It was another day in Equestria. The sun was shining, birds were singing. Rarely if ever was a rainy day. And even then, it would be ideal for sleepovers or it would be made of chocolate. It would seem like another average day but there was something different from today that made it different.
Within her bedroom in the Castle of Friendship, Princess Twilight Sparkle woke up and stretched her legs and wings while letting out a big yawn. Ever since starting up the School of Friendship and passing on the teachings Celestia taught her onto some young but bright minds (and her guidance counsellor of all ponies), she has made it a habit of hers to get up very early in the morning to make sure the school is ship-shape and to make sure every book is in its rightful place. When she looked to the side of her bed, Spike was missing from his own bed.
"That's unusual" Twilight spoke to herself "Spike is usually rather reluctant to get up this early."
Twilight then shrugged and jumped out of her bed, landing gracefully on her hooves.
"The weather is warm today. Maybe he had difficulty getting back to sleep because of how warm it is."
She then flew her way into the kitchen, hoping Spike had made his way in there and made breakfast for her. But as she looked around the pink, purple and crystalline kitchen, there was no sign of him. And to make matters worse, there wasn't a plate with an omelette on it or a glass of protein shake that should have been beside the hypothetical plate. Twilight magically conjured an itinerary out of nowhere and scrolled down to a bullet point that said "breakfast".
"Spike knows that breakfast is the most important meal of the day!" Twilight announced anxiously "How could I be capable of teaching everypony the essentials of friendship if my mind isn't at its peak because I skipped breakfast?! And more importantly, where's Spike?!"
Twilight then conjured a paper bag and started hyperventilating into it until the rational part of her mind overtook the part of her responsible for her anxiety.
"Not to worry, I'm sure one of my friends would know where he is."
And with that thought, Twilight quickly teleported to Ponyville and flew around searching for Spike. While doing that, she also peeped through the windows of the Carousel Boutique and the Cake Shop to see if Rarity and Pinkie Pie were there respectively. She also checked Fluttershy's cottage and the Apple farm too but there was nopony there. In fact, everywhere she went, there was nopony at all. There wasn't even anyone that wasn't a pony. All except one. As she was buzzing around, she paused in a cartoony manner that wouldn't be out of place for Pinkie Pie to do and slowly walked backwards. She then turned her head towards the centre of Ponyville and saw a red alicorn with actual fire for his tail and mane, with the fiery mane surprisingly drooping down over the sides of his head in a curvy manner. The alicorn's eyes were purple slits and his cutie mark was a bird's foot trefoil.
"'Late, late, late' says the white rabbit" the alicorn spoke in a slightly high pitched and nervous sounding voice that was dissonant against his imposing appearance "or rather, what the purple alicorn said".
"Uh...hello, my name is-" Twilight said before being cut off by the imposing alicorn standing before her.
"The Princess of Friendship in this world! Gotta say, there are a lot of problems here. You know, the problem of evil in the world." the alicorn said in a manner that grew more jittery "The problem of absolute virtue."
Twilight gave the alicorn a scowl that had a hint of confusion to it. And then the alicorn ran up to her and pointed at her.
"The problem of YOU on top of everypony else! You above all! Ah, because that's what alicorns are. Celestia, Luna, Cadence, myself, and of course, Princess. Twilight. Sparkle."
Before Twilight can ask who this alicorn is, he cut her off once again.
"Oh, and your niece, Flurry Heart. Haha, trust me to forget the one of least importance."
Twilight still continued to scowl at the alicorn before her. And when she determined that he wasn't going to interrupt her again, she finally asked the question that's been nagging at her.
"Who are you?"
"Oh, where are my manners? My name is Burning Hatred. Fitting name really, though a little bit edgy but it's better than, oh I don't know, Cold Dish?"
As Burning Hatred made all sorts of tics and gestures as he introduced himself to Twilight, Twilight just continued to stare at him, which he then quickly noticed.
"Ah, now you're wondering what happened to your friends. There's just one problem with that."
"What?" Twilight said with a hint of anger in her tone.
"I dunno!" Burning Hatred announced while shrugging exaggeratedly before putting his forehooves to his hips "I would not let my pony cronies tell me. I also hired some extra help to take care of more powerful individuals like Celestia and Discord. Oh, this is just like that changeling situation, isn't it? Except this time, everypony isn't replaced with changelings. Nope, they all went poof! Gone! Bye-bye! No, um, where was I? What was I saying? Yes! I have no idea where you're friends are but what I do have are pictures."
Burning Hatred then conjured some photographs and then flicked them in Twilight's direction while wearing a manic grin on his face. The pictures were of Twilight's friends being tied up and tortured by Hatred's henchponies. Twilight was horrified at the photos before her, but her fear eventually turned to anger. With tears in her eyes, she lit up her horn, only to be stopped by Hatred.
"Ah-ah-ah! If you kill me now, they will suffer much worse! And if you fly away, I'll just smash their skulls in myself. But! If you fight me to the death two hours from now, they will live."
Twilight glared daggers at Hatred, but quickly calmed down as the magic in her horn dissipated. She breathed heavily, shaken that she was going to be forced to fight somepony to the death. The only time in which she and her friends destroyed anypony was King Sombra, and he had a heart as black as darkness itself.
"Why are you doing this?" Twilight asked.
"I want to prove a point. That friendship doesn't matter in this world. Love doesn't always conquer all. And, most importantly, you can't talk your way out of things."
Burning Hatred then turned away while opening up a portal to his lair, which looked almost like something from the pits of Tartarus itself. But before he can walk away, he gave Twilight one last glance.
"Oh, and one more thing. Don't think it's hypocritical to redeem the Pony of Shadows yet absolutely obliterate King Sombra without even attempting to negotiate with him?"
And with that, he happily trotted off to his lair. Twilight knelt down, wondering what she was going to do. But then she bravely got up with a determined look on her face and flew off to do a training montage. The montage included reading books about combat, drinking protein shakes, practising her magic, reading books about combat, doing pushups, flying about, and of course, reading books about combat. While doing all of those things are impossible to do in two hours, she managed to do so by using a spell or two to pause time. After all, it's not like Burning Hatred going to know. Soon enough, she was prepared. But there remained one problem. Where is the fight going to take place? And that's when she spontaneously received some dragon mail with a picture of Burning Hatred's arena. The arena was a black rectangle with sharp stalagmites made of darkness on each corner. It was also in the centre of what appeared to be a colosseum made out of dark rock and was occupied by all sorts of creatures for an audience. Some were tall, others were small. Some were pony-shaped while others looked far more monstrous.
Twilight concentrated on the picture and teleported into the arena, ready to face this new foe that threatened her friends. And that's when she found her friends floating in the air suspended by bubbles that resembled the ones Tirek encased them in long ago. They looked at each other in shock and then relief. But before they could enjoy their reunion, Twilight got swiftly kicked right in the face by Burning Hatred. The kick sent her rolling and flying halfway across the arena until she hit a wall. The impact left a swollen bruise on the left side of her face that was the size of a tangerine. But she got up and spat at the floor before giving a glare at Burning Hatred's way. Hatred meanwhile just smiled at Twilight.
"Now for the entirety of Equestria to see the holes in the holy!" Hatred announced ham-fistedly "Yes, the all-mighty comes clean to how dirty she is when it counts, to save her frie-"
But before he could finish his sentence, Twilight blasted some of her magic into his mouth, causing him to stumble back and splutter.
"I don't mean to interrupt," Twilight said in a mix of awkwardness and snark "But has anypony ever told you that you talk too much?"
Hatred snarled at Twilight.
"Oh, so that's how you want to act?" Hatred said menacingly "Well then, let's dance!".
Hatred then fired a flaming bolt from his horn directly at Twilight, but Twilight blocked it with a blast of magic of her own, resulting in their respective magic clashing at each other at a seizure-inducing rate. Enough so that it eventually caused an explosion that pushed Twilight and Hatred back, with the both of them skidding firmly on their hooves while looking down. They then whipped their heads up to look at each other, with Hatred wearing a menacing smile. They jumped up and flew into the air, with Hatred zooming forth and kicking Twilight in the face several times at a rapid speed, all of which Twilight blocked with her forehooves and her magic. Hatred then summoned a portal behind Twilight, which sucked her up and spat her out with full force onto one of the stalagmites in the arena. The stalagmite crumbled, with large debris falling towards Twilight. But she quickly got up and created a force field to protect herself from the debris. Hatred then shot at the other stalagmites and used his magic to throw the resulting pieces at Twilight in order to wear down her shield before firing a great big blast of fiery magic at her. The force field shattered, but Twilight was still standing. Burning Hatred then flew down and walked slowly towards Twilight.
"You know, Princess" Hatred said in a dry but jittery tone "There are weapons over there that you can use."
Hatred then pointed to a purple sword and shield made of platinum that had Twilight's cutie mark on it, with Twilight turning her head towards where Hatred was pointing.
"Ever considered that they might, oh I don't know, increase your chances of beating me?!"
Twilight then used her magic to levitate the shield and sword towards her and got into a duelling position. Hatred then summoned up a sword of his own before getting into an attack position as well. Hatred's sword had a small hilt but a gargantuan blade wreathed in flames.
"I call it Vendetta," Hatred said cheerfully.
Hatred then swung his massive sword at Twilight with a manic grin on his face. But Twilight managed to block the hit with her shield. Hatred then fired a massive fireball directly at Twilight's way, to which Twilight swiftly dodged before blocking another fireball sent her way by using her shield. Twilight then spun around while flying towards Hatred, intending to strike him with her sword. But Hatred blocked the attack with his sword and used his magic to hold Twilight in place just when she was an inch away from him. He then shot Twilight into the colosseum wall before charging at her with a spinning trick of his own, letting out an eldritch roar as he did so. The charge sent them both busting through the wall along with some extra layers of rock until Twilight teleports above Hatred and quickly raises her forehooves in the air in order to throw a very big ball of magic at Hatred. The attack sent Hatred plummeting into the ground below, with Twilight charging at him while charging up another attack. She blasted at Hatred, only for him to block the attack with his sword. But Hatred was not prepared for Twilight landing on him. The impact sent chunks of the ground flying into the air, and Twilight bouncing off of Hatred. They both got back up on their hooves and quickly charged at each other while swinging their respective swords at one another. After Hatred and Twilight pushed each other back with equally powerful blows, Twilight jumped to a floating bit of ground right behind her while Hatred jumped towards a floating bit of the ground that was on his left. They then jumped off of their respective platforms and charged at each other until they were close enough to start rapidly swinging their weapons at one another until one strike made Twilight fly backwards away from Hatred. She then landed on one of the floating bits of ground above her and then started jumping higher and higher, platform to platform, while Hatred quickly followed suit. Hatred then jumped up and stabbed at Twilight from behind. Twilight screamed as her insides and the flesh on her back were pierced by the fiery blade. When Hatred swiftly removed the blade from Twilight, she collapsed to the floor. Hatred meanwhile just calmly fluttered down.
"See, this is what I was talking about," Hatred said "Without your friends, you are powerless. But me and my desire to make everypony I despise suffer? That has given me more power than I can possibly imagine. And the best part? I have an infinite amount of it! While you! Your friends' lives are finite! The power you get from your friends is finite! And to make things even better? You need them to be there for you while hatred? Hehe, you don't need anypony to be there to give you a reason to hate them!"
As Burning Hatred continued to monologue, as all good villains do, Twilight used what's left of her strength to carefully levitate her sword and looked at the bubbles her friends were encased in. She closed her eyes and hoped for the best.
"Nopony was there when I was a colt to protect me from bullies nor to deliver me from daddy's hooves and drunken abominations! Hmmm, I figured it out way back! Friendship is not magic! Hmm, nope, it isn't even power!" Hatred rambled, sounding more unhinged after every sentence "No, hate is power. HATE is magic! And in all fairness, I don't hate the sinner. I hate the sin. And yours, Princess, is existing!"
As Hatred lifted up his sword to deliver a literal decapitating blow, there were popping sounds in the distance. Sounds that thankfully landed on deaf ears.
"Hmm, on second thoughts," Hatred said manically "I hate the sinner and the sin because it's the SINNER'S choice to do the sin! And now. It is time. For you to face the punishment. Of your sins."
Hatred swung his sword down, only for it to be blocked by a pink hoof. Hatred looked down in surprise at the hoof because it belonged to none other than Pinkie Pie. Pinkie inhaled in an exaggerated manner and began to sing and dance.
My name is Pinkie Pie
And I am here to say
I'm gonna make you smile and I will brighten up your day
Burning Hatred looked at Pinkie with a dumbfounded expression.
It doesn't matter now
If you are sad or blue
Because cheering up my friends is just what Pinkie's here to do
The confusion of why Pinkie was singing and dancing in the middle of his and Twilight's fight was enough to distract Hatred for Rarity and Starlight, who, along with the rest of Twilight's friends, have safely landed in the middle of the arena, to teleport the wounded Twilight to them. Twilight gave a weak smile towards her friends.
"What are you doing?!" Hatred shouted, "Can't you see me and your friend are in the middle of a fight?!"
"Yep," Pinkie said cheerfully "And I was in the middle of distracting you, silly."
Pinkie jumped down to join her friends, with Rarity and Starlight catching her with their magic. Hatred looked down and faced them. He knew exactly what was going to happen next.
"Let me guess, Rainbow Power? Elements of Harmony? Some other magical power that you little fillies pulled out of your-"
"Ah think y'all need to be taught a lesson in humility," Applejack said, interrupting Burning Hatred.
"Humility?! You ponies are holier-than-thou! I think you should be the ones that should be taught humility!"
Soon enough, Twilight and her friends gathered in a circle as they are surrounded by magic. Their eyes shone a bright white.
"Now, this would be the part where I go 'This cannot be' but I know what happened to King Sombra" Hatred deadpanned to himself.
A blast came from Twilight and her friends, slowly obliterating Hatred as he fought back with his own magic to avoid his inevitable doom.
You know, Hatred thought to himself, In a way, I kind of won. Sure they are using the power of friendship, but they are using it to destroy me! I swear, it's like those fillies are so choosy about who they redeem. An alicorn gone mad and a spirit of chaos? Sure, why not?! Two powerful unicorns, one of which bonded with an ancient force of darkness? The more the merrier! But when it comes to "irredeemable fellows like me and Sombra? They don't even bucking try! Well, time to kick back and wait for this to be over.
Hatred let out an agonized scream as the magic engulfed him. The Lord of Enmity was no more.
Twilight and her friends fluttered back down onto the ground. The impact of their friendship magic changed the atmosphere they were in. The stalagmites were gone, the sky is blue and sunny and the ground is filled to the brim with green luscious grass.
Another victory for the good guys!
Author's Note
This story used to be at approximately 1494 words. But since the competition's over, I figured I'd expand it a bit.
Oh, and yes, Burning Hatred's personality is based on the Batman v Superman version of Lex Luthor.
And regarding the Mane 6 obliterating Sombra in The Beginning of the End. In their defence, Sombra did try to kill Discord (with Discord pretending that Sombra's attack was lethal to him).
