Elements of Harmony
Chapter 15: The Snake and the Cat
Previous Chapter Next Chapter1. The Snake and the Cat
THE LAND OF THE BLACK SANDS, THE SEVEN DESERTS
Another crystal, a sphere this time, shattered. Then a golden astrolabe. Then a stone tablet. One by one, Mozenrath launched the magical items in his laboratory into the air with his left hand, then blasted them with his right, as though breaking enough of them would somehow reverse what had happened.
When Mirage appeared in her usual flash of green fire, Mozenrath's immediate response was to turn to her and scream, "WHAT DO YOU WANT?"
"You are an absolute FAILURE!" Mirage replied, equally loudly. "I entrusted Jafar's lamp to you with the understanding that you would turn the Seven Deserts into a realm of chaos and evil! I believed you carried bonds with no one except those of hatred! But YOU released both the prisoner AND Jafar! And for what gain? Even lust is too close to caring!"
"And what does it matter what I care about?" Mozenrath spat.
"Your wayward heart has caused you to LOSE! You were never fit to rule this world, Mozenrath!"
"MY HEART IS NOT WAYWARD!" Mozenrath roared. "I DON'T CARE ABOUT ANYONE!"
In response, Mirage clawed the side of his face whilst giving a catlike yowl. He felt the searing pain of her four fingers, and his peripheral vision registered a green flash—she'd used magic. It didn't knock him over as Jafar's blow had, but it did render him speechless, fuming silently.
"You've proven yourself no better than the common thieves," Mirage hissed. "I have learned from my mistakes. I shall not entrust you with such a mission again!" Then she was gone.
Xerxes pressed himself into the corner, afraid that Mozenrath would explode with rage, perhaps incinerating the entire laboratory. Mozenrath, too, thought that was the inevitable outcome. He stormed out and towards the crystal room, knowing the Crystal of Ix was the largest thing he could smash.
He stared at the Crystal, his rage swelling. To his surprise, when it boiled over, he didn't destroy it. He didn't destroy anything. He could only lower himself to the floor and sit there, immobile.
AGRABAH, THE SEVEN DESERTS
"So when we last left them," Rainbow Dash recounted, "our resistance army had Fatima, Minos, Cassim, Sadira, the Sultan, and the guards. They ran off to get Eden, Dandi, and Deluca. You think that'll be enough?"
Aladdin, Jasmine, Iago, Abu, the Carpet, the Genie, and the six Equestrians rushed up the stairway to the tower. Before anyone could even attempt to answer Rainbow Dash, they emerged in the topmost room to find quite a large gathering, larger than they'd expected.
"You're back!" Sadira called out happily. "Took you long enough!"
"What…" Aladdin gaped. "How…how did all these people GET here?"
"Aladdin!" the Sultan cried, stepping forward. "Jasmine! Look!" He was again dressed as the ruler of the kingdom. "What does this mean?"
"I…have no idea," Aladdin admitted.
"But even more amazingly," the Sultan said, "look who turned up!" He pointed into the crowd at the tall tree-man.
Jasmine gasped. "Arbutus!"
"YOU!" Aladdin snarled, drawing his blade.
"No, no!" the Sultan cried quickly. "He has agreed to stand with us!"
"That is, if you decide to finally show me, my art, and my kind some respect," Arbutus spat.
"What's goin' on here?" Applejack asked, confused.
"Arbutus was an enemy of ours," Jasmine explained. "Well, sort of. A long time ago, my father took from him one of his most precious roses, so he kidnapped me in return. But…that rose was as precious to him as I was as precious to my father."
"Do you still have no concept of what it is like to watch a loved one be broken, only to slowly wither and die?" Arbutus snarled.
"That sounds awful!" Fluttershy burst out.
Arbutus approached the small woman, the towering size difference very apparent. "And who are you?"
"Um…I'm Fluttershy," Fluttershy squeaked. "And I don't want to make you mad. I just…I really think it's important to be kind to all things, even roses. Roses are really beautiful. I, um…I like the one on your robes."
"This is my heart," Arbutus said, covering the rose protectively with a hand. "Your words are…very flattering, to be sure. Do you truly mean them? Do you truly think my plants should be treated with kindness?"
"Oh, yes," Fluttershy said, suddenly feeling empowered. "In fact, I've always wanted to be a tree."
"She's really not kidding about that," Rainbow Dash commented.
"Hmm." Arbutus turned to the window and beckoned; several vines trailed into the room, bursting into bloom with small yellow flowers that resembled lilies of the valley. "You have inspired me," he told Fluttershy. "I am not sure why, but for you…yellow flowers. Though it feels…incomplete. Ah!" He conducted the vines with his hands; pink, four-petaled flowers in the shape of butterflies erupted in clusters of three.
"They're beautiful!" Fluttershy gasped.
"That's some mighty fine green thumb ya got there, Mr. Arbutus," Applejack added. "I happen to be a bit of a plant enthusiast myself, but I ain't got nothin' on that."
"And how are you an 'enthusiast'?" Arbutus challenged.
"You ain't got nothin' against apple buckin', do ya?" Applejack asked.
"Apple…bucking?"
"She means picking," Twilight translated.
"Of course not," Arbutus said haughtily. "Unlike the delicate flowers, the fruit is meant to leave the tree and spread the seeds so there may be more trees."
"Well, back home, my family and I make a livin' off apples," Applejack explained. "We see all sorts. I've learned to know the difference between all of 'em, and figure out what the different trees need. Everythin' from Honeycrisp to Gala to zap-apples."
"What is a zap-apple?" Arbutus inquired.
"It ain't like any other apple," Applejack told him. "It's got all rainbow colors, and the taste…I can't even describe!"
Curious, Arbutus called one of the vines up to his hand. In it, he called an apple of rainbow colors to grow.
"Yeah," Applejack confirmed. "Looks just like that!"
"This is something I shall have to use in my artwork later, when I have access to a larger canvas," Arbutus said, satisfied. "And what is your name?"
"Applejack."
"A fitting name for a master of apples." Arbutus turned back to Aladdin. "It seems you have made some new friends who understand."
"Heh…" Aladdin shrugged. "You know, I might not get it, but I can see how important these things are to you. And, like a good friend once told me, everyone needs to be shown a little kindness." He extended his right hand. "You willing to call truce?"
"Indeed," Arbutus agreed, clasping Aladdin's hand and shaking it.
The vines suddenly erupted into flame, charring to ash. Arbutus screamed as though in pain. "Those CATS!" he roared. "They have no respect for life or beauty in any form! That is why I agreed to help you stand against them! Of course, I also wanted a chance to speak to the Sultan and ask why I had been replanted in his gardens." He turned to Jasmine. "He says it was your idea."
"After I saw your garden and how important it was to you, I understood," Jasmine told him. "After your…your heart was cut out, I didn't want to just let it all die."
"It seems even humans can still surprise me," Arbutus remarked quietly, with a smile.
Meanwhile, the Genie and Eden reunited in a close embrace. "Oh, Eden, I was afraid I'd never see you again!" the Genie gushed. "Of course, it takes more than a little trip to the Netherworld to keep a good genie down!"
"I knew you'd come through!" Eden replied. Backing out of the embrace, she transformed so that she wore a lion tamer's outfit, cracking a whip and wielding a small chair. "Now I'm ready to take on some big cats!"
Dandi giggled at this, catching Rarity's attention. "Dandi!" Rarity cried, rushing forward to briefly embrace the child. "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine," Dandi said with a grin. "And I even found a friend to help us." She gestured to a boy about her age, who stood beside her. "Wahid says he already knows Aladdin."
"Well, well!" Aladdin smirked at the boy. "You and Dandi, huh?"
"Yeah, yeah, whatever!" Wahid said gruffly. "I'm just in it to help save Agrabah, all right!" However, when Dandi caught his gaze, Wahid did give her a brief, awkward, honest smile.
"It seems Sadira has found a new friend," Deluca said, pointing out the young witch as she practically draped over the arm of a tall, dark-skinned man wearing a black cloak with the hood down. To Sadira's credit, he was quite pleasing to the eye.
"Your friend is…pretty dreamy," Sadira admitted to Aladdin.
"My friend?" Aladdin looked into the eyes of the cloaked man, trying to recognize him.
"I do not blame you for not recognizing me," the man said. "After all, the last time you saw me as a human, we were both young. And the last time you saw me at all, I looked quite different."
"AMAL?" Aladdin realized.
"Wait," Twilight interrupted. "Like…the Amal that the shadow-walkers took?"
"I was a shadow-walker for many years," Amal admitted. "It was only by turning away from evil that I began to turn human, and I could walk in the realm of light again. With every good deed I did, I regained more of my humanity…but until I became fully human, I was too ashamed to return to the city I once called home. Now that my journey is over, I have come back…but only to find Agrabah in flames."
"Trust me," Sadira said dreamily, "we're ALL glad you're human."
"Your friend Sadira is…well, overly friendly," Amal told Aladdin with a wink. "Not that I mind."
"Now, dear, you mustn't be ashamed to have been a creature of darkness," Rarity told Amal. "After all, many others of us have as well."
"Your kind words do reassure me," Amal said.
"I just love meeting all these new people!" Pinkie squealed to Minos and Fatima. "Is that everyone? Are we all gonna go out together?"
"Not quite everyone," a voice hissed from the back of the crowd. Said crowd parted to reveal a gaunt figure wearing a brown tunic and a blue cape. While his stature was humanoid, his face was undoubtedly reptilian, with scaly flesh, lizardlike eyes, and two nostrils in place of a mammalian nose. "I have come to help ssssssettle the sssssscore."
"THE MUKHTAR?" Iago squawked. "Okay, now I've seen everything."
"I'll say, he gave Eden quite the fright when he turned up," Cassim remarked.
"I am not interesssssted in hunting the geniessss," the Mukhtar hissed. "In fact, I returned becausssse of the Genie of Agrabah. He and I ssssshhhared a moment of friendssshhhip, one that I cannot eassssily forget. If hisssss homeland isssss in danger…I mussssst protect it."
"Awww, you came all the way here just for me?" The Genie blushed visibly. "So you really DO like me! And you DON'T find me utterly annoying in every possible way!"
"Annoying, yessss," the Mukhtar growled. "But all the sssssame…a friend."
"But…Mukhtars…don't exist anymore!" Twilight cried in awe. "You…"
"Are the lassssst of my kind, yessss."
"It was your technology that helped us get Odiferous back from Jafar!" Twilight gushed, beaming. "The living manacles, the magic-resisting bolas…that was all Mukhtar technology! I've never seen magic-resistant items like that before! They're AMAZING!"
"Your wordsssss flatter me," the Mukhtar admitted. "I trussssst my work did not fail."
"Of COURSE not!" Twilight squealed.
"So…lemme see if I got this," Rainbow Dash clarified. "You're the one that goes around throwing those cool weapons around in the first place?"
"I have been trained in the art of the hunt," the Mukhtar told her. "Obssssserve." With lightning reflexes, he drew a bolas similar to the one Twilight had fashioned from beneath his cape and tossed it at the Genie, who was wrapped up immediately.
"Yup," the Genie commented. "Still got that good throwing arm!"
The Mukhtar untied the Genie by tugging the rope just once; it snapped back to him. "And thisssss isssss not even clossssse to what I can do with a blade…though there issssss no one in thisssss room on whom I wisssshhh to demonsssstrate."
Rainbow Dash's face lit up. "So…awesome!"
"I believe that as we stand, we are more than ready to take back Agrabah," Cassim remarked. "Of course, it will be that much easier if you all come with us."
"Sorry," said Aladdin, "but we have other business to finish."
"Yeah," Applejack agreed. "We gotta go down to the Black Sands and show that Mozenrath what's what before he stirs up even more trouble!"
"Um…Applejack? Aladdin?" Twilight broke in. "I…think I might have to tell you why that's so complicated right about now…"
"Then we shall wait," Cassim said.
"Wait? Are you CRAZY?" Aladdin replied. "The longer you wait, the more damage is being done out there!"
"Without all of you, we may not have a fighting chance," Cassim argued.
"But you have the Mukhtar," Rainbow Dash pointed out. "Let me repeat that: you have…THAT GUY. I think you'll be fine."
"But we would make a better force with all of us together," Applejack brought up.
"The more the merrier!" Pinkie chirped.
"I too agree that we should wait," the Sultan said.
"What if we don't come back again?" Jasmine asked worriedly.
"Mozenrath does only have the one wish left," Rainbow Dash remembered. "And I doubt he's gonna use it to do the same thing twice. He'd think that would be some kinda waste. After all, if we broke out of the Netherworld once, we can just do it again!"
"Go," Deluca encouraged. "We shall form a plan of how to approach the palace."
Aladdin looked around to Jasmine, the Carpet, the Genie, Iago, Abu, and the six Equestrians. "So," he said. "Ready to face the dynamic duo one last time?"
"I really have to explain things first!" Twilight protested; she went unheard as the others cheered "YEAH!"
The Genie transformed into a jet once more, and everyone settled into their regular seats. With a sigh, Twilight climbed aboard the Carpet.
"This won't take long," Jasmine promised. "We'll be back as soon as we can!"
The Carpet and the Genie-jet took off from the tower, speeding toward the Land of the Black Sands.
"So, Twilight," Jasmine said, "what were you trying to tell us?"
"Umm…well, you see," Twilight admitted, "I'm kind of here because…because Mozenrath let me out of the Crystal."
"Can you speak up?" the Genie replied immediately. "It sounded like you said Mozenrath let you out of the Crystal!"
"That's because…he did."
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA!" Iago fluttered over to the Carpet, landing next to Twilight. "We can NOT be talking about the same Mozenrath."
"But we are," Twilight insisted. "You see, after you all disappeared…"
THE LAND OF THE BLACK SANDS, THE SEVEN DESERTS
"…that's when I found all of you," Twilight finished.
"I don't like this," Aladdin admitted. "Mozenrath is…"
"Cruel and heartless?" Twilight supplied. "The funny thing is, he kept trying to tell me the same thing. So I guess you were right, Rainbow Dash. We really were too much alike."
"I…do not even know what to say," Rainbow Dash admitted. "I mean…you're here with us, so that's good, right?"
The Carpet and the Genie-jet swooped down in toward the jet-black fortress. When they landed, no undead guards rushed to meet them.
"Something's off about this," Jasmine observed.
"No duh," Rainbow Dash commented.
"Maybe they don't know we're here!" Pinkie guessed. She ran up to the door and began knocking. "MOZENRATH! JAFAR! WE'RE HERE!"
"Pinkie, stop that!" Rainbow Dash pulled Pinkie away from the door in order to get her to stop giving away their position. Still no guards appeared.
"As long as the six of us stick together," Rarity said, "we'll be able to handle them."
"Then let's go." Aladdin swung the great door open, and the group entered.
They checked the laboratory first, but that room was empty, littered in shrapnel.
"What happened here?" the Genie asked. "Looks like a sandstorm blew the entire place over!"
"It wasn't like this when I left," Twilight insisted. "Something's wrong…something is really wrong…"
They moved on to the crystal room, and there they found him. All were stunned to see Mozenrath not only dressed in red instead of his usual blue, but also sitting completely still on the floor, staring up at the Crystal's blue glow. Xerxes hovered over his head, occasionally waving a fin in his face, trying concernedly to get his attention.
"Intruders!" Xerxes barked. This got Mozenrath to look over his shoulder and see who had entered his domain.
"I suppose I better put on appearances," he sighed, standing and turning to face the door. Twilight realized right away that it wasn't one of his usual bored, standoffish sighs…his voice betrayed a certain low.
"You didn't post any guards," Twilight said.
"Why bother?" Mozenrath asked with a shrug.
"Is this some kind of trick?" Aladdin asked in suspicion.
"A trick." Mozenrath gave a forced laugh at that. "You think this is some kind of trick! And by all accounts, it should be. This should be the part where I reveal the plan or the weapon that I think will utterly destroy you. Of course, you'll find a way to outwit it, but I might have had my fun for a while, or even a hope that I might finally win. But not this time. This time, you win. Ha! You win. And it doesn't even matter."
"Has anyone else noticed that there seems to be a certain something missing?" the Genie observed. "You know…something tall, intimidating, evil, and very fond of the color red?"
"Oh, you mean Jafar?" Mozenrath replied; he was forcing a smile, and his face twitched. Twilight recognized that look; she'd seen it on herself in the mirror during her greatest upsets. "You're going to love this. He went back to Agrabah. He's probably taking over your precious palace right about…now."
"And you're not with him?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Why would I be?" Mozenrath asked. "After all, I did free him."
"YOU WHAT?" Everyone stared in confusion.
"I freed Jafar," Mozenrath explained. "And he left without me. I didn't want to go anyway."
"Keep him talking," Aladdin whispered. "I have an idea!" He slipped along the circular wall of the crystal room; Mozenrath didn't even give him a second look.
"What did he do to you?" Twilight asked, suddenly horrified at the possibilities.
"He just made it very clear that he worked alone," Mozenrath answered. "Very…VERY clear."
"What'd I tell you?" Iago groaned. "Every time. The underlings always get trashed."
"You told him, didn't you?" Twilight asked softly. "And he…"
"He might have knocked me to the ground and implied that he saw me as nothing more than dirt," Mozenrath growled. "He might have called me weak. If you want to really speculate, you might even think to yourself that after I let both my prisoner and my genie go, the incarnation of evil herself showed up to tell me just how much of a failure I was at being the only thing I ever wanted to be."
Now Twilight saw the still-healing claw marks across his left cheek. "Mozenrath…"
"For those of you who weren't paying attention," Mozenrath concluded, "Jafar cast me into the dirt and stripped me of all my powers. Mirage gave me the full lecture on how I'm no better than a common thief. In the past few hours, I've been ridiculed, I've been beaten down, I've been humiliated, and I've been REJECTED. Yes, I can see that you've been going along the wall to reach that Crystal of Ix the whole time, Aladdin. But I don't care. After all, I've lost everything. Hit rock bottom, if you will. This time, it doesn't matter if you win. Because…after all…" Now his face was alight with anger, fire burning behind his eyes. "WHAT MORE COULD YOU POSSIBLY DO TO ME?"
"IXTALA!" Aladdin yelled, touching the Crystal. It roared to life in brilliant blue. A blue beam of light shot out and grabbed the first magical thing in its path: Mozenrath himself.
"There's nothing more you can do to me," Mozenrath said coldly. Then the Crystal took its hold. He was now a fixture inside it, glaring outward with cynical hatred, with barely visible melancholy.
"NO!" Twilight cried, reaching out to the Crystal. She knew, however, that she had to stay back, to not make a move.
"Now he can't make a mess of anything else," Rarity said triumphantly.
"But Jafar still can," Aladdin pointed out. "It's a good thing we came back…and a good thing we agreed to let the others wait. Jafar's waiting for them!"
"Quick!" Pinkie cried. "We gotta hurry back!"
As the group ran from the fortress, Aladdin kept pace with Twilight. "Hey," he said, "are you gonna be okay?"
"I'm fine," Twilight sniffled, blinking back tears.
"Look, I'm sorry, but—"
"But you had to do what you had to do. The villain always gets defeated in the end. I understand. I wouldn't have wanted him to hurt you. And…I've been in the Crystal. It doesn't hurt you. It just keeps you still. I honestly don't blame you."
They left the fortress, loading up onto the Carpet and the Genie-jet. They lifted off.
"I know I promised I wouldn't bother you about this anymore," Rainbow Dash told Twilight, "but…I gotta know. What did you really think of him?"
"It's complicated," Twilight answered. "It's just…complicated." She clenched her fist. "But we have to defeat Jafar, now more than ever. Mozenrath actually wanted to have a special bond with him. He thought it was actually possible. I think he…might have loved him. If it's possible for him to love." Her fist shook. "And not just for him…for Iago…for everyone he's ever hurt…I'M GOING TO FIGHT JAFAR NO MATTER WHAT!"
"We're right beside ya," Applejack vowed.
"After all," Aladdin pointed out, "we've all got scores to settle with him."
AGRABAH, THE SEVEN DESERTS
The Carpet and the Genie-jet returned to the tower to find everyone still waiting for them. They landed; everyone stood amongst the crowd.
"Well?" Sadira asked. "What happened?"
"We locked away Mozenrath," Aladdin informed the occupants of the tower, "but Jafar is back in Agrabah, and he's free now. He's gone back to the palace to try and take it over again!"
"Does he not ever have better things to do than challenge my throne?" the Sultan asked, miffed.
"This is what he's wanted ever since the beginning," Jasmine pointed out, "and from here, he'll probably go after the rest of the world."
"Let us not forget that cat…woman…still inside the palace," Rarity said with a shudder. "I take it that was the infamous Mirage?"
"Jafar and Mirage, BOTH waiting for us," Iago reiterated. "This is just gonna be a bed of roses…"
"But we have one thing Jafar doesn't," Twilight announced. "We have our friendships. As long as we stand together, we can beat back the Echthroi. We can put our courage together. And we can take on Jafar and Mirage."
"He isssss a genie, correct?" the Mukhtar asked. "It will be eassssy…"
"Let the Elements of Harmony take care of him," Twilight demanded. "We can put a stop to him for good."
"If you sssssso requesssst," the Mukhtar said with a bow. "However, I sssshhhhall not ssssssit idly by if thingssss ssshhhould go awry."
"Thank you," Fluttershy told him.
"And when we win," Rainbow Dash pointed out, "we'll have no problem putting the city back together. A lot of you helped us put a burned-out part of the city back up. We know what we can accomplish as a team! It'll be like Jafar and Mirage never touched this place!"
"I see no reason to doubt this," said Cassim.
"Let's go kick some tail!" Eden cried, still bearing the lion-tamer's whip and chair.
"If everyone's ready," Twilight said, looking around the room, "then let's MOVE OUT!"
A family of four, a husband and wife with two small children, were backed into an alley, three of the fire-cats approaching them with feral squalls. The beasts were even taller than either of the couple, and they were steadily growing, fed by fear. The four closed their eyes, prepared for the worst.
"Hey, why don't you pick on someone your own size?" A young woman's voice rang out. The cats turned to see Sadira, Deluca, and Amal behind them. As the trio approached, the cats felt their supply of fear declining; a wave of the trio's courage swept over them, dousing their flames. They shrank to the size of human children.
"Oh, wait, you can't!" Sadira taunted. "Now you're too small to FIND anyone your size!"
"If you're going to run," Amal told them, "do it now."
The cats hissed in tandem, arching their backs.
Sadira shrugged. "You made me!" She threw her hands into the air, and a wave of sand shot towards the sky, plunging down and covering the cats. When it cleared, the cats were even smaller.
"A perfect execution," Deluca congratulated.
The tiny red cats scooted around the trio's ankles, darting away in fright.
The man of the family stood shakily. "You have saved our lives," he said. "How can we ever repay—"
"No time, gotta run!" Sadira turned on a heel and rushed from the alley; Deluca and Amal followed.
As the group moved forward through the city, the cats backed down time after time. Cassim and the Sultan teamed up to threaten a group of them with their dual blades.
"I must say," the Sultan remarked, "as long as I have your attention, I am quite glad to have gained your son as my own. I hope you do not mind that I have also taken a claim as his father!"
"Only if you do not mind that I have taken a claim as the father of your daughter!" Cassim laughed.
Arbutus commanded a trail of vines to wrap around the ankles of the cats, tripping them up. The cats tried to burn the vines away, but as Arbutus decorated them with flowers of myriad complementary colors, Fluttershy and Applejack oohed and aahed at the designs, and the cats were left with no fear upon which to grow; the flames subsided.
The Mukhtar cut through a group of the cats, swinging his sword about; the cats fled just in time before they could be sliced. "That issssss my technique, Misssss Dasssshhhh," he stated.
"Hold on!" Rainbow Dash tried to copy his grip on the hilt of her own sword. "Like this?"
"Almosssst…"
The Genie and Eden backed several of the cats into a corner. The Genie was now also dressed as a lion-tamer, and the pair jabbed wooden chairs at the feline demons.
"You're on, kids!" Eden called out.
Wahid and Dandi rushed into the fray. "BOO!" they yelled. The cats shrank to the size of kittens, completely overwhelmed by courage.
Minos, Fatima, Jasmine, and Rarity walked together, striding confidently forward; fire-cats backed off from the fountain of bravery. "Just like you're on a runway," Rarity encouraged. "Own it!"
"HAPPY WINTER WRAP-UP!" With Iago and Abu on either shoulder, Pinkie rushed through the streets, firing her party cannon at the fire-cats.
"Looks like your luck's just run out," Razoul threatened the cats as he and the other guards ganged up on them, immediately dousing their flames.
From above, the Carpet swooped down over the cats; Aladdin and Twilight helped herd them toward the others. "Looks like we've almost got the streets cleared out," Aladdin remarked. "Ready for phase two?"
"I'm ready," Twilight confirmed.
"Hey, everyone!" Aladdin called down. "Head toward the palace!"
"Can you get me to the ground first?" Twilight asked.
"No problem!" Aladdin guided the Carpet low to the ground, and Twilight jumped to the ground.
"Come on!" Twilight beckoned. "Applejack! Rarity! Rainbow Dash! Fluttershy! Pinkie Pie! Let's get ahead! We have to stay together!"
The five she named rushed to her side immediately. "The Elements of Harmony are ready!" Pinkie announced.
The six Equestrians picked up their pace, making a beeline down the main street toward the palace.
Though clouds still obscured the sky, it was clear from the lack of light that midnight had crested over Agrabah. Against the darkness, Twilight, Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack rushed toward the palace.
He was there, walking down the stairs to gree them, tall and regal as ever. "I see you have returned from the Netherworld," Jafar greeted smugly. "There have been some CHANGES to Agrabah since you left. The kingdom is under new management: MY management."
Twilight pointed up at Jafar, unable to contain her fury. "YOU BETRAYED MOZENRATH!" she screamed. "I TOLD YOU I WOULD FIGHT YOU!"
"And so you are here to fight me?" Jafar replied. "Go ahead. Let the games begin, if you will."
"Let's do this," Twilight told the others.
"Um, Twilight?" Fluttershy whispered. "He isn't afraid…he's not trying to escape from us…"
"We can beat him!" Twilight insisted. Bright light surrounded the six, and their feet lifted into the air.
Within their sphere of white light, each young woman glowed with the color of her Element. Rarity was surrounded by deep purple. Rainbow Dash gave off an aura of bright red. Pinkie Pie glowed bright blue. Applejack radiated orange. Fluttershy emitted a soft pink. Twilight was bathed in deep pink.
Then Twilight opened her eyes. A strong wind whipped around the six, blowing their garments and Rarity's loose hair. Twilight's eyes were obscured by white light.
The rainbow burst forth in a double helix from the sphere of light, arcing up into the air. It crashed down hard against the palace steps, surrounding Jafar, blinding him with its many colors. "NOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed, feeling the effects of the Elements taking place.
The white light faded. The breeze slowed. Six pairs of feet touched the ground again. The rainbow disappeared. Jafar no longer stood upon the palace steps; instead, the obsidian lamp had reappeared and sat there pathetically.
"YES!" Twilight cried. "WE DID IT! WE DID IT WE DID IT WE DID I—"
The ground shook. The lamp rattled. Then it shattered, fragments of black scattering. Jafar, as the great red genie, burst upward into the dark sky, once again free.
The six screamed.
"NO!" Twilight cried.
"How could this happen?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed.
"How could it happen?" Jafar chuckled. His voice echoed, booming throughout the entire city. "I must admit, at first, you had even me fooled. I had thought you were a cosmic force to be reckoned with. I was warned about what the Elements of Harmony could do. However, I couldn't have been more wrong. You are weak! Your pitiful powers could never stand up to mine! I've known that ever since Galifem!"
"What did we do up at Galifem that got your feathers ruffled?" Applejack snapped.
"Oh, of course you wouldn't remember," Jafar taunted. "You were hardly paying attention…"
GALIFEM, THE SEVEN DESERTS
ONE DAY AGO
Fluttershy, Rarity, Pinkie, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were at Twilight's side, and all six were shooting arrow after arrow in succession. "Should we use the Elements now?" Pinkie asked, and Fluttershy, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash looked eagerly to Twilight for the answer.
"We need to time it!" Twilight replied. "Stop firing arrows! Hopefully everypony else can give us enough cover to start it up!"
Yet the thought of the Elements invaded everypony's conscious thoughts, the ones they were using to put forth the arrows. Jafar's heart skipped a beat as he saw the arrows rocketing toward him carrying the trademark colors: plum from Rarity, red from Rainbow Dash, orange from Applejack, blue from Pinkie Pie, light pink from Fluttershy, and deep pink from Twilight. Instinctively, he raised his arm to protect his face.
The arrows sent a shock coursing through him, but nothing more happened. Of course the Elements were weakened when used as arrows as opposed to the women actually activating them, but still, they were far underpowered. Even at full strength, Jafar knew, they were weaker than he was…than he would even be were he a free genie.
And so he laughed.
AGRABAH, THE SEVEN DESERTS
PRESENT TIMELINE
"…I knew that you could only temporarily hold me at best," Jafar finished. "A valiant effort, but you've been wasting your time on petty light shows! And to think I feared such weaklings! Now you shall watch as I destroy all of Agrabah!"
"The Elements of Harmony…weren't strong enough?" Twilight repeated, aghast. "No…it can't be…"
Aladdin and Jasmine skidded in next to them. "We saw what happened!" Jasmine announced.
"Ah, my old enemies!" Jafar crowed. "What have you got planned to stop me this time? You cannot destroy me by destroying my lamp. I am free! You cannot confine me to a lamp again. What else have you got to throw at me?"
Aladdin, Jasmine, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy stared up at Jafar hopelessly. They had no ideas.
"That's what I thought!" Jafar bellowed. "Now, it is time to teach Agrabah a lesson about who is REALLY in charge!"
His shape changed; he hunched over, melting into a new form. His body stretched out, curled, coiled. Soon, a giant cobra, its black-and-orange-striped body the thickness of a large wagon and longer than anyone could tell, was curled up on the palace steps. Its head rose into the sky, and its black hood spread. It was still unmistakably Jafar; that was visible in the eyes.
"Agrabah will BOW DOWN TO MY POWER!" he hissed, striking out.
"GET DOWN!" Aladdin, Jasmine, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack quickly pulled Twilight, Fluttershy, Rarity, and Pinkie Pie out of the way as Jafar's reptilian body landed on the ground hard. He slithered down from the steps and out into the streets, striking the tall buildings that still stood and knocking them down to rubble. He breathed jets of fire, reigniting the flames that had been doused when the fire-cats were taken down.
"We failed," Twilight moaned. "He's going to destroy the kingdom, and after that…"
"Don't talk like that!" Rainbow Dash snapped. "We can still win this, Twilight!"
"How are we supposed to do that?" Twilight snapped in return. "The Elements didn't work!"
"There's always more than one way," Aladdin told her. "We just have to…improvise."
The Carpet rushed over toward the eight. "Carpet!" Aladdin cried. "Perfect!" He drew his sword. "I'm going to try and fight him on his level: in the air."
"Aladdin, wait!" Jasmine cried, but she was too late. Aladdin had boarded the Carpet and was flying up toward the cobra's hood.
A shadowy figure darted toward the remaining seven, scuttling on all fours; he rose, making himself recognizable as the Mukhtar. "Thisssss genie," he hissed, "isssss nothing more than I can handle." He removed from his waist a glass lantern. "A ssssswift imprisssssonment…"
He opened a door in the side of the lantern, and everyone could see the red aura emanating from Jafar begin to pour into it.
"Oh, I don't think so."
The cat woman appeared in a flash of green flame, knocking down the lantern so it shattered. "A Mukhtar?" she remarked. "Cute."
"Back off, Mirage!" Jasmine threatened.
"Or you'll what?" Mirage smirked. "Oh, I have no quarrel with you, princess. Jafar can take very good care of you. As for him—"
She grabbed the Mukhtar by the throat, and they both vanished.
"MUKHTAR!" Rainbow Dash yelled. "That's it…WE'RE TAKING THEM DOWN! FOR THE MUKHTAR! BECAUSE HE WAS AWESOME!"
Atop the highest balcony of the palace, Mirage and the Mukhtar rematerialized. The Mukhtar wrenched out of Mirage's grasp, drawing his sword.
"You will fall assssss well," he threatened. "You are a magical being not unlike a genie. I will be able to defeat you easssssily."
"I am not like a genie at all!" Mirage countered, miffed. "I'm one of the Old Ones. I have more power than you've ever seen in your entire life, Mukhtar. Of course, I'll be perfectly happy to fight you…so I can rip you to SHREDS!"
She charged forth, her hands glowing green. She tried to strike out. He countered with his blade, striking at her arms; the blade left no impact. She scratched at him again and again; he ducked, kicking out to try and trip her. She jumped over his feet, aiming a punch at his face; he blocked it by catching her fist in his hand.
Thus they fought as Jafar ravaged the city.
The Genie flew up into Jafar's face. "So, trying the old turn-into-a-snake bit again, are we?" he taunted. "Well, I got news for ya, pal! You're a FREE genie now! You're only semi-phenomenal, NEARLY-cosmic! Which means you're exactly equal to me!"
"I am not your equal!" Jafar hissed, spitting another jet of fire at the Genie, one tinged with black.
The Genie plummeted to the ground, landing so hard in the street that cracks emanated from where he landed. Jasmine, Twilight, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Fluttershy, and Pinkie Pie rushed to him.
"Genie!" Pinkie wailed. "Genie, are you okay?"
The Genie coughed, a cloud of ash pouring out of his throat. "That guy's using illegal moves," he grunted hoarsely. "I have no idea what kind of dark magic he's using…I just know that it's better than mine."
"It isn't possible," said Jasmine. "He's a free genie! He and Genie are equals!"
"He might have learned new magic somewhere else," Twilight said. "Magic that…isn't of this world."
"What makes you say that?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"He knew about us," Twilight explained. "And…Mozenrath said he was part of some group called the 'Overtakers.' I think they're something big. I can't explain it, I just know that he's involved in something in the cosmos just like us, and somehow that's where he's getting his dark power!"
"So what do we do about it?" Rainbow Dash retorted.
"We fight, Dash," Applejack said, taking her bow off her shoulder and loading it up with an arrow. "You with me?"
Rainbow Dash stood alongside Applejack. "All the way!" She too loaded her bow. Rarity and Fluttershy joined them. They fired arrows of water, super-speed, viney tentrils, and whirling air at the snake's body; they saw his muscles spasm wherever they hit.
Up above, Aladdin steered the Carpet to fly round and round Jafar's head. "Betcha can't catch me!" he taunted before steering directly downward, crossing the snake's body at the right time to slash with his sword.
Jafar winced from the brief pain, but recovered quickly. "A mere annoyance!" he spat.
"Genie," Jasmine said, "I need to be able to fight too. I can't let Aladdin fight alone!"
The Genie righted himself, floating in the air at his usual height. In his hands, a spear appeared; he handed it to Jasmine. "Good luck!"
Jasmine charged, hopping up on the snake's back and running for his head.
"Maybe if enough of us fire at him at once, he'll get annoyed and give up!" Pinkie theorized. She wheeled out her party cannon. "Be back eventually!" she cried, rushing ahead to get a better aim.
"I need to fight him too," Twilight muttered. "I just wish I had some higher ground—"
"Higher ground comin' right up!" the Genie announced, snapping his fingers; a wooden platform appeared beneath Twilight and the Genie, rising into the air. When it reached a height slightly above Jafar's head, Twilight and the Genie pointed at the snake with both hands, firing the most powerful magic they had.
"Mind if I join you?" Eden lined up next to them, also firing her own beam, one of green. Green, blue, and pink collided against the snake.
"FOOLS!" Jafar hissed. "Even your powers are not enough to stop me!" He snapped his neck backward, flinging off Jasmine, but not before she managed to get one good stab in with her spear. The Genie moved his left hand for an instant to snap his fingers and materialize a whip in Jasmine's hands; she struck out with her new weapon.
When the Carpet passed over the ground, a figure in blue rushed alongside it, grabbing the edge and attempting to climb aboard. Recognizing Cassim, Aladdin grabbed his father's wrist, helping him up onto the Carpet. "Sorry if this isn't what you had in mind for father-son bonding," he said.
"I'll take it," Cassim said with a wink as he drew his sword.
"CHARGE!" Razoul and the Sultan led the other guards to strike at Jafar, dodging his breath of fire. With a laugh, Jafar just summoned swords to fall from the sky, making the guards and the Sultan do a deadly dance to get away from them.
"You do NOT get to do that!" Sadira yelled as she conjured up waves of sand, sending them shooting toward Jafar as Deluca and Amal stood to either side of her, bolstering her confidence with their presence.
In the cellar of a decimated building, Iago remarked, "See? Cowardice is sometimes the best way to go! And I did find the best place to hide, didn't I?"
"Your quick thinking to duck into this cellar did save the children," Fatima replied; she and Minos huddled over Wahid and Dandi.
"Why do I have to sit here and be protected?" Wahid grumped. "I wanna fight too!"
"I'm scared!" Dandi wailed, tears gathering in her eyes. "I wish Eden were here!"
"H-hey," Wahid said, spurred into action by Dandi's tears. He took her hand in his own. "They'll be fine. Aladdin and Jasmine and the Genie always save the day. Every time!"
From one of the still-standing vendor carts, Abu launched apple after apple at Jafar, hoping that would do something. Arbutus watched him in interest. "No," he finally said. "That is not how you do that at all!" He summoned vines to burst from the ground, surrounding one length of the snake's body in tendrils that burst into red flowers the color of the apples. "That is how a true visionary would do such a thing!"
However, Jafar easily broke free of the vines, causing Arbutus to immediately summon more. He pushed through the waves of sand Sadira summoned, barely impeded. He shrugged off the stab wounds, the arrows, the blasts of magic, the force of the party cannon; sometimes he would flinch, but he kept slithering on, chuckling to himself that he was stronger than all his opponents.
"It isn't enough!" Twilight cried. "No matter what we do, he's too strong! Even for all of us!"
"Don't give up hope yet, kid!" Eden commanded.
"She's right, Eden!" the Genie lamented, watching his blue magic barely able to pierce the red aura that Jafar now conjured to surround his entire body. "What we need now is a miracle!"
As soon as the Genie said that, it began to rain. Lightning bolts forked through the sky brightly.
"What's he doing now?" Twilight yelled; she had to, in order to be heard over the howling wind.
"That isn't him," the Genie realized. "That's…"
Twilight saw her at the same time as Rarity, Applejack, Aladdin, Jasmine, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, and Pinkie Pie. As one, they yelled: "THUNDRA!"
"WHAT?" Hearing the name, Iago peered out of the cellar. A flash of green against the dark sky, the thunder bird hovered, directing her chilling rain, icy winds, and lightning to strike at the snake below. Iago abandoned Minos, Fatima, Dandi, and Wahid, zooming up to be at Thundra's side. "What are you DOING here?" he cried worriedly. "WE ARE FACING A MAJOR CRISIS!"
"I know, my little giblet," Thundra said calmly. "And I am dealing with a major crisis!"
Electricity from the lightning bolts jolted Jafar, causing him to falter. He closed his eyes against the icy winds.
"I don't like this game!" a shrill voice said next to Pinkie. "If he keeps breaking everything, there's not gonna be anything left to play with!"
"SPRITES!" Pinkie cried with glee, noticing the crowd of the tiny flying creatures that had gathered near her. "Wanna help me play a good old-fashioned game of stop the bad guy?"
"Sounds like fun!" a teal sprite chirped. Several sprites loaded into the cannon; Pinkie fired them at Jafar, and they broke through the red aura, shocking his scales with their magic.
"I…don't believe what I'm seein'," Applejack said, jaw dropped, as she looked up to the horizon. Rainbow Dash, Rarity, and Fluttershy looked past Jafar, past all the buildings, and they saw the same sight. Feldspar, Andalusite, and Shale had risen up, cooled enough by the lack of sun that they could move unworried around the surface, and they threw large clods of mud at Jafar, coating the snake almost completely.
"Blech!" Jafar shook the mud away. "What is the meaning of all this?"
"FIRE!" a voice boomed; a great sphere of cheese slammed into Jafar's face, assaulting all his senses. He recoiled in disgust.
"A wonderful shot!" Brawnhilda congratulated Uncouthma from the catapult where he'd launched the cheese ball.
"You got him good!" Bud added.
"All right, troops," Uncouthma told a legion of soldiers on horseback and yak-back. "Ride on!"
The guards of Agrabah, on foot, were suddenly bolstered by three armies. Heavy armor clanked on the Odiferan soldiers as they charged past on their yaks. Moving swiftly as ninjas, led by Mahmoud on a young colt, the Quirkistani army followed. Finally, the bejeweled Getzistani soldiers, headed by Pasta Al-Dente, charged past on their muscular stallions. The armies slashed at the parts of the snake they could reach, beating him with maces, throwing ropes over him to pin him to the ground along with Arbutus' vines. Arbutus even summoned flowers to grow over the ropes, completing his artwork.
Now Jafar was stymied; from all directions, he was hit with metal, with magic, with mud, with lightning, with exploding cheese. Just as he wondered how things could get any worse, another volley of arrows much like those that pierced him from the four archers below rained from the sky, as fire, as ice, as rope, as mere arrows. They all struck his hood.
"Bullseye!" Scara yelled, pumping her fist. She and Hippsodeth rode the pegasi that flew at the forefront of the airborne Galifem army.
"NO!" Jafar cried, this time not as a dramatic ruse as he had done when the Elements of Harmony attacked him. "NOOOOOOOOOO!"
"If you can't stand the heat," the Genie taunted, "then GET OUT OF THE KITCHEN!"
Reeling from all the blows, Jafar could take it no longer. He shifted shape, curling up until he became the red genie once more. Still the assault of earth, wind, rain, arrows, blades, ropes, vines, and cheese continued. With an enraged cry, he flew straight upward as quickly as he could go. The clouds parted for him, and everyone below stopped, watching him fly up into the stars. Then he disappeared. His disembodied voice rang out through the streets of Agrabah: "You may have won this world for now…but soon, ALL WILL BE LOST AND I WILL HAVE MY REVENGE!"
In the town square, the armies pooled. Sadira, Deluca, Amal, Arbutus, Abu, the Genie, Eden, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Pinkie Pie, the sprites, Fluttershy, Uncouthma, Brawnhilda, Bud, Minos, Fatima, Dandi, Wahid, Thundra, Iago, Feldspar, Andalusite, Shale, Aladdin, Cassim, the Carpet, Jasmine, Hippsodeth, Scara, and the Galifem army joined the Agrabanian, Odiferan, Quirkistani, and Getzistani armies, looking up to the sky.
"Where did he go?" Aladdin asked.
"From the looks of it…he completely left this world," the Genie said, putting a hand over his eyes and extending them into binoculars to look up into the sky. "Yup, he's definitely left the atmosphere."
"Does that mean…" Twilight said, hoping against hope.
"It means we won," Aladdin said. "For real. He's…gone."
A cheer went up through the entire crowd.
"It looksssssss like your genie hasssss flown away," the Mukhtar mocked.
"No!" Mirage gasped, looking out over the city from which she'd seen Jafar flee. "NOOOOOO!"
In a rush of green fire, she disappeared.
"How'd you all know what was happening, anyway?" Twilight asked the large crowd of warriors. "I mean, we didn't tell anyone except…"
"Except for me." Hippsodeth stepped forward. "It was no trouble for my warriors to spread the word that Agrabah was in danger. We flew to the other kingdoms in alliance with Agrabah and asked around. We knew Jafar would be trouble."
"I got to go to the rainforest!" Scara squealed. "I've never been that far from home before!"
"We are sorry we took so long to get here!" Uncouthma apologized. "But it took a while to fix up the cheese catapult!"
"You got here just in time," Jasmine reassured everyone.
"And we couldn't have done it without you," Aladdin added. "Everyone…thanks."
"Looks like harmony really did beat Jafar!" Pinkie cried. "We couldn't have done it without ALL our friends!"
"I must say, Hippsodeth, your actions did save my kingdom from an untimely end," the Sultan told the queen.
"You know very well that I wish no harm to come to you, my dear," Hippsodeth replied, bending over—she was nearly twice the Sultan's height—and caressing his cheek with her right hand.
"UGH!" Rainbow Dash cried. "Mushy stuff? Now? REALLY?"
A flash of green flared up; Mirage appeared in the midst of the crowd with a yowl. "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?" she screeched.
"Beaten you," Aladdin boasted.
"With the magic of friendship!" Pinkie added. "Oh, and some elemental magic, a lot of weapons, and some exploding cheese. But mostly friendship!"
"You," Mirage growled, looking to Pinkie, Rarity, Fluttershy, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, and Applejack. "You must be the ones he spoke of…it is no wonder that he hates you."
"So Jafar went crying to you about how much trouble we were?" Rainbow Dash guessed smugly.
"No…oh, no." Mirage scowled. "It was Discord that warned me."
The six Equestrians gasped.
"You're lying!" Twilight accused. "You just said that to make us afraid!"
"Oh, come now," Mirage replied, "who do you think reset the lamp? Who do you think gave it to me and instructed me to pass it to the likes of Mozenrath? Who else could have orchestrated such beautiful chaos?"
"You're an Old One!" Pinkie accused. "Maybe you did all that stuff on your own!"
"Believe what you want to believe," Mirage told them. "It does not change the fact that he has resurfaced…that WE are resurfacing! And it is only a matter of time before Jafar returns to this world as well. It is only the beginning, Elements of Harmony!" In a column of green flame, she disappeared.
"She's just tryin' to throw us off, right?" Applejack asked warily.
"Who's Discord?" Aladdin asked. "Heh…first time I've asked about one of your rivals instead of the other way around. Guess it's about time we switched off, don't you think?"
"You don't wanna take on Discord!" Pinkie wailed. "He's crazy! He's mean! But he does like chocolate. That's kinda cool."
"Discord is one of our world's greatest enemies," Twilight told Aladdin. "We defeated him with the Elements of Harmony, just like Celestia and Luna did before us. But every time he was released, he turned our world into complete chaos."
"I've seen complete chaos before," Aladdin boasted. "People turning into half-kangaroos? Evil clones?"
"Worse," Twilight sighed. "Uprooting cities and levitating them upside-down."
"Cotton candy clouds that rain chocolate milk!" Rainbow Dash added.
"Poor bunnies on the legs of deer!" Fluttershy wailed.
"All the roads turned into soap!" Rarity emphasized. "ALL OF THEM!"
"Day and night comin' right after each other in the same hour, then over and over again as many times as he feels like it!" Applejack added.
"And turning ponies—people—into the exact opposite of what they are without even cloning them like you said!" Pinkie finished.
"He's just as powerful as Mirage," Twilight said. "And supposedly more powerful than Jafar…but we were able to defeat him, when with Jafar, we just failed."
"Except that if Mirage is telling the truth," Rarity pointed out, "we really couldn't keep Discord locked away for that long either…"
"I just feel so…useless, now that I know the Elements weren't strong enough," Twilight lamented. "I feel like we let our princesses down."
"But you did exactly what you were supposed to do!" Aladdin insisted. "You helped us save our world with friendship!"
"Are we really gonna keep talking about it like it's THAT CORNY?" Iago complained. "Ooh, we stopped great evil from taking over our world…WITH FRIENDSHIP!"
"Your magic isssss not weak," a voice hissed from the back of the crowd. Everyone parted to let the Mukhtar through.
"MUKHTAR!" Rainbow Dash squealed. "You're okay!"
"Mirage wasssss a worthy opponent," the Mukhtar boasted, "but easssssily disssstracted. The genie…Jafar, asssss you called him…had drawn ssssstrength from other ssssourccccessss of power. If you find other ssssourcccessss…you too may become jussssst assssss sssstrong. After all, even I wasssss oncccce weak. What you ssssssee now issssss the resssssult from yearssssss of hunting."
"We'll write to Celestia," Applejack suggested, "and ask her if we can get that powerful."
Shale interrupted: "Now that we have saved your kingdom, our debt is repaid. A debt we did not realize we owed you until Hippsodeth convinced us. Now we must return to the underground. When we cross paths again…we are predator and prey." He, Feldspar, and Andalusite sank into the ground and disappeared.
"He was difficult to convince," Hippsodeth admitted, "but we were able to persuade him."
"With fire arrows!" Scara squealed. "Lots of fire arrows!"
"I preferred diplomacy," Hippsodeth sighed, "but Scara does so love her fire arrows…"
"So do I!" Pinkie broke in.
"Anyway," Aladdin yawned, "it's almost morning. I think we should get some sleep. Say, Sultan…you don't mind if we host a few guests overnight, do you?"
"Well…" The Sultan looked around to the armies, to Pasta and Mahmoud, to Arbutus and the Mukhtar, to Sadira and Amal, to Thundra and Eden. "There are a great many of them…but I suppose we can find room."
"SLUMBER PARTYYYYYY!" Pinkie screamed.
"We can get to work on rebuilding the city tomorrow!" Twilight said as the crowd moved toward the palace.
"We can stay and help you, friends!" Uncouthma suggested.
"Actually," Jasmine said, "you should all get back to your kingdoms. You have things to take care of there. We Agrabanians can handle things here."
"And of course, the six of us will stay until everything is back the way it was…and until we're sure we're rid of Jafar for quite a long time," Rarity insisted.
The crowd moved into the palace. That night, many had to sleep on the floor on piles of pillows, and quarters were a bit cramped, but the warriors of the Seven Deserts plus the Elements of Harmony got their well-deserved rest.
"Add this one to your checklist, Mechanicles," Abis Mal said, leading Mechanicles, Amin, and Haroud around the palace walls into the city. "Now that we're a fighting force of four…ooh, I like that alliteration, remind me to write that one down…I say we ravage Agrabah! Take it by storm! Rob it of EVERYTHING! Destroy it almost COMPLETELY…"
As they beheld the city before them, four jaws dropped.
"I think…someone beat us to it," Amin finally voiced.
Haroud shrugged. "There is always Getzistan."
"Yeah," Abis Mal agreed. "They're rich there!"
The four thieves turned to leave Agrabah behind, and no more disaster struck it that night.
Chapter 15:
· I finally did it! I tried to pick a chapter title that didn't spoil too much of what happened in the chapter. This was one of the harder ones to write. It was the first real "battle royale" I had to write for this fic. Later ones get better.
· Mozenrath's rage-depression. I decided that it's not out of character for him to just sulk when he's really mad/possibly hurt. After "Book of Khartoum," when Al had to save him from Khartoum and his Philosopher's Stone (yes, he had one) got shattered, he just told Al, "Who cares, I lost everything!" Moz's utter lack of sympathy coupled with his fixation on his own gain/loss made that the first episode where I really started considering the possibility that he has Asperger's. And now that's my headcanon. He totally does. Makes me feel almost special…this awesometastic villain is an Aspie just like me. Incidentally, I also have diagnosed Twilight Sparkle with it. Which should technically make their relationship even MORE complicated. Wait, where did this bullet point even start? I think I lost the point…
· I knew Fluttershy and AJ would be huge fans of Arbutus. OK, Arbutus backstory: he's the antagonist of one of the best ATAS eps of all time, "Garden of Evil." The Sultan steals a flower from him as a youth, so Arbutus returns to kidnap Jasmine several years later ("I will take your most precious treasure"). While in Arbutus' captivity, Jasmine discovers that the flowers are just as precious to Arbutus (plants are both his art medium and his family) as she was to her father, and they bond. Al shows up and rashly duels Arbutus until he cuts off the rose that is Arbutus' heart; Arbutus and his garden die. Jasmine tells Al that Arbutus wasn't really all that bad…just different and very jaded. They plant his rose in the ground in his memory. And that's where I picked up. Decided Fluttershy would share his respect for plants, as she likes all living things (though I sure hope you can live in a tree without killing it, 'cause she does) and has canonically stated that she wants to be a tree. AJ takes care of an entire apple orchard; of course she loves trees.
· Zap-apples are a canon thing from MLPFIM. They're magic rainbow apples that only grow at a certain time of year.
· Wahid is a side character from a couple eps. He's a young boy about Dandi's age, and he wants to make something of himself. He almost turns into a shadow-walker because he wants that power, but Al talks him down from it. Anyway, I realized that though he and Dandi never interact, I ship it. HARD.
· I got Amal in it! So basically, he was a shadow-walker in "The Lost Ones," but at the end of the ep, he realized that if he did good, he could slowly regain his humanity. So he went off into the world to find good deeds to do, and probably had a lot of interesting adventures.
· Sadira/Amal was an old favorite of mine. It's since been replaced.
· Also, in the original draft of these author's notes, I had explained another "rule" about this fanfic. Most of the ships I prefer are not canon and involve breaking up canon couples, but my goal in EoH is not to break up canon couples unless 1) I really dislike them or 2) I had a different couple planned out before I knew that one member of it had a canon ship. Just a thing to keep in mind. Also, there may come a day this rule just goes out the window. (But as many crossover pairings I have for Rapunzel that I like better than Eugene, I'm not breaking her and Eugene up, for example.)
· AND THERE IS THE MUKHTAR! And Dash's "So…awesome!" is actually a reference to an early ep of MLPFIM, where she said that line while making a goofy face and it turned into a sort of meme.
· I was originally going to bring in some more side characters (Deluca has a husband and three brothers), but ran out of space. Actually, THIS MANY was more than I really had room for, but I couldn't resist them.
· "I have an army." "We have a Mukhtar." OKAYI'MSORRYI'LLLEAVETHEAVENGERSJOKESFORTHEMARVELSTORYLET
· They waited at the tower because THE PLOT DEMANDED IT.
· I was originally going to have Twi keep her awkward relationship with Moz a secret, but Honesty is one of the Elements, after all.
· Yes…Twi still does consider Al a good friend, even though Moz resents him. She's loyal to each of them in her own way.
· Winter Wrap-Up is another Equestrian holiday. Their version of Christmas.
· Rarity is the only one without a headdress because CONTINUITY.
· And here is the big twist. I was always going to have the Elements not be enough to beat Jafar. After all, the Mane Six can't just have the game-breaking power, now, can they? And they have to develop their powers. Now, it might have been a stretch to say two djinni couldn't bring him down, but you have to understand the Overtakers are a big deal here.
· I decided the big battle with Jafar should feature his snake form, since I loved it in the first movie. I kinda find it more badass than his genie form, really. I gave him the ability to breathe fire because actually, canonically, he does breathe fire in the same scene where he turns into a snake—just not at the same time. Eventually he would have figured out how to combine them. Same for the blades falling from the sky.
· Yup. I'm implying that the Mukhtar might STILL have been able to capture Jafar if Mirage hadn't interfered. Because he's a frigging badass.
· The cheese catapult is canon. Yes. Also, the Odiferan army has canonically been seen, and they wear lots of clanky armor. The Getzistani and Quirkistani armies, I made up myself.
· The stinger for this chapter was originally going to be the revelation of where Jafar went, but I decided I needed to end this on a happier/more comical note. So you get the four thieves finding out that someone beat them to destroying Agrabah. *cue tinned laughter*