So, Twilight and her friends are basically Equestria's more awesome version of The Planeteers.
I'm sorry, but think about it for a second: They're a team of teens from all across the land, all from different walks of life and with different interests, tasked with saving the day on a regular basis. They're even racially balanced: Two Earth ponies, two pegasai, and two unicorns. Well, Twilight is a winged unicorn, but the she wasn't always one. And the fact that they all had different skin, well, fur colors meant that they were sufficiently multi-ethnic for the comparison to be able to stick.
But I'm going a little off track. I'd barely gotten halfway thought my explanation of what was going on before Twilight insisted on checking things out for herself. A bit curious on my end, I gave her permission, under the condition that she not try to do anything that might disrupt whatever had me inhabiting Tirek's body. I'd rather not end up going to pony heaven because Twilight couldn't keep from poking me with her brain. Nothing against Pony Heaven, I'm sure it's great, but I am not in a hurry to go there.
"It is an incredibly intricate spell," Twilight Sparkle admitted, a few minutes later. The flare of her horn died down and she looked at me with an expression that was a perfect mix of admiration and confusion. "Just about the only way of getting your spirit out of Tirek's body would be to stick you someplace where magic literally cannot exist. But that's a good thing, in a way: There's almost no possibility of you accidentally getting 'knocked loose'. But that also means that there's no way for you to go home: I've been to 'Earth', or someplace like what you've described, a couple of times now, and magic doesn't work there, most of the time. If you went there now, in that body, the spell would come undone, and you'd go... where ever you were supposed to go."
I sighed, frustrated, then nodded. I had expected as much: Once I'd accepted that this was real, something told me that my trip was a one way deal. After a moment, I asked, "You said almost, right?"
Nodding, and looking more than a little worried, she said, "Yes. There's two or three ways I could think of that would undo the bindings on your spirit. First off, whoever did it originally is certain to have a counter-spell, or knows where one would be. Second, if I sat down and studied it for a few weeks, I'm pretty sure I could work out a way to undo it, not that I'd want to. Third, and perhaps the most important, is this: There's some sort of a fail-safe in place here."
Skyflower, an eyebrow raised, asked, "A fail-safe?"
More nervous than ever, Twilight said, "I think that whoever used this spell wanted to be sure that, if whoever ended up inside this body turned out to be dangerous, or possibly even evil, there was a way to stop them from doing harm to others. The wrong person in that body would be very, very dangerous, after all. The spell is, like I said, very intricate, but in one very particular aspect, it is also very fragile. This enchantment was intended to hold a 'good' spirit inside of Tirek's body, and it is very particular about what it considers good. If the spirit inside turns evil... the enchantment will come undone."
Raising an eyebrow, I admitted, "Impressive. But, what constitutes an 'evil' deed, at least in regards to this spell?" I hadn't done anything that I thought of as evil, although snapping my fingers in Skyflower's ear hadn't been very nice. Still, I couldn't help but cringe slightly: I'd not realized that I was skirting such a fine line. It was like you'd been walking down a dark road, and suddenly the light came on and you realized that you'd been walking right next to the edge of a cliff...
"Doing intentional, lasting harm to someone for any reason other than self-defense or the protection of others," Twilight said, relaxing a little bit. "There's a good bit of leeway there, so long as you're not trying to... you know... really hurt someone who doesn't deserve it. But if you attack someone with the intention of doing lasting or permanent harm, and that someone isn't trying to hurt you or someone else, and can't fight back..."
"Then I won't be able to do it twice," I said, tactfully. Folks around here seldom talked about dying or killing. I suspected that, being herbivores, they didn't have as much of a stomach for that as humans do.
"Exactly," Twilight said with a final nod.
-----------------------------------------------------
Celestia was flying as fast as her wings could take her, and for an alicorn, that is a speed that can make even Rainbow Dash turn green with envy. Admittedly, the combination of wings and alicorn magic made for a top speed that made even the Sonic Rainboom look slow.
And it was for that very reason that she did not notice the force field until after she hit it. Face first.
THUNK!!! WHUMP!!! Those are the sounds an alicorn makes when she hits a force field, then bounces off and hits the ground.
Rising slowly, Princess Celestia struggled to regain her hooves after she'd recovered her senses. She immediately recognized that forcefield, and could name the one who had placed it. If there was one thing that she despised about King Sombra, it was the fact that he had perfected the art of anti-alicorn forcefields. It was why, instead of personally going to the Crystal Empire with Luna and dealing with him upon his return, she'd been forced to rely on Twilight and Cadance, the one because she wasn't an alicorn at the time, and the other because Sombra had not encountered her before, and as such had not been able to attune a force field to repel her yet...
But what would he be doing out here, near the changeling hive?
She was interrupted from her thoughts by the sudden arrival of Discord. Well, arrival was not the right word: He 'arrived' by falling from the sky, directly on top of Celestia. Hard. So much so that it left a crater.
And damned if Discord wasn't cheerful about it.
With a chuckle, he said, "Ah, Celestia, just who I was hoping to see. I'll have to keep this brief, since I'm just a doppelganger created for the sole purpose of delivering a message to you and Luna, and I can't really engage in extended conversation. I've located Sombra: He's headed for the changeling hive now. I'm worried that he might be after Conrad, but I can't say what he's really after yet. I'm headed to the hive now as fast as I can, but he's blocked teleportation within the area that the field covers, so I may not reach the hive in time. I'm hoping that you and Luna together will be able to break whatever spell is in place, so I can immediately move in to stop him. Be careful, though: I expect Sombra may have made the force field specifically to keep you away, so it might be more solid for you than it is for me."
With a snort of frustration, Celestia said, "I understand. I'll get started on breaking the spell right away."
Standing up and dusting himself off, he said, "Well, with that said, I need to go find Luna."
THUNK!!! WHUMP!!!
"Ah, Luna," Discord's double said, grinning, "just who I was hoping to see..."
------------------------------------
Sombra winced as he detected the impacts against his forcefield. He could sense who had just tried to enter the area, and knowing that both Luna and Celestia were trying to break in, and were now almost certainly aware of his presence, was... distressing, to say the least. He needed to move, but more importantly, he'd need to take steps to ensure he'd find his quarry quickly.
Expending what little magic he could spare, he created dozens of shadow wisps, mindless drones that would scour the hive for his target. It was tricky, splitting his focus in so many directions at once, but he was King Sombra: Even this was well within his abilities. With this, he could search the hive for his target much more quickly, and once found...
Well, his spell prevented everyone else from teleporting...
A wicked grin crossed Sombra's face as he released the restrictions that he had placed upon his thralls and gave a single command.
"Attack the changelings."
------------------------------------------
Ash suddenly barged into the throne room, his expression proclaiming louder than words that he was bearing bad news. He practically shouted, "The hive is under attack! There's an entire company of soldiers assaulting the hive!"
A company? "The rangers from two days ago?" I asked, worried. While I'd spoken with Discord, and Discord had spoken with the princesses, word seemed to be taking its time in getting around. Maybe they were here to 'rescue' my wife?
Obviously frustrated, Ash answered, "Yes and no. They're the rangers, certainly, but they've obviously been enchanted somehow. They're frothing at the mouth, shouting incoherently, and are practically radiating dark magic."
Skyflower gulped, and I heard her whisper, "He's already here..."
Sombra. She couldn't possibly mean anyone else. Folding my arms over my chest, I looked at Ash and asked, "What's the situation outside, soldier?"
I think that my question knocked Ash out of his semi-panicked state, and he said, "I've ordered nearly all of the hive out, and they are engaging the attackers, trying to subdue the rangers without hurting them. It's taking some time: I gave strict orders not to hurt anypony, but the rangers aren't under any such restraints."
"Then I'll need to head out there myself," I stated bluntly. I was much larger, and stronger, than anypony out there. I could easily turn the tide just by showing up. If it was just restraining them, then it should be well within what the spell binding me to Tirek's body allowed. Looking past Ash, I saw Leni peeking in from outside. Pointing to her, I said, "Leni, take Skyflower to the royal bedchambers, and lock the door. No one goes in or out, and no one lays a hoof on her while there's breath in your body. Understand?"
Leni nooded, and gave a salute.
Twilight and her friends looked up at me, and after a moment, the princess asked, "What about us?"
"Go with Leni. You're guests of the hive, and I wouldn't want any of you getting hurt," I said, plainly. Had I known then what I know now... I'd not yet come to realize just how powerful an asset those six could be, even without the elements, properly directed. Had I known, a lot of things might have gone differently.
Oh well. Woulda, coulda, shoulda, didn't...
----------------------------------------
Outside, it was anarchy in the UK. it is hard to do it justice with words alone. It was like... imagine the biggest bar room brawl ever. Multiply it by a thousand. Now make everyone taking part in it either a changeling or a pony. There you go. Oh, and don't forget to add the dozens of puppies underfoot, who seemed to think that this was some sort of a game.
The soldiers were everything that Ash had described. They were definitely not in their right minds. In fact, they looked positively rabid, and some were actively trying to bite the changelings, in addition to punching, kicking, and with the unicorns, stabbing. Of course, with a changeling's hardened carapace, that's not very effective, but it was clear that the berzerker ponies gave no fucks at all. They were here to fight, and the fact that they were obviously outnumbered and outmatched meant less than nothing. That's right: They were in negative fucks territory right now.
I immediately noticed something, though: Everyone, changelings and the soldiers, were avoiding stepping on the puppies. That instantly struck me as odd, as the pups were obvious, defenseless targets. The guards were enchanted, according to what Ash had said: Maybe that enchantment made them target changelings specifically. The fact that none of the soldiers were paying any attention to the giant red and black centaur who had just shown up seemed to support that theory.
An idea came to me. A ridiculous idea, from that part of my brain that decided to dub itself Emperor Kickass McAwesometown. I cupped my hands around my mouth to make a megaphone and shouted, "ATTENTION!!! EVERYONE, STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING, AND LOOK AT ME RIGHT NOW!!!"
Everyone stopped and looked. Even the insane, berzerker rangers. Ash was right: When someone my size demands attention, he gets it. Not even magical crazy guards more psycho than Jason Vorhees on PCP could ignore me when I shouted.
Now that everyone was looking, I shouted, "All changelings, become puppies immediately!"
While confused, the changelings complied. Within seconds, the area outside the hive was no longer filled with changelings and berserk soldiers, but instead pony sized puppies and confused ponies with no one to fight. Bizarrely, whatever enchantment was on them seemed to be wearing off almost immediately. In fact, all of the guards began actively cuddling the disguised, and somewhat embarrassed, changlings/puppies. Well, maybe cuteness was able to override berzerker spells. I don't know much about magic, so I can't say, although I suppose it makes as much sense as anything else in Equestria. However, I immediately realized five things.
Item One: Whatever spell the soldiers were under, it made them attack changelings on sight. However, it only applied to changelings in their true form, not as changelings disguised as adorable giant puppies. That led immediately to item two.
Item Two: Sombra, if he was truly the one responsible, did not know that changelings were able to change their appearance. Well, he'd been out of circulation for a thousand years, and a unicorn supremacist besides: Maybe changelings were new to Equestria, and he'd never bothered to learn anything about foreign species.
Item Three: Sombra was afraid of me. If he thought that he could take me on, he'd have just marched in and killed Skyflower without bothering with any subterfuge. Instead, he'd enchanted a bunch of ponies into attacking the hive. He might have been able to conquer a kingdom single-hooved, but he wasn't willing to go head to head with me.
Item Four: This was way too obvious and simple to be Sombra's plan. If Sombra had been serious, I doubt he would have used such an easy to defeat spell. This was a distraction. Sombra had wanted me, and most of the hive, outside dealing with this attack, rather than inside, guarding Skyflower.
Item Five: The distraction had worked, as I had just left Skyflower alone, inside of the hive, with just Leni and six teenaged girls for protection...
Turning towards Ash, who was currently sporting the look of an over-sized golden retriever puppy, I said, "Have half of the changelings here restrain the soldiers until the enchantment wears off completely. The rest are to head immediately to the royal bedchamber, and be ready for a fight. I'll meet you all there."
Ash didn't argue, as he was still somewhat shocked by how I had, with two simple commands, transformed an enemy attack into a changeling-pony hug-fest. I turned and bolted back into the hive, afraid of what I might find when I got there.
-------------------------------------------
The very second that Leni had closed and locked the door behind them, Skyflower knew that something was off. The shadows in the room didn't seem... right. Was one of them a little... darker than the others?
Gulping, she said, simply, "Hello, uncle."
There was a brief flash of green and purple light, and King Sombra appeared, replacing the shadow. With a chuckle utterly devoid of humor, he said, "Hello, Skyflower."
Well, it looked like Sombra, anyways: His body was... odd. It was like someone had broken his body as though it were glass, and the pieces had been hastily glued back together. It seemed that whatever method that he'd used to restore himself had not worked very well.
Giving his niece an unfriendly look, he said, "It's been a long ti..."
"LIGHT HIM UP!!!"
Say what you will about Twilight Sparkle, but she and her friends have great reflexes: The instant they saw the tyrant, the six of them immediately let loose with the Elements of Harmony. No farting noises this time: This was the full power of the elements, the relics that embodied the power of Harmony itself, let loose on an obviously evil pony...
The twin rainbows shot towards Sombra, then hit some sort of barrier. However, instead of being reflected or blocked, they simply began to spin around Sombra at high speeds.
"Ah, Twilight Sparkle and her merry band of friends," Sombra said, a vicious little grin upon his face. "I wasn't expecting you, or the Elements. What a pleasant surprise."
The elements continued to unleash their power, but something seemed wrong. Twilight and her friends began to look worried, and then frightened, as the elements fired and fired, seemingly without end...
"And you brought the Elements of Harmony," he continued, cheerfully. "Delightful! Celestia never told you how bad an idea it was to try and use those on me, did she?" The rainbows encircling the dark tyrant began to lose color, to turn black and gray.
The six were actively trying to force the elements to stop, but to no avail. They kept firing. No, they weren't firing...
They were being drained!
"I've spent decades studying the secrets of the magical artifacts of the world, those precious elements included. If I intended to confront Celestia and Luna, I'd have to deal with those silly little trinkets, sooner or later. While toys compared to the Crystal Heart, I admit, they can be dangerous. I know all about them: Their strengths, their weaknesses..."
The rainbows turned pitch black, forming a perfect dome over Sombra, and the elements finally stopped releasing energy. The six fell to the ground, unconscious, the draining of the elements having drained them of their stamina as well...
Skyflower suddenly felt something placed around her muzzle, and around her legs, binding her limbs and sealing her mouth shut. Without any explanation or warning, she was tossed so that she slid under the royal bed. Once there, she saw, from her awkward position, Leni take on her appearance...
She'd done as she was ordered: Leni was going to ensure that Skyflower wasn't going to be hurt while a breath remained in the changeling's body... by taking the mare's place...
"...And how their power might be turned towards more... constructive uses," Sombra said, as the dome vanished, seeming to be sucked into his mouth. Almost instantly, the cracks in Sombra's body began to heal, and an appearance of... vigor, of vitality washed over him. "How delightful. For a while there, I was expecting to have to bargain with Grogar in order to fully restore my body to life. But you six, you wonderful young ladies, have done that job for me. However shall I reward you?"
A terrible smile on his face, he said, "I think I'll let you all live. I was just recently considering how I'd need to do something to continue my bloodline, after I've finished with Skyflower over here. Every king needs a harem of concubines, and while you are all a little too young for my tastes, you're all of foal-bearing age, and will be perfect for the role in a couple of years time. I think I'll keep you as my broodmares, so that you can pop out brats for me to offer to Grogar for ever greater power..."
Twilight, her eyes opened to slits, whispered, "Never..."
Sombra's horn began to glow green as he said, "Never say never, young lady. I could control an entire city of ponies with my magic a thousand years ago, and I am far stronger now than I have ever been before. You and your friends will be no challenge. All it will take is a little magic to adjust to your attitudes, and you'll beg for me for the privilege of being my slaves. I promise you, you'll be so happy, you won't even care what happens to our offspring..."
"Uncle," Leni said, doing an excellent impersonation of Skyflower's voice, "leave them be. This is between you and me."
Frowning, her uncle said, "I suppose you have a point. I don't have time for distractions right now. Even with my power restored, it wouldn't be a good idea to risk a battle with Tirek just yet." The glow from his horn went out, and he said, "I can always collect them after I've finished conquering Equestria, along with any other pretty mares who catch my eye along the way. It'll be days before they'll be in any shape to use the elements again, even if they could be used against me."
His expression turned ugly as his horn flared, and glowing restraints formed around the disguised changeling's neck and legs, binding her in chains of green and dark purple energy. "Meanwhile, you're coming with me. If I intend to take on Celestia and Luna, I'll need a little more power to ensure that they'll be no threat to me. Grogar will be certain to give me more than enough energy, in exchange for such a strong, youthful offering. Whatever horrors he'll inflict upon your soul will make anything I could imagine seem like tender mercies in comparison." A bubble of energy formed around Leni, and she was lifted off the ground...
What? Skyflower had expected that Sombra would simply kill her. But this sounded far worse.
Behind Sombra, a portal opened, and he quickly stepped through, Leni floating along behind him. What she saw beyond the portal... it was the stuff of nightmares. It would take a poet to describe it. An insane, evil poet, writing the words with his own blood. It could only be a glimpse of Hades itself...
As he and his prisoner crossed the threshold into the realm beyond, Conrad burst into the room, his expression shocked at the sight of Sombra and his prisoner. "Too late, fool," Sombra said, then the portal snapped shut, leaving nothing but the sound of Sombra's mocking laughter...
NEW CHAPTER UP!!!
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Second!
Edit to add: Oops, someone's jealous that I got here first!
5565886
This chapter took a while to make, partly because I was busy, but also because this is the proverbial second-act twist. I wanted to make sure that when this particular cluster-f*ck went off, it went exactly the way I planned it.
Something in here needs changed around a bit. Otherwise, as always, a good show!
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Fuck you Sombra!
Also, 5565924 stop talking to yourself. Ponies will think you're crazy.
So, Leni was sent to hell for an eternity?
Holy Crap!
I'm am currently crossing my fingers in the hopes that my wishing will be enough to save Leni!
And if my wishing is not enough, then there's only one thing I can do:
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... well fuck.
Aboutr right for tia. Never tell anyone anything sinse they're nothing more than useful pawns, so why waiste the breath?
Yeah, I can SO see this working out for Twilight and Sombra
Sombra's about to learn the meaning of pain!
5565952
Corrected, thanks!
Now would be an excellent time for Conrad to be able to eat magic the way Tirek did in the show.
5566006
Happy to help.
I suddenly have the burning desire for this part to be canon.
Huh, skyflower is safe, and now conrad just needs to eat the elements when the mane 6 awaken.
I suspect sombra won't get the power he wants, because he isn't offering his own bloodline.
I also suspect he will get in trouble for trying to trick grogar.
As the quote goes.
Its A Puppy.
Sombra really, really doesnt like the Crystal Heart? Which is powered by love? Even that, of Puppies?
I want to see Conrad show Rainbow Dash, just how Awsome a Rainbow Axe can be, in carving up the Hells.
What complaints are there going to be, strapping the Crystal Heart, to his guitar? Could the Elements be used as a first level amplifier, feeding into the Heart? so they dont actually work against Sombra directly?
In fact, lets go all human engineering. Lets invert the Hearts phase, so the Elements instead of being absorbed into Sombra, suck their energy back out of him. With a wobbulator so that it varies too fast for him to react properly, and PLL so when he relaises and tries the inversion himself, it doesnt.
Or, should Conrad keep pumping the energy into Sombra, making him like a Tesla Roadster in Death Valley, with an electrical fault.
First point of action. heal Twilight. So she can try and trace Sombras portal?
Has the surrounding shield come down now, or did Sombra make it self sustaining, to a given extent, but it now doesnt have his local support to withstand two princesses?
Is Pinkie going to take a Candygram to Grogar? Would be such a pity if she gets the fireworks and batter confused again.
Noooooo..... Leni!
Forget Tartarus. To the Abyss, the Holy Void.
...I'll be honest I'm torn on this chapter.
I like most of the chapter, but Sombra being able to no sell the Elements of Harmony Rainbow friendship beam, particularly since this is the new and improved version that was able to bring down Tirek (Who as we all know not only devours magic as his signature tactic, but was hopped up on the power of four Alicorns AND Discord at the time) to be incredibly contrived. Doubly so since again this would be the new version straight from the Tree of Harmony, which Sombra would not have been familiar with and had a chance to develop counters to. I can buy him having strategies and spells for fighting Alicorns but the EoH when it was explicitly stated that Sombra is at his weakest and most vulnerable? Straining credibility there.
I think that brings up an issue from the last couple chapters which was minor enough I'm only noticing it now. You write the Elements of Harmony as though this was an earlier season where the Mane Six still had the physical elements (which is fair enough since we've only seen the new one with the silly looking super form once so its unclear how the Mane Six would go about activating them). For some reason I can't help but feel like that's a constant nagging continuity error, although until right now it hadn't really interfered with the flow of the story. Now its a plot hole. Again Since we've only seen the EoH version 2.0 used once I'm not sure what the best way to actually fix that little hiccup is.
.... Sombra is a freaking Idiot.... no Idiot is too kind a term for Sombra... even without factoring the Conrad/Tierk part of the equation.
You have to be a new, special, level of stupid not to at least learn what you are dealing with when it comes to other races....
5566049 Mid-way through chapter 6, Twilight and Co. take the elements back out of the tree of harmony. So it's not a plot-hole that they have them back.
As for the elements not working, I sort of agree with that. It feels pretty forced.
Loving this so far!
But I was hoping to see how the interaction between Conrad-Tirek and the Mare 6 played out after he said "Pleasure to meet you" from last chapter. I would say they would be honestly confused and shocked and I wanted to see this the most in the chapter which wasn't present.
You will have a Happy Ending for this story right? After Ash lost his first lover, I can't imagine him going through that pain again because of Sombra.
Make sure Conard goes SSJ on his ugly flank!
5565924 you still haven't told us, nor shown us what Sombra's magic would taste like; maybe its like a burnt cake or something bad? Just please cover it in the next chspter, and keep talking to yourself, you make it more hilarious that way.
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Saying it now.... LENI IS BEST CHANGELING EVER!!!!!!
Get out your BFG's people we be raiding hell!
5566049 I wouldn't exactly call them new and improved. That rainbow beam that defeated tirek was made from that box that also sprouted crystastle. The elements of harmony were also not explicitly stated to be better, just that they had to be put back to revitalize the ToH. If anything, I'd assume them to be weaker due to the tree of harmony using them as batteries (however this is just my headcanon and can be ignored due to this).
I'd say they're more like the Sailor Scouts, since they're all female and have Crystal Power and stuff... and Nightmare Moon was kinda like Queen Beryl and the Sailor Scouts haad to learn about friendship and stuff and Sailor Moon turned out to be a Princess and ohmygodthisreallyisexactlylikeSailorMoonholycrap...
5566071
Well it would make sense canon wise
Why not use the Elements Against Sombra
i don't know if it was implied or not in series
but did the sisters fight Sombra after Discord?
if so, why not use the elements to banish or destroy him?
5566135
Funny thing is, Lauren Faust actually was inspired by Sailor Moon.
5566071
Let me start answering that concern with a few questions: If the Elements of Harmony could have defeated King Sombra, why didn't Celestia give them to Twilight before she and her friends left for the Crystal Empire? If they could have stopped him, why didn't Luna and Celestia use them against him a thousand years ago? If the Crystal Heart alone could destroy King Sombra, how did he get within a hundred miles of that thing in the first place? Sombra has to have some sort of defense against those things, or else he'd have been easily defeated a thousand years ago.
In the episodes where he appeared, he was considered so powerful that just being able to enter the city was considered a near victory for him. In the comics, an alternate universe version of himself rules Anti-Equestria, implying that he is every bit as powerful as Celestia is.
Sombra's most well known aspect is just how little we know about him. Who was he? Where did he come from? Did he have any relatives? The very fact that we have so little to work with makes him such a popular figure for fanfiction, whether he's portrayed as genuinely evil, or just misunderstood. Who is to say, asides from the show creators themselves, that he doesn't have some sort of defense planned for the original Elements of Harmony? Maybe the Rainbow Power would have worked better, but at this point, Twilight and her friends don't know how to use it properly yet.
So anyone ElSE wondering why 1. This story's Celestia is legally retarded, and 2. The crystal heart is supposed to be more powerful than the elements? The heart is powered by ONE city of ponies and their happiness. The elements are powered by Harmony itself. If ANY thing it should be the crystal heart that fails.
Uhm... this Sombra is the equivalent of Eric Cartman having the power to have all the powers.
He is suddenly the most powerful asshole in the universe, able to block Discord, teleportation, and alicorns... despite the fact that Celestia and Luna beat him on their own without the Elements...
Considering that the Crystal Heart is not as powerful as the Elements...
And as someone previously noted, the Elements' new Rainbow Power beat Hyper Power Tirek souped up on 4 alicorns and Discord and all the magic from all the ponies in Equestria...
This is OPing the crap out of him and making him utterly lame. If he's so stinking powerful, why the hell is he even bothering skulking around?
5566004 You mean because making an offering to a dark and terrible Power that does not posses the required trait to appease said Power always ends horribly for the Evil Overlord? As mentioned in entry 214 of the extended Evil Overlords Checklist? Mostly likely giving the aforementioned dark and terrible Power the impression that you are trying to pull an #54?
5566071 Kinda wondering why they had to take them, since they can use the Rainbow Power... which has the force of the entire Tree of Harmony behind it. Wouldn't they have used their newer more power-gaming powers rather than go, "Nah, we'll just wish back Goku and everything will be fine!" when the magical dragon mentions he could just blow up the space ships the Saiyans are coming to Earth....
Forget what I said. I'll just explain it by accepting that the ponies are as stupid as the characters of DBZ.
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5565987 Corporal Pyro reporting for duty, sir! I have brought the tortoise tanks!
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5566189
Since this has occurred between Twilight's Kingdom and the start of the new season, the assumption I have been working with (And have referenced more than once) is that Twi and her friends don't know how to call up the Rainbow Power at will yet.
5566158 Or maybe Celestia was worried about the elements being stolen (again). Or maybe there were more convenient methods "on-site" as it were. Just because they weren't used doesn't mean they aren't powerful enough.
Perhaps more to the point, the real reason they didn't work was because writing it that way was more convenient for your story. That's not necessarily a bad thing in and of itself, but it's pretty predictable.
Sombra beats elements. But, Celestia & Luna beat Sombra. However, Celestia beat Luna with the elements. Therefore the elements are stronger then alicorns and alicorns are stronger then sombra.
So....?
5566189
Well, it was written into the story pretty clearly that they haven't learned how to call that power yet, so mystery solved.
5566172
He's kinda OP in the show itself, although his actual 'power level' has never been discussed. The fact that it took both Luna and Celestia together to stop him implies that he's at least as powerful as either one separately.
As for why he's been sneaking: I mentioned during the story that the majority of his power was tied up in keeping his body from falling apart. In that state, he was in no shape for a battle with either one of them, even if his power had increased since his stay in Tartarus. However, he was up to dealing with the Elements of Harmony.
5566162
For this story, it's more like this: The elements are powered by the friendship of six ponies. The Crystal Heart is powered by the hope and love of an entire city. In that case, the Heart has more power.
HOLY SHIT! THAT WAS A CLIFFHANGER!
5566071
I wouldn't say its forced. In Gen 1 the rainbow wasn't invincible, I see no reason why the plot twist of Sombra overpowering the elements is forced. I think its reasonable, especially with it established that Sombra can make Celestia and Luna do mosquito impressions.
5566157 I know. I talked with her a while at dinner a few years ago in Newark, NJ.
That's why I went into such detail with the Sailor Moon comparison. :raritywink
I hate that show! Those fucking kids killed SWAT Kats!
Who wouldn't be happy landing on her fluffy sunbutt.
5566306
No, Ted Turner killed the Swat Kats. The Planeteers were just the bullet that the Swat Kats were shot with.
5566257 How? Seriously, how in the hell do you explain him miraculously being able to negate the Elements? You know, those things that the character who is pretty much the closest thing to a god in the show couldn't do anything to stop? And then, to make it even more crazy, that god was beaten by a even more OP character who HIMSELF got taken out by the new-and-improved Element powers... and again, couldn't do a damned thing to stop them.
You have made Sombra more powerful and competent than EVERYONE in the entire show.
Which basically makes him the equivalent of the most awful red-and-black alicorn OC possible.
Maybe if you'd kept it silly, made some self-referencing tongue-in-cheek notes that it's a new season, and therefore the villains need to be more overpowered than ever, it might have worked then. But playing this straight and serious? No no no no no!
Ya gone too far this time. Willing suspension of disbelief is officially deceased!
5566307
The elements have even been shown to not work once before in the show, when Discord temporarily wrecked the Mane Six's friendship, so calling their failure to work forced when it is something that actually happens in canon is kinda silly.
5566049 except it's not the new and improved version if anything the elements are weaker than ever before given that they riped them out of the tree when they weren't supposed to be removed.
Great chapter! I do have two complaints though. First, the concubine bit was kinda really dark and out of nowhere. Second, THE MANE 6 ARE NOT TEENAGERS! Sorry, this is a MAJOR pet-peeve of mine. Rarity runs her own business, Rainbow is HEAD of Ponyville Weather management, AJ seems to run the farm, and Twilight is a MONARCH. Also the episode with Cheese Sandwich confirms via birthday-cake candles that Dash is at least 20. They are ADULTS.