Chapter 11

"Conquering Camp Everfree"

Stepping through the portal created by the Space Stone, Thanos and his group found themselves in a wooded area surrounded by log cabins and a lake. Stepping on the beach, Thanos reached down and touched the sand, running it through his fingers.

"This is it," he said to his group, turning around to face them. "We shall set up here."

"And what…may I ask," remarked Sombra. "Do you call this land?"

"Camp Everfree," replied Sour Sweet, catching Sombra and Thanos' attention. "This is Camp Everfree."

Taking in what had just been said to him, Thanos knew this would be the place he would make his headquarters, away from any suspicious activity. Suddenly, they heard a young female voice call out to them.

"Excuse me!" the voice called and they all turned to see a grapefruit colored girl coming towards them. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

But the group of villains said nothing and just stood where they were.

"This is private property!"

"My child," said Thanos, advancing towards the girl. "I come for your salvation. You should be thankful that I am here."

The girl became more and more scared at what Thanos was saying to her. Just then, a male figure, a few years than her arrived on the scene.

"Gloriosa, what's going on…?" he asked, only to be interrupted when he saw Thanos. "Who are you and what do you want with us?"

"Much," chuckled Thanos, using his infinity gauntlet to send the male figure back onto the ground.

"TIMBER!" Gloriosa screamed, trying to run over to him, only to be stopped by the Sirens, holding her down. "Let me go! Let me go!"

Thanos chuckled evilly as he watched the frightened girl recoil in horror.

"Please," Gloriosa pleaded. "I'll give you anything you want! Just leave us alone!"

But Thanos wasn't listening. Raising his gauntlet at Gloriosa, he activated the soul stone and as Gloriosa screamed sucked her soul out of her body. Throwing her body onto the ground, the Sirens slowly feasted on her emotionless body. Just then, her brother Timber was coming around.

"Gloriosa!" he said weakly, only for Thanos to use the soul stone on Timber as well while Sonata Dusk watched.

"Well, aren't you going to feed on his emotions?" Thanos asked Sonata, who merely stood over the unconscious Timber. But, Sonata said nothing and simply stood over him. "Very well then, more for your comrades."

With the two heads of Camp Everfree out of his way, Thanos began work on revamping Camp Everfree to his will. Using the powers of the gauntlet, he casted a dark shadow over the camp, sending a powerful beam of darkness that covered the campgrounds.

"This is where we shall stay!" Thanos announced triumphantly. "And recruit the army needed to conquer the ponies of Equestria!"

As he watched, Sombra couldn't help but feel a little jealous that some of his thunder was stolen from him. In fact, he was beginning to think of his own strategy to get back on top. Soon, the camp was enclosed with Thanos' dark powers.

"Excuse me," said Adagio, finishing off of feeding on Timber Spruce. "What do you mean we set up camp here? What's wrong with being near Sunset's human friends?"

"Because we want to be…less predictable," replied Thanos, turning his attention to the lead Siren. "What Sombra did was not…less predictable."

Sombra merely growled to himself at Thanos upon hearing those words.

"For we have a way of bringing our army here."

Walking towards the main cabin of the campground, Thanos walked in and using the space stone, he created a large black throne made entirely of crystals. All of the beds in the cabin transformed into dark crystals, much to Sombra's further irritation. Sitting down on the throne, Thanos relished in his new surroundings.

"And what do you want us to do?" asked Adagio, further. "I mean, me and the other Dazzlings can go out and call for forces to come for you, Thanos."

"No, my child, you shall do nothing of the sort," Thanos answered, using the gauntlet to produce a dark sickly green smog that rose out of the throne. Watching from outside, Sombra noticed that the smog came from his own dark magic. Angered, he ran into the cabin.

"What did you do?!" he demanded, running up to the throne. "What did you do?!"

Thanos merely chuckled at Sombra's response.

"ANSWER!"

"Why, I've just borrowed some of your magic, Sombra," chuckled Thanos. "For I want to use to my own free will. What's wrong with that?"

Snarling, Sombra could only watch in disbelief as the Mad Titan used his power for his own gain. Suddenly, Sombra realized that there was something amiss.

"Did you…?"

"I did, I studied what you had done, Sombra. You broke away from the Legion of Doom to conquer Equestria on your own. Now, I shall be the one to make you see the error of your ways."

Betrayed and angered, Sombra attempted to attack Thanos, but was sent back from the throne. Everything that he had done up until that moment, freeing himself and Thanos from Limbo, it appeared was all for nothing.

"You shall play by my rules, Sombra. Or else, I will send you to a much worse place than where we met."

With very few options, Sombra had no choice but to give in.

"Kneel before Thanos," Thanos commanded and Sombra, with an ever growing angry look on his face, did as he was told. Seeing the black hearted unicorn bow to him, Thanos sat back in his throne and smiled. "Ah, long live the true king…me."

…

Elsewhere, Sci-Twi and the others continued their search for the missing Crystal Prep girls by following Sci-Twi's drone and the magic given from their pendants.

"I'm picking up a very strong sense of power with each step we take," she remarked. "For some reason, it's going towards Camp Everfree."

"Why Camp Everfree?" wondered Applejack.

"Because most evil villains would tend to hide in a place that is as far away as possible," answered Sci-Twi. "I just know for a fact that is what this Thanos is up to."

"Don't forget with Tony Stark and the others said, Twilight," advised Rainbow Dash. "Thanos is very dangerous?"

Taking her friend's words to heart, Sci-Twi continued leading them further and further towards the camp. Suddenly, they saw the green smog out in the distance.

"What is that?" cried Pinkie Pie, pointing up to the smog. "Ewww, it looks green."

But, Sci-Twi was quick to guess what was happening.

"It isn't just green," she said. "It looks like mind control. The color is all too well. We have to go on, but we can't breathe it."

"Easier…said than done," replied Rarity, trying to hold in her breath while also worrying about her clothes. "Just another thing for me to worry about."

Finally, they approached the camp entrance seeing the screen that Thanos had created.

"He must have known we were coming, y'all," whispered Applejack. "Should we power up?"

"But Sunset's not here," remarked Rainbow Dash in a hushed voice.

"We'll have to chance it," said Sci-Twi, tapping into the powers of her pendant and transforming into her battle garb from the last time that they were at Camp Everfree. The other girls followed suit and also transformed.

…

Meanwhile, Thanos detected their presence from his throne.

"We have intruders," he said, rising to his feet. "They must have come for the new recruits. Sombra, you shall lead them towards the intruders."

Using the gauntlet, Thanos summoned the five brainwashed girls from Crystal Prep to the throne room.

"My children, this shall be your first test under my command," Thanos ordered. "We have intruders approaching us. See that they are dealt with, understand?"

Silently nodding, the Crystal Prep girls were teleported out of the cabin along with Sombra. At that very moment, they saw the five Canterlot high girls trying to get inside.

"Guys, look!" called Applejack, pointing towards the arriving evil forces. "It's the Crystal Prep girls!"

A look of shear horror fell upon Sci-Twi's face when she saw her former classmates approaching them.

"No, it can't be!" Sci-Twi whispered, before trying to reach out to them. "Girls, it's me! Twilight!"

But the Crystal Prep girls didn't listen. They just stood there under hypnosis. Then, Sci-Twi turned her attention towards Sombra.

"What did you do to them, Sombra?" she demanded, causing Sombra to chuckle in amusement. "Let them go!"

"They can't hear you," he called back, raising his sword at the humane five. "They only serve the mad titan himself and no one else."

"You won't get away with this, Sombra!" shouted Rainbow Dash. "Let them go now!"

"Foolish girl, Thanos will not accept any demands. In fact, look above you right now."

Gesturing to them, the humane five looked up towards the sky and saw the smog heading towards town. Unfortunately, at that very moment, Sombra ordered the Crystal Prep girls to attack.

"LOOK OUT!" shouted Applejack, but the humane five were tackled to the ground by the brainwashed girls.

With very little choice, they were forced to fight against them while Sombra watched. Using whatever powers they had, the humane five did whatever they could to fight back. But, they were soon overwhelmed.

….

….

At that moment, back at the sanctum, the Cauldron of Cosmos acted up again.

"What's that?" asked Scott.

"It's the Cauldron," answered Dr. Strange as he and Sunset went to check out what was happening. "Sunset, your friends are under attack."

Sunset looked down at the cauldron and saw her friends being attack.

"You…you've got to send me to them, Dr. Strange!" she pleaded. "They need help!"

"That's all right, my child," replied Dr. Strange, much to Sunset's horror. "I've already sent someone to help your friends."

"What are you talking about?" asked Sunset, her voice filled with horror. "My friends need help!"

"Watch and you will see," said Dr. Strange, calmly and the Avengers watched as the Crystal Prep students fought Sunset's friends, using the evil powers given to them to pound them into submission.

…

Soon, the battle was turning in the favor of the brainwashed students, pounding them all into the ground. By then, the girls were bruised and bloodied.

"We…we can't stop them," groaned Applejack, trying to get to her feet as a brainwashed Sugarcoat glared down evilly at her.

"It…can't…end like this," added Rainbow Dash, trying to get back onto her feet, but to no avail. "No."

Sci-Twi tried to get to her feet, but it was no use as Sunny Flare kicked her back down onto the ground. Despite the bruises and cuts that they were being administered to them, the girls refused to give up.

"Sunny Flare…." Coughed Sci-Twi, blood flowing from her mouth. "Please…"

With an evil smile on her face, Sunny Flare prepared to administer the final blow on Sci-Twi.

…

…

Then, suddenly, the five brainwashed girls suddenly felt themselves floating into the air. Watching from below, Sombra saw red magic engulfing them. Before he could react, the five Crystal Prep girls were thrown against five trees almost in perfect sync.

"Who's there?" shouted Sombra, drawing his sword, trying to find the intruder. "Come out, I say!"

At that very moment, Sombra saw a young woman with long red hair and clad in a long red coat floating out of a clearing in the forest. Her eyes glowed an equally angry red color. Raising his sword, Sombra charged at the woman, who responded by picking Sombra up with her magic and throwing him against a tree. Struggling to his feet, Sombra knew that he needed to fall back.

"This isn't over!" he called. "Thanos will hear of this!"

Mustering the Crystal Prep girls to their feet, Sombra dashed away from the scene leaving the young woman alone with the wounded humane five. Once he was gone, the woman turned towards Sci-Twi and the others as their powers gave out, leaving them with torn clothes and flesh wounds. The woman stood over Sci-Twi as she struggled to get to her feet.

"Who…?" she tried to say, but was unable to as Sci-Twi fell back down onto the ground. "Who are you?"