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Pound and Pumpkin Tales 2

by Never2muchpinkie

Chapter 89: 11-13: Princess of Light

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Plum was panting. “T-they’re endless,” she said as she took down another crystal pony.

The rest of them were tiring too. Even Flash with his super speed was starting to feel it.

“We can’t keep this up much longer,” said Chocolate. “They better hurry-”

He broke off as the ground began shaking. Even without turning around he could feel an enormous power behind him.

The five children were teleported back by the others, and now they could see Flurry was burning red hot. Whatever they had said had definitely gotten to her.

Flurry teleported into the sky, firing a large blast that incinerated all the crystal ponies.

With that she hit the ground. “You’re next!” she said furiously to Sombra.

A bead of sweat came down his face. She was fuming. His horn lit up as they both fired at one another.

The beams collided with one another, and they seemed even for a few seconds, but then with a yell Flurry increased her power, and the spell rapidly headed towards Sombra.

He tried to gain ground, but he only managed to slow the pace of her spell. It was still heading right for him.

“Awesome!” said Spring, hopping. “We’re gonna win!”

“Oh yeah!” said Peppermint. “Get rid of him!”

“Just like the superhero story!” said Pumpkin.

“Ridiculous!” said Sombra. “I won’t be defeated by a child, alicorn or not.

“Your light is impressive, but the darkness is still stronger.”

Another beam shot out of Sombra’s horn towards the corrupted Crystal Heart, and power funneled back through it.

The turnaround was immediate. Flurry lost ground so quickly it was like her beam wasn’t even there. They barely had three seconds to even process what happened before Sombra’s beam engulfed her.

Sombra began to laugh cruelly. “That’s one useless brat down.”

Everyone looked on with horror, eyes wide and speechless.

Even Twilight thought that Nega had lost himself in the high of combat like Mayhem did and went too far. She was having trouble breathing, scared she had just lost her niece.

As the smoke cleared they all were shocked to see Flurry unharmed, the jewel around her neck lit up as bright as it had ever been.

Flurry was panting hard. She had really thought that she was about to die.

Everyone except Sombra let out sighs of relief.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Sombra said angrily. “How can you still be alive? How could that dinky, pathetic little fragment of a stone have stopped me from destroying you? This is ridiculous!”

Flurry’s heart was still racing, but as she lifted up the jewel in her hoof she found herself calming down. The light coming off of it didn’t hurt her eyes. Looking at it made her think of her mother, and that gave her peace.

She could feel love emanating off of it, the love that had always helped them pull through in a crisis.

Tears came down her eyes as she thought of her mother presenting her with this jewel, even if she hadn’t done it in the real world. To be able to always carry her parents love around with her, to always have them protecting her no matter how far apart they were… she knew her mother would do it if it was possible.

Sombra had corrupted the Crystal Heart, turning it into a symbol of darkness. But even the entire power of its corrupted form, with his hatred and darkness at its maximum, couldn’t begin to compete with just the smallest bit of love and the desire to protect each other.

She understood the meaning of it, just as Starlight had told her: you can’t fight hate with more hate. Hate can only be conquered by love.

“I’m glad Flurry is okay,” said Pound, “but where do we go from here? We can’t defeat him, and he can’t defeat us. We’re at a stalemate.”

“A stalemate?” said Sombra, regaining his condescending attitude. “Don’t kid yourself, kid. Maybe I can’t use dark magic directly on you little brats, but I can certainly affect you indirectly.”

Sombra took power from the Crystal Heart again, darkness enveloping the area.

The ground began shaking, and out of the ground came another two crystal ponies.

All of them except Flurry stared open mouthed as they grew taller and taller and taller until they were the size of the palace.

Sombra laughed. “Something wrong, brats? Where’d all your confidence go? The power of darkness is stronger than anything you kids could ever muster.”

Flurry looked around, seeing the fear that had taken all her friends. It felt so familiar. Sombra wasn’t playing around anymore.

Just like when she had fought Mayhem she thought she wasn’t nearly as scared as she should have been. The love of her family was kept inside the jewel, giving her light. And, just as before, seeing her friends faltering made her want to step up.

Flurry stepped forward, unusually calm.

Sombra chuckled. “Oh, and here comes another useless brat. You want to try and tussle with these crystal ponies? Fire away. I can always make more.”

He smirked. “Hmph! I doubt you could even take out one of them. You put most of your energy into that last skirmish, while I am fully energized by the corrupted Heart. Isn’t it obvious how this is going to end?”

“Just be quiet," she said gently.

His eyes narrowed. “Excuse me?”

“You’re right. It is obvious how this is going to end. You’re going to lose.”

That got the attention of the children, finally looking away from the massive crystal ponies to look at Flurry, a calm, determined look on her face.

For the ones that had been a part of the battle against Mayhem it was all too familiar. In a seemingly hopeless situation she was a light in the darkness.

“No matter how strong the darkness and shadows are, all it takes is one small light to dispel them, because when those little specks come together they can turn into a brilliant light.

“I let anger and hatred guide me before, but that’s never been where true strength lies.” Lifting up the jewel she said, “I have the heart of my mother in here. I have my daddy. I have Uncle Sunny and Aunt Starlight. I have all my friends. Compared to all that you’re nothing but another soon to be forgotten jerk.”

Spring blinked. Mayhem had shown her the end of the battle with him. She had wondered about how they had summoned up the courage to keep fighting long enough for her to activate the Fire of Friendship. Fighting alongside her, seeing her casually trash-talking Sombra when things seemed at their most hopeless… she understood it now. She believed now.

Sombra growled, his eyes turning fiery. “Enough with your stupid talk! Let’s see you talk smack from the bottom of their hooves.”

Flurry focused on all her love, saying quietly, “Mom, please lend me some of your power.” Just as Sombra had taken power from the corrupted Heart she focused her magic on the little piece of it around her neck.

The light from her horn grew, but it wasn’t an explosive buildup of energy as before. It was gentle and peacful, giving off a pleasant aura that expanded around her.

Flurry’s body grew crystalized. Combined with her already white coat and the glow surrounding her she looked almost ethereal.

She shot two small bits of energy at the enormous crystal ponies, and they all watched open-mouthed as their colors changed from dark to resembling the colors of the Crystal Heart before vanishing.

Flash kept blinking, sure he hadn’t just seem what he had. With just one tiny blast each Flurry had demolished such huge creatures.

“T-this… this can’t be happening,” Sombra said in disbelief.

Sweet Pea laughed. “Wow! Flurry is the coolest!”

“Definitely!” said Chocolate.

“I don’t even feel afraid anymore,” said Peppermint. “The light she’s giving off just makes me feel so calm.”

Twilight was moving up and down in excitement. This was turning out far more fascinating than she ever could have expected. Flurry had practically transformed.

Flurry took to the sky, levitating in the air as she arranged her wings in the shape of a heart and released more light magic. Even as they watched houses were also turning back to their uncorrupted state.

Looking up, it really did seem like a heart made of light was up in the sky.

Seeing things returning to normal, and feeling the comforting light Flurry was giving off, the crystal ponies left their homes, sure that they had been saved.

Noticing the crowd forming Flurry descended.

“Princess Cadance has saved us,” said one of the ponies, but their joy turned to surprise when she landed. “L-Lady Flurry? You’re the one that saved us?”

“It’s not over yet!” Flurry said commandingly. “Sombra is still around and he still is controlling the Crystal Heart.”

Even as they watched the areas Flurry’s light were no longer illuminating turned black again. They also noticed Sombra standing by the podium with the corrupted Heart, fear going through them.

“I can’t do this all by myself. I need your help!”

“What are we supposed to do?” asked one of the ponies. “We’re powerless!”

“Wrong!” Flurry said, her inner strength pouring off of her. “I know you’re scared of Sombra, but the truth is that Sombra is also scared of you. He always has been.”

Everyone looked at her strangely.

“Why do you think Sombra worked so hard to break your spirits? It’s because he knows that when you gather your courage and come together that you can easily overcome him. His power is nothing compared to ours.

“You didn’t need my mom to save the day. You don’t even need me. You have the power to save yourselves. You always have. He just made you forget that.

“If you put your hearts together we can banish Sombra from our home just as Aunt Twilight did back then.”

There was a rumble in the air. “Enough of your prattling!” Sombra said angrily, darkness surrounding the area as he stole power from the heart again. Walking forward he said, “Anyone who wants to trust in this brat and help her may do so, but when this little rebellion fails anyone who foolishly assisted her will be eliminated.”

Flurry also borrowed some power from her piece of the Heart as she saw the terror taking them. “It’s your choice,” she said significantly. “You have the power to choose whether you live the rest of your lives as slaves or as heroes.

“Join me, and let’s get rid of this pest once and for all.”

“Don’t you dare!” said Sombra. “Do you all want to die? Stand down and ignore the little princess. Are you really going to follow the words of a child? She’s just a fool thinking she’s a big pony, endangering all your lives. Be smart if you don’t want to suffer fatal consequences.”

“That’s right!” said Pound. “Flurry is a child, and yet she’s fighting. Are you gonna let a little girl fight on her own? We need your help.”

Both sides continued to talk, but after a few more rounds of threats and encouragement they both decided to back off and just let them make their decision.

Both Sombra’s darkness and Flurry’s light were massive. Things were tense, but after a minute a crystal pony said, “I’m siding with Lady Flurry! I don’t want to live the rest of my life under Sombra’s rule.” With that he started walking towards her.

“WHAT?” Sombra said in a crazed voice.

The lone voice calling out seemed to be all that they needed to sway them, because they all began to walk towards Flurry.

“No! Stop it! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you all!”

Despite his threats they all ignored him. It was just as Flurry had said. They could hear the fear in his voice. The fear of their power.

“Everyone!” said Flurry as they all surrounded her. “Lend me your hearts and let’s purge the Crystal Empire of King Sombra once and for all!”

All of them kneeled before her, closing their eyes and focusing on their love for one another. The glow from Flurry grew and grew, everyone turning crystalized.

Even Twilight joined in, despite not actually being a part of the game world. She was just so swept up in the spirit of unity on display she couldn’t help but want to lend her power to Flurry.

A huge wave of energy swirled around them before shooting towards Sombra. It was no contest. Sombra’s darkness didn’t stand a chance. It swallowed him up, the Crystal Heart on the podium returning to normal, and the rest of the Crystal Empire quickly followed.

As the light faded they all felt super energized.

“That was so awesome!” said Tree Leaf.

“We saved the Crystal Empire!” said Masky.

“This was one of the best adventures yet!” said Plum.

“My heart’s still racing with excitement,” said Flash.

“Gotta be honest,” said Sweet Pea. “I had my doubts, but everything turned out fine in the end."

"It sure did!" said Spring, hugging her friend.

Twilight was hopping up and down in circles in her excitement. "Yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes yes! They did it! Woohoo!"

Flurry lifted up the piece of the Crystal Heart around her neck. She had needed some help, but once again they had accomplished the seemingly impossible.

She didn't think she was nearly ready to do it for real, but when it came down to it she had faced her fear. She had guided her subjects to a better life. And hopefully seeing her do it would help motivate Mayhem and Spring to do the same.

Nega was off to the side. "I... actually lost. Twilight told me that no matter how difficult I made it I would lose this game in the end. I shouldn't have doubted her."

He put a hoof to his heart. "They won. Now... now the pain will finally go away."

Author's Notes:

And thus brings the Sombra arc to a close. Having defeated Sombra, how will Mayhem and Spring proceed? What about Nega? I think we all know things won't be so simple to resolve.

Next Chapter: 11-14 :Unvictory Estimated time remaining: 4 Hours, 21 Minutes
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