Unaware of what their friends were currently dealing with, Theresa & Atlanta were still attempting to free themselves. While Therese struggled with her bonds, she noticed Atlanta seemed to be making some progress.
After a few minutes, Atlanta pulled her hands free of the ropes, then worked on undoing the knot around the ropes around her arms. Once that fell free, she untied her ankles before yanking off her gag.
"Hold on Theresa, I'll have you free in a minute," she said, as she worked on untying her fellow captive.
"Come on, we need to get out of here and warn the others," Atlanta said, but Theresa stopped her "hey, what gives?"
"Think about it; if we try to escape now, we might be recaptured, and then we're no good to anyone."
"So what, you just want us to stay here and let our friends fall into a trap?" Atlanta asked angrily "no way am I gonna let that happen."
"Just calm down," Theresa told her "Cronus doesn't know that we got free, and that gives us the element of surprise."
"Okay, so what do you suggest?"
"First, see if you can find where they put our weapons, then race back here," Theresa explained "but you might not like the next part."
Meanwhile, back at in the lair, Cronus & Chrysalis were gloating over their success.
"Things didn't go the way you expected, eh Twilight?" Chrysalis said.
"It's not over yet," Twilight said defiantly "you haven't won!"
"That's where you're wrong; once Cronus deals with his enemies, I shall rid myself of you and your pony pals once and for all. I did notice that two of you are missing, but no matter, I will deal with them in time."
"Why don't you come over here and say that?!" Rainbow said angrily, struggling in the grip of one of Cronus's giants.
"Well, enough standing around, I have enemies to destroy," Cronus said, then turned to two more giants "go and retrieve the prisoners, I'm sure they want a front row seat for this."
"Weakened or not, I'm not going to let you get away with this," Jay said, his sword at the ready "you'll have to fight me."
"That's what I was planning on," Cronus explained "although in your weakened state, it won't be much of a challenge. Oh well; I never really liked challenges much, anyway. Keep them from interfering," he ordered the assorted villains.
Dr. Octopus, Hater, Tiger Claw, Bebop & Rocksteady closed in on the other Titans.
"Um, if anyone has a plan, now would be a great time to mention it," Neil said.
"Relax, I handled these goons before and I can do it again" Herry said confidently, before two of Doc Ock's tentacles shot out and grabbed his arms, then lifted him into the air.
"Okay, now what?" Neil asked.
Moments later, the giants returned, shoving the bound & gagged Theresa & Atlanta.
"Ah good, my guests have arrived," Cronus said "now the fun can really begin."
Generating one of his scythes, Cronus approached Jay.
The young hero managed to block every attempted blow, but he knew that he couldn't hold out much longer. Finally, one swing missed, allowing Cronus to knock the sword from his hand, then place the tip of his scythe mere inches from his throat.
"Oh, how I've waited for this," he said.
Observing the whole affair, Theresa turned her head towards Atlanta and gave a nod. The girl nodded in response and both quickly slipped their hands out of their bonds, which they had loosely retied in order to give the impression they were still prisoners.
Theresa then flipped upwards, kicking the giant behind her in the jaw, then taking out her nunchucks, which Atlanta had managed to retrieve, hit the giant in the head, knocking him out.
That was enough for Cronus to turn his attention away from Jay "what?"
"Looks like you're not the only one who's good at tricking people," Theresa commented after removing her gag.
"No matter, I still have the upper hand," Cronus said "destroy all of them!"
"Um Twilight, now might be a good time to, oh I don't know, use your magic!" Rainbow yelled.
"Not yet."
"What do you mean 'not yet?'" Rainbow asked "when are you planning to, after Chrysalis blasts you?"
"Your rainbow friend is right, why aren't you even trying to escape?" Chrysalis asked, somewhat confused
"As was said earlier, you villains aren't the only ones who can deceive people," Twilight told her "we were just pretending to be helpless to lure you into a false sense of security. But we have a surprise of our own, right about…now!"
However, nothing happened.
"Um, now!" Twilight said, sounding slightly nervous "now! Okay, quit fooling around guys, you can come in now."
Chrysalis laughed evilly "a good trick Twilight, but a futile one," she said, charging up the magic in her horn "now I'll see to it that you will no longer bother me again!"
The other ponies watched as the evil queen prepared to strike, but then, a blast of something appeared over her eyes.
"Ahh! What trickery is this!" she shouted.
"Not trickery, webbing, courtesy of your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man," Spidey said, as he swung into the room.
"You two sure took your time getting here," Twilight said.
"Sorry, but Ben and I had a hard time finding the place," Spidey explained "not all of us have magic tracking spells."
"Better late than never, I suppose," Twilight said, and fired a magic blast at the giant holding her, freeing herself; she then flew around the cave, firing blasts at the other giants and freeing her friends.
"Cronus, do something!" Chrysalis yelled.
"Don't just stand there you fools, get them!" Cronus ordered his giants.
"Giants huh? Then I'll need a giant alien to deal with them, namely Humongosaur," Ben said, before transforming into Crashhopper "aw man, stupid Omnitrix! Oh well, I guess this will do," he said, and used his advanced jumping skills to jump on the back of one giant, sending him to the floor.
"Can't catch me," Crashopper said, as two more giant ran at him, but he jumped aside and they collided.
Meanwhile, the rest of the villains were faring equally as bad. Herry had managed to use his strength to throw aside Doctor Octopus, while Spider-Man was swinging around to avoid Rocksteady.
"Quit swinging and face me directly," the Russian rhino demanded.
"You got it, horn head," Spidey said, and landed on the ground, only for the rhino to charge him.
"Question, how do you stop a rhino from charging? Take away his credit card," Spidey said "or, you can trip him up," he added, shooting a web line, then pulling it taut, causing the rhino to trip and slide across the floor.
"You may have handled him, but your fancy web moves ain't gonna deal with me," Bebop said.
"Yeah, but I am!" Rainbow said, and the mutant warthog only turned around for a minute before a blue blur slammed into him. Rainbow then zoomed around and slammed into him several more times, before finally, he could take no more.
"Good job," Spidey said.
"Hey, I've been looking forward to kicking some flank since we got here," Rainbow admitted.
In the confusion of battle, the two Titan girls had managed to reunite with their friends and were checking on them.
"Are you the real Atlanta, or another imposter?" Archie asked, resulting in the spiky haired girl punching him in the arm "ow! Guess that answers my question."
"Yeah, but just in case you have any doubts," Atlanta added, before kissing him.
"Oh yeah, that's definitely you," Archie said "you kiss way better than that thing disguised as you, ow!" he said, as Atlanta punched his arm again.
"You okay?" Theresa asked Jay.
"I don't know; that Changeling thing took a lot out of me, literally."
"Well then, let me see if I can't help fix that," she said, and pulled Jay in for a kiss.
"Hmm, I'd say that did it," Jay replied, after they broke.
"Too bad it will be the last thing you ever do," Cronus said, and both teens noticed he was right nearby, scythe raised and ready to strike.
Before he could, however, something blasted the weapon from his hand. He turned, angrily to the source and saw Twilight, an angry and determined look on her face, her horn glowing with power.
"This is unacceptable! I will not be defeated by mere ponies!" Cronus yelled.
"Uh news flash pal, you just have been," Rainbow said.
Cronus retrieved his fallen scythe and rushed the ponies, but Twilight easily blasted it from his hands with magic. Rainbow then kicked him several times in midair.
"You fiendish ruffian, take this!" Rarity said, laying a few of her own kicks on him.
Before he knew what happened, Cronus was on the ground, holding his stomach, with Twilight using her magic to trap him in a bubble. Cronus pounded angrily on the bubble as the kids approached, happy to finally have their foe captured.
"We so have to learn how to do that," Odie said.
"It's all over Cronus, you're taking a one-way trip back to Tartarus," Jay told him.
Cronus instead said nothing, but grinned at them.
"He sure is happy for someone who's gonna be locked up for the rest of his immortal life," Herry noted.
"Yeah, there's no anger, no threats, anything," Jay said "it seems almost too easy."
"Oh, quit being so negative," Neil replied "we got Cronus and there's no way he can escape. What could possibly happen?"
The teens then watched as Cronus appeared to change before their eyes, the form of the evil god replaced with that of a misshapen, black insect-like being.
"You had to say it, didn't you?" an angry Archie asked Neil.
"A Changeling? Then what happened to the real one?" Twilight asked.
Suddenly, Cronus's evil laughter broke out through the base, and everyone saw the villain and Chrysalis on the other side, standing before a large black portal.
"Sorry to disappoint you, but I know the best time to cut and run," Cronus said "until next time; oh, and I underestimated you ponies, a mistake I assure you I will not make again."
"Farewell Twilight," Chrysalis said "next time we meet, you will not be so lucky!"
"Oh no you don't!" Jay said, and the teens and ponies rushed him, but he used his powers to conjure up a thick fog.
Twilight used her horn to create a light in the fog,, but it soon dissipated, and none of the villains were left, save for the Changeling still stuck in the magic orb.
"I hate it when he does that," Odie said.
Twilight undid her magic orb, and the Changeling flapped it's wings to keep afloat.
"Get out of here, go back to your queen," Twilight ordered him and the Changeling said nothing and flew off.
"What are you doing? Let's follow him and get those guys!" Rainbow exclaimed.
"That portal of Cronus's could open up anywhere, they could be halfway around the world for all we know," Jay explained
"Besides, we stopped their scheme," Twilight told her pony friend "that's what counts most."
"Well, I guess that wraps things up," Pinkie said "who wants cake?"
Later, the heroes went back to Olympus High to wrap up their adventure
"This day certainly didn't end up the way I expected," Twilight said "I came here to foil an evil scheme, and I ended up learning something new about my homeland, and meeting a group of great new friends. It's just too bad we weren't able to stop Chrysalis from recruiting Cronus to her cause."
"If Cronus is helping her, then we'll help you," Jay said "our mission is to stop him, and if he's got allies, I can't think of anyone else I'd rather have helping us do so."
"Then it looks like we'll be spending more time with each other," Twilight said happily
"Oh, how wonderful, that will give me the chance to make more outfits for dear Neil," Rarity added, then used her magic to bring in a shirt on a mannequin "ta-da! Beautiful, is it not? Admittedly, it's not what I'm used to making, but a good seamstress can learn to overcome her limitations."
"It's very lovely," Twilight said.
"Yeah, if you're a human I guess," Rainbow said, "anyway, now that all of that is settled, I believe there's the matter of a little race; unless you're not the real Atlanta."
"Oh, I am, and you're gonna lose!"
"Ha, you wish!"
A few minutes later, the two took their positions on the running track inside the school.
"Okay; on your marks, get set, go!" Twilight yelled, levitating a stopwatch before her.
Both girls zoomed around the track, as quickly as they could, with each one gaining but never seeming to pass the other. As Rainbow increased her speed, so did Atlanta, and so it went.
"Wow, Dashie's going faster than normal," Pinkie observed.
"Yeah, but Atlanta hasn't lost a step," Odie added "this is anyone's race."
It came down to the last lap, and both girls gave it everything they had, but ultimately, Rainbow managed to make it across first.
"The winner, Rainbow Dash!" Twilight said happily.
"Oh yeah, I did it!" Rainbow said happily "I won!" she added, before turning to Atlanta. "Hey, great race out there; you really pushed me to my limits. If I had lost, it would've been an honor to lose to someone like you."
"Thanks," Atlanta said "remember that for next time when I beat you."
"What next time?"
"I totally want a rematch, and next time, you'll be the one losing."
"Why do you deserve a rematch?"
"Um, hello, you've got wings and I don't," Atlanta noted.
"So? You think I couldn't beat you on foot?" Rainbow asked "cause I'm fast on land, and in the air!"
"Please, I could so beat you on the ground," Atlanta told her.
"Could not!"
"Could too."
"No way!"
"Um, yes way!"
The rest of their friends just groaned as the two argued over what happened.
Next time:
Deciding to rely on outside help for their latest scheme, the members of H.A.T.E opt to obtain services of the self-proclaimed "ghost with the most." To that end, they abduct Lydia Deetz to use as a bargaining chip to force Beetlejuice to use his powers on their enemies. Thus, when a series of bizarre incidents plague her teammates, Twilight Sparkle and several of them decide to investigate, and their probe will take them to a mysterious place known as "the Neitherworld." It'll be fright, hilarity, and some peril in "Twilight in Neitherland."