Author's Notes:

Twilight is a unicorn as of right now.

"You must get seven others Twilight Sparkle, it is our only hope!"

Princess Celestia's voice echoed in her head as she, Starlight, and Pinkie walked down the dirt road towards Ponyville.

A lot happened recently. Princess Celestia, Princess Luna, Discord and the three of them were called up to some place called the Sacred World of the Gods. There was some exhibition fighting match of some sort between two universes, an explanation of rules for a tournament coming up that would result in their universe surviving or not, and some alien rambling about justice every two seconds.

It was giving Twilight a headache, getting Pinkie excited and interested Starlight.

"So who do we recruit Twi?" Pinkie asked with a bounce.

The purple unicorn furrowed her eyes and stopped in the middle of the dirt road to think.

Starlight gave a reply. "I know Rainbow and Applejack would love to help. Rainbow's speed and Applejack's strength would be useful. So that would make five of us."

Twilight lifted a hoof to her chin. "And I was thinking that maybe my brother and Cadence could also help us. Those two are really powerful in their own rights."

"So that makes seven," Starlight stated. "We need three more, so how about the rest of your friends?"

Pinkie giggled. "Rarity wouldn't want to get her coat dirty in a 'scuffle'."

"And no offense towards Fluttershy, but she wouldn't be that much of a help for us," Twilight said, smiling at Pinkie's representation of Rarity.

Starlight then brightened up. "Then how about Thorax! He's pretty powerful."

Twilight's eyes widened and she gasped. "I didn't even think about other creatures! Smart thinking Starlight!" She said, getting a smile from her student. "And I know one more dragon princess to come and help us."

"Perfect!" Pinkie started. "I'll get Applejack and Rainbow Dash while you two get the rest with your teleporting!" Then she zipped away before Twilight or Starlight could say a word.

Starlight smiled at Pinkie's retreating form before looking at Twilight. "We still need one more pony on our team Twilight. Can you think of anyone?"

Twilight stared back at her friend, trying to think of anyone to join their team. "I was just about to say the same. We still have time so we can still decide while we're searching."

Starlight nodded. "I can go get Princess Cadence and your brother while you get Princess Ember and Thorax if that's fine with you. I can probably ask Sunburst to help because he's pretty strong with magic himself."

Twilight nodded back. "Sounds perfect to me, let's all meet back up at my castle! And get some plans to work out."

"I'll see you before an hour then!" Starlight said. "Let's win this thing!" She finished with determination.

Finding Rainbow and Applejack was easy for Pinkie.

After Twilight encountered her to explain they were all meeting at her castle, she found Rainbow taking a nap on one of her many favorite trees near the outskirts of Ponyville, and after waking her up and explaining the details, all Rainbow could reply with was, "I'm in!" Rainbow wasn't entirely sure if Pinkie was spouting nonsense or not but all she knew was that one of her best friends needed some help and that was what she was planning to do!

The two of them then found Applejack working at her farm, and when they told her about the big fighting tournament she first thought it was a prank of some sorts, but then Pinkie explained the Princesses and Discord were involved and she didn't want to take the chance. Applejack also wondered how long this tournament was going to take because she didn't want to leave the farm unattended, and when she was told it was going to be 100 takks or 48 Equestria minutes she was all in.

Twilight ran into a problem. She didn't have trouble finding Thorax, the problem was the other changelings.

"Looks like they don't want me to come with you," Thorax said sadly. "They don't want to let me go incase I get hurt."

"Yeah..." Twilight replied with disappointment. "Could you try and persuade them?" She asked.

"I already tried, they said they didn't want me to risk my life and I had some volunteers to take my place. I would let them go with you but I don't want to send any of my changelings to harm themselves either!"

Twilight looked down in thought, before trotting past Thorax—who looked at her with suspicion—and stepped up onto Thorax's throne.

"Attention changelings!" She shouted, catching the attention of the hive. "I know you're all worried about sending your leader on a dangerous mission, but I assure you everything will be fine! There is no killing allowed in the tournament and he is a strong force to be dealt with." She noticed some of the changelings looking uneasy. "Don't you want your leader to represent the changelings?" She continued. "Strong and brave, ready to defend what they care about? Thorax wants to defend Equestria and our universe, and I don't see anything wrong about that."

"She's right!" Thorax began as he walked up beside Twilight. "I wish to protect you all and the ones who saved our hive! What would have happened if the ponies never stepped in and took down Chrysalis? We would have gone down a very dark path that I'm sure none of you would have wanted us to walk. The least we could do is help our friends and defend our entire universe." The king noticed that one of his subjects was about to speak. "I know some of you want to take my place but it is not your duty, it is mine. What kind of king would I be if I were to send all of you into danger? I know, it's really hard on you all, but from here on out, it's do or die..."

Thorax was treated by silence for a few seconds from the other changelings. But soon enough, a couple had the courage to start cheering him on, leading more to cheer and encouragement for their brave king.

Thorax smiled. "Thank you all for understanding! I promise I will return safely!"

Just then, dozens of changelings pounced on their teary king, giving him a warm hug.

Twilight shrieked and teleported a fair distance away before they ran her over.

Starlight was in front of her childhood friend's house in the Crystal Empire, she made it there quickly, thanks to the power of teleporting. She decided to appear at his front door rather than directly inside his house. She respected his privacy.

He could be a very good ally in this tournament, Starlight thought, his skills with magic comparing to her own.

She knocked on the door a couple of times, waiting for a couple seconds before Sunburst unlocked it. He looked... tired. Judging by his baggy eyes.

"Hey, Sunburst!" She greeted. "Long time no see!"

"Yup!" He replied with less enthusiasm than he wanted to put out. "Want to come in?"

He sounded tired as well.

"Kindly!" She replied before trotting in, the door slamming behind her soon after.

"What can I do for you Starlight? You usually mail me before wanting to come over." He explained.

"Yeah, sorry for arriving so suddenly." She said apologetically. "Something urgent has come up and I need your help!"

Sunburst looked at her for a moment before asking, "Alright, explain and maybe I can help."

"I have to make this quick, long story short, there's this big fighting tournament some god more powerful than Princess Celestia is holding very soon, and if we don't win it then Equestria and our entire universe will be erased from existence!"

Sunburst looked at her dumbly for a second before scratching his head. "Fighting tournament? How soon?"

"Uh..." Starlight glanced at a nearby clock. "In about thirty minutes. Why is there something wrong?"

"Oh gosh," He widened his eyes. "I'm so sorry Starlight, I wish I could help, but I'm so tired after watching Flurryheart for Princess Cadence and Shining Armor. I know my magic would be useful but I don't even think I could do a simple levitation spell without passing out."

Starlight sighed before saying, "It's alright, I understand."

Sunburst frowned, feeling guilty. "I'm really sorry Starlight, you know I would have helped if I could, right? I just feel I would be of no use to you."

Starlight gave him a sad smile in return. "I said it's alright. I understand completely." She reached forward and gave him a quick hug. "I have to go and see if Cadence and Shining can help out. You go get your rest."

"Thank you, Starlight," Sunburst said before leading her out the door. Before she left, he said one last thing. "If you need a babysitter for flurry, you can call me, I should be able to take care of her at least, she behaves when I'm around."

Starlight smiled at him. "I'll keep that in mind. See you around."

Sunburst nodded with a smile before shutting the door.

"I'm down for a fight. When is it happening?" Ember asked Twilight as they stood in the middle of the Dragon Lands with Thorax.

"It should be in a little more than twenty minutes, we don't have much time."

"Then we should get going now," Thorax suggested. "The more time we have to plan the better." He explained.

"Hold on just a minute," Ember said, making Twilight and Thorax turn to look at her. "It's been a while since I've stretched my muscles, how about a quick spar?"

"Hm, I guess that could be fine," Thorax said. "Plus there's no one really around to accidentally hurt."

"Then a two-minute sparring match, then I'll be teleporting us back to my castle." Twilight said. "Please make this quick, we don't have much time. And don't hurt each other too much-"

Thorax and Ember immediately charged at one another. The king charged up a magic blast and fired, princess replying with a fireball. The two collided, making an explosion.

The other dragons in the area heard the loud noise and made their way towards the sound. They quickly found their dragon lord fighting the weird sparkly bug thing, and for some of them, instead of jumping in they cheered their leader on. For those who wanted to jump in, Ember made sure to tell them it was just a friendly fight and nothing serious, so they backed off and also rooted for her.

The match was mostly even, where Thorax had the advantage of using powerful spells and Ember had the advantage of close combat.

This they both realized, and Ember found it more useful to try and get up close as quickly as possible, while Thorax tried to keep his distance by zoning her away with spells.

Twilight seemed to notice that they were learning progressively, and she knew this sparring match was a really great idea by Ember.

By the time the spar was over, Ember and Thorax were out of breath, but not too injured which pleased Twilight. No more words were spoken as the purple unicorn teleported the three away.

"So Princess Celestia is calling for us to save our Universe?" Shining Armor asked from the other end of the throne room next to his wife.

Starlight nodded. "I know it sounds absurd, but we really need you two to take a part in this fighting tournament."

Cadence and Shining glanced at one another for a second before looking back at Starlight with friendly smiles.

"It's not that surprising, really. We'll assist you in this tournament." The pink princess said. "You might not know it just yet but Shiny and I make a dirty duo."

Shining chuckled. "With my shields and your love magic, we'll win this for sure."

Cadence chuckled as well but turned to Starlight with a more serious look. "But the other universes... they're getting erased if they lose?"

Starlight nodded with a frown. "Yes, sadly. But we have no choice in this matter, it's either we fight or get erased from existence, we all have something to fight for."

"I understand there's a wish after the tournament?" She asked.

"Uh, yes!" She answered cheerfully. "There are powerful artifacts that can grant any wish. I think I know what you're getting at here."

Cadence nodded, then turned to Shining to see him smile at her before giving her a peck on the cheek.

"You only found nine people?!" Discord yelled inside Twilight's throne room.

Meanwhile, the nine team members and the other two alicorns were trying to think of anyone to join the team.

"I guess I could find a changeling back in the hive, but I would prefer not to," Thorax said.

"And all of the other dragons are all numbskulls. They wouldn't last a minute." Ember added.

"Isn't there anyone left?!" Discord asked. "Any griffons? Buffalo? Can't Celestia or Luna be apart of your team?"

"Discord," Celestia started. "You know my sister and I can't take part of the tournament, we're considered the Gods of Harmony of this universe and you're a God of Chao-"

"Yeah, yeah, I get it!" Discord crossed his arms and frowned. "Just hurry and find someone before I make The Smooze a part of the team."

"Oh! I just remembered." Cadence said. "Princess Celestia, if we win this tournament and get that wish they promised us, we should use the wish to get back the other universes!" She explained.

"We are going to win." Rainbow corrected.

Celestia sighed in return. "Perhaps we could. But, it would go against the decision of the ruler of all universes. They might not allow us to make that wish."

"We could still try." Luna added. "And if he enjoys this tournament we could try and persuade him by telling him we could run another tournament another time. More entertainment for him and we all survive."

Celestia nodded. "We just might."

"Oh for the love of chaos! We need to find one more member and we have ten minutes left!" He looked at the others who seemed at a loss. "There isn't anyone outside of Equestria we can recruit? Tartarus, I'll even take another stupid dragon if we have to."

"Tartarus..." Twilight muttered. "Tartarus! That's it!" She suddenly shouted.

"Did you find someone?" Discord asked.

"Spike can help us!" She said with happiness.

Just then the entire room—save for Twilight— gasped in shock.

Twilight sighed, knowing their reactions weren't uncalled for.

Shining and Cadence looked away, not comfortable all of a sudden.

Applejack and Rainbow Dash looked a bit angry, and Pinkie looked a bit sad.

Starlight, Celestia, and Luna didn't blatantly show any expressions, but Twilight knew they were at least affected by her words.

Ember and Thorax looked... betrayed once his name was spoken.

"Twilight," Discord started with a sarcastic laugh. "Why would he want to fight for us, he wants all of us dead. Except for me, he's afraid of me, but you get the point." He said sternly.

Rainbow trotted next to her friend who she now thought was insane. "Yeah, Twi. Spike... isn't going to be a team player."

"He ain't going to listen to nothin' we going to tell him. He's just going to be trouble!" Applejack added. "After that incident, he's not going to listen to us anymore."

"Guys..." Twilight started. "I know it seems like a bad decision, but I'm sure he'll be a big help! He's not just a baby dragon anymore."

"Yeah, he's worse Twilight!" Starlight said. "He's a baby dragon with magical fire that's on par with our magic. He's changed, he's not your assistant anymore you've got to realize that."

"Yeeaaaah, and I can't think of a single dragon besides him that can use magical fire Twilight." Ember said with a frown.

"Everyone, there's no reason to worry," Twilight reassured with a smile. "If anything goes wrong I'll keep him in check, and I don't see any of you having any better ideas." She walked over to Discord. "Send me to Tartarus, and I'll talk to him."

"We have nine minutes and fifteen point four-two seconds left Twilight..." He replied with a frown. "Don't screw this up."

With a snap of his talons, Twilight was sent to Tartarus in a bright flash.

"Hey, Discord?" Applejack called. "Can ya take us to our other friends, I think we'll want them to know what's up."

Discord smiled for the first time in a while, ignoring the stressful situation for a second. "That would be great. I would love to see Fluttershy before we leave."

"And I would like to say hi to Trixie too." Starlight said.

"And the crusaders!" Rainbow told Applejack.

"Then let's makes this quick and then meet up with Twilight after." Discord said. "I still can't believe she wants to get him of all people." Then he closed his eyes and snapped his talons, and in that second everyone in the room was gone.

Meanwhile, Twilight stood at the gates of Tartarus, and little did she know, at the far back of the massive prison, a little dragon suddenly smirked, sensing her presence.