The smog surrounding the Crystal Empire moved closer, and King Sombra's head emerged from it.
"The Empire is under attack!"
Shining Armor got Cadance out of unconsciousness, and she used her magic to reform the force field.
"Arrgh!"
Sombra tried to get in, but as the force field rose up, the tip of his horn broke off and fell onto the other side. After completing the spell, Cadance began to struggle to stay conscious. Just then, Deadpool ran out onto the balcony.
"Guys! You all saw that Sombra just barely got into the Crystal Empire, right?!" Asked Deadpool.
(Ha! Som-bra! His name has bra in it!)
"I have to find the Crystal Heart!" Said Shining Armor.
"No, you stay here with Cadance. She needs you, Shining Armor. I'll retrieve the Heart," Said Twilight.
"Let's do this!" Shouted Rainbow Dash.
Twilight, Deadpool, and Rainbow Dash ran through the halls of the castle. Twilight spoke to her friends along the way.
"I've been trying to figure out how I'm meant to pass Celestia's test. Retrieving the Crystal Heart must be it. But there is something you two can do."
"Name it," Said Rainbow.
"You two and the rest of our friends have to keep the Faire going."
"What?! With that thing moving into the Empire?!"
"May I go kick Sombra's ass instead? I promise to not go after the Crystal Heart if I can fight Sombra," Said Deadpool.
"No. It's more important that you and Rainbow Dash keep the Faire going. The whole purpose of the Crystal Faire is to lift the spirits of the Crystal Ponies, so they can activate the Crystal Heart," Said Twilight.
"Yeah, and?"
"If the Crystal Ponies find out that King Sombra is trying to take over the Empire again, their spirits are gonna be anything but lifted. It won't matter if I find the Crystal Heart. They won't be able to make it work. You have to keep them happy here at the Faire."
"Keep the Faire going and the Crystal Ponies' spirits high. Done and done!" Said Rainbow.
By the time they were done talking, the three friends were outside. Shining Armor was watching them from above.
"Twily, be careful," Said Shining Armor.
"I will," Replied Twilight.
Unbeknownst to everyone, the top of Sombra's horn phased into the ground and grew into a small, black crystal. As Twilight was walking through the streets, she noticed her friends were keeping everyone busy and away from the fake Crystal Heart. After looking back at the castle, an idea popped into her head.
"Twilight, wait!"
Twilight looked behind her and saw her dragon assistant, Spike, trying to catch up to her. He eventually caught up and had to catch his breath.
"I'm coming with you," Said Spike.
"You can't. I have to retrieve the Crystal Heart myself," Said Twilight.
"I know. I promise I won't lift a claw to help you."
After contemplating her decision, Twilight sighed in defeat.
"Not a claw, Spike."
Twilight grabbed Spike, put him on her back, and ran back towards the castle.
"Where are we going exactly?" Asked Spike.
"I think I might know where King Sombra hid the Crystal Heart."
Twilight gestured towards the castle. Spike looked at it in confusion.
"The castle?" Questioned Spike.
"The king would've been counting on the fact that nopony would dare come looking for it here. They'd have been too afraid to even try," Explained Twilight.
"I hope you're right."
"You and me both."
Meanwhile, Applejack and Rainbow Dash were keeping guard over the fake heart, so no one would try to look at it since it was kept covered by the flag. Applejack noticed Rainbow was going overboard, though. She was scaring everyone away who was even close to it.
"Uh, Rainbow Dash? We're supposed to be actin' like nothing's wrong," Said Applejack.
"Exactly," Said Rainbow.
A stallion was walking up to where the fake crystal heart was when he bumped into something. He looked up, and saw the red and black clad hero, Deadpool, standing in front of him. The hero had both of his guns aimed right at the stallion.
"Back away from the Crystal Heart!" Demanded Deadpool.
Complying to his request, the stallion ran away.
"Wade! Ya can't threaten people with guns!" Scolded Applejack.
"In the words of Don Cheadle, these won't kill anyone, but they won't tickle either," Said Deadpool.
"You two should let me keep the Crystal Ponies away from the fake Heart, while y'all entertain the crowd."
"Huh. Seeing my awesomeness does have a way of putting ponies into a pretty good mood. Hey, Wade!" Said Rainbow.
"Yeah?"
"Want to be my jousting opponent?"
"Fuck yeah!"
Meanwhile, Twilight was running all over the castle trying to find the Crystal Heart.
"It's gotta be here somewhere. It's just gotta be!" Said Twilight
Spike noticed a carpet that looked like it was tampered with. He was about to lift it when he was stopped by Twilight.
"Not a claw, Spike. Celestia's orders."
Continuing her search, Twilight was about to pass the throne room when she remembered something Celestia told her.
'If the Empire is filled with hope and love, those things are reflected across all of Equestria. If hatred and fear take hold...'
"Of course!"
Stopping dead in her tracks, Spike accidentally ran into Twilight from behind.
"What? Did you find it?" Asked Spike.
"No. Because this isn't King Sombra's castle," Answered Twilight.
"Well, isn't this where he lived when he was in power?"
"It is. But it didn't look like this."
Focusing intensely, Twilight was able to perform the same dark magic spell Celestia used on the throne. The crystal on top of the throne cast a shadow on the floor, revealing a hidden spiral staircase. Twilight clapped her hooves in excitement.
"Whoa. When did you learn to do that?" Asked Spike.
"That was a little trick Celestia taught me," Answered Twilight.
Looking down, the staircase seemed to go on forever. Twilight lit up her horn, and made her way down.
"You stay here," Ordered Twilight.
"Huh, if you insist."
Watching Twilight go down the stairs, Spike asked her a question.
"Can you see what's down there yet?" Asked Spike, his voice echoing down the deep stairwell.
"Not yet. I can't even tell how far down this goes!"
To test how far down the stairs went, Twilight pulled a black rock from the wall and dropped it. She tried to listen for a sound, but nothing occurred. To her surprise, after eight whole seconds of waiting, she heard the rock hit the ground.
"Spike?" Called Twilight.
"Yeah?" Replied Spike.
"Can you see outside?"
Spike looked out a window and saw to his horror that the force field began to fade again. Sombra for a brief second was able to turn the front gate of the Empire into black crystals.
"Yesss… Crystalsss…" Hissed Sombra.
"It's not good! Cadance's magic must be fading faster than before!" Said Spike.
After hearing that, Twilight began to ran down the stairs. The stairs were unstable, though, and a step broke, causing her to fall down the rest of the stairs. She managed to catch herself with her magic before she hit her head. When she opened her eyes, she saw she had made it to the bottom.
"Twilight? Are you okay?" Asked Spike.
"Yes…"
After looking around, Twilight found a lone door. She walked up to open it, but it moved.
"What in the…"
She tried again, but it moved again.
"Stop… moving!"
The door kept sliding all over the wall until Twilight used the dark magic spell again to open it. On the other side, there was only a bright, white light.
"Spike, I think it's here!"
Twilight ran inside, wasting no time. Once she entered through the door, she was in… Celestia's throne room? It was empty. No one but Twilight was inside.
"Huh?"
"What are YOU doing here?"
Twilight turned around and found Princess Celestia. But she was different, she was... angry.
"I don't know! I opened the door and-"
"And now you must GO."
"Go where?"
"Doesn't matter to me. You failed the test, Twilight!"
Twilight's heart almost stopped when she heard what her teacher said.
"I don't understand! The test?"
"Not only will you NOT move on to the next level of your studies, you won't continue your studies AT ALL!"
"I… You didn't say anything about no longer being your student if I failed!"
"Didn't I?"
"But… what do I do now?"
Laughter could be heard from the room, King Sombra's wicked laugh. Twilight broke down into tears on the spot.
"Twilight! Twilight? Twilight! Twiiiiilight!"
Twilight came out of some trance with a gasp, and realized she was standing in front of the door she had gone in. She also saw Spike had gone down after her.
"I know you told me to stay up there, but you were here for such a long time and you weren't answering and I got worried, so I came down here and you were just staring at that wall and… I was calling your name, but I couldn't seem to get your attention, and… What were you looking at? I mean… it's just a wall."
Twilight stood aside as Spike looked inside the door. Suddenly, his eyes glowed green, and he began to see things.
"Ponyville? How did I get… No! I don't wanna go! Please, Twilight, don't make me!"
SLAM!
Seeing enough, Twilight slammed the door, snapping Spike out of his trance.
"King Sombra's dark magic. A doorway that leads to your worst fear," Said Twilight.
"We were home. You told me you didn't need me anymore. You were sending me away…"
Twilight brought Spike into an embrace.
"A fear that will never come to pass. I'm never gonna send you away. And I'm not gonna fail my test!"
Using her normal magic, Twilight opened the door and revealed… even more stairs; this time, going up.
"What's in there?" Asked Spike.
"Stairs. Lots and lots of stairs. Maybe you should come with me this time."
Twilight and Spike began to climb up the stairs with confident looks on their faces. Meanwhile, Cadance was starting to lose consciousness again. Outside the force field, Sombra's horn regenerated and he spread his shadows further into the Crystal Empire. After some preparations, Rainbow Dash and Deadpool were ready for their jousting match. They were armored up, had lances in hoof, and stood on opposite sides of a track. A crowd had gathered to watch the match.
"Are you ready, Deadpool?" Asked Rainbow.
"That's Sir Dead of the House of Pool to you. And yes, I am ready!" Answered Deadpool confidently.
"Good!"
Once a horn was played by Pinkie Pie, both combatants charged at each other, full speed. Once they closed in on each other, they striked.
"Gah!"
"Oooh!" Cried the crowd painfully.
Deadpool missed, and Rainbow Dash struck him dead on. Her lance managed to slip though Deadpool's armor plating, stabbing him in the shoulder.
"Wade, are you okay?" Asked Rainbow.
"Of course not! I just had my fuckin' shoulder stabbed by a medieval pointy thing!" Answered Deadpool angrily.
"I hope Twilight has found the Crystal Heart. After this, no pony will want to watch jousting again for a while."
Unbeknownst to everyone, some houses had turned into dark crystals by King Sombra's magic. Meanwhile, Twilight and Spike were struggling up the stairs. No matter how high they go, there seemed to be no end.
"What if this is more of his magic? He makes a door to your worst nightmare. Why not a staircase that goes on forever?" Asked Spike, panting with every step.
After looking up at even more stairs, Twilight came up with an idea. She grabbed Spike and put him on her back.
"Hold on to me."
Twilight used her magic to lift herself and Spike upside down and onto the underside of the stairs. Because the underside was flat, they began to slide down, effectively going up the steps. Meanwhile, King Sombra's magic was changing the Crystal Empire at an even faster rate. More and more of the Empire was turning into black crystals. Some of the Crystal Ponies took notice and reverted back to their previous state of dull coats. All of them ran up to the Crystal Heart, which wasn't there, but Applejack was keeping everyone back.
"Excuse me, pardon me…" Rarity managed to move through the crowd and whispered to Applejack. "I am running out of weaving materials for the traditional crafts booth! I just made a hat out of three pieces of hay and a drinking straw! I made it work. But still!"
"We gotta do everything we can to keep this thing goin'. The Princess isn't looking so good. I can't imagine her magic is gonna last much longer. It's gonna be fine. These ponies are gonna power up the Crystal Heart when the time comes, and we won't be needin' her magic anyway," Said Applejack
"I sure hope that time comes soon! Even I can't keep this party going forever!"
The girls turned around and saw Pinkie Pie balancing on a ball, juggling flugelhorns? Suddenly, she slipped, causing the ball to hit the fake Crystal Heart. It slid into the crowd, and it shattered into little pieces.
"This isn't' the Crystal Heart," Said a pony.
Rarity laughed nervously, trying to come up with an explanation for the fake Crystal Heart.
"Oh, of course it isn't. The real one is-"
"On it's way!" Shouted Applejack.
"I was going to say 'being polished' to buy us more time."
"Oops."
In the distance, King Sombra's laugh could be heard throughout the Empire.
"It's… It's him!" Cried the Crystal Ponies in fear.
"Crystal Heart…" Bellowed King Sombra.
Meanwhile, Twilight and Spike were still sliding down the underside of the stairs.
"Whoooooahahaha! I actually studied gravity spells, thinking it might be on my test! Turns out I was prepared for this!" Said Twilight in excitement.
Eventually, they reached the end, and Twilight reversed the gravity spell, so she and Spike were right-side up. Afterwards, they saw what they were looking for - the Crystal Heart. It was held in a tower overlooking the Empire. The Crystal Heart was blue and it was shiny. Making her move, Twilight walked up to the Heart. When she stepped on the floor below it, the floor turned black, alerting King Sombra. After Twilight grabbed the Heart, Sombra cast a spell that formed a cage of crystal around her. He succeeded in catching Twilight, but the Crystal Heart was knocked out of the cage.
"The Heart… Where's the Crystal-"
"Here! It rolled over to me when you dropped it!" Said Spike.
Spike tried to run over to Twilight, but little sharp crystals were bursting from the ground.
"Don't move! You can move, just not towards me!"
Twilight tried to teleport out of the cage, but she was teleported back inside by Sombra's magic.
"How could I have been so foolish? I was just so eager to get it! Then when I saw what was going on outside, I…"
"You have to get out of there, Twilight! You have to be the one who brings the Heart to Princess Cadance! If you don't, you'll fail Celestia's test!"
"King Sombra's already attacking the Empire. He could reach the Crystal Ponies at any moment… reach Princess Cadance, my brother, my friends. There may not be enough time for me to find a way to escape." Twilight looked in between the crystals that made up her prison, and saw that Spike was standing directly next to the Crystal Heart. "'You' have to be the one to bring the Crystal Heart to the Faire."
"Me? But Twilight-"
"Go!"
"But-"
"Goooo!"
Spike grabbed the Crystal Heart and jumped out of the tower before he was trapped as well. Meanwhile, down below, Twilight's friends had moved up to the castle's balcony.
"Now don't y'all worry your pretty, little crystal heads! The real Crystal Heart will be here any second!" Assured Applejack.
"I don't know if they believe you…" Said Rarity.
"Don't know if I believe me…"
In a last attempt, Princess Cadance tried to use her magic, but it was completely drained. The force field finally gave out. The Crystal Empire was defenseless. King Sombra's shadow form appeared from the smog.
"Ahhhh! My crystal slaves!"
"Hey, Som-Bra! Suck on this!"
Deadpool fired a rocket from an RPG at King Sombra, but he effortlessly phased through it.
(If gunfire didn't do anything to him in the previous chapter, why did you think that was going to work?)
"I don't know man. Just work with me."
"Hey! Up here!"
"Spike?"
Looking up, Spike was standing precariously on top of what looked like a thin staircase.
"I got the Crystal Heart!" Said Spike.
"That is MINE!"
King Sombra phased through the ground and headed towards the castle. Spike tried climbing down, but he ended up falling towards the ground. King Sombra headed towards him, riding a giant crystal. He reverted to his normal form and was about to grab Spike and the Heart when they were grabbed by someone else. It was Princess Cadance! She managed to recover her strength enough to save Spike. She then proceeded to fly down into the crowd of ponies below.
"Behold! The Crystal Princess!" Said a pony.
"The Crystal Heart has returned. Use the light and love within you to ensure that King Sombra does not."
Cadance tossed the Heart to the center of the castle's overhang, where it was held in place by two pillars. All of the Crystal Ponies bowed down to the Heart, and light was bathing the streets of the Empire.
"What? No… No! Stop!"
Much to Sombra's dismay, the Heart began to spin and cast light across the Empire. Anyone who wasn't a Crystal Pony had shone like they were made of crystal. Even Deadpool looked like a sparkling gem.
"Whoa! I look fabulous!" Said Deadpool.
The light also destroyed the black crystals, freeing Twilight of her prison. When Sombra was coated in the light, he began to crack into pieces.
"Ahhhhhhhhhh!"
King Sombra shattered into a thousand pieces, spreading out across the land. A beam of light shot out of the castle, spreading light across Equestria. Celestia and Luna could see it themselves in the throne room, and they both smiled, knowing that everyone succeeded in protecting the Empire. After it was all over, the Crystal Ponies cheered for their heroes. As for Twilight, she looked down towards Spike with a smile.
"Good job, Spike."
A few minutes later, the group of friends, except for Deadpool, was leaving the Crystal Empire, being escorted by Cadance and Shining Armor. Everyone had returned to their original forms.
"I do so wish it was permanent. Did you see how my mane just absolutely sparkled?" Asked Rarity.
"But… good things are better when they're a 'rarity,'" Countered Applejack.
"Aww."
While Rarity and Applejack talked, Twilight was speaking to her brother.
"Everything's gonna be okay. You've gotta stop saving my rump like this. It's starting to get embarrassing," Said Shining Armor.
"Wasn't me who saved you in the end. It was Spike," Said Twilight sadly.
"It's just a test. Maybe she'll let you retake it."
"I don't think she's gonna give me a new test."
"Has anyone seen Wade?" Asked Rainbow Dash.
Everyone started looking for Deadpool when they found him. He was off to the side with a group of mares.
"You looked so radiant as a Crystal Pony!" Said a mare.
"Well, if you thought that was radiant, you should see what's under the mask," Said Deadpool seductively.
(We just stopped an invasion and you think now is the best time to be hitting on mares?)
"... Yes."
(What about Twilight?)
"I'm only flirting… maybe."
His friends rolled their eyes out of annoyance.
A couple hours later…
Twilight stood next to Celestia in the Canterlot Castle's throne room. They were looking outside the windows, where the multi-colored light from the Crystal Empire could be seen in the sky.
"It's beautiful," Said Celestia in astonishment.
"I wish it had been me who ultimately made it so. But it wasn't," Said Twilight sadly.
"Twilight, as I understand it, Spike brought Princess Cadance the Crystal Heart because you weren't sure how quickly you could find a way to escape the tower. You weren't willing to risk the future of the citizens of the Crystal Empire in an effort to guarantee you own. Far better that I have a student who understands the meaning of self-sacrifice than one who only looks out for her own best interests."
"Does this mean…?"
Meanwhile, outside the castle, Twilight's friends were waiting for the results of her test. Spike was having a hard time keeping it together.
"She's totally gonna lose it!" He took a deep breath in an effort to calm down. "Keep it together, buddy… Gotta stay strong… for Twilight!"
WHAM!
Spike was accidentally hit by Twilight opening the door.
"I passed!" Said Twilight happily.
"Yeah!" Cried the rest of the Mane Six.
Deadpool realized that Twilight and her friends were going to sing.
"Wait, no!"
One song later…
Everyone was on a train heading back to Ponyville. Deadpool looked out the window with a pain filled look as his friends continued to sing. Celestia and Luna were watching them from a distance. Luna summoned a black covered book with her magic and looked at her sister. Both of them nodded in agreement and continued watching the train.
The End.
Hey, what's up everyone! Hope you all enjoyed the latest chapter of "Deadpool: Mercenary of Harmony"! The next chapter will be based off of a... memorable episode of "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic". Before I finish off this note, I want to make a very special shoutout to "My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic"! At the time of posting this chapter, the show is celebrating its ten-year-anniversary. This show has changed my life in more ways than one. My love for this show inspired me to write the first drafts for this fanfiction over two years ago, and now I have begun sharing my story to fellow fans like you. It's safe to say that without My Little Pony, I wouldn't be writing as much as I am now. I am proud to be a brony! Until next time, this has been ThePhantomArchives, and happy anniversary "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic"!