Lord Tirek stood big, and at full capacity for power. Around his neck was the Rainbow of Darkness, which enhanced his power, and altered his form to make him appear even more beastly. The voice and energy of Grogar spoke from the darkness, and commanded Tirek. With Twilight Sparkle and friends already defeated, they were free to lay waste to the land. There was only one pony left in Equestria who could defeat Lord Tirek and seal the Rainbow of Darkness away. And here's a hint, it wasn't Luster Dawn, although her role wasn't done yet.
.
.
.
After being blasted by Tirek, Luster Dawn sat buried in the rubble. Slowly however, she started to awaken. Despite the excruciating pain, she woke up.
"Woah! *oof* Ow ow ow! Oh my goodness, where am I?" she cried.
It was dark, but even still, Luster looked at her own hooves.
"Wait, I'm me again!" she exclaimed.
*whew*
Luster lit up her horn to see in the dark, but she underestimated her magic, and nearly set fire to herself.
"Woah! I feel real powerful with all this magic. What happened? Where am I Cozy Glow?" Luster asked.
But there was no response.
"Cozy Glow? Where'd you go?" she asked again.
*faint crying*
Luster could faintly hear Cozy Glow weeping inside her mind.
"What happened, Cozy Glow? I haven't been able to see outside since I went to sleep. Why are we embedded in the ground?" Luster asked.
"It's over! It's all over!" Cozy wept.
"Cozy, are you okay?" Luster asked. "Why do I have all this magic? Why are we in pinned by the side of a mountain?"
"Tirek's gone! The darkness got to him, and the rest of my friends! They're gone and they've been turned into mindless drones!" Cozy wept.
Luster peaked outside, and saw the giant dark Tirek.
"What's going on? What did you do with my body while you were in control?!" Luster said, furiously.
"I finally conquered Equestria, and obtained all this magic, but I had no one to share it with. No one to dominate with!" Cozy cried.
"Why do you want to stop him? Isn't this what you wanted?" Luster asked.
"Not this. I mean-... what I'm saying is. This isn't how I envisioned it. Tirek's out of control, and he tried to get rid of us!" Cozy replied.
Cozy wept. Luster actually felt a little bad for her. Cozy essentially had Tirek betray her. Even though she knew offering to help Cozy could only mean trouble, if anyone knew how to stop Tirek, it was her.
"So... what do we do about the big guy?" Luster asked.
*sniff* "It's your body. You've got all the magic coursing through you." Cozy said. Plus, you're Twilight's faithful student. You go out there and defeat Tirek. You got the magic of like, three unicorns, Twilight's alicorn magic, plus I think Grogar's magic is in there too since I used the bell to accomplish all of this."
Luster's mind was flustered. There was so much to take in. Even with all this magic at her disposal, she wasn't sure she could take on Tirek.
"You know, Cozy, if anypony can break through to Tirek, it's you." Luster said. "He's still in there, which means there's a way to reach him."
"Why are you being supportive?" Cozy asked. "I've been completely terrible ever since I got off that train and enrolled in Twilight's school."
"Because you're not upset that some creature is more powerful than you. You're upset because you might lose your friend." Luster said.
"I just want to see Tirek again." Cozy wept. "Will you go over there and vanquish the darkness?"
Luster shook her head in uncertainty.
"We have to get Twilight and her friends." Luster said.
"That's uh, not really possible right now..." Cozy confessed.
"WHAT?" Luster asked.
"You know, I'm quite proud of my progression. Before, I had to trick Twilight and her friends to trap them in Tartarus. But this time, I just flew up to them and whupped their flanks directly!" Cozy boasted.
"Cozy Glow!" Luster scolded.
"What?" she asked.
"You defeated the only ponies who can stop the Rainbow of Darkness!" Luster exclaimed.
"See, THIS is why I refuse to suck up to you ponies! You think you can solve all your problems by just holding hooves, and blasting rainbows at your problems!" Cozy exclaimed.
"Well so far, holding hands and firing rainbows has worked just fine!" Luster fired back.
"Well stupid magic rainbows aren't so fun when you're on the receiving end!"
"We're going to get Twilight and her friends!" Luster exclaimed.
"That's what you think! Because you're so narrow minded, you think there's only one way to defeat this thing. But there's always more than one way to do things." Cozy said. "This time! I'm going to save Tirek MY way!" Cozy exclaimed.
*poof*
The bewitching bell appeared in front of Luster.
"I'm gonna need a lot of magic to do this." Cozy said.
Meanwhile, Tirek and Grogar, who was the spirit of the Rainbow of Darkness. Looked over the damage they had done, to see if Luster and Cozy were really eliminated.
"Thank goodness she' gone." Grogar said. "This kingdom is mine once again."
"Wait..." Tirek said.
"Hmm...?"
There was a bright light emanating from where Luster Star had landed. And it was getting brighter.
*boom*
The mountainside exploded, and from the dust, emerged Lust Star! Luster allowed Cozy to use her body to fight against Tirek. She stretched her large wings, and took to the air. She flew at great speeds, and aimed directly towards Tirek. Her horn was charged with the power of Equestria's strongest beings all concentrated together within her.
*HYAA!*
*magic*
She fired a massively powerful magic beam at Tirek. Tirek crossed his arms as the beam came rushing in.
*boom*
A direct hit, but Tirek blocked the powerful blast with his arms.
By the time it dissipated, he spotted Luster Dawn flying towards him at breakneck speeds, charging her horn of more magic.
"It's the end of the line, Tirek!"
"No! It's the end for you!"
Tirek lifted his fist and pounded the ground with all his might. The impact created strong fissures in the ground, that cracked and released plumes of energy from the ground. Luster dodged and maneuvered around Tirek's shock waves.
*poof*
*poof*
She teleported multiple times in a row, like no one's business, to avoid the shock waves and fissures.
*poof*
Luster appeared above Tirek.
She lifted her hooves for dramatic effect, and gathered gathered a massive amount of magic in her horn and then-
*ZZZT* *BOOM*
She blasted Tirek with the might of all her magic combined. The blast sent Tirek below, and embedded him in the ground. Cozy landed on the ground.
"AAAHHHHH!" Tirek lifted the earth over his head, and flung it.
Cozy flew around the scene. Tierk was serious.
"Give it up, Tirek! The last two times you fought a powerful alicorn, you got your rear ended handed to you!" Cozy exclaimed.
"That was before I had someone to fight for!" Tirek exclaimed.
Tirek reeled back his arm, and went in for a powerful punch. Cozy mimicked his motion, and went in for her own magical punch.
The two were about to impact when all of the sudden-
*BOOM*
Their fists collided created a massive release of energy from the epicenter. Their power was more or less even. The blast wave knocked both of them back, Cozy more so.
*heavy breathing*
Both creatures breathed heavy from the exhaustion.
"He's tough. He's a really tough guy." Luster's voice echoed.
"He's fighting for me. Because he thinks you killed me, he's trying to avenge me. That's so sweet of him." Cozy said.
"Yeah, now he's going to kill both of us!" Luster exclaimed.
They noticed darkness surrounding Tirek, rejuvenating his energy. The mighty centaur stomped forward to the alicorn.
"If you won't listen to me, Tirek, then I'll make you listen!" Cozy exclaimed.
Cozy rushed forward while Tirek was charging himself. She latched herself to the Rainbow of Darkness, wrapped around the centaur's neck. Cozy pulled, and tried to free Tirek of its influence.
"Come on, Tirek! I know you're in there! Just gotta get rid of this stupid thing!" she exclaimed.
Cozy used magic to attack the Rainbow of Darkness at its source. She pounded it, slapped it, and shot magic at it. The Rainbow of Darkness grew angrier, and it started to glow, until glowed- *ZAP*
"AHH!"
It zapped Cozy with a swift but deadly bolt of energy. The force sent her flying back many meters. She mustered her strength to try to stand up and could see Tirek charging something sinister.
*gasp* Cozy gasped, at the horrific sight in front of her.
Tirek put his hands to the Rainbow of Darkness, and opened it wide. The shadow energy started to seep out, and the shadow creatures swarmed out. In front of him gathered many dozen of shadow creatures. Maybe a hundred!
Cozy was absolutely frightened at what she was up against.
"What are those!?" Luster asked.
"It's them. It's all the ponies from my village..." Cozy said. "They've been possessed... and it's all because I uncovered the Rainbow of Darkness..."
Cozy got choked up thinking about the harm she brought to her friends.
"Well now's not the time to feel sorry!" Luster's voice exclaimed.
*sniff* "You're right! I have to help them!" Cozy said to herself.
Cozy charged her horn, and created a mighty burst of energy. She fired the blast of magic, at the army-
*ZAP* *BOOM*
The spell created a massive burst of energy. But when the dust cleared, it revealed that all the creatures were completely unscathed!
"What the!?" she exclaimed.
The darkness chuckled at her feeble attempt.
"You shall be the first to witness the true power of the true power of the Rainbow of Darkness!" exclaimed Grogar.
Tirek lifted his arm, and pointed a single finger at Cozy, ordering his army of possessed shadow creatures to attack Twilight's student.
The creatures immediately scattered and swarmed the scene.
Cozy looked around, panicked, not sure where to start.
Dark Magnolia was the first to rush Cozy. She flew in fast, but Cozy was just about able to block her. Cozy recognized this creature to be a twisted version of her childhood friend, Magnolia!
"Maggie, is that you?" Cozy asked the creature.
The shadow beast didn't reply, only stared into her soul with menacing eyes, and a vicious look.
"I take it you can't hear me either? Fine!" she said.
Cozy charged her horn for an attack.
"You'll thank me for this later! Eat magic! Dark bitch!" she exclaimed.
Cozy went in for another magic fist.
*BAM*
Her hoof's momentum was halted in an instant by Dark Magnolia's strength.
"What the?" she cried.
Dark Magnolia stopped Cozy's super magic fist dead in its tracks with her own hooves. Dark Magnolia grabbed Cozy's leg, and flung her over. Her eyes glowed a eerie yellow, and the area above her head glowed, signifying a powerful spell she was charging.
*ZAP* *BLAST*
"AAAHHH!" Cozy cried.
Dark Maggie zapped Cozy with a spell, and sent her falling and skidding onto the ground.
Just as Cozy was finding her bearings, a dark fabric wrapped around Cozy Glow. It constricted her, and immobilized her in place.
"I"m stuck! AHHH!" she cried.
Cozy looked up, and saw the fabric was being controlled by-
"Suri?" Cozy asked.
It was Shadow Polomare, weaving a magic fabric around Cozy. With Cozy stuck, next, Shadow Sludge flew up, and charged his evil breath. He was going to torch her while she was constricted.
"Uh oh-"
*POOF*
In a puff of magic, Cozy barely managed to escape before the wave of fire scorched the area she was just in.
She reappeared, and even more creatures locked their sights on her. In an evasive effort, Cozy flapped her wings and flew at incredible speeds, but the shadow beasts were fast too. Not just in speed, but more frighteningly, in reaction time.
While flying through the area, she just happened to bump into Shadow Flim and Flim. The two had been transformed into heartless creatures who built machines to cause evil and destruction (so really, not much changed about them). For their latest invention, the shadowy pair piloted a freaking tank.
"What the? How'd you guys assemble this?" Cozy exclaimed.
They did not reply, as their minds were possessed. The tank clumsily aimed its sights at the alicorn.
"Uh oh..."
*fire*
They fired a homing missile at Cozy. She flew in a figure eight pattern to try to lose the missile.
*BOOM*
The thing exploded in the air, with the shockwave effectively harming no creature. Despite the evilness of Flim and Flam's tank, it needed a hefty cool down time. Though Cozy was in the clear of the explosion, there were plenty more creatures with their sights on her.
She encountered mythological beasts as part of the fray. Tirek and Grogar had recruited creatures of Tartarus as part of their dark legion. The evil Manticore reeled back its scorpion like tail, and-
It swung, and nearly impaled Luster's body.
"WOAH! That was close." Cozy sighed with relief.
Cozy bucked Luster's hind legs, and *smacked* the Dark Manticore in the face, actually knocking it back a good distance.
Next, the Dark Bugbear flew in, and attempted to stab Cozy with its large stinger. She bobbed and weaved around the scene, avoiding the sharp end. Cozy flew around, and twisted the neck of the Bugbear.
"You're not so tough, BB." Cozy said.
And then there was Cerberus. Once guardian of Tartarus, now enslaved by creature of Tartarus, Tirek. came in and looked hungry. It chased Cozy around.
"AH! Stay away! Stay! AH!-
*CHOMP*
Cerberus chomped their jaws and one of the mouths ate Luster. However, Cozy lifted Cerberus' jaws open, and freed herself.
"I'm okay!" Cozy exclaimed.
Cozy escaped, and flew around some more. She made a u-turn in the air, with more magic charged.
"We've barely made a dent on these guys!" Luster's voice exclaimed.
"We're getting somewhere though! Brute force has got to work eventually! Right?!" Cozy said, reassuringly.
"I don't know! These guys are tough!" Luster said.
Cozy was completely overwhelmed by Grogar's army of darkness. Each and every one of these creatures were out for blood.
The most menacing creatures of all, were the four mysterious flying shadow creatures, who zipped and flew around at near the speed of sound! Cozy had a sneaking suspicion those four were the Washouts, Rolling Thunder, Short Fuse, Lightning Dust, and their new coach, Wind Rider. All possessed by the darkness' influence, and turned into literal speed demons. Those Washadows were fast!
The Washouts flew in formation, and chased down Cozy Glow. Cozy flew across the ground, evading their evil stunts. She tried to keep her aerodynamic steady, but Shadow Polomare's dark fabric appeared, and whipped Cozy, slightly knocking her off course.
With Cozy thrown off balance, the Washadows made their next move. Together, they each twirled in the air like a fast drill. They broke formation and split up. One by one, each of them flew in and aimed directly at Cozy like missiles. Short Fuse came fast, and now he really lived up to his name.
"Look out!"
"AH!"
*BOOM*
Cozy nearly weaved to the side and dodged Short Fuse. Cozy flew forward faster and faster as to avoid the Washadows. Rolling Thunder was next, and she impacted just behind, crashing like a meteor, but also missing. Lightning Dust, however, made her mark.
"AAH!"
Cozy hastily put up a magic shield to try to stop the incoming attack.
*BAM*
Lightning collided with Cozy's magic shield with immense power and force. Though she didn't crack the shield, the force knocked Cozy back. The impact left Cozy in a bad situation. She was barely okay. She shielded the impact just fine, but she was already completely exhausted.
"Boy, Lusty. Did you forget to eat this morning? You're already running low on energy..." Cozy said.
Cozy looked all around her, and was sad to see all her friends turned into shadow monsters. She wanted to awaken the Rainbow of Darkness, but she never could have imaged it would have turned all her friends against her.
"What have I done?" Cozy cried. "My friends are trying to kill me..." she wept.
"We need a different kind of magic to get us out of this." Luster said.
"Yeah well, not every problem can be solved by declaring friendship, and shooting magic rainbows! That's not gonna work this time!"
Cozy looked up, and saw the four speed demons all flying together in the air. They flew in a coordinated zigzag pattern. They flew together in a tightly packed formation, and were aimed right at Cozy.
"Oh dear me..." Cozy said, exhausted.
Cozy put up the thickest magic shield you'll see, and she braced for impact.
*BOOM*
The impact created a massive shadow rainboom, which emanated a powerful shock wave. The sheer force of the impact knocked Cozy to the ground, and tumbling through the earth. Her momentum came to a halt when her head bumped against some big hooves. She looked up, and saw Tirek directly overhead.
"Tirek?" Cozy asked.
Tirek reached down, and grabbed Luster.
"No no no. Tirek, please!"
Tirek clenched Luster's body in his fist.
"I-can't-breath!" Cozy pleaded.
"You killed Cozy Glow!" Tirek exclaimed. "You left her body to rot in Tartarus!"
"I didn't mean for things to turn out this way!" Cozy cried. "This is all just a big misunderstanding, with a mix of unfortunate events!"
Tirek clenched Cozy's old body tight in his fist. Cozy's old body started to melt away.
"She's gone..." Tirek said.
"I'm sorry you had to see your best friend wither away like that..." Cozy cried.
Tirek's horns lit up, and as a ball of fire charged in between them.
"SHE'S GONE!"
Tirek flung Luster's body as hard as he could! She flew through the air faster than sound.
*BAM* She landed against a mountain.
Tirek charged his mighty horns for one final attack.
*zzzt* *ZAP*
The blast of magic flew through the air until-
*BOOM*
The entire mountain exploded in a fiery fashion. Debris and fire rained from the sky. Was this the end for Cozy and Luster?
"Good riddance." Tirek said.
"That has to have finished off now. No creature could survive such an impact. Now, Tirek, it is time we lay waste to the rest of Equestria." Grogar commanded.
"Wait..."
Once again, there was sign of life. The mountain side was still glowing.
"Hmph. Not again." Grogar growled. "Finish them off for good."
Tirek approached the area to see the aftermath of the impact. In spite of the devastating impact, there was indeed something glowing in the impact sight. He could see the silhouette of Luster Dawn in the dust. She levitated upward, surrounded by a magic bubble. Tirek was ready to pounce, but something was off.
Luster's eyes were closed, and her body didn't move. Even in the magic bubble, Tirek noticed she was once again a little unicorn. She had been drained of her magic Luster Dawn's body floated away.
*poof*
Luster Dawn disappeared.
"Did we win?" Grogar asked.
"She reverted to her unicorn state. Where did the rest of her magic go?" Tirek asked.
"It must have vanished when we killed her." Grogar said.
"Magic doesn't just disappear, it has to have gone somewhere else." Tirek said.
Just below her though, in the actual impact sight, something was still glowing.
*ring*
"My bell?" Grogar asked.
The bewtiching bell was here, and it was glowing, an emanating a powerful magic.
"There's the magic."
But the magic was no longer ordinary.
*shine*
The bell glowed with the intensity of a thousand suns. Blinding the dark creatures and halting them in their tracks.
Deep within the glow, a silhouette began to take shape. It was the silhouette of a little alicorn with a curly mane.
"Cozy Glow?"