Metal Gear Spark: Dite Survival (Guide) (R.T.)

by GreenS21

Rating: mature
Tags: Tempest Shadow, Metal Gear, Profanity, Adventure, Violence, Crossover, Death, Alternate Universe, Twilight Sparkle, Drama, Gore, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Dark
Length: 9256

Readable Teaser

Published 2024-04-02 08:30:00 UTC
Last updated 2024-04-02 08:30:00 UTC

A Dim Spark Begins to Glow Again

Even the hottest lava eventually cools, becoming a mountain, and that mountain becomes the land. Scalding steam comes back down as rain, forming rivers, draining into the sea. It’s then that nature’s order sets in. Now, I’m merely a part of that cycle. Just like Zero… and Big Boss.

That lava – that vengeance – is already set as stone. Too late to change things now.

The choice is not mine to make.

-Skull Face, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain (2015)

Equestria. The magical kingdom that ponies near and far called home. Ponies knew how to celebrate the magic of their home, and this day seemed like it would be no exception. The first Friendship Festival was being held in the kingdom’s capital, Canterlot, and the excitement was building to a fever pitch as ponies arrived from as near as Manehattan to as far as Saddle Arabia to take part. Despite the final touches that needed to be done, everyone was looking forward to the festival. Everyone was ready for this incredible celebration.

All except for one pony. Inside Canterlot Castle, Princess Twilight Sparkle sat on the floor in the hallway outside the throne room where her fellow princesses, Celestia, Luna, and Cadance, had gathered as they waited for the festival to begin. Atop her head sat her crown and in front of her were her olive drab green pack and a canteen in a pouch that was the same color, both of which she’d brought from home. She reached her hoof into the pack and pulled out a pill organizer containing her daily medications. She took a single tablet out of one of the compartments and threw it into her mouth, reaching for the canteen afterwards and using her magic to unscrew the lid to get a drink of water to wash the tablet down with.

The lavender alicorn had had her hooves full with preparing this festival and she had one more idea she wanted to bounce off of her fellow princesses and see if they would approve of it, particularly since it involved them, but that wasn’t the only reason she wasn’t going in to speak with them yet. She was also waiting for her assistant and best friend Spike to arrive with the scrolls containing everything she’d put together to explain her idea. She was going to need a good presentation if she was going to have any chance of convincing them that this would be good for the Friendship Festival.

As she set her canteen down and put her medication away, she couldn’t help but realize it felt like she was going to be doing a presentation in school. A small sigh escaped her lips as she sat back on her haunches. “Back when everything was so much simpler. Before I really had friends. Before I was a princess. Before… I had a glimpse of what certain friends and co-workers no other pony will ever get to meet would call Hell,” she murmured.

Twilight turned her head to look up at the stained-glass window that was made in her honor, showing her in all her glory just like Celestia, Cadance, and Luna. She continued to stare up at it; an outside observer would probably see this as a display of self-absorbed behavior, but they would’ve been absolutely wrong. Twilight was envious of the mare in the window. She looked so poised, so peaceful, so loving, so… complete.

She looked back down at her pack and canteen. They were physical mementos of what she referred to as her ‘time abroad’ whenever she was questioned about her time away from Equestria by somepony she didn’t feel comfortable sharing all the details with, but they weren’t the only things she had to remind her she’d seen the fires of Hell. She raised her hoof to her right cheek. It didn’t look any different from her left cheek, but she knew that was due to her friend Rarity’s expert makeup work, work that her unicorn friend had been happy to do for her over the last two years. She was able to cover up the burn on her cheek, as well as the burn on her chest, quite well, but she could still feel it, the rough, uneven patch of skin stretching along the side of her cheek.

She lowered her hoof and looked up at the window again. “This festival is meant to be one of the biggest celebrations ever in Equestria. It’s meant to be the culmination of everything you and your friends have done, all the lessons you learned. Even if…” She faced forward, “I’m damaged. I don’t know if I got stronger from that experience, but it has changed me. I’ve tried to continue on the path I think I would’ve been on if it hadn’t happened, but it hasn’t been easy. Today, more than ever, I wish I still was that mare. I’ve been trying so hard…” Her gaze lowered to the floor after a few seconds, “Have I been trying too hard…?”

She heard one of the doors behind her open followed by the sound of Spike’s voice, “I’m here, Twilight! I brought all your charts and graphs.” Twilight raised her head and looked back at the baby dragon approaching her over her shoulder. “I got held up a little on the way over here. There are a lot of ponies out there already.”

Twilight’s eyes flicked towards the window for a moment. The idea of so many ponies being out there should’ve made her anxiety shoot up, but it didn’t. That was a good sign that her medication was starting to take effect, which would no doubt help her presentation go smoother. She stood up and turned to face him. “Did you stop anywhere along the way, Spike?” she asked.

Spike stopped a short distance away and raised an eyebrow as he asked, “What do you take me for? Of course not; I didn’t want to get these dirty.” He then looked her up and down, “You seem pretty calm right now. Did you get your medicine in?”

Twilight replied, “Uh, like a minute ago. The fact that I’m about to ask the Princesses of Equestria for a huge favor isn’t really making me feel nervous. Is that a good thing?”

Spike smiled, “Hey, don’t worry. It’ll be fine; after all, you’re a princess too. You’ve got this.”

Twilight sighed and uttered, “If you say so…” She and Spike walked forward, using her magic to carry her pack and canteen and set them near the throne room doors before she used her magic to push them open.

Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, and Princess Cadance were standing in the middle of the room when Twilight and Spike walked in. Twilight could feel a lurching in her stomach and perspiration beginning to gather on her brow as she approached them, but she did her best to keep moving and push the feelings down. “Good morning, Princesses. Thank you for agreeing to meet with me,” she said, stopping and doing a slight bow before them.

“Of course, Twilight. We always enjoy seeing you, and I’ve no doubt that you’ve come with a wonderful idea for the Friendship Festival,” Celestia replied, giving her a warm smile.

Cadance spoke next, “It really is impressive what you’ve managed to achieve, Twilight. Ponies have been arriving from all over all morning. I really wish Shining had been able to come.” Twilight could feel her heartbeat beginning to pound harder in her chest. She wondered if the princesses were able to hear it.

Luna added, “I’d like to think it’s to see us, but… Songbird Serenade might be the bigger attraction. We’re very fortunate to have her performing here today.”

Twilight swallowed and said, “Yes, she really is the main star here.”

Celestia replied, “Don’t be so modest, Twilight. None of this would’ve been possible without you. Now, what did you want to see us about?”

Twilight bit her lip and her gaze dropped towards the floor. She thought her medication would help with this part, but it wasn’t giving her the effect she was hoping for. She was losing her nerve and she wasn’t feeling like the old Twilight in this crucial moment. All she could think about was getting away from here.

Spike couldn’t see her face due to standing behind her and so he didn’t see the turmoil brewing, so his first thought was that she had lost her place in her rehearsed script and was pausing. Seeing the looks of concern starting to come across the other Princesses’ faces, he spoke up, “Oh, she, uh, she had this great idea to make Songbird Serenade’s performance even better! She really put a lot of thought into it. Even drew up all these…”

He was cut off when Twilight suddenly backed up and pressed her right wing against him. “N-No. That’s not… It wasn’t anything really important. I just wanted to see how you were all doing before heading down to the festival,” she sputtered.

Cadance asked, “Well, what are those scrolls in Spike’s arms for, then?”

Twilight glanced back in Spike’s direction for a moment and then returned her gaze to the floor, quickly saying, “They’re nothing. This is all stuff that needs to be shredded. …Spike, we need to go.” Before anyone could say anything else, her horn lit up and she and Spike disappeared into thin air.

The two reappeared in the middle of the festival grounds. Spike was a bit disoriented after the sudden teleport and Twilight took the opportunity to grab all the scrolls in his arms and disintegrate them with her magic. He stared up as the last of them turned black and faded away and then turned to Twilight and asked, “Twilight, why’d you do that? You worked so hard on those and put so much thought into that idea.”

Twilight slumped and sat down, looking down at the ground as she said, “It was a dumb idea… They wouldn’t have gone along with it anyway…”

Spike frowned and walked over next to her to pat her on the side of her flank. “Twilight, I think they would’ve liked to hear it anyway. I’m sure they would’ve liked to see the old Twilight again. They like to see that side of you, and that’s the one who came up with and organized this whole festival.”

Twilight continued to stare at the ground. After a minute, Spike turned to look at the sound of hooves approaching and saw their friends trotting over. They called Twilight and Spike’s names and Twilight raised her head to look at them. While Spike left Twilight’s side to sidle up to Rarity, Applejack looked at Twilight and asked, “What’s goin’ on, Sugarcube? What happened with the other Princesses?” Twilight tilted her head back down towards the ground at her words.

Rainbow flew over and observed the alicorn for a moment before guessing, “You lost your nerve?”

Twilight nodded, “Yes, I did.”

Fluttershy murmured, “Oh, Twilight, I’m so sorry…”

Rarity spoke, “Darling, you have to keep it together. I know your memories inexplicably come up and can rattle you, but you have to push past them for now. You are a princess, this festival is your brilliant idea, and you ARE up to the task!”

Twilight raised her head and asked, “Am I, really?”

Pinkie rushed over in front of her and grabbed her cheeks with her hooves, making the alicorn look directly at the pink pony. “Of course you are, Twilight! This festival will be the biggest celebration in the history of Equestria! It’s the culmination of everything that’s happened since Princess Celestia sent you to Ponyville! And there’s no way you can fail! You know why?” Twilight shook her head, so she said, “Because you have US!”

That had been the last time over the last few days that things had seemed like they were going up for the ponies, particularly for Twilight. The near completion of the preparations for the Friendship Festival and the arrival of Songbird Serenade were interrupted by the invasion of the Storm King and his forces. It was unlikely that the invasion was what Twilight imagined the raid on Mother Base two years ago had been like, but the end result was essentially the same. Celestia, Luna, and Cadance had been petrified and captured, the city of Canterlot was taken over, and Twilight and her friends had narrowly managed to escape via the river.

As they were getting their bearings, Twilight had remembered that, before she was completely petrified, Celestia had told Luna to head south beyond the Badlands to seek out a queen for help. She made a quick teleport back to Ponyville to grab her Sneaking Suit and some supplies and they headed south into the Badlands. They made it all the way to Klugetown and were sort of helped by the rogue known as Capper, but their escape from the settlement and then from Captain Celaeno and her crew’s airship when they accidentally drew the attention of the Storm King’s forces had been close calls. Still, they had managed to arrive at their intended destination, Mount Aris, and discovered the hiding place of Queen Novo, the Queen of the Hippogriffs, and her people in an underwater cave below their former home. There, they discovered that they possessed a magical pearl that enabled them to change their form to adapt to their new environment, and though they had no intention of helping the Equestrians, they did share the transformative magic with them and offer them refuge.

Which led to the current situation. While Pinkie and her other friends tried to convince Queen Novo to reconsider, Twilight was sneaking behind their backs to try to claim the magic power in order to give everyone back in Canterlot a power boost in order to rise up. She was currently outside the underwater palace, waiting for all the hippogriffs to leave. Once she was sure the palace was unguarded, she swam inside, still not used to her new lower fish-like body.

The magic pearl sat in the center of the room with what looked like jellyfish tentacles extending down from the ceiling around it. Twilight came to a stop a short distance away and stared. “It must be some sort of security system. If I touch a tentacle, it’ll probably set off an alarm,” she thought. She steeled herself, “I can do this. I’ve snuck into heavily guarded places before. I can easily get past some tentacles. And once I have this magic, I’ll take it back to Canterlot and use it to change everypony. Queen Novo will understand; there’ll be no need for her and the hippogriffs to risk themselves. I’ll be able to make an army of my own. An army made of… prisoners… and innocents… without asking them…”

She found herself hesitating as she thought about what she was going to do. Sure, perhaps her heart was in the right place, but she began to wonder if she really was doing the right thing. She would be betraying the small amount of trust Queen Novo was showing them, and then there was the issue of her friends doing something completely different, so she essentially lied to her friends. She also had no idea whether this hastily thought-out idea would actually work. But more than anything, she began to see she was acting in a way that Big Boss probably would. He didn’t trust government institutions, his actions leading up to the last time she saw him suggested he was beginning to focus more on things that would help him, and the only constant for him was… war…

Twilight turned and looked at one of the columns in the palace. She could just about see her reflection in it when she drifted closer. The water had washed away the makeup on her cheek, revealing her scar once again. She continued to stare as she reflected on herself. Although she still held some respect for Big Boss, her trust in him had waned as his military power grew. He became colder and more distant, sending his troops off to more dangerous assignments and showing less care for their well-being. She had wondered before if, if it hadn’t been for Miller vetoing the idea, he would make sure Chico wasn’t the only child soldier in his army, and magic like this would certainly affect fillies and colts as well. She had no illusions; she knew a lot of things Big Boss did were, while generally necessary, not justifiable on a legal or a moral scale. And here she was, very nearly perpetuating that mindset without even realizing it; even her actions between setting out into the Badlands and arriving at Mount Aris in some way went against who she was and what she believed in.

She slowly turned to look back at the magic pearl. A determined look appeared on her face after a minute and she steeled herself again. “I know what I have to do,” she murmured.

Spike and the other ponies, meanwhile, were coming to the end of their song and Queen Novo was feeling rather good-spirited by this point and after expressing her jubilation, she stated, “Well, I guess there is ONE small thing we can do…” Before she could say anymore, an alarm suddenly rang out, which was identified by one of the seaponies as the pearl alarm. That sent Queen Novo, her daughter Princess Skystar, and the rest of the seaponies swimming back to the palace with the ponies following close behind.

Spike was also following them, but he was still adjusting to his pufferfish body and so he fell behind. Because of this, however, after everyone else entered the palace, he noticed Twilight shoot out from below the palace, swimming away from it. “Twilight?” he called as he turned to watch her swim away, but she didn’t seem to hear him. He turned to look back towards the palace for a moment before swimming after her.

Inside the palace, Queen Novo stared at a fish that one of the tentacles was wrapped around. “This is what set off the alarm?” she asked.

“I-It would appear so, my Queen,” one of the seaponies said. She swam forward and pulled the fish free; as she did, she noticed something curious about it. “Your Majesty! There appears to be something written here,” she said.

Queen Novo looked at her expectantly, “Well, what does it say?” The seapony held the fish up and struggled slightly to keep it between her hooves as she started to read.

Twilight took a breath of fresh air as she broke the surface of the water. She had managed to find an exit out of the underwater cave that took her to the surface, coming up between the mainland and Mount Aris. She was still a seapony, but she could feel the magic from the pearl getting weaker. She swam over to the shore and as she pulled herself out of the water, the magic ran out and her fish tail returned to her normal hind legs with a bright flash. Even her Sneaking Suit returned to normal without being torn or ripped.

She stared in awe at what had happened for a moment before she blinked and remembered what she was doing. “This isn’t a better idea… It’s not even a good idea… But at least the hippogriffs will be safe… I choose peace,” she murmured.

Spike made it to the surface and looked around frantically. He’d lost track of Twilight in the tunnel and he had no idea what she was thinking. “Twilight?! Twilight!” he called as he looked around. He soon saw her flying up from the shore, just flying straight into the sky. “Twilight, what are you doing?” he murmured.

Once she was sufficiently high enough, Twilight stopped and hovered while she channeled her magic into her horn. She unleashed it after several seconds in a flash so bright that Spike had to avert his eyes. She then used her magic to amplify her voice and called, “TEMPEST SHADOW! I’M HERE!”

Just about all the color drained from Spike’s face as he realized what was happening: Twilight was turning herself over to the Storm King. “No! NO! TWILIGHT! TWILIGHT!!!” He screamed as loud as he could, but she couldn’t hear him. As he kept trying to get her attention, the airship that had been pursuing them earlier appeared and Twilight flew straight towards it.

‘Queen Novo,

Your offer to join your kingdom is very much appreciated, but I fear I will put you all in danger. I'm the one the Storm King is after, and the recent actions of Commander Tempest have convinced me that he will not rest until he has me.

Just as you have a duty to your kingdom, I have a duty to Equestria as well as its allies.

I'm doing this so that you may remain hidden. I hope we meet again.

-Cordially,

Princess Twilight Sparkle’

The seapony looked up at Queen Novo as she finished reading the letter. “That is all it says, my Queen,” she said.

Queen Novo turned to Twilight’s friends, who were looking around, and demanded, “What is she saying? What is going on here?”

Applejack was the first to speak up, “Uh, Ah’m afraid Ah don’t know, Your Majesty. Twilight never mentioned anything about somethin’ like this ta any o’ us.”

While looking outside the palace, Rainbow asked, “Where is she?! I thought she was with us! Same with Spike!”

Rarity gasped, “Spike is missing too?!” Several tense moments passed before they suddenly heard something outside the palace. The other ponies looked outside as well and saw Spike swimming towards them, looking winded and distraught. “Spikey!” Rarity said before swimming towards him, her friends and Princess Skystar following her. Queen Novo and several seaponies followed as well after a moment.

Rarity was the first to reach Spike and she cupped his cheeks between her hooves. “Spike! What happened? Where’s Twilight?” she asked.

Spike was hyperventilating heavily and so it took him a few moments to calm down enough to speak coherently. “They got her!” he choked out.

“What?! You mean they’re here?!” Rainbow asked.

“You led them here?!” Queen Novo angrily demanded.

“NO!” Spike screamed, causing everyone present to flinch. It took him a moment to calm down before he continued, “She… She went to the surface and surrendered to Tempest Shadow!” Everyone gasped at that.

Twilight sat in the cage she was locked in, her legs pulled close to her body. Her Sneaking Suit was designed with top-notch heat and moisture insulation, and she was grateful for that. The hold she was in felt pretty chilly. Her gaze was directed at the floor of the cage, memories of her last time being held in a cage coming to the forefront of her mind. Even if this was what she decided to do, that didn’t mean she enjoyed her decision.

She heard the sound of hooves a minute later and she raised her head to glance towards the stairs. It was that unicorn with the broken horn that served the Storm King, Tempest Shadow. She approached the cage and said, “You certainly ran longer than I thought you would’ve, Princess, especially with all the ‘baggage’ you were carrying. Why the change of heart?”

Twilight halfheartedly answered, “I finally admitted to myself that I couldn’t run forever. There was nowhere I could go where you wouldn’t find me.”

Tempest let out a huff and began to walk around the cage as she said, “And now you’re all alone. No friends, no way out… Are you happy with your decision, Princess of Friendship?”

Twilight turned her head to follow her as she walked. “Can you answer one question for me?” Tempest let out a grunt in reply, so she asked, “Why do you serve the Storm King? Your physical abilities are incredible, you’re one of the toughest ponies I’ve ever seen, and you’ve clearly gotten by without your horn for-” She was cut off when, as she came around the front again, Tempest turned and slammed heavily against the cage, prompting Twilight to back away.

“Stop talking! Do you think your lies will have any effect on me?!” she growled. Before Twilight could respond, she asked, “You really want an answer to your plight, some sort of reason why we’re here? Then let me tell you why you and I are not alike!”

The sunlight temporarily blinded Twilight as her cage finished rising out of the hold. As her vision cleared, she could see Canterlot off in the distance. They were almost to their destination.

She looked to her left at Tempest and said, “I’m so sorry… that there was no one there for you… that no one understood…”

Tempest simply stared straight ahead as she replied, “I came to understand. I saw the truth about friendship. I learned to deal with it on my own. I’m more than you’ll ever be. You could never understand.”

Twilight quietly said, “I do understand.” She faced forward, “I know what it’s like to suffer alone.” Tempest continued to stare towards Canterlot, unmoved by the alicorn’s words. If she was being honest, part of her was curious as to what she meant, but she refused to let that side of her get in the way, not now when she was so close. Even if she had to continue serving the Storm King, it would be worth it as long as she achieved her goal.

Battle for Canterlot

Applejack, Rainbow, Rarity, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Spike made it to the surface and swam to the nearby shore, all changing back to their original forms just as Twilight did. As they were getting up, Fluttershy said, “I really wish Queen Novo had changed her mind. Even when we said we couldn’t stay, she still seemed like she didn’t want to help.”

Rainbow turned to her, “It doesn’t matter right now what she was thinking, Fluttershy, and it doesn’t matter what Twilight was thinking! Whatever made her decide to let herself get captured, we gotta get her back! If we gotta fight the Storm King’s army to get to her, then that’s what we have to do! We can’t wait for her to make up her mind!”

Rarity asked, “And how exactly are we going to fight them, Rainbow Dash? Don’t forget that we fled Canterlot for a reason.”

Applejack nodded, “She’s right. We still ain’t got no way ta defeat them.”

As they were standing around, they suddenly heard a familiar voice say, “Well, good thing I happen to know a group of mighty heroes that could handle this easily!” They noticed a shadow being cast over them and turned to look. There, standing on top of a rock nearby, was their feline acquaintance from Klugetown, Capper Dapperpaws.

“Well, look what the cat dragged in: himself!” Rarity angrily huffed, the memory of the rogue nearly selling them out last time they saw him fresh in her mind.

Unruffled by her words, Capper went on, “These heroes have faced the Storm King’s army and escaped! I’ve seen them tackle the streets of the roughest towns, break out of the tightest situations, and inspire others to join their cause!”

Noticing her friends seemed to be hanging on the feline’s every word, Applejack clarified, “Now don’t get too excited. He’s just talkin’ about us.”

Capper said, “Now, now, let me finish. There’s one more thing.” He slid down the rock to the group as he finished, “They even escaped certain doom at the hooves of Commander Tempest!”

Rainbow grinned, “Yeah, that was pretty great.”

Another familiar voice spoke up, “Are you kidding?!” Everyone looked up and saw Captain Celaeno and her crew standing on the rock now. They descended and the captain finished, “That was AWESOME!”

Squabble squawked and Boyle said, “Figured you lot could use a claw!”

Captain Celaeno nodded, “We’re on board to help you fight the Storm King! Just, you know… not on board our actual ship.”

Mullet added, “That crazy unicorn sunk it. But you got back our argh! And we’re ready to kick some booty!”

Their mirthful moment was interrupted when they heard bubbling coming from the water. They looked and saw a bright light shining up from the center of the bubbling. A glowing figure burst out of the water a moment later, Spike and the girls remembering the same glow when they changed back. The light quickly faded to reveal Princess Skystar, now in her natural hippogriff form. “Is that what I think it is?” Capper asked as he and everyone else stared.

Princess Skystar landed on a nearby rock and cheerfully called, “Helloooooooo! It’s me again!” She giggled and said, “Normally, I would get so grounded for this, but my mom was the one who told me to come up and find you.”

Spike asked, “She did?”

Princess Skystar nodded, “Oh yeah! She wasn’t sure when you left, but now she’s decided that maybe, just maybe, there’s a chance we won’t get totally destroyed this time. She’s still gotta round up the troops and all, but they’ll be here. After all, one small thing can make a really big difference, and Shelly and Sheldon think that Princess Twilight’s small thing is adding onto your small things to make something really big!”

Capper shrugged, “You know? Maybe that’s why she gave herself up. She’s hoping that, despite what it looks like, this would be the spark that brings an alliance together.”

Captain Celaeno said, “Well, it definitely takes a lot of guts to not only pull a stunt like that, but to put your beliefs to the test in such a way. And that’s the kind of guts we can get behind.” The rest of her crew agreed with her.

Capper nodded, “Right. So, I think our course is clear. Let’s get ready to do this thing!”

Twilight sat quietly in her cage as it was pushed through the streets of Canterlot. Looking around, she could see various Friendship Festival attendees imprisoned, either locked up in cages or doing the bidding of the Storm King’s army. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, Zecora, the Cakes, Moondancer, Songbird Serenade… Everyone here had no doubt been holding out hope that she and her friends would return and save the day like they usually did, but right now, they could see she had nothing to show for escaping capture. She knew she was a prisoner; she could hope that help would arrive, but she went into this not expecting it to.

She was wheeled into throne room, where Celestia, Luna, and Cadance stood, still petrified. On the floor was a flower design, each princess placed on the end of each petal. The top right petal was unoccupied, so Twilight knew it was for her. After she was set down on it, she stood up and looked over at the ponies that were being made to pull the cart out of the room. She then looked at Tempest and asked, “Are you sure about this?”

The unicorn huffed and said, “I told you. You’re not getting out of this. It’s time to share your magic.” She stepped closer to the middle of the flower, “It’s time for everybody out there to see what I can do.”

They heard the Storm King say, “Oh, fascinating!” They looked to see him entering through the entrance on the dais. “What CAN you really do?” he questioned.

Grubber, the small hedgehog with Tempest, quickly dropped into a bow and said, “Your bidding, of course, Oh Mighty One!” He then quickly excused himself from the room, causing Tempest to roll her eyes.

There was a moment of silence and then the Storm King said, “Bidding’s good! I like bidding!” He stepped down off the dais and came to a stop when he looked at Twilight. “What are you supposed to be?” he asked as he loomed over her.

Twilight turned her head away and grunted, “What do you care?”

The Storm King laughed and said, “Aw, look at that! She’s trying to be tough!” He leaned closer to the cage, “You’re right, though; I really don’t care.” He then turned to Tempest and gave her a slight glare, “I am curious why she’s still moving, however.”

Tempest answered, “She and her friends put up a fight for a while, but then she surrendered. There shouldn’t be any problems.”

The Storm King shrugged, “Right, right.” He ran his hand through Tempest’s mane as he walked past, ruffling it. “So, speaking of problems, I’ve got one. This place, it seems a little too… oh, I don’t know, CUTE!!!” He whirled around to look at Tempest, “I don’t like cute! I never did like cute! Doesn’t really go with my whole ‘big bad powerful magic guy’ thing, does it?” He spun back around and glanced back over his shoulder, “Deliver the punchline, Tempest, because this has gotta be a joke!” He then raised the Staff of Sacanas in both hands and jammed it down into the floor.

The staff caused the lines on the floor to light up, making a glowing outline of the flower shape. When the lines reached the princesses, the staff started siphoning their magic, Twilight crying out in pain while the Storm King gleefully watched the staff fill up with stolen magic. It didn’t stop there, though; the staff was also siphoning magic from outside the castle, any reservoir of magic that it could reach.

The Storm King finally pulled the staff free and yelled in excitement while Twilight tried to push herself up off the floor, her eyes now dull from having her magic drained. The Storm King grinned, “Let’s get this storm started! Ooh, that’s a good one. I should trademark that.” He then turned to look at Twilight, a wicked smirk on his face.

If anyone had been looking up towards Canterlot Castle, they would’ve seen a bright blue bolt of magic come shooting out of one of the balconies. Up on the balcony, Twilight was blasted out of her cage and thrown onto the balcony, hitting the ground hard and coming to a stop on her side, facing away from the damaged doorway. The Storm King stepped out onto the balcony and remarked, “Not bad. Actually, kinda first-rate. What else does it do?”

Tempest stepped out behind him and started to say, “Your Excellency, you promised to restore my horn and give me…”

The Storm King interrupted her by pressing his left hand back against her muzzle, “Deh-deh-deh-deh-deh, okay. Hang on.” He took the staff in both hands again and pointed it at the sun. A second later, he grinned, “You gotta be kidding me! I can move the sun?!” He laughed and said, “Now this is what I’m talking about! Ha ha! Time to play!” He began to mess with the sun and the moon while talking to himself. Twilight and Tempest both looked on, one weirded out by what she was seeing and the other now feeling uncertain of what she had actually gotten herself into.

While the Storm King was having fun with his new toy, down at the entrance to Canterlot, two of the Storm King’s forces moved close together to stop Capper, who was wearing a chef’s hat and an apron, from entering. Behind him, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow, Pinkie, and Fluttershy were pulling a giant cake on a cart that Spike stood posing on top of while breathing small flames.

Capper held up a piece of paper, looking at it before glancing up at the Storm Creatures while saying, “Uh, yeah, I got a delivery here for a Mister ‘The Storm King’. I was given explicit instructions to bring this here cake to this here castle’s throne room.” The guards didn’t budge, so he shrugged, “All right, then. Look here. Could one o’ y’all be a pal and go tell your boss he’s not gettin’ his,” he looked back at the paper, “‘congratulations on subduing defenseless pastel ponies’ cake?” He turned away, “‘Cause I don’t wanna be the one responsible for the big guy missin’ his special dessert, you know what I mean?” The creatures relented after several seconds so Capper turned and continued on his way with the ponies and cake in tow while he said, “Thank you kindly, fellas. I'mma be sure and put in a good word for the both o’ y'all.”

Their getting inside the city went off without a hitch, but their plan to infiltrate the castle hit a snag when Grubber decided he wanted a taste of the cake and realized that Captain Celaeno and her crew were hidden inside it. Seeing that the jig was up, they abandoned the cake in favor of all-out fighting the Storm King’s army. Princess Skystar swooped in shortly afterwards while emitting a shrill cry. Moments later, Queen Novo and the hippogriffs she had gathered revealed themselves and joined the fight as well, getting the drop on the troops while they were distracted.

Up on the balcony, Twilight had pushed herself up as the fighting began, feeling her strength come back as what she deeply hoped would happen began to play out down below. As she raised herself up off the ground, she noticed Tempest glaring down at the fighting, seeming to be in a bit of disbelief. Both of them suddenly found themselves wrapped up in the Storm King’s arms as he mockingly said, “Ah, would you look at this show! Friendship and flowers and ponies!” He then stuck his tongue out in disgust and threw the ponies to the sides before saying, “I’m so totally over the cute pony thing. It’s time for a showstopper!”

Using the magic in the Staff of Sacanas, he generated a massive whirlwind around Canterlot Castle, the winds whipping around so hard that they obscured the castle from view. Satisfied with his creation, the Storm King proclaimed, “Now I truly am the Storm King! And the entire world will bow down to my ba-ba-ba-boom, baby!”

Tempest approached him and said, “Yes! Yes, you are every bit as powerful as I promised, Sire. Now, restore my horn and I swear to use my magic to serve you!” She bowed her head as she finished speaking.

Rather than say the words she wanted to hear, the Storm King simply laughed and then got in her face, poking the base of her broken horn with his finger as he asked, “Who cares about your dinky little unicorn horn?!” He opened his hand and pressed his palm against her face, shoving her backwards.

Tempest could hardly believe what she heard. She’d done everything he wanted and now he was telling her he wasn’t going to restore her horn as he had promised her. “But… w-we had an agreement!” she protested, the normal toughness in her voice almost completely absent in her words.

The Storm King replied, “Get with the program!” He leaned in close to her again, “I USED you! It’s kind of what I do!” He then leaned back and took the staff in both hands, pointing it at her. Tempest’s shock turned to anger and she quickly channeled her magic into her broken horn, unleashing it as soon as she couldn’t contain it any longer. Her beam of magic struck the Storm King’s beam before it could hit her and a large burst of energy was created as the resulting power became too much to contain, both Tempest and the Storm King being blown backwards by it.

Twilight’s vision cleared after a few moments and she looked. The Storm King had fallen down on his front with the Staff of Sacanas still in his right hand while Tempest was struggling to hang onto the balcony railing as the whirlwind tried to pull her into it. She had grabbed onto a section where the railing had been broken, however, her hoof on the base, which gave her less to hang onto. Twilight knew she wouldn’t be able to hang on for long. She looked from Tempest to the Storm King and brought her right hoof behind her, drawing her knife.

Tempest let out a cry of terror as she lost her grip, shutting her eyes as she was sure this was the end for her. Less than a moment later, however, she felt something wrap around her still outstretched foreleg and she opened her eyes. Twilight had her left foreleg wrapped around her hoof while her right hoof was jamming her knife into a small hole in the balcony that a stray bolt from earlier had created. “I’ve got you!” she grunted as she struggled to hold onto the unicorn.

“What…? Why? Why are you…” Tempest’s words were cut off when the handle of Twilight’s knife snapped off and she felt herself being pulled back again. Twilight let go of the handle, letting it get carried off by the wind along with the blade, and twisted around, managing to wrap her right foreleg around one of the railing supports, stopping them once again. She grunted and growled as she struggled to pull herself back onto the balcony while still holding onto Tempest. The unicorn could only watch helplessly as, little by little, the alicorn managed to pull herself back onto the balcony and prop her hind legs against the base of the railing, thus allowing her to grab Tempest’s hoof with both of her hooves and easily pull her back onto the balcony as well.

Tempest lay on the ground afterwards, stunned. She could hear Twilight panting heavily behind her, the alicorn laying on her back as she caught her breath. She looked back at her in surprise, not only because she saved her seemingly for no reason, but also because she had no idea how strong the princess physically was until now.

She turned to look forward when she heard the Storm King laughing. “Bravo, Princess! You went to all that trouble just so I could finish you both off myself! How nice of you!” Tempest stared up at him in dread, only for her vision to be obscured. It took her a moment to realize Twilight had jumped in front of her, standing in what looked like a battle-ready stance. “Aw, do you wanna go first? Or do you think you can protect her from me? It doesn’t matter to me! I’ll just kill you both anyway!”

Twilight glared up at him. “Better than you have tried,” she grunted.

The Storm King burst out laughing again. “Oh! Better than me, she says! Oh, that’s rich! She’s trying to be tough again!” he said through his laughing. He suddenly straightened up again, “Well, guess what, Princess?” He pointed the Staff of Sacanas at her, “I’m already better than them, and now I’m gonna be even better! See ya!” The jewel in the staff began to glow brighter as it gathered magic, but Twilight continued to stand her ground, even as Tempest weakly reached her right hoof towards her right hind leg.

Just as he was about to fire the magic at Twilight, the Storm King was sent flying back inside the castle by something slamming into him, the Staff of Sacanas flying out of his hands and getting stuck in one of the stained-glass windows. It was Pinkie, Rainbow, Rarity, Spike, Applejack, and Fluttershy, all of them getting through the whirlwind thanks to the party cannon Pinkie had set up before the invasion. As they all lay scattered across the floor inside the castle, Pinkie loopily cheered, “Bull’s-eye!”

They all recovered quickly when Twilight ran inside and said, “Spike! Girls!” They all got up and ran to her, all of them embracing in a group hug.

“Ah’m so mad at you fer makin’ us worry so much, Sugarcube,” Applejack uttered.

“Darling, what were you thinking, going off like that?” Rarity asked.

Twilight thought for a moment before saying, “Honestly? I was trying not to think too much like I usually do. …Guess I don’t do well either way, huh?”

Fluttershy murmured, “Well, I don’t know about that.”

A bolt of lightning suddenly shot through the throne room and Rainbow broke out of the hug to look. “Uh, looks like we still have a problem! Look!” she said, pointing up at the Staff of Sacanas. Everyone looked up at it and saw that it seemed to be going haywire, discharging its magic at random and destroying the throne room. Tempest hid behind one of the pieces of wall that had fallen, peering out to watch.

“Gotta stop that staff and the storm before everything gets destroyed!” Spike said.

Pinkie looked at Twilight, “Twilight, you gotta get to it!”

Twilight looked down, “No tricks this time.” She smiled back at her friends, “We’ve got this. Together.” They all nodded. Applejack wrapped her lasso around a large rock and tied the other end around her. She then grabbed onto Fluttershy, who grabbed onto Rarity, who bit down on Spike’s tail as he held onto Rainbow, and she held onto Pinkie as she grabbed onto Twilight, who spread her wings and took a deep breath before flying up towards the staff. The chain they made ensured they would stay would have something solid holding them down, but the question was whether or not they could reach the staff.

The Storm King suddenly pulled himself up over the pieces of rubble he had landed behind and scowled at the scene. “No, no, no! That staff belongs to ME!” he yelled and started crawling like an animal towards it. Tempest stepped out to try to stop him, but he simply knocked her away with his right arm without stopping. “You keep your hooves off my staff!” he shouted as he dodged the bolts it was firing off and jumped across the rubble.

Twilight looked back and saw that, with how close the Storm King was, it was now or never. Holding her left hoof all the way out, she made one last desperate grab for the staff and managed to get her hoof on it first, dislodging it from the window. She quickly brought her right hoof forward to secure her grip on it while the Storm King crashed through the window, just missing the staff.

Unfortunately, breaking the window exposed everyone in the room to the swirling winds outside and the Storm King was pulled away from the castle. Pinkie’s grip on Twilight had become less secure due to the last push for the staff and she lost her hold after a few moments. Twilight screamed as the wind pulled her away, her wings doing nothing to help her, and Pinkie cried, “Twilight! NOOOOOOO!” They could only stare as she was pulled further away.

And then suddenly, seemingly out of nowhere, everyone in both the castle and the city witnessed some sort of bright flash in the sky and the whirlwind around the castle completely vanished, the sky clearing up as if the weather was never manipulated in the first place. Twilight was still over the balcony when it disappeared and she fell down on it. She groaned as she lay on the ground, not liking her unexpected landing one bit. Spike and the girls unhooked and ran over to her, Spike saying, “Twilight, you did it! You stopped the storm!”

As she tried to sit up, Twilight said, “Once again, I didn’t do anything.”

Rainbow asked, “You didn’t? Then what was…” They all heard the Storm King let out a loud yell, catching everyone’s attention. Rainbow flew over to the edge of the balcony and looked down. She saw the Storm King standing down on the ground past the moat. He glared up at Rainbow before he ran towards the castle. “He’s coming!” she exclaimed.

Twilight felt the Staff of Sacanas shift a bit in her grip and looked to see Tempest standing alongside her. The unicorn looked up at the staff for a moment before looking down at the alicorn and saying, “We need to get back inside and remove the magic from the staff! He can’t do anything if it has no magic!” Twilight caught onto what she was saying and, fighting through the pain in her back, stood up and ran inside the throne room, Tempest taking the staff as she and the others ran in behind her.

Twilight took her place and Tempest shifted the staff around in her muzzle before throwing it up and jumping after it, slamming it crystal down into the center of the flower. Almost immediately, the floor lit up as it released its magic. Twilight could feel her magic flowing back into her, and when she opened her eyes to look, she saw not only was the other princesses’ magic flowing back to them, they were breaking out of their imprisonment, Luna gasping for breath as she was freed. The magic spread outside the castle through Canterlot, freeing the imprisoned ponies as well. Seeing this, the Storm Creatures stood down, surrendering to Equestria.

But it was a bit early to celebrate, and not just because the Storm King was still free. As they all stood in the throne room taking a moment to catch their breaths, a rumbling sound nearby caught everyone’s attention. They turned to see it was one of the large stones in the room. Something was causing it to shake, and after a few seconds, it slid a little bit in the direction of the balcony. “What’s doing that?” Spike asked.

“I don’t know…” Celestia murmured. They then heard the Storm King laughing and turned to see him standing in the balcony doorway, a grin on his face. It was safe to say he had climbed all the way back up to the balcony while they were messing around with the staff.

“Well, you might have the staff, but I’m clearly still the Storm King! Can you see it out there?! Who knows what that baby can do!” he taunted. They all looked towards the broken window. They couldn’t see much from where they were, but they could sort of make out clouds swirling around in the sky.

“What is that? What’s happening?” Cadance asked.

Luna started, “I don’t know, but…” She looked back at the rock to see it was now moving towards the balcony more gradually. Acting on impulse, she dialed the Royal Canterlot Voice up to eleven and shouted, “EVERYONE, SEEK SHELTER AT ONCE!” Everyone around her could feel their ears ringing, but that wasn’t their main concern right now.

“This way, everypony!” Celestia said, turning and heading for the door at the top of the dais. Everyone turned to follow her, including Tempest.

Seeing that their backs were turned to him, the Storm King’s grin grew wider and he held up an Obsidian Orb. “Who says I can’t have everything I want!” he chuckled. He ran a short distance into the throne room and stopped, bringing his arm back to throw the orb.

Tempest was about to follow everyone else up when she stopped and turned back. She hadn’t forgotten about the Storm King, and seeing what he was up to, her eyes widened. She let the Staff of Sacanas fall to the floor and ran down the carpet towards him at full speed. He was too focused on the other ponies to pay any attention to her and so was shocked when she suddenly leapt up to intercept the orb before it could get very far from him. It exploded when it hit her chest, releasing its petrifying mist. It immediately began to change Tempest, but as he fell backwards, it also began to affect him.

Twilight and her friends stopped following the Princesses into the room and turned to look when Tempest moved to stop the Storm King, and so they saw both of them hit the floor as stone statues. It was at this point that whatever was outside seemingly got stronger as the rock they had noticed before lifted off the ground and flew towards the balcony, leaving a large hole in the wall as it flew up into the sky.

It wasn’t the only thing that flew away. Smaller rocks and other small objects like pieces of the castle roof, roofs from below, and bits of cake were already being pulled up, but larger objects were being lifted up as well, and that included the Storm King and Tempest. Seeing the latter get lifted away, Twilight gasped and turned to Rainbow, “Rainbow, I’m going after her!”

As the alicorn spread her wings, Rainbow nodded, “I’ll be right behind you, Twi’!” She spread her own wings and followed a fair distance behind Twilight after she took off.

Flying outside, they saw the source of the disturbance was some kind of blue glowing hole in the sky, the clouds around it swirling as various things were sucked up into it. Looking down, they could see ponies, their allies, and the Storm Creatures doing everything they could to either stay on the ground or hold on as tightly as they could to avoid being sucked up. Twilight and Rainbow knew they had to help them, but they had to get Tempest first.

Twilight flew as fast as she could towards the unicorn, able to make out her petrified form against the glowing hole. It took a minute, but she was able to catch up and grab onto one of her legs. She then turned around and reached her free hoof out towards Rainbow, who got close enough and turned around so she could wrap her foreleg around her stomach. She then shot downwards while Twilight held on as tight as she could. They weren’t making much progress, but it seemed like they were going fast enough to stay away from the hole. Twilight’s horn lit up; if they started going backwards, she could simply teleport them further away from it.

As Twilight cracked an eye open, she noticed something flying up towards her and both of her eyes shot wide open. It was a cardboard box, and with the way things were going, it was going to hit her directly. She tried to focus her magic for a teleport, but the box struck her and bounced off before she could perform the spell, causing her to lose her grip on Rainbow. With nothing pulling her away, she and Tempest were pulled up towards the hole in the sky.

The sudden release caused Rainbow to shoot downwards and she wasn’t ready for it. She flailed as she flew and was a fair distance away from where she started when she managed to stop. She spun around; she couldn’t see Twilight or Tempest anywhere, so she guessed they had been pulled through. She narrowed her eyes; she was Rainbow Dash, and that meant she wasn’t going to give up on them. It seemed fate had other things in store, however, because it suddenly gave off a bright flash much like the one that caused the storm to disappear earlier and then it vanished before she could reach it. She came to a stop, flapping her wings to hover in place as she numbly stared at where it had been. Her friend and their potential ally were gone, spirited off to some unknown location.