Chapters Chapter 2: The Art of the Silent Hoof
Neo Equestria City, once a bustling metropolis of technological marvels, now reduced to a dark and overrun ghost town, under the heel of the Digital Overlord as his forces searched for the Ninja, scanning the remaining civilians for them.
On the top floor of Borg Tower, Pixal had a security mech in a large container while it looked to be surrounded by Golden Power and Harmony Magic. "Initializing power transference. Extracting golden power and harmony magic," she said as she pressed a few more buttons, causing a black coffin to rise from the middle of the floor. "Standby for physical somatic download."
The container started siphoning the energy from the mech and pouring it into the coffin. Inside purple smog pulsed as magenta eyes flicked as the Overlord’s voice was heard. “Yes, yes,” the Overlord breathed, enjoying the power he felt… when suddenly and unfortunately for him, the power ran out. "It's not enough! I need more of their powers if I'm ever to be freed of this digital prison!"
The purple like smog traveled out of coffin and went behind the console before two figures came around it. It looked to be Borg and Gear, except parts of their faces had been covered with high tech while their faces were blank looks as their bodies had also been covered in the same high tech. Borg's artificial limbs had become modified to wield weapons while a screen with the Overlord's eyes were shown. “I am fed up with pathetic mortal bodies!” the Overlord said through Borg’s body as his and Dr. Gear’s bodies approached Pixal. “I want my own body back! Find me more power! Find me the Golden Ninja and the Elements of Harmony!”
"By my computation, your primary duty should be finding the Techno Blades," Pixal suggested. "They are the only thing that can--"
"Those Ninja don't even know what they already possess!" the Overlord shouted at her. "I want the Golden one and the Council! I won’t let them slip through my grasp a second time!"
Pixal then turned to the screen where security feed was shown. “Nindroid troops have yet to find any traces of them or their allies,” she told him.
“They just don’t know where to look,” the Overlord said through Dr. Gear’s body and turned to his two prisoners, Wu and Celestia, bound to two tables with metal caps on their heads.
"You'll just be wasting your time!” Celestia growled at him.
"She's right. We will never tell you where they're hiding!" Wu added.
"You both might not, but your memories will," the Overlord told them before both his vessels shot a blue laser into the metal caps on both Celestia and Wu’s heads as they started to chuckle.
“S-Stop it!” Celestia laughed.
“It-it tickles!” Wu added.
“It’s only a matter of time before your minds will tell me everything I need to know,” The Overlord told them as behind Celestia and Wu were was a screen projecting their memories spanning over a thousand years.
"No!" Celestia grunted before she continued to laugh as she was worried about him finding the others location.
Meanwhile, within a forest, the group were gathering a few small trees and covering their vehicles with them. Landrush was carrying two large trees to hide his mech. "Aah, this is a perfect place to lay low," Lloyd spoke up as Rarity was sewing something. "No robots, No cameras, no problems."
“Still, just in case more of the revolting machines show up, you should wear this,” Rarity said as she passed him a silver and gold suit. “It will confuse their sensors, making it harder to find you.”
Lloyd put on the suit and smiled. “Ha-ha. Yeah, this is sweet!” he said.
“Lloyd?” a familiar voice said as Lloyd turned to see Misako running towards him with some groceries.
“Mom?” Lloyd asked before the two hugged.
Misako then turned to the others. “It’s good to see you all again,” she said, “but what are you doing here?”
"The Overlord is back, and Neo Equestria City has fallen under his control," Twilight explained to Misako.
"He has both Wu and Tia," Discord added, sounding a bit worried for Celestia as Fluttershy comforted him.
"Wu and Celestia are tough," Misako reminded them. "There's a reason why Wu lived as long as he has. And you all know how Celestia is."
"Well, where's dad?" Lloyd asked.
"Yeah, where is Lord Garmadon?" Trail asked.
Misako shook her head. “He no longer goes by Lord. Here, he is Sensei Garmadon,” she said, “and he won’t be back until this evening’s lesson.”
"Uh, did you just say Sensei Garmadon?!" Rainbow asked with shock.
"Let's be glad he's on our side like Sombra, Nyx, and Chrysalis," Flash told him. "With Sensei Wu gone, we could use the help."
"Come in, but your weapons are not allowed," Misako told them. "Ever since Lloyd saved his father, Garmadon's sworn an oath to never fight in hope to make up for his evil past. It's an oath he takes very seriously."
“But we’re supposed to protect these with our lives, and never let them out of our sight,” Gaia told her.
“Maybe one of us should stay and protect them,” Fluttershy suggested.
"You guys go on ahead, I will stay back and watch over," Frost volunteered.
"Are you sure, Uncle Frost?" Sky asked.
"Of course I am," he assured her before each of the Ninja gave their Techno Blades to him.
“Take care of yourself, Frost,” Twilight said as they headed for the monastery.
Once they came into view, Trail let out whistle. “No offense to Sensei Wu, but the old Monastery’s got nothing on this place.” A few fillies and colts were playing with a ball until he kicked it to where the Ninja are coming in.
They all have gasped and started to run towards them. "Ah, at least there's some place left in this world I'm still considered cool," Landrush said as he assumed the children were coming to greet them, only for them to run past them and over to Lloyd.
"Oh wow!" a filly shouted excitedly.
"It's the Light Ninja!" a colt said in awe.
"Nope, still totally lame," Thunder joked as the Ninja went over to the children and they all were excited to see them as well.
Sandbar sat back as he saw Yona carry a few on her back before his attention was drawn to Ocellus who was showing the fillies and colts some of her shapeshifting. Ever since the perfect match console thing, he could not stop looking at her the same way he used to. The same could be said with Aqua as she saw Landrush in a different way.
“I recognize that look,” Misako said as she approached the two.
Aqua darted her eyes frantically. “What look?” she asked.
“We weren’t looking!” Sandbar retorted.
Misako just smiled. “Two friends, one heart?” she said, remembering how her heart was divided between Wu and Garmadon.
"Are we really that obvious?" Aqua asked Misako. "What do I do? Thunder is the only one who makes me laugh, but Landrush... Landrush is not Thunder."
"What about me?" Sandbar spoke up. "Yona is kind and strong. But Ocellus can be sweet, smart, and she’s not bad looking either."
Misako held both of their shoulders, “Trust your hearts, young ones. Within them is where you know who you truly wish to be with,” she advised.
The two mulled over what she said and turned to their significant other and their perfect match.
During the evening Frost was sitting alone, looking at the Techno Blades and thinking about what happened back at the city. He was hoping that his mother was safe and sound and that he would see her again. He then drew his attention towards the monastery where the third-floor lights were on, wondering what he was missing out on.
Inside, the Ninja, the Mane and Young Sixes, the Serpentine Kids, Aqua, and Spike were in the dojo with the other students of Garmadon while Discord, Luna, Sombra, and Hope watched from the sidelines. Then from behind one of sliding doors they saw the shadow of a tall-looking stallion with wings and a horn.
The Ninja, Mane Six and their friends gasped in surprise, thinking it was “Lord” Garmadon… until the door slid open, revealing a reformed Garmadon standing behind a servant pony who moved out of the way.
Garmadon then turned to Lloyd and Luna. “Ah, my son and sister, so glad you could join us,” he said.
“Hello, Garmadon,” Luna smiled and nodded.
“It’s been a while, father,” Lloyd waved as Garmadon walked in front of the others.
Rainbow smirked and whispered to the others. "Check out the new Sensei on the block, looking sharp--"
"Silence!" Garmadon told her as he whacked Rainbow Dash on the head with his staff. "Close your mouth and open your ears." He walked over to a small shrine as Rainbow rubbed her head while he continued. "Tonight's lesson is the Art of the Silent Hoof. To fight without fighting."
Gallus raised a brow. “Wait, what? That doesn’t make any sense. How can you fight without actually fighting?”
Garmadon gave a smirk as he then turned towards the students. "Well, if I may have a volunteer, then perhaps I can answer that question, young Griffon?"
"How about me?" Lloyd asked as he raised his hoof before he stood up.
"The Ultimate Battle, round two!" Spike joked as Smolder giggled at said joke before she let out a small cough and looked away.
“Attack me!” Garmadon ordered before adding, “But please, no powers or magic. I happen to like my monastery.” His joke had the other students laughing.
The lesson having begun, Lloyd charged at his father, only for him to dodge causing Lloyd to crash into the wall. “You see, the key is balance and misdirection,” Garmadon explained as he balanced his staff while Lloyd recovered.
“Let your opponent fight himself.” Lloyd then charged at Garmadon again only for Garmadon to dodge his attack again before Lloyd tried to jump kick him before he moved to the side. He then tried to attack him from behind but Garmadon dodges him again and flips him over onto the ground.
"Let your enemy tire himself," Garmadon added as Lloyd tried a flying kick. Garmadon turned around and let out a yawn before he easily ducked under Lloyd's kick. In that brief moment, Lloyd turned to his father before he landed face-first into a wooden beam and crashed on the floor as the others winced at that.
"Pupils, I gave you the most powerful Ninja in all the land, the Golden Ninja," Garmadon mocked as golden dragons spun over Lloyd's head and his pupils let out a laugh at Lloyd as the other Ninja face-hoofed themselves at this sheer embarrassment.
"Oh, Lloyd," Gaia moaned.
Lloyd quickly got up and growled in anger as he powered up his horn with Golden Power.
"Easy son, it's only a lesson," Garmadon eased his son
Realizing what he was doing, Lloyd took a deep breath and stop his horn as he let it out. "Sorry, I don't know what got into me," he explained as Garmadon walked up to him.
"You let the anger take over. Some of us know that feeling well," Garmadon said looking towards Luna and Sombra who nodded in agreement. "Now, let's divide into groups!"
This all paired up, all trying the Art of the Silent Hoof as they focused on dodging and countering attacks.
"Perfect. So, tell me Luna, why is it you've all decided to pay a visit?" Garmadon asked his sister.
Luna let out a disconsolate sigh. "It's a long story, brother," she told him as she explained what happened in the city.
Back with Frost, he looked down at the Techno Blades and saw that they were gone. He then looked behind the tree and saw a shadowy figure making off with the Techno Blades before he ran to catch up with the thief. He leapt through the trees and then pounced on the thief, making them drop the Blades.
He flipped the perpetrator over to reveal it was… “What? Pixal?” Frost said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“Discontinuing an old relic!” Pixal answered as she kicked him in the gut and moved to buck him again before Frost grabbed her leg.
“You may call me old, but not slow!” Frost told her as he threw the female droid into a tree and tied her up as she screamed.
"The Techno Blades!" Flash shouted when they heard the scream before they all raced outside. They then saw Frost pulling a tied up Pixal behind them while he carried the Techno Blades.
"It's Pixal, but how did she find us?" Twilight asked when she saw her.
"How about we take her apart to find out?" Trail suggested as he walked towards her before Frost stopped him.
"Please, she was only doing what she was programmed to do," he explained before he picked up his Techno Blade. "She may hold many answers, but perhaps there is an easier way."
When his Blade activated, Garmadon grew worried. "N-no, I-" He tried to stop Frost only to be stopped by Pinkie.
"Oh don't worry, Techno Blades only turn bad machines good, not turn them into scrap metal," she explained as Frost tapped his blade on Pixal's forehead as an icy aura covered her and her eyes turned green.
Pixal gasped in surprise. "Where am I? Why am I tied up?" she inquired as Fluttershy approached her while Frost untied her.
"You were under control of the Overlord," she explained. "But how did you find us?"
"They’ve mined Sensei Wu and Celestia's memories," Pixal explained. "The Overlord knows all of your hiding places."
"My brother and sister. Are they… are they okay?" Garmadon asked with concerned while Luna looked just as worried.
"Yes, but the Overlord wants your son and the Council of Friendship," Pixal told him. "His Golden Power, along with the Elements of Harmony within each of the council members, are the only way he can escape the digital realm and become real."
"So that's why he wants us, but they gave these here Techno Blade doohickeys to protect?" Applejack asked.
"Yes, why are they so important?" Gaia pressed on.
"Because together they can reboot the Borg Tech system, wipe the master computer clean, and destroy the Overlord, for good," Pixal explained as the others whispered in amazement before she let out a gasp of realization.
Aqua grew worried. "What is it?" She asked.
"I just realized I didn't come alone," Pixal told them.
"What, who else was with you?" Fang asked.
"Nindroids."
"Nindroids?!" they all shouted as they looked around frantically for them.
"Where are they?!" Rarity asked.
"I don't see any of 'em!" Thunder added as they kept their guard up.
Suddenly a black, silver, and purple Nindroid with red eyes appeared on the roof, drawing a sword and laughing.
"AHH! Found one!" Silverstream screamed as more Nindroids appeared around them. "AHH! Found the rest!"
"I calculate that there are twenty-one Nindroids. Probability of survival too low to quantify." Pixal calculated as the Ninja put up their masks over their muzzles before they charged into battle.
"Never tell us the odds!" Gallus said as he charged at one Nindroids, tried to throw a punch but it caught it. "Uh, oh," He said before he was flung away.
"Gallus!" Smolder said before a Nindroid kicked her. She was sent back by that kick before Spike quickly caught her and they rolled on the ground.
Trail tried to throw a kick at one of them, but it quickly caught his kick and pushed him to the ground.
Frost tried to swing his Techno Blade at one of them before it kicked him into the air and over some rocks.
"These Nindroids are so much faster!" Thunder complained as he used his Techno Blade to block one of their attacks before he was punched in the face by another.
Rainbow managed to land a punch on one but recoiled from the metal surface, “OW! What is up with these clowns!?” She asked, while nursing her hoof. “Talk about your solid iron abs!”
Flash tried to strike one with his Techno Blade but was kicked back, “Ow! It’s their solid iron kicks that I’m worried about!” Flash groaned as Twilight helped him up.
One of the Nindroids tried to kick Landrush, but he quickly Dodge him. "Nice kick, now see mine! NINJA, GO!" Landrush shouted as he did Spinjitzu and knock a couple of Nindroids away. A bunch of them were charging at Garmadon from both sides before he used his bamboo stuff to dodge them and they bumped into each other.
The Nindroid then advanced on Frost as he raised his blade to defend until two more Nindroids appeared and restrained him before they all dogpiled on him. Twilight saw this and powered up her horn to blast them away before Hope stopped her, “NO! Your magic only strengths them!” she reminded her.
"NINJA, GO!" Lloyd shouted as he jumped down and did Spinjitzu to knock away the Nindroids on Frost. He then helped up Frost, with a part of his face damaged from the attack. A bunch of Nindroids were approaching both Aqua and Hope before they fired lasers from their eyes. Aqua quickly took out two metal fans and reflected each blast back at them.
Applejack kicked away one more Nindroid before she noticed more on the cliffs, “Um, heads up, partners!” she said to the others. “We got trouble from above!”
The backs of the Nindroids opened to unfold wings before they soared down towards them, cackling evilly.
“Oh, come on! They can fly now! Not cool!” Melody complained.
“We need to get out of here!” Rarity said as they all ran into the dojo with the Nindroids right on their tails.
"We've got you now!" a Nindroid shouted as they made their way towards the side of the monastery next to the waterwheel.
"Anyone want to clear a path?" Thunder asked as Sky got an idea by looking at the waterwheel.
"I have an idea, but you all have to trust me," she told them.
As the Nindroids advanced the waterwheel came loose and rolled away, picking up some of the Nindroids. It jumped over, flinging the Nindroids out before crashing in the forest, where the Ninja parked their vehicles. Then suddenly in the sky, Trail’s Jet, Frost's Hovercopter and Gaia’s Spider Vehicle took off while Thunder’s Raider, Landrush’s Mech, and Flash’s Hoverbike rolled after them.
“Don’t let them get away!” a Nindroid ordered as the others hopped onto their vehicles and chased after what they assumed were the Ninja. One Nindroid with black armor on while driving a tank and a few missiles straight towards their vehicles before firing at them. The missiles soon landed and the vehicles were forced to stop as they all crashed landed.
Back at the disconnected waterwheel, our heroes emerged from it after they successfully tricked the Nindroids. "That was a good idea using autopilot on our vehicles, Sky," Flash told her as they came out.
“Thanks daddy!” Sky smiled.
“But it won’t take long before they find out we used autopilot,” Landrush said. “We should get a move on."
"I'm coming with you," Garmadon told them. "If the Overlord wants my son, I'm not letting him out of my sight."
"Discord, Hope, Sombra and I will stay here with the kids and look after the monastery," Misako told them as she hugged her son and husband. “I have confidence that you will stop the Overlord,” she said.
“We’ll come back, my love. I promise,” Garmadon said as he gave Misako a kiss.
“Be careful Luna,” Sombra told his mare.
Luna smiled and nuzzled him. “I will,” she replied and then turned to Discord. “And I promise I will bring Wu and Tia back.” Discord smiled in thanks.
The Serpentine Kids then hugged Twilight and Flash. “Goodbye Mommy. Bye daddy,” they said before they and the four adults walked away.
As they left, a thought then just occurred to Lloyd as they were about to get a move on.
"Wait! If the Overlord wants me and the girls, and the Techno Blades are the only thing that can stop him, shouldn't we split up? Just in case," Lloyd suggested.
“Really? Split up so they can pick us off with a lot less effort? Great plan!” Rainbow said sarcastically.
"That's actually a great plan," Aqua told Rainbow. "Frost's Falcon knows the secret location of my Samurai X Cave. You, your father, Luna, and the girls go there and take what you need to get as far away from us as possible."
"Secret cave?" Thunder asked surprisingly. "I thought we knew everything about each other."
"Well, a mare's gotta have her secrets," Aqua told him.
“But what are you guys gonna do?” Twilight asked. “Those Nindroids aren’t gonna let you step one hoof into the city.”
“She’s right, Aqua. How are we gonna get past an enemy with so much power?” Gaia asked.
Aqua smirked. “By shutting down that power, of course,” she replied.
It wasn't long before the group split up unbeknownst to them that the Serpentine Kids were hiding behind the trees as they were following the Ninja, Aqua, Spike, and the Young Six.
Back at Borg Tower, the Overlord got a transmission from his Nindroids and they told him bad news. "What do you mean they're not there?!" he shouted with anger.
“We’ve been tricked! ” one taller Nindroid with armor said as he stood in front of the flaming wreckage.
The Overlord growled in aggravation. “Your Nindroids have failed me, General Cryptor,” The Overlord said as his two vessels stood in front of a large mechanical creature, “But my next creation won’t.”
The creature powered up with glowing red eyes and spreading its metallic wings. “Systems are operational. Ready to receive further instructions,” it spoke a deep voice.
Coming down a dirt road was a caravan of performers which Trixie had founded. After the Overlord’s first defeat, she, with Blueblood’s patronage, had become a much more capable performer and collected a few others to join with her, so Twilight and Starlight helped upgrade her wagon into a “The Great and Powerful Trixie and the Traveling Entertainers” circus train.
The stallions pulling the Caravan suddenly came upon some Nindroids at a Barricade and stopped, “Hey, what is the hold up?! The Great and Punctual Trixie has places to go and--” Trixie complained until she was face-to-face with a Nindroid. “AH! Oh, hello there! What can The Great and Powerful Trixie and her Traveling Entertainers do for you?” she asked nervously.
"Ninja search," the Nindroid answered her robotically.
Trixie just let out a sigh and smiled. "Well, you can search all you want, but you'll find no Ninja here," Trixie told the Nindroid as she let him in. Said Nindroid searched the wagon from top to bottom as he found no Ninja on board before stepping off.
"You can go," the Nindroids told the Caravan.
"Thank you," the responded as the barricade was let down to let them pass. The moment the coast was clear, Trixie tapped on the box, opening the lid. “It’s safe to come out now.”
The Ninja and Aqua climbed out one by one, but as Thunder climbed out a clown appeared and honked him in the ear. "Thanks again for the help, Trixie," Starlight said as the Young Six and Spike came out of the box. "We're lucky we ran into you on the way here."
"What are old friends for?" Trixie asked. "We can get you just outside of the Storm Farms, but you'll have to get to the Power Substation on your own."
"We know," Trail spoke up before he looked towards a corner. "And you Serpentine Kids can come out now."
From behind a few stage magic items are the Serpentine Kids that were hiding.
"How long?" All five of them asked.
“Since we got on board,” Flash said as he raised a brow. “Didn’t I ask you to stay with Misako at the Monastery?”
“We just wanted to help!” Toxsa argued.
"Yeah, we're not baby snakes anymore, dad." Fang added.
"Plus, we also want to protect mom," Sky told him.
"Also, you taught us to defend ourselves," Coal reminded him.
"We promise we'll behave ourselves," Melody added before all five of them did puppy dog eyes. Even the clown joined in.
Flash just groaned and rubbed his face with his wing. "...Fine. But you follow my orders no matter what, understood?" he said.
"Sir, yes sir!" the kids saluted.
"So, Aqua, shutting down this power substation. Can we really destroy the Overlord and his Nindroids by simply flipping a switch?" Gallus asked.
"Cripple them, yes," Aqua told him. "Destroy, no. Once we've powered down his army, we still need to reboot the Central Computer with the Techno Blades. And don't forget, since he knows we have them, they aren't just going to let us waltz in."
“So let’s just focus on shutting down the power and then head over to the city and stop the Overlord,” Landrush said.
"Wait! I thought of something!" Silverstream called out. "If shutting down the power turns everything connected to it off, wouldn't that include Pixal too?"
The Ninja and their allies realized that she was right and knew that if Frost knew this, he would not have been willing to go along with the mission. “Well, if Frost hasn’t figured it out, nopony tell him,” Gaia ordered. “If we’re going to stand a chance against these Nindroids, we need to be on our best.”
The others nodded before Trail noticed that Frost wasn’t with them, “Speaking of Frost, where is he?” he wondered.
“Oh, just out in the back, Pixal is fixing him up,” Ocellus answered.
In the back, Pixal placed a piece of his face back on before a bunch of tools came out of her hoof and she started to fix the rest of him. "Thank you for repairing me," Frost told her. "I guess an old Nindroid like me is no match against the newer models."
"This is just one of my primary functions," Pixal responded. "Gratitude is not required." She retreated her hoof when she was surprised to see something where his power core was. The panels opened wide, revealing a glowing stone made of neither magic or any other substance. “Fascinating,” Pixal said, retracting her tools back into her arm.
“What is it?” Frost asked.
Pixal reached out for the stone. “Your power source. It’s...an energy I am unfamiliar with,” she said before looking at Frost curiously. “Your mother built you with spare parts and rudimentary technology, yet this piece is unique. Perhaps if I take a closer look.” She then reached out to touch it but released some electricity that seem to have hurt Frost and some of the energy traveled up her hoof.
Pixal moved her hoof away and turned to Frost as she felt something, unfamiliar built up inside her, “I’m sorry. I caused you pain,” she apologized as Frost was surprised to see actual emotion on her face. “I was curious to understand why you are so different.”
Frost then reached out and hold both her hooves. "We are all different," Frost told her as she was pulled in close. "But I don't feel so different around you."
"I am not different," she said when she pulled her hooves back, acting like her pre-programmed self before she touched his power source. "I am Pixal, the Primary Interactive X-ternal Assistant Life-form. And your repairs are complete." She then closed his chest panel up and walked away from him.
But as she walked away, she felt the strange something inside her again. She had hoped she had not offended Frost and was beginning to worry about her creator. These new sensations were confusing her and even making her...afraid, as she placed a hoof to her heart. “What is happening to me?” she thought aloud.
Out in the desert, the Mane Six, Lloyd, Garmadon, and Luna followed the falcon all the way out there until they reached large dragon skeleton.
“Why did you bring us here?” Twilight asked the Falcon before she noticed on the ribcage was a button with something familiar on it, “Hmm, well whaddya know? The Samurai X Symbol.” She pressed the button, causing the mouth of the dragon’s skull to rise open.
The group walked over to the mouth and saw a staircase leading downwards. The Falcon landed on Fluttershy’s foreleg as they descended downwards. When they got to the bottom, they were surprised to see a bunch of suspended platforms holding the Ninja’s Vehicles on either side of a walkway travelling up to computer desk.
“Whoa! This…is…AWESOME!” Rainbow cheered.
“I can’t believe Aqua managed to build all of this!” Rarity said in disbelief as they walked down the walkway.
“Maybe I should’ve been a Samurai instead of a Ninja,” Lloyd commented, feeling a bit jealous of Aqua.
Garmadon walked up to two large tarps, removing them to reveal two large vehicles. One made for two with a mounted turret on the top and the other looked like it was made for multiple. "Why must everything have so many weapons?" Garmadon complained.
"This coming from the stallion who became an alicorn with six legs and dragon wings to possess the six Golden Weapons," Luna remarked, causing Garmadon to let out a sarcastic chuckle before realizing she was right.
"I deserve that one," he admitted before stopping Lloyd from getting in the driver seat of the first vehicle. "I swore off fighting, not driving."
"Even though I don't share my sister’s love for the extreme… I bear no such qualm with road racing," Luna said with a grin.
Speeding out the back tunnel were the two cars, Garmadon and Lloyd riding in one and the Luna driving the Mane Six in the other.
"Yeehaw!" the two older ponies cheered as they jumped a ramp.
"Ey! That's my line!" Applejack complained.
"So, where to now?!" Pinkie asked as they flew over a crevasse.
"As far away as possible!" Luna and Garmadon answered as they kept on rolling.
Back on The Great and Powerful Trixie and the Traveling Entertainers’ wagon, Smolder was looking around the place before she saw Spike sitting by a table and reading a comic book. She covered her face and quickly walked past in hopes she wouldn't be seen by him. "Hey Smolder," Spike called her out. "How's the family?"
What he just asked made her flustered and blush bright red. "F-Family?! Wha-what are you talking about?!" she asked embarrassingly. "I mean, we're still kids ourselves and I'm nowhere near ready to lay eggs yet--"
"I meant Garble and your family, weirdo," Spike said, not noticing Smolder's agitated confusion. "It's been a long time since I've seen him. I hope he hasn't been causing trouble."
"Oh no… Gargar is been great." Smolder told him. "He got himself a girlfriend. You know her, she's purple with red eyes. Her name is Maar. We also got a new little sister too," She then thought just to stop letting her feelings get all mixed up and just tell him how she feels. "Look Spike, I know I don't say this enough, but you're a really great and kind dragon. Ever since we first met, you were the kindest and sweetest guy I ever met."
Spike lowered his comic and looked at Smolder with surprise. "Really?" he asked, thinking this was just one of her pranks.
Smolder nodded as she blushed, "Yeah, I mean, way back then that would've been considered lame, but…" She then took a sit in front of Spike and smiled. "You weren't afraid to just be yourself in front of other dragons like me, Garble, or any other dragon. So if you ask me, I think it's right you’re called 'Spike the Brave and Glorious'."
"Well, if you were a princess, you be called 'Princess Smolder the Kind and Feminine'." Spike complimented as she let out a giggle. The two of them then looked at each other in the eyes before their tails started to move on their own and wrapped around each other before they hold cloth. Their muzzles were coming close before they blinked and realized what they were doing before they quickly pulled back. "So, uh...want some tea?" He asked as his face was blushing bright red like hers.
"Yeah, that would be nice." Smolder replied.
Meanwhile, Sandbar was trying to play one of the ring-toss games on the caravan but kept on missing. “Agh! These things are rigged I tell ya!” he complained.
“Not necessarily,” Ocellus said as she walked up to him. Sandbar blushed a bit, “It’s not a matter of arm strength, but in angling your throw. Watch.” She then took her own ring and tossed it and amazingly she managed to hit the target.
“Whoa, you are good,” Sandbar said in awe.
"Thanks." Ocellus replied before she started to feel a strange feeling emanating from Sandbar. "Are you okay, Sandbar?"
"What do you mean?" He asked nervously.
"I'm a Changeling, and we can sense different emotions emanating from anycreature," Ocellus told him. "Right now, I can sense an emotion coming from you that's really strong right now."
Sandbar rubbed the back of his head. “Well, I guess I should say, it mostly has to do with you?” He admits.
“Me? How?” Ocellus asked in surprise.
"It's kind of hard to explain," He replied before he looked into her eyes. "But I just want you to know, you've always been the smartest out of any of us. You knew what to do when Equestria's magic was being sucked away and the when you stood up for our teachers against your own mom when she was evil was incredible." Ocellus started to blush as his words started to touch her heart.
"Well, I guess that is nice of you to say," she said before she looked at his eyes. "And Sandbar, it was really nice of you to say those things when the Tree of Harmony was testing us and everything back under the school. You really know how to stand by your own friends and everything and well...you're really great in your own way."
Sandbar just chuckled, “Don’t let Yona know you said that.” He joked as the two held smiles with each other.
...Until a certain Yak walked in. “Don’t let Yona know what?” Yona asked as they pulled away from each other.
“Nothing!” they said quickly and walked away from each other as Yona looked confused.
Meanwhile in another part of the Caravan, Landrush was sitting around as Gaia walked in. She noticed the Earth Ninja and smiled as she went over to him, “Are you well?” she asked.
Landrush glanced at her and shrugged. “Yeah, just bored,” he said as Gaia sat down.
"How do you think the students are doing?" she asked him. "Ever since what happened back in the city, I'm a little worried about them."
"Aqua told me that Sunburst and Dareth are watching them," Landrush told her. "But she was acting all weird when I asked 'how are the kids' and everything. I wonder what got her gears in a bunch."
“Who knows,” Gaia said as they sat in silence. After a while Gaia decided to speak. “You know Landrush, we’ve become quite the effective team.”
Landrush chuckled. “Hey, we have, haven’t we? A rich girl and the son of a famous dancer, who’da thunk it?” he asked as Gaia giggled.
Gaia then blushed a bit. “Still, I was amazed by how well you could dance, Landrush,” she said as behind them from the door, Aqua was listening. “You might be solid and strong as rock, but I can tell that deep inside you have a very kind and gentle heart.”
"I can say the same about you," Landrush told her with a smile. "You may be one of the toughest mares we know, but you got a heart of gold. When push comes to shove, you always know when to watch our backs and back us up when we always need it."
"Well, I am the Master of Life, and the watcher and protector of all living things," she reminded him. “I live to protect everything that I love.”
“Yeah, we all do,” Landrush said back with an oblivious smile as Gaia looked at him in shock. But before she could clarify…
"Hey guys!" Flash called out as he walked into the room. "We're here, so you might want to get ready."
"Got it Flash." Landrush responded as he got up and went to get his Techno Blade. “Let’s move!” He told Gaia while she let out a sad sigh as he was completely oblivious about what she was trying to say.
Aqua looked at her sympathetically and walked over to her. “Stallions, they’re loveable idiots and too ignorant for their own good.”
“Tell me about it,” Gaia said sullenly. “Why can’t I just tell him?”
"Maybe you can tell him once this is all over," Aqua suggested before they both got ready. Aqua secretly hoped that Gaia would tell Landrush the truth, making sure she did not have to choose.
The Ninja, Young Six, the Serpentine Kids, Aqua, Pixal, Spike and Starlight were soon let out in a large area with very big thunder clouds above them. "Good luck, you guys." Trixie told them. "Maybe we'll come by Neo Equestria City once you beat the Overlord."
“Stay safe, Trixie,” Starlight said as the Caravan moved on. Then a bolt of lightning struck a transmission tower, causing Pixal to jump.
“Careful,” Frost said as he eased her. “They farm the electricity here. This is where all of Equestria gets its power.”
Spike looked up and saw the main control tower. “Looks like we got a welcoming party,” he said as they saw a bunch of Nindroids patrolling the tower.
"The only chance we have of getting in there is to stay out of sight," Aqua whispered to the others. "There's no way we can take them all on."
"You mean we gotta be Ninja for a change?" Thunder asked excitedly. "Woo-hoo!"
"I can sneak in my own way." Melody said before she turned invisible just as a clash of lightning briefly showed her. "Although I might need be careful when that happens."
Flash sighed, “Alright, you can come but stick close to us, no matter what.” He instructed.
“Yes!” Melody cheered.
Pixal then spoke up, “I will stay here with the other children, we are not adequate for stealth and cannot assist,” she said.
“Just be careful.” Toxsa said.
Frost then held Pixal’s shoulders, “Be safe and stay out of trouble,” He said, “I’ll see you later.”
On the main control tower, the Nindroids stood at attention as General Cryptor walked past them. "Keep your eyes out for Ninja," he ordered his troops. "The Overlord says they are sure to be coming." He stopped when he noticed one of his Nindroids was the size of a foal.
"Look at you, last one off the factory line?" he asked the small Nindroid. "Ran out of metal, eh?" He then playfully patted the small Nindroid's head. "I will call you, Min- Droid." He then walked away laughing.
“Very funny, sir!” Min-droid said with an insulted tone, even though his voice sounded young. He pouted as the rest of the troops laughed as well.
Down below the Ninja and Aqua were hanging from below. They then jumped up and ran to the door.
Thunder opened the control room door and looked inside. “The coast is clear,” he said as they all rushed in.
Aqua then pointed to the energy beam in the glass tube. “That’s the Sub-station’s core. We shut that down, and it’s lights out for the Overlord,” she said.
The Ninja looked around in concern. “Now if we only knew which switch it was,” Gaia said as they all looked around. They all started to press some buttons to see if which one is the off switch before Thunder hit one that turned on the radio that played The Weekend Whip.
"Hey, I love this song," he whispered to the others as he moved his head to the beat.
"Turn it off!" Flash told him. "They can't know we're here."
"Pfft. Buzzkill," Thunder grunted as he turned off the radio.
"None of these buttons are doing anything," Landrush told the others.
"Ugh, there must be an easier way to turn off the power," Gaia complains as Trail approaches the beam and got an idea.
"Yeah, like say, hack the system?" he suggested before striking the glass with his Techno Blade but it did not work, "Grr! Stupid technology!"
"This can't be harder than it looks," Landrush said as he took out his Techno Blade and the chain extended out as he swung it around. The moment he struck the glass, there was no signs of penetration and he felt the rebound as he shook a little. "Okay, definitely harder."
Back outside, Min-droid dropped down from a ladder and started looking around as he started hearing the Ninja.
"Button, button, who's got the button? " Thunder said as Min-Droid checked the wall.
'Be quiet! " Landrush told him as Min-Droid noticed a vent.
He heard Thunder scoff from it. "I am being quiet. You be quiet. "
He then activated his comm, "Attention, all units. Intruders in the control room!" He shouted as all the Nindroids were alerted.
General Cryptor then glared. "Ninja!" he said as they all headed for the door.
"The Ninja have been discovered," Pixal said as she and the others peeked behind a rock and saw the Nindroids gathering in front of the main control room door. "Operation jeopardized."
"That's not good," Fang whispers.
"Calculating probability of success to affecting outcome by--" Pixal then felt that feeling inside of her yet again as she had a look of annoyance of what she was saying before. "Oh, who cares about probability?" The others were shocked to hear her say that before they saw her run towards the tower and a grappling hook came out of her right hoof.
"Hey! Wait for us!" Coal said as they grabbed on.
The Nindroids lines up outside the door as Min-Droid pointed to it. "They're in there, sir! They're in-ACK!" he yelped as Cryptor punted him away.
"Knock-knock," he mocked as he prepared to open the door. Pixal launched the grappling hook and swung her and kids way on to the control tower before she accidentally stepped on a laser tripwire to sound an alarm when she landed.
That got the attention of General Cryptor and the other Nindroids. "Oops," Melody said.
Cryptor fired a laser beam at her before she quickly jumped out of the way.
Back inside, alarm lights were flashing as the alarm was sounded and Aqua quickly turned on the security cameras to see what was happening outside. "Nindroids, our cover is blown!" She warned the others.
"Quick! Lock the doors and find a way to shut it down!" Gaia said before Frost and Flash noticed the camera.
"Pixal?!" Frost asked in a worried tone.
"Kids?!" Flash shouted with so much concern. "Don't lock the door yet! The kids and Pixal are out there, and they need our help!"
"Are you crazy?!" Thunder asked. "We barely fixed up Frost last time he fought them, and they are so much stronger than we are!!"
"You didn't fix me, Pixal did!" Frost retorted.
"And I don't care how tough those things are! Nocreature messes with my kids!" Flash told them. The two Ninja then rushed out the door and Min-droid tumbled in before it closed.
"Halt, intruders!" he said, drawing his sword.
"Oh great, now they come in fun size!" Thunder retorted.
Meanwhile, the Mane Six, Lloyd, Luna, and Sensei Garmadon had come to a stump for a nice water break as Twilight was filling up some canteens with water from a nearby river while Lloyd just sipped from it. "How far out are we?" Fluttershy asked as she was unfamiliar with the surroundings.
"Farther away from any civilization, that's for sure," Rainbow answered.
"Oh, the nerve of that Overlord brute!" Rarity complained. "Hunting us down like common criminals!"
"We just need to keep our distance until the others can reboot the system and destroy the Overlord. And for good, this time," Twilight reminded Rarity as Applejack noticed something flying in the sky.
"What in tarnation is that?" She asked before the others noticed it as well.
They looked up and a giant mechanical creature flying above them, "It's some kind of… Mechanical Dragon!" Twilight said.
“Ehhhh… I would have called it a ‘MechDragon’… and it doesn't look friendly !!!" Pinkie said.
Luna and Garmadon then opened their cockpits. "Lloyd, girls, we need to go!" Garmadon said.
"Now!" Luna added. As they quickly ran towards the vehicles.
The mechanical dragon was able to detect them. "Targets scanned and verified. Initiate capture-and-contain protocol," it said as Lloyd quickly got on the vehicle with his father while the others jumped in the vehicle with Luna before they drove off.
"Come on, start!" Garmadon grunted as he was having trouble starting up his vehicle.
Twilight and Lloyd nodded to each other and used their power to start up the cars as they drove away.
As they drove on, the MechDragon was catching up on them. "He's gaining on us!" Rainbow shouted.
"Well, maybe these things have afterburners!" Garmadon assumed before he pressed a button on the console and the chair that Lloyd was on turn around and fired a blaster at the MechDragon. "Curse these weapons!"
They then saw the MechDragon ready its own boosters, speeding up as it charged towards them.
"NINJA, GO!" Both Frost and Flash shouted as they did Spinjitzu and knock back a few Nindroids the railing on the control tower. Frost and Flash then stopped as Flash duck one of the Nindroids’ sword swipe and kicked it off as Frost got punched by one and punched him back and over the rail as he punched another one multiple time as really hard as he finished off with a hard headbutt as the Nindroid short circuited as it sparked up electricity as it fell to the floor.
Frost and Flash then looked at Cryptor, holding Pixal as the others were being surrounded by other Nindroids as Pixal screamed in fright as the others took position stances to defend themselves.
“You get the others, Flash! I’ll get Pixal!” Frost called out in determination as Flash nodded in agreement as the two took out their Techno Blades as they charged at the Nindroids.
Flash then got to the others as he kicked and blocked the Nindroids attacks.
“Flash!” The others cried out in relief that Flash is here to help them.
“Watch each other's backs and take out these bucket heads!” Flash called out as he and the others fought off the other Nindroids
But when Frost was about to hit Cryptor with his Techno Blade, Cryptor caught it with his metal hoof as Frost struggled to get his blade off his grip as Cryptor is very strong. “The Original Nindroid,” Cryptor said, recognizing Frost since he was built by him as Pixal punches his arm to get him to let go of her, but he ignores it. “You’re nothing more than a tin can with feelings,” he slandered as he pushed Frost’s Techno Blade back as Frost struggled.
Frost pushed back a bit, but Cryptor tossed Frost over him as he screamed when he hit the floor. Luckily, his Techno Blade fell to the other floor as Frost looked down at it before he turned to Cryptor.
Cryptor then tosses Pixal to the wall as she grunted on impact as she fell to the floor. Cryptor drew his swords as he ran at Frost. Frost took a swipe from his swords as he punched one off his hoof and hit Cryptor in the head many times, making Cryptor drop his other sword.
Cryptor then got his bearings as he headbutted Frost’s head and then air kicked him with one of his hind hooves, which made Frost roll across the floor as he landed flat on the ground.
Flash and the others saw this after taking care of the other Nindroids. “Frost!” They called out in concern for their friend.
Cryptor casually walked to Frost as he turned invisible.
“Frost! Watch out!” Pixal, Flash and the others all cried out when they saw Cryptor turned invisible.
As Frost stood up, he felt punches on his body and got his head hit to the wall many times as he fell to the floor as he groaned in pain.
“Welcome to the future,” Cryptor rhetorically said as he turned visible again in front of Frost before he felt a kick to the side as he grunted in pain as he rolled across the floor before he stood up, and faced Flash, who was glaring at him angrily with his Techno Blade out.
“You may be a new version of Frost, but you are nothing like him! And nopony messes with our friend!” Flash called out as the others glared at Cryptor behind Flash.
“And you’re just a cheap knockoff toaster!” Smolder called out as she breathed out her fire at Cryptor, who dodges it as he took a defensive stance as he glared at them as they glared back.
In the control room, Aqua pressed as many buttons as she could, trying to find the right one to shut off the power, but nothing worked so far. Behind her, the Ninja were keeping Min-Droid busy as they backed up to the power controls as Min-Droid spun around with his sword and right for them.
“Hack him with the Techno-Blades.” Trail said to Landrush and Gaia.
Gaia and Landrush tried to hit Min-Droid with one of their Techno-Blades, but Min-Droid kept spinning as he blocked the Blades with his sword.
“Argh! We’re trying!” Landrush called out as he and Gaia retracted their Blades.
“But I must admire this little droid, he certainly doesn’t know when to quit,” Gaia admittedly said, seeing Min-Droid’s determination admirable.
Min-Droid stopped spinning when Gaia said that as he glared at her. “Quit?” he questioned angrily as shoot a blaster at Gaia, as Landrush grabbed her and pushed her out of the way as they landed on the floor and the blast hit the glass of the core, causing it to crack.
“How rude!” Gaia called out angrily at Min-Droid for almost getting shot at.
“Wait, that’s it,” Trail called out after seeing Min-Droid’s blast hitting the glass, having an idea. “Fight without fighting!” he said to the others, remembering Garmadon’s lesson on the Art of the Silent Hoof.
“This is no time for a lesson, Trail!” Thunder retorted, not getting the plan.
Without explaining, Trail got in front of Min-Droid. “Hey, half pint! Over here!” He called out as he shook his rump in front of him. Angry at that remark, Min-Droid fired another blast at Trail. “Whoa!” He called out as he dodged the blast, landed next to Landrush and Gaia as the glass cracked some more. “We need to provoke him more,” he said to the others.
“Or more Nindroids,” Landrush suggested, having an idea as he turned to Aqua as he, Gaia and Trail got up. “Aqua, open the door!” He called out to her.
“I see where you’re headed,” Aqua said with a smirk, knowing the plan as she trotted to the door and opened, letting the other Nindroids inside as she trotted out of the way.
Many of the Nindroids got inside as they started blasting at the Ninja, who were dodging their attacks as they made sure their blasts hit the glass, which started to crack some more as the blast fire continued.
“It’s working!” Aqua called out happily that the plan is working.
Back with the Mane Six, Lloyd, Garmadon and Luna, they were still trying to lose the MechDragon as it keeps following them as the two vehicles are at full speed, but still can’t lose it.
Lloyd turned and saw the MechDragon coming in close. “Look out!” he called out to the others.
The others turned and saw it coming in close to them. “Duck!” Twilight called out as she and the others ducked from the MechDragon’s spinning blades, missing their heads as it broke off a piece of each of their flags on the vehicles as it flew up and got right behind them again, still hot on their tails.
“This is why I took an oath of peace!” Garmadon retorted as he tried to shake it.
“Trust us, we know!” Luna called out as she and Garmadon tried to shake the dragon.
Back at the power station, the Ninja keep dodging the Nindroids blasters as the core’s glass was nearly broken.
“Take this!” Min-Droid called out as he jumped and tend to kick Thunder, but he dodged the kick by moving aside, making Min-Droid break the glass as he went into the core. The droid was lifted into the air and spun around at a fast pace as the Ninja and the other Nindroids watched on. Min-Droid soon glowed brighter as electricity surrounded him. Soon, he stopped spinning as he realized what he did and what was going happen next.
“Uh-oh!” he called out as the core explored, sending a feedback wave throughout and beyond the station, powering everything down.
But not just the station, as the blast expanded outside the station and throughout all of Equestria.
With the Mane Six, Lloyd, Garmadon, Luna and the MechDragon are, the blast reached them as it hit.
“Warning: Losing poowwerr….” the MechDragon said as it loses as it shuts down.
The two vehicles Luna and Garmadon are driving on powered down as well as the MechDragon flew over them as it crashed to the ground in front of them.
“What happened?” Rainbow asked.
“The others must’ve turned off the power! They did it!” Twilight called out happily.
The Mane Six, Lloyd, Garmadon and Luna start cheering that their friends succeed in shutting down the power.
In Neo Equestria City, the power went out as all the security mechs and hovercopters shut down as the hover copters fell to the floor.
The creatures of Neo Equestria City came out of hiding when they saw the blackout and the machines shutting down, knowing that they are now safe as Neo Equestria City is now in darkness, but safe from the Digital Overlord now that he was out with the lack of power for now.
Back at the power station, the others came out and they saw the rest of the Nindroids were offline. "You guys did it!" Sky shouted with excitement, but that excitement was short-lived when they saw Frost holding Pixal close as she was slowly losing power.
"This is why I wanted to stay back," Pixal told him in a weak tone. "So you would not s-s-see this."
"You knew this would happen?" Frost asked her in shock.
"Your mission was important," Pixal replied. "I-I was not. I am to assist, I assisted." Her voice sounded all glitchy as she was losing more power.
"You're using up your reserve," Frost told her worryingly. "Don't say anything more until we find you more power."
"You've destroyed the only power source in Equestria," Pixal reminded him. "Power will all be nonexistent." Flash held the Serpentine Kids close as they began to tear up at the site of their friend losing power and as if she was dying. She then lifted up her hoof and held onto Frost's hoof. "We are not so different, are we?" she asked as she felt the strange feeling inside of her even though she's losing power and that feeling was becoming stronger. "We are compatible?" She asked with a loving warm smile.
"Yes, yes we are," Frost replied with a smile of his own before her hoof let go of his and fell to the ground lifeless as her eyes went black after all her power was gone. The others walked over to comfort Frost at the loss of an ally.
Back with the Mane Six, Lloyd, Garmadon and Luna are, they climbed the powered down MechDragon as they look off into the distance.
“Do you guys think it’s safe to go back?” Lloyd asked them, wondering if it’s safe to return home and to their friends.
“Yeah, you think it’s safe to return home and join up with the others?” Pinkie asked as well, wanting to return to their homes and reunite with the rest of their friends.
“Yeah. The power’s out, meaning the Overlord is now shut down. Meaning that we are safe,” Rainbow Dash said, knowing with the power out, so was the Digital Overlord.
“If only it was that simple, guys,” Twilight said to the others, knowing that they can’t return home yet.
“What do you mean, Sugarcube?” Applejack asked, wanting to know what they are saying.
“They may have turned off the power, but they still need to reboot the system,” Luna summarized, knowing that even with the power out, the Overlord was still waiting inside the system, which meant…
“Oh, meaning we aren’t in the clear yet?” Fluttershy asked while feeling a little sad they can’t go home yet.
“I’m afraid not, darlings,” Rarity said as she comforted Fluttershy with her wings.
“Come now, everypony,” Garmadon called out as they climbed down the MechDragon as they walked down the path, since their vehicles are out of power as well. “Until we know the Overlord is gone for good, we need to keep moving.”
“He’s right. Until we hear from the others that the Overlord is gone forever, we keep going,” Twilight said to her friends.
The others nodded in agreement as they continue their journey until they hear the Overlord is erased from the system as they walked to the path where the mountains are.
Back in Borg Tower, Celestia and Sensei Wu struggled to get out of the restraints when the power was turned off. They then heard a door open and closed but they could not see who it is. "Who's there?!” Celestia called out. They saw three figures walking over to the console and ripped out the main hard drive that contains the Digital Overlord.
"What are you doing?! That's dangerous!" Wu told the cloaked figures before two of them walked over and placed rags over their muzzles. The two of them tried to get them off before everything went dark and the two of them lost consciousness.
Within the mountains far from Equestria, the Mane Six, Lloyd, Garmadon and Luna stopped to get some practice in. Twilight's friends were practicing their new Alicorn magic while Lloyd was having rocks stacked on top of him.
"We misunderstand the importance of balance. When it's there, we're at peace,” Garmadon said as he placed a rock on the stack. "When something is off, everything falls." Lloyd grunted as his load became heavier.
Meanwhile the Mane Six were struggling with their own training. Levitating boulders, hovering over deep drops, and balancing on one hoof as Luna oversaw their progress. "Equestria is no different. It put too much faith in technology and not enough in magic, allowing the Overlord to return, and because of our friends, now the world is without power,” Luna told them as she walked in front of the struggling Mane Six. "When one relies on something too much, we become weak, vulnerable, imbalanced."
Frost's Falcon flew by as Twilight tossed another rock at Rainbow and she quickly caught it in her magic, but struggled to keep balance on her one hoof. "In order to find your full potentials and unlock your true powers, you must find your own balance,” Twilight added.
"Um… Why do we have to practice so high up, if you don't mind me asking?" Fluttershy asked as she was concerned about where they're doing this.
"And why do we need to?!" Rainbow Dash grunted. "We're already alicorns and everything!"
"And I'm already the Golden Ninja, how much more power do I need?" Lloyd asked as he struggled to keep balance.
“You've only scratched the surface!” Garmadon said, placing another rock on Lloyd’s stack. “You have the potential to move mountains, my son. The power of your grandfather, the First Spinjitzu Master!”
“And there is more to the power of an alicorn than wings and shooting lasers,” Twilight told her friends. “We have the power to move the sun and moon themselves, harness the very energies of Equestria itself.”
"But the others destroyed the power substation, which pretty much destroyed the Overlord and his Nindroids,” Applejack stated. "Why can't we go back?"
"‘Pretty much’?" Luna repeated as she and Twilight used their magic to levitate five heavy boulders while Garmadon levitated a boulder. "Until the Overlord is fully erased from the system, we must not go back, but forward!” She and Twilight through the rocks at the others as Garmadon placed the large boulder on the stack.
Lloyd then yelped as he lost his footing and the rocks fell on top of him.
“Lloyd!” The girls said in concern thus losing their focus and collapsing as well.
Luna sighed. “It seems they still have much to learn,” she said before turning to Twilight, “as do you Twilight.”
“I know,” Twilight nodded.
“If you can't move mountains, I guess we'll have to move over mountains,” Garmadon comments before Lloyd yelled as he burst from the pile of rocks on top of him.
"Oh, yeah?" Lloyd asked before his father jumped down to him.
"And this next one looks particularly steep,” Luna said as she pointed to the path in front of them.
Meanwhile at Neo Equestria City, in Borg Tower were a few construction workers, three unicorn stallions. at the factory line where both Borg and Gear were laying on the conveyor belt until one of them shined a light on and spotted them. "Over here! I found them!” he called out to the others before rushing over to them.
Both ponies slowly awoke as two of the workers removed the headgear they had on. “Wh-what?” Gear murmured.
“Are you and Mister Borg alright, Doctor Gear?” one of the workers asked.
“Yes, yes we are,” she answered.
“But how long have we been out?” Borg asked as he looked around.
“Quite a while, sir,” the worker explained. “We’ve been without power for a few days.”
The worker ponies helped Borg onto his wheelchair before they all made their way on the staircase to the top floor. Once they arrived at their office, the place looked like it was ransacked before they walked over to the main computer and saw that something very crucial was missing.
"The hard drive… It’s gone!” Gear said in a worried tone.
"Have the Ninja returned with the Techno Blades?" Borg asked one of the workers. "Please, it's very important."
"Uh, no, there's been no one else inside the building,” he explained.
Then the two remembered. “Wu,” Borg said.
“Celestia,” Gear added as they turned to where they were retrained but they were gone. “They were right here! Where did they go?!”
“And who would take the hard drive when the Overlord virus is still on it?” Borg wonders before rubbing his face, “Oh, so many questions, so few answers…”
Unbeknownst to any of them, deep below the city in the sewers were the three cloaked figures with the stolen hard drive. White Cloak inserted the hard drive into a slot of a machine with tubes around it.
Once it was in, the hard drive started to boot up before the eyes of the Overlord was shown on a screen and he let out a gasp. "Where am I?!" the Overlord shouted. "The Ninja destroyed all of the power. How have you three saved me?"
"A funny thing about power...,” Red Hood wheezed out. "It can come in many forms, and from anywhere."
White Cloak then directed the Overlord’s attention to strange eellike creatures swinging through the clear pipes around them, “Electro-Cobrai. Though they are extremely rare, they are extremely valuable.”
“Who are you three?! What do you want from me?!” the Overlord demanded.
"Nothing but a small favor after returning you to power,” Black Shroud answered as the white cloaked put on rubber gloves. "You still want to become flesh, if we're not mistaken?"
"Yes, of course,” the Overlord responded, "but I need the Golden Ninja and the Council of Friendship."
“Oh, don’t worry. You’ll get your claws on them in good time,” White Cloak assured as he took one Electro-Cobrai and walked away. “But our power is limited, Equestria is vast, and both the Golden one and the Elements could be anywhere.”
“And the Ninja still have the only weapons that could erase you, so we will need some reassurance,” Red Hood explained.
"Therefore, we must be wise in our next step,” Black Shroud added.
Soon White Cloak walked over to two tables and placed the Electro-Cobrai above two figures on the table. The electricity from the creatures surged through them both before the table was turned right up, the eyes of both figures opening to reveal a glowing red. Both figures stood up and looked menacing and dangerous.
"These two knows everything about the Ninja. All of their secrets. All of their hideouts,” White Cloak explained. "They will find them in no time."
"Yes. Yes!" The Overlord said before letting out an evil laugh.
In daylight, at “Bolt & Scrip's Scrap n Junk” junkyard, the Ninja, Starlight, Young Six and the Serpentine children managed to make it out of the power substation and made it to Thunder's parents’ junkyard, where they were pulling some junk from a mountain of junks, looking for some parts.
In one area, Landrush, Gallus and Trail are digging through a mountain of junk as they each took one side as they are trying to pull something out as they are grunting and groaning in effort.
"We've been digging for so long, I think I forgot what we're looking for,” Landrush said tiredly, having been digging through the junks for a while that he forgotten the piece they are looking for.
Trail sighed as he spoke. "A jiggly compact compress converter,” he reminded Landrush, but then started having second thoughts. "Or was it a compress compact jiggly converter?” he questioned himself if he got the name right, since it was confusing to remember a name like that.
"Ah! The names are so confusing, always sounding like each other!" Gallus complained, unable to make sense of the part they had to find.
"You’re telling me, Gallus,” Landrush said in agreement.
"Whatever it is, if it can help us get back to Neo Equestria City any sooner, it's worth finding,” Trail said as he tugged on a fire extinguisher, but then the mountain of junk on both sides began to tilt.
Trail, Gallus and Landrush all screamed from what was coming down on them as Bolt, Thunder, Ocellus, Gaia were searching for other some parts on top of another junk pile. They turned and saw the two piles fell over, luckily it fell in arc formation so Landrush, Gallus and Trail are okay as the dust cleared around.
"Those boys are lucky to survive unscathed,” Gaia commented, a bit relieved that Trail, Gallus and Landrush were okay, but especially Landrush as she hated to see him hurt.
"Yeah, that was close for them,” Ocellus said in agreement.
Bolt nodded in agreement with a smile as his son kept talking about their mission. "We shut down the power, thinking we can just waltz in, but no, we didn't stop to think we were a bajillion miles away,” Thunder said with a smile as he, his father and Gaia continue searching for the missing part they need.
"We know, Thunder. You said it many times, darling. We were lucky to made it to your parents’ place when we didn't have any rides, with or without powers, to get here,” Gaia said with a little annoyance from Thunder repeating their last mission.
"Yeah. Even I know it can get annoying after dozens of times,” Ocellus said in agreement with Gaia, really getting tired of Thunder repeated it.
Thunder then spotted something next to him as he levitated out of the pile. "Hey! A compact converted jiggly compressor!” he called out happily with a smile as he showed it to his father and Gaia.
"Thank Celestia,” Gaia said in relief that they found the part they need (and that Thunder could stop repeating himself).
"Finally,” Ocellus added, sounding quite glad they found the part.
Bolt smiled at his son. "Ah. Great find, kiddo! Now all we need to adapt that HoverCopter's power supply to solar power is an upside-down router derouter-mabob and a whiz bang automated amplifier,” he listed off, as Thunder smiled and nodded at his dad from that while Gaia, Ocellus, Landrush and Trail, the latter half climbed up to them when they heard Thunder finding the part they need, groans at the two additional parts they need to get back to the city.
"You gotta be kidding me,” Gaia said as she flopped to the floor dramatically.
"Guess we better keep looking,” Ocellus said, a little tired but looking through the pile again to look for the next part.
"I'm starting to think they're just making this stuff up,” Trail commented, wondering who name these parts and that if they even existed.
"Hey! I think I found a router derouter-thingy,” Flash's voice called out as he flew to the others while holding said parts.
Bolt took a good look at the part and smiled. "That's the one, Flashy-boy. Great find,” he commented to Flash as Flash smiled from that.
Gaia, Ocellus, Trail and Landrush sighs in relief that another part is found quickly as Thunder spoke. "That means we have one part left. Let's get going,” he said to the others.
Trail then turned to Flash. "Hey, Flash, how you know what that derouter thing is?” he questioned on how Flash knew what the part looked like.
"Twilight’s been teaching me a thing a two while reading books with her,” Flash answered with a smile, with his time with Twilight, he been doing some studies with her on their free times. "Come one, we still got an amplifier to find,” he said as he and the others got back to searching for the last part that they needed to make the HoverCopter run on solar power and get back to Neo Equestria City quickly to erase the Overlord with the Techno Blades.
"Yona find something over here!" They all heard Yona's voice as they turned and saw her trying to get a part out with her teeth. "Yona need much help to get part out,” she called out through her teeth to the others as Flash, Trail, and Landrush climbed down their pile to go help Yona.
In Bolt and Scrip's caravan, the Serpentine Kids, the other half of the Young Six, Starlight, Aqua, Frost, Spike, along with Thunder's mom, Scrip, were inside the trailer with the powered-down Pixal in one seat while Frost was seated next to her.
Frost had his chest opened as Aqua was wearing zoom glasses, lowering the next lens down so that she could take a closer look at Frost's power source as it kept pulsing. As she gently levitates half of Frost's “heart” out carefully as Frost groaned, feeling his energy diminish a bit.
"You okay, Frost?" Smolder asked in concern as she and she friends looked at Frost rather worriedly.
"I'm alright. Just… Just drained a bit,” Frost assured.
"You sure you wanna to do this?" Aqua asked unsurely, not liking having to take half of her friend's heart out. "Your mother told us that modifying your original design could have… unintentional consequences.”
Frost looked at the de-powered Pixal, hating to see her like this. "She risked her life for me and our friends. It's the least I could do to get her back,” he remarked, determined to see this through/.
"Frost's right. Pixal risked everything to help us, so now we help her,” Silverstream said, agreeing to this since she hate seeing her new friend like this.
"And she protected us as much as she can when those Nindroids had us cornered. She deserves better,” Melody added as her siblings nodded in agreement.
Aqua nodded her head in understanding as she walked close to Pixal, opening up her right chest plated and placing the half of Frost's heart into Pixal. With the new power source installed, the droidmare gasped as she opened her eyes, fully back online as she sat up.
"Where am I? What happened?" Pixal asked in confusion as she looked around, seeing Aqua, the Serpentine Kids, the Young Six, Frost, and Scrip, who she doesn't know yet, around her.
"Easy, Pixal,” Sandbar said in a calm tone. "You’re in Thunder's parents’ place. And Frost helped bring you back online,” he said with a calming smile.
Pixal then turned to Frost from what Sandbar said, seeing that half of his power source is gone, fully understanding now as she spoke. "You gave me half your power source,” she said in surprise. "My processor does not compute,” she added, doesn't know why Frost would do that to bring her back online.
"You are the only one who know Borg's systems,” Frost answered. "You are vital to the mission,” he added as he looked down, wanting to tell her something he wanted to tell her as he continued. "And… you are vital to me,” he finished, confessing his feelings to Pixal.
Pixal looked at Frost when he said that, feeling that warmth feeling again from before she was out of power, but this time stronger than before. She smiled at Frost as he lifted his hoof to Pixal, who accepted his hoof, holding hooves together as they smiled at each other while the others smiled at the two droids.
Scrip smiled at Frost and Pixal. "Ooh… robot love,” she said with a smile, having familiar with this feeling with her husband as the others smiled at this moment as well as she turned to Aqua. "Call me a sucker, but if they've got half of what you and Thunder have…” she stopped when Pixal spoke.
“Thunder and Aqua?” She asked, “Judging by Perfect Match compatibility, perhaps Aqua and Landrush would be a closer comparison, as would Sandbar and Ocellus,” Aqua and Sandbar flinch.
Scrip looked surprised. “Aqua and Landrush are a better match? And Ocellus with Sandbar?”
“Don't you mean Thunder and Yona?” Frost asked. “Perhaps her processor was damaged.”
“My processor is fully operational. The Perfect Matches for Aqua and Sandbar aren’t Yona and Thunder, but Landrush and Ocellus,” Pixal retorted.
"Landrush is Aqua's Perfect Match?!" Thunder asked in shocked when he, Yona, Flash and Bolt came in and heard what Pixal just said.
"Yona and Sandbar not each other Perfect Matches?" Yona said with hurt in her tone.
Aqua looked at Thunder sympathetically. “Thunder,” she said.
“Yona,” Sandbar said as he walked over to the sad yak.
"Heh! It's so quiet in here,” Landrush said when the and the others walked in. "What'd we miss, another signature Thunder gut buster?" Thunder's saddened face turned angry when he heard the Earth Ninja walking in.
"Well, we almost have everything for the trip back to Neo Equestria City,” Ocellus said as Yona huffed through her nostrils. "We could use a few extra hooves to help out."
"Uh… You backstabbing, no good--!!!" Thunder shouted at Landrush when he turned to him before he tackled him.
"What's wrong with you?!" Landrush shouted as the two of them tussled on the ground.
"Colt-stealer Changeling mess with yak! Now, Changeling get horns! YAHHHH!!!" Yona declared as she looked at Ocellus angry before charging at her. Ocellus transformed into a small bug, dodging Yona’s charges while she chased after the small bug.
"Wait, stop! Why are you mad at me?!" Ocellus asked as she did her best not to get squashed.
"What's going on?" Gaia asked as Aqua gave her a guilty look.
Flash sighed in exasperation, "I hope Lloyd, Twi and the girls are having better luck than us."
Back with the others, they continued their walk to the mountains until they reached a gap with a broken bridge. "Oh my… that's a long way down,” Fluttershy said when she looked over the edge before Pinkie Pie let out a spit and listened in one ear.
"Huh, can't even hear it hit the bottom,” Pinkie said.
Rarity then looked to where the bridge was. "Oh dear, and not a bridge in sight,” she said.
Lloyd just scoffs, "Ha, who needs bridges when you turn into a Golden Dragon and--ow!"
Luna then hits Lloyd on the head. "No dragon changing today."
"She's right. You rely too much on your Golden Power,” Garmadon told his son. "Let this be a lesson. Center yourself, and move the mountain with your mind,” he pointed towards the mountain in front of them when he said that.
"What?!" Lloyd asked in shock. "Move that?! Are you kidding me?!"
"Even I'll admit, the idea seems a bit cocky,” Rarity stated.
Garmadon then turned to his son. “Find your balance. Concentrate,” he instructed him.
Lloyd sighed, focusing his magic as he tried to make a bridge of rocks.
“Come on Lloyd, you can do it!” Twilight encouraged him.
However, Lloyd started to lose focus as the bridge fell apart. "This is pointless!" Lloyd complained. "Especially when I can do this...” he jumped off and transformed into his Golden Dragon form. He then flew above the gap before he let out his dragon breath, creating a bridge with his Golden Power. "I'm not the First Spinjitzu Master, and I never wanted to be.” He then transformed back and landed on the bridge. "I'm the Golden Ninja."
Garmadon however just placed a hoof on his forehead and let out a sigh. "I know, we were once like this too,” he told Luna before she got a word in.
"He's still young. It will take some time for him to learn,” Luna assured him before the group traveled further into the mountains.
Back at the junkyard, both Thunder and Yona's respective rages against Landrush and Ocellus escalated while the objects of their anger fruitlessly tried calming them down. Aqua had just finished explaining to Gaia why Thunder was so angry.
“You and Landrush are… supposed to be soulmates?” Gaia asked with her ears folded back.
Aqua looked down at the floor sadly. “I’m sorry, Gaia. I would never try to take him from you,” she apologized before pointing to her. “But if I’m honest, you’re the one Landrush is perfect for.”
Gaia could only smile sadly at her fellow mare.
"You know why you're the Black Ninja of Earth, Landrush?" Thunder ranted. "‘Cause it's the color of your heart!"
"Whoa, Thunder! Take it easy!" Landrush responded. "I don't even like Aqua like that ! I only see her as a friend and nothing more!"
Sadly, this only served to enrage the Ninja of Lightning even further. Thunder then pounced on Landrush and began pulling on the stallion's mane (or at least, as much as he could since he had hooves instead of fingered hands).
"How dare you say that!? Aqua is practically a mare whose beauty makes it impossible for stallions to refuse wanting to go out with her! You don't deserve to say you only see her as a friend!"
"Ow, ow, OW! You're angry that me and Aqua might be Perfect Matches, but also offended that I don't find her attractive? Please, just make up your mind!"
Meanwhile, Ocellus had transformed into a sasquatch to restrain the equally-enraged Yona that threatens to smash her. She wrapped her arms around the yak’s frame and held her while Yona struggled.
"Please Yona!" the Changeling pleaded. “I don’t want to hurt you!”
"Too bad!" Yona replied. “Ocellus hurt Yona when she steal Sandbar! Now Yona make Ocellus hurt! Yah!" She then did a reverse headbutt and hit Ocellus, disorienting her which allowed Yona to break free from her grasp.
Unfortunately, everycreature was so distracted with the new one-sided rivalries that they failed to notice the junkyard received some unwelcome visitors. Eyeing on the deactivated bodies of General Cryptor and Min-Droid, the two newcomers respectively used their horn and staff to place some Electro-Cobrai on to the Nindroids, their bodies reactivating as electricity sparked through their systems.
Back inside the trailer, the Ninja of Lightning and the yak continued trying to beat the Ninja of Earth and Changeling into pulp whilst everycreature else tried to break up the confrontation. Landrush eventually managed to pin Thunder down and tried to reason with him.
“Thunder, please! I don’t want to fight you! Besides, I have super strength! No other creature except a few can best that!” he begged.
“Yeah? Well, I’m extremely hooped!” Thunder said while Flash and Trail held him back from attacking the Earth Pony stallion. “And I haven’t brushed my teeth in a week!” With that, he loudly exhaled at Landrush’s face.
Landrush sniffed and immediately raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure that it’s not the chili cheese and double-bean burrito you had for lunch twelve minutes ago?” he asked.
“WHAT!? NO! IT’S COMPLETE PURE BAD BREATH!” Thunder denied and continued exhaling as Landrush stood unaffected by his action.
Outside, the two figures continued using the Electro-Cobrai to reactivate the Nindroids scattered across the junkyard. As they were doing so, Min-Droid spotted a crane and made his to the controls. He then caught the trailer in his line of sight and grew a wicked grin that was hidden underneath his hood.
“This is gonna be fun,” he said.
Back with the others, Gallus and Silverstream desperately held Yona back in a temporary attempt to stall her charge against Ocellus. Sandbar put himself in between the yak and Changeling as he tried to reason with Yona.
“Yona, come on! This isn’t right! You two are friends!” he said.
“Sandbar stay out!” Yona lashed out. “This between girls only!”
Meanwhile, Aqua and Gaia were frustrated with Thunder’s hostility to Landrush and glared at him while he continued exhaling his obvious burrito-riddled breath at said Earth pony stallion.
“I can’t believe you’re acting like this!” Gaia scolded.
“I agree with Gaia! This macho stuff is making you look like foals!” Aqua concurred. “Maybe you and Landrush belong together!”
Just as she said this, the magnet on the crane attached itself to the top of the trailer and began to lift it up, grabbing everycreature’s attention.
“What was that?!” Gallus asked.
As the trailer was slowly raised off the ground, Flash and Bolt opened the door to see what's happening and saw the magnet was online.
"The machines haven't worked since the outage!" Bolt said when he was shocked to see the magnet is online. "What's powering it?!" Flash then looked down and saw the cause of what's happening.
"Nindroids!" Flash pointed to Min-droid at the controls. "The better question is, what's powering them?"
Min-droid decided to have a little fun as he pulled back the lever on the controls and started to spin the trailer with everyone inside it.
"They're after the Techno Blades,” Pixal told them as General Cryptor climbed up a junk pile and fired and laser beam at the trailer. The laser hit and blew a hole on the bottom of it.
"Yeah, well, they almost hit my mother!" Thunder complained.
"Oh, don't worry about us, sweetie,” Scrip assured him as Bolt was helping her put on a jetpack that is filled with bubble soap as while he had one on too. "We prepared for every type of situation."
"Did you make one for me?" Thunder asked.
"Um, sorry, honey. You hardly ever come to visit,” Scrip told him.
"Yeah, good luck, kiddo,” Bolt told his son as the two prepared to leave through the same hole that was just made. "Eh, and watch over the junk while we're gone, will ya?" Both of their jetpacks started to shut out bubbles out of the jets and the two flew out the hole. The two flew over General Cryptor and one of the bubbles hurt his robotic eye as he grunted in pain.
"Yona blame Changeling for this!" Yona shouted as she glared at Ocellus.
"Me?! What did I do?!" Ocellus shouted.
"Yeah, Thunder was the one who wanted to stay at a scrapheap full of Nindroids!" Landrush reminded, earning a death glare from Thunder.
"Enough, all of you!" Flash interrupted. "We may not have our elemental powers, but we still have our Spinjitzu!” He then turned to the Serpentine Kids. "You five been practicing?"
"Like you have to ask,” Sky said as her siblings nodded in agreement. "Are you gonna be okay, Pixal?"
"I may not be built to fight, but my protective reflexes should suffice,” Pixal assured them.
"Great, 'cause you're gonna need them,” Spike told them as they prepared to do the whip.
Min-droid pulled the lever on the controls and the crane to stop, causing everyone inside to float in the air as it began to swing. The moment it swung the other way, Min-droid pressed a button on the console and deactivated the magnet that tossed the trailer into the air.
"NINJA, GO!" The Ninja and the Serpentine Kids shouted as they jumped out of the hole and did Spinjitzu. Frost however did not as nothing happened when he spun around and Pixal quickly caught him as the trailer fell.
Unfortunately, it was heading straight for Cryptor. “Uh oh,” he uttered before ducking away. “Watch where you’re throwing things!”
“Sorry sir!” Min-Droid apologized.
The others landed on the ground. “That was close,” Gaia said.
“But where are Pixal and Frost?” Sandbar asks. They then saw the trailer falling to the ground before both Frost and Pixal rolled out of the hole when it crashed on the ground.
"I couldn't do Spinjitzu,” Frost said in shock.
"Your heart… Dividing it must have inhibited your fighting ability,” Pixal theorized.
"Guess I have poor timing,” Frost joked causing her to smile. But the moment was ruined when Cryptor appeared and fired at them.
Up on a crane, the others were watching. “We have to help Frost!” Thunder said.
“Finally, something we agree on,” Landrush says as the two jump off and rushed to help their friend.
"Let's back them up!" Ocellus told Yona.
"Okay!" Yona shouted as they followed Thunder and Landrush. The four of them ran across a closed garbage crusher before two figures pressed a button on the console, opening the crusher doors and causing them to fall in. The moment that they landed on the ground, the top closed back up as they were getting up.
"We're trapped!" Landrush shouted.
"Oh! And with my own worst enemy!" Thunder growled, making Landrush breathe his bad breath at him.
"I'll just change into something small and climb out,” Ocellus told them.
"And let Changeling take Sandbar?! Over Yona dead body!" Yona shouted, making Ocellus hiss at her. Then suddenly the trash compactor activated. "Oh, Yona too cute to be smash!" Yona cried as they saw what was happening.
"Walls are closing in!" Ocellus cried as they pushed the doors.
"Hey, somecreature stop this thing!" Landrush yelled.
"Bad Min-Droid! Very, very bad Min-Droid!" Gaia scolded as she shook Min-droid.
"Trail, they're trapped!" Flash called out as they ran to the trash compactor. They looked down through the grates and saw them screaming before two figures walked up to them, Flash and Gaia looking shocked to see who it was. It was Sensei Wu and Celestia, only they had metal parts attached to them. Wu's beard and tail was now black while Celestia's mane and tail were pitch black with red circuit-like lines. They saw that their eyes were glowing red as they were now under the control of something.
“Sensei,” Trail breath out in horror.
“Celestia?” Flash gasped. “What did the Overlord do to you!”
“Long live the Overlord!” Cyberstia declared as she blasted Flash and Techno Wu whack Trail back. The two corrupted ponies they bucked the two into a pile of trash.
"Aqua, Sandbar, you both have to stop the junk compactor!" Flash called out as Cyberstia and Techno Wu charged at him and Trail.
"We're on it!" Aqua told them as she and Sandbar ran to it. "Sandbar, go over to the secondary console and try to help turn it off!" As Sandbar ran to the secondary controls, Cyberstia and Techno Wu knocked both Flash and Trail into another junk pile.
"Somecreature stop this thing!" Landrush shouted while they were trying to keep the walls from crushing them as Sandbar and Aqua were pressing random buttons but nothing was happening.
"Ocellus, can't you change into anything to keep them from crushing us?!" Thunder shouted.
"I can't… I'm freaking out!!" Ocellus shouted with fear.
“Uh, we can’t override it!” Aqua called out to them as she and Sandbar could not override the compactor.
“They must've frozen the controls!” Sandbar guessed in slight panic.
“Well, you two had better, cause if you don’t, Landrush and I along with Yona and Ocellus are gonna get real close,” Thunder pointed out. “You said we belong together, Aqua, but not permanently!” he cried out.
“Me and Yona are not… strong enough,” Landrush called out as he and Yona strains themselves to keep the walls from closing in, even with the two of them, it’s a little strong for them.
“Try and crack open the controls! Cut a wire to make it stop!” Ocellus cried out in panic.
“Good idea, Ocellus!” Sandbar called out as Aqua nodded in agreement.
Aqua and Sandbar hen breaks open the glass controls with a grunt, taking Ocellus’ advice as she breaks it open, but what she and Sandbar both saw and gasped in worried two wires on each one, one black and one blue with Aqua, one brown and one light blue for Sandbar.
“Seriously, a blue or black wire?” Aqua asks in disbelief at the two wires as she grabs the two black and blue wires while Sandbar grabs the brown and light blue wires.
“You gotta be kidding me?!” Sandbar asked in disbelief as well. “A brown or light blue wire? We each gotta cut one of these wires to shut it down. But if we cut the wrong ones, and it might crush you guys instantly,” he called out to the others.
“We have to be wise and quick on which we have to cut, Sandbar,” Aqua added as Sandbar nodded as they grabbed each piece of broken glass that would help them cut a wire.
“Oh, choose blue, Aqua!” Thunder called out. “You know blue. You’re comfortable with blue!” he added.
“Choose brown!” Yona called out next. “Brown is color of yak!” She added.
“Choose black,” Landrush suggested. “Black is not blue!” he pointed out.
“Sandbar, choose light blue! That may be the one!” Ocellus called out next.
Thunder and Yona then glared at Landrush and Ocellus. “Oh, I’m gonna turn you black and blue!” Thunder threatened as he raised a hoof at Landrush.
“Yona squash Ocellus brown under hooves!” Yona threatened Ocellus as she aimed her horns at the changeling.
Landrush caught Thunder’s hoof with his free hoof as Ocellus pushed Yona’s horns back with her free hoof as well. “No time for that,” Landrush pointed out, seeing now was not the good time.
“Yona! Now’s not the time to argue!” Ocellus called out as the four beings to grunt from both the walls and from arguing with each other.
“Sandbar/Aqua!” All four of them called out to them as Aqua and Sandbar are feeling conflicted on which two wires they had to cut.
Landrush, Thunder, Yona and Ocellus continue to struggle to keep the walls back as they keep closing in as Thunder turns to Ocellus and Landrush.
“I thought you and Yona were supposed to be strong,” Thunder strained from trying to keep the walls back.
“And I thought we were a team,” Landrush retorted with a look.
“Yona thought Ocellus could get out,” Yona strained.
“And I thought we were friends, Yona,” Ocellus strained.
“Black or blue?” Aqua asked herself as she tried to choose the right wire.
“Brown or light blue?” Sandbar asked himself as well.
“Uh, why is it so difficult to choose?” Aqua questioned while feeling conflicted to pick the right one.
“I know that feeling well,” Sandbar said in agreement, feeling too much pressure to decide on what to choose.
“Just cut one already!” Thunder called out to them.
“We’re getting crushed here!” Ocellus called out as well as the walls were getting closer.
Back with Frost and Pixal, Frost was protecting Pixal as he blocked Cryptor’s lasers with his Techno Blade as he gasped in effort, since having half his heart limited his fighting skills.
Cryptor unleashed another laser as it knocked Frost back with a grunt as Pixal watches him fly off in worried as Frost hit the ground with a grunt before Min-Droid came rolling by with the magnet as he aimed it at Frost, who yells in surprise as he is not got stuck to the magnet, since he is a Nindroid and is made a metal.
“Frost!” Pixal cried out in worried as Min-Droid moved Frost on the magnet a bit as Pixal heard Cryptor’s evil laugh as she turned and saw him tossing some more Electro-Cobrai into the other deactivated Nindroids, bringing them back online as they all laugh evilly at Pixal, who looked on in worried as she backed up a bit.
With Flash and Trail, they are still fighting Cyberstia and Techno Wu, but are struggling as Trail blocks a strike from Techno Wu’s staff while Flash dodges another magic blast from Cyberstia.
“Guys? Flash? A little help?” Trail called out in worried, since he’s no match for Techno Wu.
“Kinda got my hooves tied, Trail,” Flash pointed out that he blocked a magic blast from Cyberstia, but was pushed back from the strong magic since he was dealing with one of the former rulers of Equestria.
“You fools are no match for us!” Cyberstia called out as she and Techno Wu both hit Flash and Trail as they crashed to a powered-down jet as they grunted from the impact.
Techno Wu and Cyberstia then both jumped up with yells as Trail and Flash moved out of the way as they both hit the ground, but then Cyberstia’s horn and Techno Wu’s bow gives off an electrical surge as it makes it way to the jet, which caused it to power up as it takes to the sky, leaving a trail of smoke in the air.
Flash and Trail stood side-to-side as they looked through the smoke for Cyberstia and Techno Wu, who came up behind them with yells, but by the time both Flash and Trail noticed, they both got whacked and/or blasted by them.
With the Serpentine Kids, Spike, Smolder and Gaia, they were fighting off some Nindroids that came their way, to prevent them from helping their friends.
“Where did these Nindroids even get more power?” Spike questions as he breathes his fire at one of the Nindroids.
“I don’t know. But somecreature must’ve found another power source to get these rust buckets up and running again,” Melody theorized as she turned invisible and knocked some Nindroids to the ground.
“Well, whoever did this, they are gonna pay for bringing these ruffians back!” Gaia cried out as she knocked a Nindroid off with her Techno Blade, followed by Spinjitzu on a couple more of them.
“I second that!” Smolder called out as she breathed fire at a Nindroid before turning to Spike as she saw another one behind him. “Spike, watch out!” she cried out as she flew straight at the Nindroid as she kicked it away.
“Whoa… Thanks, Smolder,” Spike said, giving Smolder a warm smile with a blush.
“Anytime, squirt,” Smolder said, giving a light blush as she returned a smile back at Spike.
The Serpentine Kids and Gaia saw their reaction as Coal spoke the silence. “Has anycreature noticed that Smolder and Spike have been acting weird lately?” he asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Yep,” Toxsa said in agreement.
“I saw it too,” Fang added.
“Not just you,” Sky pointed out.
“There is something they are keeping from us,” Melody said as she placed a hand on her snake chin in thought.
“Think about it later! We got Nindroids to deal with and friends to help!” Gaia called out as she knocked a Nindroid away, which caused the young creatures to snap out of it as they returned their attention to the Nindroid as they continue fighting.
Back with Pixal and Frost, Pixal was being held by the Nindroids as Frost was still stuck to the magnet as Min-Droid moved it towards the trash shredder.
“Junk him,” Cryptor ordered as he pointed at Frost and the shredder.
The magnet was soon lowered into the shredder, making Frost gasped in fright as he got closer.
“Time for you to be scrapped,” Min-Droid taunted as he was about to press the release button.
“No!” Pixal cried out, feeling the warmth feeling inside her become stronger as she suddenly bucked the two Nindroids off her as she trotted off to save Frost.
Just when Min-Droid pressed the release button, Frost fell as he was about to hit the shredder, only for Pixal to jump to him with a grunt and catch him as they both fell to the floor with a roll with Frost landing on top of Pixal.
Pixal gets her bearings as she looks at Frost, as he got up on top of her, in surprise. “That was never in my program,” she said in surprise at the action she did. “Your heart improved my fighting ability,” she said as she looked at her chest where half of Frost’s heart was in surprise was placed.
Frost smiled at Pixal from that, seeing that his heart did more than just bring her back online as they both heard Cryptor laughing as they turned to him.
“He needs a little filly to protect him?” Cryptor asked amusedly as he and his Nindroid troops gave evil chuckles as the Nindroids surrounded Frost and Pixal with their weapons ready.
Frost and Pixal stood back-to-back with each other, before they give each other determined looks as they both stand on their hind hooves and grab each other’s hooves as they both sync up and kicked each of the Nindroids as they grunt in efforts as they kicked each droid in sync.
“Our shared reflexes…” Frost started with a smile.
“Work as one,” Pixal finished with a smile as well as they both sync-kicked another Nindroid.
The Nindroids did this as they came closer to them, but then Pixal lifted Frost on her back as she twirls around while Frost gives a series of kicks as they start giving off white glows.
“As if we were made…” Frost said again.
“To fight together,” Pixal finished as the two started doing Frost’s Spinjitzu together.
“NINJA, GO!” Both Pixal and Frost called out together as they tossed the Nindroids back with Spinjitzu while spinning one of them around in them and tossed him away.
Back at the trash compactor, Yona, Ocellus, Thunder and Landrush were getting more squished as the walls are getting tighter on them. Clearly, their time was running out, and they did not want to go out angry at each other.
“I take back everything I said!” Thunder strained as he apologized to Landrush.
“Yona sorry she try to hurt Ocellus!” Yona strained, apologizing to Ocellus for how she acted.
“No, you were right, Thunder,” Landrush said to Thunder. “I could’ve been a better friend. I had no clue! And I didn’t know that Aqua is my perfect match until now! I was surprised as you are, Thunder!” he strained.
“And it’s okay, Yona,” Ocellus said to Yona. “I should’ve told you about it. I should’ve been a better friend! Just know I would never take Sandbar from you! You’re my best friend!” She strained.
At the controls, Aqua and Sandbar are still trying to choose which wires they should cut.
“Black or blue?” Aqua asked herself again.
“Brown or light blue?” Sandbar asked himself again as well, but then sighs in frustration. “Ah, forget it! Let’s just cut it already!” he cried out in frustration.
Aqua sighs as she nodded in agreement with Sandbar as the two cut a wire with their eyes closed.
And then, the compactor shut down as the wall pulled back, making Landrush, Thunder, Yona and Ocellus fall to the ground in relief as they coughed a bit from the squeeze they went through. Soon, the top hatch opened back up as Sandbar and Aqua looked down at them.
“Sandbar, Aqua, you both did it!” Landrush cheered with a smile.
“Great job, you two!” Ocellus added with a smile.
“Uh, which color did you choose, Aqua?” Thunder asked her.
“Which color Sandbar pick?” Yona asked as well, wanting to know what color they picked.
Sandbar and Aqua looked at each other with smirks as they turned back to the others. “Like I’ll ever tell,” Aqua said with a smirk.
“Sorry, but I can't tell,” Sandbar said with a smirk.
“Uh?” Thunder asked in confusion.
“Really?” Ocellus asked with a raised eyebrow.
“Come on!” Aqua waved as she trotted off.
“Our friends need our help!” Sandbar added as he followed Aqua.
Thunder and Landrush looked at each other as they both exhaled loudly at each other's faces while Yona glared at Ocellus, who was giggling sheepishly at Yona as she took to the air.
“Look, let’s go help our friends now and deal with this later!” Ocellus cried out, which made them nodded in agreement as they got out of the compactor as they followed Aqua and Sandbar.
Back with Flash and Trail, they both got hit back to a pile of junks while panting tiredly as the junk piles tilted from their hits, making them worried as they faced Cyberstia and Techno Wu, who are coming close to them.
“Ah,” Trail uttered worriedly as he and Flash raised their Techno Blades in defense.
Both enslaved ponies battled both Trail and Flash’s Techno Blades to the ground, making the two quite scared as they looked around for anything but got nothing.
“Celestia, Sensei, don’t do this!” Flash tried to reason.
“Silence!” Cyberstia yelled out as she charged up her horn. “You are about to be punished, by order of the Overlord!” she added as she readied her horn while Techno Wu readied his bow staff to whack or blast them.
Flash and Trail gasped as they braced themselves for another hit, right before Landrush’s voice called out.
“Sensei Wu!” Landrush’s voice called out.
“Princess Celestia!” Gaia’s voice called out next, which caused the two controlled ponies to turned and looked behind them as they the rest of the Ninja, except Frost, the Serpentine Kids, Spike, the Young Six, and Aqua there with the Ninja holding out their Techno Blades in ready.
“What happened to them?” Thunder asked in surprise.
“The Overlord turned them evil!” Flash quickly answered.
“Help us!” Trail called out as he and Flash ducked Cyberstia and Techno Wu’s attacks as the mind-controlled ponies gave a yell in effort.
“But… But Wu’s our Sensei!” Landrush pointed out, not wanting to hurt Wu.
“And that’s Celestia!” Spike added, not wanting to fight Celestia as well.
Flash and Trail grabbed their Techno Blades as they blocked another attack as the two controlled ponies groaned from this.
“Not anymore,” Trail said to the others.
“More like Techno Wu!” Landrush called out.
“And more like Cyberstia!” Smolder added.
“Uh!” Thunder groans as he, Landrush and Gaia raised their Techno Blades as they charged at the two controlled ponies. “Bad sensei and princess! Bad!” Thunder scolded.
Techno Wu and Cyberstia then jumped over Flash and Trail as Techno Wu whacked Landrush in the face with his staff, knocking him to the ground with a grunt in pain.
“Ha-ha-ha!” Thunder chuckled at Landrush’s predicament. “I hate to say it, but you deserved that a little,” he said before Techno Wu hit him in the gut with his staff. “Ugh!” he groaned as he got the wind knocked out of him.
“Ha, ha!” Landrush chuckled at Thunder’s karma. “Right back at ya!” he said with a smile.
Gaia then gave a yell as she tried to hit Cyberstia with her Techno Blade, but Cyberstia dodged as she then blasted Gaia, propelling her back as she gave a painful yell when she hit the floor.
“Gaia!” Landrush cried out to her as Gaia got up and rubbed her head.
“My word, Celestia sure does know how to hit hard,” Gaia said as she rubbed her head.
“I got this,” Aqua called out as she trotted past them as slides at Techno Wu with a grunt as Techno Wu jumped to dodge it.
“And we’ll take care of Celestia!” Ocellus called out as she and her friends, the Serpentine Kids and Spike charged at Cyberstia, who dodged their punches and kicks.
Aqua charged at Techno Wu again as she delivered a punch, but when she tried to kick him, Techno Wu used his staff to throw Aqua to a powered-down security mech as he used his staff to power it up, causing it to wrap its arms around Aqua, trapping her. “Ah,” she cried out as she was now trapped.
Cyberstia then kept blocking the Young Six, Serpentine Kids, and Spike as they tried to land an attack on her, but could not even touch her. Cyberstia growls in annoyance at this. “Enough of this!” she yelled out as she used her magic to blast the Young Six and Spike back which caused them to yell from the blast as they fell to the floor.
“Ow. We’re outmatched against them,” Fang said as he and the others got up.
“Tell me about it,” Spike groaned as Smolder helped him up.
Gaia, Flash, Landrush, Thunder and Trail recomposed themselves as they held their Techno Blades and charged at the controlled princess and sensei, chasing them up the conveyor belt.
But then once Techno Wu used his staff while Cyberstia used her magic to power up the conveyor belt as it started moving at high speed, causing Gaia, Landrush, Flash, Thunder and Trail to scream in surprise. Their hooves could not keep up as they fell down the conveyor belt as they lost their grip on the Techno Blades which fell over the metal conveyor belt while Techno Wu and Cyberstia approached them.
“The Techno Blades. Time to get rid of them,” Cyberstia said, but just as she or Techno Wu were about to reach the blades, the magnet crane came right over their heads. “What in Equestria?!” she questioned in rage.
Inside the magnet crane are Frost and Pixal as Frost took control of it as he gave apologetic expressions at the two controlled princesses and sensei.
“Sorry, sensei and princess,” Frost said to them as Pixal gave him a sympathetic look, knowing that he hated doing this but it was for their own good as Frost pressed the button, activating the magnet.
The magnet turned on as it brought the Techno Blades up, along with Techno Wu and Cyberstia since they were covered in metal as they grunted on as they were brought up to the magnet head first.
Pixal and Frost gave each other a smile as their friends saw this.
“Ha! I always knew those two had a magnetic attraction,” Trail joked with a smirk at the two robo-couple.
Thunder and Landrush freed Aqua from the mech as Aqua got down as she crossed her hooves with a smirk at Trail. “Really?” she asked her brother jokingly.
“Hehehe. Good one though,” Spike said with a chuckle.
On the other side of them in the pile of junk came the three cloaked figures. White Cloak held out a Serpentine-like bow and arrow, shooting at the magnet attachment and cutting its wire out, which caused the magnet to fall and free Techno Wu and Cyberstia.
Trail backflipped as the magnet nearly hit him as it landed on the floor with their Techno Blades on the ground as Cyberstia and Techno Wu landed right next to the three cloaked figures as the group looked and saw them.
“Whoa! Who are they?” Thunder called out as curiously.
Cyberstia and Techno Wu grunted as they took battle stances, ready for another right, but Red Hood stopped them.
“Enough! You two did good,” he said.
“He’s right. The Overlord will be pleased,” White Cloak said in agreement.
“And now it’s time for a retreat,” Black Shroud added as they all nodded while Cyberstia and Techno Wu growled in response but obeyed their masters as they stood down.
Flash then glared at them as he stepped in front of the others. “Who are you three?! And what have you done to Sensei Wu and Princess Celestia?!” he yelled out.
Red Hood chuckled as it spoke. “You will know in time.”
“You’ll find out soon enough,” Black Shroud added with a small chuckle.
“But not today,” White Cloak said as the five of them retreated behind the junk pile.
The others watched as they gave thought. “Hmm…” Thunder said in thought as they all saw a HoverCopter powered up and flew away into the distance. “Uh, seriously? Who the heck were those guys?” he questioned as he waved his hooves in frustration.
“Or gals,” Aqua said as she placed her hooves on her hips.
Flash walked up and picked up his Techno Blade as he glared at where the mystery figures took off. “Whoever they are, they turned the Princess and our Sensei against us,” he said as he saw the HoverCopter flying away from them.
The others picked up their Techno Blades as well. “Well, what I do know is that the others do not like what they are gonna hear, especially Luna, Garmadon, Twilight and Discord,” Trail commented, knowing that the others would not like what they will hear about what happened to Celestia and Wu.
“True that,” Spike commented as the other regrouped.
“And if we want to save them, we’ll need to find out who those strangers are,” Landrush suggested.
“But we don’t even know who those strangers are. They could be anycreature from all over Equestria, which is very vast, darling,” Gaia pointed out.
Pixal then spoke as she walked to a junk pile. “Perhaps I could have that answer for you in a few moments,” she said as she used her eyes to scan the pile as she spotted something on the pile.
“What did you find, Pixal?” Ocellus asked in curiosity.
“Hm…” Pixal hummed as she picked up what appears to be a white scale from the junk as she took a closer look.
“It obviously clue, stinkbug. Yaks best at pointing out clues,” Yona said while glaring at Ocellus.
“I know it’s a clue, Yona,” Ocellus said in defense as she backed up a bit. “But it’s so small, I just wanted to know what it is,” she added.
“Leave Ocellus alone, Yona,” Landrush scolded as she got in front of Ocellus for protection.
“And leave Yona alone, dirt-clod,” Thunder said as he glared at Landrush.
Landrush glared back at Thunder. “Mind your own business, zap trap, nocreature messes with--” He was cut off when Gaia and Aqua got between them, Gaia with Landrush while Aqua with Thunder.
“Stop it, you two!” Aqua scolded.
“No fighting!” Gaia lectured as Aqua, along with the others, walked close to Pixal while Landrush and Thunder were butting heads as Gaia tried to separate them.
“Pixal, can you analyze it?” Aqua asked Pixal.
“The sample size is far too small, but given time, I should have an answer,” Pixal said as she held out the scale.
“Wait. Let us see it,” Melody said as she and her siblings walked close to Pixal.
“Okay,” Pixal said as she gave the scale to Melody.
Melody held up the scale as she and her siblings sniffed at it. After a brief moment, they all gasped in recognition.
“What is it?” Flash asked the Serpentine Kids.
“This is a Serpentine scale!” Melody answered in shock.
“What?!” the others all cried out, while Thunder and Landrush stopped fighting after hearing what Melody said as they were surprised at this realization, since they have not seen any other Serpentine since their last encounter with them two years ago.
“Are you sure?” Sandbar asked, just to be sure.
“We are a hundred percent sure, guys! One of those cloak figures must’ve been a Serpentine,” Toxsa said as her siblings nodded their heads in confirming.
“But what kind of Serpentine exactly?” Landrush asked.
“We’re not sure what kind, but this scent is familiar to me somehow,” Melody said, having a strange feeling she knew this scent from somewhere.
Frost then spoke up next. “Then we should waste no more time and get back to the city,” he told the others of their next plan. “I’ll use my Falcon Vision to warn Lloyd and the Council of our findings,” he added, wanting to give their friends the update about what happened.
“Great idea, Frost. We need to let the others know what happened,” Flash said in agreement with Frost’s idea.
Aqua felt a little worried about this whole thing after what happened. “I thought taking the power out would give us the upper hoof. But now that they have it and we don’t, I guess the power has only shifted,” she said, now recognizing the disadvantage they were in.
“Don’t worry, sis, we’ll get Sensei and Celestia back,” Trail assured his sister.
“But for now, we should get our HoverCopter to solar power so that we can get back to the city. Let’s go,” Flash said as the others nodded in agreement as they got to work on the HoverCopter.
Back with Lloyd, the Mane Six, Luna and Garmadon they were scaling the mountain but Garmadon and Luna were struggling to keep up.
“What’s the matter Luna?” Rainbow joked, “Not use to so much exercise?”
Luna glared, “Excuse me if I’m not as strong as I was in my youth.”
Lloyd pulled his back leg up and a small rock sort of crumbled out and bumped into Garmadon. "Wished you still had six hooves and dragon wings?" Lloyd asked his father. "They would've come in handy."
"Your potential is great…” Garmadon told his son, "not your sense of humor."
"Still won't let him use the Golden Dragon or let us fly?" Applejack asked both Garmadon and Luna.
"Still won't,” they both answered as they continued to climb. They climbed past Lloyd while Garmadon stopped to address his son.
"If you want to harness the power of the First Spinjitzu Master, you must focus on your balance…” he told him before he continued to climb. "… and find your center."
"That goes for the six of you with your Alicorn Magic,” Luna told the Mane Six before they continued up the mountain.
Lloyd then heard squawking from not too far away before he saw a nest just up ahead. Lloyd climbed up to the nest and saw a bird with yellow eyes and blue feathers standing on the edge of the nest. Lloyd smiles at it. "Uh, hi there, little guy,” he greeted the creature. "Hey, guys? What kind of bird is this?" Lloyd called out to the others.
Fluttershy was the first to look down and let out a gasp when she saw the bird. "Oh my, a Ravture youngling,” she said excitedly. "And looks like it’s ready to learn how to fly. Oh, wait! Don't touch him, Lloyd. Like all birds, it needs to learn to fly on its own."
"She's right. Keep climbing, slowly,” Garmadon told his son.
As Lloyd continued to climb up, he noticed the Ravture jumping of his nest but was about to fall.
Lloyd then quickly caught it. "Gotcha!” he said.
Garmadon gasp, "What have you done!?” he exclaims. "It's going to know someone has touched its young!"
"What, who?" Pinkie asked before they heard a loud caw and in the sky. They looked up and saw a giant adult Ravture, looking very angry.
"The father,” Twilight answered with concern.
"He was gonna fall! I was trying to help!" Lloyd tried to explain himself to the father Ravture.
"Explaining yourself won't make him less angry!" Luna told him.
"I'll try to reason with him, while the rest of you get off this mountain!" Fluttershy said as she flew up to the Ravture. The Ravture however ignored Fluttershy and flew past her as it was aiming towards Lloyd.
"Looks like he's in no mood to talk!" Garmadon said before he jumped down to Lloyd. "Hurry! We need to climb to shelter!" Garmadon looked around and saw a spot where they can be safe. "There!" Garmadon began to climb to the spot as the Ravture was coming in close.
Lloyd saw it flying towards him before he quickly ducked and the force it created when it flew by caused him to let go of the young. He saw it about to jump off the nest before he quickly caught it again. "You're not gonna fall on my watch!” he told the fledgling.
"Your compassion is not helping!" Luna told Lloyd before they saw the Ravture flying towards Garmadon. Garmadon quickly let go of the ledge and dropped down when it almost got it with its talons as he fell.
"GARMADON/DAD!" Lloyd, Luna, and the Mane Six called as they watched him fall until he managed to quickly grab on to a ledge that stopped it.
"I take it back! I do want my six hooves and wings!" Garmadon admitted as he struggled to hold on. Lloyd climbed down to a ledge and powered up his horn to try and save his father. "No! Do not use your power as a crutch! It will only weaken you!" They then saw the Ravture coming around and aiming towards Garmadon.
"He's circling back!" Rarity warned Garmadon before it got him by the tail and flew off.
"Dad! No!" Lloyd shouted before he fired a ball of light towards the Ravture and the blast caused it to let go of Garmadon and he started to fall to his doom.
"Son!" Garmadon called out as he began to fall again.
Lloyd could not sit and watch as he closes eyes tight and concentrated. His horn then glowed Earth orange before it traveled down to his hooves and the others start to feel the ground rumble beneath their hooves. They then saw something rising from underneath the clouds in the shape of a hoof as it caught Garmadon and started to grow upward from the mists below.
They turn towards Lloyd as they already figured out what was happening. "You just moved a mountain, Lloyd,” Twilight said in awe when they jump down next to him.
They then heard the Ravture cries as it circled back around but hovered in the air. They then heard the baby Ravture squawking before they saw it losing its footing and fell off the edge. "No!" Lloyd shouted when he saw it fall and trying to move the mountain again to catch it. But the baby Ravture started to flap its wings and started to fly which surprised Lloyd.
"Looks like you're not the only one who's grown up,” Luna told Lloyd as the baby went to its father before the two flew off into the distance.
Lloyd then concentrated before creating a path of stairs leading down the mountain. "After you,” Lloyd offered Twilight before they begin to walk down the stairs.
Frost's Falcon landed in front of them before its eyes glowed blue.
"Hey, the others sent us a message,” Twilight said before a hologram of Aqua was shown in front of them from the Falcon.
"We've got some bad news,” the recording of Aqua told them. "We had a little run in with three mysterious cloaked figures who found a new way to power Nindroids. ”
The hologram recording then turn into a hologram of Thunder who looked upset. "And they turned Sensei Wu and Celestia evil! ” he told them. "He had a black beard and her mane was black and red! "
The hologram then changed to Melody. "We have a suspicion that these three have stolen the hard drive containing the Overlord and has reawakened him, ” she told them before it quickly changed to Flash.
"And now that the hard drive has gone missing, we can't reboot the system. Our Techno Blades are useless! ” he complained before it quickly changed back to Aqua.
"But one of the strangers left a clue, ” she told them before an image of said clue was shown to them. "A white scale. That's right, we think it may be Serpentine. We're heading to Neo Equestria City to get to the bottom of this. We thought you should know so you can keep your distance. Hope you're faring better than we are. We'll stay in contact if we learn anything new. Over and out, ”
Once the hologram ended, the group could not believe what they just learned.
"Both Wu and Celestia are under the control of the Overlord…” Twilight said with disbelief.
"And the Serpentine?" Lloyd spoke up. "We haven't seen them in a couple of years and now they're causing trouble again?"
"We must not go back, but forward,” Garmadon reminded them before he pointed towards a jungle at the bottom of the mountain. "Hiroshi's Labyrinth: miles of jungle so dense, all who enter are never found. We must not rest."
"Okay, let's get lost,” Rainbow Dash said as the others nodded in agreement before they mean their way down and to the Labyrinth.
The three cloaked figures looked at a screen that showed a map of where the group is outside of Equestria. "You three failed!" the Overlord shouted at them. "Not even you could stop them!"
"We weren't trying to stop them,” White Cloak told him. "We were luring them into a greater trap.”
Red Hood pressed up on the console and a recording of Garmadon was being played back.
"We must not go back, but forward, " the recording played out, starting with Garmadon’s voice. "Hiroshi's Labyrinth: miles of jungle so dense, all who enter are never found. We must not rest. "
"Okay, let's get lost, ” Rainbow Dash’s voice said before the recording ended.
"Attacking the Ninja was merely a ploy to scare them into sending a warning message to the Golden one and the Council,” Black Shroud told him as they sounded pleased with their plan.
"We intercepted their SOS and now we know where they are,” Red Hood said as the Overlord let out a delightful chuckle. "The Falcon is now our beacon. He will lead us right to them."
"Whoever you three are… I like you,”the Overlord told the three figures. "Soon, the power… will be mine!"
Chapter 4: Curse of the Golden Master
Something has gone wrong. We don't seem to have an archived copy of that chapter. Chapter 5: Enter the Digiverse
Back at Neo Equestria City, the Ninja and their allies returned to Borg Tower to come up with a new strategy, while still reeling from the fact their old foe Pythor was the one behind all this.
“Daddy, I don’t understand,” Sky remarked as she and the Serpentine Kids followed the Ninja up the stairs, “Who is Pythor and why are you so scared of him?”
Apparently, while the Ninja had taught the Serpentine Kids many things about their own kind, they were reluctantly to share anything about Pythor… especially to Melody, the formerly “last” Anacondrai.
“He’s a bad character you want nothing to do with!” Gaia said simply. “And if he’s in the game, then he’s playing to win.”
"What are Borg and Dr. Gear even doing?" Smolder asked as they reached their office. "Let's hope they have something that can help us find Lloyd and the Council."
"I already sent them a letter ahead of time before we came out of the sewers," Spike told them as they entered the office.
Borg was busy typing on a computer while Dr. Gear had six chairs set up. Pixal came over and plugged in her power source to the computer, giving it an extra little boost.
“Borg, I think we should put the main switch over here,” Dr. Gear said as she placed a red button near the windowsill, “to keep it tucked away.”
“With a little ingenuity and a few more coaxial cables,” Borg said as he continued to work, “we may be able to reboot the system and erase the Digital Overlord for good.”
“I thought we needed the hard drive to do that?” Gallus mentioned. “The one Pythor and the other two stole?”
"We did, but that was before we truly understood the entire capabilities of what Frost's powers truly allow us," Dr. Gear explained. "Even I was surprised after looking into it."
"And what's that?" Fang and Trail asked.
"A chance to enter remotely ," Borg answered. "By the time we figured out where Lloyd and the Council are, it'll be too late to stop the Overlord from draining his Golden Power and the Elements within the Council."
"And escaping the Digiverse?" Aqua spoke up.
“Exactly,” Dr. Gear answered. “So instead, we’ll take the fight to the Overlord virus. If we digitize the Ninja with the Techno-Blades using our experimental technology, you could fight him on his own turf inside the Digiverse.”
“What do you mean inside the Digiverse?” Thunder asked.
Landrush groaned. “Weren’t you listening? They're gonna put us into the video game.”
“I know!” Thunder squealed, “I just wanted to hear it again!”
"But Mr. Borg, Dr. Gear, if anything were to happen to them inside the program--" Pixal spoke up with concern.
"Of course," Borg interrupted before she could finish. “Every step into the unknown has its dangers.”
"What dangers?" Flash asked. "What is she talking about?"
"You know how in video games you get multiple lives?" Dr. Gear asked.
"Yeah, whoa," Thunder said in awe as he jumped on one of the chairs and looked at the big monitor.
"It's not like that," Borg told him, which reduces Thunder’s enthusiasm a bit.
“In this case, if something were to happen to you in the Digiverse, your physical forms could… cease living,” Dr. Gear explained.
“Ohh...” Thunder said, now starting to have second thoughts about being inside a video game.
Suddenly, a big flash caused Thunder to be knocked back and the monitor showed something that looked like an infrastructural map of Neo Equestria City.
"Presto! We're up and running!" Borg exclaimed before they heard banging coming from the elevators. The elevator door opened automatically, revealing the city ponies with Derpy leading them.
"Ah-ha! You see?!" Derpy shouted as they walked in. "They are holding out on us! They do have power!"
Dr. Gear scoffs. “This is no time for more post-apocalyptic roleplaying, Ms. Hooves,” she told them all.
“This isn’t a game anymore, Dr. Gear. We heard about the Nindroid activity. What if they come back?” Derpy questioned as the others growled and marched towards them. “We need power to defend ourselves. And I want to catch up on my shows.”
“WOULD YOU LIKE TO PLAY A GAME?” the computer suddenly asks as they turn to the monitor.
“They are playing a game!” Derpy exclaimed. “TAKE BACK THE POWER!” They all charged at the machine.
“No, stop!” Ocellus cried.
“We’re trying to help you!” Trail added as Thunder tried to pull them away but got knocked back.
The people started hitting the machine until they heard a humming sound. They looked around as machines came to life while orbs of golden and rainbow-colored energy began floating around them.
“Power? But how?” Toxsa asked as they looked around.
“Where’s it coming from?” Aqua asked.
Dr. Gear and Borg looked at the orbs with grim expressions. “That’s not just any power. It’s Golden and Harmony Power.”
“It’s already begun, the Overlord has started the Transference,” Borg finished.
Flash’s eyes widened. “Oh no, Twilight,” he whispered.
Within the Mechdragon, Lloyd and the Mane Six were in a large glass tube as they felt their powers being siphoned out. The electric orb was transferring that extracted power into the coffin where the Overlord's eyes are shown above it. "We... gotta get... out of here...” Rainbow Dash groaned weakly as she tried to beat on the glass with no effort.
"It's no good," Applejack moaned.
"Soon you seven will be utterly powerless," the Overlord taunted. "And I... I will escape this digital prison and become whole, and nothing will stop me from becoming the Golden Master!" The time until completion read at seventy-five percent and rising.
"You won't... get away with this, Overlord," Twilight groaned. "The Ninja and our friends will... stop you,” she managed to say.
"But how can they, when they don't have the hard drive to erase me and that they don't even know where you are? By the time they find you, it will be too late!" The Overlord said as he gave an evil laugh as he continues to siphon out Lloyd's golden power and the Mane Six's magic and the Overlord's body being created in the coffin as the Mechdragon is flying across the ocean as it gave a roar as it took off at high speed.
At Neo Equestria City, Golden and Harmony Power has started bringing the power back on as all the machines and technology are coming back online. The Security Mechs, HoverCopters, tanks, and even the Nindroids laying among the wreckage are functioning again, and once more under the Overlord’s control as their lights glowed red.
Back at Borg's tower with the others, Borg, Dr. Gear and Pixal are at the main computer as they quickly type in a program.
"Quick, Pixal. We must isolate our server," Borg said to his assistant in anxiety.
"He's right. If the Overlord finds out our plan to use the Techno Weapons remotely, the Ninja won't stand a chance and we won't be able to save the Council and Lloyd,” Dr. Gear added, isolating their server so that the Overlord would not detect them or infect their computer so that they can stop him without knowing.
Pixal nodded to the two scientists as she turned to the computer. "Isolating server,” she quickly finished before a beeping can be heard as Pixal walks up to another screen. "Sirs, we have an abnormal mass of power signatures,” she announced as they all looked at a screen and showed a lot of red dots surrounding Borg's Tower, meaning that their enemies are already here.
"Aah! They're already here," Borg said in shock.
"We can't let them in! Initiate lockdown!" Dr. Gear called out as she typed in some keys.
Outside of Borg's Tower, the Nindroids, along with Cryptor, Pythor, Tirek, the Storm King, Techno Wu and Cyberstia, are just at the main entrance, but hen walls appeared from below, blocking the doors and windows of Borg's Tower from entering the building.
"Aw, looks like they're not accepting visitors," the Storm King pouted with fake disappointment.
"Then it's a good thing we brought an ‘All Access’ pass," Tirek said as a mini-Mech with buzzsaws drove up.
“The Techno-Blades must be on the Top Floor,” Pythor said. “What are you waiting for?! Break down that door!”
The Mech then started sawing the door.
On the top floor, they watched on the monitors as the mini-Mech started sawing at the door. "Be seated, Ninja," Borg told them. "There isn't much time,” As the Ninja took their seats, Aqua went over to Derpy with a serious look on her face.
"Do something useful and make sure those Nindroids don't get up here,” she told her and the town's Folk. "If you ever wanna see your favorite shows again, you better get downstairs now!"
Derby and the mob all screamed as they all used the elevators to get down.
"Once we're inside, what do we do?" Frost asked his mother and Borg the plan as Dr. Gear adjusted her son's seat as she and Borg did the same to the other Ninja.
"Put simply, son, reboot the system," Dr. Gear simply said.
"All source code travels through the heart of the mainframe," Borg explained.
"So, all you have to do is follow it and you'll find a glowing activation port," Dr. Gear continued. "The Techno Blades are the keys to activate the reboot and erase all corruption from the system,”
Pixal then starts placing each of the Ninja's Techno Blades on the back of their respective chairs.
"Uh, can you put it more simply?" Trail asked, not getting it.
Landrush sighs in annoyance as he looks at Trail. "Look for a big bright light, airhead, and put your weapon in it,” he quickly explained.
"Okay. Got it. I can do that," Trail said with a smile, before he realized what Landrush just called him as he glared at him. "Hey, I'm not an airhead,” he complained.
"To be honest with you, Trail, you kinda are, since the rest of us got the plan,” Flash said, as the others nodded in agreement as Trail looked at them in disbelief.
"Seriously?" Trail asked in shock.
"Complain later, save our friends by erasing the Overlord!" Starlight yelled out as they stood quiet as Borg spoke.
"Remember we wrote the code, but he controls it," Borg warned since the Overlord controls every line of data.
"He's right. It's his turf, his rules," Dr. Gear pointed out. "Me and Borg will do our best to keep you hidden from here, but the longer you go unnoticed, the better chance you have to succeed."
Pixal then put up holo-screens in front of each Ninja as Frost is the last one as the two droids looked at each other briefly.
"Be careful in there,” Pixal said in worried, not wanting Frost to get hurt.
"I will come back to you,” Frost assured Pixal with a smile as Pixal then brought out Frost's holo-screen after looking at him for a moment.
"Prepare for entry,” Borg called out.
"Time for you ponies to get Digitized,” Dr. Gear added.
Trail then had a question as he turned to the two scientists. "How do we know this is really gonna work, and won't disintegrate us instantly?” he asked.
Borg and Dr. Gear looked at each other as they each thought of his question. "Hm, we're not sure," Borg answered.
"Have you two ever done this before?" Ocellus asked them.
"Not really. But let's see," Dr. Gear said as she then went to the Master Switch and pressed it before any of them asked.
The Ninja felt themselves a weird feeling as they then saw digital codes appearing as they seemed to be going down a tunnel.
Trail groaned as he felt the descent into the tunnel as he felt he was going faster as the codes sped up. "I hate technology!” he called out as he and the rest of the Ninja were blinded by a bright light.
After the bright flash, the Ninja opened their eyes, only to see that they are still in Borg's lab, but the Young Six, Spike, Starlight, Pixal, Borg, Dr. Gear and the Serpentine Kids are nowhere in sight. "Argh, see? I told you it wouldn't work,” Trail complaining to the others.
"I think it did. Look,” Gaia pointed around the lab, as it was much darker than it was before. Frost got out of a seat and noticed that his hoof had ones and zeros all over it.
"Ugh, this is most definitely the Digiverse,” he said in surprise.
"And this is most definitely awesome, ah!" Thunder shouted with glee as he went over to the wall. When he pressed down on it, it got covered in ones and zeros as did the whole room.
"Oh, it's like a dream," Landrush said in awe when he looked out the window and saw the digital world that they were transported to.
"Yeah but, I think being transported here may have a few glitches," Flash said as he noticed something different about him and the others. "We don't have our wings or our horns."
And it was true as Flash, Trail, Frost and Thunder were no longer unicorns or pegasi.
"Ahhhhhh! We're all Earth ponies!" Thunder yelled out in shock.
"Guess we can't fly or use magic in the Digiverse," Frost theorized.
"Great! It's bad enough that we don't have our elemental powers in the real world, but we don't have our wings or horns in this code-forsaking digital place!" Trail complained. "I really hate technology."
"Guess you guys have to do things Earth pony style," Landrush said as he and Gaia are the only ones normal since they are born Earth ponies. Thunder came next to Landrush and hit him in the shoulder. "Ow!” he cried out as he glared at Thunder. "What was that for?” he asked.
"Just testing the rules," Thunder answered with a smirk. "First rule: Landrush is a crybaby,” he mocked before he got hit in the head by Gaia. "Ow!” he cried out as he rubbed his head.
"Second rule: Thunder's a jerk!" Gaia yelled at Thunder while giving him a glare as he looked at her nervously with a sheepish chuckle.
"Can we not fight, please?!" Flash called out before pointing out, "We may be in a digital reality, but it doesn't mean that we can't feel pain!"
"Flash is correct,” Frost said in agreement. "We know we can still get hurt in the Digiverse. Let's stay on task,” he reminded them as each of the Ninja brought out their Techno Blades in their hooves as they put on their masks and raised their Blades high. "We have the keys. Now let's find that activation port,” he finished.
"Let's find that port, erase the Overlord, and save Twilight, the girls, and Lloyd before it's too late,” Flash added as the Ninja trotted out to find the activation port.
Back in reality, the Mech continues to saw at the door as Pythor, Tirek, the Storm King, Cryptor, Techno Wu and Cyberstia chuckled as the metal wall is now cut through as it fell to the floor, but then Derby and the mob came rushing out as they face the enemy.
"Our favorite shows will continue!" Derpy declared as she and the mob charged at the Nindroids. They used whatever weapons they had to give them back but did not notice Borg's robotic spider legs were moving past them and into the building.
Meanwhile, Lloyd and the Mane Six looked weaker as the Overlord was siphoning up every bit of Golden Power and Harmony Magic they have. "Mzz Twilight, I don't feel so good...” Pinkie groaned as she leaned on the glass and fell to the floor. Lloyd looked at her and the others as they did not look so hot before he remembered what his father said.
"He who holds the power has a tremendous obligation. You must prepare to handle this journey alone. Even without me one day. "
As Lloyd and the Mane Six groaned, the transfer was at eighty-three percent as the Overlord's eyes appeared on the glass.
"You and the Elements of Harmony are alone, Golden Ninja," The Overlord taunted as the seven ponies looked in surprise at his eyes on the glass. "Nothing can save any of you now,” he said as his body became more shaped as the Overlord gave evil crackles at them as Lloyd and the Mane Six glared at them.
"Our friends won't let you win, you monster!" Rarity groaned as she fell to the floor.
"And we are never alone, as long as we're together,” Twilight manages to say as she glared at the Overlord as their magic and power were being drained.
Back at Borg's Tower, Pixal and Dr. Gear looked at the holo-screens to check the Ninja stats while the others watched in worry.
"Vitals are strong," Pixal said to the two scientists.
"So far, so good. He hasn't detected them yet," Borg said in relief.
"Yes. But apparently there's a slight bug in the system. Looks like Flash, Trail, Thunder, and Frost don't have their wings or horns in there," Dr. Gear pointed out after seeing that they are all Earth ponies.
"Well, it's the best we can do at rush time, so they will have to manage without them,” Borg said, having been in a rush to get them inside to erase the Overlord as soon as possible.
"If they can manage without their Elemental Powers for this long, they can manage without their magic or wings," Starlight said, having seen them in action without their elemental abilities so many times that they can manage without their magic or wings.
"I just hope they can find the access port thingy in there before the Overlord notices them," Spike said in concern.
"Yeah. Because I have a feeling that it's only a matter of time," Melody said in agreement.
Melody guessed correctly as the group did not notice Borg's cybernetic legs behind them as they came into the room by stairs.
Inside the Digiverse, the Ninja manage to get out of Borg's digital version of his office as they carefully walk at the edge of the side of the building as they look down and see the Digital version of Equestria around them, which all have codes going straight down.
"Borg and Mother were right," Frost called out as he and his friends looked down. "The source codes appears to be moving towards the same location,” he gestured to the source codes going down every building and area in the Digiverse.
"Then that means if we follow it, they will take us straight to the access port," Gaia said.
"Then let's follow it," Trail announced.
"Easier said than done," Landrush pointed out.
"Yeah. We are up very high and we don't have wings or magic to get us down there," Flash added as he gestured to himself, Thunder, Frost and Trail.
Thunder however, gave them a smile as he spoke. "Aren't you ponies forgetting, we're in a video game? Whoo-hoo!” he yelled out as he jumped from his spot, falling halfway from the building before landing on a platform perfectly without any problem or accident. He gave a chuckle before he looked up to the others. "Ha-ha, third rule: video games rule!” he cheered as he raised his hoof in the air.
The others looked down at Thunder in shock and surprise at the stunt he just pulled. "How did you do that?!" Trail asked in surprise.
"There's not even a scratch or anything on you!" Gaia yelled out after what she saw.
"Just imagine it," Thunder yelled out to the others.
The others looked at each other before Flash spoke. "Of course! We're in the Digiverse. The laws of the real world don't apply here. Whatever we think up, it becomes real!” he said as he jumped from the building and landed perfectly next to Thunder as he looked up to the others. "What are you ponies waiting for? Come on! We don't have much time!” he yelled out to the others.
Landrush, Gaia and Frost looked at each other as they shrugged as the three jumped down. "Uh! Whoo-hoo!" Landrush cheered as Frost and Gaia gave a yell before they all landed on their hooves behind Flash and Thunder.
"That was interesting,” Gaia said in surprise.
Trail looked down at them as he closed his eyes. "Just imagine,” he said to himself as he focused, but then his head quickly inflated like a balloon. "Ugh? What's happening?!” he asked in shock.
"You gotta clear your mind!" Thunder yelled out to Trail as the big-headed pony looked down at him.
"Uh, huh, you were the one who called me an airhead!" Trail yelled back about what he heard earlier.
"Uh, no, it was me actually., Landrush corrected.
"Trail, stop being self-conscious and jump!" Flash yelled out.
"We don't have all day, so hurry!" Gaia yelled next.
Trail looked down while feeling unsure about this. "Huh? Huh...” As he looked over the edge, he lost his balance because of his big head, tripping over and falling as he screamed and fell past the others. Thankfully, he was suddenly floated next to them thanks to his 'airhead' as his friends gave him a playful smile.
"See? He is such an airhead," Thunder jokes.
"Nice of you to join us, Trail," Gaia jokes.
"Huh?" Trail asked as his head returned to normal size as he landed on the platform in front of the others.
"They're doing it!" Dr. Gear said as Borg was typing something on a computer. "They're mastering the digital world."
"Well, most of them are," Coal corrected as they watched the monitor.
"We must buy them more time--" Borg was going to say before his robotic legs tackled him and knocked him down. "Argh! My legs, they're back!" Starlight and Aqua quickly rushed over and tried to help him get his legs off.
"These are some strong legs!" Starlight grunted as they struggled with them.
"Stay with them!" Aqua said to Pixal and Dr. Gear. "If the Overlord finds them in the system, it's all over,” she added.
"Pixal, to the computer!" Dr. Gear called out as she and Pixal went to the computer as they typed in the keys, but then saw the Ninja blink their respective colors. "Too late,” she said grimly.
"He's already found them," Pixal finished grimly.
"Oh no. Not good," Sandbar said in worry as he and the others watched in concern.
In the Digiverse, the Ninja are still on the platform as they all look down to the edge.
"Everything is flowing to the bottom of the building," Landrush pointed out as he saw the source codes being taken right under Borg's underneath the stairs.
"The ashes of the Overlord," Trail realizes.
"You mean when Lloyd defeated him in the Ultimate Battle?" Thunder asked in curiosity.
"The Overlord remains must've been infused into the ground when Borg's Tower was built where Garmatron was,” Flash theorized.
"It must be where the corruption all started," Frost pointed out.
"Which explains how the Overlord managed to corrupt all systems and how he was brought back,” Gaia added.
"That means we're close,” Trail said. 'Let's go,” he said to the others, but as he took a step, his hooves then began to sink into the platform.
The others jumped back in surprise, but they soon felt their hooves sinking as well as they struggled to break free.
"Argh! Who's imagining this?" Thunder asked the others. "I can't move my hooves,” he pointed out.
"Not me,” Landrush answered.
"Wasn't me,” Flash added.
"Not my doing,” Gaia added.
"Me neither,” Frost said as they all turned to Trail.
"Well, don't look at me!" Trail said in defense, stating that he's not the one doing this.
Just then, the Ninja looked up and saw the Overlord's eyes in the sky. "You think you can come into my world and get rid of me?” he questioned them as he glared down at them.
"Overlord! Let us go!" Flash demanded as the Ninja were sinking.
"And let you erase me?! I think not!" The Overlord taunted.
Frost looked up and saw a crane above them, but was unable to reach it with his hooves stuck. "I can't get out. I can't reach it,” he told the others.
"And we can't even move our hooves!" Gaia cried out.
"Uh, I have a sinking feeling this is it, guys!" Thunder cried out as the Ninja struggled to break free as they continued to sink.
In Borg's office, the holo-screens are beeping red as it showed the Ninja vitals as the others looked on in worry.
"The Overlord got them!" Silverstream cried out in panic.
Pixal then turned to the others. "The Ninja, they're being consumed by the corrupted program,” she informed them as Aqua, Borg and Pixal struggled to keep Borg's legs at bay.
"We're all a bit consumed,” Aqua pointed out.
"These are some tough legs!" Starlight commented as the robotic legs tossed her away as she hit a wall with a grunt. "And very strong too!” she added.
"We couldn't stop them, ” Derpy called out as the others looked at the screen and saw Derby contacting them with a panicked expression. "They're coming up! This time, the Mailpony does not deliver, ” she cried out before a Nindroid jumped on her as the screen frizzed out.
The others looked on in worry as things were not going great as they saw the Ninja vitals being weaker and then saw the computer showing the security cameras being taken out as Tirek, Pythor, the Storm King, Cyberstia, Techno Wu, and the Nindroids coming up the tower.
"We gotta do something! Our friends are being consumed by the Overlord, Lloyd and the girls are getting their powers drained, and we got baddies coming up the tower!" Smolder called out.
"Aqua, Starlight, go and slow them down!" Borg told them as he held tight to his legs. "These are my legs and my problem!"
"The rest of you, keep an eye on them till we get back!" Starlight told the kids before she and Aqua raced off to slow them down.
"We'll try to hold the rest of them back!" Aqua exclaimed as she pressed a button on her bracelet.
"What about dad and the others?!" Sky asked as the Ninja were only up to their necks as they were sinking on the monitor.
"Pixal, listen to me carefully,” Dr. Gear spoke up as the two of them started typing. "We need to bypass the main subnet and override the existing corrupted code."
"Yes ma'am,” Pixal replied as she followed her instructions.
In the Digiverse, the Ninja are nearly submerged as they stick their heads out as they struggle.
Gaia has a feeling that this is the end as she looks at Landrush. "Landy! Landy! I have to tell you something!” she cried out.
"Now's not the time, Gaia!" Landrush pointed out as they are ear to ear to the platform.
"No, if this is the end, there's something I should've told you before!" Gaia called out in despair.
"Like what?!" Landrush asked.
"I wanted to say that I always lo-" Gaia tried to confess but was cut off when she completely submerged into the platform.
"Gaia!" Landrush cried out before he and the others completely submerged into the platform as Trail stuck his hoof out, which he managed to get free before he sank into the platform.
But then, the crane of the platform began to move as it reached down into the platform and then scoop up the Ninja, who formed a line to each other as they let go and landed on the platform as they caught their breaths.
"How did that happen?" Flash asked in curiosity how they got out of there.
"That would be our doing, ” Dr. Gear's voice is heard as the Ninja looks up at the crane, having heard Dr. Gear's voice from us.
"Mother?" Frost asked in surprise.
"We temporarily altered the corrupted code, ”Pixal voice said next to the crane.
"Hurry, ponies. We can only resist him for so long, ”Dr. Gear spoke next before the crane exploded.
The Ninja then looked down at the ground as they focused on the stairs. "We have to get to that activation port, quick!" Landrush pointed out.
"Yeah. It's all downhill from here!" Thunder said in agreement.
"Then let's not waver now!" Gaia added.
Just then, the entire digital world shook as the Ninja lost their balance before standing straight as they looked up and saw the Overlord's eyes watching them as they took ready stances.
"Just because your friends think they can change the rules doesn't mean I can't play the same game!" The Overlord yelled in anger. "This is my world!”
"Oh yeah, glowing eyes? Then what are you gonna do about it?!" Flash yelled out with a glare.
"The same way I can do this!" The Overlord roared.
Just then, the entire Digiverse began to shake while the Ninja yelled in surprise as they lost their balance and fell on the platform while the ground shook as they jumped up and down.
"What's happening?" Landrush asked the others in surprise.
"We spoke too soon!" Thunder yelled out.
"Me and my big mouth!" Flash grunted.
Just then, Digital Neo Equestria City then started titling as the Ninja are screaming in surprise as they tried to hold on as the Overlord starts crackling evilly at them as the city starts to turn upside-down, literally.
"Look out, Thunder!" Frost yelled out as a digital hover car came falling towards Thunder.
Thankfully, he ducked as it fell past him as it crashed into digital Borg's tower as it broke a window.
"Now!" Trail yelled out as the Ninja moved to grab onto a big antenna to make sure they did not fall.
"Is everypony okay?" Landrush asked the others.
"Define ‘okay’, Landy," Gaia retorted since this was not the time to ask that.
"More incoming!" Flash yelled out as digital Neo Equestria City completely turned upside-down.
"We can't stay out here!" Flash yelled out.
Frost then looked at the broken window the digital car made as he had an idea. "Follow the car into the building, then we--” he was cut off when he lost his grip and fell a bit as he held onto the antenna as he screamed.
"You heard, Frost! Into the building, now!" Flash yelled out.
The Ninja timed their jump as they went into the broken window and into digital Borg's tower as they made it to the stairwells as they held on.
"Ugh, well, that gives us a new perspective,” Trail commented.
"Yeah, but now it looks like we have to climb to the top... I mean bottom, to get to that activation port,” Flash pointed out.
"Then we better start climbing, ponies,” Frost stated as the Ninja put up their masks over their muzzles, then started climbing to their target.
As they climbed, Landrush then turned to Gaia with a curious look. "So, Gaia, what was it you were trying to tell me?” he asked.
Gaia widened her eyes in surprise as her cheeks blushed and gave a sheepish chuckle. "Oh, uh, it's nothing Landy. Just thought it was the end for us,” she said nervously.
Landrush raised an eyebrow at her, not convinced but seeing that they do not have much time, he decides not to push it. "Okay then,” he said as he and the others continued to climb.
Gaia sighs in relief as she face-hoofs herself. "Why is it so hard to convince your feelings to the pony you're in love with? I wonder if this is how Spike felt when he had that crush on Rarity in the past,” she asked herself, scolding herself as they continued to climb the building.
Back in reality, the enemy took the elevator near the top floor and continued to make their way up before they spotted Aqua and Starlight blocking their path. "We should have figured the other two are the both of you, Tirek and the Storm King,” Starlight said with a glare. "But why are you helping the Overlord again after what he did to the both of you?"
"We have our reasons...” Tirek growled as he tightened his grip on the cane he was holding.
"Well, we're giving you one last chance to surrender,” Aqua told them as General Cryptor cackled.
"Cute,” he said before Aqua looked at her bracelet as the jewel in it beeped rapidly.
"I hate it when ponies call me cute,” she said as she looked out the window behind them and something was coming straight towards them.
Outside were two of Aqua's Samurai Mechs, she made an extra one in case her old one breaks down, as they flew straight towards Borg's tower.
Cyberstia and Techno Wu watch as they are familiar with those mechs as they widen their eyes. "Oh dear,” Cyberstia muttered.
And then the two mechs crashed through the window as Starlight and Aqua jumped right in as the mechs rolled across the floor and knocked their enemies to the ground. The mechs stood up and Aqua was in her Samurai suit while Starlight remained the same.
"Huh! Would you look at that, you made me ruin my hooficure,” Aqua taunted as she looked at her mech's arm playfully.
"I should be glad you taught me how to work these mechs, Aqua,” Starlight said, having been taught by Aqua to use her mech if she ever uses them for emergencies.
"Well, let's see those lessons pay off, girl,” Aqua said with a smirk as Starlight smirked back.
The Nindroids get up while grunting as they attack the two Unicorns in their mechs as Starlight and Aqua push them off as they start fighting.
What the two unicorns did not know is that Pythor, Tirek, the Storm King, Techno Wu and Cyberstia managed to sneak past them as they took the stairs.
In the Digiverse, the Ninja are climbing the stairs, while the whole thing is still upside down as they pant in exhaustion.
"This is tiring,” Gaia said out of breath. "By the time we get to the access port, the Overlord would already escape the Digiverse.”
"Yeah, we need a new angle to get to that port,” Flash said in agreement, knowing that they do not have time to keep climbing.
"Ugh, hey, we're not thinking big enough,” Thunder called out to the others as he saw an open window in a room.
"What do you mean, Thunder?" Flash asked.
Thunder jumped down as he trotted to the window. "Why climb when we can do this?” he asked the others as he jumped on the window and brought out his Techno Blade as he jumped out of the building, but then his Raider suddenly appeared from electricity as he started driving it and drove the Raider at high speed to the bottom.
The others watch in shock from what they just forgot. "We completely forgot that we are in the Digiverse,” Flash muttered.
"That pony plays way too many games,” Trail commented.
"Well, I'm following Thunder on this one!" Gaia called out as she jumped as her Spider Vehicle appeared in flight mode as she flew up/down as she followed Thunder.
"Gaia's right! Forget this!" Landrush yelled as he did a front flip as his Earth Mech appeared as he then ran at the side of the building and followed the two ponies.
"We’ll make saving Lloyd and the girls a lot quicker!" Flash commented as he jumped out of the building as his Hovercycle appeared as he flew up/down as he followed the others.
Trail then took a breath as he focused. "Okay, you can do this, Trail. You can...” he said to himself as he jumped down as his jet appeared, but it disappeared the second it appeared as Trail started screaming as he started falling. "I can't do it! I can't do it! I can't do it!” he cried out as he fell to the abyss.
But then Frost appears on his HoverCopter as he catches Trail in the cockpit. "Got you,” he said to Trail.
"Let's get to the top,” Landrush said to the others.
"You mean bottom,” Thunder corrected.
"Erase the Overlord,” Gaia added.
"And save Lloyd and the girls,” Flash finished.
"NINJA, GO!" the Ninja shouted in unison as they drove their vehicles down the building as they started blasting digital vehicles, like jets and hover copters, that the Overlord sent them to slow them down as they got closer and closer to the access port.
In Borg's office, Borg is still struggling with his legs as they manage to tear his shirt off to show his cybernetic implants.
"Uh, argh! Aah!" Borg cried out as the others watched in worry.
Just then, Pythor, Tirek, the Storm King, Cyberstia and Techno Wu came in with their weapons held out as the others looked at them in shock and worried. "Tirek and the Storm King!" Silverstream yelled out in shock.
"Oh, no!" Borg cried out when he saw them.
"Figures you guys would show your ugly faces again!" Spike said with a glare.
"Trust us, we've been laying low for a while until we plan our revenge on you creatures,” The Storm King growled.
Pythor then looked at the Serpentine Kids as he specifically looked at Melody, who is looking at him in shock as Pythor smirked. "And it would seem that I am not the only Anacondrai anymore,” he said evilly.
Melody looked at him in shock. "You, you’re Pythor? The Anacondrai who hurt my friends and family when you unleash the Great Devourer?” she muttered in shock at seeing another one of her own tribe.
"Yes, now if you’ll excuse us, we have Ninja to finish,” Pythor said as Tirek and the Storm King knocked them back as Pythor, Techno Wu and Cyberstia came close to the Ninja.
Borg saw this as he turned and saw a HoverCopter next to the window as he turned to Dr. Gear and Pixal. "Pixal, Dr. Gear, protect the Ninja and the others,” he called out to them.
Dr. Gear and Pixal saw Pythor, Techno Wu and Cyberstia about to strike the Ninja while Tirek raised his big axe while The Storm King prepares to whack them with his staff.
"No!" Pixal called out with a determined look.
"Pixal, you go and protect the Ninja while I protect the young!" Dr. Gear called out.
"Yes ma'am!" Pixal yelled out.
The two ponies then charged at them as Pixal jumped in front of Pythor and the controlled Sensei and former Princess as she did multiple kicks at them, which knocked them back as Pythor groaned and shook his head as she caught Pythor's bone and Techno Wu's staff in her hooves.
Dr. Gear then starts kicking Tirek and the Storm King back with her surprise strength as she knocks them back from the young creatures as she takes a stance in front of them while facing the two enemies.
Tirek got his bearings as he looked at Dr. Gear in shock. "How did you become so strong, old mare!?” he questioned.
"You can thank your boss for turning my body half metal! It has its advantages!" Dr. Gear retorted as the young saw the whole thing when they got their bearings.
"Whoa. That mare got moves,” Smolder said in shock.
"I'll never disrespect my elders again,” Spike added.
"Ditto,” Gallus said in agreement.
Just then, the Nindroid in the HoverCopter shoots a claw as it breaks open the window and grabs Borg.
"Argh!" Borg cried out as he was being dragged away as he turned to the others. "Pixal, Gear, everycreature, it's all up to all of you now,” he called out to them before he was dragged out of the window.
The others turned and saw Borg being taken away.
"Borg!" Dr. Gear called out to him as Borg screamed as the HoverCopter flew away with him dangling on the claw.
Back within the Digiverse, the Ninja were firing back at some jets and HoverCopters as they were making their way towards the access port. Flash on his Hover Cycle moved side to side to dodge some blasts while Landrush, Gaia, and Frost fired lasers back at them and Thunder launched missiles. Landrush lunged forward and fired another blast. "The data filters into the ground!” he told the others as they were getting close.
"The heart of the system must be behind it!" Flash theorized.
"Then let's be surgical about this!" Thunder quipped as they all fired missiles at the ground to create a large hole.
"NINJA, GO!" They all shouted as they charged forward and dived into the hole. They all then landed on the ground before their vehicles vanished and they saw a tower that was absorbing the code into the top.
"The reboot activation port!" Trail called out after seeing it.
"My word, that port is fascinating! Never thought it would be beautiful,” Gaia commented while admiring the tower-like port.
'It can't be that easy, can it?" Trail asked the others uncertainty.
"I'm not gonna stand around to find out,” Landrush pointed out.
"He's right. Move them hooves, ponies. This is our chance!" Flash called out as he trotted to the port.
The rest of the Ninja follow Flash's lead as they rush to the port where there's a big circle with six spots where the Techno Blades go as the Ninja brought out the blades, climbed the port and are at each side of the spots.
"Let's hack this thing,” Trail said to the others as he placed his Techno Blade in place.
The rest of them place their Techno Blades in place as they are brought together. The Techno Blades begin to glow as they begin to spin.
"NINJA, GO!" The Ninja called out as they jumped off the port and saw the spot where the reboot will happen on the ground in front of them.
And then, dark matter like pixels began to form as it took form in a giant like digital pony as red eyes appeared. "Enough!" It called out, revealing it to be the Overlord's true digital form as he stood between the Ninja and the activation spot.
The Ninja stopped and looked in shock at what was in front of them.
"The Overlord! In the flesh, sorta speak!" Flash called out as the Ninja glared at the Overlord.
"So, this is what you look like in the Digiverse. I expected much better looking than this,” Gaia taunted with a smirk under her mask.
"Quiet, pony!" The Overlord yelled in rage as he glared down at the Ninja. "You may have beat my program, but you cannot beat me!” he called out as the Ninja turned and saw at the top of the port tower is a crystalline structure as the power of the Techno Blades came up to it which shines a light downwards that made its way to the activation spot.
But before it could reach it, the Overlord reached out of his arms and grabbed the light as he threw it back at the Ninja, who yelped in surprise by the sudden attack as they fell on their backs as they groaned.
"He's blocked the reboot signal,” Frost pointed out as he got up. "We have to complete the circuit,” he said to the others.
Thunder got up as he looked at Frost in surprise by his suggestion. "We have to move him ,” he summarizes in surprise since they have the move the Overlord himself to erase him.
"We can try!" Trail called out determinedly.
"Let's move his digital flank so we can be rid of him!" Flash called out determinedly.
The Ninja got up as they trotted to the Overlord as they then jumped on him, but then the Overlord suddenly brought out tentacles like arms as he knocked the Ninja back while grabbing Thunder and Gaia in each of them.
"And you can fail!" the Overlord taunted as he held on to Gaia and Thunder as he used them to whack their friends back as they grunted in pain as they hit the floor.
Back in reality, Pixal swung both the bone and Techno Wu's staff to keep Techno Wu, Pythor, and Cyberstia away.
Dr. Gear and the kids were keeping Tirek and the Storm King back as they were pushing them back. "What's wrong? I thought you would suck up our magic by now!" Ocellus said to Tirek as he grinded his teeth.
"Well, I can't anymore, all because of you!” he shouted with so much hate.
"I can vouch for that,” the Storm King pointed out as he explained. "When we first got freed when the Overlord got kiboshed, it didn’t just separate us from our power-up magics. It also took away Tirek’s as well in the process. If he still had his magic, he would've totally stolen others' magic all the way back then.”
"So now, I can't steal magic anymore to become strong, powerful or young again! And it was because of all of you!" Tirek yelled out in rage as he swung his ax at them, which the others dodged.
"Well, that's one good thing that came out from the final battle!" Spike commented.
"While my magic may be gone, my fist is still here!" Tirek roared in rage.
"Which is not all bad at all!" Dr. Gear said as she bucked Tirek back as Silverstream and Gallus knocked the Storm King back.
Pixal then wanked Techno Wu away as he landed on the table next to the Master Switch.
Pythor saw this as he called out. "Turn off the master switch,” he ordered Techno Wu.
The others turned to him in shock and fright.
"No. The Ninja will be left behind in the program forever,” Pixal called out with wide eyes.
"If you turn it off while they're still in there, we may never get their minds back!" Dr. Gear added.
"Just like they left me in the Devourer,” Pythor retorted with a glare.
"And how they rock-a-fied and shattered me into pieces!" The Storm King yelled out.
"Not to mention, imprisoned me many times and cost me my magic!" Tirek roared in rage.
"Do it!" the three villains yelled out to Techno Wu.
He was about to reach over and press the master switch before the elevator opened wide, as two Nindroids rushed over. One tackled Cyberstia while the other quickly grabbed Techno Wu before they both threw them out the window.
"What's wrong with you two?!" the Storm King shouted at the two Nindroids before they turned around and took off their hoods to reveal themselves as...
"Luna!" Dr. Gear shouted with glee.
"Sensei Garmadon, you both came back!" Silverstream added as the two glared at the three villains in the room.
"But… you’re both supposed to be dead!" Tirek pointed out as they were shocked to see them here.
"And your oath, you said you would never fight again!" Pythor reminded Garmadon.
"When you took my son, all bets were off!" Garmadon growled.
"Sorry for being late, we had to make a couple of detours on the way here,” Luna told them.
Just then outside, they all saw the dragons and Changelings flying towards the city as Ember and King Thorax, along with the reformed former Queen Chrysalis flying towards the city.
"Help the creatures take out those tin cans, and make sure you stay clear of those lasers!" Thorax called out.
"Not to mention, melt their metal skins and kick their flanks!" Ember called out next while giving an uncertain look. "If they even have flanks to kick.”
"Doesn't matter. We got creatures to protect and a city to save! For Equestria!" Chrysalis announced.
"For Equestria!" Every dragon and changeling announce as they dive down to their enemies.
They then help the creatures who were trying to fight off the Nindroids from Borg's tower. As the dragons either bite, kick, or burn them, the Changelings use their changing magic to change into huge forms to even the strength while also dealing with the security mechs and hover copters. They all were dealing with the machines from the ground and in the air. Neo Equestria City became a huge warzone while every creature look out for one another as they fought together against the controlled machines the Overlord has infected.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” the Storm King groaned before he, Tirek, and Pythor received attacks from both Garmadon and Luna. Luna used her magic to levitate some weapons before whacking them while Garmadon attacked using his hooves. They managed to push the three near the windows as the entire group marched towards them.
"You're too late!" Pythor told them as the three backed up. "Even if you can save this city, your son and the Council are already ours!" The three of them then jumped out of the window and a hover copter picked them up and flew them away. Luna and Garmadon looked down and saw the controlled siblings near a helicopter pad.
"Help the Ninja, we will deal with our siblings!" Luna told the group before they jumped out the window and she carried Garmadon over to the helipad.
Once they landed on the helipad, they faced their controlled siblings as they took a stance.
"Sorry, brother and sister, it ends now,” Garmadon said to them.
"We don't wanna hurt you both, but you force our hooves,” Luna added as she and Garmadon took ready stances.
"Sweet dreams,” Techno Wu taunted.
"We settle this once and for all,” Cyberstia added as the four siblings walked towards each other.
A jet and a HoverCopter appeared behind Garmadon and Wu, but then it was taken out by an ice blast as the four siblings were surprised by this, but they had a feeling who it was.
Coming out from underneath the helipad was Ultra Dragon as he gave a loud roar.
"Ultra! You have returned!" Garmadon called out to the Ultra Dragon in joy.
"We can't leave you ponies alone, can we?" Nimbus asked the two ponies who are facing their controlled siblings.
"We go out for one retreat to the Dragon Lands, and you ponies manage to somehow get into trouble again!" Flame called out as the other dragons nodded.
"We'll help out with the other creature to deal with your sibling matters!" Rocky called out to them as they flew away.
"Right!" Luna called out as they now face their controlled siblings again. "Now, where were we?” she taunted as each side walked close to each other.
In the Digiverse, the Ninja stood up as they faced the Overlord, who were still holding Gaia and Thunder in his tentacles.
"Fools! All your existence, you have been powered by a lie, that the good guys always win,” The Overlord taunted them as he faced down the Ninja.
"We got him! We got him!" Thunder called out as he struggled in the Overlord's digital grasp.
"We don't got him, Thunder!" Gaia cried out as she struggled to break free. "Put us down, you digital brute!” she cried out.
"He's too big,” Trail pointed out that the Overlord is too big to even be moved.
"We can't even lay a hoof on him even if we tried!" Flash added as they are in a dilemma here.
"Sadly, they don't,” The Overlord answered as he taunted them.
"We cannot fail,” Frost called out to the others as they backed away from the Overlord a bit.
"I have the power now,” The Overlord declared. "Technology has made me infinite!”
"You let me and Gaia go, you overgrown...” Thunder started as the Overlord then threw him and Gaia.
"Whoa! Agh!" the two ponies cried out as they crashed into Frost and Flash as they slid across the floor.
"The Golden Ninja and the Elements of Harmony are mine!" The Overlord declared.
In the Mechdragon, the Mane Six and Lloyd were growing more weaker and weaker as Rarity, Rainbow, Applejack, and Fluttershy passed out after Pinkie as Lloyd and Twilight are the only ones trying to stay away as they are growing more and more weaker as the Overlord's body is nearly completed.
"We are not alone,” Lloyd started.
"We are not alone,” Twilight repeated as she and Lloyd then opened their eyes as they kept their determined expressions despite their magic and powers being drained out of them.
"You all are not alone, ” Frost's voice called out as Twilight and Lloyd can hear him.
"We are always with you ponies, ” Flash's voice spoke next.
In the Digiverse, Flash and Frost got up as they could hear Twilight and Lloyd's voices.
"We are not alone, ” Twilight and Lloyd's voices said at the same time.
"Lloyd?" Frost asked in surprise.
"Twilight?" Flash asked next after hearing his marefriend.
Feeling determined, Frost and Flash got up as they face the Overlord.
"You're wrong, Overlord. Good guys may not always win, but they never give up,” Frost started.
"And when we work together, we can never stop trying to defeat you,” Flash added.
Their friends watched when Flash and Frost closed their eyes as they focused, when suddenly their Gi became gold as they glowed while rainbow colors formed around them, and then they became alicorns as horns and wings appeared on them. "If we can't move him, go around him!" Frost told the others.
"What? Flash, Frost, both of you are golden! And-and alicorns!" Trail pointed out in amazement before Frost charged forward. He jumped and dodged the Overlord's attacks before he flew up and onto his head.
"Exactly!" Flash said as he backflip a few feet back. "Even in the darkness, we have the choice to reflect the light!" The beam of light from before then shot down to Frost before he reflected it over to Flash. "Landrush, get into the light!” he called out as he reflected the light to a different spot.
In the Mechdragon, Lloyd and Twilight saw the Overlord's body beginning to move as he moved his hoof or a claw, which shocked them, knowing that it is almost complete.
In the Digiverse, Landrush jumped and dodge the Overlord's tentacles as he rolled and turned into an alicorn as his Gi turned gold with rainbow colors as Flash hit him with the light.
"Ugh, you guys are geniuses,” Landrush said as he then shot a light in another direction. "Catch the light, Gaia,” he said to Gaia.
Gaia trotted as she stopped and rolled across the floor as she turned into an alicorn as her Gi turned gold with rainbow color as she was hit with the light. "I always wondered how fabulous I would be in gold or as an alicorn,” she commented as she then shot the light in another direction. "Thunder, catch the light,” she said.
Thunder rolled across the floor as the Overlord's tentacle blocked him, but he jumped over it as he landed on his hooves as he turned into an alicorn as his Gi turned golden with rainbow colors as the light hit him as he held it in. "Trail, run to your position,” he said to the fire element pony as he ran as Trail trotted to his position as Thunder moved the light to be ready to shoot.
Back in the Mechdragon, the Overlord's body begins to move as he tries to get up but lay back down as the transfer is ninety percent complete.
"I'm too big to fail now!" The Overlord called out as he could feel the transfer complete and he was so close to winning as Trail ran behind him.
"Come on, Trail,” Thunder called out to him. "You can do it. Just believe,” he encouraged me.
"How can I?" Trail called out as he stopped behind the Overlord as he was close to the activation spot. "This is not my world,” he discouraged them, starting to feel quite helpless.
The Overlord, who had seen how Trail was having the worst luck in the Digiverse, looked at him. "Now, too little, too late,” he taunted, seeing that he might win after all.
In the Mechdragon, Lloyd and Twilight pass out with the other girls as they became very weak as the Overlord's body in the coffin suddenly got up as it was almost complete as he shook.
In the Digiverse, The Overlord glared down at Trail while mocking him.
At Borg's tower in the helipad, Garmadon and Luna kept fighting their controlled siblings as they were being pushed back as Cyberstia and Techno Wu kept blowing punches on them.
While around the city, the Changelings and dragons are not having best of luck since more and more security drones keep coming no matter how much they take out while the Ultra Dragon keeps shooting its elemental blasts but it gets surrounded by hover copters and jets.
"I won't allow!" The Overlord declared to Trail as the pony looked down in shame as he kneeled, feeling useless to even help his friends.
Back at the helipad, Cyberstia singes Luna's wings as the former princess of the moon cringes as she and Garmadon are pushed back as the their two controlled ponies kicked their siblings as they flew over the crane as Luna and Garmadon grabbed on as they are dangling over the edge.
The other creatures are not faring better as they are surrounded by security mechs and Nindroids as they huddled together.
"Well, looks like this is it,” Ember said. "At least we tried,” she added.
"It was an honor to fight with you my friends,” Pharynx said to his family and fellow comrades.
"At least we go out like a family,” Thorax said.
"Agreed,” Queen Chrysalis said as she huddled together with her two changelings.
Ultra Dragon saw that the jets and copters were about to fire.
"Well, fellas, we had a good run,” Shard said to his friends.
"It was an honor to fight with you guys and the Ninja,” Whisp said to his fellow dragons.
"Agreed,” The four dragon heads nodded as they prepared themselves for the end.
In Borg's tower, Pixal, Dr. Gear and the others check on Trails' life signs on his holo-screen as it begins to flatline, which makes them worried.
"Trail, don't give up. Please,” Sky said to him in worry as did her other snake siblings.
"What Frost's powers truly allow, ” Frost heard his mother's voice, as did the other Ninja, as the ice Ninja opened his eyes as codes were showing.
Trail bowed his head as he closed his eyes as he then opened them while feeling determined. "I allow myself!” he declared as he focused very hard as he stood up as his body slowly begins to become an Alicorn as a horn and wings appeared and his Gi became golden with rainbow colors swirling around him.
Thunder then shoots the light at Trail, who catches it and then redirects it to the port spot, once hit, a beam of light then shoots out of it.
"System reboot initiated,” a computer voice said.
The Overlord then starts feeling himself being erased from the system as if it was tearing him apart. "No. No. No!” he yelled out as he began to fade.
"Goodbye, Overlord,” Flash said with a glare.
The Overlord then exploded as Frost floated as the Overlord turned into digital particles as the whole digital world glowed so bright that it blinded the Ninja.
Back in reality, every drone, machine, and robot in the city halted before the lights on them turned green and stopped attacking. One Security mech placed down a civilian before knocking away a Nindroid. Every Creature cheered as they knew this was a sure sign that the system had been rebooted by the Ninja. "They... they did it!" Thorax cheered.
"They delivered,” Derpy sighed. On the helipad, both Garmadon and Luna saw both their siblings stopped before the metal parts that were on them fell off. Both their manes and tales return to normal before they quickly catch their siblings when they lose their grip.
"Brother,” Wu said when he caught his brother.
"Sister,” Celestia said when she pulled up Luna.
"Sister,” Luna said as the two of them hugged.
"Brother,” Garmadon said with a smile as both his brother and sister are back to normal.
At the hallway in Borg's tower, Aqua and Starlight kept fighting off the Nindroid, but they suddenly felt something in them as their eyes turned white.
"They've rebooted the system,” Cryptor said to his fellow Nindroids. "Switch your power offline,” he ordered as he turned and faced the two mech unicorns as they raised their arms.
"Guess your master is now history, metal freaks,” Starlight taunted, now glad that the battle was won.
"I look forward to our second date,” Cryptor taunted as he and his Nindroids retreated out of the building as Starlight and Aqua watched them go.
"Should we go after them?" Starlight asked Aqua.
"No. Without the Overlord, they're not much of a threat,” Aqua said as she and Starlight got out of their mechs. "Come on, let's go check up on the others."
"Okay. I hope the Ninja are okay after what happened,” Starlight said as the two went into the elevator to check up on their friends.
In Borg's office, after doing some reprogramming into the system, Dr. Gear turned off the master switch as the others looked worried as the Ninja's holo-screens disappeared as Frost is the first to wake up.
"I'm just Frost,” Frost spoke first with a smile.
"You're back!" Pixal cheered in joy as she and Dr. Gear ran towards him.
"Son!" Dr. Gear said in relief that her son and friends are okay as she and Pixal hugged Frost in relief as the other Ninja started to wake up.
"Father!" the Serpentine Kids cheered as they hugged Flash, who chuckled at them.
"It's nice to see you five too,” Flash said as he hugged back.
"You're so much more than just Frost,” Trail said to Frost with a smile as the others smiled back in agreement.
"You guys actually defeated the Overlord, again!" Smolder cheered.
"That's two times he was beaten,” Spike said in agreement.
"Glad that monster is gone,” Silverstream said in agreement.
"Yona glad Overlord gone this time,” Yona said with a smile.
"And we're glad to have you guys back,” Ocellus said in happiness.
"You guys really rocked in the Digiverse,” Sandbar said
"And kicked the Overlord's digital flank!" Gallus cheered as he did punches in the air.
Aqua and Starlight came in through the elevator as they trotted to their friends. "You did it!" Aqua said as she ran to her brother as they hugged.
"You ponies rebooted the system!" Starlight cheered.
And then coming out of the next elevator are the two princesses and the two teachers’ siblings.
"You all did it,” Wu said to his students.
"You ponies have saved Equestria again,” Celestia said next.
The others turned to them in surprise as they saw Celestia and Wu back.
"Oh, Sensei, Celestia, you're both back!" Thunder called out in happiness.
"I knew you two would be back,” Trail said with a smile.
"You both are back to normal,” Flash said, happy to see them fully restored.
"Indeed, my fellow ponies. When you rebooted the system, we broke free from the Overlord's control, and we returned to normal,” Celestia said as she then turned to Luna and Garmadon. "Now we understand how you two felt when you were corrupted by evil. Wasn't pleasant,” she said with a shudder.
"Trust us, sister. It wasn't,” Luna said with a smile.
"Knowing from experience, now you both know how we feel,” Garmadon said as the four siblings share a chuckle.
Dr. Gear and Pixal went up to the computer to check on something.
"So, the system is completely clear?" Frost asked the two in curiosity.
"There is no evidence of the Digital Overlord,” Pixal answered as she and Dr. Gear turned to the others with smiles.
"The Overlord is completely erased from the system permanently. " Dr. Gear in happiness.
They all started cheering, glad to know their enemy is now gone as they cheered, but the only two who are not cheering are Luna and Garmadon, who are having worried expressions.
"What about Lloyd and the Council?" Garmadon asked them in concern.
"The Overlord hid them somewhere in the Mechdragon. And if the Overlord is erased, then no one is flying it!" Luna cried out as the others looked at them in worry now, since the Overlord was the only one controlling the Mechdragon, but with him erased, that means the Mechdragon is gonna crash.
Within said mech, Twilight and Lloyd helped up the rest of their friends while the place was on fire as the entire mech was losing power. "We... gotta get out of here,” Twilight said as they slowly made their way out of the place.
"Losing altitude,” The Mechdragon said as the seven alicorns slowly made their way out of the Mechdragon as they came out of the mouth as they the outside of the Mechdragon was on fire as it was about to crash into the ocean. "Impact in T-minus 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1,” The Mechdragon said.
"Jump!" Lloyd called out as the Mane Six followed his lead as they jumped into the ocean, too weak to even fly as they hit the water as the Mechdragon crashed as well as they float into the water as the Mechdragon sank to the bottom.
Back at Borg Tower, the entire group stood in front of a monitor and turned on a communicator system. "Lloyd, your highnesses, can you read me,” Pixal called out. The all weighted with anticipation for a response.
"Come on, guys. Answer,” Flash said in worry as Spike and Serpentine Kids huddled close to him in comfort.
Back at the ocean, Lloyd and the Mane Six opened their eyes as they began to swim away while heading to the surface.
Back at Borg's tower, the group kept waiting in worry. "Lloyd, your highnesses, are you there? Please read us?" Dr. Gear asked next in worry.
"We're here, ” Lloyd voices over the speaker.
"We're all right, ” Twilight's voice spoke next.
The entire group smiled in joy in relief.
"Mom!" The Serpentine Kids cheered as Spike and Flash sighs in relief.
"Son, where are you and the girls?" Garmadon asked Lloyd in joy.
"Dad? You're alive! " Lloyd cheered in joy.
"Is Luna there with you? " Rarity's voice asked next.
"I'm here, girls. We're all here,” Luna answered with a smile.
"Luna! You're alive! " Pinkie's voice cheered loudly.
"Shimmer down, sugarcube, ” Applejack's voice said next.
"We're not alone, guys. We have each other, ” Rainbow said next.
"That's great but where are you ponies?" Gaia asked, wanting to know where they are.
"It appears that we're in a remote village, ” Fluttershy's voice said next, telling them where they are. "We found it after we swam here, recovering our energy. ”
"Stay where you are, ponies,” Luna said next.
"Just send us the coordinates and we'll pick you all up,” Garmadon finished.
"Ah, good, uh, because my Golden Power's, uh, a little spent, ” Lloyd said, since his Golden Power is a bit drained from the Overlord.
"Same goes for our magic. The Overlord took too much out of us, that's for sure, ” Twilight said next with a chuckle.
The entire group starts laughing at their joke.
"Even when your magic and powers were nearly drained, you mares still have your sense of humor,” Gaia commented.
"Nothing can break that! " Pinkie yelled with a laugh as Lloyd and the rest of the girls laughed as well.
Pixal however, did not laugh as she then turned to Borg's wheelchair on the ground while feeling sad that her creator was captured. Dr. Gear and Frost saw this as Frost placed a hoof on Pixal in comfort.
"Don't worry, we'll find him,” Frost assured her.
"We'll get Borg back, Pixal,” Dr. Gear assured. "We won't rest until he is found."
"And when we stop Pythor, Tirek and the Storm King, all this will be over,” Frost finished.
"I hope not,” Pixal said as she placed a hoof over Frost's as the two droids smiled at each other as Dr. Gear smiled at the two having their moment.
"My little foal growing up,” Dr. Gear said fondly.
"So, now that the Overlord is finished, how about we make a choice for you, Sandbar?” Ocellus said as she and Yona looked at Sandbar.
"I... uh... I choose...” Sandbar stuttered as he began to sweat a little. Both Ocellus and Yona looked at him with a raised brow as they waited for an answer. "I choose... AH! It's a giant robot dragon!! Run for it!" Both Ocellus and Yona quickly looked to where he was pointing but saw nothing. They then realized that he tricked them before they looked over and saw him in the elevator while rapidly pressing a button.
"SANDBAR!" both girls shouted with annoyance.
"Sorry, maybe next time!” he responded innocently as the elevator door closed.
At the bottom of the ocean, the Mechdragon laid at the bottom, completely shut down as fish swam around it.
Inside the Mechdragon, the coffin slowly opened, as a dark matter-like hoof with a claw at the end popped out of it. "I am free. Free!" The Overlord's voice said, revealing that he managed to get enough Golden Power and Harmony magic to escape the Digiverse, but incomplete as he is nothing but a dark matter blob, but at least he is out of the Digital prison.
Chapter 6: Codename: Arcturus
Deep beneath the ocean where the Mechdragon had fallen, a few Nindroids and Pythor use underwater jets to swim towards it. "We found it, just as the last known location said it’d be," Pythor said over a communicator.
"Now the question is, is he really out? " Tirek responded.
"One way to find out," Pythor said before he turned to the Nindroids. "Get down there," The Nindroids then swim closer to the down Mechdragon before attaching it to air balloons. Once they were attached, each of them pressed up on air tanks to inflate the balloons and raise the downed mechanism to the surface.
Once it had resurfaced, Tirek and the Storm King maneuvering a HoverCopter moved in closer as Pythor resurfaced as well. They tapped the window of the mechanism they saw a claw tap on the glass, and knew who it belonged to.
Meanwhile, the Ninja, the Council and the Young Six are inside the Temple of Light as they were in the same places they were when they had to gain powers to fight back against the Stone Army.
"You sure you wanna do this, Lloyd?" Twilight asked uncertainly.
"Yeah man. I mean, are you certain to give up the Golden Power?" Gallus asked as well.
"I have to. I can't do this alone anymore," Lloyd answered. "As long as I have all this power, they'll never stop hunting me or you girls,” he added as he sighed.
"But why are you the only one to give up your elemental power, Lloyd?" Fluttershy asked.
"Yeah. The Nindroids were hunting you and us together," Rainbow said on behalf of her and her friends.
"It's just unfair of you to give up your powers while we get to keep ours, darling," Rarity added.
"I agree, it's not fair for you to do that," Pinkie said with a small frown.
"But this is for me to decide,” Lloyd pointed out.
"And why is that, sugarcube?" Applejack asked.
"Like the others said, the Overlord and possibly some others wanted my Golden Power to become the Golden Master. And if they're still those out there wanting my Golden Power, I need to be the one to get rid of it,” Lloyd explained. "But Equestria still needs the Elements of Harmony to protect it alongside the Ninja. Remember, I was the one who got the Golden Power from all of you, so I'm the one who has to give it back to each of you. At least, that way, Twilight and the girls will be safe since all they wanted is my Golden Power, making the Harmony magic useless to them,” he sighed.
"From here on out, we can't let anything separate us again,” Frost spoke up in determination.
"He's right,” Thunder agreed.
"Absolutely,” Landrush added.
"Most certainly,” Gaia chipped in.
"Always better to stick together than divided,” Flash said before he looked at Twilight. "Isn't that what friendship is all about?" Twilight looked towards her friends who had a bright smile on their faces, as well as each of the Young Six. She then looked back at Flash and nodded. "Are you guys ready?"
"Let's do this,” Trail said as they were prepared for what was going to happen next.
Lloyd then conjured up his Golden Power before striking the bell above him. Lloyd then shot at least eighteen beams to each of them and they got infused with power. As soon as the light died down, Lloyd's coat turned from gold back to grayish silver.
Twilight and the rest of the Mane Six felt their magic begin restored to their full strength as they flew in the air, fully rejuvenated.
The Young Six felt their magic they had before coming back as Smolder started breathing fire, ice, wind, earth, lightning, and leaf-filled whirlwinds. Gallus started to speed across the room, while Ocellus turned into a dragon before breathing fire herself. Yona's horns began to glow as Silverstream turned into water and back. Finally, Sandbar could once more sense life energy through his friends.
The Ninja also felt their elemental powers coming back as Trail lit up his hoof on fire, smirking at it as Frost shot ice from his hoof as he formed an ice arch.
Landrush then started moving some rocks and dust as he raised his hooves, while Thunder shot lightning through his body as he stopped and smirk down at himself.
Gaia started growing some plants around her as she formed a petal-filled whirlwind around herself. Finally, Flash summoned the wind to surround him in a mini tornado before he stopped.
Frost smiled at this as he spoke. "The Elemental Power… it's inside us,” he said nostalgically at having their powers backs.
"Fire! " Trail sings out as he shoots a big fire out of his hoof as he smiled. Glad to have their powers back as he shot fires from both hooves to make himself fly off the ground.
"Ha-ha! Anyone shocked to see me do this? Huh?" Thunder quipped as he shot lightning bolts from his horn yet again.
"I bet you're all blown away that I can fly without my wings again!" Flash jested as he used his power to hover above the ground.
Landrush used his power to make a little rock grow underneath them. "No dirt off my shoulder.”.
Gaia used her power to make vines grow from the ceiling before swinging on them. "I hope this doesn't grow out of control.”
Frost used his power to ice surf around. "Chill out!"
They were all having fun and are excited to have their powers back. Meanwhile, their Senseis and the Royal Sisters watched them from the entrance and Garmadon was not too keen on this idea.
"Hehehe,” Celestia chuckled. "These creatures are so happy to have their powers and magic back,” she said with a small smile.
"It has been two years since they last had them, so I don't blame them,” Luna said with a small smile.
"This is foolishness,” Garmadon said in disappointment. "This decision puts everycreature in jeopardy,” he pointed out.
"But it was your son's decision to make,” Wu pointed out to his brother.
"It was his choice to give up his Golden Power to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hooves again,” Celestia added. "It was for the best.”
"At least Twilight and the others still have their magic, and the Ninja and their students have their powers back. So Equestria is still in good hooves,” Luna added.
Garmadon walked to the cliff as his siblings followed. "The young take too many risks. They should still listen to their fathers and mothers. While I'm glad Princess Twilight and the Council kept their magic, this will still have consequences for all of Equestria,” he pointed out.
"We understand brother, but they need to make their own choices and learn from them if they take tough risks,” Celestia pointed out.
"And without risk, they'll never know how far they'll truly go,” Wu added as they look at the horizon.
"They’re right. Have faith, brother,” Luna said as she placed a hoof on Garmadon's shoulder. "We will catch Pythor, Tirek, and the Storm King, and find Borg and stop what's left of the Nindroids."
"And maybe then you will rest easier,” Wu finished as he stroked his beard.
"As the protectors of this land, we don't have the luxury of taking a rest,” Garmadon said uneasy.
"True, but we all must have our rest to protect our home, and we'll do it together,” Celestia said as she and the other three siblings look at the horizon.
Somewhere in an underground facility, Borg, who had the control helmet back on again and is being controlled, is welding something together. As soon as he was done, he took off his masks as his cybernetic legs walked away from it. With Nindroids around then facility, as he then crawled to the wall, passing Cryptor, Pythor, Tirek and the Storm King as they are standing on a railing.
"My drones are starting to ask questions,” Cryptor told the three. "You say this is the Overlord's plan, yet we have not seen him."
"No. He's, uh, consumed at the moment,” Pythor replied.
"In more ways than one,” the Storm King whispered to Tirek.
"This is an ambitious undertaking,” Cryptor said with a suspicious look on his face as he looked at the three. "If we find out you three are pretending he’s alive only to use us, you all will pay dearly."
"The Overlord will reveal himself when he chooses to,” Pythor firmly said as he glared at Cryptor, who backed away a bit.
"And may we remind you, Cryptor, you can always be reprogrammed,” Tirek threatened.
"So you better watch what you say, buckethead ,” the Storm King finished as the three villains went into the launch room as the door closed behind them.
Pythor pressed a button as the window opened as they looked around.
"Okay, Pythor. No one is looking,” Tirek said. "The coast is clear."
"You can cough him up now,” the Storm King finished.
"Thank goodness,” Pythor said in relief as he started hacking and coughing up dark matter, the Overlord in his current state, as he gagged.
"Sheesh. Wasn't pleasant to see that,” the Storm King cringed.
"Doesn't taste too pleasant from my end either,” Pythor commented as they turned to the Overlord. "The Nindroids are impatient. They doubt your existence,” he told the Overlord.
"We were lucky to hide you from them when we saw you like this,” Tirek said. "But are you sure you’re not ready to reveal yourself to prove that you are alive?"
The Overlord then starts to form into a blob as his red eyes showed. "They mustn't see me in my weakened state. If the Ninja hadn't interrupted the transference, I wouldn't look like this,” he said as he raised his hooflike claw at them as they backed away.
"Well, at least you are out of the Digiverse before you were erased. So at least it counts for something,” the Storm King commented.
The Overlord growled at them as they backed away a bit, but he calmed down with a sigh. "Not... Not to worry. Soon, I will be strong. And soon, we will finish Project Arcturus!” he declared as out in the launch controls revealed to be a big rocket.
"Forgive our ambivalences,” Pythor said as he felt unsure about this. "It just that this plan, it's-- it's--" he started as he could not find the right words.
"A little overboard?" Tirek suggested.
"Too extreme?” the Storm King asked next.
"Yeah, those are the ones,” Pythor said in agreement.
The Overlord then looked straight at them as his blob formed got taller as the three villains backed away from them. "It's the only way I can become the Golden Master,” he declared as he glared at them with his red eyes. "With news of Lloyd giving away his Golden Power, there's no use hunting him anymore."
"What about Twilight and the Council?" Tirek questioned. "They still have their Harmony magic so they might be useful."
"No. All I need is the Golden Power. And with Lloyd not having that power anymore, the Harmony magic is useless to me," the Overlord told them. "And even if I did need them now, the Ninja and their friends will surely be protecting them by now, which makes capturing them pointless! Have patience..."
In Borg's tower, Garmadon was heading up the elevator to Borg's office as he saw his siblings, Derpy, Frost, Dr. Gear and Pixal working on the case to find Borg, Tirek, Pythor and the Storm King so they could mount a rescue. "Any update on the search?” he asked them.
"Our cameras haven't picked up any trace of Pythor, the Storm King, Tirek, or Borg, but the Ninja, the Council, and the children are in the field where we don't have eyes,” Celestia assured him before Lloyd wearing an all-silver Ninja Gi on his motorcycle with Gaia in the Toxic Bogs is shown on screen.
"No sign of Nindroids in the Toxic Bogs, ” Gaia told them.
"Lloyd, while you both are out there, do you have any time to search the Glacier Barrens with Spike and Smolder?" Wu asked.
"Hey, I may not be able to move mountains anymore, but I can still cover ground, ” Lloyd assured. "I'm on my way to help Spike and Smolder now. Over and out. ” He revved up his motorcycle to help the two dragons.
The group then looked at the patterns on flashcards on a clue board that showed pictures of fire, Pythor, the Overlord when he possessed Garmadon, Tirek, the Storm King, Cryptor, and the word “Arcturus”.
"Project Arcturus?" Garmadon questioned, as he somehow felt familiar with the name as his siblings came to him.
"Two days ago, Frost, Pixal and Dr. Gear intercepted a coded message,” Celestia explained.
"Something with the code name: Project Arcturus,” Wu added.
"I think I may have made a discovery,” Derpy said to the four siblings as she moved the letters around to try to form a phrase. "‘Carrot Cup Juster’,” she read out.
"What's a juster?" Luna questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"I don't know... yet,” Derpy said determinedly.
"Keep looking, I don't think that's it,” Luna said as they four siblings walked to the to the monitor screen.
"Arcturus,” Garmadon repeated as he felt it on the tip of his tongue. "Long ago, didn't we face an Anacondrai general by that name?” he asked his siblings.
"Indeed, we did, brother,” Wu answered with a nod.
"Yes, they even named a celestial zodiac after him,” Celestia added.
"We're not sure how they are related yet. But this is concerning,” Luna finished as the four siblings look at the screen until they heard an alarm beeping as they turned and saw a red light going off.
"What in Equestria's name is that?" Garmadon asked in alarm.
"Our facial recognition software picked up somecreature,” Pixal informed.
"And you ponies may want to see this,” Dr. Gear said as the four siblings came to them. "Son, bring it up on the screen.”
"Yes, mother,” Frost said as he typed on the keyboards that showed four vehicles, zooming in on the front one to show the driver.
"Cryptor,” Wu said as he grew worried.
"My analysis can only presume they're using Borg to build something,” Frost theorized.
"Make sense, and it would have to be something that requires his technical expertise. Otherwise, they would've gotten me if I was captured,” Dr. Gear added.
"But what?" Pixal asked in concern for her creator.
"We need to know where those trucks are headed,” Celestia said seriously.
"Find us the nearest Ninja, Council member, or ally closest to that location,” Wu finished as they did just that.
Within the Serpentine Village underground, Twilight was with Flash, Cozy, Nyx, and the Serpentine Kids, discussing the peace treaty with Skales. "I'm so glad you are willing to finally make peace with us,” she said with a warm smile.
"It'ssss a pleassssure to do ssso,” Skales said.
"And it's really kind of you to send your daughter to the School of Friendship,” Flash said. "I'm betting she'll make great friends there too.” His communicator went off but he had set it on vibrate for this occasion.
Meanwhile above ground, Sandbar was talked into taking both Ocellus and Yona to the movie theaters with Aqua, Landrush, and Thunder. Both him and Aqua were told to do this by Cadance because she believed this would help them choose who they want to be with. Yona and Ocellus have Sandbar sitting between them while Aqua is sitting between Thunder and Landrush in the row above them.
"Fear? Fear isn't a word where I come from! " declared the Space Ranger flying a ship in the movie that they were watching.
"I love Space Ranger movies,” Thunder said as he was enjoying the movie.
"I'll admit, this is really good,” Ocellus remarked with intrigue. "I love the special effects they add to it. Like the lasers and the glowing swords."
"A Ranger in space? Really?" Landrush questioned. "Who writes this baloney?"
"Yona confused,” Yona spoke up. "How did pony go to space and be Ranger?"
"Could you all please be quiet?" a hippogriff whispered to them.
Thunder and Landrush reached for the popcorn that Aqua was holding, as did Ocellus and Yona to the one Sandbar was holding before they accidentally touched hooves and quickly back off as they yelped disgust. A few audience members shushed them when they yelped.
"Hey, it wasn't our idea to go on a double thing to decide between you,” Aqua whispered to remind them.
"Yeah, this was Princess Cadance’s idea,” Sandbar added. "So can you please just get along for this one date?"
Aqua's bracelet started beeping as a couple of female griffons were getting annoyed. "Hey, could you please be quiet?" one of them asked as the other threw popcorn at them.
"Please turn off all phones and devices,” a small robot told Aqua when it came over to them.
"Oh, right. Heh. Sorry,” Aqua said as she turned off her bracelet.
"They're not picking up,” Frost told them as he can get there to Flash or the others in the city. "Trail is the nearest in proximity.” He pointed to a location on the computer screen that showed where Trail is.
"And he should be able to get there quickly in the Prototype X1,” Pixal added.
"Good, but tell him not to engage,” Wu told them. "We can't let them know they're being followed."
"But we must know what they're carrying as well,” Luna added.
Outside the city at a small gas station, Trail was seen flirting with a mare at a counter as she was enjoying a slushie. "So, these are the hottest snacks you got?” he asked as he holds a bag of chips before she gave a shrug in response. "Hotter than this?” He then created a small flame on his hoof before he put the bag over the flame and she chuckled. He then ate what was in the bag before he blew a puff of smoke in the shape of a heart towards her.
The mare chuckled at his flirting before she noticed the large red car with flames on the side parked outside. "That your ride out there? Pretty hot,” she told him.
"That old thing? That's just the Prototype X1 Roadster,” Trail told her. "I'm kind of a secret agent. Ah! Oops, guess it's not a secret anymore. You wanna go for a spin? I know Spinjitzu."
"Trail. Trail, I need you ,”Pixal called through the communication radio on the Prototype X1.
"Not now, Pixal,” Trail said through his teeth, unknowingly earning the ire of the mare he was currently flirting with.
"Who's Pixal?" the mare asked with disgust before she threw the slushie in his face.
Trail groaned as he wiped the smoothie off his face and ran out the store as he jumped on the Prototype X1. "Did I catch you in a bad time? " Pixal asked through the radio.
"Ah, this better be good,” Trail sigh as he revved up the engine as the mare from the store looked out through the door. As the engine fired up, she covered her eyes from the run-off while the Roadster sped up at high speed. The mare huffed as she is covered in soot, glaring at where Trail left.
The Roadster kept revving down the road as Pixal spoke. "There's a Nindroid convoy heading west and General Cryptor is on it,” Pixal informed.
"Cryptor,” Trail said seriously.
"We need you to follow, but not be spotted,” Pixal instructed.
"I'm a Ninja. That's part of the job,” Trail boasted with a smile as he put on some sunglasses.
"We mean it, Trail,” Pixal said seriously. "It's imperative your carelessness does not jeopardize the mis-- " Her message was cut off as Trail turned off the radio.
"Relax,” Trail said as he looked at the road. "When have I ever been careless?” he questioned himself confidently. as he steered the Roadster, moving out of the way of a car and zigzagging across the road. He lifted his sunglasses and looked at the rearview mirror as he went past a digital billboard, which showed Pixal on the screen.
"Trail, can you hear me? " Pixal asked as she tried to contact him as a foal on a bike looked in awe before he crashed into the board, landing on his hooves as he looked up in awe.
As Trail continued to drive, the systems on the dashboard started beeping before the steering wheel moved on its own. "Huh, what's happening?” he asked as the Roadster started to move side to side on its own to avoid the passing vehicles. "Oh! Whoa!" The communication radio turned back on as Trail was being moved from side to side.
"I've taken control of the X1 remotely,” Pixal told him. "You can't get rid of me that easily. "
"Fine. Have it your way,” Trail said as he sat back and relaxed. "How close are we?"
"Approaching convoy in three minutes, ” Pixal answered before he had a smirk on his face as he raised his sunglasses.
"Let's see if we can make it in two,” he said before he fired the boosters up and went faster.
You can't control your team,” Garmadon complained as they saw on the monitor how close he was getting to the convoy.
"Have faith, brother,” Wu told him.
"He's ascending the mountain pass now,” Frost told them.
"He better slow down or they're going to see him,” Dr. Gear said before she turned to Pixal. "Better to let him control it again."
"Trail, you better take control again,” Pixal told him on the communication system.
Okay,” Trail said as he was given back control. He then sped through the mountain pass before he looked up and saw his target right on the upper road.
"Remember, keep your distance,” Pixal told him. "We only need to find out where they are heading. "
"Boring!" Trail called out. "What I want to know is, what are they hiding?” he then pressed down on the gas pedal to try and catch up. He accidentally bumped another car on the road when he passed by.
"Careful! " Pixal said through the communication radio. "Keep your eyes on the road, Trail. "
"I was just getting the feel of it,” Trail explained himself. "You know, every car handles differently."
"Yet this car is worth far more than you,” Pixal responded. "I would not advise returning it with a scratch. "
"Noted. Let's see if we can find some killer tunes,” he remarked.
Ge pressed a button on the dashboard which accidentally fired two rockets right when the convoy was going over a bridge. Pythor in the first vehicle saw the two rockets explode.
"What's that?" Pythor asked before he saw Trail driving in the X1 coming up behind. "Hmm? We're being followed. Speed up!” he ordered Cryptor at the driver’s seat.
"Yes, master,” Cryptor replied as he and the other Nindroids sped up. Some Nindroids in a pickup truck kicked down the back before two on HoverCycles with saw blades attached to the bottom rolled out. The two of them took to the skies and made it over to where Trail was driving.
"Uh-oh!" Trail shouted when he raised his sunglasses as he saw the two Nindroids heading towards him. He then quickly steered to the left as to nearly dodge one of them, the saw blade of that Cycle grazing the car. He then steered right to dodge another which also grazed the car. It then swerved a bit as he made it to the bridge.
"You've done enough. From here on out, I'm in control,” Pixal told him as the steering wheel moved on its own.
"Hey, I was driving,” he complained.
"Not anymore ,” shereplied as he noticed she was making the car go faster.
"What are you doing?" Trail asked in concerned.
"Now that our plan's foiled, our only hope is to get you on board that semi-truck to see what they are transporting,” Pixal explained as he was catching up to one of the tankers.
"Ah. I love it when a plan comes together,” Trail commented with confidence as the X1 was driving up next to the tankers.
The Nindroids on the pickup truck saw him before they all blasted lasers from their eyes at him. The car swerved a bit as it took fire before Pixal made the car go back. Once it was far enough, she put it in full throttle as it sped up.
Pythor looked back and saw he was still on their tail while the two Nindroids in the sky were far behind. He then noticed a sign that said a cliff warning pass by and got an awful idea. "Shoot the mountain!” he ordered.
Then Cryptor pressed a button as the blaster on his vehicle then begins to shoot at the side of the mountains as rocks begins to fall.
Trail screamed as the engine part of the X1 shoots missiles as it blasted some rocks. Trail made it through, but two of the Nindroids in the air got hit by the rocks that were in the air as they exploded.
"Ah. That was close,” Trail said in relief.
"I thought 'close' was the objective,” Pixal said as the X1 speed up as it made it to the side of the truck. Min-droid saw this as he then swerved the truck to the side, the tank nearly hit Trail but Pixal steered it to the back just in time. "I can't get past him. Get ready and hold on. "
"For what?" Trail asked.
"This,” she replied as the seat he's in lowered before a pair of handlebars popped up in front of him. The hood of the car then raised up, which made him grew worried.
"What's happening?” he asked before a motorcycle that he's on drove forward and he screamed in fear. Said motorcycle was driving forward towards the tank before it bumped into the bumper and Trail was fling towards the back of it. He looked back and saw the motorcycle going in reverse before retrieving back into the X1.
"Keep your sunglasses close,” Pixal told him through the sunglasses. "They're also a receiver so we can communicate. "
"All right, time to heat things up,” Trail said as he got on top of one of the tankers before he saw a bunch of Nindroids on top. They laughed as they were firing lasers at him, so he quickly ducked down for cover. She was not out however as he concentrated his powers into his hoof. "You're fired!” he shot a fireball right at one of the Nindroids and knocked him off before he fired another at a second one. "And you're fired!” he shot the last one off and saw them rolling away behind as he climbed on top.
Trail then saw that he accidentally lit the cover on the truck on fire. "Uh-oh,” he said to himself about his mistake. "NINJA, GO!" Trail called out as he did Spinjitzu to put out the flames on top as he made it to the other side. But what he saw was a jet logo with a fire warning on it, which made him more worried when he realizes what is it. "Uh, Pixal? I'm sitting on a tanker of jet fuel. And I think I just lit the match,” he said in worried as the truck kept going with the X1 still following.
"Jet fuel?" Garmadon said in shock from what Trail just informed. "He needs to get out of that tanker before it explodes!” he called out.
"Pixal, get Trail out of there,” Dr. Gear said to the mare bot.
Pixal nodded as she turned back to the speaker. "Trail, there's a series of one lane tunnels up ahead,” she informed.
"We must time it right to get you off of there,” Pixal informed through the glasses as Trail listened carefully.
And then Min-Droid and two Nindroids are climbing on the truck as they fired a couple of shoots at Trail. The fire pony backed up as he then tripped in between the two tankers as he held in place with both his hooves to keep him from falling.
The X1 then drove up beside him as it caused a tanker to leak out jet fuel as it drove next to Trail. "Hurry. Jump, now! " Pixal informed.
But before Trail could even act, Min-Droid grab Trail by one of his hind hooves as he was dangling between the tankers as the Nindroids laughed at him.
As they are about to enter the tunnel, Pixal backed the X1 in reverse as she got behind it so she would not crash into the wall, Min-Droid and the two Nindroids turned and saw the tunnel coming up as Min-Droid ducked, but the other two Nindroids were not as lucky as they were hit by the top of the tunnel, decapitating the two Nindroids heads as the convoy and the X1 went through.
As the tanker drove through the tunnel, Trail began to fight with Min-Droid and surprisingly the little guy is doing very well against him. Trail then tackled him as the X1 came up to the side. "Trail, now is no time to fight ,”Pixal told him before he punched Min-Droid off him.
At the end of the tunnel, a pony is busy painting a white line with traffic cones on the road as he hummed to himself happily, but then he saw the Nindroid convoy heading right towards him as he ducked out of the way as Cryptor drove at the side of the truck and bumped the X1 back as it skidded to a stop.
"Getting kind of hot up here,” Trail called out as he fought Min-Droid back. "Where are you?” he asked Pixal.
"Tied up at the moment,” Pixal informed as she drove the X 1 again as she sped up to the convoy again.
The Nindroids saw this as they started blasting at the X1. Pixal then drove the X1 to hit the truck full of Nindroids as she knocked it to the side of the wall, as she kept firmed on it as another tunnel was coming and the truck full of Nindroids are about to crash into the side of the wall. "Aah!" The Nindroid driver yelled when he saw this as he starts blaring his horn until it crashed as the X1 and fuel truck went into the tunnel as the Nindroids that survive the crash fell into the ground as they got up with a groan.
In the tunnel, Trail then lifted Min-Droid up on the ceiling as sparks beings to come out of him from the speed the truck is moving.
"You like that, Sparky? Heh!" Trail taunted as he gave a smile, but then one of the sparks Min-Droid produce fell into the trail of jet fuel as flames lit up as it made it way to the truck. "Oops,” Trail said sheepishly at his mistake as Min-Droid then hit a traffic light as Trail turned and saw him dangling from it before he fell into the floor as the X1 hit him as he held onto the front of it.
"Thanks for the ride,” Min-Droid said before he shot a laser at the engine. It was then caught a flame before the X1 pulled to a stop. The flame however was catching up to the tanker and Trail knew he did not have long.
"Pixal, I gotta go! Like, now!” he called out.
"I can't get to you! There's no time! " Pixal told him as Min-Droid got on the hood of the X1. He tilted his head before she had the hood of the X1 pop open to get him off. Meanwhile, Trail saw the flames reaching the leak and traveling up before he quickly had a thought and ran to the front just as the tanker explode.
"Trail!" Frost called out when they saw the explosion on the monitors.
The entire tunnel lit up as the fuel truck and the vehicle that Pythor and Cryptor are driving on got pushed from the blast as they were pushed out of the tunnel, while one tanker survived as they kept going.
"Trail! Can you hear me? " Pixal called out through the sunglasses as Trail manage to get under the truck before the fiery explosion.
"Loud and clear,” Trail answered as he lifted his sunglasses up. "Well, maybe not so clear on the back of this truck,” he commented.
"He's alive!" Frost cheered as they all laughed and sigh in relief that Trail is okay.
At the front of the truck, Pythor gave an evil laugh as he brought out his communicator radio, while Trail listened in from underneath. "Ha-ha-ha! We lost him! Might have lost one payload, but we still have the other,” he informed with a smirk.
"Excellent,” the Overlord spoke through the radio. "Head to the launch site.”
"On my way."
Trail widened his eyes as he heard the Overlord's voice through the radio as he spoke through his sunglasses. "Listen up,” he started…
"The Overlord is alive,” Trail informs the others, which made the group shock by this.
"What?" Wu asked in shock.
"The Overlord is still alive!?" Luna asked in shock.
"And he escaped the Digiverse? That's impossible!" Dr. Gear pointed out in worried and fright.
Celestia then spoke out. "Trail, do you know where they're heading?” she questioned.
Then suddenly, the tanker stopped as Trail noticed.
"Wait, They're stopping. This might be it,” Trail informed as Pythor heard him as he moved his head to find the source. "I have to be quiet so they don't find my perfect hiding spot.” However, Pythor ducked his head down and saw Trail.
"You!" Pythor yelled.
Trail flinched, realizing that his cover is blown as he turned to Pythor. "Huh? Me?” he asked innocently, right before Pythor punched his lights out.
"Gather everypony,” Wu said when they lost Trail's signal. "We have to find out where they're going before it's too late."
"Let's just hope that Trail will be alright,” Dr. Gear said with worry.
"I'm glad that treaty went well. Twilight said as she, Flash, Nyx, Cozy, and the serpentine Kids came out of the sewers.
"Although we might want to find some less stinky way to visit them,” Sky said before she noticed that they were in front of the movie theater. "Oh cool, who's up for a movie?"
"I could go for a flick,” Melody said before some creatures came out and they saw Thunder, Landrush, Aqua, Sandbar, Yona, and Ocellus exiting the theater.
"Ah! Greatest! Movie! Ever! Ha-ha!" Thunder cheered.
"Yeah, it was pretty good,” Aqua said with a smile.
"What movie did you watch?" Nyx asked when they came out.
"Space Ranger and it was amazing,” Ocellus answered.
"Okay, time to choose,” Yona spoke up as she looked at Sandbar.
"Uh…” Sandbar asked nervously with a nervous smile.
"Sandbar, you and Aqua said that you pick between each of us after the date,” Landrush reminded.
"So, Sandbar and Aqua, who'll it be?" Ocellus asked them.
"Right. Heh-heh,” Aqua said nervously.
"The choice,” Sandbar nervously said. "I chose...uh...Yollus!” He quickly ran past them and picked up a small robot near the entrance.
"Yollus?!" both Ocellus and Yona repeated.
"And I chose Thunrush!" Aqua told them as she picked up another robot.
"Thunrush!?" both Landrush and Thunder repeated as well, while Landrush looked in confusion and Thunder looked in shock.
Sandbar and Aqua turned to them as they smiled nervously at them while holding the robots. "Yeah,” Aqua nodded. "Thunrush. He's the best parts of you put together,” she said.
"And Yollus is the best part of you as well together,” Sandbar said nervously.
"But I am Robo Usher 3000,” the robot Sandbar is holding said.
"And I am Robo Server 5000,” the robot Aqua is holding said.
"Like all boys or girls, you two can be reprogrammed,” Aqua said with a small smile.
"Yep,” Sandbar said in agreement.
"You both are now being desperate,” Cozy told them before signal lights that had the elemental emblems of Flash, Landrush, and Thunder appeared in the sky.
"Hey, they need us back at headquarters,” Landrush spoke out.
"Looks like trouble,” Flash added. "Come on guys, to Borg's tower."
Just then, they made it to Borg's tower as they went up the elevator as they entered Borg's office as they saw the others have regrouped, with the rest of the Young Six, Starlight, Gaia, Spike and Lloyd there as well. Along with Sombra, Hope, Discord, Chrysalis, Soarin, Ember, Thorax and his brother.
"We got here as fast as we could,” Aqua said as she and Sandbar brought the robots with them.
"But my name is Robo Usher 3000,” Aqua's robot said.
"And mine is Robo Server 5000,” Sandbar's robot added as the robots struggled to break free.
Sandbar and Aqua looked at each other as they the sigh and let go of the robots as they rolled to the elevators and went down.
"Glad that you guys finally made it, darlings. We have a problem,” Gaia first to spoke.
"The Overlord is back,” Frost continued. "And he has Trail."
"The Overlord?" the others spoke in shock that the Overlord was still alive.
"I thought he was a goner for sure,” Sandbar said in shock.
"Apparently, that freak has more lives than a cat,” Flash growled at hearing that the Overlord is still around.
"What do we know so far?" Twilight asked as they gathered around the table.
"We know they plan to launch Project Arcturus tonight,” Celestia answered. "But we need to figure out what it is in order to save him."
"Think. Think…” Wu said as they were trying to figure out what Project Arcturus is. "The answer must be right in front of us."
"The Overlord's dire wish is to become the Golden Master,” Lloyd reminded them. "Maybe that has something to do with it?"
"But how?" Rainbow spoke up. "You don't have your Golden Power anymore, so what sense does all of this make?"
"The real question to ask is ‘What is Project Arcturus?’” Wu added.
Pixal and Dr. Gear were searching through the computers to see if they can find any information about it, but so far nothing.
"Dr. Gear and I have run every combination of these clues through our database to see how they are connected, but there is no correlation,” Pixal said.
"Which doesn't make sense. There's aren't even a connection to this clue,” Dr. Gear added while looking at the screen in confusion.
"Maybe there's a reason why it's not in the database,” Frost suggested.
"What do you mean by that son? We had all the research in the computers,” Dr. Gear pointed out.
"Yes Frost. Everything in Equestrian history has been recorded inside,” Pixal added as she gestured to herself.
"We were lucky to get the backup memories from Pixal when we rebooted the system, which doesn't make sense if this isn't in her database,” Dr. Gear finished, since they reboot the system, they had Pixal backed up Borg's system through her memories to get some previous data back, without the Overlord virus of course.
"Not everything,” Frost pointed out.
Flash then realizes what Frost is thinking. "Hey, Frost is right, guys. Do you remember when we followed Garmadon back in time?” he asked the others.
The whole group nodded in agreement, still having memories of that experience since their past selves were all there, well almost.
"Uh, we did?" Lloyd asked in confusion.
"You guys really jumped back in time like Twilight, Spike and Starlight once did?" Cozy asked as well.
"You both don't remember, Cozy and Lloyd, because when we returned to the present, it had been altered by what we had done in the past,” Frost explained, since Lloyd and Cozy were not there and neither was their past selves to experience the time change.
"The rest of us remembered because our past selves were there, which kinda merged our memories of two timelines together,” Twilight explained, since they remembered both alternate events.
"We remember because we were there,” Garmadon spoke up as he gestured to himself and to Sombra and Chrysalis.
"And we remember it very clear,” Chrysalis said. "You used the Golden Weapons to destroy the Mega Weapon."
"Or perhaps they weren't destroyed,” Sombra spoke up with a thought. "All we saw was all of them colliding together before they were shot into..."
"Space,” Luna quickly finished.
"And since Lloyd gave away his power and the Council isn't targeted anymore, the Overlord's going after the only thing that can turn him into the Golden Master: the Golden Weapons,” Aqua said as they look at the screen.
"And since the Golden Weapons each have our elemental powers in them, and from what we saw in from the Mega Weapon with the Power of Creation, which is like Golden Power, the Overlord will try and retrieve them from space to become the Golden Master,” Celestia finished grimly.
"Quick, where do the Serpentine study the stars?" Garmadon asked quickly.
Frost ran towards the computer as he searched up and found a snake icon on it. As he pressed it, the screen showed a familiar landmark they had not been to in a long while. "The ancient city of Ouroboros,” Frost informed.
"That place? We haven't been there since our time traveling adventure,” Smolder commented.
"We must go there at once,” Garmadon announced seriously.
"How do you know Nindroids will be there?" Wu asked his brother as he place a hoof on his shoulder.
Garmadon gave a determined expression. "Faith,” he said as thunder struck.
Meanwhile, Trail has his front hooves chained up while Pythor, Tirek, and the Storm King approached him with smug smiles on their faces. "Hope you like barbecues. We're about to have one,” Pythor told him.
"One barbecue Ninja,” Tirek taunted.
"Well done please,” the Storm King finished with a chuckle. "Let's see if the master of fire can handle all that heat from a rocket,” he added as they all gave an evil laugh.
The Ninja drove through the desert in their vehicles while heading straight for the city of Ouroboros.
Pythor, Cryptor and the Storm King entered the launched room as they saw the mind-controlled Borg waiting for them.
"Prepare for lunch,” Pythor said, which made the two villains looked at him strangely as he realizes what he said. "Oh, sorry."
"He meant ‘launch’,” Tirek corrected.
"Though we are kinda hungry,” the Storm King commented.
"Maybe after the launch,” Pythor suggested.
Borg moved his hoof, about to press a button.
The Ninja then drove towards the center of the city as they parked their vehicles at the edge of the center as they hoped out and inspect the area. "I don't get it. Where are they?" Landrush asked when he hopped out of his mech.
"He said they would be here,” Flash said in a confused tone as they walked to the center. "But I don't see them anywhere."
"But they have to be,” Lloyd said.
"Well, your dad was wrong,” Thunder told Lloyd. "We should have never listened him,” They then heard and felt rumbling coming from beneath them.
"I sense you are mistaken,” Frost said.
"You should always listen to the Sensei, Thunder,” Flash said while giving Thunder a look.
Just then, the floor below begins to open slowly. "Everypony, run!" Landrush called out.
"Off the platform!" Gaia yelled next.
The Ninja yelled as they try to run from the hatch, but they slipped and fall into the hatch as they slide down on the rocket as they landed on a walking platform. Thunder and Flash looked up and saw the rocket.
"Arcturus?" Thunder read the name of the rocket.
"Arcturus is a rocket?" Flash asked in surprise.
The Ninja got up as they looked at the bottom floor.
"It's Trail!" Lloyd called out as they saw Trail chained up at the bottom of the rocket exhaust port. "We need to save him!” he called out.
"No, we need that launch key to stop the launch command,” Frost called out as he pointed to the launch room.
"Frost's right. If the Overlord gets the golden weapons, he'll be too powerful,” Flash said in agreement.
"Then let's get that key,” Gaia said as the Ninja ran to the launch room.
At the bottom, the Storm King, Tirek, and Pythor turned and saw the Ninja running on the platform.
"What?! The Ninja!?" Tirek roared in shock.
"How did they find us!?” the Storm King questioned.
"Doesn't matter! Stop them!" Pythor ordered the Nindroids.
The Nindroids then starts blasting the Ninja as they destroyed the platform, but those who had wings like Flash, flew up as Lloyd held onto the edge of the railing as the others fell to the floor.
"Just stop that launch!" Trail muttered through his tight masked.
The Nindroids then charged at Landrush, Gaia, Thunder, and Frost as they start fighting and bucking some back.
"Attack!" Tirek, the Storm King and Pythor yelled out as more Nindroids surrounds the others.
Flash got on the railing as he lifted Lloyd up. "Come on Lloyd. The others got this, we gotta get that key,” he said.
"Got it,” Lloyd nodded as the two ponies jumped before the railing fell as the door opened as they went in.
Trail then tugged his chained hoof hard as he then swung out of the exhaust launch of the rocket.
Lloyd was about to remove the key, but then the mind-controlled Borg came crawling from the ceiling as the two ponies looked up.
"Borg!?" Flash said in shock as then kicked the two back as Tirek, Pythor and the Storm King came in from the other door as the three villains chuckled. Trail then shoots his fire element at the Nindroids as he hit some of them. Frost shoots his ice as he froze one while it was on the ground. Thunder electrocuted one as the Nindroid sputtered out.
Landrush and Gaia just fight with their hooves since their powers would not work on something in a place that is made of metal. Seeing that they are being beating, Cryptor went up the rail as he called out. "Retreat!” he yelled to his troops as the remaining Nindroids went into the rocket.
Landrush and Gaia saw this as they gave chase. "Hey, where do you think you're going?" Landrush mocked.
"Get back here!" Gaia yelled next.
The hatched closed as Landrush tried to open it, but couldn't as he turned to Gaia and the others. "Unh! It won't budge!” he called out.
"And the hatch is solid metal! Landrush can't break through!" Gaia added as the Frost and Thunder got Trail freed as he rubbed his hooves.
"I can't!” he answered. "Can't you make something grow down here?!"
"Do you see any dirt down here?! No, it's all metal!!” she scolded him.
"Uh guys, we need your help!!" Lloyd called out as a mind-controlled Borg had both him and Flash dangled out.
"Oh, little Lloyd, needing help,” Pythor teased as he Tirek, and the Storm King were at the console. "Shouldn't have given up all that power, hmm?” He then turned the ignition key and a computerized voice was heard.
"T-Minus 30. ”As the countdown clock started ticking and the others freed Trail, Borg let go of both Lloyd and Flash before the others caught them. As the countdown was already at 24, the doors shut as Borg retreated in.
"We need to get back up there!" Lloyd told the others.
"Forget them!" Landrush shouted as he and Gaia ran over to them. "We need to get out of here!" The countdown was at 20 and still going.
"But what about the golden weapons?!" Lloyd asked.
"There's more pressing problems, like an entire rocket ship pressing on us!" Thunder pointed out as the countdown was at 14.
"We need to do everything in our power to make sure they don't reach those weapons!" Lloyd told the others as he over a hatchet at the bottom of the ship before opening it up.
"Are you nuts?!" Flash asked as he already got an idea of what Lloyd is up to. "Ninja don't belong in space!"
"He's right, space is completely out of our element!" Landrush shouted.
"I'm with them on this one!" Thunder agreed. "This is even beyond me!" Frost climbed in with Lloyd as the countdown was at 9.
"We have to try,” Lloyd said as Trail and Gaia joined him. "You said nothing was ever going to separate us again. Well, I'm going. Are you with me or not?"
The countdown was already at 5 while Flash, Landrush, and Thunder looked at one another before knowing this is it. They quickly claimed in before Frost shut the hatchet as the countdown reached zero.
As the Mane Six, the Young Six, the Royal Sisters, the Spinjitzu Brothers, and their allies were on the outskirts of the city, they were blinded by a bright light coming up from the city before they saw a rocket blasting off. "They're too late,” Aqua said in dread when they saw the rocket blasting off.
"Now what do we do?" Soarin asked as the others looked at one another in concern.
"I'm reading Frost's signal aboard that rocket ship, along with six other life forms,” Pixal told the others.
"You mean, they're going into space?!" Pinkie exclaimed in shock.
"Oh. By the grace of both Faust and the first Spinjitzu Master,” Celestia gasped.
"You wanted them to take risks,” Garmadon reminded his brother. "To see how far they'd go. Is this what you had in mind?! How far?! How far must they go?!"
Wu did not answer before he looked up at the rocket leaving the planet’s atmosphere. "Come back to us, Ninja,” Wu breathed. "Come back safe."
The rocket had just exited the planet's atmosphere as the Ninja were now floating in zero gravity. Thunder looked out the ship’s porthole and saw that they were now in space. Objects inside started to float around as well as Landrush was floating towards a wall before he pushed himself off it. Frost was using his front hooves as if he was swimming around while Gaia was having trouble with the zero gravity.
Landrush accidentally bumped into Frost as Thunder put his hooves behind his head like he was relaxing. Lloyd was waving his hooves around as Trail and Flash pushed off the wall in zero gravity. "Is this the greatest thing ever or what?" Thunder asked excitedly as he was doing backstrokes.
"Where are you?" Trail asked him rhetorically. "We're trapped in space and you… Where did you go?!"
"Guys, we're in space,” Thunder reminded them as he was doing a bit of dance moves. "I thought this stuff only Space Ranger gets to enjoy!"
"Space Ranger is from a comic book, dude. This is real!" Lloyd shouted before he bumped into Gaia.
"And I would like to have gravity back , if any of you wouldn't mind?!" Gaia added as she did not like the zero gravity.
"Well, Lloyd, you got me hooked on the character," Thunder reminded as he did a fighting pose. "Would you lighten up and not step on my dreams of being a real Space Ranger just yet?"
"We have to find a way to take control of the ship,” Flash spoke up. "If they get the Golden Weapons back to the Overlord, Equestria doesn't stand much of a chance.”
Lloyd and Gaia let out a scream when Flash and Trail bumped into them. "But there's no access to the rest of the ship,” Trail pointed out as he rubbed his head. "The only way out is through the same airlock we came in."
"And if memory banks serve correctly, space has a way to take one's breath away, in the negative sense,” Frost added while looking out the window.
Meanwhile on the bridge of the ship, a Nindroid pressed on a screen to show coordinates to a comet while the others were hard at work. General Cryptor was sitting in the captain's chair as he was giving orders. "Delta V guidance,” he spoke. "Data-point zero thirty. Initiate auto sequencing."
"Yes sir!" Min-Droid saluted before he used the Jets under his hooves to hover over to the front console before activating his gravity servos. He then pressed a few buttons as a timer showed five minutes on a screen.
Back on the bottom of the ship with the Ninja, Frost floated his way over to a console and some of the schematics for the ship as the bottom part of it was blinking. "Enjoy it while you can, Thunder,” he told him in a worried tone. "Because in five minutes, the entire ship is scheduled to lighten up. The supplemental boosters are set to detach."
"Uh, I'm a Ninja, not a spacepony,” Trail pointed out. "What does that mean?"
"The portion of the ship we are currently stationed will soon detach and we will be abandoned in space with it,” Frost explained, which cause worry in the others.
"Hello? Flash? Anypony? " Twilight's voice was heard as a transmission was coming through on the screen. The Ninja saw her and her friends, along with their allies on said screen.
"Can you read me?” she asked as she and the others were back in Borg Tower trying to contact them.
"We read you loud and clear,” Flash answered as the group was immediately elated.
"They're alive, They're alive!" Garmadon declared.
"Good to hear you, my little ponies," Celestia said, "We're going to get you home safe, Pixal was able to find the blueprints for the rocket. You need to escape the cargo hold before it's too late."
"How? " Gaia asked.
"Near the front of the ship is an A2 storage compartment. Inside are emergency spacesuits," Wu explained.
"That will be a doozy,” Landrush pointed out, accidentally hitting Lloyd in the face "We can't get the spacesuits unless we go outside. Problem is, we can't go outside without the spacesuits. Any other suggestions?” he asked.
"They are completely out of their element," Garmadon whispered harshly. "Even if they get through this, what chance do we have of getting them home?"
"Uh, we can still hear you, ” Trail pointed out.
"Yeah, we could really use some encouraging words right about now, ” Lloyd added as they all looked at each other.
"If you cannot change your circumstances, change yourself," Wu told them.
"Hm, can anypony else figure that one out?" Trail asked the others.
"His wisdom usually takes a while to set in,” Thunder told him before looking back at the monitor. "But we don't have a while!"
"Frost, you're the only one who can survive outside the ship, " Gear told her son. "After all, you're the only one who isn’t organic. "
"She's right,” Frost agreed. "I'm the only one who doesn't need oxygen. I must go alone."
"Are you sure about this?" Gaia asked, sounding a bit nervous for him. "If you end up drifting off, you'll end up keep going. There's no up and down or left or right. You'll just be drifting off in one direction and unable to stop as you drift off into the empty void of space!"
"I'll be fine.” Frost then floated his way over to the airlock before opening the door. He gave one last look to his friends before floating in and closing the door behind him.
"Go get 'em, Frost,” Trail cheered for him.
“We’re counting on you,” Gaia added as Frost nodded.
He then floats over to the hatch and opens it, but as soon as he does, all the air blows out into the endless abyss as he grabs onto a loose wire to stay with the ship. Once it was over, he climbed up the booster up to the main vessel.
On the bridge, the Nindroids were coming up on a blue comet. “Approaching comet. Prepare to disengage supplemental boosters,” he ordered his droids as Frost peeked his head through the window.
When Cryptor turned his head, Frost immediately ducked down and lost his grip and started floating away from the rocket, “No, no!” he said, futilely trying to grab onto something.
In the booster, the other Ninja saw they were about to be detached.
Frost kept floating further and further away from the ship and started to panic, but then he calmed down, “Come on Frost, you can do this. You can get back,” he told himself, closing his eyes before opening them with determination. “Ice!” he called, using his powers like propulsion to fly back to the ship.
He then grabbed onto the wing and just by it he saw the door to the storage compartment. He floated over to it, entering random codes rapidly before getting the door open. He entered to find several spacesuits and quickly grabbed them.
Back with the others they watch the counter to when they would be detached, “Less than 20 seconds left,” Gaia said in panic.
“Come Frost, where are you?” Flash asked as the counter was now at sixteen seconds.
“Booster separation, on my command.” Cryptor ordered and started counting. “Five.”
Outside Frost floated over to the booster’s hatch.
“Four. ”
Back at Borg Tower, the others stood in worry.
“Three. ”
The Ninja watched the door, hoping Frost would return fast.
“Two.” Cryptor then turned to one of his droids, “Disengage,” he said.
The droid flipped a switch and the booster detached from the rocket and fell right down, towards Equus below.
At Borg Tower, they all listened and hoped that they got out from the booster in time. "We made it! " Lloyd's voice came through before they all cheered in relief that they were all right. "We have our space suits and found one way to change ourselves. "
On the spaceship, the Ninja had their masks over their muzzles as they had their spacesuits on while they were riding on the wing of the shuttle. "At least now we can stay on this ride a bit longer,” Lloyd continued as he turned on the lights on his helmet.
"All right, to commandeer the ship, you have to get to the cockpit, " Aqua informed them. "You'll find an access patch just ahead of you. " The Ninja looked forward and they could see one on the roof of the shuttle.
"You know what's also ahead? An absolute void of nothingness!" Landrush complained. "If any one of us falls off…"
"As I said before: drifted off into nothingness!" Gaia repeated.
"We'll take it slow,” Flash assured the two. "Together." The jet on the booster then powered up as the Ninja held on tight to the wing when the ship moved in the direction of the comment.
"I can't wait to see the expressions on the faces of those metal chrome domes when they find out we've stowed away onboard,” Thunder told the others as they carefully moved towards the roof.
"They're Nindroids, nimrod. They don't have expressions,” Landrush groaned.
In the cockpit, the Nindroids heard the voices intercom.
"Yeah, well Frost has expressions, ” Thunder pointed out as Cryptor slammed his hoof in rage.
"Frost is not like them, are we seriously having this talk now?! " Gaia asked.
"It's just so quiet, I'm only trying to fill the space, ” Thunder explained before he realized what he just said as he chuckled a little. "Get it? Space? ”
"Would you three just quiet down? We're almost there! " Flash told them.
"We have a few stowaways," Cryptor said before he turned to Min-Droid and a few other Nindroids. "Get rid of them."
"Yes sir," Min-Droid as the other Nindroids saluted before they left the bridge.
Cryptor then contacted the three commanders. "Report, " Tirek requested on the other end.
"We are on route to the comet, but the Ninja have hitched a ride on Arcturus ," Cryptor explained.
"Oh, of course they did, " the Storm King complained.
"Stay the course for Delta V and the Golden Weapons, " Pythor told him. "We've already acquired the other items we need for our master. "
"The Ninja must be getting help. We’ll track down who's aiding them, " Tirek added.
"Understood." Cryptor said.
Outside, the Ninja were getting closer to the cockpit. "So much for our surprise attack. Look out!" Landrush yelled as Nindroids came out.
"Eliminate the Ninja!" Min-Droid ordered as they fired lasers at the Ninja.
The Ninja kept their heads down to avoid the laser until on Nindroid deployed their wings and boosters and flew over their heads and in front of Thunder. "Any last words?” he taunted.
Thunder glared, "Yeah, think fast!” he said before pulling back an antenna and flicked it in his face. With the Nindroid stunned, Thunder grabbed his blaster and started blasting the Nindroid.
The Ninja cheered for Thunder after seeing what he did before he started blasting at the other Nindroids. "All right!” Landrush shouted as he started the fire back
"Not Thunder Crack. Space Ranger! Fear isn't a word where I come from!” he recited.
"Oh, man,” Lloyd sighed. "I'm sorry for introducing him to that."
"Don't be,” Flash told him. "If we can't change our circumstances, that's one way to change yourself."
The Nindroids continued to fire at them before the Ninja pushed themselves towards the roof. Trail then lit up his hoof with fire when they were in formation. "Fire!” He threw a fireball at one of the Nindroids, knocking it off the ship.
Lloyd quickly stepped to one side from a blast before he summoned his light power and created a shield around him.
Landrush then pried a piece of the ship off and launched it at the Nindroids. "Hope we didn't need that," he sassed.
"Wind!" Flash then flapped his wings, blowing the Nindroids back.
Frost then threw an ice ball at them. "Ice!” he shouted as one of the Nindroids was frozen by the ball.
Gaia soon faced a Nindroid and tried to use her powers but nothing happened, "Ugh, no plants in space. All right, let's try, NINJA-" Gaia performed Spinjitzu, but it failed and she got thrown off, "Uh-oh!” she cried.
"Gaia!" Landrush called as Gaia floated away from them.
"Boys, a little help please!" Gaia asked, waving her legs trying to right herself. "Oh, I hate zero-gravity!"
"We can't use our Spinjitzu without gravity,” Frost explained, dodging a laser. "There's too little resistance!"
"Too little?!" Lloyd retorted, still holding his shield up. "I say the resistance is a little more than we can handle at the moment!"
Thunder then knocked a Nindroid off its hooves. "Haven't you heard, scourge?! No free rides!” he quoted before kicking the Nindroid away.
"Stop making movie one-liners and HELP!" Gaia yelled as she kept floating away.
"Thunder! Don't let Gaia get away!" Flash ordered as he saw her drift farther and farther away. "Ugh… Ranger! Save her!"
"I'm on it, Commander Sun Blast!" Thunder declared as he did a flip over a Nindroid before kicking it Off. He then grabbed hold of a pipe to blow Min-Droid off. "I just blew you away! Ha, ha!"
"Whoa! Not cool!" Min-Droid shouted before he tried to grab hold of the ship only to grab hold of a cord as he was pulled back. As he was at the back of the ship, the boosters went off right when he was in front of them. "OW, HOT!!"
"HELP!!" Gaia called out as she waved her hooves. Within her space helmet, she was breathing heavily as she was drifting farther away from the ship. Thunder saw her almost out of range before he saw a tether on the roof of the ship. He quickly attached the tether to Landrush.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Landrush asked before Thunder jumped behind him.
"Lieutenant Meteor to the rescue!" Thunder declared before bucking Landrush towards Gaia.
"Whoa!" Landrush yelled as he was flown through the void.
"Landrush, help!" Gaia called.
Once Landrush got close to her, he grabbed her, holding her bridal style. "Gotcha!” he said before giving a smirk. "Next time, try not to get too carried away."
Gaia merely blushed and looked away. "Very funny,” she huffed with her forelegs crossed as the others pulled them back. "Thanks Landy, you saved my life."
"Hey, no Ninja left behind,” Landrush reminded her.
Gaia blushed and looked at him. "Land, once we make it back to Equestria, there's something I should tell you, something important,” she told him.
"Okay, Gaia,” Landrush told her.
Back on the bridge, the Nindroids saw that they were close to the comet's as Cryptor sat up from his chair. "The Golden Weapons,” he said it before he got an idea on how to deal with the Ninja. "Prepare for entry. But take us through the comet's tail."
"General, the comet's letting off a high volume of debris," one of the Nindroids reported.
"Do it!" Cryptor demanded before they complied and steered the ship towards the tail of the comet.
"You are almost to the cockpit, " Gear told the Ninja through their communication as more Nindroids came to the roof while the Ninja were behind Lloyd, but their communication started to sound all gargling. “Just make sure to continue your course. And focus on the task ahead. ”
"Dr. Gear? I'm getting interference,” Flash said as he tapped his helmet. "I can't hear you!"
He turned around just in time to see a large rock zooming towards them and banged on the ship. “Asteroids!” Frost gasped as Lloyd was knocked out of his shield.
“Cryptor is steering us into the tail of the comet!” Trail exclaimed.
“Is he mad?! If one of those rocks gets a direct hit then we’ll all die!” Gaia said as she ducked another rock, “Find cover!” she told the boys as they ducked down and pieces of the ship flew off.
“Cover? What cover?!” Landrush asked her.
Some of the Nindroids retreated into the Cockpit as the remaining crew stayed to endure the meteor shower.
“Oh, I don’t like this!” one Nindroid whimpered as he and another hugged each other in fear.
Thunder laughed, “Hey, ha-ha! See, they do have expressions!” The Nindroids were then blown off the ship, leaving the Ninja behind, “Never mind,” Thunder squeaked.
“Hold on tight!” Flash told his team.
Back at Borg Tower, the others were having trouble communicating with the Ninja. "They can't hear us because of the asteroid shower." Gear told them.
"They must be preparing to land." Pixal theorized.
"But we have to warn them about what else is on that comet,” Garmadon added.
"Yeah, and they're really bad news." Nyx said in a worried tone.
"Yeah, uh…" Aqua spoke up after looking at the security monitors with a worried look. "We're not alone either." They saw on the monitors that an army of Nindroids were entering the building. On another monitor, they saw they had blown open at the entrance before they saw Pythor, The Storm King, and Tirek enter with the Nindroids.
In the main lobby, some of the Nindroids carried in a big containment unit with Borg with them. "The Transmissions are coming from here." Pythor told the Nindroids.
Within the containment unit, the Overlord was starting to take a form as it was stabilizing him. “Cease the entire building!” he ordered. “This place will play a crucial role to our greater agenda once they return with the Golden Weapons!”
"What are you waiting for, you tin cans?!" the Storm King exclaimed. "Do it!"
The Nindroids scattered across the building as they began to take over.
The Overlord then looked to Tirek. “And Tirek, did you acquire what I requested?” he questioned.
Tirek smirked and held a chest. “I did,” he confirmed.
“Excellent,” the Overlord mused.
"We must go!" Wu told the others.
"But we have to warn them," Luna reminded him. "We can't just leave them without telling them what else is out there."
"Then grab everything that you can and bring it with us," Twilight quickly ordered before they scattered across the room and grabbed whatever they could.
"Okay, but where do we go?" Sandbar asked. "They'll probably have every exit covered!"
"This way!" Aqua pointed towards the hole that was made when Borg was taken.
The Ninja were not faring any better, as the meteor shower was not letting up. "Looks like we're coming in hot!" Trail exclaimed before Lloyd lost his grip and slipped off the ship.
“Lloyd!” Flash shouted as he grabbed onto him as they others formed a pony chain, “Hold on!” he yelled as they got closer to the comet.
The Ship flew over and under the rock spikes on the comet as they came in for a landing.
Back at Borg Tower, the three villains and the Nindroids reached the top floor, “The Transmission came from here.” Tirek said as they walked into the room, only to find it was abandoned.
“Hmph, the cowards have fled.” Pythor commented.
The Nindroids carrying the Overlord’s container and Borg walked in. “But Arcturus has landed,” the Overlord told them. “Prepare the factory,” he ordered as they all stepped back and the pod opened. The Overlord breathed heavily as he walked out. He looked to be a pitch-black pony but he had dragon scales on his body while dragging claws on his front legs and a griffin's paw on his back hoods while having a griffin's tail. The Overlord had a black helmet on while the wings on his back look to be dragon-like with claws on the tip of the wings.
"Wow, so this is what you really look like?” the Storm King said after seeing the Overlord's true form. "You look… so awesome !"
"The Golden Master will rise on their return!” the Overlord declared and turned to the chest in Tirek’s hands and opened, revealing what remained of the Elements of Harmony crystals. “And with the Elements, I will control not only Equestria, but the lands beyond as well!”
Outside the others heard the Overlord and were shocked by what he said, “He has the Elements of Harmony?!” Twilight whispered.
“Fantastic,” Rainbow grumbled sarcastically.
“He’s vulnerable! We must strike him down, now!” Luna declared.
Wu shook his head. “No, not until we get the Ninja home safe,” he said as Borg heard their voice.
“We must find somewhere they will not find us and get back in contact with them,” Celestia added.
“I know just the place,” Garmadon said before they felt the platform trembling and looked up to see Borg using his laser eye to cut the wire holding them up.
“We’ve been spotted!” Pinkie yelled.
"And it's a very long drop!" Gallus pointed out after looking down.
"Don't lose those computer components!" Aqua told the others. "We need them all!" Bored then cut through the wire as the one side of the platform broke off. They tried to hold on as they fell back before a component Pixal held onto bounced off when she fell back. She quickly caught it as Sensei Wu noticed a platform just overhead.
"Hurry, use our momentum. Together,” he told the others as they used their momentum on the platform to swing back while Borg was cutting the other wire. "Now!" Wu shouted when it was cut and they all jumped to the platform. Wu however was falling before his brother quickly jumped off and caught him. Celestia and Luna used their magic to hold on to Garmadon when he did.
“We got you, brother!” Garmadon grunted as the Nindroids started to fire lasers at them. Twilight put up a shield around them as they were pinned down.
"Great, now we'll never get out of here!" Smolder complained.
"Leave that to me," Pixal told them as she closed her eyes and accessed the Borg system.
"Get them, you imbeciles!" Pythor ordered just before they heard a HoverCopter coming up and firing back at the Nindroids.
"Good thinking, Pixal!" Gear praised when she saw the HoverCopter. "You're still linked into the security forces."
"Now let's get out here!" Rainbow exclaimed as they jumped onto the hover copter and flew away with the components.
"I hope the city can survive without us,” Garmadon said as he had a bad feeling what they have in mind for Borg Tower
"So too the Ninja, I pray,” Wu added as they flew off.
Meanwhile in space, the shuttle crash-landed on the comet as it had a smoke near the boosters with large jagged rocks around. The Ninja also had made as they were just a mile away from the shuttle as they are seen on the ground. They all set up as they were lucky to have survived the trip. The lights on their helmets flickered on as they stood up. "We survived!" Thunder cheered before he started to kiss the ground through his helmet.
"Twilight, are you there?" Flash asked as he tried to use the communications but no one responded. "Rainbow Dash? Cozy? Wu? Anyone?"
"Maybe the others didn't make it,” Trail guessed as they walked towards the shuttle. Once they were inside, they made it towards the cockpit only to find it completely abandoned.
"They're all gone,” Frost told the others as they walked in.
"They must have already left for the weapons,” Gaia theorized as they looked around.
"Quick, let's take the ship before they get back,” Thunder told them as he rushed towards the control panel, only to let out a groan in frustration. "Agh, they took the launch key."
"Are you telling me this entire ship starts up with a simple little key?" Trail asked as he was sitting in the captain's chair.
“Come on, tell me one of you knows how to hotwire this thing,” Landrush said as he rushed to one of the controls.
“No time, we’ll just have to stop Cryptor and his droids before they can leave with the weapons,” Flash told him.
“Boys, take a look at this,” Gaia said from down the hall as the boys followed her to the launch bay and found a vehicle. “They took most of the Planetary Rovers. Looks like they left one, along with some tracks to follow,” she pointed to outside where they saw tire tracks.
The Ninja piled into the rover and drove off but it was a bit of a tight fit, “Gah! Move your gas tank, I can’t see!” Thunder complained to Trail.
“Your blaster is in my rib!” Trail told Flash.
“That’s not a blaster, that’s my wing!” Flash told him.
“Ow! Frost, you’re pulling my tail!” Gaia told Frost.
“I thought that was the accelerator,” Frost said sheepishly.
They yelled as they made a jump and kept rolling until they came upon a cave with golden glow. “This must be where the Golden Weapons landed,” Flash said as they came to a stop.
The Ninja climbed out the rover and went into the cave. Once inside they found the Nindroid excavating a molten ball of gold, “There are the Weapons!” Gaia said quietly.
“And there’s the key!” Trail pointed to the metal object to around Cryptor’s neck.
“But which do we grab?” Thunder asked.
One of the Nindroids looked at the golden ball with awe. “Oohh, shiny,” he said, reaching for the ball.
But Cryptor panicked, “No don’t-” He could not finish as just went the Nindroid touched it he exploded and the rest of them back away. “Only the Overlord can withstand the power of all the weapons combined. No droid directly touches the orb,” he ordered as the Nindroids wisely listened.
“Those are the Golden Weapons, all right,” Thunder stated.
“Yes, but how do we get them?” Gaia wondered before she noticed something crawling on Frost’s hoof, “EEK! Frost! On your hoof!” she shrieked quietly.
Frost glanced at his hoof and saw a small green beetlelike creature with red eyes. “Hello there, little friend,” he greeted with a small smile.
“Aww, would you look at that?” Thunder said as he took the creature from Frost. “Can you believe it?! It's an extra-Equustrial lifeform!”
“It’s a creepy, crawly bug!” Gaia retorted as she hid behind Landrush. “And it’s not important right now, so get rid of it!”
“But there’s so much we could learn from it, so much we could teach it. I’m gonna call him ‘Glowie’,” Thunder said as Glowie crawled on his leg before taking flight. “Aw look, Glowie can fly. Heh, how cute,” he laughed.
“More like creepy,” Gaia shivered before Glowie landed on her helmet and her eye twitched. “AHH! Get it off! Get it off!” she begged as she waved her hooves at Glowie.
“Shh! Don’t worry, I got it,” Landrush said as he plucked Glowie off Gaia. “There, all gone!”
Gaia gave a breath of relief as she rubbed her head on Landrush. “My hero,” she gushed as Landrush smiled embarrassedly.
Flash chuckled a bit before he heard his communicator gargling, “You must not disturb the alien Pzzt-ife! ” Celestia said through the static. “They’re extrem-Pzzt- Da-Danger-pzzt-ous! Can you hear me? ”
“I couldn’t make that out Celestia. What did you say?” Flash asked with a raised brow.
The Mane Six, Young Seven, and their allies arrived at Garmadon's monastery as they set up the equipment in the training room trying to communicate to them. "The alien life. They're very dangerous," Celestia repeated as Misako brought some tea while on the monitor showed the alien life that Thunder called Glowie.
"A few years ago, scientists studied a meteorite that had fallen into Equestria,” Twilight told them as she was reading out of a book. "It most likely came from the same comet you're on."
"Inside the meteorite, there were the fossilized remains of some kind of parasite that feeds on metal alloys,” Twil ight continued as more of the same bug started to crawl up Frost's and Thunder's legs.
"They tickle,” Frost commented as both him and Thunder started giggling.
"Stop it, silly Glowie!" Thunder laughed as more started to swarm around them.
"Ow!" Frost grunted when he felt one of them bit him.
"Do you hear me?! " Flash heard Twilight called out. "Whatever you do, don't come in contact with the parasite. They eat through metal! "
"THEY WHAT?!?!?" Gaia shouted without her accent as her eyes widened with fear.
"Agh! They're eating through my exoskeleton!" Frost shouted as he saw a few of them chewing all over him.
"Bad, Glowie! Bad!" Thunder shouted as they were all screaming to get these little alien bugs off them. Cryptor and the other Nindroids overheard their commotion with the alien parasites as they saw them panicking.
"They're on me too!" Gaia shouted before they all started to run away from the bugs.
"They're everywhere!" Thunder shouted. One of these parasites flew over towards Cryptor and freaked him out.
"Ah! Agh!” he shouted before he swatted that parasite often while a few others landed on the golden ball before they disintegrated. "The gold must remain intact. Back to the ship!"
Their space vehicles started up and drove away as they hauled the golden ball on one of them.
"What do we do? Any ideas, guy?!" Frost asked as they continued to try and swat the parasites off them.
"Space! Why did we come to space?!" Gaia complained without her accent. "If I could change any circumstance, I'd change ever coming here in the first place!"
"If you can't change your circumstances, change yourselves!" Lloyd declared.
"Now's not the time to be quoting Wu,” Thunder told him.
"No. I finally see what he means,” Lloyd corrected. "This is just like the Starteeth. Come on, I've got an idea." They followed Flash back to their rover they drove on with the parasites following them.
The Nindroids were on their way back to the ship with the golden orb hauling behind the one in front. The Ninja drove theirs as they were following them close behind. "Ninja!" one of the Nindroids told Cryptor when he spotted them. Cryptor looked back and let out a grunt as he saw them when he looked out the window.
"Get them!” he ordered before the Nindroids started to fire blasters at them. The Ninja swerved from side to side to dodge each blast being fired at them as they continued to drive on.
"Sensei meant instead of focusing on how wrong things are, focus on what's right !" Lloyd explained as he steered the rover with the parasites following behind. "We have to think positive! Those parasites aren't just a menace, they're a weapon! Attack!"
The parasites flew past them as they started to go after the Nindroids and their rovers. Some of the Nindroids started freaking out as the parasites swarmed all over them before one of them bumped into another. That bump caused them both to crash as the one that bumped into them still swerved with the parasites all over them. Soon that one drove off the cliff as the Nindroids on board screamed when they fell.
The rest of them continued onwards as the parasites were still on them and the Ninja were catching up. Cryptor spotted a large gap in the road as he didn't want to slow down or stop so the Ninja could get the gold. "Go!” he ordered the driver which surprised him. The driver shook his head as he was frightened. "What?!" Cryptor then bucked the driver out before he took the wheel and pressed down the gas.
They then jumped the gap with four of the Nindroids on board falling off. The other Nindroids then jumped the gap but only two of them made it as one crashed.
The Ninja soon saw the gap up ahead as they started screaming before Lloyd pushed down the gas pedal to go faster. They soon jumped the gap and flipped in the air before they made it across, causing them to cheer. "Now let's go get that launch key!” Trail declared as they got out of the rover, minus Lloyd, while the Nindroids resumed to blast at them.
"NINJA, GO!" the Ninja declared as they did Spinjitzu, minus Frost, and jumped towards the rover in front of them.
"Ice!" Frost froze one of the Nindroids in the front seat before ducking under some blast from a couple of them. He then kicked one of them off the rover. As it fell off, Lloyd gave it a kick when it came straight towards him as the others knocked the rest of them off. Trail punched one off as both Flash and Gaia flipped two more of them off. Landrush grabbed two of them by the blaster before slamming them together as Thunder blocked punches from another before kicking him off.
"Hello!" Flash greeted the driver up front before he punched him off. Landrush, Thunder, and Gaia then did Spinjitzu back to Lloyd as the other three jumped towards another while the other they just finished crashed. Trail then tossed the driver of the rover he was on out.
"NINJA, GO!” he shattered as he spun his way back to the others while Flash and Trail took care of the second rover before it hit a bump. It caused them to go up in the air as they were beating the two Nindroids. They then slam them into the ground before Frost froze the one behind them and knocked the two Nindroids into the gold orb that disintegrated the two.
They quickly grabbed hold of the straps holding the gold as it was bumping alongside the road. They lost their grip as they fell back to the others before they used their powers to get on top of the rover. The only ones on board the rover with the gold were Cryptor and Min-Droid as Min-Droid looked nauseous as he was holding on to the side. Trail then spun his way over to that rover before he got on top of Min-Droid as he faced Cryptor.
"You can keep your gold!” he told Cryptor before he snatched the launch key from his neck after he kicked him in the face. "I got it, let's get out of here!" The others drove up beside Cryptor as Trail jumped back on.
"NINJA, GO!" They declared as Cryptor came to before he screamed when the rover he was on drove into a wall, flipped and landed upside down. The Ninja laughed at him as they continued driving back to the ship.
"Ninja!" Cryptor grunted as Min-Droid groaned from that crash.
The Ninja laughed and cheered as they got the launch key for the ship. "We're home free!" Thunder told the others with excitement. However, their celebration was short-lived when Lloyd stopped the rover and saw the ship being eaten away by the parasites.
"The Rocket. It's…destroyed,” Lloyd pointed out when they saw what remains the ship.
"Then how are we gonna get home?" Gaia asked.
"There's no way back,” Flash said as there is now no way off the comet.
"You're not the only ones who can adapt!" They turned around and saw Cryptor and the Nindroids, along with the gold before they saw them take off. They saw that their hooves are really jets and are using them to fly off with the gold. "So long, Ninja!"
"No!" Lloyd shouted when they saw the Nindroids fly back to Equestria with the gold.
"They got away. We failed,” Flash radio in and told the others. "I repeat, they got the Golden Weapons. "
"Are you on the rocket?" Aqua asked in hope that they are. "Can you stop them?"
"No. The rocket’s destroyed, ” Flash answered in despair. "We're not coming home. " This has left them in shock as the Ninja are now stranded on a comet far from Equestria. Now that the enemy had the gold and the elements needed to turn the Overlord into the Golden Master, this just leaves one beckoning question: How will they return to Equestria to save it from its fate?
Chapter 8: The Titanium Ninja
Equus was seen as the Nindroids were hauling the golden orb straight from the comet. It soon re-entered the planet's atmosphere before they flew straight towards Borg Tower. They soon slowed their descent down before lowering the golden orb down on the roof. Inside the factory line, a bunch of Nindroids entered formation and stood at attention as the doors opened, revealing the Overlord wearing golden armor and holding a cane as he made his way in.
The armor had revealed dark purple swirls on the front of his chest, black Skales in the middle, and red fur on the back. The hybrid creature had crystal fragments in the same colors of the Elements of Harmony inserted in his black helmet as he walked forward. A purple cape made of a dark aura flowed from his back as he walked with Pythor, Tirek, and the Storm King walking behind him.
The Overlord growled. “Have they melted down the Golden Weapons and fused the Elements of Harmony into them?”
“Yes,” Tirek answered. “They are molding it now as we speak.”
“The Golden Armor of Disaster shall be ready for your evil bidding, my dark lord,” Pythor spoke humbly with a bow.
“And then, you’ll give me some real storm power without needing a stupid twig?” the Storm King asked.
“And allow me to lead the Serpentine at your command?” Pythor added.
“And my youth and magic, and my father’s kingdom, those will be mine, yes?” Tirek asked.
The Overlord turn to the three and nodded. “You… have my word,” he vowed as he limped over to Borg and sneered at the controlled scientist. “Borg is still here? What use is he now that Project Arcturus is completed?”
Tirek nodded in agreement and turned to Cryptor and the Storm King. “Get rid of him,” he ordered as the two nodded and took Borg away.
The Overlord then entered the factory line where the machine was currently forging his new weapon and welding the Elements of Harmony into it. He laughed evilly. “Yes, yes!” he cheered as gazed upon the creation of his new vessel. “Behold, The Beginnings of the Golden Master of Disharmony!”
Borg soon woke up, free of the Overlord control but greatly confused. “You're...you're releasing me?” he asked Cryptor and the Storm King. “But, what have you done? What now?”
“Now you watch your city, all of Equestria and the lands beyond it fall, and bow to a new master!” Cryptor answered.
The Storm King then looked down at Borg with a smirk. “But I think you’ve already got that part down ,” he quipped as he and Cryptor laughed.
Borg then looked down in worry, his worst fears had come true: The city he had built and hoped to be a beacon of peace and hope had turned into the starting point of Equestria’s doom. “How can I stop this?” he wondered, hoping the Ninja would return.
Meanwhile on the comet, the Ninja were using their powers to try and keep the parasites from eating their spacesuits and Frost. "These bugs just keep coming!” Trail complained as used flames to keep a few of them back. "We are going nowhere!"
"Aqua, there's no way we're getting off this piece of rock,” Thunder said through the communication. "Any last words, my darling?"
"How about, 'You were always terrible at jokes'?" Gaia jokes without her accent. "And it should be your last words considering we're going to die!! Like, 'I'm sorry for being so mean to Landrush'!!"
“Thank you, Gaia,” Landrush said as he kept the parasites away. “Besides Thunder, it’s not my fault that we got stuck on a comet flying further and further away from home!”
“Guys, shut it. Can’t I care for all of you? ” Aqua asked.
“Just don’t give up! The Overlord’s probably marching on Equestria right now! ” Twilight told them.
Flash grunted as he blew away some bugs. “We’re trying Twi, but these bugs aren’t making it easy!” he told her.
Lloyd sighed. “My dad was right; I should’ve never given up my Golden Power. We could’ve all been home,” he looked up to the aurora borealis above them. “And now, the Overlord has all he needs and more to become the Golden Master.”
“Don’t say that, ” Garmadon suddenly spoke up.
"I was wrong,” he admitted. "You must trust your friends. Trust yourself."
"They've returned with the Golden Weapons," Pixal notified them as a monitor showed the Nindroids landing at Borg Tower with them. "It's only a matter of time."
"And I have a feeling it's not a long one," Gallus stated.
"But how are they going to get off that comet without a spaceship?" Rainbow asked.
"Search for the power within, and then realize the greatness within each other," Wu told the Ninja.
"He's right, we can get off this comet," Lloyd told the others.
"What about your Light Power, Lloyd?" Trail asked.
"It's too far,” Frost mentioned. "He'd never be able to keep his focus that long."
"No one happens to have a build-your-own-rocket-kit handy, do they?" Gaia asked.
Lloyd then laughs in realization. “That’s it!” he declared.
“Wait, you do have a build-your-own-rocket-kit?” Flash asked in surprise.
“No, but we can make our makeshift rocket,” Lloyd walked over to the shipwreck. “Arcturus may not fly, but she’ll give us all the metal we need, and Frost has the energy we need to make it take off.”
“And Trail’s fire can weld the missing parts,” Frost realized.
“Flash’s got the piloting skills to steer us home,” Trail added.
“And Landrush has the horse power to do all the heavy lifting.” Flash pointed out.
“Gaia with her sense of direction is our own map back to Equestria,” Landrush gestured to the mare as she blushed.
“And Thunder has enough electricity and sci-fi knowledge to make a more than believable spacecraft,” Gaia finished.
“Hey!” Thunder retorted before realizing this plan was actually pretty good. “Hey, this could actually work!”
“Well then, let’s put this baby together and see if she’ll fly!” Flash declared.
The Ninja immediately got work, gathering all the pieces and electronics they needed to build their rocket. After an hour of dismantling Arcturus , rebuilding the parts into a workable spacecraft, and keeping the parasites away, their makeshift rocket was complete.
They all hopped in and prepared for takeoff. “Boosters?” Lloyd asked Trail.
“Check!” Trail confirmed.
“Electronics?” Lloyd asked Thunder.
“Check!” Thunder nodded.
“Navigation?” Lloyd asked Gaia as she was holding her compass.
“Check!” Gaia said.
“Power?” Lloyd asked Frost as he prepared to be hooked up.
“Check!” Frost nodded.
Lloyd then turned to Landrush. “How are we holding together?” he asked.
“Bubblegum, tree sap, and a wish,” Landrush answered.
“All right Flash, get us home,” Lloyd told Flash.
Flash saluted. “Aye-aye, captain!” After Frost hooked himself up, Flash then started the engine and before long the rocket spun up, up into the sky.
“They have lift off!” Twilight cheered as they all celebrated. “Now let’s make sure they have a safe landing!”
They nodded and rushed to the city.
Meanwhile in Neo Equestria City, creatures heard giant footsteps as the ground began to rumble. A statue of Borg began to crumble as the noise got louder.
"What is this now?" a female griffon asked in annoyance. "Hasn't Equestria suffered enough already?!"
The statue soon fell over as the Overlord, now a humongous giant, was seen riding a giant robotic golden-crystal spider mech. He laughed as he felt the power of the Golden Weapons and the Elements of Harmony course through him while creatures fled for their lives.
"First I was trapped on the Dark Island, then I was trapped by Lord Garmadon, next I was trapped in the Digiverse." He stated. "Now I am free! Bow to your Golden Master of Disharmony!" A dark rainbow laser was shot out from his helmet as he used the power of the Elements of Harmony currently bent to his will while his mech moved forward.
Soon the rocket the Ninja were in soon entered Equus' atmosphere as the ship started to burn. "Hold on, we're almost there!" Gaia told the others as the ship began to rumble.
Frost then noticed his chest was sparking. “My power source has reached critical mass,” he said with worry. “It appears my unlimited energy is in fact limited!”
“Critical mass!? You mean like, it’s gonna blow up?!” Thunder asked in shock.
Flash turned to Frost. “Frost, unhook yourself from the ship. We can’t risk you destroying yourself!” he told him.
“No, don’t worry about me!” Frost said as he struggled to keep the energy flowing as blue cracks appeared around his eyes. “I must use my power to hold our vessel together.”
“No way, Frost!” Lloyd told him. “Entering the atmosphere means we have air!”
“And that means we’re gonna burn up!” Gaia reminded.
“Listen! With just enough air, we can now support our elemental shield! Once we’re close enough to the ground, Flash, Trail, and I can fly the rest of you down to safety.”
“All right, let’s try it guys!” Flash said, as the rocket broke apart and the Ninja activated their elemental shields and fell down towards Neo Equestria City.
Up on the cliffs at Neo Equestria City's borders, Skales and Selma, along with their children, watched as some of the creatures managed to escape the destroyed city. Skales Junior held Serena's right hand out of worry, his older sister doing her best to comfort him by rubbing her thumb on his hand.
“We tried to warn them once, my queen, and sssimply gave up to let them fend for themssselvesss,” Skales said before holding her shoulder. “Thisss time, we join thisss fight!”
“Our soldiers are ready, my love,” Selma told Skales as they looked up and saw seven colorful orbs heading straight for them. “The Ninja have returned.”
In the city the creatures saw them too. “It’s the Ninja!” Derpy declared as the people all cheered.
“The Ninja?!” the Storm King exclaimed in shock.
“They’ve returned?! But how?!” Pythor demanded.
Tirek then grabbed Cryptor. “You told us they were stranded on that comet, with no means of escape!” he growled as Cryptor tried to come up with an explanation.
The Overlord however did not look threatened. “If the Ninja are what give them hope, then we will destroy them!” he declared. “Prepare for battle!”
The Overlord then used the power of the Golden Armor and the Weapons to raise the buildings of the city, changing it into a new form.
"I hate to bring this up now, but parachutes would have come in handy!" Landrush shouted they were sort of too far apart from each other and coming in too hot.
"Friends and family make a good substitute!" Flash told Landrush.
"Coordinating catch,” Pixal told them through communication as she rode in on a motorcycle. "Be on the lookout. Trail, go for 56 degrees north, 12 east.”
Trail's jet came flying in as he soon landed in it. "Frost, you're next."
"Don't worry, I've got you,” Frost told her as he already had the coordinates to his vehicle coming in. He soon flew in the direction of his hovercraft and landed in it.
The others then landed in their vehicles too. “NINJA, GO!” they declared as Lloyd summoned his bike and they were then joined by the rest of their friends.
“Welcome home, Ninja,” Wu said as they all stood ready for battle.
“Brother, sisters, I can’t remember the last time we fought together on the same team.” Garmadon said with a smile.
“Nor do we, Garmadon. Nor do we,” Luna said.
“Now all that’s left is to take back the city!” Flash declared as they turned to Neo Equestria City, only to see the building having formed a giant wall as a red glow emitted from within.
“City?! That’s not a city, it’s an impenetrable fortress!” Starlight corrected in shock.
“Behind that wall, the Golden Master has the power of the First Spinjitzu Master and the Elements of Harmony flowing through him,” Celestia said, narrowing her eyes at the stronghold.
“He may have the Crystals, but he doesn’t have what’s necessary to access their true power, friendship!” Twilight declared. “So, let’s get in there, and show ‘em what it looks likes!”
“I’d hoped you’d say that. ” The Ninja turned to their consoles and saw Stygian speaking to them. “Ninja, if you are seeing this message, Professor Borg and I have escaped, and have taken refuge in the Temple of Fortitude, in the city gardens. ”
“The Temple of Fortitude, that was left over from the age of Stone Wars,” Wu recalled. “The Overlord used it as a stronghold against our father.”
“It has a powerful spell that can withstand the golden power and the Elements of Harmony,” Luna added rubbing her chin. “Very clever.”
“If you can make it to the Temple alive, Professor Borg says there may be an invention that can stop the Overlord, ” Stygian tells them.
“Then we have to get to that Temple,” Lloyd says before turning to the others. “Everycreature, stay together!” With that they all made the final charge to Neo Equestria City. "Trail. You, Thunder, Aqua, Frost and those who can fly take the high road. We'll make our own road." They soon split up to get into the city and stop the Overlord.
Lloyd and Flash rodent on their bikes as they soon went through a window in one of the buildings. "I don't have time for finesse,” Landrush stated as he charged at one of the walls and burst through it with Gaia and some of the others following behind him.
Trail, Thunder, Aqua, Frost and the rest soon flew up but were unable to get over as the buildings started to rise. "Is that wall getting higher?" Rainbow asked when she noticed it.
"It's just like the Digiverse,” Frost compared. "His turf, his rules." As Trail made it to the top, some rocks flew after him as the others went over.
Within the center of the city, the Overlord had a bunch of things hovering in the air as the creatures screamed in fear of him. He then saw Trail and Rainbow fly by and shot a laser at them.
In the streets, the Spinjitzu Brothers, the Royal Sisters, Dr. Gear and the Young Six nearly reached the Temple. “The Temple is just up ahead!” Gear informed.
Starlight and Aqua took a detour in saving some creatures from the Nindroids. “Two down and another hundred to go!” Starlight said as she tossed the Nindroids she grabbed away.
“And still moving onwards to the--” Aqua was cut off when she and Starlight were hit by a car and crashed down unconscious.
“Oh no! Aqua and Starlight are down!” Trail informed. “I repeat, Aqua and Starlight are down!”
“They landed near the corner of Hooves Avenue and Claws Boulevard!” Rainbow added.
“I’m going back for them!” Landrush spoke.
“No, I’ll go back!” Thunder argued.
“Now, really?! You wanna be knights now?!” Applejack asked.
“We can’t just leave them there!” Pinkie argued.
“To go back now and our probability to make it to the Temple diminishes exponentially!” Frost informed.
“That’s not what’s important, Frost!” Fluttershy argued.
“She’s right! This isn’t about numbers!” Gaia told him.
“It’s about friends and family!” Rarity added.
“Everyone else get to that Temple!” Flash ordered. “We’ll go back for Aqua and Starlight.”
“Stay close and stay together.” Twilight informed as the Ninja and Mane 6 rushed to help their friends.
“Well, one good thing, we haven’t run into the-” Pinkie was cut off when a huge explosion behind them through them off their vehicles and onto the streets as the Overlord walked over to them. “-Overlord,” Pinkie squeaked.
“Uh, howdy partner,” Applejack laughed nervously as the Overlord smiled malevolently at them.
"The famous Ninja and the Council of Harmony have time for a meet-and-greet," the Overlord taunted. "Let's dance!” he laughed as he spun around and did Spinjitzu and turned into a golden and dark rainbow tornado.
"Change of plans! Run!!" Lloyd shouted before they began to run away from the giant golden tornado coming at them. Their vehicles got swept up and destroyed by it as they dodged some incoming debris being sucked in. Landrush climbed and jumped over a car as they kept moving. Twilight and Rarity blasted some debris back while Thunder and Gaia kicked a mailbox out of the way. They soon climbed over a small roof before they continued onward.
Back with Aqua and Starlight, as they were getting out of their mechs, Cryptor rode in on his mini mech. "This is a complete mess,” Aqua complained as she and Starlight stood up and faced Cryptor.
"We don't have time for this!" Starlight added.
"Now let's see if the little fillies can fight without their big suits," Cryptor joked as he was set to attack them.
The Ninja and the Council jumped over a knocked over bus with the Overlord hot on their tails. They jumped, dodged, crawled, bobbed, and weaved around everything in the way, getting closer and closer to the Temple.
At the Temple, the Spinjitzu Brothers and Royal Sisters saw the Overlord’s tornado, getting closer and closer.
“I see the Temple, almost there!” Flash said as they jumped over the fence and rushed to the building.
The Ninja and Mane 6 tumbled inside as the older four started closing the gates. “My siblings, now!” Celestia ordered.
“Activate the shield!” Garmadon yelled as a blue energy shield covered the Temple preventing the Overlord from reaching them.
The Overlord stopped his Spinjitzu as he was stopped by his own creation. “No, NO!” he roared in frustration.
Aqua flipped over to Cryptor and punched him but he knocked her down. “You hit like a little filly!” he mocked.
“Oh yeah, would a little filly be able to do this!?” Starlight said as she fired a laser at him. Cryptor growls a fire at her before she teleports away, then reappears giving him a mocking wave. As Cryptor kept firing, Starlight kept on teleporting, even blowing a raspberry at him.
“AGH! Hold still so I can vaporize you!” Cryptor ordered as he looked around her as Starlight appeared behind him.
“Oh yeah, that’ll work,” Starlight said, rolling her eyes and helping Aqua up. The two then blasted Cryptor while his back was turned.
Cryptor got up and growled at them. “You’ll pay for that!” he promised.
Aqua simply smirked. “Put it on my tab!” she mocked as she jumped at Cryptor again and started punching him fiercely before he knocked her away again and into Starlight.
Back at the Temple, the Nindroids were shooting the shield, wearing it down. “Keep shooting! It will break, and I’m busy!” the Overlord ordered as he walked away to continue his rampage.
Inside, a little dust came down when the Temple shook where the Ninja and the others saw not only Borg and Stygian, but the rest of the pillars as well. "It's good to see you all made it here safely,” Star Swirl stated.
"Barely made it,” Rainbow pointed out. "The Serpentine were not kidding when they feared the Golden Master."
"You said you had a weapon that could stop him?" Lloyd asked Borg.
"We do," Borg answered before he turned to Gear. "My friend, it's time to bring it out."
"Of course, how could I forget about it ?" Gear said as something rose out from the floor. It looked to be a containment unit with locks on it. "It's our most protected secret."
"What is it?" Thunder asked as Borg took a high-tech key and put it in the hole of the containment unit.
"It is well-protected,” Frost stated as his mother took another key and put it in the other hole of the unit.
"Is it an ancient curse?" Gaia asked as the locks on the unit unlocked.
"I say fire power,” Trail guessed.
"I hope it rocks,” Landrush spoke as the unit started to open.
"Is it dangerous? Is it alive? Does it come with a manual?" Pinkie Pie asked as they all looked inside and saw what's inside. "Is it a– A– A pill?!" They were all disappointed to see a small silver pill within the containment unit.
Gear waved her hoof as Borg took the pill. “Ah-ah-ah, not just any pill, a Nano Pill,” she said. “Scientists and spellcasters alike have been looking for the holy grail of inventions and magical artifacts.”
“A diet pill… that actually works !” Borg finished as they all stared at him in befuddlement.
“You mean to tell me… we risked our necks, nearly getting shredded by a giant tornado… all for a stupid DIET PILL?!” Rainbow exclaimed flying close to Borg’s face.
"Wait until you are old," Garmadon spoke up. "Then you'll see why it's so important."
“It’s more than that,” Gear told Rainbow and pulled her back. “The Nano tech and shrink magic inside the pill has an adverse effect so that it not only shrinks your waist line, but miniaturizes your whole body.”
“You two made a shrinking pill?” Frost asked his mother.
“Let me get this straight,” Trail started. “You want us to get close to this guy, who has armor with a single touch would make us toast, just so we can give him a pill?!”
“Precisely!” Borg said with a smile. “I believe if we can shrink the Overlord down to size we may better contain and defeat him.”
“Okay, but there’s just one problem: How are we supposed to get him to eat it?! Say ‘Pretty please’?!” Spike retorted.
Garmadon then got an idea. “Wu, Sisters, do you remember when the four of us were on the same team last time?” he asked with a smile.
Thunder then moved over to them. “Uh, hey look mentors, um mind paying attention? We’re trying to save the world here!” he said.
Celestia then realized what Garmadon meant. “You’re right, brother. On the playground when we were foals.”
“Templegate Tigers!” Luna and Wu finished in unison.
Garmadon chuckled. “I threw a mean curve ball. Lu, you could clear the field in just 10 seconds. Tia, no ball could ever escape you. And Wu, your stick could thread the needle!” he recounted.
“We never lost a game,” Luna smiled.
“So true,” Wu nodded and turned to his pupils. “Get us close, young ones, and we’ll give the Golden Master his medicine.”
“But how? If we get touched by him, we’re goners!” Rarity pointed out.
Stygian then cleared his throat and they all turned to him. “I believe I have just the thing you need,” he told them as he levitated some stone armor from the Samu-Taurs. "I figured if these protected his army from the first Spinjitzu Master, you could use these against him."
Meanwhile, the Overlord in his giant mech was reaching closer and closer to Borg Tower, destroying Neo Equestria City in the process.
“Haha! The creatures are losing hope,” Pythor cackled as he watched the carnage while walking far in front of the mech with Tirek and the Storm King. “Soon they will bow to you, Golden Master.”
“And once they do… they will know to bow to us,” Tirek remarked, “for having delivered unto them their doom!”
"And the best part? There'll be no one to stop you!" the Storm King added. "I mean, how can they, when all those widdle ponies run away from the sight of you!"
The Overlord stopped in front of Borg Tower before golden webs shot out from his mech. He began to weave together the web lines and created a large webbed net across the city.
Meanwhile, Starlight was thrown to the floor by Cryptor as he got the upper hand on them.
He stomped over to her as Aqua was recovering next to a fire hydrant. “Hey, leave her alone!” Aqua said as Cryptor just laughed and lifted Starlight up to finish her. “I said, leave her alone!” Then Aqua’s horn glowed a deeper shade of blue when suddenly, a jet of water burst from the fire hydrant and shot Cryptor away.
Aqua was surprised as the water ran out and she turned to the hydrant. “Whoa, what was that?” she wondered before she rushed over to Starlight. “You okay?” she asked.
Starlight groaned. “I think so. What happened to Cryptor?” she asked but before Aqua could answer, both were knocked into a wall.
Cryptor walked over to them, sparking a bit from the water, and lifted them up by their tails. “What is that perfume I smell? Fear?” he mocked.
“Actually, it’s called ‘Fragrance of Mare in Distress’,” Aqua shot back. “But I don’t think it suits me!”
“Yeah, it’s better for a rust pile like you!” Starlight mocked.
“You two think you can mock me?!” Cryptor demanded as Aqua noticed Min-Droid walking by with some electronics and got an idea.
“Of course, doesn’t everycreature?” she asked. “I mean, even Min-Droid knows you’re a few screws loose of a hard drive.”
“Min-Droid?! That little piece of scrap isn’t fit to tighten my bolts!” Cryptor told her, unknowingly insulting the small robot as he walked past him. “I’ve met toasters more intelligent than him!”
Min-Droid had finally had enough of his general’s insults, dropped his electronics, and marched up to him from behind. “Excuse me, General?” he said tapping his shoulder and when Cryptor turned. “EAT THIS!” Min-Droid yelled as he socked Cryptor in the gut, causing him to drop Starlight and Aqua as the two mares hightailed it from there as Min-droid gave Cryptor a lesson in manners.
"Are we sure this is gonna protect us?" Trail asked as he held up his stone armor.
"If the Overlord's Samu-Taurs used these against the First Spinjitzu Master, I see no reason why we can't use it against those exact same powers," Stygian told them.
Frost gave one look at his armor before he looked over to Pixal. "Here, you take it,” he told her as he offered his armor.
"No, you are vital to this mission,” she told him. "Don't worry about me,” Frost thought for a moment before she walked up to him with a smile. "I shall see you again."
"Frost…" Luna called out. "Frost, we have to go." They each put on the stone armor before they transformed in a flash of light. The armor the Ninja put on transformed into silver armor with their emblems on the front while the armor for the Mane Six had their cutie marks on the front.
"Oh my, I didn't expect this to happen," Rarity commented as she was amazed by her new armor.
"Hey! The seal! It's broken!" Smolder called out as she saw the barrier going down. The Nindroids continued to fire at the Temple before Aqua and Starlight came in on the mini mech. They soon fired at the Nindroids to clear a path for the others.
"Better late than never!" Starlight stated.
"Go get 'em, Ninja!" Aqua called out.
"NINJA, GO!" the Ninja declared as they charged out of the Temple and did Spinjitzu when some of the Nindroids charged at them. They soon jump across some rooftops as they mean their way to where the Overlord is.
“Feels like old times, doesn’t it?” Celestia asked her siblings.
“Yes, it feels good,” Garmadon replied as Wu and Luna smiled in agreement. Then above them the tiles of a rooftop turned into a giant hoof and slammed down on them. The heroes covered their heads only to find that they were unharmed.
“I don’t believe it! The Armor’s working!” Gaia said in shock.
“Keep movin’ y’all!” Applejack said as they kept running. “We need to take the heat off the Princesses and Senseis!”
Pretty soon they were cutting through the Overlord’s golden webs like string.
The Overlord snarled in aggravation as the heroes got closer. “My powers, they aren’t working!” he roared as stared down at his enemies. “They won’t stop coming!”
He tried to create a wall out of broken cages but the Ninja and Mane Six busted through until they reached a roof close to Borg Tower and stared at him.
“Perhaps you should try a less direct approach,” the Storm King told the Overlord.
“Exploit their one weakness: their devotion to others,” Tirek said, looking at the creatures below.
“Attack the people,” Pythor finished and the Overlord did just that as the creatures ran all around for cover.
“We need to protect the people!” Twilight told her friends.
“But we need to get the Princesses and Senseis closer!” Trail reminded her.
Then out from the sewers, Skales came out as the rest of the Serpentine came out to. “Creatures of Equestria, follow usss!” Slithraa, the former Hypnobrai general before Skales defeated him, told them as the Serpentine guided the creatures below ground.
“The Serpentine came to help!” Fluttershy cheered.
"Now I have seen it all!" Rainbow shouted with excitement.
“Great, one problem down, and one to go!” Thunder declared as they turned to the Overlord.
"We'll never get close enough," Flash complained as they were too far to get close to the Overlord.
"We won't need to," Garmadon told them before he turned to his siblings. "Ready to thread the needle?"
"Ready!" Celestia and Luna responded with a determined look.
"Let's show them what old timers can do,” Wu declared before Garmadon jumped on to one of the golden web lines and bounced in the air. Celestia and Luna flew up as Wu held on to their hooves. Garmadon then gave his brother a boost up as Celestia and Luna tossed Wu higher. Garmadon then tossed the pill towards his brother before Wu spun around and hit the pill with his staff. They all watched in anticipation as the pill was hitting straight for the Overlord's mouth.
It seemed like victory was in their grasp before Pythor quickly jumped up and swallowed the pill. He let out some coughs as he landed back down next to Tirek and the Storm King before he was shrunk down to the size of a mouse. "Ah! What's happening to me?!” he exclaimed.
"Now there's something you don't see every day,” the Storm King commented before Frost's falcon flew in and started to chase Pythor.
"That was it?" the Overlord asked as he thought that was a joke. "That was all you've got?” he then used the golden webs to grab the Ninja, minus Frost, the Mane Six, the Royal Sisters and the Spinjitzu Brothers. They all grunted and struggled to get free just as the Young Seven, Aqua, Nyx, the Pillars, Stygian, Dr. Gear, Borg and Pixal came on a rooftop to see what was happening.
The Overlord focused his power as they continued to struggle. "The armor, why isn't it working?!" Landrush shouted as they wondered why they could not break free, even with the armor on.
"Because your time is over!" the Overlord declared as Frost was dodging one of the golden webs as it tried to grab him. He landed on a rooftop before he took off his mask and had a look of determination on his face.
"Support me, friends. For one last time,” he said before he charged forward and began to jump on the others as he made his way to the Overlord. After jumping off Sensei Wu, Frost flew towards the overlord before grabbing hold of the golden armor. The moment he grabbed the armor, his whole body began to glow ice blue as he grunted in pain. "Let my friends go!"
"Go where, Doomed Ninja?" the Overlord asked sarcastically. Frost could feel the power of the Golden Armor coursing through him and destroying him from the inside. Despite that, he still would not let go as a piece of his face fell off to reveal his robotic parts. "The Golden Weapons are too powerful for you to behold. Your survival chance is low!"
Frost glared at the Overlord before he spoke. "This isn't about numbers! It's about family and friends!” he declared as some golden orbs started to be absorbed by him while the golden webs turned green. Soon the golden webs let go of his friends as they fell to the ground before they looked up. The power source in his chest glowed bright as it was overloading and the heartbeat monitor in his head was beeping louder by the second.
"He's not letting go!" Lloyd shouted in a worried tone.
"His heart! It's reaching critical mass!" Thunder shouted.
"If his heart overloads, he'll blow!" Landrush reminded the others. "He'll never survive!”
“Are you telling me he’s turning himself into a bomb?!” Rainbow exclaimed.
"Let go of him, Frost!" Trail called out, but Frost still would not.
"What is he doing?!" Flash exclaimed.
"He's protecting us,” Wu told his students.
"I think we should get out of here…" the Storm King told Tirek as they slowly backed up.
"I am an Nindroid!" Frost declared. "And Ninja never quit! Go Ninja. Go!” he then shot a beam of ice at the Overlord.
"What are you doing?!" the Overlord shouted as he could not get away from Frost. "Let me go, you fool!" Frost continued to shoot his ice power at him as he felt himself overloading.
"No, Frost, no!!" Flash called out as he tried to reach for him, only for Twilight and Applejack to hold him back.
"We have to get out of here now!" Celestia told them as she and her sister held back Trail and Gaia. They soon pulled the others into the sewers as Frost continued to hold the Overlord in place. The Overlord grunted as he tried to get Frost away from him but with little to no effort. Flash and Twilight gave one last look before they closed the sewer hatch and went down with the others.
Pixal saw what Frost was doing as she had a look of dread on her face. "No…” she whispered. As Frost felt his power source reaching critical mass, he closed his eyes and remembered all the times he had spent with his friends. No matter what they went through, no matter how tough things got, they always stuck by each other to the very end.
From the time they faced the skeleton army, to when they faced the Serpentine. From when they faced the Stone Army to now, they never gave up or backed down. He was grateful to have friends… No, a family like them by his side to the very end. He had a small smile on his face as a single tear ran down his cheek as he was now facing his end to save Equestria from the Overlord. After all, he is Frost Gear the White Ninja and Master of Ice, he was built to protect those who cannot protect themselves.
The moment his heart beat monitor flatlined and his heart reached critical mass, Frost exploded and took the Overlord with him. That explosion froze everything in its path, including Tirek and the Storm King as they were frozen solid. They were not the only ones as General Cryptor and Min-Droid also got frozen before they burst into shards. The only things left of the Overlord was his helmet and his golden armor as they crashed on the ground.
The Ninja and the Mane Six came out and saw that the whole city was frozen solid as they met up with the others. They looked around until Flash saw and picked up the fallen piece of Frost's face. Gear was so distraught by the loss of her son that she barely moved to see the pieces he picked up. Fluttershy could not hold back her tears as they ran down her cheeks and Rainbow comforted her as she cried as well. Applejack took her hat off in respect and Gaia soon started to cry before she held on to Landrush as he tried to comfort her and Aqua sadly placed her under Thunder’s.
"F-Frost." Twilight weeped.
Flash looked at the broken piece solemnly, "Was maybe the bravest of us all, and he took the Overlord with him." He said.
Ocellus and Yona quickly held on to Sandbar at the loss of Frost as he did his best to comfort them. "I used to think technology would be the answer to all our problems…" Borg said with great regret.
Many creatures have gathered around for the memorial of Frost Gear, including the students from the School of Friendship and the Serpentine as well. The ice that once covered the city was removed as Borg continued. "But then I saw technology invent new problems. Devastating problems. And then a Nindroid named Frost Gear saved us all. He was the perfect balance between us, magic and technology. He taught us that life should be a balance. Technology can improve our lives, but so can creatures and magic as well. And if we focus on one at the expense of the others, that's when the balance is off. Our kingdoms will find their way again, but this time with Frost as our compass."
"Thank you, Borg," Twilight said as she stepped up. "And so, in remembrance of Frost who sacrificed himself to save us all, we dedicate this statue in his honor." Her horn lit up as her magical aura surrounded a tarp behind them. "With that, we give you the Titanium Ninja.” She pulled the tarp off and revealed it to be a statue of Frost, made of titanium. Frost's Falcon flew in and rested on the shoulder of the statue.
"So, what happens after this?" Gaia asked her fellow Ninja.
"I don't know…" Landrush told her.
"And I don't care,” Thunder spoke as he wiped a tear from his eye. "Today's about Frost."
"And now, Flash Sentry would like to speak for those who knew him best," Twilight said before Flash walked up and faced everycreature.
"Everyone wondered what powered Frost,” he spoke. "I don't know if we'll ever know, but I like to think it was brotherhood. Because he powered me. And he'll still power me as his memory lives on. Ninja never quit, and Ninja will never be forgotten." Flash then looked up to the sky as it began to snow. "Wherever you are, Frost, you'll always be one of us." The crowd of creatures mumbled to each other as it began to snow. They all wondered if this was a sign from Frost knowing that he was watching over them no matter what. Soon the other Ninja joined Flash as they all looked towards the statue. The Wonderbolts soon came flying overhead as this was for the memorial of Frost as well.
The only one who did not come to the memorial was Pixal as she was in Borg’s office. She was the one most hurt by the loss of Frost. It felt like this pain would never go away until she heard a recording of herself and Frost being played all of a sudden, getting her attention.
"You are Frost. A droid like me, " the recording of her said as she came over to the monitors. "What does Frost stand for? "
"I stand for peace, freedom and courage, " the video recording of Frost said.
"Your hardware is outdated and your processor is low and incompatible, " a recording of her scanning Frost was shown before it changed. "Why are you so different? "
"We're all different, " a recording of Frost holding hooves with her was shown. "But I don't feel so different around you. ” Pixal wondered who was doing this as recordings of their time together appeared on each monitor.
"Frost? Is that you?” The monitors started to glitch out.
"You are vital to me, " One of the monitors pulled up a map of Equestria and the lands beyond. She looked at the map before it zoomed in towards a mountain location just outside the Abyssinian kingdom as a faint signal was shown. "I shall see you again. "
"I'm…just Frost. " Her face had a look of shock to see this familiar signal. She could not believe it was true, but it was his. She had to find out for herself as she ran out of the office and made her way to that location.
Deep within the mountains, broken pieces of a Nindroid were seen everywhere while a glowing piece was moving. It looked to be a familiar unicorn without anything to hide its robotic parts as it was crawling along the ground. Sparks flew as it was badly damaged before a figure wrapped in cloth came up to it. It bent over it before it moved up its goggles to reveal a pair of cat eyes staring down at the broken robot. "Who are you?" the figure asked in a female voice before the Nindroid lost power and blacked out.
Author's Note
Just you wait because the next chapter will be the last one and it's the bonus I said in the comments before
Author's Note
Now, Flash's new ninja gi will look similar to Kai's but with winds and Gaia's will look similar to Zane's but with life.
And here is what Celestia and Luna will look like now:
By https://www.deviantart.com/limedazzle
Chapter 1: The Surge
Footage of Lloyd facing off against the Overlord on top of Garmatron Tower was shown as we heard a familiar voice spoke up. "The Ultimate Battle ," it said before Lloyd was shown unleashing the power of the Golden Dragon to become an alicorn and defeat the Overlord. "The battle that would end all battles. " Equestria was then bathed in a golden light as Darkness that once covered the land vanished.
“It seems like ages ago. After the Golden Ninja defeated the Overlord, ” the voice said as the footage cut to the Ninja and their allies waking up and coming together for a group picture, “much of Equestria was in ruin. ” The video shifted to Equestria City in the aftermath of the battle before it changed to creatures fixing and reconstructing everything. “It was a time to reflect on our past, and build for our future. ”
Overlooking the construction efforts were Dr. Gear and a gray, black-maned Earth Pony stallion. “Great work people. Together we can do it!” the stallion said.
“Transportation group, align with engineering,” Dr. Gear told them as a Dragon and a Kirin placed a sign up and then it sped forward to when the city became more futuristic.
“Equestria City soon became… Neo Equestria City ,” the voice continued as a stallion was seen driving a flying vehicle. "And it became the epicenter of great technological advancements. " It was then cut to a desert where an old car was left out and a Serpentine skull was left as well. "But without an enemy to fight, the Age of the Ninja came to an end ."
The footage suddenly became replaced with a bathroom sequence where it showed Thunder holding a camera in a mirror as he walked to shower curtains while Trail was heard singing. "Oh baby~! I need you more than ever~! " Then Trail stopped his singing to pop his head from behind the curtains, wearing an angry expression along with a shower cap, “HEY! How about a little privacy you-- ” The video then started malfunctioning as laughter was heard.
“Oh! That’s not supposed to be in here!” Trail said as it revealed him, two years older, in a classroom where a bunch of young creatures were laughing. He was showing them a movie that had been tampered with. “Lights please!” he said as the lights turned on as he tried to stop the tape but then the wheel broke off and it rolled away. “Ugh! Seriously?!” he groaned.
Then a young griffon came in. “Come quick! Mr. Frost is on the fritz!” he said as they all ran out of the room.
Daisy was holding a remote in a different classroom as she was pressing a bunch of buttons while the other students laughed and Frost was dancing on his desk uncontrollably. “Up. No, down. Whoa!” Frost cried out as he kept on moving around crazily.
"What's going on in here?" Landrush asked he and Trail entered the room to see what was happening. He then gave a serious look to the students as he made his way over to Daisy.
"Daisy got an ultra remote from Neo Equestria City, and it's controlling Mr. Frost," a dragoness student answered before she noticed the serious look on Landrush's face as he took the remote away from Daisy and started to fiddle with it.
"How do you turn this thing off?" he asked as he started pressing the buttons and Frost was looking more out of the control as his head and hooves started spinning.
“Hurry up Landrush!” Frost pleaded as he kept on dancing. “My liquid spirit level… is making me less… level!”
Landrush then smashed the remote against the desk as Frost stopped moving and slumped down in relief while the students groaned. “Mr. Landrush is the worst!” Daisy said.
“I heard that!” Landrush said as Sunburst walked in with his beard a little longer.
“What’s going on here?!” he asked.
"Daisy was controlling Frost with a remote and--" Landrush started to explain before the bell rang and all the students ran out the door. "Never mind." He and Frost started to slide down the desk and sat on the floor. "It's recess, my favorite time."
Ever since the Ultimate Battle, the Ninja, minus Flash, took up jobs at the School of Friendship as teachers, as there were no more enemies to fight against. Flash, in the meantime, went back to his post in the Canterlot Royal Guard, his heroism having promoted him to Captain, not only to stay with Twilight a bit more, but also to help raise the baby Serpentine who were now grown into their arms and legs. Cozy Glow was given a position as an ambassador to Ponyville, along with Nyx, her new adoptive sister.
The rest of the Mane Six had also used their new positions as princesses to expand their influence across Equestria. Rarity had begun opening “Rarity’s Royal Racks” across the kingdoms. Rainbow quickly rose through the ranks of the Wonderbolts until eventually she became the headmare of the training academy and was training non-Pegasi flying creatures. Applejack had been helping Big Mac taking care of Sweet Apple Acres after Granny Smith’s unfortunate passing. Pinkie was now running Sugarcube Corner along with Cheese Sandwich, who moved into Ponyville last year. Fluttershy had started volunteering at the Ponyville Hospital. As for the Royal Sisters, Celestia formed her own romance with Discord, while Luna entered a polyamorous relationship with Sombra and Hope (who rekindled their passions after his return to good).
The retired Ninja were in the teachers’ lounge as Thunder opened the refrigerator looking for something but had a frown on his face before he closed the door. "All right, who took my pudding cup?" he asked the others. "My name was clearly written on it." Landrush was sitting on the couch, eating said pudding.
"I didn't see ‘Motor Mouth’ on it," he said in a smug tone as he threw the cup away when he was done.
Thunder growled. "That’s it, I'm telling the headmare!" Thunder told him as he turned to Starlight who was pouring herself a cup of coffee.
"Leave me out of this!" she told him. "I'm on break, too!"
Thunder sighed as Trail pulled out his own pudding. “Here Thunder, you can have mine,” he told him, tossing him the pudding.
“It’s not cold,” Thunder complained as Frost pressed some buttons on his foreleg and sprayed the pudding, freezing it to make it cold. “Oh, give me. Mm.” Thunder sighed as he sat down. “Is anypony else chapped that Lloyd gets to be the Golden Ninja and fly around, accepting awards, jobs, and calls for help while we're stuck here being teachers with no powers? Ah. I miss our elemental weapons.”
“I know. I still can’t believe after two years Tirek and the Storm King still haven’t shown up,” Trail said as he watched Aqua and Gaia slipped into the room panting, as outside they heard student excessively complimenting the two teachers.
"Hi Misses Aqua and Gaia Boral !" a colt called out from behind the door. "I like your dresses! "
"Why is it that when we teach our classes, we get the feeling that none of the boys are listening?" Gaia complained as she sat down.
"I know. It's like only the girls listen to us while the boys just stare," Aqua added before Thunder went up to her.
"Hi, Miss Aqua. I saved you some pudding," he said in a dumbfounded tone.
“What did we talk about?” Aqua told him with a raised brow.
Thunder then blinked as he remembered. “Oh, right. Boundaries.” He then backed off as Aqua turned to them.
“Hey, did you guys here the news?” she asked as the Ninja sat up immediately.
"There's trouble?!" Trail asked as he did a fighting pose.
"Danger?!" Thunder asked.
"An emergency?!" Frost asked.
"Oh, a new menace?!" Landrush asked as he flipped and did a fighting pose. They waited in anticipation for an answer until Gaia spoke up.
"No, we got clearance for a field trip," she told them before they groan in disappointment. "But not just any field trip. A field trip to Borg Industries at Neo Equestria City."
Thunder gasped and the squealed. “Not the Borg Industries!” He said and started spinning around, “As in, home to super genius reclusive savant Cyrus Borg? Inventor of the hover car and everything else cool in this world--?” Before he could go on, Frost kicked him.
“Not only that, I heard that Flash, Twilight and the kids are coming too,” Gaia said.
"And the girls, Celestia, Luna, Sombra and Hope will be there too," Aqua added. "It would be nice to see them after so long. I wonder how they've been."
"I heard Sombra is in a relationship with both Luna and Hope," Landrush spoke up. "The same thing with Discord and Celestia."
"Oh, come on." Trail said as he rolled his eyes and went to get himself coffee. "I wouldn't mind seeing them again, but who cares about Cyrus Borg? If you ask me, creatures should concern themselves with the lessons of the past. Not waste their time on the disposable fads of tomorrow when--" When he turned back to the others, they've already left the room. "Oh."
Once everycreature was outside, all the students piled into the bus but Daisy was not happy, “Why can’t we take Ultra Dragon? Or the Ultra Sonic Raider?” she whined.
“Because they would never fit all of you on or in them,” Gaia said. “Plus, Ultra Dragon went to the Dragonlands for a special training regimen.”
At the Dragonlands, Ultra Dragon can be seen sitting in one of the lava pools, relaxing. "This is what we needed," Orchy said as they each took their favorite gems.
"You said it," Rocky commented.
Nimbus turns to her fellow heads. “Still, are you sure we should’ve just left the Ninja? What if they need our help?” she said.
“Ah Nimbus, come on… You worry too much,” Flame said, putting on some shades. “We’ve been planning this trip for months. Let’s enjoy it.”
“It has been a while since we’ve done anything without flying for miles.” Shard said as two dragons massaged their wings.
“Yeah, come on, Nimbus. Live a little,” Wisp said, while scarfing down some gems.
Nimbus still looked concerned but eventually she just sighed and enjoyed the lava, “I suppose a little relaxation wouldn’t hurt,” she said.
"And most importantly, they don't have one of these," Landrush added as he held up the bus's microphone. "Pretty cool, huh?" he spoke into it. "I'm on a microphone! I am the ML! The Mighty Landrush!" All the students on board let out a groan.
"Mr. Landrush is the worst," Daisy whispered.
"I heard that!" Landrush told her before he sat down.
“So we really are going back to the city,” Gaia commented as she sat next to Landrush. “We haven't been there since--well, you know.”
“Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow has not yet come,” Wu said as he was the last one to board. “We only have today. Or else this offer expires. Get a move on, Aqua!” he told Aqua at the driver seat.
“Aye-aye, Sensei!” Aqua saluted as she started the bus and it drove away.
The bus soon arrived at Neo Equestria City where they saw solid hologram highways above them with hover cars and bikes that left a trail of light as they rode. Street lights that hovered above the ground, vending machines that gave whoever used it what they want, and even billboards that hover above the roads.
The students and the Ninja gaze at the city in awe. “Welcome to Neo Equestria City. The future is what we make it! ” a recording on the Billboard said as they rolled past.
“This is amazing!” Starlight said in awe.
“Yeah, you leave the city for two years and everything--” Aqua was interrupted when she made a sharp turn and bumped into Derpy’s mail car.
"Ugh! Who still uses wheels anymore?!" Derpy complained. "Get with the program!" Landrush then got off the bus and went over to her.
"Don't worry, we'll free you up," he assured her. "Time for some old school muscle tool." He was about to get her new mail car out of the way before a robot came over.
"Stand back, pedestrian ," it told Landrush.
"Who are you calling ‘pedestrian’?" He asked the robot as if it insult him.
“It seems as though our help is not wanted,” Frost said as they all walked out while the robots fixed the accident.
Wu then stepped out. “Well, I prefer traveling the old-fashioned way—on hoof,” he told them as the others stepped out too. “Besides, it's not like we can't find where we're going.” He then pointed to the tallest building in the city.
“Borg Industries. Amazing…” Gaia said in awe but looked around. “But, where are the others?”
Suddenly, a portal to Discord's little chaos dimension opened in front of the ponies, and out walked Discord, Fluttershy, and Celestia, along with Sombra, Luna, and Hope. "Sorry we're late," Fluttershy said. "We were in Las Pegasus for some rides."
"They have this new ride that spins you while it's up in the air," Celestia said excitedly.
“Yes, exciting…” Luna groaned dizzily as Sombra and Hope steadied her. Rainbow was then seen flying by with Soarin before they landed on the ground with style.
"Sup, everypony?!" Rainbow asked with swag.
"That was so cool!" Silverstream shouted. "How long have you been working on that?"
"For a while," Soarin answered before a carriage carrying Rarity and Applejack in them came by.
“My goodness! It’s hard to believe that the entire city could change in just two years,” Rarity said as she looked around.
“A few gizmos too many for my taste,” Applejack noted as she walked out. "How y'all doing?" she asked the others before another carriage came by with Flash, Twilight, Cozy Glow, Nyx, Spike (who looks older), and the Serpentine children.
"Uncle Landrush!" the Constrictai child shouted as he jumped off the carriage when it landed, hopping into Landrush's hooves.
"Oof!" he grunted when he caught him. "You've gotten stronger since last time we saw you, Coal."
“Hello, Miss Rarity,” the young Fangpyre spoke shyly.
Rarity giggled and patted the Serpentine boy’s head. “Why, hello Fangy-Wangy,” she said as Fang chuckled.
"Fang and Rarity, sitting in a tree," Sky the Hypnobrai girl teased before she giggled.
"Sky, don't tease Fang," Toxsa, Sky’s Venomari sister, told her after she elbowed her.
The young Anacondrai, Melody, slithered up to the building, taking a selfie before turning to the group. “So can we go in now? Can we, huh, huh?!” she asked excitedly.
Flash chuckled and gestured all of them to follow. "After your Aunt Pinkie Pie comes," he assured her before he walked up to his old friends. "It's great to see you guys after so long."
"Great to see you too," Smolder said before she walked up this Spike who turned out a bit taller than her. "And look at you, how's the air up there?"
“Ha-ha, very funny,” Spike chuckled before he saw Pinkie and Cheese Sandwich’s carriage flying in. “Oh, there they are.”
"Hi everycreature!!" Pinkie Pie shouted before she and Cheese Sandwich jumped out the carriage and parachuted down to them.
"That's them for you. Always so random," Trail commented before they suddenly appear behind him.
"Too true, my friend. Abso-gouda-ly true," Cheese Sandwich said, making Trail jump.
Celestia clapped her hooves. “All right. Now that we’re all here, let’s begin the tour of Borg Industries.” The group headed towards the building, walking through the automatic doors. But Trail and Applejack got their tails caught in them and were stuck.
“Oh! I hate technology!” Applejack complained as she tried to pull herself free.
“Get in line, AJ!” Trail strained as he pulled too.
"Welcome to Borg Industries," a chrome, silver-maned, and open-circuited droid mare with green eyes walked down the stairs and greeted the group. "I am Pixal, Cyrus's Primary Interactive X-ternal Assistant Life-form." As she spoke, Frost looked at her in awe at first sight. "I'm sorry to hear about the traffic accident."
"Wow, news travels fast." Gallus commented.
"Everything in Neo Equestria City is fully automated and interconnected," Pixal explained. "Your antiquated bus should be ready shortly." She then turned her attention to Frost. "You are Frost, a droid like me. What does Frost stand for?"
"I stand for peace, freedom, and courage in the face of all who threaten Equestria," Frost declared before Thunder walked up to him.
"She means your name, tin head. What does ‘Frost’ stand for? " he told him.
Frost realized his mistake and turned back to Pixal. “I guess I'm just Frost,” he replied unsurely.
“Permission to scan?” Pixal asked as Frost saw his reflection in her eyes.
Frost stammered as his eyes reflected her face in turn. “Uh… Permission granted?” he said uneasily as Pixal began to scan him.
"Heh, check it out," Rainbow Dash whispered to the others. "Frost has an admirer."
"I think it's so sweet," Fluttershy commented. "Like how you had a crush on Soarin since flight school." Rainbow Dash looked away with a blush on her face while Soarin chuckled a little.
"Your hardware is outdated and your processor is slow and incompatible with ours," Pixal robotically assessed when she was done scanning. "Peculiar. All droids must recharge our batteries, yet curiously, I'm unable to locate your energy source." She then placed a hoof where his heart was. "What powers you?"
"I, uh... I don't know," Frost said with a blush on his face.
“Mr. Borg and Dr. Gear would like to see the Ninja and the Council of Friendship on the one-hundredth floor,” Pixal said as she gestured to the elevator. “If the others would follow me for the rest of the tour.”
“We’d be honor Pixal.” Sombra said as they followed her and Trail and Applejack finally got their tails free.
“Seriously?!” Trail said.
“Why can’t we just have regular doors?!” Applejack said as they rushed to the elevator. Frost was staring at Pixal while the others entered the elevator.
"Hey, Frost, you with us?" Gaia called before Frost snapped out of it and rushed over.
The computer on the elevator had a camera looking towards the Ninja and the Council of Friendship as Frost entered the elevator and Flash pushed the button to the top floor. Suddenly, a computerized voice was heard as the elevator seemed to scan the present ponies.
"Yellow Ninja, Red Ninja, Blue Ninja, Green Ninja, Black Ninja, White Ninja, Element of Magic, Element of Honesty, Element of Generosity, Element of Laughter, Element of Loyalty, Element of Kindness identified. Golden Ninja not present. Wait for action."
The others followed Pixal into two rooms filled with inventions. "Mr. Borg believes technology is the key to making our dreams come true," she told the group as they were amazed at the inventions in the room.
“Whoa!” Gallus said.
“Cool beyond cool,” Sandbar said.
“Awesome,” one student gasped.
“Uber-mega,” Daisy said as she walked by some of the tech. “I'm, like, wow!”
“Mmm, it’s not like home in the Chaos Realm… but I will admit it does have its own unorthodox flair,” Discord confessed.
“Even now, he is working on a Digiverse where the gamer will be digitally scanned in to take gaming to another level,” Pixal explained, gesturing to a pony playing a VR fighting game.
"Whoa! They have Perfect Match consoles!" a filly shouted with excitement as Aqua, Gallus, Smolder and Sandbar walked to a group standing next to two machines with hearts all over it.
"What's Perfect Match?" Sandbar asked.
"It's the latest craze," a hippogriff told them. "It finds your perfect partner with flawless results. Maybe we could give them a try."
"I doubt a machine can know somecreature's likes and dislikes," Aqua said.
"Yeah, it's kind of ridiculous and stupid," Gallus commented before Smolder elbowed him gently.
"What, you scared that your ‘perfect match’ will end up being a hippopotamus?" she joked as the other girls laughed.
Gallus sighed exasperatedly. "Fine, I'll try it. But only to get you off my back," he conceded as he stepped onto the machine. "But I still doubt that--"
"Hello Gallus. You are a selfless griffon who comes off as stoic and aloof, but deep down prefers to spend time looking after others and their well-being," the machine told him which surprised him because that was exactly like him. "Analyzing match now." After a few seconds, the machine showed a hologram image of Silverstream right in front of him.
Gallus blushed as Silverstream beamed. "Oh Gallus!" she chirped happily, "you’re the best!"
"I… I didn't even--" Gallus said trying to get over his shock.
Smolder then pushed them out of the way. "My turn!" she said, stepping up to the second machine, "Alright, Perfect Match! Try me!" she challenged.
"Hello Smolder. You are an independent and heartfelt dragoness who is generous to help those in need of confidence and is not afraid to express her inner femineity," the machine told her. "Analyzing match now."
"I bet it's not even gonna get it right. I mean, I know a machine can’t decide my-- What?!" Smolder was dumbfounded one the machine showed a hologram image of Spike as her perfect match. "M-Me and Spike?!" Her whole cheeks turned bright red at the thought of it. "I...I mean, I like him and all but...oh man. This thing is messing with my head now."
"I don't know. You were really impressed by Spike's height when we arrived," Gallus teased, getting some revenge as Smolder gave him a murderous look.
"Your turn, Ms. Aqua!" One of the fillies said.
"I guess I could give it a try," Aqua said before she looked at Sandbar. "But only if you try the other one. I'm not going to suffer alone."
"Well, okay," Sandbar said with a smile. "I am a little curious if me and Yona are a perfect match." The two of them then stepped on the machines and they both lit up.
"Hello Aqua. You are an independent, self-confident young mare who refuses to be in a colt's club," the machine that Aqua stood on stated. "Hello Sandbar, you are an easy-going young colt who always tries to make his elders proud,” the machine added. "Analyzing matches now."
"Of course it’s gonna be Thunder, Aqua," Silverstream told her as they waited for the results.
What the two machines came up with shocked them all to the bone as the perfect match for Aqua was not Thunder, but Landrush. And Sandbar and his three friends were shocked that Ocellus was his perfect match.
"Promise you will not tell anyone about this," Aqua asked the fillies and the others.
"Me too. There's no way Yona can handle this!" Sandbar asked his friends.
"Yona can't handle what?" The young colt jumped when he heard Yona before quickly turning back to the machine. The hologram was gone, giving him a moment to sigh in relief.
Meanwhile the Ninja and Mane Six had reached the one-hundredth floor and saw Dr. Gear and another stallion next to her.
"Well, hello there, young ones," Dr. Gear greeted as she turned to her son. "Oh, and of course you too, son."
"It is good to see you again, mother," Frost greeted.
"I would have guessed Ninja to sneak in a window, not use the elevator," the stallion next to her said as Thunder let out a gasp.
"Oh my Celestia! Are you--? Are you--?" he stuttered.
"Cyrus Borg? Yes," the stallion answered. "Unfortunately, when my parents gave me a name like that, my future in technology was predetermined." He came around the desk and they all were speechless to see robotic artificial spider limbs on his back hooves. "Ah, yes, these. Sadly, I've been disabled all my life. But it's nothing my mind couldn't fix." He then turned towards Frost. "Speaking of which, it's a pleasure to meet you, Frost. Your mother told me all about you."
"She has?" Frost asked as he turned to his mother.
She just waved him off. "Oh, how could I not? You are my greatest creation. But even as Equestria continues to change, you can never be replaced. You’re too special for that," she said before turning to Applejack. "On that note, Applejack, my deepest condolences. I heard about your grandmother. She had such a strong will; I would've love to meet her."
"Thank ya, but loss is inevitable," Applejack said in a sad tone while she looked at the scarf her grandmother gave her. "Plus, I doubt she wouldn't even fit right in for what Equestria has changed into."
"Today maybe, but not tomorrow," Borg said with a smile. "Technology making the impossible possible. The only limit to our potential is that which we don't dream,"
Flash was looking around the place until he recognized the spot the tower was built on. "Hey wait, isn't this the same spot where the Overlord was destroyed?" he asked as both Borg and Gear had to look away in frown as they looked scared. "Who dreamed up the idea of building a corporate headquarters here?"
"Ah, what better way to send a message to evil that we won't cower to anyone," Dr. Gear said as she looked around. "I see. Or better yet, I don't see the Golden Ninja."
"Oh, his hooves are a bit full," Gaia said as the two scientists glanced at the cameras, "but we can tell him to stop by when we see him."
"No, no, no!" Borg quickly said. "We're glad it's just the twelve of you. In fact, I want to give you all a gift." He then went over to a corner and pulled something with a curtain over it over.
"A gift?! Won't say ‘no’ to that!" Pinkie shouted excitedly.
"Me too," Landrush spoke up. "It wouldn't happen to be cake, would it?"
Borg then removed the curtain and revealed it to be a statue of himself made of gold, as a recording of his voice played out. “The future is what we make it. ”
Landrush and the others looked a bit underwhelmed. "Huh, so no cake," he remarked.
"Oh, wow. A statue. Of yourself," Trail tried to say it with enthusiasm but with no luck.
"I know!" Thunder shouted with enthusiasm. "How cool is that?!"
Soon Borg and Dr. Gear pulled Twilight and Flash to the side while the others looked at the statue.
"Listen, Twilight, you and your friends need to get as far away from here as possible," Dr. Gear whispered to her. "And I don't mean from the city. I mean far from Equestria, and tell no one where you're going."
"What? Why?" Twilight asked.
"Please, protect them and the Council with your life. All of Equestria depends on it!" Borg whispered to Flash.
"Protect? Protect what?" Flash asked.
"You were right, we should never have built here," Borg added as the camera moved to them.
"You must go. He’s listening. If he finds out you’re here, he'll never let you leave!" Dr. Gear added.
"He?" Twilight and Flash repeated as the two scientists moved away.
"Uh, I'm sorry to cut this short, but there's things to invent!" Borg told them as if he was trying to get them out of here but keeping it as casual. "I hope you can show yourselves out!"
"Ah, okay. Of course," Landrush said before he and the other Ninja picked up the statue.
"Guys, I think there's something weird about Frost's mom and Borg," Twilight said as they walked towards the elevator.
"She's been locked up for a long time in a lighthouse prison in the middle of the ocean,” Thunder reminded her. "And they're called artificial limbs. I know Applejack and Trail hate technology, but do you have to be rude? We’re their guests."
"No, she means that they were acting suspicious," Flash corrected. "Almost as if they were scared of something, or somecreature." They then entered the elevator when the doors open. "He told me we have to protect the council and them with our lives."
"Dr. Gear told me that me and my friends have to leave Equestria and tell no one where we're going," Twilight added. "Then they told us that if he found out we were in the city, he'd never let us leave."
"Protect them? Leave Equestria? He?" Pinkie asked in confusion.
"What the hey are they even talking about?" Landrush asked.
"I don't know but--" Flash said before the elevator doors slammed shut and Trail jumped which caused him to bump into the others and they dropped the statue which broke in half.
"Oh great, look what you did!" Thunder shouted at Trail before Frost notice something odd about the statue.
"It's hollow. There's something inside." Frost pointed out as Rarity saw something in it. She used her magic to levitate twelve modern-looking Gi’s in the colors of the Ninja and the Mane Six.
"Why would they give us new Ninja outfits?" She asked as she inspected each one.
“Guys, I think Flash and Twilight may be onto something,” Gaia said as Twilight took two strangely shaped gold objects.
“And what exactly are these things?” She wondered as Flash notice four more of them and picked them up before the lights in the elevator turned red.
"Techno Blades located. Apprehend." They heard a computerized voice saying when they noticed the lights turned red. "Will the assailants stand down and drop the Techno Blades?"
"First you call us pedestrians, and now we're assailants?" Thunder complained.
Meanwhile, Frost was pushing buttons on the control panel. "Nothing works. Perhaps a malfunction?" he asked before Flash realized what the golden objects are.
"Guys, these must be the Techno Blades," he told them. "The things we have to protect with our very lives."
“Protect from what?” Rainbow asked.
“Very well. Going down?” the computerized voice said as the elevator sent itself down at an alarming speed, causing the twelve to pin the ceiling.
“Gah! Let the elevator have the Techno Blades, darling!” Rarity pleaded. “I think it’s made its point!”
"We have to get out of here!" Landrush shouted before Flash noticed a way out on the roof that they were being forced on as it was going down.
"Going up?" Flash asked before he struggled to stand on his back hooves before he jumped up and knocked the escape hatch on top of the elevator.
"NINJA, GO!" the others shouted as they did Spinjitzu and spun their way out of the elevator and onto the roof. It was still going at high speed until Frost looked over the edge and saw the other elevator going up.
"There!" he told the others as they timed it right and jumped on to the other elevator.
Down on the ground floor a stallion and griffon were standing alone. “I’m bored,” the stallion sighed.
“Really?” the griffon asked. “Well, me too, actually--” He was interrupted when the elevator crashed behind them.
Back on the other elevator the twelve were catching their breath. “Phew, that was close,” Fluttershy said.
Gaia started passing around the outfits. “Looks like we just quit our day jobs,” she said.
Twilight the gasped in alarm. “Oh my gosh! The students and the others!”
Pixal soon led the group into the factory line where robotic arms were working on vehicles at that very moment. "And this is our factory line where--" The lights suddenly turned red as well as her eyes as the arms' lights turned red and redirected their attention towards the tour group. "This will be the end of your tour."
"I don’t know what she meant by that, but I did not like the way she said it," Discord said before his body started to tingle. "Ooohhhh-hoo-hoo! Odd. Haven't felt that in a few years. But that was only when…" Suddenly, his eyes widened with dread.
"What is it?" Celestia asked him when she noticed the worried look on his face.
“He’s back,” Discord said.
“Who’s back?” Starlight asked before they noticed the machines suddenly started going crazy. Wu knocked away a buzz saw when it was close as Luna blasted away a few arms when they tried to grab them while Pixal made her getaway.
"Stay back and stay together!" Aqua told the students as an arm was coming for them before she kicked it back.
"This way, there's a way out!" a colt called out as he pointed to some windows nearby and the students, minus the Young Six and the Serpentine children followed him onto a conveyor belt.
"No! Do not break formation!" Aqua shouted as the students were in danger as a buzz saws was blocking their path and an arm started to grab at them. "Why don't boys ever listen to me?!" She asked before she rushed over to protect the students.
Back on the upper levels, an elevator opened revealing the Ninja and Mane Six in their new suits, with masks that left their manes exposed, and the Ninja holding the Techno Blades.
Rarity looks at them and hummed. “I must compliment Professor Borg. He certainly knows good fashion,” she complimented as they turned to some security bots aiming their guns at them.
"Oh yeah? Two can play at this game!" Trail said before he thrusted his Techno Blade forward but nothing happened. "What's with these things?! How do we turn them on?!" As the bots came closer, the others backed away a bit before Frost noticed the chandelier right above the robots and got an idea.
"Here, let me try!" he told them as swung his Techno Blade only for it to bounce off the wire to the chandelier. "It's not sharp! Why even call it a Blade?!"
They ran until they were cornered. The robots fired at them but they dodged, however the blasts hit the window and it began to crack.
At that moment, the heroes knew they screwed up. "...Oh snap," Pinkie squeaked. The window soon broke and the force of the air flowing out drawn our heroes out of the building before Landrush quickly grabbed hold of a fire hose that went out with them.
"Grab on!" he shouted to the others before they quickly grown hold and the hose was at the end of its line. "Ready to crash the party, team?!" he asked as they swung their way to a window below the one that just broke, only for them to smack into it and not burst through it.
“Ooh, this just isn’t our day,” Rainbow groaned as they slide off the window and fell, only to land on a window cleaner lift.
“Ow!” Thunder said as his Techno Blade landed on his head. A window cleaner bot then noticed them and moved to attack before Applejack bucked it away. “Thanks AJ. What in the world is going on?” he asked.
“It’s like the whole building is out to get us,” Trail added.
“Maybe whoever Dr. Gear tried to warn us about is doing this,” Rarity suggested.
Landrush turned to her. “But that’s crazy Rarity,” he said. “Who would even have that kind of power?”
Twilight thought for a moment, before remembering that when they entered the building she felt a faint ominous presence, and now she could sense it again and it was even stronger, no not stronger, more noticeable. The only other time she felt this presence was when...
“...Oh no…” Twilight gasped in dread.
The other turned to Twilight in confusion. “Um, care to share with the rest of us, Egghead?” Rainbow asked.
"I think I may know who's behind all this, but it couldn't be," she said in a worried tone. "Lloyd defeated him."
"You fools!" a very dark and familiar voice shouted at both Borg and Dr. Gear as a pair of glowing red eyes were on the monitors. "You tried to give them the only thing that could defeat me and thought I wouldn't notice?! I'd get rid of the two of you if I didn't still need you! Don't think to ever betray me again!!!"
"Of course not, I promise," Borg said in a scared tone. "I promise!"
"Don't promise him anything!" Dr. Gear told Borg before she glared at the pair of eyes. "Even if you try to slow them down, they'll get out of the city, and you'll never get what you want from the Council! We're just lucky the Golden Ninja wasn't with them! Soon they'll realize what they're for, and you will be no more!"
“We will see about that, Doctor!!!” the eyes answered back. The lights on Borg's legs turned red as the robotic arms on them grabbed Gear and they moved on their own towards their workbench.
No! No!" Borg pleaded as robotic arms grabbed the two and lay them down on the bench. "Don't! Let us go! No, please, no more!" Sparks started to fly off the bench as the two cried out as something was happening to them.
Back outside as the heroes used the lift to travel downwards Twilight started explaining her idea of the culprit, “...And that’s what Dr. Gear meant when she said he’ll never let us leave,” Twilight finished.
“Do you really think it’s the Overlord who’s behind this?” Thunder asked her worriedly.
“But how?! We all saw Lloyd blow that varmint to kingdom come!” Applejack noted.
"Defeat, yes. But can he be destroyed?" Frost asked before a light shined on them, and they saw a hover copter aiming its weapons at them.
"I don't know, but we can!" Thunder shouted in a scared tone.
Then Frost got an idea. "Landrush, throw me!" Frost told him.
“Excuse me?!” Landrush asked, hoping he misheard.
“THROW ME!” Frost repeated.
Landrush then threw Frost at the copter. Frost grabbed onto it throwing its aim off and destabilizing it. He then flipped onto it’s back and noticed his Techno Blade had gained an ethereal blue gear and Blade and the staff extended. He then jabbed the Blade into the copter as it was covered in an icy aura and then transformed into a Ninja-Copter with a white, blue and gold design and Frost in the cockpit.
“Whoa! What just happened?!” Rainbow asked.
“The Techno Blade must’ve hacked the hover-copter’s systems,” Gaia guessed as Frost pulled up next to them. “Frost controls it.”
“Cool,” they all said in awe.
Back in the factory line, Celestia and Luna blasted away a few robotic arms while Sombra and Hope formed a protective shield around the students near the buzz saws. Aqua then kicked each one down as they were getting closer to the windows.
“Run! Jump! And kick!” She said as she deflected the machines.
Wu then jabbed his staff at one of the lasers and noticed the stairway. “Everycreature! Get to the window!” He said as they all climbed up and Aqua kicked another machine.
"Uh, we have a little problem!" Sandbar shouted when the lift that went up and they all saw a furnace just up ahead.
"How do we stop it?!" Ocellus asked before she spotted a power panel.
"Over there!" Aqua jumped off the conveyor belt and tried to get the panel open.
Then the Ninja and Mane Six flew in on the copter and saw what was happening. Frost fired at the panel, causing Aqua to fall onto the converter belt just in time for it to stop.
“Oh, that was close,” Gallus said as the Ninja-Copter brought the Window-cleaner lift for them to climb on.
“Okay everycreature, back to the bus!” Sombra said as he stepped onto the lift.
“Come on, young’uns! Jump on board!” Applejack said as they all hopped into the lift.
Aqua made sure the coast was clear before rushing over to the bus. But just as she was about to jump, Pixal grabbed her leg.
“Enemy apprehend--” She tried to say but Aqua kicked her, causing her to let go and she ran to the lift hopped onto the copter.
“Come on. She’s one of them! We have to go!” Aqua told Frost as they flew away.
Celestia turned Twilight. “Twilight, what in Equestria is going on here?” She asked.
"We just need to get out of here!" Twilight responded as Frost flew down to the bus. "Aqua, I need you to get back to the School and send a letter to Lloyd if he's not there. We need the Golden Ninja."
"What about you guys?" Aqua asked.
"We must protect the civilians," Discord answered. "If what I felt is true, then things are about to get a lot worse before it gets better." Just as soon as he said, that the whole city went berserk. Traffic lights and robots harassing creatures, vehicles moving around like crazy. It was like the whole city was out to get them all. “See? It’s chaos! And very poorly thought-out chaos, at that,” Discord said in an unimpressed tone.
One of the large robots started to tip over the bus with the students inside as the Ninja and the others tried to keep it from tipping over. "This is just insane!" Nyx shouted.
"I'm on it! NINJA, GO!" Landrush shouted he did Spinjitzu and got on top of the robot before he slammed his hoof into the robot and pulled out a bunch of wires to shut it down as it fell back. "No one calls me pedestrian!"
"I always said Mr. Landrush was my favorite," Daisy said as the students cheered before Aqua drove off with them. The only ones who stayed behind with the Ninja and the others are Cozy Glow, Nyx, the Young Six, and the Serpentine children.
The others then huddled up. “I think I get it now!” Rainbow said.
“Yeah, these Blades hack into their systems!” Trail added.
“They purge the Overlord’s control from them,” Fluttershy continued.
“And turn them into our allies,” Gaia finished her thought.
“I guess the greatest way to beat an enemy is to make them your friend!” Applejack commented.
“So how about we do a little hack-attack ?” Thunder quipped.
"Frost, Trail, and Gaia, you take to the skies," Sensei Wu ordered. "I want Flash, Thunder, and Landrush on the ground. And the rest of us will do what we can for the civilians."
"This is so exciting!" Pinkie said with joy as Landrush was letting out a giggle.
"Anypony else feeling all tingly inside?!" he asked excitedly.
"Let it out, guys. We know you've been holding it back for years now!" Twilight told them.
“NINJA, GO!” they all shouted and split up. Trail and Gaia rode on Frost’s Hover-Copter. They made it to the hologram Highway where both Trail and Gaia jumped on another hover copter before a jet was flying in from the sky.
"Oh, I want that!" Trail called dibs on when he saw it.
"You can have it. I got my eyes set on that!" Gaia told him as she pointed to a spider-like vehicle crawling along the buildings.
They both jumped off the hover-copter and onto their choice vehicles. Trail struck the jet with his Blade and a fiery aura surrounded it as it turned red with fire details and gold propeller Blades. Gaia jumped onto the mechanical spider, jabbed her Techno Blade into its chasse and leafy aura coated it before it turned green with forestry details as Gaia appeared in its control chair.
"Yeah! Ha-ha!" Trail cheered in the cockpit of the jet but realized he did not know how to control it. "Aw, seriously?" He started to press some buttons and the jet started to fly out of control a bit when he pressed the wrong one. "Whoa! Okay, not that button." A hologram version of Borg then appeared in front of him.
“So you've figured out how the Techno Blades work,” the hologram said as Trail looked at it in confusion as he was getting used to the controls. “You must know, they are far, far more important than you think.”
“Umm, ya mind explaining--” Trail asked before he noticed another Jet was following him.
“This is a prerecorded message, but I can tell you that a few months ago, we discovered a virus laying dormant in our system. The Overlord,” the message said as the other jet caught up to Trail.
“So, looks like Twilight was right,” Trail said as he saw the jets fly by him.
"You have to get the Techno Blades out of the city, along with the Council of Friendship," the hologram told him as the jets targeted him. "Because once he knows you have them and that the Council is with you, he'll never let you leave. We’ve also given you new outfits to help block the facial recognition software."
"Uh, great. Style and function," Trail commented before he boosted up his jet. "Wanna wrap it up? I'm a bit occupied at the moment."
"Had we known this would happen, we would never have built where the Overlord was destroyed. Goodbye, Ninja, and good luck." The holo-message ended as a missile was following Trail and he was doing his best to outmaneuver some artillery fire from below.
Meanwhile Gaia was crawling across the sides of the building while the other spider vehicles chased her, she activated the flight mode and went on the offensive, knocking the spider away. Then she was starting to be attacked by the raiders below. “Um, boys, could you take care of that, please?!” She asked.
“Leave it to us Gaia!” Thunder said as he flipped over a mech and jumped onto a raider, slamming his Techno Blade into it, as electricity sparked around and then it exploded into a blue raider as Thunder was driving it, “Ha, I love it!” He said as fired at some of the mechs. "Hey, Landrush, need some help with those security mechs? Or maybe just some old-fashioned artillery fire?"
Landrush ran up to one of the mechs and flipped it over at some of them. "I think I got a handle on it!" he shouted before he ran up to one and the Techno Blade of his extended a chain out as he lifted around and slammed it against it. It turned black and grew golden claws, “Yeah!” Landrush cheered as he slashed the robots, “Stomping Mechs to Mech Stomper!” he said.
Flash rushed by them as he saw a hovercycle coming right at him at high speeds. “Hello, beautiful,” he said with a smirk. He timed it right before doing a backflip as his Techno Blade activated when he landed on the cycle, jabbing the Blade into the cycle. It glowed yellow with winds around it before it transformed into a yellow with silver outline hovercycle that created a light behind it. Flash did a U-turn with the cycle, the light acting like a solid wall as some of the bots slammed into it and exploded. "I'm loving more and more of this hacking stuff!"
“Now that we’ve all got our own rides, let’s clean up the streets!” Trail suggested as they continued fighting.
Back at the School of Friendship, Aqua rushed through the halls. “Lloyd!” she called rushing into the teacher lounge where she thought he was. “The others are in trouble--” She stopped herself when she saw it was Dareth, not Lloyd, sitting in front of the television.
“Oh, hi Aqua. Can you believe,” Dareth gestured to the television, “I’m watching my favorite game show with the Diamond Dogs when BAM! The cable just dies on me!”
Aqua just groaned in exasperation, taking a scroll and quill, and began writing a letter.
Back in the city, the Mane Six was taking out a few robots with the Young Six while Wu, Sombra, Hope, Cozy, Nyx, the Serpentine children, the royal sisters, and Discord were helping the civilians escape the danger. "It's so cool how dad can hack those things!" Sky shouted after seeing Flash use his air cycle to take out a few bots.
"I can hack things too, you know!" Fang reminded her before he ran up and jumped on one of the Security Mechs and bit into it. It turned into a snakelike mech as Fang and the Serpentine children hopped in.
“Awesome!” they all said as they had the citizens board the Serpentine vehicle and drove them off to safety.
"Heads up, sis!" Nyx called out to Cozy before she ran over to her and put up a powerful shield barrier that found back a missile attack.
"Things are really heating up here!" Spike shouted as he and Smolder grabbed a couple of bots and slam them into each other. He held up his hand for a high five, only for her to look away and blush before setting a blaze a few more robots. “Was it something I said?” he wondered.
Sombra blasts more robots but even more showed up, “Gah! Curses, none of this is working!” He said, “No matter how many we strike down, ten more take its place!”
“Sombra’s right! There’s no point in staying in the city anymore!” Flash as he zipped through the streets. "We have to get the Techno Blades and the Council out of the city!"
"But what about the others?" Frost asked as he zipped through the air in his hover vehicle. "We can't leave without them!" Trail picked up each of their locations and headed towards each of them.
"There! I'll pick them up and meet you all at the intersection of Wilfert and Fleming!" He told them.
With Sensei Wu and the others, they soon found themselves surrounded by the security droids. Trail tried to pick them up but the droids made it impossible. “I can’t find a place to land!” he called out, avoiding fire.
Wu saw a fire hydrant nearby before he ran up to it and knock off the top of it. He then used the water to get up close to up close to Trail's jet and watch on as he flew by. They all then met up at where Trail said they would meet, and they were getting surrounded by more robots. "What are we going to do?!" Silverstream asked in a worried tone. "We're surrounded!"
The rest of the Ninja then blasted through the robots and stopped by them. “Everycreature climb on!” Flash said as they all piled onto the vehicles and drove away.
Eventually though they were cornered again. The Ninja tried to destroy the robots but then more just dropped in, “Oh come on! Borg Industries couldn’t have this many!” Rainbow complained.
"There's too many! We're never getting out!" Landrush told the others.
"Just keep going, they'll have to run out of batteries at some point!" Trail shouted as blasted a few.
"Well, I'm not so sure about that," Frost commented as he moved back from a blast.
“Aw hayseeds! Where’s Lloyd when ya need--” Applejack asked before with a wave of golden energy the machines stopped dead in their track.
The group cheered as flying in was Lloyd in his dragon form. “Now’s your chance Twilight!” Lloyd said as Twilight nodded.
“Girls, let’s show these robots the Magic of Friendship,” Twilight declared as the girls then came together, connected their magic, and released a powerful rainbow wave of magic that blasted the machines further back.
The group cheered as Lloyd then changed back to pony form and landed in the center of the group. “Robots vs Ninja and Alicorns? Dare I ask?” Lloyd quipped.
The others gathered around. “Man, are you a sight for sore eyes,” Flash as on the screens showed a sinister pair of eyes and familiar voice.
"So you couldn't help yourself. The Golden Ninja, we meet again," the eyes said as they knew very well who that voice belonged to.
"Overlord!" Lloyd shouted with a glare.
"But how did you survive?!" Twilight asked.
The Overlord merely laughed. “You little foal... Did you really think that I, the living embodiment of the darkness and evil in Equestria, would be brought down so easily?!” he asked spitefully. “I lived through wars, extinctions, and genocides. All you did was trap me is this accursed digital world!”
“We defeated you once, we’ll defeat you again!” Lloyd promised.
"Oh, I don't want to fight," the Overlord told them as the robots started to absorb the friendship magic and the golden power around them. "I just want your power!" Lloyd was getting ready to shoot another golden blast before Celestia stopped him.
"No, your power is only making them stronger," she told him.
“But how do we fight?” Lloyd asked.
Flash shook his head. “We don’t. We need to get you, the Techno Blades, and the girls to safety!” he said.
"I don't think he'll let us leave," Ocellus pointed out.
“I may have a plan, listen closely,” Celestia said as they all huddled together and Celestia whispered her plan.
"Tia, are you sure about this?" Discord asked in a concerned tone.
"If we weren't in this situation, I wouldn't be," Celestia responded. "Now let's go!"
"NINJA, GO!!" The Ninja did Spinjitzu as they took one of the Council of Friendship with them and quickly got back on their new vehicles before they split up.
“I hope this works,” Twilight said as she and Gallus and her kids rode with Flash.
“At a four-point-two percent chance of success, I'd say our hope is slim,” Frost said as Fluttershy, Hope and Sandbar rode with him.
“That's why it's called hope, Frost,” Gaia told him with Rarity and Ocellus rode with her.
“The Techno Blades. Find them!” the Overlord ordered the computer as it showed video recordings of Trail flying with Rainbow and Smolder while Wu and Celestia ran away.
“Searching for Techno Blades,” the computer said.
Landrush and Thunder had made it out of the city as they were on the outskirts. "Landrush, jump on!" Thunder told him before Landrush had his mech jump on the back and gave his vehicle a boost.
Back in the city, Celestia and Wu were running across rooftops as Wu was carrying a large clump of cloth with something in it. They soon pass a camera as it was scanning the cloth he was holding. "Techno Blades, 92 percent confirmation," the computer said
"The sun alicorn and the sensei have them! Get them now!" the Overlord ordered as the two continued to run across the rooftops. They soon came across a large gap to of which Celestia flew over while Sensei Wu jumped across with one leap. They soon came across an intersection where Sensei Wu jumped across the floating traffic lights to get across until they both reached the next rooftop.
A hover copter soon blocked their path before they were surrounded by more. Once the light shine down on them, Sensei Wu unraveled the cloth and revealed that they did not have the Techno Blades. "No. No, no!!!" the Overlord shouted with rage. "Where are the Blades?!" He then checked a camera on the intersection where Sensei Wu was jumping off the hovering traffic lights before he rewound the footage and played it back slowly, which revealed Flash on his Hovercycle getting the Blades when Sensei Wu was low enough to pass them on to him. "Those old fools will pay dearly!!!"
Meanwhile, our heroes we're getting far from the city as they can while Lloyd grew concern for his uncle and Celestia. "We have to go back for them!" He told the others.
“We will, but not until you and the girls are safe,” Trail said.
“He wants these weapons,” Landrush told him, “and for some reason, he wants you and the girls too.”
“Remember, this was Celestia’s plan. They can't break her or Wu,” Luna told them.
“Yesterday is gone, tomorrow has yet to come,” Frost recited what Wu told them. “We need to worry about today.”
“You said it, Frost,” Gallus said.
“We will come back to Neo Equestria City, but only on our terms!” Gaia said, “And when we do, we'll be ready.”
“But for now, we find some place safe to hide,” Flash said as they kept rolling across the desert, “They'll be looking for us.”
“So the question remains: What does the Overlord really want with us?” Twilight wondered.
Back at Borg tower, two shadowy figures were on the one-hundredth floor, one of them having the Overlord's eyes. Down on the factory line, Pixal had a holographic version of Frost up as she took off his head and all four of his hooves before taking out a few things inside and replacing them with new software. She then reattached new hooves and a head with a Ninja mask on. "Upgrade complete," she stated as she uploaded the blueprints to the computer and the factory line started working on a whole new army.
