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The Epic Quest of Ford Mustang

by RoyalRainbow

Chapter 24: Chapter 24 – Castle Crashers

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Chapter 24 – Castle Crashers

Today is the day. A day which can change the very fate of Equestria and all of its inhabitants. After a few hours of rest and saying their quick goodbyes to their friends and loved ones, five brave warriors make their long trek to a secret entrance at the cliff of Canterlot, the country’s capital that was overtaken by Arrogon the Destroyer over two weeks ago.

Leading the party is Chrysalis, the Queen of the Changelings and chief infiltrator, who is infamously known for being the only one able to enter the castle of Canterlot undetected. Following behind her is Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guards and husband of the Crystal Empire’s Princess, who acts as the self-proclaimed team leader of the group. Riding on top of the Unicorn’s back is Spike, Twilight Sparkle’s Number-One Assistant, who possesses knowledge of the location of his imprisoned friends. At the end of the line is the Sweet Apple Acres’ red, indomitable stallion, Big Macintosh, who acts as the muscle of the team. And right beside Big Mac is the pony responsible for bring everyone together on this important mission of theirs, Ford Mustang.

Hundreds of feet beneath Arrogon’s dark magical force field that has entrapped everypony inside the castle walls, the party of five is treading on a narrow pathway alongside the cliff as they pass by a couple waterfalls. So far, their treacherous journey has been a smooth one. Of course, like any typical family road trip, there tends to be some… disgruntlement between its travelers.

“Oh come on, Shining!” Chrysalis chuckles greatly at the extremely flustered Unicorn. “Are you still mad at me? I said I was sorry already!”

“‘Sorry?!’” he screeches at the changeling with a face boiling with rage and embarrassment. “You nearly ruined my marriage!”

She shrugs casually as she continues to mock him, “Hey, it’s not my fault you were too easy to trick when I disguised myself as your wife, and that you actually confused me for her when you snuggled up close to me!”

“I-I was too drowsy to tell the difference!” he retorts with a stammering excuse.

“Yeah, too bad your pitiful excuse wasn’t enough to save you when the real Cadance walked in while you were busy spooning with yours truly! And boy, was she furious!” Then, she starts to laugh madly as she continues, “Ahh, I can still picture the look on her face! Oh, everypony! You should have seen it yourself! It was priceless! Hahahahaha!

“Yeah, hilarious.” Spike responds with an unfunny, deadpan expression.

“On come now, dearie!” she says as she ruffles the spines on scowling dragon’s head. “I’m just trying to lighten up the mood here! Geez, you guys sure are a couple of killjoys here!”

Meanwhile, at the caboose end of the line, Ford and Big Mac stare blankly at Chrysalis’ maddening antics as they share an impassive expression over this matter.

“Well, this trip certainly has been a fun get-together, hasn’t it, Big Mac?” Ford asks with a small, sarcastic smile.

“Eeyup.” he answers with a simple nod.

“Hey, Chrysalis!” Ford calls out to her. “How far are we until we get to this secret entrance of yours?”

“Not for long, Mustang! It’s just right around the corner!”

And just like she said, around the corner of cliff and at the end of the narrow pathway, there is a cave entrance with another waterfall right across from it.

“Here we are, gentlecolts!” she announces happily before making her way to the secret tunnel.

“Wait just a minute!” Spike intervenes which stops Chrysalis from proceeding as he gets off of Shining Armor’s back. “How do we know that she won’t double-cross us?! For all we know, she could secretly be in league with Arrogon and is throwing us off course!”

“Well first off…” she turns her attention to the distrustful dragon as she hovers towards him. “…I’m not doing this for any of you, except for Ford here for reasons I will keep to myself. Second of all, I have my own duties as a queen to preserve my own species' need to survive. And finally, when it comes to power, I’m not too fond on sharing it with anypony else, including Arrogon!”

Spike along with Big Macintosh and Shining Armor look at each other with blank skepticism over trusting the changeling’s word, so Ford Mustang stands right beside her as he reassures his male comrades, “Look, whether you trust her or not, it’s too late for us to turn back now! Let’s just remember why we are all here in the first place and focus on the mission!”

A bit surprise by how far Ford is willing to trust her, Chrysalis smiles and gestures to them, “Well… after you.”

One by one, starting with Ford, they enter the cave at will. But as Shining Armor walks by Chrysalis, he warns her sternly, “Just remember this: I’ve got my eyes on you!”

“Ooo, be careful with those baby blue eyes of yours, big boy!” she giggles in response to Shining’s threat. “Your sweet, devoted princess won’t take it so kindly from if you keep leering at me like that!” Upon leaving the dumbfounded Unicorn, she purposefully sways her hips in an alluring manner as she finishes it off with a wink and a grin, “Then again, I won’t mind it at all!”

Grudgingly, Shining Armor is the last one to enter the cave as he mumbles inaudible curses to himself. Inside the forbidden caves, countless, unrefined gems extrude from the cavern walls. Standing on the ground level, they allies look up and all of them except Chrysalis gasps at the nearly endless elevation of the crystal labyrinth.

“Okay boys, I’ll see you at the top!” she says to them as she takes flight to bypass the maze-like staircase.

“Wait!” Spike shouts to her. “How are we supposed to reach the top ourselves?”

Ford takes a moment to think about this. And after that, he turns to Shining Armor for his assistance. “Captain, can you create a bubble that can be used for me to transport all of you?”

“Sure, but are you capable on carrying all three of us?”

“Well, I’ve once lifted a monstrous, 100-foot long snake off the ground, so you tell me.” he smirks with pride.

A bit speechless at first by Ford’s boastfulness, Shining Armor nods to the younger pony’s request and projects a magenta-colored bubble around himself, Spike, and Big Mac. Along with the creation of the secured bubble, Shining also adds a handle on the top of the transparent sphere, which will make it easier for Ford to carry them. With his fore hooves fastened to the bubble’s handle, he carefully lifts them up with ease. As the Pegasus transports them, Chrysalis leisurely hovers right beside them as she observes Ford with a casual smile.

“You know Chrysalis, you're welcome to lend a hoof as well.” Ford states with a grin.

“And have me shatter that fragile stallion pride of yours? Mustang, you wound me so!”

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At the very top level of the abandoned mines, Chrysalis reveals a secret entrance to the sewer system. And from there, they exit from one of the sewer’s openings before they lean right against a shady wall. Through a peek around the corner, the unlikely heroes can see the next step of their rescue mission: the Royal Guard’s garrison. Unfortunately for them, the only way to gain access to that is to somehow sneak pass not only the two motionless Golems standing guard at the garrison’s entrance, but also with all the other Shadow Minions that are crawling around the royal courtyard.

“Okay, everypony.” Shining Armor addresses to his recruits quietly. “The entrance to the dungeon is just inside that garrison over there.”

“So… how do we pass all these living shadows out there?” Spike asks.

With no one coming up with any ideas, Chrysalis steps forward with a proud smirk. “Well, since I’m the only one who can turn invisibility, I guess I’ll go solo from here on out!”

“Hold it right there!” Shining stops her abruptly. “We’re all on this mission together, so we all go together as well! No one gets left behind!”

“Really?" she retorts with a crooked eyebrow. "Do we really have to go through this whole trust issue thing again?”

“Then how about turning each of us invisible as well?”

“Sorry to say this, but I can only use that spell for myself.”

Hmph! I expected better from the all-powerful Queen of the Changelings!” he scoffs at her.

“Oh, and I suppose you have a better idea, O’ Fearless Leader?” she glares back at him.

“Well… why don’t you two combine yer powers and create some kind of invisible force field or something?” Big Mac suggests gingerly.

Instantly, the two bitter enemies cease their arguing after hearing the red stallion’s suggestion. With blank expressions, they first stare at Big Mac, and then at each other. Eventually, Shining is the first to respond with a hopeful smile on his face, “You know, that might actually work.”

Heh! I always knew Fluttershy married you more for your brain than for your brawl!” Ford comments with a grin as he softly nudges Big Mac with an elbow.

“Eeyup!”

“Hey, before you two get started, can you also add a soundproofing spell just for good measure?” Ford inquires to Shining Armor.

“Oh yeah, sure.” he answers. “Everypony! Stay close together while we perform the spell!” Once the others were in place, Shining Armor and Chrysalis carefully cross horns together. Before they begin, he warns her in a low growling tone, “This stays between us! Got it?”

“Don’t worry!” she replies with a very shrewd smile. “Since this is your first time anyway, I promise to be gentle for you!”

After dismissing her latest innuendo with a subtle grunt, Shining begins the spell by casting his trademark magical force field first. As the shield is encasing the party, Chrysalis starts her part as her twisted horn discharges a bright, green beam at the center top of the shield. Once Shining Armor was done create the shield, the changeling’s magic spreads and evaporates the magenta color of the Unicorn’s force field. After the combined spell is complete, at it leaves in its place is the semi-hazy view of the magical dome from the inside and a thin, glowing, green ring on the ground that indicates the unique spell’s activation.

“So, did it work?” Spike asks with curiosity.

“Only one way to find out!” Chrysalis answers with a clever smirk.

But before any one else could question her, the shrewd changeling quickly goes up to Shining Armor and humorously gives him a simple lick on his muzzle. Briefly frozen by this sudden display of affection from his hated enemy, Shining hastily overreacts to this with immense disgust and fury.

“EW!! WHAT THE BUCK?!”

After that impulsive screech of his, Shining embarrassingly clamps his mouth shut with his hooves as he is afraid that he may have ruined their mission. But to everyone else’s surprise except Chrysalis’s, none of the Shadow Minions were alarmed by the Unicorn’s shrieking. So to their relief, the invisible, soundproof force field actually works.

“Well… guess that answers that!” Chrysalis verifies that casually with an amused smile.

After recomposing himself, Shining Armor then issues to his ragtag recruits. “Alright team! Stay close to me while I guide us into the dungeon!”

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Deep within the dark, dank dungeon, the cloaked party is getting close to their main objective with Spike pointing them in the right direction. At last, the five infiltrators have reached to the location of Twilight Sparkle and her friends. And the only things that are standing in their way are two vigilant Wraiths guarding the reinforced door to the girls’ prison cell.

“That’s it!” Spike proclaims with sheer excitement. “That’s where Twilight and the others are being held at!”

“Well then… what are we going to do about those guards over there?” Big Mac asks in subtle anticipation over his long-awaited reunion with his beloved Fluttershy.

“I can probably take care of them quickly if that’s okay with all of you.” Ford offers his assistance.

While they are so close to be reunited with their love ones, Shining Armor really hopes to keep the element of surprise for as long as they can until they can confront Arrogon together. With a heavy sigh, he then permits the light blue stallion, “I guess we don’t have much of a choice--!”

“Ahem!” Chrysalis interrupts the captain sweetly as she holds up her fore hoof in front of Ford. “What this job requires now is a mare’s touch!”

With a little more room from her male associates, she concentrates immensely as her body is engulfed in a magical, green aura of fire. As her flames die down, the rest of them perplexingly stare at her as they wonder on what she’s up to. Upon the reveal of her transformation, everypony gasps tremendously at Chrysalis’s lastest disguise. Ford especially is trembling with subconscious anger at the mere sight of his most hated enemy of all, Arrogon the Destroyer!

Ignoring the guys’ reactions, the disguised changeling nonchalantly walks out of the cloaking device and steps out of the shadows before standing in front of the slightly startled Wraiths. To the four observers inside the secured force field, they are completely astonished by how the mistress of disguise has managed to fool the mindless minions of the real Arrogon.

“You two! What are you imbeciles still doing out here?!” she yells at the cyclopean reapers with a flawless voice matching that with the Destroyer’s. “You were supposed to be out in the courtyard with the rest of them, remember?!”

Bewilderedly, the floating Wraiths look at each other as they wonder if they ever received that order from their master beforehand. Of course, being artificially created constructs, the Shadow Minions severely lack the proper intelligence to think for themselves.

With a roll of her flaming, blue eyes, Chrysalis continues her masterful impression with an intimidating command, “Ugh! Nevermind! Just get out of my sight at once!”

Without any hesitation, the two Wraiths leave their supposed master alone as they make their way to the courtyard upstairs. Once they were gone, Chrysalis disintegrates her disguise with a burst of green flames before reverting back to her smug self.

“Ahh, I just love playing pretend!” she proudly declares with a satisfied smile.

“H-how did you do that when you’ve never met him before?!” Ford shockingly asks her. “You even sounded just like him!”

“When I was draining your generous amount of energy when we first met, I saw glimpses of your encounter with Arrogon as well as heard some of his dialogue within your memories. So it gave me a general idea on what kind of disguise I should use.”

Surprisingly enough, the door that the Wraiths were watching over is completely unlocked. Not wanting to waste a moment on questioning this stroke of luck, Shining Armor immediately opens the heavy iron door with his magic. With the prison cell finally opened, the three stallions and pint-size dragon frantically rush in to greet their loved ones. Sadly, their heartwarming welcome has come to a grinding halt after they see the fate of the beloved mares. Frozen before the four male companions, Twilight and the others are encased in a cluster of sharp, unnatural crystals. The only thing that can be seen in their crystallized state is their silhouetted forms.

“Twilight?” Shining Armor calls out to her softly as he places a hoof on the cold crystal that’s encasing his dear, little sister. “Twily, can you hear me?”

“What’s happened to them?” Spike frets over the girls’ unforeseen frozen state. “Are they still… alive?”

Closing his eyes, Ford concentrates immensely as he tries to sense any sign of life from the mares. Luckily for him, he can detect the pulsating energy from some of the girls. “It’s very faint, but I can definitely hear their heartbeats.” he calmly verifies to his restless comrades. “Right now, they’re in some form of suspended animation.”

“Is there any way for us to get them out of there?” Shining inquires with great concern.

Placing one fore hoof on the abnormal ice, Ford gets a good sense on the icy containment’s source of extraordinary energy. “This magical substance… it’s definitely familiar and yet quite opposite to my own Draconian Magic. It must be Arrogon’s doing!” With confirmation on what he is dealing with, the blue Pegasus has a good idea on what to do from there. “Okay, I think I know how to free them! Everyone, give me some room while I take care of this!”

Doing as he says, everyone backs away from Mustang as the stallion concentrates and calmly breathes in and out. Once he is ready, he gently blows out a breath of dense, warm air. Gradually, the golden mist wraps around the unnatural ice crystals that serve as the mares’ imprisonment. Thanks to its intense, soothing steam, the magical vapor steadily melts away the Arrogon’s dark, frozen enchantment. Once all the ice has evaporated into a thick fog, the sleeping mares gently plop on to the ground as each of them starts to wake up from their cursed slumber.

Fluttershy is the first mare to awaken from her nearly eternal nap as Big Mac sits close to her and nuzzles her gently. With heavy, teal eyes, she looks up to verify on where this familiarly warm affection is coming from. Her vision may start off blurry, but she can definitely see some distinguishable characteristics from her husband, from his rich, red coat to his earthly orange hair.

“M-M-Mac?” she inquires in a drowsy state. “Is that you?”

“Eeyup!”

Upon hearing that recognizable catchphrase, Fluttershy’s eyes bulge widely as she can clearly see her green-eyed husband looking down at her with his gentle, warm smile. Unable to contain her emotions, she cries out happy tears and tightly embraces her stallion’s strong neck.

“Oh Macintosh! You’re here! You’re really here! I was so scared that I will never see you again! I’ve… missed you so much, darling!”

“Ah’ve missed you too, Flutters!” he softly sobs in response as he tenderly embraces his wife. “More than you will ever know!”

On the right side of the prison, Applejack was next to wake up before she is startled to see her marefriend, Rarity, still asleep right next to her.

“Rarity?” AJ fretfully calls out to her gently as she repeatedly nuzzles her so that she may wake up as well. “Come on, sugarcube, get up! Please get up!”

Mmm… darling?” she mutters softly as she gradually rouses from her own nap.

“Eeyup!” Applejack smiles with relief. “Rise and shine, sleeping beauty!”

“Oh, you…!” Rarity retorts with mocking scowl before she strongly pulls the surprised farmpony in for a longing kiss, to which Applejack has no objections to it.

After that, Spike goes up and greet them, “Rarity! Applejack! Are you two okay?”

“Spike?” Applejack gasps in surprise from the dragon’s return.

“Yep!” he nods with a proud. “I’ve brought help just like I said I would!”

Happy to see him safe and sound once again, Rarity brings the Spike with a warm hug and praises him for his brave efforts, “Oh, Spikey-Wikey! You came back! I knew you would come back to save us!”

As Ford is about to enter the fog he unintentionally created in search of his beloved Rainbow Dash, a pony with fluffy, pink hair springs forward and pounces Ford with her patented surprise hug.

“Mustang!” Pinkie Pie says in her usual perkiness while tightening her squeezing hooves around him. “I’m so happy to see you again! I knew you would be alive! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!”

“Good to see you too, Pinkie Pie!” he responds with a chuckling smile. “I hope we didn’t take too long!”

“Well, we’ve been stuck like this for 14 Chapters, but we’re okay now, thanks to all of you!”

After Twilight finishes her heartwarming embrace with her B.B.B.F.F and Spike, she inquires with complete amazement as they walk out of the prison cell, “I… I can’t believe this! How did all of you manage this?”

“We… had some help.” Shining Armor answers uneasily.

As Twilight is about to ponder if there is more to it than what her big brother is telling her, she and the rest of the girls stop abruptly as they stare with wide eyes at the smirking creature mostly responsible for their rescue.

“Twilight!” Chrysalis greets her with a bizarrely cheerful smile. “Long time no see!”

“Chrysalis?!” the young Alicorn Princess exclaims with a mix of surprise and anger. “Why is she here?!”

“Saving your sorry flanks apparently!” the Changeling Queen mocks her with a witty grin. “Oh, you’re welcome by the way!”

“Wait… you’re… actually helping us?!” Twilight baffles greatly over this startling revelation on Chrysalis’s cooperation.

“Believe me, it’s not exactly my cup of tea either, though it does pleases me to know that you are in such desperate need to be rescue by the likes of me!”

Unable to comprehend all of this due to how skeptical she is over Chrysalis’s sudden change of heart, Twilight firmly steps forwards and fiercely warns the changeling up close and personal, “I don’t know what you game is, Chrysalis, but if you intend to deceive us once again--!”

“Ah, for crying out loud! Do you really think I would come all this way just for something as petty as that?! If it weren’t for the given circumstances, I would have happily just left you all here to rot in this dungeon! In fact, if there’s anypony who you should truly be grateful for your pathetic salvation, it’s that magnificent stallion right over… there…”

Her outburst ceases gradually as she gazes with a suddenly sad look at what’s behind Twilight and the others. Following at what the changeling is looking at, Twilight and everyone else look back at the prison cell and their abruptly cheerless expressions mirror that with Chrysalis’s.

Standing alone at the center of prison cell is Ford Mustang as he gloomily stares at the cold, graveled floor. His completely depressing silence is enough to remind the others on the horrifying truth. Everypony else was present… all except for one special pony in mind.

“Girls… where’s Rainbow Dash?” Ford asks quietly. None of the remaining mares dare to comply to answer that grim question, so he turns around asks them once again with a soft, brokenhearted look on his face. “Please… tell me. What happened to her?”

Twilight and her friends are still hesitant to answer Mustang’s dire question as they are fearful on how he may react on what happened to their missing friend. But Fluttershy couldn’t bear it any longer. She emotionally breaks down as she weeps heavily on the awful truth regarding with Rainbow’s disappearance.

“I’m so sorry, Ford!” she admits with immense tears streaming across her guilt-ridden face. “It’s all my fault! If only I… I…!”

Unable to control herself, she instinctively pours her sorrow onto the red, soft coat of her husband as Big Mac softly pats and quietly coos to his lamenting wife. Seeing how there is no way to avoid this, Twilight Sparkle gingerly steps up and approaches the worried Mustang with a shameful, melancholy face.

“Ford… there’s… something we need to tell you…”

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Over two weeks ago and several hours after Arrogon’s complete takeover of Canterlot…

“Consarn these chains!” Applejack growled as she continued to pull her strong hind leg so that she may break the irritating shackle that was pinned to the floor. “Break already!”

“Applejack, please stop doing that!” Rarity pleaded greatly to her stubborn marefriend. “If you keep that up, you’ll only hurt yourself!”

“Well, what else am Ah supposed to do?!” she snapped at the fashion diva with exhausting frustration. “Just sit here and do nothing?! Why don’t you come up with any better ideas, huh?!”

“I don’t know, okay?!” Rarity retorted back before she collapsed on the floor with aggravating tears flowing out of her weary, deep blue eyes. “I just… don’t want to see you get hurt.”

Applejack’s heart nearly broke in two from seeing her lover in a pitiful state. Carefully, the Earth Pony sat down next to the weeping Unicorn before she softly nuzzled and lightly kissed her on the cheek. “Ah’m awfully sorry, sugarcube. Ah should have never snapped at you like that.”

Touched by AJ’s honest tenderness, Rarity began to smile before she nuzzled right back. “It’s fine, darling. I know you’re just doing your best to get us out of here. I guess I’m just… so scared from all that has happened to us."

“Well, since we’re being honest here, so am Ah. Sigh… Ah just hope that my family is still okay.”

“They’ll be alright, darling. We did comply with that fiend’s demands so that he would leave them alone, so that’s something we should be thankful for.”

Meanwhile, Twilight Sparkle was still struggling with her own special restraint. With Rarity included, Twilight has a metal ring secured tightly around her horn. These horn rings were designed specifically to greatly inhibit Alicorn and Unicorn Magic. At her best, all Twilight could do at that moment was produce magical sparks with her disabled horn. And in return, all that pointless struggling gave her was fatigue and a throbbing migraine.

“Oh, careful Twilight!” Pinkie Pie comforted the exhausted Alicorn. “You’re gonna give yourself a massive headache if you think too hard like that!”

“You’re right, Pinkie.” Twilight agreed in the midst of her heavy panting. “It’s no use to carry on like this. These specials chains Arrogon made must have prevented me from using my magic.”

With an exaggeratingly pouty face, the pink Earth Pony grouched as she sat next with Twilight, “Hmph! Well, whoever this Arrogon is, he’ll be in big trouble for ruining my upcoming plans with the engagement party for Dashie & Ford--!”

Horrified at that slip up, Pinkie Pie hastily covered her mouth with a hoof as she and Twilight stare at each other fearfully. Cringed with immense worry, the two cautiously turned their heads around as they concernedly glance at the one pony they don’t want to upset even further. In the far corner, the once-indomitable Rainbow Dash was still suffering from her constant grief over the heavy loss of her coltfriend. Silently, she carried on with her melancholy with her head laid on Fluttershy’s lap as the kind, canary-yellow Pegasus continued to soothingly stroke Rainbow’s colorful mane.

“Do you think she heard me?” the remorseful Pinkie Pie whispered to Twilight.

“I don’t think so.” she presumed quietly as she too felt sorry for the severely depressed Pegasus. “Poor Rainbow Dash… she’s been through so much compared to all of us. It’s not fair for her to suffer like this!”

“Hey, it’s not over just yet!” Pinkie attempted to cheer her friend up. “We’re all still here, so we may still have a chance to win this, just like with all of our previous adventures, remember? And who knows! Maybe ‘you-know-who’ might be able to make a comeback someday!”

“How can you be so sure about all this? Is it your Pinkie Senses telling that?”

“No, not really. I just… do.”

A bit confused by the puzzling, casual statement, Twilight started to bear a hopeful smile after hearing her friend's reassuring words. “Thanks, Pinkie Pie.”

Suddenly, Twilight and Pinkie Pie heard something moving from within the prison’s wall. behind them. Once they turned around, they saw a concreted section creaking out of its place.

“Hey, lookie-lookie!” Pinkie pointed it out ecstatically. “There’s something moving from that wall over there!”

“Eww! Is it a rat?!” Rarity cringed in disgust. “Please tell it’s not a rat!”

“Nah, I think it’s something bigger than a simple rat. Ooo, maybe it’s a giant rat instead!”

“A g-g-giant rat?”

“Yeah! You know, like in that RPG game we played once! With its menacing, red eyes and sharp, yellow, crooked teeth! And it makes a sound like this!”

After Pinkie Pie made a horrid, chattering noise while doing her impression of a giant rat, Rarity couldn’t take it anymore she squirmed in place while rapidly prancing on her tippy hooves.

“EW-EW-EW-EW-EW!”

“Dang it, Pinkie Pie!” Applejack shouted over her marefriend’s fidgetiness. “Ya’re makin’ it worse!”

“Oops, sorry!” she giggled apologetically.

Ignoring the girls’ shenanigans, Twilight was too busy figuring out on who it was behind that loosed wall. From the crack of the secret passageway, she saw a recognizable feature sticking out of there: a stubby, reptilian, purple tail with green, rounded spines.

Once she figured it out, she called out to her friends, “Girls, that’s not a rat… that’s…!”

“A mutated rat?!” Pinkie Pie gasped with unorthodox joy. Because of that, Rarity faints dramatically as Applejack had to serve as her personal fainting couch.

“No, it’s…!”

But before Twilight could finish her answer, the small, familiar, purple dragon finally popped out of the slim crack and reveals himself.

“Whew! I really got to lay off the donuts next time!” he mused as he brushed himself off.

“SPIKE!”

Upon hearing that from Twilight, the rest of the girls perked up in their own way. For Rarity’s case, she immediately got herself up after her latest melodramatic performance as she smiled broadly over seeing Spike again. But as for Rainbow Dash, all she could produce was a subtle smile on her brooding face. Either way, the mares approach the young dragon and greatly welcomed him in open hooves.

“Hey did you manage to find us?” Fluttershy squeaked in happiness.

“When we were little, Twilight and I used to play Hide-and-Seek around the castle grounds.” Spike explained. “So often times, I would discovery secret passages throughout the castle, including the ones in this dungeon.”

“What a clever dragon you are!” Twilight praised him as she hugged him closely. “I certainly wouldn’t expect anything less from my Number-One Assistant!”

“Oh, Spiky-Wikey!” Rarity commended to him. “You’ve certainly have become quite a knight in shining armor, haven’t you?”

“Oh shucks, girls! It was nothing at all!” he responded bashfully.

“It was something alright!” Applejack added. “No need to be modest about that!”

“So, now that I’m here, is there anything else I can do?”

“Actually, there is! Spike, can you melt these chains yourself?” Twilight asked of him.

“No problem, Twilight!” he answered with confidence.

At once, he grabbed Twilight’s shackle between his claws and straightened it out. After a heavy breath, Spike blew out his draconic fire like it was blow torch. Once a section of its chains turned hot red, he tried to pull it apart, but the metal hasn’t come close to soften it up. He tried to use his makeshift blow torch once more before he reattempted to break the accursed links, but it was no use much to everypony’s dismay.

“I can’t do it!” Spike wheezed heavily. “I just can’t melt through these chains on my own!”

“Hmm… it’s just as I was afraid of.” Twilight confirmed sadly. “These chains must be magically enchanted as a special precaution.”

“Umm… what can we do now?” Fluttershy asked timidly.

Twilight Sparkle gave herself some deep thought on her next strategy. Eventually, she could only think of one plan in mind. However, she was hesitant on sharing it with her friends because on how risky it was, especially to the one who has to perform such a daunting task. But with how limited her options were, she proceeded to put that plan in motion as she guided Spike closer to her with a gentle wing of hers.

“Spike, listen to me very carefully because what I’m about to ask from you may be the most important task of your life.” After a quiet nod from him, she continued, “I need you to escape this castle and make your way to the Crystal Empire immediately. Tell my brother and Princess Cadance on what has happened regarding the situation with this Arrogon the Destroyer, and they will know on what to do from there.”

“Twi, that’s crazy!” Applejack objected sternly.

“Yes, please reconsider, darling!” Rarity seconded that. “He can’t make it on his own! You’ll be sending him to his doom out there!”

“Spike will be fine, girls.” Twilight reassured them. “And we don’t have much time to consider a second option. Right now, this may be our only chance out of here. Can you do that for us, Spike?” she pleaded softly.

Spike took a moment to consider this dangerous responsibility he was being offered by his foster caretaker. But at last, with a bold smile, he accepted the task, “Of course I can! I won’t let any of you down!”

“Thank you, Spike.” she said with soft gratitude as she pulled him in for a motherly hug. “And please, be careful out there.”

“I will.” he replied.

One by one, the rest of the girls joined in their hug as each of them expressed their heartfelt farewells, starting with Applejack. “Good luck, Spike.”

Then it was Rarity’s turn. “Take good care of yourself, darling.”

Next was Pinkie Pie’s. “We’ll be rooting for you all the way!”

After that, it was Fluttershy’s. “We know you can do it.”

And finally, while Rainbow wasn’t in the mood to express words of encouragement, she smiled brightly over Spike’s boldness and offered him a reassuring nod instead.

After the hard goodbyes, Spike squeezed his way back into his secret passage as he called out to his friends one last time, “I’ll be back with help! I promise!” And with that said, he firmly shut the hidden door back in place before he made his departure.

As silence filled the dark private cell the mares were imprisoned in, Pinkie Pie randomly pulled out a boxed deck of cards from her puffy, pink mane using her hair’s elongated frontpiece. With the deck placed in her forehoof, she asked her friends cheerfully, “Soooo… anyone up for a game of 'Go-Fish' while we wait?”

But before the they could take up on that offer to help pass the time, a sudden, bright flash of blue fire lit outside the their prison cell and the heavy door rapidly opened by itself before it made a echoing slam against the wall. And stepping from that harsh light is the demonic appearance of Arrogon the Destroyer!

“Hello, ladies.” he greeted them with repulsive delight. “Sorry for keeping you all waiting. I hope you don’t mind your new living quarters for the time being.”

“Hmph! Despite how ghastly this dungeon is, I would still prefer this over your company any day!” Rarity scorned with lifted muzzle facing away from Arrogon’s blazing eyes.

“Ooooh, my dearest apologies, Rarity.” he responded mockingly with light bow. “And here I came all this way just to grace you with my presence. You should consider it an honor to meet a pony as magnificent as myself.”

“Buddy, I have pigs at home that are far less filthy than you are!” Applejack added with a frown.

“Than maybe you should have spent less time rolling in the pigsty, you ignorant sow.”

“How dare you insult a lady like that, you wretched cur!” Rarity stepped forward with a flaring glare as she defended her marefriend’s honor.

While impressed by Rarity’s nobility, Applejack patted her dignified marefriend as she reassured her, “Simmer down, Sally-girl. Words like that don’t mean a thing, especially when they come from such heartless monsters.” In response, Arrogon let out a subtle harrumph to the girls’ retorts.

“Who are you exactly?” Twilight inquired. “I know enough on Equestria’s history throughout my studies, and there is no information on anything regarding with 'Arrogon' or 'Destroyer!’"

“Heh, looks like even your precious Princess Celestia likes to keep her own dirty, little secrets!” Arrogon snickered lightly to himself. “Not that I don’t blame her anyway. She was well-aware on how much of threat I was 500 years ago and must have decided to not include me in the history records. If there was ever a mention on how terrifying my deeds were… well… not wanting to brag, but I would think it would even put Nightmare Moon and Discord to shame compared to me.”

“You’re… despicable!” Rarity spewed out with absolute digust.

“Hm-hm-hmm… yes…” he chuckled giddily.

“Don’t think that you have won just yet, Arrogon!” Twilight warned their latest adversary sternly.

“Really now?” he remarked playfully. “Well let’s see what I have accomplished for myself in less than a day… I have imprisoned three of the most powerful entities in Equestria and made them into my power source, I have captured the Elements of Harmony and rendered them useless, and now there is no one else left to stand in my way!”

“There will be others to stand up against you!” the Alicorn added. “The ponies of Equestria will never bow down before you!”

“Perhaps…” he shrugged without a care. “…but if there is anypony foolish enough to defy me, then they too shall face severe consequences as well. Just like that pathetic stallion I took care of earlier.” The mares shuddered at the pony Arrogon is obviously referring to.

“If you don’t believe, why not ask your friend, Rainbow Dash, right over there?” he pointed to her. “I’m sure she can fill in on all the details for you.” Out of all the mares in the room, the detached Rainbow was the only one who couldn’t look at Arrogon directly in the eye.

“It’s such a shame really.” he carried on nonchalantly while shaking his head. “If only he wasn’t so dim-witted, I might have let him live. But what does it matter anyway? He was nothing but garbage, and good riddance to such bad rubbish too!”

“Don’t you dare sully Ford like that, ya filthy scoundrel!” Applejack snarled as the rest of her friends followed up with similar expressions.

“Why should any of you care about him anyway?” Arrogon perplexed slightly at their fierce reactions before he needlessly carried on with the insults. “There was nothing special about him to begin with! He was just a mere Blank Flank! One with no talent at all! A useless piece of trash! A complete waste of life itself! Incidentally, I probably did the world a favor by wiping that worthless scum from the face of his pathetic existence! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA--!

“You’re wrong.” a soft, raspy voice interrupted his disrespectful amusement.

“Eh?” Following on where that interruption came from, Arrogon was greatly surprised to see that it was from the once-broken Rainbow Dash, who was now looking at him dead in the eye with her renewed, piercing glare of intense, merciless rage!

“YOU’RE WRONG!” she repeated ever louder to the startled, dark pony. “You don’t know a thing about him to begin with! He may not have a Cutie Mark, but he’s got a lot more talent and guts than you would ever possess! And he doesn’t need a Cutie Mark to prove on what made him awesome in the first place! Oh, and do I need to remind you what that ‘worthless scum’ did to you when he punch you in the face earlier?” she asked with a bold smirk which caught Arrogon off-guard by surprise on from recalling his only humiliation since his return. Amused by how shaken up he was, Rainbow chuckled as she continued to egg him on. “It’s kind of funny actually, I couldn’t lay a single hit on you, and yet Mustang managed to knock you down flat on your ass with just one hoof of his! So tell me something, you arrogant jerk… if you’re this so-called almighty god, then what does that say about you now if you got your butt kicked by a measly Blank Flank as you so called him? Ford Mustang wasn’t the pathetic one! You are!

After Rainbow Dash finished cutting Arrogon down to size, everypony in the room was speechless by the blue Pegasus’s outburst. Afterwards, Pinkie Pie was to the first to speak up with wide, amusing smirk on her face, “You know, I was going to say that she burnt you good, but that would be ridiculous of me to say considering that your mane and tail are already on fire, silly!”

Amused by Pinkie’s sense of humor, the rest of the girls are inspired on Rainbow’s boldness at they insultingly smile at the stunned, dark tyrant. Ignoring the taunting smiles from the rest of the girls, Arrogon fixed his scorching, sinister gaze at Rainbow before he heavily stomps before her with nearly irrepressible rage.

Once his dark muzzle was inches away from Dash’s, he sternly warns her in very low-toned growl, “I would be careful with that disrespectful tone of yours if I were you, Rainbow Dash.”

“What do you want with us anyway?” Twilight demanded in order to redirect his menacing attention away for Rainbow.

“Yeah!” Applejack insisted as well. “Don’t tell us that ya here to waste time just by gloatin’ in front of us!”

After getting a chance to compose himself in a calmer manner, Arrogon proceeded to answer for them, “As entertaining as that may be, I have something important in mind first. You see, now that I have all the power that I need, I want to see the true extent of my newfound capabilities. I have a very special project I’ve been meaning to work on, but to my dismay, I don’t have any volunteers to assist me at this point. So I figured who better to ask than the Elements of Harmony themselves! So… which one of you nice, little ponies would like to go first?” he asked with sickening anticipation.

Arrogon looked around the room, but nopony was willing enough to step forward and assist him. Seeing as this was no surprise, he then said to them, “No one? Hmm… what a shame. Well… I guess it’s up to me to choose one for myself. Now… who will it be?”

“Will it be you?” he asked as he slowly shifted his fiery eyes toward Twilight and Pinkie Pie in the center of the room.

“Or perhaps… it will be one of you.” He then turns his intimidating gaze to Applejack and Rarity on the right side of the room. With a dark chuckle, he carried with his little game by directing his blazing, blue eyes to the left side of the room.

“Or maybe… it just… might… be…”

Abruptly, his blazing, blue eyes are locked on with Rainbow’s. For her, there was something repulsive about that look of his. Something that made her skin crawled from the Destroyer’s subtle interest in her. She was very certain that he was going to pick her out of all the other mares in the room. But at the very least, if that was his decision, he would leave her friends alone and out of harm’s way. With waiting nearly killing them, Arrogon’s shifted his eyes a little more to the left as he was finishing up with his decision.

“YOU.”

To Rainbow’s surprise and even greater horror, Arrogon picked sweet, innocent Fluttershy instead of her!

“M-m-me?!” the terrified Pegasus stammered.

“Yes, you dearie.” he said with menacing glee. “You will do just fine.”

“Umm… Sorry, I really don’t want to.” she refused timidly.

“Now now… don’t be shy. There’s nothing to be afraid of!”

As Fluttershy backed away from him, Arrogon chuckled menacingly as he gradually walked toward her.

“No, stay away from her!” Twilight yelled at him.

“You leave our Fluttershy alone this instant, you monster!” Rarity joined in as well.

“Yeah, don’t come anywhere near her, you big meanie-pants!” Pinkie Pie shrieked in a high-pitched voice.

“Get away from her, you filthy varmint!” Applejack spat out sternly.

After being backed in a corner, Fluttershy pleaded in a whimpering voice. “P-p-please! Just don’t hurt me!”

“‘Hurt you?’ Why, I would never even consider it!” he teased as he slimily caressed the deeply trembling Pegasus with a fore hoof. “But if you keep squirming like that, then I can’t promise your safety for much longer.”

“WAIT, I’LL DO IT!”

Ceasing his teasing at last, Arrogon turned his head slightly as he eyed the source of the intervention: Rainbow Dash.

“I’m sorry, Rainbow. Could you please repeat that for me?” he playfully asked her. “I didn’t quite catch that.”

“I’ll… I’ll do it.” she repeated in a softer tone. “Let me take Fluttershy’s place instead. I’ll be your personal test subject if that’s what you want. But you have to leave everypony else out of this! Got it?!”

“Excellent!” he expressed his unique sense of joy after laughing over the mare’s display of ferocity. “Oh, I knew I can always count on you, Rainbow Dash!”

After Arrogon stepped away from Fluttershy, she desperately begged her first friend to reconsider. “No, please don’t, Dashie! Don’t do this for me! Please, I don’t want anything bad to happen to you!”

“Hey, don’t worry about, Fluttershy.” she smiled warmly to her weeping friend. “It’s going to be okay. Trust me. I can handle whatever that jerk can dish out.”

“Well, let’s get going, Rainbow Dash!” he said to her as he gently wrapped her in his dark magic aura before releasing her out of her shackle. “I’ve got big plans just for you!”

As he leaves the gloomy room while carrying the unresisting Rainbow Dash with the use his levitating magic, her friends felt so utterly helpless on not doing anything to stop on whatever Arrogon has in store with their valiant companion.

And just before he shuts the door, Arrogon said one last thing to them, “Oh, I’m sorry! How inconsiderate of me! You girls must have had a rough day as it is… so why don’t the five of you take a nice, long nap!

And with that said, he swiftly flashed his flaming eyes at them as the ponies’ shackles were transformed into a crystallized form of abnormal ice, which engulfed the screaming mares until they eventually succumbed into a deep sleep!

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“And after that flash of light… we just woke up from there.” Twilight halfheartedly finishes her side of the story. “How long were we all out?”

“From what you’ve just told us…” her brother answers. “…I would have to say it’s been over two weeks since then.”

“Two weeks?!” Applejack hollers in completed shock. “We’ve been asleep for that long?!”

“Oh no!” Rarity gasps with tremendous worry. “If we were gone for that long, then what has happened to our Rainbow Dash all this time?”

“Poor Dashie…” Pinkie Pie mopes with an extremely cheerless expression.

“It’s all my fault!” Fluttershy grieves constantly as she continued to press her sniveling muzzle into Big Mac’s coat. “It should have been me instead of her! It should have been me!”

While the red stallion does his best to comfort his grief-stricken wife, Twilight Sparkle turns her attention towards Ford Mustang as she carefully studies his reaction from her story. To her surprise and perplexity, Ford isn’t showing any form of raw emotion, not even anger. He is just blankly staring at the ground while silently contemplating to himself.

“Twilight…” he softly speaks to her at last.

“Y-yes, Ford?” she replied with a slightly trembling voice.

“Do you know where the Elements are being kept at?”

“Yes, of course I do.” she answers with an affirmative nod. “They’re hidden safely in my room. Only I have access to them. But my own Element of Magic… Arrogon has taken it away from me!”

“Then all of you should go on ahead and get the rest of the Elements ready.” he suggests to his friends before turning around and gradually marching out of the prison’s corridor. “I will go get Rainbow Dash and the last Element myself!”

“But… how are you going to find them?” Twilight asks with mild confusion. “Only Arrogon knows where they are!”

All of a sudden, Ford stops in place as he progressively trembles with unimaginable power and righteous fury before he answers to Twilight, “Oh, I’m going to find him first, and when I do… I’LL MAKE HIM TELL ME WHERE SHE IS!

After Twilight and company take a glance the unbridled rage that is building up inside of him, Ford Mustang abruptly leaves them behind in a thunderous takeoff as he exits the stone-carved corridors in blinding speed! The echoing boom of the blue Pegasus’ swift aviation was enough to cause the dungeon to briefly shake from that makeshift tremor!

In the wake of Ford’s earthshaking exit, the rest of the gang momentarily gapes in awe at the display of the Pegasus’s awesome power. For Twilight and her friend that were recently liberated from prison, this is their first time witnessing the stallion’s unexpected development.

“Oh my… I didn’t know that Ford can be this… scary.” the slightly startled Fluttershy says to Big Mac. “Did you?”

“Nnnope!”

“What do you think happened to him, darling?” Rarity asks Applejack with a hint of worry.

“Ah don’t rightfully know, sugarcube, but Ah sure hate to be that Arrogon fella right now.”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Outside, hundreds of Shadow Minions continue to aimlessly patrol the royal courtyard as they are unaware of the recent activities that were taking place underground. But all of that will change in a just few seconds as the ground shakes and starts to split apart.

BOOM!

An explosive force tears the earth asundered as dozens of Gremlins and Wraiths are launched from the massive roar they just endured! Hovering out of the pony-made crater is Ford Mustang with a piercing gaze that can rival that with any ferocious creature he has every dealt with!

While the rest of the patrolling constructs make their way to stop the stallion, he takes a moment to ignore them and pinpoint the location of his primary target. Quickly, he recognizes the sinister energy signature as it is emitting from the throne room hundreds of feet in front of him. With the location of his most hated enemy in mind, Ford refocuses on the approaching henchmen before he charges forward and proceeds to eliminate all that stands in his way.

From above, the Furies and Djinns rain with their fireballs, but the countless fiery projectiles are not enough to hit him with his zigzagging agility while swiftly striking any dark creature he comes across. Eventually, he takes the fight to the sky as he spews out a multitude of golden beams at his snipers. At a high attitude, Ford is surrounding by numerous flyers as they recklessly rush right towards him. After embodying his wings with Draconian Magic, he does a rapid twirl as he fans his wings out to launch golden energy projectiles like throwing knives. From this wide-span attack, the sharp, feathery missiles pierce through the magical shells of the Shadow Minions.

As he resumes his onslaught from the ground level, Ford feels some pity for these mindless creatures he is mowing down. Not for the fact that they deserve it, but because he was taking his frustration out on them without any satisfaction in return. He wants them to be scared. He wants them to experience the true meaning of fear. He wants them to know on what will happen to anyone who even dare to bring harm to his friends and loved ones, especially if it involves Rainbow Dash! Unfortunately for him, he can never get that kind of contentment from completely emotionless creatures. But it doesn’t really matter to him, because the only pony he hopes to see the fearful look on his face is just behind those massive doors leading to the throne room!

Nearly close to his target, Ford almost loses his momentum when a shadowy ellipse shifts in front of him before a ginormous Golem pops out of its mode of transportation and its long, bulky arms reach for the flying Pegasus. With a quick turn, Ford dives right between the Golem’s stubby legs before he merciless punches the giant in the back. After the defeated Golem fades from existence, dozens of shadows appear out of nowhere as various Shadow Minions rapidly pop out of them.

Not wanting to waste any more time with this before his fated confrontation, the resentful Mustang hollers out to the remaining forces, “DON’T GET IN MY WAY!”

With only him and the pursuing Shadow Minions in the abandoned courtyard, Ford roars out an ultimate, fire-breathing attack as the immense blast of golden fire engulfs all of the Minions in his vast firing path! Within a fraction of a second, the dark constructs are vaporized in a near-instant!

After all of the courtyard’s senseless underlings are finally taken care of, Ford turns around sharply and faces the looming, high doors to the throne room. At long last, after everything he has been through and after all that he has experienced along with his journey, he is finally ready to face Arrogon for the second, and hopefully the last time! And so, without further delay, he bucks the massive doors right out of their hinges before making his grand announcement!

BANG!

"ARROGON!!"

The once-majestic room of the Princesses is devoid of its shimmering colors as they are replaced with darker colors, typically ranging between blue and purple. The only things that are lighting the very dim place are flickering, blue torches that mostly hang on the columns. From up above, the throne room is littered with black banners as each of them bears a symbol of Arrogon’s newfound empire.

On the other end of the room, the thrones of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna have been replaced with a large, black throne that has jagged features in the shape of fire and Twilight's Element of Magic as the crown jewel on top. And sitting on that custom-made chair is none other than Arrogon the Destroyer!

From that lone stallion’s thunderous entrance, Arrogon’s flickering eyes grow extremely wide as he stares back at the first pony he supposedly killed off long ago. Ford is slightly pleased to see the immense shock frozen on Arrogon’s face. But then, his soulless eyes shift into their usual piercing glare as Ford mirrors the same intimidation while he slowly stomps before the severely disgruntled overlord.

“YOU.” the dark stallion speaks to him in a trembling growl. “So… you were alive all this time.” Without losing his cool, Arrogon leisurely reclines back in his seat as he rests his chin with a forehoof. “Hmph! I don’t know why Hindel bothered to waste his last breath protecting a pathetic worm such as you, but it doesn’t matter now. Your grand return amounts to nothing! My powers are beyond that of any entity known to ponykind! Compared to me, you’re just another insect begging to be squashed once again!”

About a dozen feet away from the strangely relax Arrogon, Ford stops his gradual march as he enunciates the ultimate question, “Where… is… she?”

“Who?” the tyrant replies nonchalantly.

With his anger and impatience rapidly boiling to their breaking points, Ford leaps with a tremendous burst of speed and he firmly slams the surprised Arrogon to the back of his chair with a strong fore hoof.

“WHERE’S RAINBOW DASH?! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH HER?!”

“Ooooh… you mean her!” Arrogon responses in a dark, teasing manner. “Well, why didn’t you say so? Hang on for just a moment while I’ll call her down for you.” While being pinned by Ford, Arrogon turns away and calls out to her aimlessly in a disgustingly sweet voice, “Rainbow Dash~! Will you come down here for a minute please? There’s someone here who’s just dying to meet you.”

Slightly confused by what Arrogon is up to, Ford almost misses a familiar streak of a rainbow zooming right above him before it dives down right between the two. Instinctively, the blue Pegasus backs away immediately before the colorful lightning bolt crashes in front of Arrogon. Within the dust, Ford can see the recognizable silhouette of his marefriend. But then, he gasps in dread at the first sign that something is terribly wrong with her. Instead of those mesmerizing, magenta eyes he fell in love with, they have been replaced by two soulless orbs of hot, magenta fire.

As the dust clears even further, Ford continues to dread in denial on what has happened to his beautiful, blue angel. Her coat, tail, and mane have a darker color overlay, which robbed out her original, vivid spectrum. And in a similar fashion to Arrogon’s armor, the manipulated Rainbow Dash is wearing dark magenta armor that shares the same sharp, menacing characteristics as her puppetmaster. Ford was ready to face anything that Arrogon would throw in his way, but nothing over something as cruel as this!

“…No.”

“Oh, yes!” Arrogon responds gleefully as he is more than happy to carry on with introductions. “Meet my newly minted captain! The new and improved Rainbow Dash!

Author's Notes:

You know, I was quite surprised on how long this chapter was going to be, and I was THIS CLOSE to consider on splitting it up into two chapters! Anyway, I'm pretty certain that the next chapter won't take as long as this one!

Next Chapter: Chapter 25 – A Fight Amongst Lovers Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 49 Minutes
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