Chapter 9: The Greatest Fear of All
The Elemental Masters in their dragon forms, carrying Chen's servants on their backs while the Anacondrai Serpent swam below them, were flying their way back to Equestria as the mainland was in sight. "Chen and his Anacondrai army have a day's start on us!" Lloyd told the others. "Be prepared for anything and everything!"
"How did we lose so much time?!" Trail questioned.
"You know, you took an oath never to leave a friend behind!" Dareth reminded them while riding on Frost.
"And we promised to bring the Kabuki with us, and give them better lives!" Twilight added.
"Besides, we're not all quick learners!" Flash reminded them. "Mastering your fear to unlock your power-dragon form takes time."
"Well, we're running out of that!" Aqua spoke up with concern. "There's Manehattan dead ahead! Hurry!"
"Hurry's my middle name!" Turner shouted before he whooped and used his speed to fly faster ahead of them.
"Show off!/Show off!" Gaia, Rainbow, and the Washouts shouted at him while running after him. The Elemental Masters soon reached Manehattan as they were prepared to fight off Chen and his army.
"Remember whatever happens down there, we're stronger united!" Lloyd reminded them as they hovered above the city. "We fight as one!"
"Let's do this!/Let's do this!" Thunder and Pinkie Pie declared as they all dived down and either landed on the roofs of the building or the middle of the streets to fight off Chen and his whole army. Only the strangest thing is, there was no attack as everypony was going about their day.
Each dragon Elemental Masters landed in different parts of the city as Trail landed on the streets, but then a pony mare gasped as she saw Topaz, who was giving a smile before she screamed. "Anacondrai!" she screamed and scared some of the ponies around them.
Topaz covered her face in shame. "I wisssh I ssstill had the power to change," She groaned with despair.
"You have changed," Trail told her. "You're with us now," he then felt his foot being tapped before he looked down to see an elderly mare by his dragon foot.
"Could you be a dear and move your feet, please?" she asked Trail before he raised his left foot to let her pass before he raised the other one. "Thank you," She continued her way.
"Okay, based on their reactions, you guys are the first snakes they've seen if everything is okay," Spike said as he and Smolder flew down.
"But if that'sss true, where'sss Chen and why hasssn't he attacked?" Garmadon questioned when each master transformed back into their original forms.
"He might be planning sssomething else if he'sss not attacking yet," Luna suggested.
"Then we have to get you two and Topaz off the streets before we alarm everyone," Lloyd said as he turned to the other masters. "Everyone else, stick together and watch over everycreature!" he called.
The Elemental Masters all nodded as they returned to their dragon forms and took off before Garmadon, Luna, and Topaz looked at their snake hands and saw that they had suddenly turned back into their normal hooves.
Twilight noticed it as she gasped. "Your hooves! They're turning back to normal!" she called as they all looked at the three-turned snake ponies.
"It appearsss ssso," Luna smiled as she rubbed her hoof, feeling her fur coat again. "The ssspell Chen usssed mussst have been temporary."
"Looks like Chen forgot a detail in the spell," Rainbow snorted in amusement. "But, if it's temporary, why did he go all that trouble to transform into Anacondrai?"
"He must have missed something," Twilight said while rubbing her chin. "But what?"
Meanwhile, in an abandoned subway station, Chen and his Anacondrai Army made a temporary base with some tents set up, some banners and torches around, as well as the vehicles, including the Roto Jet and the Skychopper close by, while using one of the passenger cars as a main base.
Chen looked at his right arm and noticed it turning back into his normal hoof. "Why is the ssspell wearing off?" he questioned his army about the situation that was happening. "If we attack now and turn back to normal, everything will be for nothing!"
"Eh, about that…" Chope spoke as he and Kapau were rereading the spellbook as they found something that made them nervous. "We read everything on page 149, but lo and behold, the ssspell continuesss onto the next page," he said as he and Kapau turned the page to reveal more details on the transformation spell.
"You ssslithering kultzesss!" Chen yelled in anger as he took the book from Chope and Kapau. "What have I told you about attention to detailsss? I knew I ssshould've had Grimoire and Charm read the ssspell." He read through the page while the Anacondrai troops huddle close. "'In order for the transssformation to become permanent, one mussst obtain the essssence of a true Anacondrai'," he read before closing the book in anger. "Where are we sssuppose to get that?! There aren't any real Anacondrai left!" Since he heard the news from Equestria that the Anacondrai were extinct when the Serpentine resurfaced from their tombs, he was now really fuming.
"Uh, if there'sss any out there, we'll find them," Kapau promised as he and Chope slithered off.
Eyezor and Zugo then slither up to Chen. "There'sssss another problem, Massster," Zugo spoke up. "The Ninja, the Council, and their friendsss have arrived."
"Oh, why mussst conquering Equessstria be ssso difficult?!" Chen questioned in frustration as he calmed down. "Fine. We change plansss. It's not like I don't have sssomething elssse up my sssleeve."
"And what'sss that, Massster?" Zumo asked in curiosity.
"Thisss!" Chen yelled before throwing the book at Zugo's chest, which made him grunt from that. "Now come on. We have sssome ssscheming to do," he finished with a sinister smirk.
A little bit later, the Ninja, the Council, and their allies arrived at the Samurai X cave as Frost's Falcon flew in and landed on his master's shoulder. "And hello to you too, my old friend," Frost said with a smile.
"It's great to see you still function, little one," Dr. Gear said while rubbing the Falcon's head as it gave a chirp.
Meanwhile, Rivet let out a whistle when she got a good look at the place. "I am definitely going to enjoy my time with you guys from now on," She mentioned with a proud tone. "And what's under the tarp?"
"Just rebuilding an old ship of ours," Aqua mentioned before Celestia, Wu, Misako, the rest of the Young Six, and the serpentine kids, minus Melody, saw them come in.
"Thank goodness, you all have back!" Celestia said in relief as they all went up to them.
Wu gave a joyful look at seeing Frost as he went up to him. "Frost. Look at you," he said happily while gesturing to Frost's titanium body. "You're all shiny," he remarked with a laugh, very happy to see his pupil again, alive and well despite being in a new body.
"Mom! Dad! Everyone!" the Serpentine Kids called as they all rushed up to the Ninja and Mane Six in joy at seeing them again as the adult ponies gave small laughs as they returned the gestures.
"But where's my husband?" Misako asked in a worried tone.
"And Luna?" Hope added.
"We're right here," Luna spoke up as the rest of them were shocked to see them and Topaz as Serpentine.
"It'sss ussss, Misssako," Garmadon assured her.
"Are… are you three…?" Fang tried to ask but was too shocked by their appearance.
"Don't worry, we have reassson to believe the ssspell may be wearing off," Topaz assured them while gesturing to their now normal hooves.
"But if that's true, it only makes Chen more desperate to act now," Flash pointed out before he noticed someone was missing. "Uh, where is Melody?"
"More importantly, who is she?" Coal asked as he pointed to Topaz.
"Everyone, this is Topaz, Chen's granddaughter or more accurately, his descendant," Trail introduced her.
Misako then walked up to Topaz with a small smile. "You're amongst friends, Topaz," she said.
"You are now with us. Any friend of the Ninja and Twilight's is a friend of ours," Celestia said softly as Topaz smiled at them.
Garmadon went up to his brother as the two touched each other shoulders. "Thank you for looking after my Misssako," Garmadon said to his brother.
"As any good brother should," Wu replied with a smile.
"Yesss. A good brother," Garmadon said while feeling guilt in him while Luna looked at him in sympathy as she placed her scaly wings over him in comfort.
"There isn't much time," Lloyd spoke up as he walked up to the Mainframe computer. "Our friends are on standby, but we don't know where Chen will strike first."
"And if we're not all there to stop him when he first attacks…" Landrush added.
"Equestria and the landssss beyond will ssssuccumb to war," Garmadon finished.
"Our greatessst fear will come true," Luna spoke next.
"Then the greatest victory will be that which has no battle," Wu recites seriously.
"But how do we prevent a war?" Thunder asked with worry. "How do we stop an enemy we know little about?"
"Yeah, we're not Anacondrai experts since none of us have faced them before," Gaia said as she turned to Wu, Garmadon, and the two former princesses. "You four have faced them in the war, maybe you could lend us some information on them?" she asked.
"I'm afraid we don't know much about them either," Celestia mentioned. "All knowledge of the Anacondrai vanished to the sands of time."
"Well, that's great," Rainbow said sarcastically. "Now what do we do? The only ones who know how to beat the Anacondrai are the Anacondrai themselves and they're all gone!"
"Not all of them," Flash said as he remembered there were still two remaining. "Now I'm going to ask again, where is Melody right now?"
"Where she always goes to ask about her kind," Toxsa mentioned as the rest of them got where Flash was coming from.
The Falcon flew in as it landed on the computer and brought up a big prison in the middle of the desert. "To the only creature who can tell her," Sky finished.
And then a short bit later, the Ninja in their dragon forms, with Garmadon, Wu, Luna, Celestia, and the Mane Six flew into the prison ahead of them. "Kryptarium Prissson," Garmadon said as they all flew in front of it. "The new prissson isss home to Equesssstria's worssst of the worssst, ssssecond only to Tartarussss itself, to contain them until they choosssse to purssssue another path."
"It was a good call for you to have this place built, Twilight!" Applejack mentioned with a tip of her hat.
"Now let's hope we can get some answers here," Twilight said before they landed in front of the prison and the Ninja returned to their pony forms.
"So why are we here again?" Pinkie asked confusedly.
"As we all know, Chen believes the Anacondrai are extinct, but we know better," Twilight reminded. "An example, our adopted Anacondrai daughter, Melody."
Landrush scratched his head. "But I don't get it. Melody's just a kid, what would she know about stopping Chen's army?" he asked.
"It's not her we're talking about," Flash told him. "It's the one she is visiting we're about to question."
"If one must learn how to fight a snake, one must talk to one first," Wu recited.
Twilight nodded. "And there's only one snake in Equestria who can give us that information, the only adult Anacondrai left," she said seriously.
Fluttershy then gasped as she realized who Twilight was talking about. "Pythor!" she exclaimed worriedly as the others tensed up.
"That is correct. As Arcturus's second-in-command, he may be our best chance at preventing this war," Wu said as the guard from the tower looked down at them as Twilight waved to let them in. The guard responded by pressing a button and opening the gate for them.
The group followed the warden pony down a hallway as he carried keys on the side of his belt. "Sorry I had to confiscate your weapons. Here we tried to foster what I call 'an environment of encouragement to redemption'," he explained as he went up to the console as the group saw the hallway had many traps like laser walls, balls of spikes, spike walls, fire pits, walls smasher, and a solid metal wall as the warden shut them all down to clear a path.
"You call that 'environment of encourage to redemption'?" Gaia asked in shock. "Is that not overkill, good sir?" she asked.
"Well, you can never be too careful," the warden said to her as they continued onto the hall as they entered a room filled with cells and a watch tower in the middle.
"Has any creature shown any signs of changing, warden?" Twilight asked as some of the prisoners saw the Ninja before they started shouting.
"I'll rattle your bones!" a skeleton shouted as he banged a metal cup against the bars.
"Very creative, Frakture. Love the puns," the Warden said in amusement as they walked past him.
And then Captain Salt Beak saw them as they passed his cell. "Pajama-Pony!" he called out.
"Easy, Salt Beak. I'm captain of this ship," the Warden joked while giving a laugh.
"I'll take that as 'slow in progress'," Twilight said while looking around the cells as the prisoners all yelled at them.
"Well, the Ninja and the Council of Friendship aren't popular around these parts, considering you put most of them behind bars, hm-hm," the warden mentioned. "But your Serpentine daughter is with the one you're looking for, and he probably hates you the most, along with his neighbors." He pointed forward to a glass cell just ahead from them. "Last cell on the left."
"Thank you," Rarity said to him as they walked up to the cell.
Inside the cell, Melody is sitting on a chair, drinking some tea while in front of her is the shrunken Pythor, who is inside a doll house drinking tea as well while sitting on a mini figure of a chair as he tasted the tea. "Hm," he hummed.
"So, how is your tea, Mr. Chumsworth?" Melody asked Pythor with a small smile.
"Oh, my dear Melody, I told you to just call me Pythor," he reminded her. "And I must say this may very well be the greatest cup of tea you've steeped."
"Oh, you flatter me, Pythor," Melody said with a slight blush. "I've had some practice with Wu, Fluttershy, Pinkie, Rarity, and my mother Twilight," she said with a chuckle. "So um, can I ask some questions about our own kind?"
"That's what we like to know too," Flash spoke up which frightened both Melody and Pythor as the latter jumped into the former's hands. "We need your help, Pythor," Flash said, keeping it simple.
"Help you?!" Pythor exclaimed as he glared at him behind Melody's fingers.
"Dad, what are you doing here?" Melody asked when she saw him and the others here.
"We have a problem, one that only Pythor can help us with," Twilight explained.
Pythor just glared. "And why should I? You trapped me and my kind underground for centuries, starved the rest of my tribe to death, fed me to the Devourer, defeated every army and ally I've allied with, even forced me to swallow your shrinking pill and turned the only member of my kind against me!" he ranted hotly. "Haven't you ponies done enough damage to my diminishing dignity!?" He hopped off of Melody and slithered into a different room. "Honestly, the nerve of them." The room he was in then rattled as the dollhouse was turned around by Applejack to have him face them. "Well played."
"Would you keep it down over there?!" Tirek yelled through another glass wall as he was holding a quill and book. "Some of us are trying to do poetry over here!" he complained as he went back to writing.
"And I'm trying to catch some Z's!" the Storm King yelled as he was in another glass cell while lying on his bed. "I need my beauty sleep after all! Now, goodnight!" he said before turning away.
"Sorry," Flash apologized before turning back to Pythor. "Now are you going to talk or not?"
"I supposed this is about that culturally insensitive noodle baron and his ilk that are now Anacondrai," Pythor said, which surprised the group.
"Wait, how did you know about that?" Spike asked in confusion.
"Melody told me all about them when Aqua explained it to her and your friends," Pythor pointed out.
The group looked at Melody from that as she shrugged. "What? It's Anacondra-related. I thought Pythor would want to know about it as well," she said in defense.
"Imposters, if you ask us," Pythor added with his hands on his hips.
"Pythor, you are the last remaining adult Anacondrai," Thunder stated, getting back on track. "You took part in the Great War. you must know how to stop them."
"I'm not going to say another word until you make me big again," Pythor said with his arms crossed as he turned his back to them. "And don't ask me to trust a pony!"
"Would you trussst a sssnake?" Garmadon asked as he and Luna leaned in next to Melody, which surprised the two Anacondrais.
"Garma-Condrai? Luna-Condrai?" Melody asked in shock. "You two are-" She tried to ask.
"It'sss a long ssstory, Melody," Luna said to her.
Pythor then turned to them with interest. "Oh, now my interest is piqued. Let's make a deal, shall we?" he asked with a smirk.
Frost's head then beeped as he looked around as Pixal spoke to him. "I thought you should be aware that someone has been poking around the Kryptarium database with interest in your, shall I say, little friends," She informed him as he walked out of the cell.
"Chen?" he asked.
"I don't know, but be on your guard,"Pixal advised. "You may be expecting unannounced visitors."
Outside the prison, an Anacondrai hand banged at the door as the guard looked down and saw his binoculars floating next to him. "Thanks," he said as he accepted the binoculars and looked down to see Kapau waving to him, but then he realized that his binoculars floated before he was smacked unconscious as he fell to the floor as Chope appeared after turning visible again.
Chope pressed the button to open the gates as Kapau slithered in and turned invisible.
In the counter, the warden is reading a book with the hallway traps on before he notices a prison uniform just floating in the air while he hears someone making ghost noises. "That's strange," he said when he saw it before the uniform quickly approached him. He was about to hit the alarm button before he was suddenly stopped by something as he felt something grab his hoof.
Kapau appeared as he had his tail wrapped around the warden as Chope appeared while holding the unicorn. "Ssso gullible. Everycreature knowsss there'sss no sssuch thing as ghostsss," he said as he took the warden's keys.
"Then you get the spell book, and I'll tell their weakness and then-" Pythor kept talking about the deal before the speaker spoke.
"There's been a breach in Sector 2! They appear to be Anacondrai and-" The announcer on the speaker stopped for a moment in fear. "Uh-oh, and they're coming my way. They see me talking on the intercom," he said as Melody and Pythor looked around nervously. "Oh, boy, here they come. Why am I still talking on this thing?" he questioned in fear.
All the prisoners in the cells started cheering while Tirek and The Storm King stood up with interested looks. "Well, I see that our day just got more interesting," Tirek said in amusement.
"And more fun than debating," The Storm King added with a chuckle.
"You led them to me?!" Pythor asked the group in fear. "What have you done?! There's no escaping Anacondrai!" He slithered up to a closet cabinet figure as he tried to open it, but could not. "Curse this fraudulent furniture!" he yelled as he grabbed a lampshade and covered his head with it in fear.
"Well, what are you waiting for?!" Flash asked Pythor as he pulled the lampshade off Pythor. "Tell us their weaknesses so we can stop them!"
"Don't you get it, Sentry?!" Pythor shouted with fear. "There is no weakness! They're Anacondrai!" He quickly put the lampshade back on his head before they saw the prison door open on its own.
"Guys, we got company!" Trail called as they saw Kapau and Chope slithering in with Anacondrai Swords with the guards in the hallways beaten down.
"Looks like Chen decided to make his move!" Celestia said seriously.
"I'll handle this!" Landrush called as he put on his mask and flipped over to the stone tower. "Earth!" he called as he used his powers to move the stones off the beams as he threw them at Chope and Kapau.
Kapau ducks the boulders while Chope slices through them with his sword as the boulders hit the cells as the Ninja and Mane Six run up to Landrush. "Careful, guy!" Gaia called out as she and the others put on their masks. "We're trying to keep the inmates in, not let them out!" she pointed out. They then charged at the Anacondrai while Garmadon picked up Pythor and was trying to pry the lampshade off his head.
The moment he popped it off, a small drop of Pythor's sweat fell onto his hoof and it suddenly transformed it back into a claw-like hand. "Did you see that?" Twilight asked after seeing what happened.
"Your hoof!" Frost spoke next before realizing something. "That must be why they've come for Pythor. What if he and Melody hold the keys to making their transformation permanent?" he stated.
"Wait, what do you mean?" Melody asked uneasily. "Are you saying that our sweat is the key to making them permanent Anacondrai?"
"That's why Chen hasn't attacked," Wu said in realization.
"Because they need the essence of an Anacondrai before they can make their move!" Celestia added.
"Then we have to get them out of here," Lloyd said to them.
"He's right," Twilight said as she held Melody close to her. "If they're the keys to preventing a war, we can't let them fall into the wrong hands. Literally, for Pythor's sake," she said with an amused smile.
"Oh, I get it, it's literal because of my size. Ha, ha. Very funny," Pythor sarcastically said as they all looked at him with playful smiles. "But I'm a little sensitive to all the size jokes."
"A little sssensitive?" Luna joked with her scaly wings' tips squinting a bit while smiling.
Pythor realized his mistake. "Okay, I stepped right into that one," he admitted, not meaning to make a pun there.
"Frost, keep them busy," Wu said to Frost, who nodded and put on his mask as he joined the others.
"Ah!" Trail called as he was on top of Chope, who was trying to get the fire Ninja off him. "What do you think we've been do-?" he was cut off when Chope smacked him off with his tail as Trail slid across the floor.
Thunder was tied up by Kapau's tail. "Get out of here already, it's not like we can hold them off all day!" he called out.
"No seriously, these guys are tough to keep back!" Rainbow called out as she flew to Chope but was whacked away.
Frost came in as he slid across the floor and kicked Kapau up, freeing Thunder, but Chope wrapped his tail around him and tossed him away as Frost gave a yell.
At the warden's table, the warden was tied up as he reached his back hooves to the button as he pressed it and the alarm went up. The warden smiled at his work before he tripped over to the floor.
In the prison cell room, the entrance began to close as a metal door was closing in on it. "Kryptaruim's on lockdown!" Twilight called out as she pointed to the door as she, Celestia, Luna, Garmadon, Lloyd, Melody, and Pythor, who were being held by Garmadon, ran to it. "If we don't find a way out, we may never escape!" she stated as the seven rolled across the floor before the metal door shut.
The rest of the Ninja and the Mane Six stayed behind as Chope whacked Trail away while Kapau wrapped his tail around Fluttershy with his sword to her neck as she struggled to break free. "It ain't fair!" Landrush complained as he dodged an attack from Chope. "Why is it they've got weapons but we don't?!"
"Everything's a weapon in the big house!" Thunder mentioned as he reached into a cell and pulled out a toothbrush as he used it to brush Chope's fangs to back him away from Fluttershy as he gave a yell.
Meanwhile, the rest of the group took Melody and Pythor down the hallway where there were traps up ahead. "Oh, some heroes you are," Pythor said sarcastically before Garmadon used his tail to hold some spikes on the sides of the walls for the others to pass through. "And to think there's only two of them," Wu then hit a button on the wall to turn off the spikes to let Garmadon pass before Garmadon through Pythor over to Twilight as he screamed.
"Uncle Wu said, 'the greatest victories-" Lloyd tried to say.
"Has no battle, blah, blah, blah," Pythor interrupted as they began dodging some flames. "Well, if they're imposters, you're cowards!"
"And what are you?!" Wu questioned him. "There's a reason we never trust a snake!" Wu then threw his hat past some spike balls to hit another button to turn them off.
"What do you mean?!" Melody asked.
"If you want to know about your own kind, Melody, you should know of their treachery," Celestia told her. "First, Arcturus betrayed the truce during the Great War, then Pythor tricked Lloyd-" Celestia told her before Pythor interjected.
"Are we still talking about the Great War?! Arcturus had every intention of honoring the truce," Pythor mentioned as they came to a laser grid, which Luna used her snake tail to carefully go through and turn them off by hitting another switch on the wall. "It was Chen who told us the Ponies were going to betray us and manipulate the other kingdoms into allying with you. We had no choice but to attack first." Wu then used his staff to keep apart walls that were slamming against each other.
"Chen sssaid you were going to betray ussss!" Luna exclaimed as they continued on.
"Wait, Garmadon, Luna, didn't you both say he didn't like peace and harmony but loved conflict and turmoil!?" Twilight questioned as she started to figure it out. "What if all the kingdoms were going to honor the truce, but Chen spread false rumors about each of them wanting to betray the others?!"
"Sounds like Chen was playing all sides," Lloyd summarized with a scowl.
"Now, wait just a moment," Pythor said, trying to slow it all down. "Are you telling me there's foul play in all this?!" he asked in shock.
"It would ssseem sso," Luna hissed with a scowl. "The War was never ssssupposssed to happen, and the Kingdomsss could have lived in peace, but Chen ssstuck hisss hoof where it didn't belong and manipulated all of usss!"
"The Great War was all a big lie!" Celestia said in outrage.
"Lookssss like Chen wassss the only real sssnake!" Garmadon hissed as they ducked underneath the closing door.
Wu dropped his hat but then grabbed it quickly before the gate closes and they make it to the courtyard. Just when they thought they were in the clear, they looked up to see Chen's Anacondrai on their Mechs on the walls before some of them flew in on their jets.
"Again I say…" Pythor spoke up before he crouched down in Twilight's hoof. "Cowards," he weeps as the Anacondrai surround the group.
"Protect Melody and Pythor!" Twilight declared as Lloyd put up his hood.
"NINJA, GO!" he shouted as he did Spinjitzu and knocked a few of them back. Some of them closed in on Twilight before she did Spinjitzu to knock them away as well. Once they stopped, Twilight noticed Pythor was no longer in her hoof.
"Oh no, I lost Pythor!" she called out as she looked around for him. Pythor was seen spinning on the ground before he stopped and shook his head from the dizziness. He then looked up and screamed as one of the mechs nearly stepped on him if he did not move out of the way.
"What do you mean you lossst him?!" Garmadon asked Twilight as he fought off some of the Anacondrai. "Find him!"
Twilight, Melody, and Lloyd looked around for Pythor, but then an Anacondrai trooper grabbed Lloyd and held him down as another slithered towards him with his sword raised. Twilight was going to help him before another pinned her against the wall while a bunch of them were closing in on Melody.
Back inside the prison, the others are still fighting Chope and Kapau the best they could. "Fire!" Trail called as he shot two fireballs at Kapau, but he ducked as it flew over him.
"Lightning!" Thunder yelled as he shot a lightning strike, which hit Kapau as he screamed in pain and fell to the floor as his spear flew by.
Kapau's spear landed in front of No-Eyes' cell as he heard the spear and picked it up. "Left!" the parrot's rat squeaked as No-Eyes ended up hitting his captain's hat.
"Hey, watch it!" Salt Beak complained.
"Hurry, grab his spear!" Flash told the others.
"No, the other left!" No-Eyes' rat corrected as it got out of the cell and squeaked to where the release switch was. Trail and Rainbow Dash tried to make it but were too late as No-Eyes turned the spear around and flipped the switch. Soon every cell in the room was opened, and the prisoners were released.
"Oh, no!" Trail said with worry.
"Oh boy. This isn't good," Rainbow muttered as the prisoners cheered as they got out of their cells, while they looked in horror as they saw a familiar big stone warrior and a couple of their old enemies, including the Storm King and Tirek.
"Looks like we made parole, boys!" the Storm King joked as he had a scheming grin on his face.
"Why don't we celebrate by playing with the ones who put us here in the first place?!" Tirek suggested as they all look towards the Ninja and Mane Six.
"Uh, guys, I think we're about to serve some hard time," Landrush said.
"Very hard," Gaia muttered as the stone warrior jumped down in front of them.
"Uht Tong Tcheko," The stone warrior said.
"Uh, didn't we already beat this guy?" Fluttershy asked fearfully.
"Yeah, and he found a way out of that pit he fell through," Flash mentioned as they all backed up a little.
Applejack charged at the stone warrior, but she was punched away by him as she screamed and hit the wall as she fell to the floor. "I forgot how strong they were," she muttered.
A Nindroid and a few prisoners charged at them, but Frost saw him coming as he flipped over the Nindroid and the two engaged in hoof-to-hoof combat as the others fended off the rest of the inmates as Frost grabbed the Nindroid's hooves. "I'm not an outdated relic anymore!" Frost told the Nindroid before he flipped the Nindroid away and did a twirl and punched another away as it fell into a couple of prisoners.
Thunder ducks a swing from the Anacondrai spear from No-Eyes as he grabs a skeleton, which he screamed from nearly getting poked as he took off one of its bony legs. "Okay, since we've already fought most of these guys before, let's say we keep this short?" he suggested before he knocked the inmates away.
"I'm with you," Trail said as he was tussling with one of the inmates. "The door, hurry!" he pushed the inmate off him before they all ran to the exit.
The inmates yell as they chase after them. "All right, who's busting out of here with me?" Landrush suggested.
"Landy, there's no way neither of you or Applejack are breaking through this door," Gaia said as she tried to lift the metal door open. "It's solid metal."
"I never said anything about a door, Gaia," Landrush said as he raised his hooves and gave a yell as he punched the wall, creating a hole as he and the others ran through it while the inmates followed as Landrush kept punching through one wall after the next before Chope and Kapau slithered off.
The Ninja and Mane Six followed Landrush as he punched through another wall and kept going. "When creatures try to bust out of jail, they do it so quietly!" Thunder mentioned as Landrush punched through another wall. "Not literally!"
In another cell, two ponies were trying to dig their way out of a prison with only a spoon. "Ah, digging our way out takes forever," one of them complained to the other.
Then Landrush came in as he punched through the wall as he, the Ninja, and the Mane Six rushed by, surprising the two ponies as the other inmates followed behind them. "Thank you!" the first inmate pony said to them as they waved at them and tossed the spoon away.
Back outside the courtyard, the rest of the heroes are fighting the Anacondrai as the four siblings fight them off, Twilight protecting Melody as she tries to blast them back while Lloyd searches for Pythor before he spots him. "Got him!" he called while pointing at where Pythor was.
Pythor slithered around as two Anacondrai moved past him as he gave a yelp and then a mech knocked Wu down as he hit the basketballs as they bounced around Pythor as Lloyd gave a yell. "Don't got him!" he called as he ran to him while Garmadon and Luna fought many Anacondrai with their snake-like skills.
Twilight kept bucking and blasting them back as they advanced towards Melody. "Stay away from my daughter!" she called as she kept blasting them back.
A couple of Anacondrai fell as Pythor dodged their weapons and tried to avoid the basketballs that were knocked over. "I really hate being small!" he yelled in irritation, hating to be so small as an Anacondrai grabbed him as he yelped as the Anacondrai hissed at him.
Wu then whacked the Anacondrai in the chest before knocking Pythor into the air and quickly catching him with his staff. "Wu. My savior," Pythor said happily.
And then the wall burst through as the Ninja and Mane Six came through it as the Anacondrai all started coughing from the dirt and dust. "Do you have them?" Flash asked in worry before Wu noticed Pythor was not on his staff anymore. Twilight looked around and noticed Melody was not with her either.
Twilight's eyes widened in panic. "Where's Melody!?" she asked in worry before two Anacondrai appeared while holding both Pythor and Melody.
"Help!" Melody called out as she struggled to get free.
"Let her go!" Flash demanded before the Anacondrai holding them both turned invisible with them. "We can't let them escape!" he shouted before they heard the inmates coming towards them through the holes Landrush made.
"No, we can't let them escape!" Celestia corrected. "No more smashing walls!"
"Leave this to me," Frost spoke up as he turned to the wall. "Ice!" he called as he made an ice arch up the prison walls. The group quickly climbed up it before Trail turned to see the prisoners following behind.
"I'd hate to let anyone down, but…" Trail said before he lit up his hooves. "Fire!" he then melted the arch as the prisoners fell back down into the courtyard. As they were getting up, the warden and a few prison guards walked up to them.
"I encourage you to go back to your cells!" the warden demanded.
"And we were so close too…" the Storm King groaned.
Back in Chen's hideout, they tied up Melody with a rope while putting Pythor in a jar as the two real Anacondrai yelled at them. "Ah! Charlatans! Frauds!" Pythor yells first.
"Fakers! Knock-offs!" Melody yelled next as she struggled to break free.
"Stupid phonies!" both Pythor and Melody yelled in rage as Chen held Pythor with Melody in front of him.
Chen and Kapau looked at the two while Kapau gave a confused look. "Uh. I don't get it, how are we gonna get enough sssweat out of that little guy and the kid to fix all of usss?" Kapau asked while gesturing to Pythor and Melody, particularly the former due to his size.
"The sssimplest plan isss often the bessst." As he spoke, Chen opened the jar and untied Melody before shoving her into a treadmill wheel and putting Pythor in a hamster wheel on it. "The more complicated onesss are ssso much more fun to watch!" he said in excitement as he placed a helmet with a tube on both their heads. "Now run!"
"Like we'll ever listen to you!" Melody shouted while crossing her arms.
"A true Anacondrai would never demean themselves," Pythor spoke next as he crossed his arms as well. "We have our honor, you know."
"And we have a Manticore and a Swamp Rat," Zugo said as he brought out a large Manitcore behind him with a chain around its neck and a rat in his arms. He then chained the Manticore behind Melody as it roared and the Rat squeaked and jumped at Pythor's hamster wheel.
Pythor and Melody screamed as the Swamp Rat and Manticore started chasing them and they started running but the wheel and Treadmill kept them from going anywhere. "Asss you can sssee, fear isss a powerful thing," Chen said with delight as sweat came off Melody and Pythor and into the tubes through the treadmill. Chen then places his hoof at the faucet to let a drop of their essence hit it to let it turn back into a claw-like hand.
"Oh, the esssssence, it'ssss working!" Chope cheered after seeing Chen's hoof turned back into an Anacondrai arm.
"Sssoon, I'll have enough to make my entire army permanently Anacondrai," Chen said with a smile as he felt the spell becoming permanent as he slithered out of the train car. "And now that that one problem isss dealt with, it'sss time we give the Ninja and the Council one of their own," he declared while giving a sinister smirk. "It'sss time to ssspread sssome fear."
A train signal was dinging but there was no train coming from either side. Instead, twenty Noddle Trucks came out of the tunnel while driving down the road to Equestria City.
Just then, the Mane Six, the Ninja, and the four siblings walked into the Samurai X cave. "We got here as fast as we could," Trail said to the others.
"We have to find Melody and save her now!" Flash called out in slight anger. "Chen's gonna pay dearly for kidnapping her!"
"And we will, but you should know that twenty noodle trucks have been spotted heading towards Equestria City just fifty clicks away," Rivet informed them as she pointed to the monitor.
"Let me guess, they ain't hauling noodles?" Landrush asked with a serious look.
"Twenty trucks could hold two-hundred Anacondrai," Frost pointed out.
"That's a lot of Anacondrai," Sky said fearfully.
"At least one of them can hold ten, but twenty, that's enough for an invasion," Twilight added as a grave look dawned on her face. "If they get to the city before we do, the city will be theirs."
"And they'll have achieved the pivotal firssst foothold in the war," Garmadon finished.
"We have to stop them!" Lloyd declared.
"I've already warned the others to head them off at the pass," Aqua said to them. "They should be able to hold the line until you offer support."
"And we had them equip themselves so we could communicate," Dr. Gear finished as Shade appeared on the monitor.
"We're in position," Shade informed them. "If they show up, we'll be sure to put up a fight."
"They're coming to your location soon," Aqua replied.
"I see them!" Shade said with his eyes narrowed.
The Elemental Masters were just outside the city as they could see the noodle trucks coming down the road. "Let's show them what we're made of!" Max declared before they each transformed into their dragon forms. They took off into the air and let out a roar as they were all set to fight off the enemy.
But then Grey noticed something. "Wait, something's wrong," he told the others before the trucks did something unusual. Each truck began to break apart from the others in different directions while one was just heading to the city.
"The trucks. They're going in multiple directions," Max said through the monitor in the cave.
"What do you mean?" Flash asked him. "Aren't they going to Equestria City?"
"Only one of them is, but the other, I'm not sure where they are headed, but it's certainly not together," he informed them.
"There are over 12 densely populated villages within a 10-click radius," Misako informed as she pulled up each Village on the map.
"They aren't planning to launch one big invasion… They're planning multiple smaller attacks!" Rainbow gasped.
"They're going attack the nearby villages to have outposts in Equestria," Celestia said grimly.
"What do we do? You told us to stay together," Max said to them.
"Chen knowsss he can't take you all on at once," Garmadon said as he turned to the others. "He's trying to split you up."
"But even jussst one of thossse trucksss make it to a village, the inhabitantsss won't be able to defend themssselvesss," Luna stated dreadfully.
"We have to protect them all!" Lloyd declared with a serious tone. "Tell the Elemental Fighters we have to split up. We'll each intercept a truck and stop it from reaching those villages."
"Whatever happened to 'we fight as one'?" Thunder questioned.
"This isn't a vote, Thunder," Celestia told him in a serious tone. "This is stopping the end of our world as we know it. Stop those trucks quickly, my little ponies, or I fear Equestria will face its second Great War." The Ninja nodded before quickly running out of the cave while Topaz looked closely at the monitors.
"What'ssss my grandfather up to?" she questioned as she felt something was wrong about all this.
"Aqua, Rivet, ready the Harmony's Bounty," Wu instructed. "We must prepare for the worst."
"This is why I don't leave home without my tool belt," Rivet mentioned as she and Aqua went to get to work on the Bounty.
Each of the noodle trucks went down the road as the Elemental Masters stood there. "You heard our orders, split up and intercept those trucks," Max said as the Elemental Masters gave roars and split up into different directions Max told the others before each of them went in separate directions to stop the trucks.
Back in the Samurai X Cave, both Aqua and Rivet were working hard on getting the new Harmony's Bounty up and running as Wu walked up to them. "Why aren't we in the air?" he asked them.
"We're just giving the old gal a makeover," Rivet responded. "If we're going to save the world, you gotta do it in style."
"Plus, it's gonna take some time for her to warm up," Aqua added as the engine sounds start warming up.
"Everycreature, notify every ally we have," Celestia instructed them. "We're going to need all the help we can get."
Wu then turned to Garmadon and Luna. "And brother, sister, if for whatever reason this doesn't work out, we're glad you both are home," he said to them with a small smile as Celestia nodded with a warm smile before nuzzling Luna.
Garmadon then was in deep thought before Misako walked up to him. "There's something wrong," she told him with concern. "What aren't you telling me?"
"We're on the thressshold of war and I'm a pony-sssnake," Garmadon responded. "Take your pick."
"You're my husband, I know you better than that," Misako told him. "There's something else," Garmadon then glanced at his brother before looking at Luna as she had a concerned look on her face. She then gave a nod of approval as she knew he wanted to tell Misako the truth.
"Do you remember the letter I gave you long ago?" he asked his wife.
"Of course," Misako answered with a smile, understanding where this was going. "Even if those words were not your own, I still loved them and you," she said as Garmadon was surprised. "Yes, I know that letter wasn't written by you, Garmadon. I only said nothing because I was waiting for you to tell me yourself. So, tell me, who really wrote that letter?" she asked while stroking Garmadon's cheek as he held her hoof.
"It was-" he was going to tell her before the power suddenly went out in the cave.
"Aqua, what happened?" Sandbar asked.
"The power just went out," Silverstream pointed out.
"I'll have her back online in no time," Aqua said as she went up to the power grid.
"Looks like the others are going in blind," Sky said grimly.
Someone on the road, Frost, in his dragon form, with Rainbow on his back as they flew over a noodle truck on the road. "There's one of the trucks!" Rainbow called.
The Anacondrai driver saw them coming in from behind as Frost breathed out an ice breath, freezing the road as the noodle truck titled before it regained its balance. Frost then breathed out another ice blast, freezing the truck in place as they landed behind it. "That's one," Frost said.
"But there's another one up ahead," Rainbow pointed out while pointing to another truck on another road. "Fly, robot dragon! Fly!" she urged as Frost flew off while roaring the second truck.
Back in the underground tunnel, Pythor and Melody continued running away from the predators behind them as they sweated so much for Chen and his army. "The trucksss are in position," Zugo informs Chen. "It's time."
Chen nodded as he slithered off to the Roto Jet. "Hey, what about us!?" Melody cried out as she kept running. "You can't just leave us here!"
"Where's the honor in that?!" Pythor exclaimed as well.
Chen then turned to them. "Oh, right, honor," he said with a teasing smirk as he entered the Roto Jet. "Like you both said, we aren't real Anacondrai." He gave a laugh as he, the Blade Choppers, and the Sky Chopper started up. "No, we are not. No, no, no," he called out as he and his army took off.
In Ponyville, the creatures were going about their day while the kids were playing ball together as a filly ran after the ball over the bridge. Just then, a noodle truck is driving in at high speed, but then Lloyd, in his dragon form, with Rarity on his back, flies in as they are blasting the truck before destroying the bridge before it could enter Ponyville as the foal looked up in surprise.
The truck then backed up and went in a different direction as the foal was holding the deflated soccer ball. "Sorry kid, no time to explain!" Lloyd told the foal.
"Lloyd, the truck's getting away!" Rarity pointed out before they flew after it.
"Wow!" The filly gasped before coming up with something to replace the ball. "Hey, let's play dragons!" she told her friends.
With Landrush and Fluttershy, they ran after the truck in the woods. "Not a chance, pal," Landrush said to the truck. "Can't let you finish this delivery route." He then breathed out some Earth to make the truck wobble a little before creating a blockade just ahead of it. The driver gasped before pulling to a stop and drove in a different direction.
"They really don't know when to stop, do they?" Fluttershy asked as they followed the truck.
"Well neither do we!" Landrush shouted.
In Equestria City, Trail and Applejack are following the truck as Trail ran at the side of a building as they kept on the chase as they saw creatures walking across the streets. "Everypony move aside!" Applejack called out.
"Out of the way!" Trail called next as he landed between the creatures and the truck as he breathed out a fire blast, which caused the driver to scream and serve out of the way as he crashed through the park with Trail and Applejack behind him.
The driver served to the side as some dirt got on Frost's memorial statue, much to the two ponies' anger. "Hey! That's our friend's statue!" Applejack yelled out.
"Not cool!" Trail roared as they kept following the truck as the lady from earlier got startled by them as she stopped with a scream as she watched them go.
"I thought I told you to move, young dragon!" The old lady yelled at them as they kept flying.
Trail and Applejack kept following the truck through the city. "Trail, there are too many creatures here! Some one's gonna get hurt!" Applejack pointed out.
"Then we gotta get him out of town," Trail said as he than fired many fireballs at each direction, preventing the driver from changing either direction. "Now that's what I call getting back onto the right track," he quipped with a laugh.
"Yer darn tootin' it is, partner," Applejack said with a laugh as Trail kept shooting fire blasts at each direction.
Back in the Samurai X Cave, they managed to get the power back on as they had Frost on the monitor. "Frost, Rainbow, have you diverted the truck away from the villages?" Wu asked.
"Yup, and once we're at a safe distance, we plan on taking care of the Anacondrai inside!" Rainbow responded.
"Good work," Celestia praised. "Everycreature is safe now," Rivet then got one last look at the map before noticing that the Elemental Masters were getting farther and farther away from the villages.
"No, they aren't!" she shouted with fear before she turned on the intercom to all of them. "Stop following the trucks! It's a trap, the whole thing is a trap!"
"What do you mean by that?!" Ocellus asked.
"Don't you sssee?! We aren't pulling them away from the villagesss, they're pulling usss away from them!" Topaz explained which made the whole group worry, realizing this was Chen's plan all along.
"Stop following them!" Celestia called out to the others.
Flash and Twilight followed a truck deep within a forest before Flash used his power to make it hover above the ground. Twilight then blasted the truck's wheels before blasting the side of the truck to make it fall on its side.
Twilight then pulled the driver out of the driver's seat and tied him against a tree while, who was still in his Dragon form, grabbed hold of the back of the truck. "Okay you snakes, tell us where Melody is or we'll-" he demanded as he ripped open the back of the truck but was shocked to find it was completely empty.
"No, it can't be…" Twilight gasp before Flash suddenly turned back into his Pony form as he fell into the ground.
"Everyone, come back now!" Wu called out.
With the other Elemental Masters, they are having similar reactions like Twilight and Flash as with Lloyd and Rarity were at the top of a mountain, they had the same thing reaction as Lloyd lost his dragon form, much to Rarity's surprise.
"Lloyd!" Rarity called as she went up to Lloyd. "Get up. We have to go!" she urged.
Lloyd got up. "You're right. I'm not afraid," he said. "I can do this. We have to get back," he said as he brought out his powers to bring out his dragon form again, but he stopped as he sighed in defeat. "I can't! I'm too afraid!" he said in despair.
"It wasss all a trap," Garmadon said in despair as they all saw their friends and allies scattered throughout Equestria while the Elemental Masters looked at the trucks in horrified while losing their dragon forms.
"Then that means…" Misako started in dread.
"The greatest victoriesss… have no battle," Luna said in dread.
"Now our worst fears have come true," Wu finished with dread as they all had dreadful expressions, knowing what's gonna happen next.
In Ponyville, the creatures are having a fun time, but then the filly who is playing with a young dragon cutout before a shadow over them as she turns and saw Zugo as he scared two, which causes the two kids to run to her parents as Zugo's battalion of Anacondrai came up behind him.
The creatures then all screamed in fear as they ran away as the Anacondrai Army and jets came in and stormed in as Chen was among his army as he gave a maniacal laugh at the chaos as he and his army stormed Ponyville while some of the buildings are up in flames.
"The real Great War… has just begun," Celestia finished grimly.
Once again, Equestria was at war.