just never get tired of being wrong.” said Lightning “Go guys!”

The others all transformed into their battle suits, except for Lightning, as he needed to conserve power. “All right, you all know what to do?” Lightning asked.

“YES SIR!” everyone hollered.

“Let’s do it!” shouted Lightning, and everyone scattered about.

“Insignificant creatures!” the Dark King growled, and he swung his enormous arms. The friends could hardly duck down to avoid them. Next, the Dark King fired two gigantic red beams from his monstrous eyes and out from the palms of his hands. The beams trailed all along the ground.

The beams were so big and moving so fast, they were even harder to avoid. Several of the friends got hit, and suffered a huge deal of damage, but they knew they had to keep trying.

Many of the ponies tried to avoid the beams by taking to the skies, but the swirling darkness and occasional lightning bolts made it nearly impossible to concentrate. Many of them got hit and nearly tumbled out of control, and those that didn’t fired their powers at the Dark King, preferably at his eyes, which of course did nothing at all to him.

“Fools!” he shouted at them, and he then controlled the sky darkness to shoot them all down.

The friends in the trench saw everything. “They’re getting creamed out there!” cried Spike. He was very tempted to go out there and help them, but Cadance held him back and shook her head at him.

The royal twins were just as worried, and didn’t know how much longer they could wait, especially keeping in mind that the potion they gave the others wouldn’t last too long.

Lightning got hit, but still made no attempt to transform or attack back. “Come on, use your absorption power!” he groaned softly to himself.

The Dark King glared at Lightning “What’s wrong, little pony? You haven’t transformed yet, so perhaps you’ve come to your senses.”

Lightning didn’t respond to that and just glared angrily at him.

“No? Well, perhaps I can persuade you.” he fired a blast at Lightning; he dodged it, just barely, but the blast continued on until it hit near the trench where the others were hiding, sending rocks falling all over them. They tried their hardest not to yelp so loud, but the Dark King could hear them.

“So, that is where you’ve been hiding.” he then used hi magic to blast away the rock, exposing the hidden party.

“No!” shouted Lightning.

“I told you, you cannot escape your fate!” he charged up to strike at them again, but Cadance quickly used her ninja powers to whisk them all away in a puff of smoke. “Where’d they go?” cried Starla.

The Dark King growled and gazed all around him. Finally, he unleashed a power wave of darkness that spread across the land, blowing all the other ponies down again, and forcing their friends out of hiding. “As I was saying; you cannot escape your fate. Here in the darkness, I rule all. You can never hide from me. Why not make it easier and accept the inevitable?”

“Because, we believe!” snapped Lightning. “We believe that no matter how much the odds are against us, we can win!”

Starla stood by her husband’s side and agreed with him completely. “You may have conquered nearly every inch of this universe, and you claim the dark is completely invincible, but as long as there remains hope, and a speck of light, the dark will never rule over all.”

Every single pony and Spike agreed.

“Very charming and very ineffectual….” the Dark King sneered “…But actions will always speak greater than words, and my actions are about to silence you and the last of the light forever!” At that instant, he fired a single shot from his eyes at Lightning and Starla. They dodged it, but the ray ricocheted off the ground and headed straight for Castor… zapping him clean through the heart!

Everyone gasped and some of the girls shrieked as Castor fell to his death on the ground, exploding in a ball of flames, leaving behind only his charred robe, and a few feathers “BROTHER!!!” Leilani screamed as she dashed to her brother’s remains, but there was definitely no hope. She fell to her knees, letting her tears fall to the ground.

The other ponies were devastated beyond belief, but easily none were as hurt as Celestia. Her eyes bulged open really wide as her body shook with fury, sadness, and an extreme blow to her heart. “No! My only son…!” she peeped. Then she let out a ferocious scream and charged straight for the Dark King.

“No! Don’t…!” screamed Rarity

“Lycanroc!”, but Celestia was so furious she almost didn’t care. “YOU!!” she shouted as she summoned up all the magic she unleash and fired it straight at the Dark King, but naturally it was nowhere near as strong as the blast he fired in response, hitting her really hard and causing her to drop down. “She’s falling!” cried Fluttershy.

Spike and Rarity quickly flew up and grabbed her, but the Dark King zapped them all again, and they all crashed to the ground. “Dios Mio!” cried the Spanish twins, as they and everyone ran over to their fallen friends.

Spike and Rarity weren’t as hurt as Celestia was, she looked all bruised and battered, her clothes were tattered, and her crown was dented. Her vital signs were low, but she was still alive.

“Mother!” cried Leilani “No, please! I can’t lose you too!”

Celestia’s vital signs began to drop more, along with everyone else’s. “Oh, no!” cried Buddy Rose as he felt weaker. “I think the potion’s worn off.”

“I feel… heavy like a rock.” groaned Artie

The Dark King laughed at this painful moment “If you can no longer stand the pain, then allow me… to put you out of your misery!”

“LOOK OUT!!” shouted Spike, but suddenly they were all teleported by a bright light to another section of the field, causing the blast to miss.

“What?!” snarled the Dark King, followed by a battle brigade of many ponies yelling “CHARGE!!” as they came rushing across the field, at the head of the team were many of the ponies’ future selves, including Cadance, and future Princess Luna.

The friends then gazed up and realized who saved him. It was Grand Ruler, or rather his future self. There could be no mistake. He gazed proudly down at them all and nodded, and his eyes fell upon Celestia, and then used his advanced magic to revive her and the rest of the team back to full power.

Celestia felt perfect now, but it felt somewhat strange as she gazed back at the future version of her husband, but now was no time to talk or have heartwarming moments. Grand Ruler stood and gazed back at the Dark King

“So, you finally decide to come out from hiding.” the Dark King hissed.

Future Grand Ruler clenched his fists furiously “How could we not?” he sneered deeply “For many dark moons, we have suffered from your wrath and darkness. We’ve seen you destroy many races, and conquer worlds as the light faded away… but now… You destroy my son… AND YOU WILL PAY FOR IT!! HE WILL BE AVENGED!!”

The entire army thundered in determination, and the friends got to their feet and agreed.

“I’ve had just about enough of all this!” the Dark King shouted. The darkness all around him began to go crazy and wild. “It is time for me to do that which I should have long ago!!”

“We won’t allow you to do so!” shouted Lightning, and all his friends stood by his side. Lightning finally decided to transform, and he went Enticorn, right in front of everyone. The future ponies gazed in awe at the sight of him.

He then thought back to everyone and everything he was fighting for, and those he had fought for who were no longer physically with him; namely his family, Twilight, and now Castor… who fought valiantly to ensure that he and his friends would live a better life… once the darkness was silenced! “And now-- past, present and future alike-- In the name of all those we are sworn to protect, determined to avenge… WE FIGHT TO THE END!!”

The army hollered together in full agreement, but the Dark King was not impressed, and prepared to blast everyone with his strong magic, but this time, due to their being so many ponies on call, many of the groups were able to conjure magical blasts large enough to actually counter the darkness.

Lightning’s friends were then aided by their future selves. They all found it very awkward yet somewhat exciting to be with their own selves. The two Raritys couldn’t stop complementing one another, but they were both snapped back into concentration by the others.

The Dark King continued to unleash his darkness, while the army counter back with their power. The fight actually seemed equal, until the Dark King decided… “I will not stand for this, I need more darkness!”

The planet, the galaxy, practically nearly every inch of the universe was coated in his darkness, which he began to absorb, causing his body to expand slowly, and immensely increase his power.

Many of the ponies began to panic, fearing their powers wouldn’t be able to hold out any longer, but Lightning saw this as his chance. “This is it! I’m going in!” All his friends nodded at him, wishing him good luck. He then cast one last look at Starla, and her future self who gazed back at him with deep love in her eyes, having not seen her husband in ages since he died.

Then Lightning flew up, up, way up towards the dark energy swirls, and coated himself in the light energy around his body, and it worked as he got sucked into the darkness, straight into the Dark King himself.

Inside the Dark King himself, it was exactly as Lightning expected, all dark, extremely dark, mixed with cosmic forces and lightning bolts. “Okay, I’ve got to find the area where the heart would be.” So he flew off, not really knowing what direction he was going and just relying on common sense from his entry point. Alas, it was no use, it was too dark, too dangerous, and very confusion to find anything… not even which way was up and which way was down.

The Dark King, well aware of Lightning’s intrusion, remained unfazed by this. “You don’t seriously expect your little scheme to work, do you?” he hissed, and the magic inside him began to go crazy, shooting at Lightning from many angles, forcing him to swerve and dodge, but he got hit several times.

“Lightning!” the two Starlas cried out.

The Dark King glared at all the ponies surrounding him. “Your plan was futile from the very start, as well as your hopes and faith. Now your friend will pay the price. Soon, my inner energies will consume him completely, and he shall be gone forever!”

The ponies all whimpered in worry.

“As for all of you, I am about ensuring you will be there to greet him on the other side!”

“That is not going to happen!” Future Grand Ruler shouted.

“I beg to differ!” the Dark King yelled, and just his thunderous voice alone made the ground tremble and quake, and the lightning from the skies went crazy that they struck the ground, killing a few of the future soldiers, and wounding many others, even some of the future friends.

“Are you okay?

Can you hear what I say?” cried Rhymey and he helped his future-self get up.

“I am alright, but what can we do?

There has to be a way for us to pull through.”

“He’s right…” said Future Fluttershy “There must be a way to help Lightning find the Dark King’s soft spot.” She sounded much braver than her past self, to which Fluttershy admired, and she actually had an idea “Maybe we can send Lightning a message, or guide him?”

Everyone took an immediate shine to the idea. “You’re a genius.” said Applejack. “Ride on, girl.” agreed her future-self.

Fluttershy blushed softly.

“Wait, how are we going to pull this off?” asked Pinkie Pie. Her future-self scratched her head “I don’t know, but we better think fast. I don’t know how much longer Lightning can last in there.”

Lightning continued to swerve and dodge the bolts and energies that shot at him, and he was getting a little tired. “That’s it…” he growled “Let’s match power with power!” and he summoned up a small burst of his power and fired a large blast back at the energies, shoving them back, and resulting in a large, bright explosion… which the Dark King only slightly felt.

“Hey, look at that!” cried Dyno. Everyone looked up and saw a very small but clear speck of light flashing on the Dark King’s massive chest. “Lightning, it has to be him.” said Myte.

The future twins agreed, and suddenly cried “ESSO ES!” They had an idea, which everyone could sense immediately; to guide Lightning to soft spot of the Dark King by shining light in the area.

“It is very risky.” said Princess Luna “But I believe it is our only chance.”

“SILENCE!!” the Dark King shouted, and he fired more darkness everywhere, wounding more ponies, and a couple more soldiers were killed in the line of fire. “How quickly we forget, your power is nothing compared to mine. Allow me to show you!”

He prepared to fire an ultra-force, which would be sure to destroy everyone in one thunderous blast, when suddenly he winced. “What… what is this?!” he groaned as he felt very strange.

“What’s happening to him?” asked Buddy Rose. “It looks like he’s getting weak.” said his future self. No one could understand what was happening, until Ninja Cadance gazed up at the skies, and then she motioned to her future self to look up. Future Cadance looked up and cried “Up there!”

Everyone gazed up, and could see the Grand Ruler Celesto, the real one from the past. “Greetings, Dark King. I have returned.” he said.

“Of course!” cried Future Grand Ruler “Since I played a vital role in the creation of the Dark King, by removing myself from the past, the future is shifting and the Dark King is getting weaker.”

The Dark King tried to send Grand Ruler back to the past, but this time magic didn’t work. “What’s this?!” the Dark King snarled. Grand Ruler smirked at him and revealed that after returning to the future, he had taken a special pill developed by Professor Brain in the past, making him impervious to time magic. It would wear off soon.

“This cannot be!” The Dark King shouted.

Grand Ruler landed by his future-self. “Oh, but it is. And now it is finally time for you to see the light!” The two rulers gazed at each other and nodded, and held hands. Their golden horns began to glow brightly, and fired the most powerful beam of Uniforce they could throw directly at the Dark King’s chest. Not only did it actually damage him, due to his weakening state, but Lightning could see the glow from where he was inside…

“Hey, what’s that?” he wondered, and suddenly he could hear his master calling out to him. “Lightning, if you can hear this; go to the light! Go to the light!”

Lightning, trusting in his mentor’s words, headed straight to the area where the light was, and suddenly he found what he was looking for. There, before him, in place of an actual heart, was a large swirling orb of pure dark energy where all the lightning and forces were emitting from.

This was it, the one weak point.

Even still, the Dark King was not willing to let this happen. “I must… absorb… more darkness!” he growled softly, and he began to do just so, increasing his power and strength again.

“Oh, no…! He’s growing!” cried Artie.

“We’ve got to finish him off, now while we have the chance!” added his future self.

Everyone agreed, and Rarity reminded everyone, “We have to strike the core both inside and outside at the same time.”

Her future-self nodded “It won’t be easy, but at this point we haven’t much to lose-- apart from our lives.”

“Oh, that’s comforting.” Rainbow sneered, but her future-self looked pumped up and ready. “Let’s put this big bully down once and for all.”

Everyone agreed, and the present friends transformed again.

“MEGA MODE ACTIVATE!!”

“VALKYRIA!!”

The future ponies awed in amazement at how their former selves looked. Then, everyone stood ready. Lightning could sense they were ready, and he prepared to fire.

“No!!” The Dark King shouted, and he continued to absorb more darkness into him, causing his inner energies to go wild and blast at Lightning really hard, throwing him off. “No, Lightning!” screamed Starla. “Come on, be strong! Fight it!” cried Future Starla.

As if that weren’t enough, the darkness in the skies went just as crazy and began to shoot bolts, and waves at everyone deadlier than ever, and throwing them off balance. “It’s no good! The Dark King is still too strong!” cried Leilani “He gets stronger faster than he weakens! The darkness just keeps giving him more power.”

This really seemed it! Nobody had any plans or ideas, and the darkness continued to grow stronger as the Dark King gained more power. Inside him, Lightning was really starting to lose his edge as he got hit more times than he was able to dodge.

“YOU ARE DOOMED!!” the Dark King shouted, and more darkness rained down on everyone. One lightning bolt headed to Future Rarity but Sapphire stepped in front and took the bolt right to the chest!

“Sapphire!” Spike cried. Sapphire grunted and but she was still standing. Mako, Sienna, Kudos, her pokemon and Snowflake came to her side. Her element and horn glowed brightly. “What?” Dark King asked.

“I’ve had enough of you, Dark King!” Sapphire exclaimed in anger.

“Me too!” and that’s when Future Sapphire came down from the skies. She looked similar except she had Light Fury wings instead of Alicorn wings. The two Sapphire’s, Sienna, Mako, Snowflake, Lycanroc, Noctowl, Ampharos and Kudos walked up with the two. The Dark King growled and fired at the Sapphire’s but they deflected it with their horns. “You may knock us down but as long as we’re together, we’ll never stop trying to defeat you!” Future Sapphire said. The Dark King unleashed a stop magical beam and the Two Sapphire’s countered it, grunting and Sienna joined hands with Sapphire, “For our friends.” Mako joined hands with Future Sapphire, “For our families!” Lycanroc and Noctowl joined paw and wing with Sienna and Mako and Kudos held Lycanroc’s paw. “For our home!”

“For United Equestria!” the two Sapphire’s declared. Snowflake and Ampahors completed the circle and the friends all floated in the air surrounded in a bubble with the Elements of Harmony’s magic.

“Holy!” the two Pinkie exclaimed.

“Amazing!” Applejack exclaimed.

“That's our girl!” the Future Rainbow said.

"Show him whose boss!" Rainbow added. The Dark King fired his dark magic but it had no affect. “No this can’t be possible. You’re magic can’t defeat mine!”

“You can’t destroy our friendship, Dark King.” Sapphire declared.

“Because we all know for sure…” Future Sapphire said.

“Friendship is Magic!” They all closed their eyes and the Dark King fired at the bubble, but it’s magic was unaffected. The two Sapphires and the gang opened their eyes and the Harmony Bubble explained. “IMPOSSIBLE!! I CAN’T LOSE… NOT TO THE LIGHT!!!” his last words echoed as a huge burst of light erupted, so brightly everyone hit the dirt and covered their eyes.

The light spread all across the planet, and proceeded to spread all over the universe, dispelling the evil darkness, and ending the age of terror the Dark King had ruled!

After all had settled down, all the ponies began to awaken. Also to find they were no longer in the future. Leilani was the first to awaken, and used her magic to transport everyone and their future selves back to the past.

“What happened?” asked Lightning.

“It’s alright…” said Leilani “You’re all home now.”

Everyone came to their senses, and realized they were home in their own time. No more darkness, no more monsters. “Sapphire? Where is she?” cried Rarity. Future Sapphire was present but, Present Day Sapphire was not where to be seen. “Where’d she go?” Spike asked.

Sapphire awoke and found herself in a starry area with white stars all around. It was the same place where they met the future twins. “Why am I here again?” she asked herself. That’s when Astral Twilight came into view. “Congratulations Sapphire, I knew you could do it.”

“Astral Twilight? I don’t understand what did I do?”

“You something today that’s never been done before. Something that ever a great unicorn like Starswirl the Bearded was not able to do because he did not understand friendship like you do. The lessons you’ve learned here in United Equestria have taught you well… you have proven you are ready Sapphire.” Astral Twilight walked away and Sapphire followed, “Ready? Ready for what?”

You’ve come such a long long way

And I’ve watched you from that very first day

To see how you might grow

To see what you might do

To see what you've been through

And all the ways you've made me proud of you

It's time now for a new change to come

You've grown up and your new life has begun

To go where you will go

To see what you will see

To find what you will be

For it’s time for you to fulfill your destiny

A small orb of magic appeared in front of Sapphire and circled her, lifting her into the air and engulfing her in it’s magic. The light was bright and it shined in United Equestria. “Look!” Spike cried. The ball of light floated down and everyone could see a silhouette in it. “Sapphire, is that you?” Applejack asked.

Sapphire got up and revealed her new Light Fury wings. Everyone gasped in shock. “Y-You got your dragon wings.” Applejack stammered. “Just like your future self.”

“She’s earned it.” a voice said and that’s when Xerneas appeared. “Xerneas.” Sapphire gasped. “You both have done very well, my students.” Xerneas praised. “I am very proud of you both.”

“The two Sapphire’s smiled. “And there is one more thing I need to fix.” Xerneas said. Future Sapphire’s Lycanroc, Ampahros and Noctowl appeared. Beside Xerneas. “The friends we lost.” Future Sapphire said.

“The friends you have lost have been with you all along.” Xerneas said. Everyone looked confused. And Xerneas showed them all.

When, Lightning, Shining Armor and Kyrsta died in battle and when Celestia died of her illness, Future Sapphire’s pokemon was with them and so was Xerneas. “These pokemon have offered their bodies to save your minds. With the sun’s return I can repair the ponies and fairy. Your memory will be gone but your heart will know who you are. Return with the sun’s.” Xerneas sent a beam of magic at them and the pokemon cried out softly.

The vision ended and the future ponies looked at Future Lycanroc, Ampahros and Noctowl, whose bodies glowed brightly and in an instant. Future Celestia, Lightning, Shining Armor and Kysrta were next to them. Future Starla and Future Grand Ruler were astounded. Future Starla collided with her husband in totally joy as Grand Ruler did with his wife and nephew-in-law. Krysta fluttered over and hugged Starla’s face.

The Present gang were amazed and very happy for their future counterparts. “Thank you Xerneas.” Future Sapphire said. Xerneas nodded, “Where ever you need me, just give me a summons.” With that, Xerneas leaped gracefully away in the forest.

“Hey!” called a voice. Everyone could see Krysta, Shining Armor and Princess Luna, with the babies coming to greet everyone. Princess Luna felt strange seeing her future self, but it was a joy that everyone was back and well. Especially for Shining Armor “Does this mean I have two wives now?” he joked.

“I don’t know…” said Lightning as he gazed at the two Starlas “It feels weird though.”

“Not that weird.” the real Starla said. Her future self agreed, “Technically it's not cheating.”

“It’s cheating!” the two Sapphire’s said.

“Shut up!”

The two Sapphire’s blew a raspberry.

Celestia felt especially strange, now that she technically had two husbands. Still, Future Grand Ruler couldn’t have been more thankful. “Your efforts and courage helped destroy the Dark King, and his evil will never again terrorize the world.”

The real Grand Ruler agreed with his other self. “Light and Darkness are two sides of the same coin. Both are constantly at struggle and battle, yet one cannot exist without the other. No matter how strong one force may seem to be, there will always be some form of the other force there waiting to strike back.” He gazed at all his friends, subjects, and future friends “We must all continue, however on the one path that is best for all.”

Everyone agreed, and then it was time to say goodbye to the future friends. “Do you really have to leave?” asked Buddy Rose “We can’t stay. We don’t belong here in this age.” replied his future self.

Future Starla gazed at all the others “The future has been saved, but now history will change, and travel to a new course.”

The ponies then gazed at the children, preferably at Castor. It was now most comforting to know that Castor would live again. “Alas…” said Future Leilani “We will live, but we shan’t remember any of this, because it never would have happened.”

Lightning approached her “Maybe that won’t be such a bad thing for you.” he said “Your life may not turn out so tragic like it did. Just look at us…” He referred to how they were now all much stronger and much wiser than ever. These things would not disappear with the time change.

Leilani smiled and said “Thank you.”

Then, gazing down at her baby self, she softly touched her finger to the baby’s head. At once, her body disappeared into the baby’s body in a sparkling glow. Many of the other ponies touched their past counterparts and disappeared too,

The space ponies would keep their enhanced strengths, but the Mega Mode Powers disappeared and were no longer functional. The powers did not truly exist yet in the current time, nor had they proper technology or magic resources to manufacture them. Then again, now Sapphire and her friends had a new power.

...The Mega Mode Powers was a sacrifice they were all willing to give up.

The war was over, and once again the planet was at peace… for now!