Chapter 121: Heart of the Hero Part 3: End of Shadows
The silence in the arena was so thick, you would be able to cut it with a knife, Hercules was furious with the Shadow Lord as he believed that the Shadow Lord killed Megara, his girlfriend, his eyes burning with fury as he clenched his fist, ready to unleash his anger on the Shadow Lord while he just stood there, smiling as he found this all amusing to him, his arms crossed as he kept his eyes on the opposing team, both sides starring one another down as they waited for the other to make a move.
"Hercules, don't be rash." May said. "He wants you to act out, to loose your temper and attack without thinking."
"I know this May." Hercules replied, anger boiling up inside of him as he approached the Shadow Lord. "Tell me something, is what Hades say true? Did you kill Meg?"
"I have."The Shadow Lord replied. "You see, she was stealing the trophy for Hades in exchange for her soul."
"Her soul?" Twilight asked.
"Yes, her soul." The Shadow Lord replied. "She exchanged her soul a long time ago to save the man she loved, before meeting Hercules. However, he started to grow distant from her and in the end left her for another woman, leaving her with a heavy burden and in eternal servitude to Hades." He unfolded his arms and took his blade, keeping his smile as he starred at his enemies. "So to repay that debt, Hades had her steal the trophy with the five Heart Pieces and bring them to the underworld, where I was waiting for her."
"Wait, did Hades order you to kill Megara?" May asked.
"Indeed, he did." The Shadow Lord replied, angering Hercules even further. "He didn't want her to go letting everyone know that the trophy was stolen and Hades has it, but I guess he betrayed the wrong person, didn't he?"
"What is that backstabbing goat doing!?" Hades exclaimed, red with anger.
"Betraying you, that's what." Maleficent replied. "It seems your control over this creature is gone."
"I should never have summoned that monster in the first place!" Hades exclaimed, calming down. "Alright, I'm cool, cool, cool as a cucumber."
"This Shadow Lord has betrayed you and all you're doing is doing some breathing exercises." Maleficent said. "Do you honestly believe that breathing is going to help you?"
"Don't worry sweet cheeks, I got this under control." Hades replied. "Besides, I have an idea for what I can do to stop him."
"So what then?" May asked. "What do you have to gain from killing Megara?"
The Shadow Lord didn't answer, but instead reached behind his back and, to their horror, pulled out the trophy with all the Heart Pieces on it, the crowd gasping as they saw he had the trophy in his hand, seeing the dark lord smirking at them.
"The trophy!" Twilight exclaimed.
"Precisely." The Shadow Lord replied. "This little trinket holds so much more power than I have ever felt. Such power does not belong in the hands of a weak and pathetic being such as Hades, so I shall be the one to use such power!" He then crushed the trophy, shattering it into dozens of pieces as the Heart Pieces flew out of the Trophy and into the air, the lights circling the Shadow Lord as he raised his hands, turning the colorful lights into orbs of pure darkness, dark lightning arching in between them. "When the shadows are devoured by even darker shadows, the curtain pulls back to reveal, a world without light!"
As he finished his little chant, a pillar of pure darkness shot up into the air and turned the entire sky dark, black lightning shooting from the sky and striking the ground, causing the earth beneath them to crack open, creating a massive chasm in between him and the team as spirits of the dead shot out from the underworld and circled the pillar, even the god of the dead had to hold onto something to not get sucked in as the crowd screamed and ran for cover. When the pillar disappeared, the whole group was shocked to see the Shadow Lord had completely changed, his armor was pure black with crimson red edging around the armor and the horrified faces of the dead edged into the armor, his horns were set a flame with crimson flames as he grew demonic-dragon like wings, with a massive red crystal in the center of his chest. He then started growing even larger than what he was before until he was the size of a titan, towering over every and all that were in the arena, everyone gazing up at the massive being as he loomed over everyone, laughing as he looked over them.
"By the gods of Olympus." Hercules said. "He's... he's..."
"He's huge!" Rainbow Dash said. "He's even bigger than a Darkside! How are we supposed to beat that!?"
"Don't know, but we'll find a way." May replied.
"This... power." The Shadow Lord said. "Such... exquisite, sublime, raw power! I have dreamed of such power such as this, the power to create and destroy!"
He then threw his hand onto the ground and a vortex of darkness opened and from it, dozens of Beastmen came out of the dark portal, roaring in rage as they charged at anything that moved, some going after civilians, while others focused on the Keyblade warriors and the hero, who charged in with his sword and swung, destroying one of the Beastmen axe, splitting it in two before kicking him into a group of other Beastmen, charging into the fight as Twilight, Knuckles and May followed after him while Rainbow Dash took to the sky again, helping to take down more Beastmen while using their magic to bring them down, using fire and thunder spells to burn the Beastmen and electrocute them, the lightning arching between the Beastmen as they charged. As they finished off the last of the Beastmen, The Shadow Lord raised his hand again and summoned forth a dark storm, purple and black lightning arching within the sky as a torrent of darkness shot into the sky and turned the sky dark, the stars appearing within the sky and scaring the people.
"This is not good." Twilight said.
"Twilight!" Shining Armor shouted.
They all turned around and saw their friends running to them, Beastmen coming out of the shadows to attack, which Luna had found a spare sword and was fending them off along with Applejack, Rarity, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy as more and more Beastmen were coming out of nowhere, joining the fight as it raged on.
"Shining, Cadence, what are you doing here?" Twilight asked. "Where are the fillies?"
"We got them out of here and to the ship." Cadence replied. "But there's something going on with the sky."
"Yeah, we noticed." Rainbow Dash said, striking another Beastmen down. "Tall, dark, and ugly there turned day into night."
"No, not that!" Cadence said. "Look!"
They all looked up and saw that the sky was cracking, Knuckles recognizing it and knew this wasn't good, punching a Beastman out before running to everyone else.
"It's the barrier!" Knuckles shouted, running up to them. "It's the barrier between worlds! It's cracking!"
"The what?" Twilight asked.
"The World Barrier." May replied, striking another Beastman down. "It's a protective shield that keeps the darkness out, protecting the world from being consumed. If the barrier breaks, then the world will be destroyed."
"Wait, so if that barrier breaks, then this world dies!?" Pinkie asked, taking down another Beastman.
"Yes." May replied, striking down another Beastman. "The Shadow Lord is using the power of the Heart Pieces to create a rift large enough o summon an army, but such rifts tear the fabric of space and time, causing collapse between worlds. If we don't close this rift, The Olympus Coliseum and the world these Beastmen are coming from will be destroyed."
"Then how do we stop him!?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"I think I can help with that." Hades said, appearing from the shadows and destroying another Beastman.
"How the heck can you help!?" Applejack asked. "Ya'll are the one who caused this."
"I know, I know, my mistake." Hades replied, snapping his finger and incinerating several Beastmen. "But I might have a way to fix this. Below us is the River Styx, which if a mortal falls into it, they will begin to age rapidly until they are nothing but dust. Now, if your friend there can control the water, then-"
"Then we can use the water to make him age and weaken him, brilliant!" Twilight exclaimed. "But how can we get him to the river?"
"Why we bring the river to him." Hades replied, pointing to the chasm. "Below us is the River Styx. All May needs to do is channel the power of the river itself and bingo, bango, bongo, you got your chance of victory."
"May, can you do it?" Twilight asked.
"I... I can try." May replied, pushing the Beastman off her. "But I will need some space to work and I will need a large enough opening."
"Leave that to me." Hades said.
He raised his hand and threw it down, releasing a wave of dark energy that collapsed the ground before them, revealing a deep chasm filled with darkness, a single and could hear the sound of running water, the river Styx below them running and ready for use. May finished off the Beastman that she was fighting and rushed to the ledge of the chasm, which a small pathway was made for her as she ran up it, Twilight and Rainbow Dash moving to get in the way and fight off the ones that were trying to get at May. As the Keyblade warrior got to the end of the ledge, she closed her eyes and reached out her hand, trying to summon forth the water below and serve her command, but she could also feel the water resisting her, not paying any attention to her will due to the magic within the river, making it difficult for her to acquire control of the river.
"I... I can't." May said, opening her eyes. "The river... it's too strong. I can't control it."
"You have to!" Twilight shouted, looking up to the sky and seeing the cracks getting worse. "You're the only one strong enough to do so!"
"I... I can't." She replied, falling to her knees. "I... I can't do it." She then looked to her friends, watching as they were fighting the Beastmen back, time seemingly slowing down as she gave up hope. "I... I tried."
"Do or do not, there is no try." Spyro said.
May opened her eyes and found herself at the edge of the River Styx, getting up and looking around, wondering how she got there and where Spyro was after hearing his voice.
"Spyro!?" May exclaimed. "Where are you!?"
"I am here." Spyro replied, May turning to look behind her, but didn't see him. "I have always been with you."
"W-where are you?" May asked. "I can't see you."
"Because I cannot manifest myself before you." Spyro replied. "The River Styx is calling me, trying to make me follow its waters to the afterlife, so I cannot get close to it without being carried away by it."
"I... I don't know what to do." May said. "The river won't listen, the barrier is breaking, I... I..."
"You are scared." Spyro said, making May look into the water. "You're scared of yourself, aren't you? Scared of what you did when you were still serving Malefor."
"Yes." May replied. "I... I... what happens if I fall again? Will tapping into my full potential cause me to fall back into the darkness? Will...?"
"May, relax." Spyro replied. "Calm yourself and breathe. You are in control of your power, not the darkness. And certainly not your fear. Fear is what's holding you back, what's causing your connection to your magic to be weak. You need to let go."
"But... what if..." May began to say before stopping.
"May, if you second guess yourself or doubt your own abilities and who you are, who you're meant to be, then you will certainly fail." Spyro replied. "Just reach out. Don't force the water to obey you. Work with it, for the water is a part of you as you are apart of the water. Remember, do or do not, there is no try."
May looked up from the water to look around, finding that she was still alone in front of the River Styx, pondering what she should do before looking at her hand, thinking about what Spyro said before closing her hand, making a fist before taking a breath, closing her eyes and she tried again. As she called to the water, she could feel and the anger and fear coming from the spirits within the water itself, sensing the magic that flowed within the water as whispers filled her ears, whispers of what she did to her friends, those she cared about, about what will happen when she fails, but she ignored those voices, letting go as she extended her hand, feeling the power of the water before her, closing her hand again into a fist. As she did that, a geyser of water shot out from the river, causing her to open her eyes as the same geyser shot out of the chasm, shooting towards the Shadow Lord and hitting him with full force, breaking his concentration as he tried to block the torrent of magical water, the night sky turning to day as the rift closed.
"There, that's your opening!" May exclaimed, getting up as she split the torrent into two, controlling them at the same time. "Get up there and disconnect the gem from his chest, that's probably where the Heart Pieces are at!"
"I'm on it!" Rainbow Dash said.
She then flew up into the air, Knuckles taking her place to keep them off of May, avoiding the water as she did not want to get hit with it and end up aging into an old pony, reaching the jewel on his chest and plunging her Keyblade into the massive jewel, pulling and pushing on it to try and dislodge it from the armor and, thought it was taking a while, the gem was slowly coming loose from the armor. On the ground, everyone was doing what they could to stop the Beastmen, Luna and Cadence flying in the air and firing bolts of magic at the Beastmen while also swiping at them with any weapon they could get, Fluttershy providing support by healing her friends and using her Aero spell to create a protective barrier around her friends while everyone else on the ground was engaged in melee combat, exchanging slashes and blows with the Beastmen, which thankfully they were starting to become fewer and fewer as The Shadow Lord was distracted by the geysers hitting him, causing him to age before them and become weaker and weaker the longer he was exposed to the water.
"So far so good." Twilight said, knocking one of the remaining few Beastmen back. "We need to keep him busy long enough to give Rainbow Dash a chance to get the gem off his armor."
"Well it's a good thing there are fewer Beastmen now." Rarity said, knocking another down. "A lady shouldn't be subjected to such circumstances."
"Annoying pest!" The Shadow Lord exclaimed. He then swiped at Rainbow Dash, who was too quick for him to get a clean hit on her. "I will not be defeated by insignificant insects!"
He raised his hand again, this time a dark orb appearing in his hand as he hit the ground, causing the ground to shake, throwing May off balance as she slipped off the ledge, reaching for the cliff and grabbing it, avoiding falling into the chasm, but was hanging on for dear life. For the dark portal that the Shadow Lord created, the ground shook again, this time a bat like Beastman with a massive scythe in it's hand, growling as it looked at the enemy, May seeing it as her skin turned pale.
"A Demon Befouler!" May shouted. "Keep away from it!"
"Too late!" Shining Armor shouted.
The Befouler rushed towards the group, raising it's scythe as it swung it down, causing the earth to shake as cracks appeared on the cliff that May was holding onto, gasping as she tried to climb up, but due to the water she used, the ledge itself was slippery. Rainbow Dash got back to pulling and pushing on the gem, loosening it to the point where it was ready to pop off, smiling as she was getting ready to pull on it one last time to get it off.
"MAY!" Twilight shouted.
Rainbow Dash looked back to the ground, finding that May was struggling to hang onto the cliff as the Befouler engaged the others, keeping them from trying to help May.
"May, hang on!" Rainbow Dash shouted.
Rainbow Dash pulled on the gem one final time, pulling it out of the armor and flying down while the Shadow Lord gasp in pain, hissing as he felt his body was tearing itself apart as the cyan Pegasus flew down towards her friends, landing in front of May and placing the crystal on the ground before reaching a hoof to her, May grabbing it and looking happy, relieved to be safe, but all of a sudden, they heard something explode behind Rainbow Dash, the Pegasus looking back and seeing Applejack flying towards them, hitting Rainbow Dash off the cliff and making her fly while the crystal fell into the pit. She then flew down with May still hanging onto her foreleg as Rainbow Dash got underneath it, the crystal landing on her back, but the combined weight of the crystal and May was too much for her, dragging her down towards the River Styx as they heard it's watery wave become louder and louder, looking down to see it.
"Shoot, we need to get out of here!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "Hang on, I'll flap my wings harder and-"
"No Rainbow, don't." May replied, surprising the Pegasus. "Rainbow Dash, finish the mission. Get the crystal to the surface and get it away from the Shadow Lord."
"No way, not happening!" Rainbow Dash replied. "I am not going to loose another friend!"
"Rainbow Dash, please listen to me." May said, looking up to the Pegasus. "I made many mistakes, some of which I can never fully repent for. Please, do me this one last favor. Get the crystal out of here and get it to the ship, far away from the Shadow Lord."
"May, no, don't." Rainbow Dash said.
"Take care of yourself Rainbow." May said. "And take care of your friends as well."
Without hesitating, she let go of Rainbow Dash's foreleg, time slowing down for the both of them as May started falling towards the river, slowly falling down the pit as she closed her eyes, but a second later, she felt like something grabbed her, opening her eyes, she looked up and saw that it was Rainbow Dash who had grabbed her, flying upward as fast as she could.
"I am not going to loose you as well May!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "I already lost Spyro, I won't loose you too!"
"Rainbow Dash, I told you to let me go!" May shouted. "You can't... wait, where's the crystal?" She looked down and saw, to her horror, that the crystal was falling down the pit, hitting the wall as it fell into the dark pit below. "What have you done!? You need to let me go and get the crystal!"
"No, I won't." Rainbow Dash replied. "We can always get the crystal from the Underworld, but we can't get a second life. It's something Spyro would probably say."
May looked up at Rainbow Dash in surprise, not believing that she would sacrifice the Heart Pieces to save her, looking down into the pit as she watched the crystal enter into the dark, however, they then heard something shatter and looked down, watching as a bright flash of light shot out of the pit, pushing them out of the dark chasm and onto the ground, shaking their heads and looking around. They watched as all the Beastmen collapsed onto the ground, turning into dust, the others looking equally as surprised, even the Befouler collapsed onto the ground, turning to Dustin along with the rest of the Beastmen, that dust flying into the air and disappearing into the open sky, the cracks in the sky repairing themselves as the balance in the world was restored.
"Well, whatever you did, it seemed to restore the world to its natural order." Twilight said, walking up to them. "But, where's the crystal?"
"I... had to let it go." Rainbow Dash replied, shocking them.
"WHAT!?" Twilight shouted. "Why!?"
"Because I could only carry one back up here." Rainbow Dash replied. "Ponies aren't a problem, but humans and large crystals, they're heavy. So I did what Spyro would have done, let the crystal go to save a friend."
"Wow, I would have done the opposite and saved the crystal." Knuckles said. "But, you seem more loyal to your friends than most I've ever met."
"As it would seem." The Shadow Lord said. They all looked in the direction of where the voice was coming from, only to watch as the Shadow Lord grabbed Rainbow Dash as she tried to fly away, grabbing her by the wing as she tried to pull herself out of his grip. "You were reckless and a fool to let such power go little pony. Such power could have made you a god, like it did for me."
"Let her go now!" Applejack shouted, everyone summoning their Keyblades or getting a weapon close to them.
"As you wish." The Shadow Lord replied.
He then crushed Rainbow Dash's wing, Breaking many bones in her wing as she screamed in pain, everyone watching in horror as their friend screamed out in pain and was then tossed into the chasm, shocking them.
"RAINBOW DASH!" Twilight screamed.
"Hang on, we're coming!" Luna shouted.
She and Cadence took off and flew towards the hole to save the Pegasus, but the Shadow Lord appeared in front of the chasm, punching Luna and knocking her out while grabbing Cadence by the neck, pointing his blade to her.
"I don't think so." The Shadow Lord said, everyone stopping where they were. "You took away my power, now I'll take away everything you all care about."
"Cadence, no!" Shining Armor shouted, fearing for the safety of his fiancé.
In the chasm, Rainbow Dash was falling and in pain, wanting to fly away, but her wing was crushed, preventing her from flying away as she fell, trying to grab onto something to prevent herself from falling, but unable to grab anything as she fell further into the darkness, unable to see a thing as she fell. A moment later, she saw something in the darkness, seeing a light below her as she fell and as she got closer to it, it was revealed to be a stained glass platform of herself, resting on a cloud with images of her friends in clouds, surrounding her as she had her eyes close and her Keyblade in her hoof, peacefully resting. She wanted to try and slow herself down so she wouldn't splatter on the glass, but with her wing broken, she had no choice but to brace herself, but she was then slowed down, landing gently onto the glass and looking around to get a feel for where she was.
"Where... am I?" Rainbow Dash asked herself.
"You're in your heart little rainbow." A voice replied.
She recognized the voice instantly and turned her head to her right, finding Spyro sitting on a platform sharpening a Keyblade, looking up and s idling at her.
"Spyro!" She exclaimed.
"How you doing lollipop fugitive?" Spyro asked. Rainbow Dash ran over and hugged him, which he hugged her back, but she yelled out in pain, Spyro backing away and seeing the condition her wing was in. "You wing!"
"It's nothing." She replied, trying to play it off.
"Like heck that's nothing!" Spyro replied. "Here, let me see it." He walked over and knelt down, gently touching the wing, but she hissed in pain as he did. He then gently stroked it, letting his Chaos Energy flow through him and into Rainbow Dash's wing as they heard crunching and cracking, Rainbow Dash wincing and hissing in pain, tears rolling down her face as it happened. "I know it hurts, but you need to be brave Rainbow. I'm almost done."
He then put his hand onto the elbow of her wing and closed his eyes, releasing more energy into her wing as it regrew some of the feathers she lost, finishing his healing as Rainbow Dash moved her wing around, finding there wasn't any pain.
"Hey, it's all better!" Rainbow Dash said, hugging Spyro. "Thanks Spyro."
"You're welcome Rainbow Dash." Spyro replied, ending the hug. "It's good to see you again little rainbow."
"So, you said I'm in my heart, why?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Because I called you here." Spyro replied, sitting back down onto the platform. "I am actually proud of you, and thankful because Raogrimm was using my power and destroying the World Order."
"Ah no big deal." Rainbow Dash replied. "But I need to get back. That goat-headed freak is going to hurt our friends."
"Don't worry, you'll be heading back to them soon." Spyro replied. "But not without help."
"Help?" Rainbow Dash asked. "What kind of help?"
"A super powered kind of help." Spyro replied, confusing her. "Rainbow, the Shadow Lord is too powerful for you all as he's hundreds if not thousands of years old, so he has more power than what anyone could have. So I'm going to share my power with you so you can defeat him."
"Aw yeah, now we're talking!" Rainbow Dash shouted, flying into the air. "Let's do it and-"
"Hold on Rainbow Dash, there's something you need to know before you agree." Spyro replied, stopping her as she landed on the ground again. "You remember when I fuse with you girls and you share your power with me?"
"Of course I remember." Rainbow Dash replied. "We're basically unstoppable."
"Well there is something you need to know before you agree." Spyro said. "In the World of Marvels, I saw our future, which showed you girls dying from one of Malefor's spells, aging and dying right before me. I lost my heart on purpose to become stronger, strong enough to defeat Malefor."
"Wait, you did that on purpose?" Rainbow Dash asked. "To do what?"
"To defeat Malefor." Spyro replied. "Rainbow Dash, when I share my power with you, you share all of my strengths, but also my curse."
"Your curse?" Rainbow Dash asked. "What curse are you talking about?"
"Immortality." Spyro replied, surprising her. "When I share my power with you, you will live eternally, age will never catch up with you, you will watch your friends and family age without you, watching as they pass away without you. Henceforth, it must be your decision, will you bear such a curse or will you not and age with your friends and pass away?"'
Rainbow Dash felt her heart sink into her own stomach, plopping down on her flank as she looked to him with shock and surprise, living forever but seeing her friends pass away, looking down on the floor, before leaping towards him, hugging him again and catching him completely off guard.
"I don't care what kind of curse I have to bear, I need to save my friends." Rainbow Dash said. "Our friends. And I want you back as well. And I won't stop until we have you back."
Spyro smiled at her, hugging her back again as he planted a kiss on her head, a light shined from the glass panels below them, shining brighter and brighter until they were engulfed in the light as it shot outward into the darkness. Back in the real world, everyone was horrified as they looked over the edge and into the chasm, seeing nothing but the darkness as they prayed she would fly out of the chasm and boasting about how amazing she was, May's heart plunging into her stomach as she had just lost a friend, her rage rising up inside of her as her green eyes turning into cyan blue, looking up to the Shadow Lord as he laughed.
"And thus, your friend paid the price for her arrogance." The Shadow Lord said.
"That was a mistake." May said, getting up.
"Why, cause you have one less friend to hide behind?" The Shadow Lord asked, drawing his blade.
"No." May replied, her blue hair turning a freezing cyan blue. "Cause now you gave me a reason to unleash my full power."
Everyone was looking at her, wondering what she was talking about when they saw the water around her circle her, several orbs of water rising into the air as the air itself smelled like a storm was coming, looking up, but not seeing any storm clouds before water slowly appeared in the air, surprising everyone as the Shadow Lord backed away.
"What sorcery is this!?" He asked, raising his blade.
"It's not sorcery, it's science." May replied. "The air itself is comprised of oxygen and hydrogen. Combining both together, you get water."
"It won't matter for long." The Shadow Lord said. "Soon, you'll be nothing more than a corpse."
He then charged in, raising his blade to attack her, but the orbs of water in front of her suddenly froze, spikes appearing on them as she motioned with her hands for them to fly towards the Shadow Lord, who blocked the spiked orbs with his blade as he charged forward, but was then yanked backwards as a massive tendrils of water pulled him away, surrounding him in the water as May walked towards him, the Shadow Lord swiping his bade into the pillar of water to free himself before she created a frozen snowflake in mid air, walking up it and others like it as she called them, but as she walked up, the entire arena filling up with more and more water as it either flew into the pillar to add to it while others turned into frozen spikes, spears, arrows, and swords, all flying into the pillar as they either bounced off his armor or plunged into him, causing some serious damage to his body, making him yell in agony.
"You will pay for what you have done to my friend Raogrimm!" May exclaimed, the ice moving up the pillar. "When I received my Keyblade, I was only discovering my powers over water, so when I received my Keyblade, I came to the Mysterious Tower, where I met Spyro, who helped me better understand the power of water! And it was there he taught me that it has three forms; liquid, solid, and gaseous. By focusing, I could generate water even from the air, control it's power and unleash it's full potential, but I held myself back, not wanting to hurt my friends and locking that knowledge away when I was corrupted, until today." She spun her hand around as the water from the pillar turned into ice, freezing over as he struggled to get out. "And now, you die." She raised her hand as the pillar grew larger and larger, going higher and higher before coming down and circling the half frozen Galka warrior, the ice melting as she raised her hand, the orb flying into the air before turning into ice, her eyes turning red as she watched it fly. "Glacier Coffin!"
She then closed her hand into a fist, spikes shooting everywhere in the coliseum and plunging into the ground, causing rocks and debris to fly everywhere, everyone diving for cover as the spikes flew everywhere. However, May was feeling the effects of using so much power at once, her eyes turning back to green s her hair returned to blue, collapsing onto her knees from exhaustion, happy it was over, but a second later, the ice sphere exploded, dark flames shooting out from the frozen sphere and blowing everyone away, the ponies, Hercules and the Knuckles hitting the wall and falling unconscious while May was knocked to the floor, looking up and seeing the Shadow Lord slowly approaching her, causing her to pull herself away from him, but he slammed his foot on her chest, cracking one of her ribs and making her gasp in pain.
"I must admit, you surprised me." The Shadow Lord said. "I knew you were holding back, but never thought you were this powerful. You're full of surprises aren't you?"
"Let me up and I can show you what else I can do." May replied, trying to push him off.
"Alas, you've showed me all you can do, little ice queen." The Shadow Lord said, raising his sword. "You've shown me the extent of your power, so you are no more of a threat to me."
He raised his blade to deal a deadly blow as everyone was stirring, but a moment later, a large thorny vine shot from the ground and wrapped around his leg, pulling him away before lifting him into the air and slamming him onto the ground before tossing him towards the pit, but he plunged his blade into the ground to prevent himself from falling in, pulling himself out and looking up, surprised to see Rosy and Midnight again, but none more surprised than Twilight and her friends as they saw them.
"Rosy?" Applejack asked. "Sweetie, what in tarnation are ya'll doin' here? How'd ya'll get here anyway? And why is tarnation are ya'll with Midnight Sky?"
"Made a new friend mom." Rosy replied. "And a new sister."
"Sister?" Applejack asked.
"I'll explain later." Rosy replied. "Right now, this guy is ours."
She and Midnight then called their Keyblades, the Dual Rose and the Dark Scythe, which was the name for Midnight's blade, and used their magic to hold the blades, ready for a fight as the Shadow Lord got up, but the ground suddenly shook, everyone wondering what was happening now when a pillar of cyan light shot into the air, a dragon roaring out as it suddenly shot out of the chasm, spinning around the cyan pillar as a cyan Pegasus flew out, neighing as it flew until they collided at the top, a bright blinding light shining out and causing everyone to cover their eyes again, but this time when the light faded, they saw the outline of someone in the pillar of light, but the transformation was incomplete, the light fading to reveal the color of the armor was all gray, and there was no movement coming from him, everyone thinking something went wrong.
"What happened!?" Pinkie asked. "Wasn't something spectacularly amazing supposed to happen!?"
"I don't know." Twilight replied. "Maybe something went wrong with the transformation."
"Heh, amusing." The Shadow Lord said. "It doesn't matter how many of you I fight, none of you will be making it out alive!"
He was ready to fight whoever his new opponent was, arms extended downward as he floated there, but he then looked up, his right eye showing it was purple and the left eye was Maroon, catching him off guard for a moment, but then from behind, multiple Pegasi and dragons, all different colors of the rainbow shot out and charged towards him, the Shadow Lord forced to defend himself as he blocked an incoming dragon attack before the Pegasi flew past and through him, the wings of the Pegasi doing damage to him while the ones that passed through him seemed to weaken him, the dragons flying down and unleashing different kinds of breath attacks based on their color, ranging from fire, earth, electricity, water, wind, even darkness as music started playing.
[Mystery Voice]
Don't miss it!
A moment later the Pegasi and the dragons disengaged their attack on the Shadow Lord and flew towards the armored warrior, circling him before they each entered his body, restoring his color as each one entered his body.
[Chorus]
The Knight appears when you side! ([Mystery Voice] Dragonic Armor!)
You have no grief and the light shines bright! ([Mystery Voice] Invincible Loyalty!)
Fight, dragon fight! ([Mystery Voice] A Heroic Champion!)
Dragonic Knight!
[Mystery Voice]
DRAGONIC KNIGHT!
The last of the colored dragons and Pegasi entered his body and everyone was stunned by how he looked, purple and cyan armor with the purple dragon head on the left shoulder while the Pegasus head was on his right shoulder, colorful energy flowing through the lining of the armor, Pegasi wings shooting out from his back as the feathers on the wings were all the colors of the rainbow, red on the outside and changing colored as they moved inward until it ended with the color purple, gold plated armor covering the rim of the wings as the dragon helmet grew golden horns, levitating over to the edge of the chasm, walking towards the Shadow Lord as the combined Keyblades appeared again, this time there was a cyan colored Keyblade, same design as the others, but the teeth of the blade were the six colors of the rainbow, stopping just short of the Shadow Lord, who had backed away from him.
In other words, they're the strongest!
The warrior looked over to Rosy, who could sense who it was and smiled, happy to feel his presence again while Midngiht was completely shocked to see him as she tried to process what was going on, the right eye turning Maroon.
"Seriously, Midnight's here now!?" Rainbow Dash exclaimed. "What next!?"
"Rainbow Dash, calm down." Spyro said, his eyes turning purple. "She's a friend now. As for Raogrimm..." Spyro then took a battle stance and smiled at the dark lord of shadows. "I've been looking forward to facing you. Though, you seem a little shorter than I thought."
"I am guessing you're Spyro, the prince of light and darkness." The Shadow Lord said. "I must say, you know how to make an entrance. So, how do you wish to die?"
"Sorry pal, but I'm already dead, guess we have that in common." Spyro replied.
The Shadow Lord then charged towards Spyro, swinging his blade, but Spyro blocked the attack, pushing away as he unleashed his own fury of attacks, forcing the Shadow Lord on the defensive as he swung and slashed at him, firing fire and thunder spells while zipping around, getting behind him and striking him from behind, infuriating the lord of shadows as he swung around randomly, trying to hit him, but Spyro proved to be too swift for the shadow lord, zipping and running around before running in a single circle, blending into the rainbow he was making and coming out from time to time, striking and slashing at him, angering the Shadow Lord even more than before.
"Wow, this is incredible." Phil said. "I didn't know Spyro could do that. If that really is Spyro."
"Trust me, it's him." Rarity said, smiling as she watched him sucker punch Raogrimm into the air and taking off. "He's the only one who'd do something like that."
"Wow, he could give Sonic a run for his money." Knuckles said, crossing his arms. "Seems old blue boy's got some competition."
In the air, Raogrimm was sailing into the sky, having been sucker punched into he air and was spinning around, trying to get his bearings again before Spyro appeared above him, swinging his blade, but Raogrimm blocked the attack, both floating in the air before they started falling, each continuing the fight as they swung and slashed at one another, dodging and blocking one another's attacks as they exchanged blows, seemingly evenly matched in combat. However, the Shadow Lord saw an opening and took it, punching Spyro before swinging hard to deal a killing blow, but when the blade hit the armor, the blade itself shattered, pieces flying everywhere as the Shadow Lord looked surprised, unable to fully process what he had just witnessed. A moment later, Spyro kicked the Shadow Lord towards the ground, leaving an impression of his foot in the armor as he slammed it not he ground, creating a large crater as dust flew everywhere, making everyone on the ground cough while Spyro levitated down t the ground and landed, walking towards the crater as the Shadow Lord got out, armor heavily damaged, sword beyond repair, and he was missing a horn, shakily getting up as he held his right arm.
"You... you're stronger than I imagined." The Shadow Lord. "What are you?"
"I'm the Prince of Light and Darkness." Spyro replied.
He then connected the two Keyblades together making a single blade, light filling in the empty spaces as e took off into the air again, flapping his wings and levitating in the air as his wings extended, covering the sun as it released multicolored light, creating rainbows from his wings.
"I will not fall to you!" The Shadow Lord exclaimed, raising his broken blade. "With my last breath, I shall destroy you and destroy this world, killing any and all who get in my path!"
"This is your last breath." Spyro replied.
He raised the blade and light shined out from the tip f the blade, flying towards the Shadow Lord as he got ready to defend himself, but Spyro was then surrounded by a rainbow aura, separating into six different colored versions of himself and each one flying towards him. The first to land a blow was the red version of Spyro, slicing clean through the Shadow lord before orange and yellow came in, slashing through him as well and leaving glowing slice marks on the heavily injured lord, each corresponding with their color. He staggered backwards as he tried to stay up, but then the green and blue versions of Spyro flew by, slashing through him as well and causing heavy damage, making the Shadow Lord fall to his knees before the purple flew down, catching him off guard as he sliced clean through the neck, leaving a purple line on the neck with a shocked expression, the colored versions all fusing to make one person as the Galka warrior yelled out before exploding, hit heart flying into the air before shattering into hundreds of pieces, the Shadow Lord disappearing.
"Thus ends your time of terror." Spyro said.
"Spyro!" Twilight shouted, running to him as did everyone else. "You did it! You actually did it!"
"Hey everyone." Spyro said, kneeling down as he hugged everyone. "Glad you're all safe."
"Spyro!" Scootaloo shouted, running up and hugging him. "I... I..."
"It's ok Scoots, it's over." Spyro said, ending the hug. "I'm so proud of you girls for fighting off the Beastmen."
"Yeah, we were impressive, weren't we?" Rainbow Dash asked. "So, can somepony tell us why Midnight is with Rosy right now?"
"As I said, I'll explain later." Rosy replied. "And Hercules, we got a little surprise for you?"
A second later, from the gate on the other side of the arena came Megara, which Hercules looked happier than every as he ran around the chasm and hugged her, happy to see she was alive and well.
"We found her in the underworld carrying a trophy that had the Heart Pieces in it." Midnight said. "Raogrimm, the Shadow Lord, tried to kill her and take the trophy, which he succeeded with getting the trophy, but not killing her."
"At least everyone's alright now sugarcube." Applejack said, hugging her. "But... we lost the Heart Pieces."
"Not quite." Spyro replied, confusing them. "Though the crystal is lost, the pieces are now free. The old worlds they hid in are now compromised, but the new ones they will hide in will keep them safe."
"But, what about the one for the Coliseum?" Twilight asked.
"Oh don't worry, it'll be here momentarily along with the rest." Spyro replied, standing up. "You're over half way there everyone, don't stop now. You're almost there."
He then started glowing and separated from Rainbow Dash, who was standing there and opened her eyes right as the ground rumbled again, looking to the chasm as they watched five glowing lights shoot out of the chasm, one just hovering over the chasm while the other four spun in a circle, shooting outward into the sky as they left the Olympus Coliseum, leaving everyone shocked.
"Wait, the Heart Pieces!" Sweetie Belle exclaimed.
"We'll find them Sweetie, don't you worry." Rarity said. "We'll find them."
"You bet we will!" Rainbow Dash said. "Now let's get this puppy!"
The light then turned into the symbol, the triangle spinning behind the dragon head as it stopped on the Pegasus head, Rainbow Dash's Keyblade appearing in her mouth as she flew up, doing a few fancy tricks before pointing her Keyblade towards the symbol, the Keyhole appearing on the dragons head as stars flew to the tip of the pegasi's blade, shooting out a cyan light surrounded by a rainbow, entering the Keyblade and hearing something click. The dragons eyes then glowed a cyan blue and opened it's mouth, roaring out as it released a golden light and shot towards Twilight, who pulled out the book and it entered the dragons head, it's eyes glowing cyan as the thunderbolt remained gold, but the hand turned white, showing they had the seventh Heart Piece.
"Seven down, five to go." Twilight said. "We're over half way there."
"So, guess this is goodbye?" Hercules asked.
"I guess so." Luna replied. "We need to get to the next world."
"Mind if I tag along?" Knuckles asked, walking up. "I don't;t have a way home and I'd like to get back to Mobius."
"Of course you can come along!" Rainbow Dash replied, flying over them. "You're our friend, you're more than welcome to tag along."
"Guess we might as well come too." Rosy said, she and Midnight walking to them. "Our path through the underworld collapsed on us and we don't have any other way back home."
"Of course you can come along Sweetie." Applejack replied. "As for Midnight..."
"Don't worry, I'm not going to cause trouble." Midnight said. "Rosy... she helped me see the light and... promised to..."
"I made a promise that dad would adopt her like he adopted me." Rosy replied, walking up to them. "She was abandoned and-"
"Abandoned!?" Applejack asked, walking up to Midnight. "Oh, don't worry sugarcube, we'll make sure you're given a loving caring family."
"Thanks... mom." Midnight said, hugging Applejack.
"Well it all very touching and all, but unfortunately I need to cancel the tournament now." Phil said. "The entire Coliseum needs to be repaired and we don't have a trophy to give to you guys."
"That's alright Phil, we got what we came for." Twilight said. "We need to move on anyway. We got five more Heart Pieces to get."
"Well, good luck you guys." Phil said as they all grouped together and turned into a singular light. "Hope you find him."
The massive ball of light then shot up into the air and left everyone alone, watching as the light flew higher and higher into the sky as they waved. After a minute,. The light then appeared in the middle for the Harmony's cockpit, fading as they all went down the stairs and sat down, relaxing after the fighting.
"Man, I'm exhausted." Rainbow Dash said. "And I never get exhausted!"
"Well that's what constant combat can do to ya sugarcube." Applejack said. "At least we got the Heart Piece."
"Yes, we got what we need." Twilight said. "Knuckles, you said you were taken from your home, right?"
"Unfortunately yes I was." Knuckles replied. "Myself and two of my friends, Sonic and Tails. We got separated when one of Dr. Eggmans experiments overloaded and we were thrown into a wormhole. There were a couple others there as well. Psyrox and some kind of purple lizard."
"Wait, you know Psyrox?" Fluttershy asked.
"Purple lizard?" Twilight asked. "What purple lizard?"
"No clue." Knuckles replied. "All I can remember about him was he was small and young, had green spikes, eyes, and a green underbelly and looked to be on the chubby side.
"That's Spike!" Twilight exclaimed, horror appearing on her face and everyone else's. "How'd he get into a wormhole!?"
"Hey, don't look at me." Knuckles replied. "Tails is the smart one, not me."
"We need to find him, now!" Twilight exclaimed, pulling the book out. "Book, I don't know if you can hear me, but we need to find Spike! He's out there in the worlds and I don't know if he's ok or not! Please, show us where he is!" As if it could hear her, the pages started to glow, opening to the next chapter as the Roman numeral for eight appeared along with the title and a set of coordinates. "Chapter eight: Heart of the Dragon."
"Give me the coordinates Twilight." May said. "I'll get us there as quickly as possible."
Twilight ran up to the cockpit with May and gave her the coordinates to the next world, May taking the pilot seat as she put in the numbers before shooting through Warp Space towards the next world, hoping Spike was there.