The Smooze loomed above us, halfway through its unholy birth canal, every head screaming, every limb and appendage squirming. I stood there dumbly, looking at it, once again useless. Then I gritted my teeth. Then I stomped my foot. Then I growled and threw my head back and yelled at the top of my lungs.  

Everything was once again happening too fast. It was like a roller coaster that had forgotten to stop. A giant outer-god was invading reality, my brother and his wife had finally reunited, Bon-Bon had sacrificed herself to kill a terrible enemy, which broke Spider-Colt, and the stranger was no longer the Mayor, and now the Doctor had just… apparently left us all to die.

The stranger had gotten up. He looked about doubloobedly. (Ha! I stole a word!) “Where… am I?” he asked, his eyes looking around cautiously.

“Oh, hullo, Chris,” said the Alterna-Doctor plainly, shuffling about. “We’re only about to be eaten by a giant entity from beyond time and space. His offspring controlled you to be evil or something, I guess. How are you doing?” There was very little interest in the situation present in his voice. (I wondered why this was, but my theory stands that, much like how the Windigus Prime fed on negative emotions, the Smooze was able to spread hopelessness simply by being present. We were all feeling it, at the time.)

The stranger lifted an eyebrow. “I… I dunt really remember. I coulda sworn I was in mah room, playin’ da latest game on mah Life Upgrade.” (Another odd phrase in the stranger’s personal language.) “And den I was here. I have somethin’ of a recollection, but iss all hazy.” He blinked. I shivered from his stare. “I mean, I remember SOME tings, like bein’ in Ponyville, an bein’ a pony.”

And then he looked at me. “Hey, Twilight? Were we dating?”

If I described my facial expression when he asked me this question, it might scare you. “NO,” I stated clearly.

The Alterna-Doctor nodded. “I see. So he WAS under the control of the Windigus Prime, right from the get-go, at least vaguely. Like one of those remote-control cars in a toy store.” He fiddled lamely with his scarf.

“I distinkly remember dat Twilight Sparkle an’ I were really hittin’ it off,” the stranger said.

I let out a controlled groan that sounded more like a growl and looked away. Over there were Shining Armor and Cadance, holding each other tenderly. I softened at the sight. Even though her body was almost completely ruined, Cadance held on. As long as Shining Armor looked into her eyes, she could feel his love for her. They gave each other so much strength, it was unbelievable.

So much strength…

We were so close!

The Windigus Prime's last words rang in my ears. So close? To what? To victory? How was it going to lose? It had already summoned the Smooze...

...Unless.

Unless that meant there was still a chance. It was close to victory, but there was still one obstacle left for it to overcome. Or rather, two.

Cadance and Shining Armor.

It wasn't just that Bon-Bon was weighed down by her hatred and fear. It was that Cadance was no longer tied to a machine that drained her love, and that she saw her husband for the first time in what must have felt like forever, and the most miraculous thing happened. They fell in love again. That's what threw it out.  

I looked back up. The Smooze was moving at such a slow pace. I wondered what was taking it so long to just exist already. That’s when it hit me.

As Rarity might have exclaimed, “I-Dee-Yaaaahhhh~”!

“Shining Armor, Cadance!” I said. “Love!”

Shining Armor raised an eyebrow. Awkward silence. “Um, yeah… Please elaborate.”

“Cadance, remember? The Smooze could only physically exist in a world where there was enough hatred and unhappiness to let it exist. You know what that implies?”

Cadance thought. Her eyes, tired and bloodshot against her malnourished face, twinkled as the idea came to her, too. “That… That love… is the only thing capable of driving it out.”

“Precisely!” I knocked the ground with a hoof, compounding my exclamation.  Next to me, the stranger apparently came to a completely different conclusion concerning the Smooze-Hates-Love idea.

“Well den, what are we waitin’ for?” asked the stranger as he stood far too close to me to ever be deemed healthy. For the first time, he looked at me in the eyes. He knelt down on one knee dramatically. As soon as I understood what he was trying to do, my heart leaped into my mouth.

“Twilight Sparkle—”

“—no—”

“As often as birds tweet—”

“—no—”

“You are—”

“—no—”

“—my lovely heartsweet!”

I blinked. The stranger, upon losing his power, became less dangerous and returned to just being frustratingly confusing. I sighed. He danced around like a buffoon who just won the lottery, shouting, “Finally! My Love Quest is over!”

No magic. No fuss. No bravado, no shouting, no theatrics. A hoof to his jaw, and he was down. I think I may have hurt my hoof when I did it. The members of the PVCC looked at me in surprise.

I turned my attention back to my brother and sister-in-law. “You two—where I’m from, you two were able to use your love for each other as a catalyst for some of the most powerful magic I’d ever seen!”

“But that was your world,” Shining interrupted.

“And she is yours, Shining Armor!” I pointed to Cadance. “The moment you thought you lost her, your whole world ended! And now she’s back!” He and Cadance once again shared a tender look. “She’s back,” I repeated. “Your love for each other can conquer anything. And the Windigus Prime knew. It's why it changed its plan when it couldn't possess me to become powerful enough to protect the Smooze when it arrived! It's why it tried to trick you into destroying your wife! It’s why it tried everything in its power to destroy you both.”

Seconds passed. The Smooze above us shrieked again, this time angrily. CWCville around us had come alive after the first shriek, the pony citizens all screaming and running for their lives, for shelter, for protection from the giant wrangled mass in the sky.

“There isn’t any more time,” the Alterna-Doctor said as he came near, accompanied by the rest of the PVCC. “That Smooze is coming closer. What Twilight says is true, Shining Armor. It’s your love, the love of both of you that terrifies the Smooze. Your love is all that can defeat it.” He put a hoof on his friend’s shoulder and looked him square in the eye. “We all have faith in you, Shining Armor, Cadance.”

Shining Armor nodded and looked to Cadance. “You ready?” he asked. He held out a hoof.

I was expecting Cadance to take it, but…

…miraculously…

…She struggled to her own hooves. Her eyes never broke from her husband’s. The Windigus Prime used stolen magic to move her body. But Cadance? She never needed magic. She had Shining Armor, and he had her. And that’s all that she needed to live.

Cadance grabbed his hoof, then. She looked to all of us. “All right,” she said, “Let’s do this.”

Shining Armor and Cadance both looked up at the Smooze as it shrieked again, this time sounding almost like a haughty laugh. Shining Armor sneered at it like it was just an obnoxious neighbor's pet that had wandered onto his front lawn.

He turned back to us. “Get away from that Smooze,” he said, “We’re cuttin’ it down.”

We backed away. The air around them seemed to bend a little, suddenly. The wind picked up, becoming warmer, more welcoming than it had been since the Doctor and I had arrived. They locked eyes. Their lips touched. Their horns touched, and began to glow.

A few seconds, and...

...nothing.

I started panicking. I'm told often that I panic too easily, and I guess that's true, but this was the fate of existence at stake, so I hope I can be forgiven. "It's not working!" I squeaked. "Something's wrong!"

I looked to Cadance and Shining Armor. Cadance already looked tired before, but this action was really draining her! I held a gasp as she fell to one knee. "Cadance!" Shining Armor called.

A multi-colored scarf whipped by me. The Alterna-Doctor grabbed hold of Cadance, and brought her back up. He smiled to Shining Armor. The light that surrounded the two (now, three) became brighter, stronger. I raised an eyebrow.

Wait.

I remembered that the Alterna-Doctor was best friends with Shining Armor. If the love the two friends shared...

The math in my head flew by the quickest it ever did, so quickly it left me breathless. Of course! I ran over to the group and nuzzled my brother, telling him I believed in him. Just as I suspected, the light grew brighter and even stronger. I turned to the others.

"Their power isn't just the love between them!" I explained. "It's love in general! They just needed each other for a catalyst!"

Everypony stared at me like I had just said something perplexing. I rolled my eyes and groaned. "Group hug! NOW!"

A flurry of hooves (plus Ben's nose and a set of metallic hands from Spike's "Picklemech") all gathered around us. Fluttershy, bless her heart, bit her bottom lip in terror of the Smooze looming over us as she held onto the Alterna-Doctor. Featherweight wrapped his forelegs around my midsection and buried his face in my mane. Spike placed a hand on my back and drew his head in close. Magneighto and Derpy both clasped hooves and supported Cadance with their weight. Magneighto looked to Shining Armor and nodded.

The light around us grew brighter and brighter. The Smooze's hundred eyes looked down at us, alarmed that its descent into reality has apparently halted. I looked up, picked one eye, and glared at it. It winked at me, as if recognizing me. I breathed hard. This was it. The magic of our friendship would be more than enough to destroy it. "You lose," I dared to whisper.

Suddenly, the light around us dimmed. I raised an eyebrow in shock. Before I could ask what had happened, the cause had made itself apparent: the stranger had joined our group.

"What do you think you're doing?!" Magneighto shouted angrily.

The stranger looked at all of us. "Don't worry!" he cried over the Smooze's deafening roar. "Duh-Don' worry! I'll save ya firm dat scoundrel!"

The Smooze became more confidant with the dying light. His descent was growing at an alarming pace. I clenched my teeth and looked to the stranger, expecting myself to well up with loathing. But I looked at him, observing the determination in his face, something he'd never expressed before. The determination and the fear. I looked at him, and saw...

...I... kind of felt sorry for him.

I know it sounds absurd, especially in regard to everything he'd done up to this point. Everything he did was done in the name of looking out for number one. Even then, he was under the influence of an eldritch creation, further obscuring how much of his behavior he is truly responsible for. His lack of empathy and detachment from reality made him the perfect tool for this menace above us.

Despite it all, though, he genuinely had no idea what kind of role he had played in this affair. He assumed that by joining in our circle, he would help us. This action he took was the first time he genuinely WANTED to help, and ironically, all he ended up doing was making our situation worse, thanks to the hatred understandably levied against him. None of the PVCC had it in their hearts to forgive him for what he'd done, and I couldn't blame them.

I breathed a conflicted sigh, and reached over, placing a hoof on the stranger. "I'm sorry, Chris," I whispered as I once again punched him across the face, knocking him out of our circle. The object of hate removed, our "Love Beam" burned bright and hot as a star in Luna's sky. I returned to my group, but not before casting one more glance to the pathetic, pitiable stranger I laid flat.

Then it happened. With a sound of godlike thunder, a magenta light began to burn all around us. The Smooze stopped completely, every eye twitching, every mouth expressing a sudden feeling the Smooze was unfamiliar with: pure, stark terror.

The light around us formed into a giant flowerbud. It opened up, and out from it shot waves of angels: angels with swords of fire and whips of vengeance. They soared into the darkened sky above with a powerful scream that broke the blood-red clouds like glass. The Smooze gave one final roar before the angels tore into it, decimating it, driving it back into the portal from whence it came.

It was a breathtaking sight. It was like a fireworks show between the divine and unholy. I couldn't help but cover my mouth and stare in wonder.

The broken red clouds were shot into the sky like bullets. It was as if the Smooze was being sucked up by a vaccuum cleaner, getting removed from existence, getting pushed back out of Time and Space. It gave one final roar as the angels pushed it back, tore it up, thrust it out. Its final, angry cry echoed throughout CWCville, and quite possibly, the universe.

The early morning resumed unabated. The city of CWCville returned to its lonely sleep. The Smooze was no more.

Next Chapter: 28. Saying Goodbye Estimated time remaining: 15 Minutes