Eric Sparkle and the Bewitching Bell

Soon enough, Eric looked out the window and saw King Sombra’s looming shadow form over the town. He held Midnight in his arms as Jasper, Smokey, Starlight, and Spike also looked on in horror. Just then, Forest Thunder, Soarin, and Spiracle entered the castle with Eric’s friends in tow.

“Eric, King Sombra is attacking Ponyville. Soarin, Spiracle, and I got your friends here as fast as we could,” Forest said.

“I noticed. Thanks, Forest. You too, Soarin and Spiracle,” Eric replied.

“Don’t mention it,” Soarin said.

“Oh no! We’re in trouble,” Spike spoke up, looking out the window.

Midnight grew fussy and began to cry in fear.

“Shh. Shh. I’m here, little bro. I won’t let that evil king near you,” Eric said, trying to calm down his brother, “Starlight, let’s go somewhere safe.”

“Good thinking,” Starlight replied.

She, Jasper, and Smokey teleported themselves along with Eric, his friends, and the others to the outskirts of Canterlot and took shelter in the caves.

Meanwhile, the Mane 7 managed to dig their way out of the crystal spikes and enter Ponyville. They gasped in shock as they saw everypony in town was already enslaved by King Sombra, including the Cake family, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Pipsqueak, and Rumble. Pinkie cried at the sight of the Cake family in their mind controlled state as they were pulling a cart carrying a black cake with green frosting.

“He made them bake a black licorice fruitcake that says ‘Congratulations to Our Favorite Supreme Emperor King Sombra’ in green frosting! It’s the ugliest cake I’ve ever seen!” Pinkie said, crying.

“Twilight, Storm, this is bad! Like, really bad!” Rainbow remarked as the married couple paced back and forth.

“I’ve never been so sad in my whole life!” Fluttershy said.

“We don’t know what to do! Storm and I don’t know how to free them, but we don’t know how to stop Sombra!” Twilight replied, lowering her head shamefully, “Everypony was so sure we’d do such a great job! Well, this is exactly what we were afraid of! Could anything else possibly go wrong?!”

“Well...with the Tree of Harmony gone, the Everfree Forest could grow out of control and threaten the town!” Pinkie pointed out.

“Darling, that’s oddly specific.” Rarity said.

Pinkie grabbed Rarity and turned her in the direction of the forest, with the others doing the same. They noticed all the trees beginning to grow out of control, as the plants quickly ensnared the closest house. This made them gasp in fear.

The vines were growing fast, appearing like snakes ready to constrict anything in their path. As this happened, Twilight stepped up with a frown on her face.

“Even if we figure out how to defeat Sombra and bring everypony back to Ponyville, if we don’t stop the forest, there won’t be a Ponyville to come back to!” she said.

“Wait, I can’t see Starlight, Jasper, Smokey, Forest, or Eric and his friends anywhere,” Storm replied.

“My best guess is that they’re somewhere safe,” Applejack said.

Rainbow Dash flew off, returning with a various gardening tools she got from the flower shop. “Ahem.” She dropped the tools as they each grabbed one.

“For our friends!” Fluttershy said.

“For our families!” Rarity and Applejack added.

“For our home!” Pinkie and Rainbow cheered as they all stood in line.

Storm and Twilight did the same, “For Equestria!” they finished.

With that, they all charged forward and screamed in unison, “EQUESTRIA!”

Meanwhile, waves of enslaved ponies were advancing onto Canterlot as Sombra appeared at the front, ready to attack. The guards tried to sound the horns, but Sombra blasted them away.

“You! Break it down!” King Sombra told a mind controlled Big Mac.

Without hesitating, Big Mac ran into the door three times before breaking through. It wasn’t long before Sombra entered the castle and into the throne room, noticing it was empty.

“They’ve fled! Celestia, Luna, and Emerald are too cowardly to even stand against me! Equestria is mine!” Sombra said, laughing evilly.

In the caves of Canterlot, Eric couldn’t help but think about Nightshade, his grandparents, and the others in the city.

“We need to go find Nightshade and my grandparents before Sombra does,” Eric said.

“Good thinking, Eric,” Apple Bloom replied.

“I advise caution, Eric. If Sombra finds you, he’ll either take you captive or put you under his mind control,” Starlight said.

“We’ll try to stay out of his sight,” Eric replied, then turned to the others, “Follow me.”

Eric and his friends crept into the city, hiding behind buildings and looking in every direction. They snuck around until they reached Fancy Pants’ mansion.

“Forest, Soarin, Spiracle, Jasper, and Smokey, can you please go find the rest of my family?” Eric asked.

“We’re on it,” Spiracle replied.

“We’ll get them to the caves before Sombra can mind control them,” Forest added as they went to find the rest of Eric’s family.

“Alohomora,” Eric said, taking out his wand.

It was then that they entered the mansion and began looking for Nightshade.

“Hello? Nightshade, ya home?” Apple Bloom asked.

Eric and his friends wandered the mansion until they found Nightshade playing with his little brother and sister, Inferno and Marigold.

“Nightshade, over here,” Eric said.

“Hello, Eric,” Nightshade greeted, “What brings you and the others here?”

“King Sombra is back and we came to find you before he could,” Apple Bloom replied.

“But he was destroyed by the Crystal Heart,” Nightshade said.

“Glacio must’ve brought him back to life somehow, now let’s go. You should take Inferno and Marigold with you as well,” Eric replied.

Nightshade placed his siblings onto his back, then left with Eric and the others. They went over to find his grandparents’ houses. Upon reaching one of them, he frantically knocked on the door. It wasn’t long before Night Light and Velvet answered and opened it.

“Hi, Eric,” Velvet said.

“Good to see you,” Night Light added.

“Good to see you as well, Grandma Velvet and Grandpa Night Light. We came to warn you of King Sombra’s return,” Eric replied.

“No time to explain, we need to get you to the caves before he can put you under his spell,” Zuni added.

Velvet and Night Light followed Eric and his friends as they went to find his other two grandparents’ house. Once there, he knocked on their door and waited for them. It wasn’t long before Lancer and Kimono answered the door and opened it.

“Hi, Eric,” Lancer said.

“Good to see you,” Kimono added.

“Hi, Grandpa Lancer. Hi, Grandma Kimono. King Sombra is back and we came to get you to safety,” Eric replied.

“Follow us to the caves,” Marina added.

They soon noticed King Sombra and several brainwashed ponies coming their way as he began to enslave more ponies and quickly escaped the city. Luckily, they managed to sneak out unseen and get back into the caves. Forest, Soarin, Spiracle, Jasper, and Smokey also came back to the caves with Eric’s other family members in tow.

Later on, King Sombra was remodeling the throne room with crystal spikes. Just then, the Mane 7 and Discord entered the room as he looked behind him.

“Okay, ‘King’ Sombra! Time to give up the crown!” Rainbow said.

“Here to fight the good fight with nothing but your wits? Admirable, but foolish!” Sombra retorted, with an evil laugh.

He then tried blasting them, only for Discord to snap his fingers turn the magic blast into what looked like pudding, which then dissipated. Sombra fired again, only for Discord to snap his fingers and transform it into pink smoke.

“Well, I guess it’s on me to be the MVP today. I was betting on you, and I do hate being wrong,”Discord said as he snapped his fingers, which turned the magic blasts into balloons, butterflies, confetti, and glitter, “Although if you think about it, I am your friend, so maybe you win because friendship wins? Although Fluttershy should get most of the credit for that. She’s my favorite.”

Just then, Sombra grinned evilly before shifting his target. Instantly, his magic beam shot for Fluttershy, only for Discord to leap in front and shield her at the last moment. Time seemed to slow down as the seven ponies watched the blast hit Discord in chest. He was sent flying past them, slamming into the doorway as the others turned to him in shock.

“DISCORD!” Fluttershy screamed as they ran over to him. The seven ponies gasped as they saw his unconscious body.

“Not even the Lord of Chaos can stand against me! I am truly the most powerful creature in Equestria!” Sombra said as he encased the thrones inside a large crystal.

The others were barely listening to them as they gathered around Discord and Rainbow lifted his head. “Discord!” she cried out.

“We need you!” Twilight said.

“Oh. Please wake up, please wake up...” Fluttershy added, tearing up and holding his neck. Discord’s face started moving at this, “Discord!” she cried as he opened his eyes, hugging him while the others smiled.

“I’m so glad you’re okay!” Twilight said, “We can’t beat him without you!”

“You couldn’t beat me with him, either!” Sombra boasted, with an evil laugh.

They all stared at Discord, only to see him cough before speaking in a weak voice, “It would appear that you’re on your own,” He took a ragged breath before snapping his fingers, but a spark escaped barely them, “I have nothing left to give.”

“That’s it, then? We’re doomed?” Applejack asked.

“Of course you are. I can’t believe it’s taken you this long to realize it,” Sombra replied, “Now, how shall I eliminate all this clutter in my throne room?” The Mane 7 just growled at the evil king.

“I’ll keep him busy,” Storm said.

“You’re all unwise to lower your defenses!” Sombra shouted, as he tried to blast the Mane 7.

Storm managed to shield himself and the others from the blast and blasted the evil king, only for him to block it. The two unicorns tried to blast each other only to block each other’s attacks. Storm quickly noticed a crystal spike right above Sombra and blasted it, then they kept exchanging attacks as it fell on top of the evil king and knocked him down. It wasn’t too long before Sombra got back up and noticed the crystal that fell on him.

“Impressive…Most impressive,” Sombra remarked.

“Listen to me. You don’t need me. You don’t need the princesses, and you certainly don’t need the Elements,” Discord said with a cough, “Fluttershy, you will always be kind. Applejack, you will always be honest. Rarity, you’ll always be generous. *ragged breath* And Rainbow Dash will be loyal as can be. Pinkie will always bring laughter wherever she goes. And Twilight... *coughs* you are and always will be the embodiment of magic. You lost sight of what’s in front of you. You’re here, together, willing to give everything you’ve got for Equestria. Nothing and nopony can ever take that away from you, because that’s who you are.”

“It’s going to take more than a sentimental speech to save you,” Sombra retorted, laughing evilly as he and Storm kept dueling.

“Discord’s right. We’ve proven time and time again that the real magic is the six of us working together!” Twilight said as they turned to face Sombra, “With these girls and my husband by my side, I’m not afraid of you! I’m not afraid of what you can do or how much power you have!”

It was then that Storm and Sombra stopped dueling as the former rejoined his wife and their friends.

“You should be,” Sombra replied as he blasted Twilight and Storm.

Twilight and Storm managed to block the attack, then staggered back at the blow against the barrier, but they pushed themselves back up a second later.

“You may knock us down,” Twilight said as they began walking forward, “But we’re gonna get back up again!” King Sombra fired another blast, Twilight and Storm blocking it with a slightly less stagger, “And again!” Sombra fired and this time, Twilight and Storm’s horns glowed to form a blade of magic that cut the attack in half. “And again! As long as we’re together, we will never stop trying to defeat you!”

“We’re full of surprises!” Storm added.

King Sombra fired his magic at full force, but Twilight and Storm fired their own magic blasts. The three beams struck, pushing against each other as it quickly knocked Twilight and Storm back.

“For our friends!” Fluttershy said as she grabbed Twilight’s hoof.

“For our families!” Rarity and Applejack added, grabbing their hooves.

“For our home!” Pinkie and Rainbow continued, placing their hooves on their backs.

Twilight smiled as Storm placed his hoof on her back and nodded at her.

“For Equestria!” They exclaimed together as the magic emitting from Twilight began to spread around them all. Sombra’s magic was completely cancelled out and he staggered back against his throne.

“No! This can’t be possible! Your magic can’t defeat mine! I destroyed the source of your power!” Sombra shouted.

“You’re wrong! While the Elements helped channel our power, they were never the source of it!” Storm replied.

“You can’t destroy our friendship, Sombra!” Twilight said.

“And we keep telling bad guys,” Rainbow added.

“But y’all just don’t seem to remember,” Applejack continued.

“Friendship is magic!” they finished in unison as the energy exploded off of them. Sombra fired another attack, but his magic simply bounced off the magical barrier. This caused him to step back away until he backed into the crystal block.

“Noooooooooo!” Sombra yelled as he was destroyed by the Mane 7’s power.

The magic then spread out, destroying the crystals in the throne room before extending out into the rest of the castle. As it hit everypony, they were freed from mind control. It then spread throughout the rest of Canterlot, freeing the ponies, then to Ponyville where the crystals infesting it completely vanished.

Soon enough, Eric and his friends, along with Starlight, Spike, Forest, Jasper, and Smokey entered the throne room with Celestia, Luna, and Emerald behind them. Eric and Nightshade were holding their younger siblings. They were glad to see the Mane 7 tending to Discord. He was currently laying on a bed of pillows, the girls doing their best to keep him comfortable.

“Aw...Do you want more juice?” Fluttershy asked.

“Only if it’s not too much trouble,” Discord told her weakly. “And it’s red. And it has one of those little umbrellas. And two cherries. No, no, actually, make it three. And maybe, uh...some donuts?”

“I see you’ve made yourselves at home,” Celestia said.

“Celestia! Luna! Emerald! We know what you’re going to say. Storm and I should have called on you as soon as we knew how dangerous it was,” Twilight replied, “A good leader knows when to ask for help, and we didn’t. And because of us, the Tree of Harmony was destroyed. Equestria deserves somepony much better than the two of us as its leaders.”

“You’re right,” Celestia said as Twilight and Storm sighed, lowering their heads, “About one thing. A good leader knows when to ask for help, but a great leader has the courage to admit when they’ve made a mistake and the strength to make it right. Today, you’ve both proven to me beyond any doubt that you two will be great leaders.”

“Will be?” Twilight asked.

“Luna, Emerald, and I have decided it may have been a bit unfair to thrust this upon you both without giving you the time you need to prepare,” Celestia replied.

“Thank goodness! I really wasn’t ready!” Twilight said with sigh of relief.

“Not ready?!” They all spun around to see Discord jump to his feet, the draconequus marching up to them. “So, Twilight’s not taking over?! This was all for nothing?! I pretended to be very hurt and gave one of the most convincing speeches of my-”

“PRETENDED?!” Storm, Twilight, and Fluttershy screeched.

“Of course! You don’t think some ‘would-be king’ could actually hurt the Lord of Chaos, do you? Anyway, as I was saying, I pretended to be very hurt to convince you that you didn’t need anything but yourselves to be the incredible leaders I know you both can be.” He turned to Celestia, “And now it’s not happening?!”

“It will. But when she’s ready,” Celestia replied.

Discord slithered back, “How can she not be ready?!” he asked, walking up to one of the windows. “What a waste of a perfectly wonderful speech!” He slid the stain glass window up...somehow, and stepped through it. “Ugh! Honestly, I don’t know why I even bother.” He slid the window back down as the others looked one another over.

“Ugh! So, he could have ended the whole Sombra thing whenever he wanted?” Rarity asked.

Fluttershy giggled at this and replied, “But he didn’t, because he cares.”

“That’s Discord for ya,” Rainbow added.

“He sure has a weird way of bein’ supportive,” Applejack remarked.

“Super odd dude,” Pinkie said giggled before Discord appeared in one of the window images.

“I heard that!” he yelled before disappearing, everypony turning to one another before laughing.

“Also, Truth be told, Celestia and I had fun today fighting side-by-side with Starswirl for our home,” Luna said, “It’s been years since we’ve gotten to do what you girls do. You all make it look so easy.”

“Well, we are kind of an awesome team,” Rainbow replied.

“Every adventure is heart-pounding, but so rewarding,” Fluttershy added.

“I’m up for anything, as long as it’s with all of you!” Pinkie continued.

Rarity giggled at this and said, “Life certainly hasn’t been dull since we met.”

“Nowhere else I’d rather be,” Applejack chuckled.

Twilight also nodded and remarked, “We are pretty incredible together, and we would do anything for Equestria. I guess I know that when the time comes, as long as we’re together, we probably-” Their friends all cleared their throats, “We definitely got this.” The others pulled Twilight and Storm into a hug, as everypony else smiled at the heroes who once again saved Equestria.

Eric tapped his mom on her shoulder, “Mom, since you and Dad are gonna be the new rulers soon, does this mean that I’m your heir to the throne?” he asked.

“I’m not sure about that, sweetheart. We might set your little brother, Midnight on that path,” Twilight replied.

“You may never have to carry the burden of the throne, but you and your friends’ destinies as the future protectors of Equestria are also important,” Storm added.

Meanwhile, at the ice fortress, Cozy Glow, Tirek, and Chrysalis were in a circle holding hooves and hands.

“Now I'll say something nice about centaurs. Tirek, you say something nice about changelings. And Chrysalis, you say something nice about ponies!” Cozy Glow said. The other two were annoyed at this.

“Never!” Chrysalis shouted, pulling her hoof out of Tirek's hand.

She would have pulled herself away from Cozy Glow, but the filly had quite the grip despite her size. It was then that Glacio and his seven officers entered the room.

“Let us hope the three of you will be enough for our plans,” Glacio said.

“And what of King Sombra?” Chrysalis replied, freeing herself from Cozy Glow.

“Did he succeed?” Tirek asked, only for Glacio to growl.

He went up to his crystal ball, which activated and showed the scene where Sombra was obliterated by the Mane 7.

“I'd say he gambled and lost! But at least he can serve as a warning to those who doubt continuing with my plans. Unless any of you have doubts,” Glacio said.

“Uh, not I,” Tirek replied.

“Nope!” Chrysalis added.

“I’m good!” Cozy Glow finished.

“Then we shall join forces and work together to bring Equestria to its knees!” Glacio said, laughing evilly. Chrysalis, Tirek, and Cozy Glow laughed with him nervously.