Chapter 8: The Day Equestria Stood Still
The Serpentine Generals returned to the City of Ouroboros where all the Serpentine chanted Skales as they praised him as their one true king, for he had ended the false reign of Garmadon and his Legion of Doom. Acidicus, Fangtom and Skalidor then approached him, Fangtom gave him his staff, Acidicus gave him a crown and armor to symbolize his place as leader and Skalidor gave him...a box?
Skales looked at the sheepish Skalidor before he knocked the box out of his hand. "Idiot!" he said before waving to his new subjects, thanking them before whispering to the other Generals to join with the crowd. He then turned back to thanking the crowd for their praise before he made his speech. "Hypnobrai, Venomari, Conssstrictai, and Fangpyre! Hear me! The troubled reign of that duplicitousss pony Garmadon and hisss group of has-beensss..."
"You're it," a Hypnobrai woman tagged a Venomari, not paying attention to Skales's speech.
"No, you're it," he tagged back.
"...isss finally at an end. And with that madcreature of an Anacondrai, Pythor, no longer misssleading usss all." Skales continued his speech, "at lassst, our time hasss come."
"Hahaha, no you!" the Hypnobrai Woman laughed as she slaps the Venomari on the back of his head.
"We SSSerpentine mussst now unite in a common dessstiny: to sssecure our place as rulersss of Equestria and the landsss beyond, and not let thossse other insssufferable sssurface-dwellersss win," Skales declared as he smirked. "Ssso as my first order, I sssay we burrow beneath all their beloved citiesss, ssstarting with Equessstria City, to bury them ass they once buried usss!"
The Serpentine cheered at the idea as in the crowd a female magenta Hypnobrai swooned at the sight of Skales.
"Fellow SSSerpentine, it'sss time we knock Equessstria City back down to sssize!"
Meanwhile in Dareth's dojo, Lloyd was blindfolded as the Ninja had their weapons out and surrounded him. "Don't rely on your eyes," Flash told him. "Use your ears." Lloyd took a defensive stance as the Ninja were prepared to strike before Dareth walked in.
"Uh, guys, I'm teaching a class later, so I appreciate a clean dojo," he told them before they began sparring. The Ninja all swung their weapons at Lloyd but he jumped and kicked away Frost's shurikens and knocking Thunder off balance. He then caught Landrush's scythe and then grabbed Flash's bo and used it to block Trail's sword and flick away Gaia's sais. Lloyd then used the scythe to spin around and kick each of them back. He even kicked Landrush right at Dareth before he rushed back in.
Lloyd heard him coming and quickly jumped out of the way as he crashed into his scythe before dodging Thunder's nunchucks and Trail's sword. He then twisted and redirected Flash towards Dareth's fake trophy shelf, "Ah! No! No-no-no-no!" Dareth yelled as he frantically fixed his shelf while Lloyd continued to kick away the other Ninja and even kicked Gaia towards the window, which she almost crashed through if Dareth had not opened the window, and sent her flying outside before he closed it again, without letting her back inside.
As the other Ninja picked themselves up Lloyd then used his elemental fire powers as white fire appeared his hooves and some sparks landed on the floor. Dareth yelped and quickly stomped out the fire with his hooves and then sighed in exhaustion.
"Hey, open the window!" Gaia shouted from outside as she banged on the window. "Let me in!" Meanwhile back on the Bounty, Wu was looking out at the city before he took off his hat and pulled out a very old photo of himself as a teenager colt, along with his brother with very grayish black coat and red eyes (an early sign of his change to evil), a young Celestia and Luna, the former with her pink mane and the latter with her light-blue and much shorter mane, and a brown-maned young Misako.
Wu sighed sadly, remembering how simple and good everything was back then, desperately missing the old days. He was so busy reminiscing that he did not notice Star Swirl, Misako and the Royal Sisters were behind him. "I'd forgotten how grey Garmadon's coat was before his change to evil was complete," Misako spoke up, making Wu jump before he quickly put the photo away and his hat back on.
Wu cleared his throat and turned to her. "Misako, once again you slip through my defenses," he remarked, trying to play it cool.
"We just walked in," Celestia told him. "You just didn't hear us come in."
"You'll have to forgive us, we didn't mean to pry," Star Swirl said as he showed Wu some scrolls. "Misako and I had just finished bringing our research on the prophecy of the Light Ninja."
"I thought maybe we could go over it together," Misako offered as Star Swirl used his magic to lay them front of Wu.
"Hmm, my…" Wu remarked as he saw the amount of research. "There's so much. It will take days." He picked up on of the scrolls before the photo in his hat slipped out and he put it back up.
"I should have chosen you to look after Lloyd," Misako said as Wu was looking at the scroll.
"The past is the past," Wu reminded her.
Luna smiled and approached him. "Yes, but there's always the future."
"And that has yet to be written," Star Swirl added as Wu smiled. Suddenly, the tender moment was interrupted by a tremor. "The land trembles, I fear from unnatural causes." Star Swirl said as the five joined the Ninja, the Mane Six, Spike, Starlight, Trixie, Sunburst, and the Young Six down in the dojo.
"ETV reporter Gayle Gossip on the scene of what appears to be earthquakes rocking all of Equestria." On a television, the reporter, a bright pink, crimson-maned unicorn mare, was holding a microphone while standing near a park. "But it's an earthquake like no other, as scientists have yet to pinpoint the cause. And more frightening still, the aftershocks are getting stronger."
"What do you think this could be?" Rarity asked.
"Wouldn't be surprised if it was Garmadon and his crew of cruelty," Trail frowned.
"Probably. We haven't seen them since we traveled to the past," Gaia added.
"Garmadon would never," Misako defended her husband. "Lloyd's father is evil, but he would never do anything to put his son in harm's way or allow anycreature else to do so."
Wu nodded. "Misako's right. He only tried to thwart his training." He then stroked his beard. "This is something else."
"But what is it?" Thunder asked.
Frost quickly whistled and his falcon landed on his foreleg. "My friend, be my eyes and look for danger in the streets from above," the Ice Ninja told his falcon as he opened the window and the robotic bird took flight to patrol the city.
"In the meantime, we should probably help the creatures caught in these quakes," Twilight said as they all nodded and rushed out into the streets.
Unbeknownst to any of them, the cause was not happening above ground, but beneath them. The Serpentine were executing the plan Skales came up with as a few Constrictai were drilling underground. "Drill, baby, drill!" Skales shouted as they continue further underground. But then a drop of green Devourer's venom fell on his arm. "Uegh, disssgusssting!" he repulsed, shaking his arm, "The Devourer'sss infernal venom has ssseeped everywhere!"
Skales then bumped into a Constrictai. "Why are we ssstopping?!" he demanded.
The Constrictai bowed and gestured behind her. "Forgive me, your Highnessss, but we've hit sssomething that we can't dig through!" she said.
"Impossssible!" Skales said as he slithered forward, "There isss no such thing!" He was proven wrong as in front of him was a giant stone wall covered in strange markings and a stranger language.
"It'sss ancient," Acidicus said as he studied the wall drawings. "Perhapsss older than the SSSerpentine themssselevesss."
Meanwhile on the Dark Island, Garmadon and his Legion of Doom were climbing up a cliff as instructed by the Overlord. "So, let me get this straight," the Storm King grunted as he lifted himself up. "This 'Overlord' thingy's been around since the creation of Equestria and fought Garm's daddy a long ago?"
"Indeed," Tirek said as he panted. "And apparently, is now making us climb all this way, without even telling us why."
"This is madness!" Garmadon roared. "You test me?! Lord Garmadon?! Equestria's rightful ruler?!"
"What's exactly on top of this heap of rock anyway that you forbade us to fly up there?!" Chrysalis shouted at the Overlord.
"Patience" The Overlord told them. "All will make sense in time. For now, follow my instructions."
"To what end?" Sombra asked, "What is so important at the top of this cliff?!"
"The key to the greatest army ever seen," The Overlord answered, "And the means, to the greatest weapon ever known."
"What good will these things do for us, marooned on this uninhabited island?" Nightmare Moon asked him.
"And how will we even return to Equestria?!" Tirek added.
"My master plan has been in the works since the beginning of time." The Overlord told them as he flew by them."Every piece moves in perfect harmony like the gears of a clock, slowly shifting the balance of power back to darkness. Every piece, that is, but the six of you."
Garmadon growled as scrapped the ground. "Alright then!" He jumped off the cliff and just barely grabbing on to the edge.
"Are we really doing this?!" The Storm King asked the others before they followed Garmadon's lead. "Ugh… I guess we're really doing this." He then joined them in climbing the cliff to the top.
Meanwhile back in Equestria City, many creatures were running as the earthquakes were getting worse and debris from the taller buildings were dropping down onto the streets.
One dog was barking at her owner, who was across the street. "Oh, Snickers! Stay there, Mommy's coming!" The mare shouted as she ran to her dog, only to get caught in the middle of a crevasse. Her dog barked to help her but the mare waved her off, "Oh, stay where you are! Help! Help ME!"
As if on cue, the Ninja and the Mane Six arrived. "Ninja and Council to the rescue!" Lloyd declared before he jumped, before the rest followed Lloyd, each pony grabbing the prior one's hind legs, leaving Applejack and Landrush holding the living pony chain steady.
"A few more inches, guys!" Lloyd grunted as he could barely reach the mare at the bottom. Both Applejack and Landrush were holding on as best as they could while the dog was barking at them.
"We appreciate the support, doggy," Landrush told the dog before Lloyd grabbed the mare's front hooves. But then the ground under began to crack and broke off as the dog jumped off and the Ninja almost fell.
Landrush and Applejack jumped back on to more stable ground. "Whoa Nelly! Maybe we shoulda thought this plan through a bit more," Applejack grunted as she pulled and the dog barked again.
"No more help, please!" Landrush groaned as the two managed to pull the rest of them out with all their might.
"Oh, thank you!" the mare told them as she reunited with her dog.
"No sweat," Lloyd told her as Applejack and Landrush panted.
"Speak for yourself. We did all the heavy lifting." Landrush complained.
"These things keep coming with no warning!" Trail groaned as Wu, Misako, the Royal Sisters, and Star Swirl ran up to them.
"That's it. A warning," Misako said as she, Star Swirl, Wu, and the Royal Sisters rushed over to them before she unraveled a scroll. "The scrolls said the earthquakes would be a warning." The scroll showed them a picture of many creatures of Equestria running in fear as the ground beneath them was split open while claws of shadow rose out from the fissures. "A warning for something far worse to come."
"Far worse?!" Thunder repeated. "What could be far worse?!"
"Wait! Misako, Star Swirl, the indestructible Samu-Taur Warrior we fought the other day," Twilight remembered, getting a bad feeling what that 'far worse' was. "Where did you find it?"
"It was buried underneath the museum," Star Swirl answered, seeing what the princess was thinking.
"You don't think there's more underneath Equestria, do you?" Rarity asked in a worried tone.
"I hope not! We couldn't even hurt one of them!" Gaia remarked.
"Be on guard, everypony," Wu told them. "We must be ready for whatever comes our way."
Meanwhile underground beneath the city, the Serpentine were stuck in one place as they cannot drill through the wall in front of them while covering their heads from the venom dripping from above. This made Skales really frustrated. "I will not accept defeat! Thisss wall mussst be dessstroyed if we are to bring down Equessstria City. Call for every SSSerpentine and-" Skales ranted before he saw a certain scrawling on the wall. It strangely looked like a Hypnobrai with a familiar crown on its head. "What'sss thisss?"
"It looksss like you, SSSkalesss," Skalidor noted.
Skales however frowned, "That's impossssible." He tried to get a better look, only to be obscured by a magenta Hypnobrai. He frowned and grabbed her shoulder. "Get out of the way, imbec-" His words died in his throat as the Hypnobrai turned to him and he was starstruck by her.
"I'm ssso sssorry, my king," the magenta Hypnobrai said with a bow. "I didn't mean to get in your way."
Skales then cleared his throat and held his head up with dignity, "Uh, think nothing of it, my dear, but if you would be ssso kind asss to move away?" he requested.
"Of course, sssire," the Hypnobrai smiled as she bowed again and moved aside for him.
Skales looked at her before turning back to the wall and feeling it. He then touched a button, causing the door to raise itself open and revealing a hidden chamber. "Ssspooky," Skales commented as he and the Serpentine walked in. Seeing a lever and pulling it, it turned on hidden lights in the chamber, "Ssspooky."
The room revealed to contains rows upon rows of countless Samu-Taur Warrior statues covered in dust. The Serpentine spread out and studied the statues. They could tell by the way they were carved that some of them were male while the others were female.
"Look at me, I'm a ssstiff," a Venomari joked as he stood at attention and acted like one of the stone statues.
"Ssso ssstiff!" a Hypnobrai woman said before the two laughed together.
But what they did not realize was that the venom of the Devourer had oozed into the chamber and started dripping down on to the statues. Their eyes glowed green as row by row the Stone Army was reanimated, turning from stone to flesh as the drew their weapons at the intruders.
"What?! It'sss a trap!" Skales shouted in alarm before he pointed his staff at them. "Attack!"
His army charged at the warriors. As some of the Serpentine clashed weapons with the warriors, they saw their weapons getting broken in half. Their arms did no damage on them.
"They're indessstructible!" a Fangpyre called out as other Serpentine tried to use their powers on them, but they also had no effect on these warriors at all. They were immune to the Hypnobrai's hypnotic gaze, the Fangpyre could not bite through their armor, the Venomari's venom slid off their shields and weapons, and the warriors were able to pry the Constrictai coils off them.
"Our powersss are uselessss againsssst them!" Acidicus noted to Skales. "Do we retreat?!"
"No retreat!" Skales shouted as a few of the warriors surrounded him. "We're SSSerpentine, we fight!" He spun around and knocked down the warriors surrounding him with his tail. The Serpentine then did all that they could to fight back against the Samu-Taur Warriors, but the Samu-Taur Warriors managed to overpower them and marched their way towards the exit.
Skales sat up and saw as the Samu-Taur Army marched out the entrance was closing. "We'll be trapped underground again!" He warned as he slithered as fast as he could to the exit. "No! Thisss can't be true!" Try as he might Skales couldn't reach the exit before it sealed shut, trapping the Serpentine once again, "NNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOO!" he screamed as he cried and banged on the door, before he coughed from the extended scream, only to continue after briefly catching his breath.
The Serpentine watched as their leader futilely banged on the door while crying. Skales was overcome by shame; he had failed! Just like Pythor before him, he had led the Serpentine to ruin and worse, right back to where they started.
As the magenta Hypnobrai watched her leader crumble to pieces, she walked over to him. "My king, it will be all right," she told him.
"No, it won't be!" Skales shouted as he punched the ground. "All that effort on getting revenge on thossse who trapped usss underground, hasss only to led usss to end up right back where we sssstarted!" He then looked ashamed. "I wasss a fool to think I could a greater leader than Pythor!"
"Ssskalesss, my old friend, do not dare sssay sssuch a thing!" Fangtom told him as he and the other Generals approached and Skales turned to them in confusion. "You are ten timesss the leader Pythor wasss!"
"You were the one who wanted usss to rule asss brothersss and sssistersss…" Acidicus added. "You were the one who got rid of Garmadon and hisss Legion of Doom."
"If anything, you're our true leader! All Pythor cared about wasss himssself, when you put all our needsss firssst!" Skalidor told him as the rest of the Serpentine cheered in agreement.
Skales looked at his people in shock. Even after leading them to be trapped again, they still believed in him. The magenta Hypnobrai then held his shoulder and smiled. "A true leader leadsss by example, my King, and perhapsss the example you should ssset isss one of peace and friendship, jussst asss Princesss Twilight doesss for her sssubjectsss," she suggested.
"She is correct, my king," an elderly voice remarked, coming from deep within the chamber. Soon four figures slithered out of the shadows and the four of them looked like Serpentine Generals, only older and their staffs are a different color of metal. The female Hypnobrai Elder had a dark blue staff, the female Fangpyre Elder had a crimson red staff, the male Venomari Elder had a dark green staff, and the male Constrictai Elder had a dark orange staff. "There isss a greater threat on the horizon, and for usss to face it, we mussst abandon our warring waysss and move forward," the Hypnobrai Elder said.
"For as they sssay in Equessstria, 'The passst is the passst'," The Fangpyre Elder started.
"'…and the future is the future'," the Venomari Elder finished.
Skales listened to their words before nodding and turning to the magenta Hypnobrai, "What isss your name, ma'am?" he asked her.
She then bowed her head, "SSSelma," she answered.
Skales nodded and looked to his subjects. "Fellow SSSerpentine, though we are once again trapped here in the underground, we ssstill keep our ssspiritsss high, asss we build a new age of Harmony, here in our new home!" he declared as the Serpentine cheered before he took Selma's hand, "And SSSelma, thank you for helping me realize how to be a true leader. And for that, I hereby dub you the new Serpentine General of the Hypnobrai!"
He held out his staff as she looked at it in shock. After an encouraging smile from Skales she took the staff as a glow engulfed her body. Her legs then merged to form into a tail, she held up the staff as the Serpentine cheered for her.
"Thank you, my brothersss and sssistersss, I promise to help King SSSkalesss and my fellow Generalsss guide you to a greater future!" she promised before turning to the elders, specifically the Hypnobrai Elder. "Now Mamba, you sssaid there may be a greater threat for usss to face."
She nodded. "Yesss. Now gather round everyone, and lisssten to the Curssse of the Golden Massster," Mamba said as every Serpentine listened carefully.
Meanwhile above ground, a Samu-taur Warrior burst out of the ground in an alleyway as it roared of its freedom. Frost's falcon flew by and saw the Samu-taur Warrior destroy a fire hydrant and was sending the footage back to Frost himself.
"Sensei, it's just as we feared!" Frost told Wu. "Another Samu-Taur Warrior is loose on the streets."
The ground beneath them began to burst as another one was rising behind them and scared them.
"I think you mean two!" Pinkie said before more popped up. "Or three, four, five…six-Okay I'm lost! It's too many, right now!"
"No, no, no!" Flash shouted as more and more for rising out of the ground around them. Three of them turned a corner and saw the Ninja.
"No! We're under attack!" Wu shouted as they took a defensive position.
All throughout the city, the Samu-taur Warriors were terrorizing the city while the news reporter from earlier kept her broadcast going with her assistant.
"As this army of samurai centaurs sweeps over the city, no one is safe!" Gayle Gossip reported as some of the Samu-Taur Warriors were chasing down creatures down the street. "Mayhem and destruction are their only want." On the televisions, Gayle could be seen talking as another Samu-taur Warrior cuts out a glass shaped like itself, "Attempts at communication have failed, prohibiting even the desperate option of surrender! And we've just received reports of these monsters appearing in the major cities of non-pony kingdoms! This is no longer a threat to ponykind, but all creaturekind! The leaders of each nation have already called for a massive evacuation!"
In the Dragon Lands, many dragons were getting their young, both hatched and non, to safety as the Samu-taur Warriors were attacking. Some dragons were breathing fire at them but we're having no effect on them.
"Just use your fire to hold them back! Get the hatchlings to safety! We're leaving NOW!" Ember ordered her dragons. She knew that dragons hated running from a fight, but she knew the safety of her people was more important than pride.
"You heard Dragon Lord Ember! Move your tail!" Garble told the adult Dragons as they created a fire and blocked the Samu-Taur Warriors from advancing as they carried their young and eggs to safety.
In Griffonstone, many griffons were trying their best to fight back against their enemy that had just popped out of the ground. The Samu-taur Warriors were tearing through the streets, destroying homes, The Griffons were more occupied with saving their gold and riches than protecting each other.
Gilda saw this and growled. After knocking away a Warrior, she flew up to the air and screeched, getting everygriff's attention. "Hey, losers! We gotta focus on getting out of here!" she shouted. "Forget the gold! Our lives are more important than that!"
The griffons reluctantly complied, leaving their treasure to instead help anygriff who could fly to get away.
In Yakyakistan, even the yaks were having trouble against the Samu-taur Warriors as the creatures were proven stronger than the yaks. "Yaks not smash strange centaurs!" Prince Rutherford announced to his fellow yaks. "Yaks never run from fight, but this desperate time for all yaks! Yaks must leave home so yaks live to smash another day!" With that, the yaks gathered everything they could and ran for it.
In the Changeling Kingdom most of the warriors had changed into the most powerful creatures they could to fight the Samu-taur Warriors but nothing they did worked.
"Thorax! Our troops are being overrun by these things! I don't know how long we can hold out!" Pharynx told his brother.
"Then we don't have any other choice. We must abandon the hive!" Thorax reluctantly said.
"You want us to leave?! But-" Pharynx tried to argue but Thorax was firm.
"Pharynx, they may take the Hive, but I won't risk losing a single Changeling to these invaders!" He said, "Every Changeling gather anything of importance and follow me!"
"You heard the king. We're evacuating, NOW!" Pharynx shouted.
The Changelings complied and before long the Changeling Hive was conquered as well, though the former inhabitants managed to escape.
The hippogriffs were not faring better as well. They thought that with their flight skills, they had the advantage but the Samu-taur Warrior archers derailed those plans.
Queen Novo, realizing they were fighting a losing battle, knew what needed to be done. "Quickly, into the water!" she ordered before some hippogriffs were coming out.
"Your majesty, they are in the water, as well!" a soldier told the queen as more Samu-taur Warriors emerged from the water.
"Just because they can move in water, doesn't mean they can swim fast!" she said. "Everygriff into the water. We're retreating to safer waters!"
The hippogriffs, using their Pearl shard necklaces, turned back into seaponies, and swam as fast they could, joining their underwater residents, organized by Novo's sister Ocean Flow, in the retreats.
In the Crystal Empire, things were no better. Each time either Shining Armor or Cadence put a barrier shield, the Samu-taur Warriors easily smashed through it.
"Cadence, we're being overrun!" Shining told his wife. "We need to leave."
Cadence sighed, as she did not want to abandon their kingdom. But she knew they needed to run, "Everypony, to the train station! We're evacuating!" she announced to her subjects. The Crystal Empire was about to become abandoned.
Back in Equestria City, banks for being robbed, homes were being invaded, and creatures were running for their lives away from the Samu-Taur Warriors.
At Grand Sensei Dareth's Mojo Dojo, a Samu-taur Warrior walked into the dojo and cornered some of Dareth's pupils. "Run!" Dareth told his pupils as he popped up in front of the Samu-Taur Warrior. "You picked on the wrong dojo." He grabbed a sword from the weapon wall, swinging the sword at her before she quickly caught it and tossed it behind her.
"Is that all weak pony has?" she mocked Dareth.
Dareth however looked undeterred. "Okay, amateur hour is over," he said before striking the Samu-Taur Warrior with a scythe only to get punted towards his "trophy" shelf and then rolled out of the way of a punch. "Nice knowing ya!" he waved before running out.
"Get back here!" The Samu-Taur Warrior roared.
Dareth ran outside until he bumped into Gayle Gossip's camera stallion and the two fell.
"That's it, I'm out of here!" the camera stallion said as he quickly got up and ran away.
"Quitter!" Gayle Gossip shouted before she quickly turned to Dareth. "You. Wanna be my camera pony?"
Dareth fiddled with the camera a bit nervously, "Uh, not really?" he said.
"Great, follow me!" Gayle misheard as Dareth reluctantly took the camera and stood up. "I need this shot." Dareth pointed the camera at the chaos around them as the Samu-Taur Warriors were trashing the city. "You getting this?" Gayle asked.
"I hope so," Dareth told her before he pointed the camera to her.
"Ahem… I'm standing outside Grand Sensei Dareth's Mojo Dojo, training headquarters of the Ninja, only to find that even here, no one is safe," Gayle reported, completely unaware that one of the Samu-Taur Warriors spotted them from behind her.
"Uh, Gayle, um-" Dareth try to warn her as the Samu-Taur Warrior approached from behind her.
"Hey! I talk, you film!" she interrupted.
"But Gayle-" Dareth tried to warn again as the Samu-Taur Warrior got closer.
"No buts!" Gayle interrupted again before she was grabbed from behind.
"Gotcha!" the Samu-Taur Warrior said before he was kicked away by Gaia who then caught Gayle.
"You seemed to be in need of assistance, Ms. Gossip," Gaia said before the others rushed over.
"Thanks, Ms. Ninja," Gayle said before she was put down.
"We just got messages from the other kingdoms and said their evacuations were successful," Twilight said as she held up many scrolls with her magic just as more Samu-Taur Warriors charged at them. "They're all meeting at the west coast, so that's where we're going too!"
"Easier said than done!" Rainbow retorted as more Samu-Taur Warriors showed up.
"Stay strong. Show no weakness," Landrush said as they stood their ground.
Then at the last second, the Ultra Sonic Raider appeared, knocking the Warriors away as Star Swirl, Wu, Misako, Celestia and Luna jumped off.
"We have to protect the people!" Wu told the younger ones.
"Gather everycreature, and get them to our evacuation point!" Celestia added.
"We've got problems with that evacuation point, guys!" Aqua told them over the coms and where she was on the Bounty, a bunch of Samu-Taur Warriors were on the ground, jumping up and trying to get up onto it. "I can't find a safe place to land!"
Gayle had an idea and rushed over to the elders, "ETV News office building has a helipad on its roof!"
"Yes, higher ground! Perfect!" Luna said as she turned to Lloyd. "Lloyd, contact Aqua and tell her to meet us there!"
Lloyd nodded. Gayle then stood in front of the camera and held up her microphone.
"Citizens of Equestria City who have yet to evacuate the city, head towards the ETV building rooftop," she told them. "Our heroic Ninja, Princess of Friendship, and the Council of Friendship will evacuate you from there! But hurry. We're running out of time."
Across the city, everycreature heeded Gayle's report and rushed towards the ETV building to evacuate.
Wu turned to Misako. "And you, stay out of trouble," he told her.
"Looks like that won't be possible," Misako commented as more Samu-Taur Warriors appeared.
Lloyd looked behind him and saw even more coming. "Uh oh, there's more of them!" he said.
Just as they were getting close, Ultra Dragon landed and knocked the ones behind them down.
"We got your back!" Nimbus told them before they took off again.
"Yeah! Ha, ha!" Lloyd shouted as Ultra Dragon flew in front of them and landed.
"Stay where you are, ya walking statues!" Flame warned but the Samu-taur Warriors were unmoved by the threat.
"Lloyd, did you practice your Elemental Quakes?" Wu asked.
"Who needs to practice, when you're natural?!" Lloyd bragged before he jumped out of the Raider and his hooves glowed earth orange before he slammed them down to the ground. The sudden quake caused the ground to break, forming walls to block the Samu-Taur Warriors.
As the e Samu-Taur Warriors tried to attack while the others boarded the Ultra Sonic Raider, Ultra Dragon attacked.
"Oh no, you don't!" Rocky said as they knocked away the Samu-taur Warriors. "And stay down!"
Lloyd jumped onto the roof of the Raider. "Good job, guys! Now see if you can make us a way out of here!" he told Ultra Dragon.
"Like you need to ask!" Shard said as he froze the risen earth, turning it into an ice ramp, "Now run!"
The Ultra Sonic Raider rolled up onto the ramp, jumping over the Samu-Taur Warriors. Lloyd then turned to Ultra. "Good, now save yourselves and anycreature else who can't get to the building in time!" Lloyd ordered.
"You got it!" Orchy said as Ultra Dragon then flew off in another direction.
The Samu-Taur Warriors roared in aggravation as they ran after the Ninja, the Mane Six, and their allies.
Back on the Dark Island, Lord Garmadon and his Legion of Doom had made it to the top. "Finally… made it… to… the top!" the Storm King panted as he and the other looked to find an odd mechanism made of gold. At the very center was a Stone Samu-Taur, though the upper half seemed to oddly resemble Garmadon as he looked now, and the statue seemed to hold and wear six quite unique dark objects.
"What is this?" Garmadon wondered as they walked up to the machine, and the statue. "Is… Is that-?"
"It is…" the Overlord rasped out. "I led you here… to show you that it is truly… your destiny to remake this world into your image…"
"And what of this… machine? Is it a planetarium or a very advanced clock?" Chrysalis wondered.
"Who cares what it is? Check out the neat stuff that's on Garma-Stone!" the Storm King remarked as he approached one of the items held by the statue: a gothic-designed staff made of a dark stone with a purple crystal on the top. "Don't know about the rest of you, but this staff has my name written all over it. It was definitely worth the climb."
"And what of the rest?" Tirek wondered as he noted the armor that seemed suited for him, Chrysalis took notice of the amulet of Changeling design, Sombra saw the crystal sword, Nightmare Moon noted the crescent moon scepter, and Garmadon seemed to eye the black helmet with flame-like horns on it.
"What are these items, Overlord?" Sombra asked as he found himself instinctively drawn to the sword.
"These… are what I wanted you all to find… The Keys to activate the Celestial Clock… This clock… was made to count down to the Final Battle, and to the awakening… of the ultimate power!" the Overlord told them as the Storm King already took the staff from one of the statue's hooves, causing a piece of the Clock to start moving. "The Staff of Dark Hurricanes, able to conjure forth the mightiest of storms."
"Ooohh, forget my old Staff of Saca-Whatever! I'm totes keeping this one!" The Storm King said with a giddy shudder, as the blue of his eyes and own armor swiftly turned dark purple. "Ohhhhh… YEAH BABY! Now I really am… the STORM KING!" he cried out, feeling a new power flow through as he shot his scepter into the air. It released a dark purple ray that entered the clouds, which soon formed a powerful but brief twister that nearly blew his cohorts off their hooves while amazing them at the power of this item. "Ooh, yeah… Storm-Daddy likey!"
Soon, the others approached their selected items. "The Armor of Dominance, which amplifies the strength of its wearer a hundredfold," the Overlord said to Tirek about his armor. He took the armor off the statue as another piece of the Clock started to move.
Once he put it on, he felt his muscles getting bigger, his horns growing longer, his skin turning purplish red. He felt stronger and eviler than ever, more than he did after absorbing all the magic from Equestria. "Now, this is more like it!" Tirek declared before he kissed his muscular arms.
Chrysalis was eyeing the amulet as she approached the statue. "The Amulet of the Shadow Swarm, able to call upon creatures from within the darkness," the Overlord told her as she picked up the amulet from one of the statue's hooves and more of the Clock started to move.
The green of Chrysalis's body turned purple as above, dozen purple and black evil changeling-like creatures flew above her. "Finally, my own TRUE subjects! I am a Queen once more!" Chrysalis laughed in elation.
Sombra looked at the sword. "The Crystal Sword of Nightmares, able to summon your enemy's deepest fears into reality with just one swipe," the Overlord explained before Sombra took the sword and more of the Clock moved.
Sombra's red horn and cape turned purple as his dark magic sparked even stronger while the Sword glowed evilly. "Such power! I can feel it coursing through my veins!" Sombra declared.
Nightmare Moon looked at the glaive. "The Glaive of Blackest Night, able to, with a single blow, make the brightest of days as black as night for a few moments," the Overlord told her before she took it and more of the final pieces of the Clock moved.
Nightmare Moon's blue Armor turned purple as she cackled. "Finally, a weapon worthy of the Queen of the Night!" she called out as her blue slitted eyes became dark purple and almost like a dragon's.
Garmadon then turned to the final item, which was on the statue's head. "And finally… the most powerful and most evil of all the Dark Keys: the Helmet of Shadows," the Overlord said as the six villains looked at the Helmet with intrigue. "Once one takes the Helmet of Shadows, the Clock will finally start."
Garmadon liked the sound of the of that and reached for the Helmet. "But be warned," the Overlord advised cautiously, stopping Garmadon from going further. "Though he who wears the Helmet of Shadows can travel between the Islands at will, once it is removed, the countdown cannot be stopped."
"Any more warnings?" Garmadon asked impatiently.
"No," the Overlord answered.
Satisfied, Garmadon took the Helmet of Shadows, replacing his own with it as he placed it on his head. As Garmadon laughed evilly while black armor formed on him and a newly-formed dark purple cape started waving behind his back in the winds. Suddenly, the Clock activated as the hands of the clock finally began moving.
"At last, the countdown to the Final Battle has begun. These Keys are your birthrights. With them, all of you have control of the darkness and of the army."
"Wait, what army?" the Storm King asked with a raised brow.
" My army…"
The villains then laughed. Luck was finally on their side.
Back in Equestria City, the heroes had finished the evacuation of the city and they along with the civilians were rushing into the ETV News Building. "Barricade the doors!" Twilight ordered as they blocked the doors with whatever furniture they could.
"Now we head to the stairwell," Frost said as he put one final furniture in front of the door. Dareth looked up and saw how many stairs there were to the top.
"Stairs? It's twenty floors!" he complained before he walked over to an elevator. "Let's just take the elevator, guys."
"It is unwise to take the elevator during an emergency, Dareth," Rarity admonished him.
Dareth merely shrugged as the elevator reached ground floor, "Yeah, well I'll take my chances," he said, but his tune soon changed as a Samu-Taur Warrior was also in the elevator. It tried to attack him, only to step in a bucket, slip back into the elevator, and end bouncing around it like mad as Dareth dialed it to the lowest level. "Okay, stairs it is! Let's get climbing, creatures!" Dareth said as they all ran up the stairs.
They continued to run up for a few floors, but Dareth was running out of breath. "Guys, I need to rest." he panted before he heard a noise. He looked down and then out of nowhere...
"BOO!" A Samu-Taur Warrior popped out under the stairs.
Dareth screamed and zoomed up the stairs. "Second wind!" he yelled as he ran past Misako, knocking off her saddlebags without her noticing. As they all ran up the stairs, the Samu-Taur Warriors were catching up.
"Keep going," Flash told the others as they made it to the top. "We've got this!"
Twilight smiled. "You always do," Flash smiled back and nodded before they went their ways.
"We must buy time for our getaway," Frost told the others as they were repaired to fight.
"NINJA, GO!" all seven Ninja shouted in unison as they did Spinjitzu and ride down the railing of the staircase before coming to a halt at a few Samu-Taur Soldiers. Landrush elbowed one in the face before he knocked it down and a few of them behind it like dominos. Trail, Frost, and Flash then did Spinjitzu to knock them over the edge and to the ground floor.
Lloyd then jumped in front of some more. "Light up!" he declared as he fired a blast of light at them. Then Lloyd, along with Thunder and Gaia, pushed them over the edge, "Ha! Not so tough!" Lloyd mocked only to see they were not hurt and still climbed up. "Whoa… so tough."
"Let's hope we bought enough time," Gaia said.
Trail then looked towards the door. "Come on sis, we're counting on you," he said quietly.
Everycreature made it outside and was wondering where Aqua is. "Where's the Bounty?" Dareth asked as they looked around for it.
Celestia then saw something that made her smile. "Look!" she shouted and pointed to the Destiny's Bounty flying in. The creatures cheered as Aqua brought the Bounty onto the landing platform. Wu and Misako were about to join hooves before the crowd got in the way and he was forced on to the Bounty.
"Hurry, they're coming!" Lloyd told the people as they walked onto the deck, while the larger dragons carried as many creatures as they could on their backs. But then Misako realized her saddlebags were gone.
"My research!" she cried as she knew the only place it could be and rushed back to the entrance.
Lloyd then stopped her, "No, Mom! It's too dangerous to go back!" He cried.
"That research is too important to leave behind!" Misako argued before she smiled sadly and kissed Lloyd's forehead. She then turned and rushed back to get her research back.
"Now, now!" Trail shouted as they lead some creatures below deck. Wu struggled to get past the crowd as the photo was coming out of his hat and he pushed it back in.
Once inside Misako saw her saddlebags tangled in the lighting. She then turned to the Samu-Taur Warriors coming right her, as she dodged and fought her way through them before sliding down the railing.
Some of the Samu-Taur Warriors managed to get onto the roof and charged at the Bounty. "They just keep coming!" Spike complained when he saw them.
"Hurry, hurry!" Sunburst told everycreature as they headed below deck. Then one of the Samu-Taur Warriors with a hammer jumped up to one of the front boosters and smashed.
Aqua gasped as she got a warning alarm, "Uh oh, this is bad." She spoke. The boosters then got ready to lift off. "We have everycreature? We've gotta get out of here! Are only remaining booster won't last much longer!"
"We have to wait for my mom!" Lloyd told her.
Wu then darted his eyes around and then remembered something.
A younger Garmadon and Wu were standing beside each other at their father's monastery, as the older brother turned to his brother. "Wu? If there comes a day when I can't be there for my wife or my son anymore… promise me that you will always protect them," he asked his brother.
"I promise," Wu whispered before he jumped off the ship and then bounced off the Samu-taurs' heads before rushing back to the entrance.
"UNCLE!" Lloyd cried to Wu.
"Wu! What are you doing!?" Star Swirl called out to him.
Wu did not even look back as the Bounty took off, "Keeping my promise to Garmadon!" He answered as battled his way through the Samu-Taur Warriors.
Misako could see her saddlebag below where she was and just out of reach. As more Samu-Taur Warriors appeared, she slid across the railing and swung on the lights to get to the saddle-bags. She managed to grab them but lost her grip and nearly fell off before she managed to grab onto the ledge.
Wu saw her in trouble and the only thing stopping him from reaching Misako was the Samu-Taur Warriors climbing up the stairs. He spun around his bamboo staff and took a battle stance as he began to fight off the Samu-Taur Warriors to Misako. As Misako held on to the edge, she heard fighting while she watched the Samu-taur Warriors and their weapons falling off the edge and towards the bottom. One even grabbed her saddlebags.
"Whew, that was close!" he laughed before Misako screamed as she lost her grip on her saddle bags and dropped them and the warrior. "Oh, come on!" he screamed as fell and Misako caught her saddlebags with her tail.
"Can't hold on..." Misako groaned as she was losing her grip.
"Misako, hold on!" Wu called out as he fought off the Samu-Taur Warriors and raced to her.
"...much longer!" she shouted as a tear was running down her face.
Sensei Wu knocked down a few more Warriors as he was getting close to her. The moment she could no longer hold onto the railing, she was about to fall when Sensei Wu quickly caught her by the hoof.
"I have you now!" Wu said as he pulled them back up onto the stairs. They stared at each before more Samu-Taur Warriors appeared. They leapt from the edge and ran, "This way!" Wu the lead Misako into another room but there was only a shear drop in front of them. "There's no place to hide. We have to fight! Do you still know Spinjitzu?" Wu asked as he turned to the Samu-Taur Warriors.
"Did you forget you and Garmadon could never beat me?" Misako joked as she bumped him.
Wu looked sheepish at her. "I confess, I wasn't really trying," Wu admitted.
Misako smirked. "Neither was I," she said as they turned back to the Samu-taurs.
"NINJA, GO!" the two shouted as they both did Spinjitzu and did their best to fight off the Samu-Taur Warriors.
Back on the Bounty, Luna saw Wu and Misako fighting on the building. "There they are!" she called out.
"We need to help them!" Flash shouted.
Frost then got an idea. "Aqua! Descend, now!" Frost told Aqua as she turned to her in confusion. "Do it now!"
Both Wu and Misako were surrounded and outnumbered as they were backed up into a corner near an open window. "I'm glad we go together!" Wu told his sister-in-law.
Misako looked out the window and saw something that gave her an idea. "Then let's go!" she told Wu, implying that they would jump, as he looked at her like she was crazy. But her smile dismissed those thoughts. Then with one giant leap, they jumped from the building...
...and onto the deck of the Bounty, "What?" Wu said in surprise.
"Nice of you to drop in," Celestia quipped before a strong wind blew off Wu's hat, Misako caught it but the photo of their youth was lost to the wind. Wu sighed sadly as he watched the photo fly away.
Misako then passed him his hat. "The past is the past," she said to Wu.
"But there's always the future," Wu smiled.
"And the future has yet to be written," Celestia finished as Lloyd looked at them with a smile. But their smiles turned to frowns as they looked down and saw the Samu-Taur Warriors destroying everything around them.
"Why is this happening?" Starlight wondered aloud.
Before anycreature could answer, they turned and saw Discord, looking out of breath as he was approaching the Bounty on a magic motorbike that he "borrowed" from another universe. He managed to safely land on the Bounty's deck as he got off, taking off his red, white, and blue stunt helmet.
"Whew… you tend to forget about snap-travel during times of crisis… and you're forced to fly on your own for a whole chapter!... Well, half a chapter before I took a cheat and got a loaner from a universe of wizards," Discord complained before sheepishly admitting as he stretched himself out while snapping the motorbike back to its universe.
"Discord? What are you doing here?" Twilight asked the draconequus who finally caught his breath.
"Do you want the good news first, or the bad news?"
"…What bad news?!" Twilight asked in shock.
"Bad news it is. Well, the Island of Darkness… it's risen from the Endless Sea!" Discord told them, causing them to have shocked looks on their faces. "And worse of all...the Overlord has resurfaced!"
"What?!" Wu, Misako, Star Swirl, and the Royal Sisters Shouted in unison.
"Oh, great!" Rainbow face hooved.
Flash then narrowed his eyes. "Three guesses of who brought them back," he said as they all looked in the direction of the Endless Sea. "So… what's the good news?"
"Well… I suppose the good news is, the Samu-Taurs will be leaving soon to join their master on the Dark Island, possibly to plot the big invasion of Equestria and its neighbors," Discord replied with a relieved grin.
The ponies' expressions were far from relaxed. "How is THAT good news?!"
"Well, compared to what they're doing right now, a break from those beasties is a Faust-send at this point," he shrewdly retorted.
On the Island of Darkness as the Celestial Clock continued ticking, Garmadon and the Villains stood atop a tall spire, "Villainy is back, Equestria!" Garmadon declared. "And this time, MORE POWERFUL THAN EVER!" He and his Legion of Doom let out maniacal laughs on the Dark Island.
And above them, the Overlord watched the, howl with laughter. If it he had a visible mouth, it would have been known that he was smirking right now. "…All according to plan," he said to himself.