Episode 24: Part 4: Devastating Destructions

The minions and their army dashed forth. “Scatter!” shouted Lightning as he and the others leapt out of the way. It was a good thing at least the clones of the minions didn’t have any fire power like the original, but there were still so many of them and they were just as strong in brute strength, they practically didn’t need magic.

However, Lightning and Starla were strong too, thanks to the power of the star stones.

They rammed into the clones and knocked them aside. Celestia blasted more clones by shooting them with magical beams from her horn, and those that snuck up on her from behind, she bucked them hard. She even used her telekinesis to lift some of the clones up high and toss them away. Unfortunately her powers were still not as strong and as effective and the clones surrounded her from all sides, and the others were all surrounded too. The clones just wouldn’t stay down.

“There’s too many of them!” cried Lightning.

“We need backup!” added Starla

That’s when the ground burst and, Dyno and Myte and had tunneled their way over. “You called?” Dyno said.

“And we brought some more help.” said Myte, and he whistled loudly as an army of Starfleet fighters came soaring into action, much to the minion chagrin. “Hey! Who invited them!” snapped Rep-Stallion.

“Never mind!” growled Dementia “Let’s get them!”

“Agreed!” said Mysterious and he and others began to conjure more clones. Soon, nearly the whole of town square was full of fighters and clones fighting like crazy. “Yeah, this evens out the odds.” said Lightning “But we have to find a way to get at the real minions! Then maybe these clones will vanish.”

Everyone agreed, but such a task was easier said than done. Despite the minions were easily recognizable, they were still hard to spot or get near with all the clones huddling so close together. “Keep trying!” shouted Celestia “We’ll find them!”

…

Meanwhile, in Nightmarica, the team had managed to enter the fortress, still invisible under Luna’s magic, but she couldn’t keep the magic up forever and would have to stop soon. “Which way to do we go now?” asked Buddy Rose.

“Follow me.” said Luna. She figured she’d know every last inch of the fortress as it was pretty much her own thoughts and design when she was still fused with Nightmare. I know every crack in the stone, and every floor and hallway as I thought it up.”

The space ponies and even Twilight were wide-eyed. “She is really starting to freak me out.” Artie whispered to the others.

As they continued forward, Luna began to feel a little tired. “I cannot hold the spell up much longer.” she said, but that was when it wore off completely. “Princess!” cried Twilight, she was careful not to speak too loud.  Poor Luna was panting softly. “I will be fine.” she answered “I will need a while to restore my magic. You all will have to guard me.”

“We’ll do our best.
You just rest.” said Rhymey.

Luna was still strong enough to guide the team, and the first thing they had to do was get to the chamber where the Elements of Harmony were, but now that they were no longer invisible, it was harder than ever to get around without being spotted by the armada of shadow guards.

The planet quaked again, for a few seconds. “If we don’t hurry we not have to worry about being spotted.” said Twilight. They continued to press on, unaware that they were followed by a small stream of shadowy smog that had been perusing them ever since they had entered!

Suddenly, they could all hear voices, or rather sounds of groaning. Twilight gazed down through a large hole in the wall, and saw all her friends in the main throne room, slaving away. All of them were filthy and sore. They all looked as if they were going to die from exhaustion. Rhymey looked down too and saw Fluttershy. He felt very bad for her and wished he could do something to get her out of there now.

Poor Rarity looked as if she had dusted a chimney with her whole body, all covered in soot and grime, and she felt even a-hundred baths wouldn’t be able to clean her off now.

“Oh!” groaned Applejack as she felt her aching back. “I almost got the nerve to wish to be executed.”

“No, don’t say that!” cried Pinkie Pie “We can’t let this slavery break our souls.”

“And just what do you suggest?” snapped Rainbow Dash “Look at us! We have no magic, no wings, and even the princesses and Twilight are gone. You hear what the guards said.”

Spike said nothing, and was still worried about Twilight, but he kept telling himself silently that she was fine and would be back soon.

Fluttershy sighed and continued to mop the floor, and then she looked up, and swore she could see someone up there. Someone familiar! She hoped it was a sign that they’d be rescued soon. That’s when the quill Rhymey had given her fell from her mane to the floor, she quickly put it back.

The team had to save the ponies, and all the other slaves fast. Luckily, the room they needed to get to was just ahead-- down a long stretch with guards standing all in a row. “Oh, this is just great.” said Artie.

“We can’t get past them.
We can’t even blast them.” said Rhymey.

Luna admitted that even she couldn’t figure a way to get past all the guards without making a terrific scene or noise. “We don’t need to.” Twilight said “Watch this. I’ve been practicing for just such an emergency.” She crept up as close as she could so as not to be seen, and then concentrated hard. Her horn began to glow and let out a soft wave of magic that traveled all the way down the hall, and all the guards just dropped their lances and fell over like trees, in a deep sleep.

The Starfleet fighters were amazed. “Wow! Not bad.” said Buddy Rose “You’d make a fair Starfleet fighter.”

Twilight smirked, and then they all proceeded forward and reached the sealed door. “You sure the elements are behind here?” asked Artie.

“Yes.” said Luna. “As you were told, my evil side may be strong enough to do all this, but it would seem she is still powerless to break this seal and alter this chamber.”

“But how can we then?” asked Twilight.

“I thought only Celestia’s touch,
would undo the seal as such.” added Rhymey

Luna shook her head and revealed that before their departure, Celestia had given her a single keystone with the magic of Celestia’s powers to break the seal. “My sister trusts me, and I wish to honor that trust, and take out my evil side for good.” She set the keystone into the lock hole, and suddenly, the door began to slide open, and there resting on a small pillar was the jewel-encrusted treasure chest. “That’s it.” cried Twilight “The elements are in that chest.”

The others all smiled, but as Twilight, lightning and thunder flashed with the sound of evil laughter as the evil Nightmare Moon appeared. “Surprise-Surprise!” she hissed. The gang gasped and began back away as the evil demon took the chest. “I’ve been aware of your little intrusion all this time. I just held out until his point so that I may confront and punish you myself.” She held up the chest “…which should not be too difficult as you don’t have these.”

The team was growing annoyed with the sound of her evil voice, and stood ready to fight, but Nightmare laughed again, and her eyes began to glow, and all five of them were being lifted up by her psycho-kinesis, and she threw them all out the window, and out of the fortress!

Twilight’s friends heard the commotion and gazed outside. “It’s Twilight, And Princess Luna.” cried Spike, “But, who are those other ponies with them?”

Fluttershy gasped when she saw one of them was Rhymey, but the others saw a large portion of the vast army of shadowbolts coming straight at the team and ready to finish them off, but Nightmare appeared and quickly shouted. “HALT! These ones are mine.”

“Look!” cried Pinkie as she pointed at the chest Nightmare had with her.

“The Elements of Harmony?!” cried Rarity

“Oh Nellie, this can’t be good!” added Applejack, and just then, another tremor shook the planet.

Princess Luna gazed at her evil counterpart and spoke severely. “You must listen, we haven’t much time. This planet is going to explode!”

The slaves in the near area heard that, and all began to feel fretful, but Nightmare Moon didn’t believe it a bit. “A few minor tremors do not worry me.”

“Those tremors are ripping the planet apart.” snapped Twilight “If we don’t get out of here soon we’ll all be blown pieces.”

“Silence!” shouted Nightmare, and used her powers to fling Twilight back hard into the others. “The only concern I have now is getting rid of you pests once and for all!”

The team sighed. They hoped to make it easy but it was obvious they’d have to fight after all, Star stones and elements, or not. “Do you think we can take her?” asked Artie. Luna honestly didn’t know, but she had waited for this ever since her evil side returned. “I swear to you, Nightmare!” she growled “If it takes me to beyond my limitations, I will destroy you for everything you’ve done!”

This only amused Nightmare and made her laugh “What I have done? I was born out of the jealously and resentment you felt towards others, making you just as guilty as me.”

“That may be…” said Luna “But on the day you were exiled from me, I pledged my every waking moment to make up for everything that was done, and I intend to honor that now.”

Everyone stood ready for battle, and drew out their weapons, but suddenly, without warning. Rhymey swung his sword at Twilight knocking her down. “Hey! What are you doing?” she snarled at him. Rhymey then almost slashed at her again, but she rolled out of the way.

“Rhymey!!” snapped Buddy Rose.

“What’s wrong with you?!” added Artie.

Rhymey groaned and struggled…

“Something’s wrong, I can tell!
This is work of an evil spell!”

“You are correct.” hissed Nightmare. Her horn was glowing wildly. “You are under my control now, and you will do as I wish.” She forced Rhymey to constantly attack the others, while they were forced to dodge and defend, but they didn’t dare strike him back.

Luna tried to charge at Nightmare, but even while holding her spell on Rhymey, she raised her hand and blasted her back with a powerful wave of magic. This battle was going to be harder than they thought.

…

Back on Unicornicopia, the battle with the clones and the minions was still going, and getting worse than ever. One could look down from the sky and see fighting everywhere as well as hearing clashing of weapons or the clattering of crashes.

Grand Ruler finally arrived on the scene, and joined in the fight, and brought some of his other guards with him. “You think this intimidates us?!” shouted Rep-Stallion, “Get’ em, clones!” and he summoned more of his clones to attack!

Celestia had never known such an invasion attempt before. “We can’t hold out much longer!” she shouted. “Keep going!” shouted Lightning, “We can do it! Just need a little more fire power.”

“Agreed!” said Grand Ruler. “Everyone, use your special attacks!”

Everyone did as they were told, and it seemed to be working. The clones were being wiped out fast, making it easier to break through. “We need more, clones!” cried Dementia, but the fighters managed to wipe out the clones faster than the minions could make more. “It’s working!” cried Lightning “Keep going!”

The fight seemed to be going smooth for the fighters, but all of a sudden the ground shook hard and violently as if something huge had crashed, and everyone fell over.  “What was that?” asked Grand Ruler.

“It felt like an explosion!” cried Dyno. Myte scanned the ground with his visor. “It was an explosion!”

“What have you three done now?” snapped Krysta at the minions, but the minions were just as shocked and admitted that they had nothing to do with it. “Hey, look!” cried Starla as a giant molten fireball soaring across the sky heading straight in the direction of Blacktop Mountain. It crashed hard in the Violet Swamp shaking the ground again. Then, they all saw him-- a gigantic black dragon, with silver claws, large dark red wings, and an evil face that many didn’t recognize. The fighters tried to scan him with their visors, but there was no data.

“Who or what is that?!” cried Lightning. That’s when the dragon spotted them all below and began to speak. “Hi-di-hey there…”  Celestia and Grand Ruler recognized the voice immediately. “Discord…!!”

The evil dragon laughed loud and hard. “Ahh, Celesto, It’s been a long time!”

“Master, you know him?” asked Lightning.

His mentor and Celestia’s eyes narrowed in anger. Grand Ruler was there during the original war on Discord in Equestria when he helped give the Princesses a chance to encase the demon in stone the first time.

“How did you get free, and how did you get here?” added Celestia.

Discord chuckled “Does it really make a difference? The fact is I’m here, better and stronger than ever. Oh, and did I mention the part where all of you and this planet get destroyed?”

Everyone gasped, and the minions were outraged. “Who sent you to spoil our fun? This is our turf!” snarled Rep-Stallion. Dementia and Mysterious nodded angrily.

“Gee, that’s too bad.” Discord mocked “Guess you’ll be destroyed too.” Discord and he launched several small fireballs everywhere. The minions decided to leave before they got hurt, and vanished out of sight. At the same time, all their clones vanished too.

The second they were gone, Discord head straight for the mountain, ready to break it to pieces. “Let’s all try firing on him at once.” Lightning suggested. It was doubtful that it would work, but it was worth a try. Grand Ruler made all the attackers fall in line. “Ready, take aim, FIRE!!” Everyone fired their best attacks; Lightning used the spectrum stream combined with uniforce. Grand Ruler used the uniforce too and Celestia fired her own burst of magic. The stream of magic and power struck Discord, but didn’t seem to affect him at all. “Is that the best you can do?” he teased “Oh, now I feel insulted. So…” and with his huge claws he began thrashing and crumpling the mountain, sending large boulders flying far across the land. “Look out!” cried Krysta!

Everyone scattered about to avoid the debris from above as Discord continued to wreak the mountain, and then he flew up, up, up, and with a fiery blaze, he completely vaporized it in a huge explosion. The force shook the lands, and darkened the skies, and when everyone looked up, they were simply devastated. “Blacktop Mountain…!” peeped Lightning. “It’s… gone…!”

Discord stretched his huge dragon arms out, “That was fun. Now which is next?” Here merely decided to just fly around and destroy whatever he saw. He began burning up the forests, the parries, turning the waters into seas of lava. Though the civilians were all still protected by the force fields, they all felt even there they were no longer safe.

The damages were increasing every second, and the planet was slowly turning into a burning and desolated wasteland. Grand Ruler, for the first time ever, was completely overwhelmed by what was happening. He pounded his hands flat against the wall in frustration and just stood like that. This was not expected, nor prepared for, and already it was seen there was nothing even he could do to restore the damage at this rate; even with his power. It would take far too long, just like it the first time he made it.

The other ponies huddled around him. “Sire, what do we do now?” asked Starla “Sire?!” but his majesty just stood there, hardly moving or blinking his eyes. Celestia tried but couldn’t get a response either.

Lightning clenched his fists and closed his eyes tightly. What he was about to say next really pained him and would pain everyone else, but it came out. “We’ve got to evacuate everyone to planet Sharma…Now!”

As expected, the others were shocked. “Que? Evacuate?” asked Myte. “He’s right…” said Celestia, “That demon has the fire power to blow this planet apart, and I don’t see much else we can do, but we’ve got to save everyone.”

The team reluctantly agreed.

Krysta quickly vanished through a portal, and in a split second later came back with many of her fairies from Luminous. “Good thing we were on standby. Let’s get to work.”

Without a moment to spare, everyone scattered about evacuating the entire planet-- Every alicorn and every animal. The royal guards helped out too, hurrying everyone along through every portal and sending them all to Sharma and safety. Cookie Dough, Abra Kadabra, Inquerius all pitched in to help in the evacuation before leaving themselves.

It was very difficult to get everyone out what with Discord constantly wreaking destruction all over. The villages were being crushed and pummeled, and more landscapes were charred and blown. Even Lightning’s house was completely demolished.

All Grand Ruler did was just stand there in the middle of the crumpling Rainbow City, and gazed in overwhelming devastation at the chaos and destruction around him.

The evacuation still continued. As the planet became deserted of life forms, the fairies in each sector, having completed their labours in evacuating all in the entire area left through their portals and close them.

Everyone made checks and doubles checks, even scanning in case they had missed a single pony or creature, which so far they had not. Once the planet was evacuated, all that was left was to evacuate the Grand Ruler’s sky palace where the last remaining portal was.

All the royal guards, palace hands, everyone left. Soon, only the gang were left along with Professor Brain. “The laboratory and control rooms have been completely evacuated.” said Brain.

“That should be everyone.” Lightning said.

“Okay! I better check back and see how the others are on Sharma.” Krysta said and then she jumped into the portal and was gone.

The team stopped to take one last look outside and could hardly believe what was becoming of their home world. Still, they couldn’t stay any longer. Celestia felt really bad for them all. “Come on, we have to go.” she said to them all. Everyone found it hard to agree but knew they had to, but as they all prepared to jump into the portal. “Wait…!” snapped Starla “Where’s the Grand Ruler?”

“Didn’t he come up with us?” asked Celestia, but everyone checked around and he was nowhere to be seen. That’s when Lightning realized, “He’s still down in Rainbow City!”

“Dios Mio!” the twins cried, and they with everyone else, dashed out of the palace like the very lightning that shook the skies. Sure enough, they found Grand Ruler still standing in Rainbow City Square, just standing there with a look of extreme heartbreak and devastation in his eyes. His cape was no longer magically fluttering, and his mane and tail had lost their sparkling.

“Sire!” cried Starla. “What are you doing here? We have to go now!” but his majesty just stood where he was, hardly moving, making a sound or even blinking his eyes. Celestia calmly approached him. “Celesto… what’s wrong?”

He finally found strength enough to speak, but very softly and deeply hurt. “Look at what’s happening. Everything I worked so hard to make. Everything I’ve protected and stood for all these centuries. Everything I’ve held dear to me!

…It’s gone! I’ve… lost it all.”

Everyone understood, and felt badly sorry for him. They too felt the same about losing their home, but Lightning approached him and said “Master, that’s not true. You haven’t lost everything.”

His mentor sadly gazed down at him.

“You still have me, and the others.”

Grand Ruler gazed up at all the others who smiled and nodded at him. “Everyone in the kingdom is safe now. You still have them too.” said Starla.

“You always taught us that things come with a price.” said Dyno. “We can all rebuild. We can survive.” added Myte.

Grand Ruler blinked once, and gazed at Celestia. She smiled at him and blinked twice at him “Celesto, after one-thousand years we are together again, and you promised you’d help me save my world… just as now I helped you save yours.”

Lightning looked his teacher deeply into the eyes. “Master, you have plenty to live and fight for. Don’t give up. Just believe. Believe!”

His majesty remembered all the times he had said that to others. “Just have faith and believe!” His confidence returned. His mane began to shimmer again and his cape fluttered. “You’re right, all of you. Let’s get out of here!”

Everyone agreed, but that’s when Discord flew overhead. “Aw, how touching. I think I’m going to cry.” he mocked “It’s really almost a pity I have to do this. Oh, wait… no it isn’t!”  He flew higher, and higher. “What is he doing now?” asked Dyno. Dyno scaled a lookout tower and looked through the telescope. “Ay’! He is going to attack the palace!”

“THE PALACE?!” everyone cried. “But the last portal is in there!” cried Lightning. It was too late, with a huge fiery breath; Discord blasted the palace hard. Fiery explosions burst out from underneath it “The engines, they’re out!” cried Grand Ruler.

The remains of the blazing palace began to fall from above like a burning meteor. “IT’S COMING DOWN ON TOP OF US!!” screamed Starla! Everyone gazed up in the biggest of shock.

WHAAMM!! The impact caused a massive explosion and shockwave that collapsed the entire city in a massive mountain of wreckage and fires.

Discord laughed the loudest, hardest and evilest laugh he had ever laughed. “I did it! I destroyed them!” he shouted for joy “Long Live Evil!!” he continued to laugh!

…

While in Nightmarica, Nightmare was proving to be too much for the others to handle. Rhymey was still battling his comrades, still under Nightmare’s control. Twilight tried as hard as she could, but couldn’t break the spell. While Luna just couldn’t overpower her evil side and was continuously thrown back, or zapped with extreme magic.

By this point now, the rest of the gang were all thrown together in a corner, and Rhymey was approaching them with his sword at the ready for the kill. Nightmare laughed and said, “I’m going to enjoy seeing this.” Her horn then glowed brightly, and she forced Rhymey to raise his sword up high. Rhymey tried all he could, but he couldn’t seem to break Nightmare’s control. “Rhymey, don’t do this!” cried Artie.

“What will I do…?!
She’ll make me kill you!”

To Be Continued…!

(Promo)

In our next episode, the team sees no alternative but to fight their friend back, but Nightmare Moon still proves to be a pitiless enemy as she continues to thrash them all about.

Meanwhile, the other friends somehow manage to survive, but are seemingly trapped on Unicornicopia as Discord continues his brutal assault causing the planet to break up. With time running out for the two planets, all hope seems to rapidly fade.

Have the ponies ultimately failed? Is the end truly in sight?

Don’t miss the next exciting episode of “Starfleet Magic!”

(Next Episode: “Part 5: Borrowing Miracles”)