Chrysalis and Amber climbed down the stairs, and found themselves in the lowest part of the ship. It was here there was the epicenter of all the action.
In this lowest part of the ship, was the giant laser itself. It was suspended beneath the ship, with loads of scaffolding and walkways to traverse around the laser. Storm King wasn't kidding when he said it was giant. It was a big metal barrel which spanned from the front to the back of the already large airship.
At the very back end of this large chamber, was a sectioned off control room.
"There's the laser!" Amber shouted loudly, to speak over the loud charging sound of the laser.
"Let's try the control deck!" Amber shouted. Amber directed Chrysalis to the control room, which was its own sectioned off room.
Meanwhile, Grogar himself made it to the lower deck, and gasped at the sight of the giant laser.
As for Chrysalis and Amber they were both overwhelmed at the sheer size and amount of controls there were in the control room.
"Let's try this." Amber said.
Amber flicked a lever, which made the roar an even louder buzzing sound.
"Let's NOT try that!" Amber said, panicking, and flicking the laser back.
They were quickly getting overwhelmed with all the controls.
"What's that handle do?" Chrysalis asked.
Amber turned the crank handle, which turned the rudder of the ship. Amber wasn't sure what they could do exactly, but they had to think of a plan to do something.
"I think we can steer the ship from down here! If we can't turn off the laser, maybe we can aim it somewhere else!" Amber said.
"Steer where? Where could we possibly aim this thing to cause minimal damage?" Chrysalis asked.
Amber looked through a periscope to scope the surroundings. There was nowhere on land that was safe to aim. Amber spotted a large mountain not so far away. It was at about their level, and had a nice slope. This gave Amber a wild idea.
"I have an idea! We're going to need more speed!" she exclaimed.
"And why would that be?" Chrysalis asked.
Chrysalis looked through the periscope to see the surrounding environment.
"See that mountain peak? That's what we're steering towards." Amber said.
"You're not seriously suggesting that we-" Chrysalis said.
"Yes I am! We ram the ship into the mountain and destroy the laser!" Amber exclaimed.
"Are you sure about this?" Chrysalis asked.
"Cozy was ALWAYS sure! Err, IS always sure!" Amber exclaimed.
"Did anypony tell Cozy not to disembody herself from Luster and banish the Rainbow of Darkness? Did anypony tell her not to fight Grogar solo in order to rescue me? There were, but Cozy did it all anyway, because she believed in helping her friends, even if it meant putting herself at risk. Well now everypony has come around and became our friends, so we have to protect it, no matter the risk." Amber said.
Chrysalis paused, and thought about it. She knew that ignoring Amber's optimism wasn't an option.
"Okay. I'll help you with whatever you think is the best plan. We're not going overly fast. You sure we can even make it there?" Chrysalis asked.
Amber weighed her options. Indeed, thinking it over, it seemed like they wouldn't collide in time before the laser went off Another look at the control panel was enough to convince her though that ramming the ship was the only option.
"Alright. I'm laser focused on our new plan. We need more speed!" Amber said.
Amber kicked open the door to the engine room. She was wearing a belt buckle and hat. She was ready to enter high gear.
The engine room had two large boilers, and piles of coal. The boilers heated up and turned the turbines which propelled the ship. The engines were hot, but they needed them to be hotter.
"Help me shovel some coal, Chrysalis! We've got to ram this ship into the mountain before the laser timer finishes!" Amber said.
Chrysalis and Amber shoved frantically to fling coal into the engine. The furnace burned stronger, and the spinning turbines spun much faster, and propelled the airship at a faster rate.
Unbeknownst to either of them, Grogar was completely focused on finding where in this laser the Elements of Disharmony were stored.
"Where are you, Elements of Disharmony? Where is anyone? Has that other Cozy Glow fled?" Grogar said to himself.
After several minutes of shoveling, it was done. There was probably more coal in than the boilers were designed to hold, but no matter. With a satisfying clang from closing the boiler door, the task was done.
Chrysalis and Amber wiped the sweat from their foreheads worked up from all the hard work.
*phew* "That's every last ounce of coal." Chrysalis said.
"Then we've done what we all can do from down here. Let's get back up to the control deck." Amber said.
With Amber and Chrysalis back in the control room, it was time to enact the operation. They had the speed, now was a matter of veering into the mountain.
"Yep. You can definitely feel the increase in speed. Watch your step, Chrysalis. Don't want to fall over."
Amber grabbed the rudder, and tugged on it to veer the ship to port. Chrysalis held on too, and the too of them tugged.
They felt the centrifugal force pushing on them, as they ship changed direction. They held on tight as to not be
Amber looked through the periscope, and saw the mountain center of their field of view. Though upon further examination, it seemed as though they had too much altitude and were going to go over the mountain, but it seemed close enough, and Amber would rather not fiddle with the ship controls any more.
"Alright. Everything's been set into motion. We have the speed and direction. This ship's going to collide with the mountain in a short amount of time."
They noticed Grogar below, snooping around the laser.
"Hey, it's Grogar!" Amber said.
"What's he doing?" Chrysalis asked.
"Whatever it is, it can't be good. We should probably do something about him before we bail." Amber said.
Amber got off of the controls and was about to go after Grogar, but Chrysalis halted her.
"YOU stay here." Chrysalis said.
"Huh?" Amber asked.
"I mean, you know how all this stuff works. I'll go see what he's up to." Chrysalis said. "And if push comes to shove, I can always transform myself into a fierce creature and fight him off."
Amber nodded, and allowed for Chrysalis and her plan.
Chrysalis went down to confront Grogar.
"Hey! Just what do you think you're doing?" Chrysalis asked.
Grogar was startled to have been approached by Chrysalis. He quickly thought of a way to color his actions.
"I'm here to help you save the day." Grogar said, in a modest tone.
Chrysalis was naturally skeptical.
"How so?" Chrysalis asked.
"I'm here to uh... I'm here to help you guys disable this horrendous machine." Grogar said.
"Really?" Chrysalis asked, sounding naturally skeptical.
"The only way to be sure that no creature is harmed, we must find what powers this laser, and pull it out." Grogar said.
"That sounds... logical." Chrysalis said.
"You check the front of this machine, I'll look in the back." Grogar said.
Chrysalis listened to his request, and flew to the front of the laser.
Amber saw Grogar snooping around the laser. He didn't seem so aimless. He seemed to know exactly where he was searching.
Grogar found the compartment, and opened the door.
"There you are, Elements of Disharmony." Grogar said to himself.
Amber gasped when she figured out Grogar's plan.
Amber rushed out of the control room.
"Don't listen to him!" Amber exclaimed. "He just wants the Elements that power the laser!"
Amber stormed the scene, and rushed after Grogar.
"Not this again. How many times are you going to be a fork in my side?" Grogar said.
Amber fired a magic blast at Grogar.
Grogar still was without his magic powers. But he was still red hot with rage, and had strength to spare.
He and Amber clashed horns, and fought against each other.
"You're an insane old goat!" Amber exclaimed.
"Irritating child!" Grogar shouted.
Amber leapt up, but Grogar caught her, and clenched her with his hooves.
Grogar grabbed Amber and held her up.
"AGH! Let go of me you slimey old goat!" Amber exclaimed.
Amber struggled, and kicked, but Grogar held firm. The pressure of his hooves hurt her little filly body. Chrysalis ran to the scene.
"Release her!" Chrysalis exclaimed.
Grogar heard Chrysalis' words, but was largely unphased by her threats. He then looked down, and saw how high above the ground they were.
"Do you know what my biggest mistake in the past has been? Being merciful. If I had been more relentless, Equestria could've been mine eons ago, and my rule would've lasted from then, to today. Well I'm not making that mistake any more."
"What does that mean?" Chrysalis asked.
"I'm impressed with you, Chrysalis. Holding onto friends is difficult. It's far too easy to let them go."
Grogar tossed Amber off the ship.
...
"Amber!" Chrysalis exclaimed.
"AHH!!!!" Amber cried as she fell from the sky.
"Hang on Amber! I'm gonna catch-"
Grogar rammed Chrysalis and knocked her over.
"One to go." Grogar said.
Amber was falling down. She did her best to try to think quick, and think of a plan. She looked over and noticed that several long ropes were dangling from the ship. Amber used her magic and grabbed one of the ropes dangling from the ship. She rolled over, and used her magic to quickly tie the rope around herself. The ropes stopped her fall, rather abruptly. The abrupt stop was somewhat painful, but at least it broke her fall. She was now left dangling below the ship.
"I'm okay!" Amber exclaimed. "Don't worry about me, just finish the job, Chrysalis!"
Chrysalis heard Amber and affirmed her wishes.
"Oh you want horns? I'll give it to you!" Chrysalis exclaimed.
Chrysalis transformed into a ram herself, and headbutted Grogar. Their heads collided, and they continued their eccentric battle.
Meanwhile, Amber struggled to keep the rope taught, and herself from falling down.
Amber looked saw that they had nearly reached their collision course destination. The ship was about to impact the mountain, with everyone on board still.
"AH!!"
However, that's when everyone felt the ship tremble, and suddenly climb altitude? Indeed, the ship suddenly ascended in altitude, just enough that the hull of the ship just barely reached above the tip of the mountain. How was this possible? Let's take a look at what Sludge was up to.
On the deck of the ship, Sludge had gathered bags and bags of riches that he pillaged from the ship.
"Hmph. This is about the only good thing to come from this. At least I get to leave here with a boatload of treasure." Sludge said.
Sludge's bags of treasure were extremely heavy, but being a dragon he could carry them fine. Sludge flapped his wings and went airborne, and carried the bags with him. But when he lifted them away from the ship, and with the ship no longer bearing the weight of all the gold, suddenly its altitude increased. This was the cause of the altitude change.
"Uh... hope that doesn't inconvenience anyone." he said to himself.
But unfortunately, it in fact derailed the entire plan. The ship was now going to miss its intended target, with the laser still set to go off soon. And left dangling Amber in an awkward situation, where she was dangling low enough, that she was about to slam into the side of the mountain herself.
Amber, being the quick thinker she was, got another idea for how to make the stop the ship.
Amber shielded herself with a magic bubble, and braced for impact.
Amber crashed the cliff face of the mountain. It was a rough landing that broke the magic shield. But nevertheless, it was time for her plan.
She untied herself, and used her magic to tie the rope to the mountain itself. With a tight knot, it was done.
The ship continued gliding forward, up until...
The airship tugged on the rope so hard, and stopped so suddenly, it was as if the ship crashed in midair.
The sudden stop caused Chrysalis and Grogar to fall over.
Amber started to climb the rope to get back to the airship.
The engines continued burning at full force. The propellers spun fast, but all they were doing was tipping the ship upward. But perhaps the engines swirled too fast for the propeller's own good.
Chrysalis and Grogar found themselves battling on a slope. Chrysalis realized that, even if the laser were to go off, it would shoot itself up into the sky. This plan's as good as any. All that was left to do was save Amberden.
Chrysalis jumped down, and held onto the rope holding the airship to the mountain. It was firm and taut.
Amber held onto the rope too, and climbed towards Chrysalis.
"Chrysalis, what are you doing?!" Amber shouted.
"Hold on Amber! I'm coming to get you!"
"Can't you just fly over and catch me?"
Chrysalis headed Amber's advice, and fluttered her wings, and was about to leap over, but suddenly.
"Look out behind you!" Amber shouted.
Grogar rammed Chrysalis, and she fell down to the mountainside.
"Chrysalis!!" Amber exclaimed.
Grogar inched forward slowly down the rope.
"I'll say it once again. There is only one more to go." Grogar said.
*gasp*
The two of them held for dear life to the rope.
Despite their precarious position, the two were red hot and steaming mad at each other.
Amber shot a beam of magic at Grogar.
Grogar swiped his head, and caught the magic with his horns. And now his horns were lit up.
"What the?! Since when can you do that?" Amber exclaimed.
"Where do you think I got the idea to make the bell? Last time Cozy Glow absorbed all my dark magic and used it against me. Let's see how you like it!" Grogar shouted.
Grogar shot the magic back at Amber, and though Amber blocked it with a magic shield, the force pushed her back, and she begun to lose her balance.
"Time to end this." Grogar said.
Amber shook her head to regain her awareness. But she was distracted by a really loud whirring sound. She looked up and saw the engine screeching, and smoke coming from the engine.
Suddenly, the propeller broke itself free from the ship, and catapulted itself through the air. It spun through the air and careened itself towards where Amber and Grogar were.
Amber thought fast, and used her magic to latch onto the spinning propeller, and although its momentum thrusted her to the side, she managed to hold onto the rope, and hold it up.
Grogar backed up, seeing Amber hold up the sharp propeller blade.
"What are you going to do with that?" he asked.
Amber gave an evil looking smirk at Grogar.
Amber lit up her horn, as she was came up with a plan to end things.
"This is for Cozy Glow!" she shouted.
Amber swung the blade at Grogar, who caught it with his horns. The two clashed, and pushed against each other.
Amber gave another hard push against Grogar, and pushed him back.
*GAH* "And this is for Tirek!"
"But I didn't defeat them. King Sombra did." Grogar said.
Amber retracted the blade, and held it high up in the air.
"And THIS! IS! THE END! OF THE END!" Amber said.
Amber swung the blade and severed the rope. The rope snapped, and immediately pulled back.
Amber was flung back, and fell towards the mountain. Grogar, who was on the other end, was flung back into the ship.
Chrysalis had actually caught Amber, and mitigated her impact on the mountainside.
And just in time to watch the fireworks. Grogar crashed into the ship. The ship itself lost balance, and spiraled downward. The laser glowed a bright purple and blue with electricity. Finally it was fully charged.
The laser fired at last. It fired a gigantic large beam up into the sky. The beam was as ever bright and powerful as everyone had feared, but thankfully it was not pointed at any civilization.
The intense forced of the laser recoiled, and slowly pushed the large airship back. The ship was losing altitude as it was being pushed back by the laser blast. Until it impacted the ground, and exploded.
Chrysalis held Amber to shield her, and Amber projected a magic shield, as they braced the shockwave.
The airship exploded into many large pieces, and sent a shockwave in all directions.
Fortunately the laser itself shot itself into the sky, but unfortunately, the laser would indeed hit one target.
"C-C-Chrysalis? What's happening?" Amber asked.
"It's fine, I've got you. It's done." Chrysalis said, in a calm tone, to quell Amber's nerves.
The two looked up and witnessed a huge explosion in the sky. They soon realized what they were witnessing was that the laser had impacted the moon.
"ARE! YOU! KIDDING ME!?" Amber exclaimed.