Twilight Sparkle's Story

Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, and Spike will always be willing to help those in need. Despite her violent ways, Peacock still cares about the world. Zenmei, Jagger, and Red all have much to live for, and much to defend. If there was any hint that Valentine really is looking out for the greater good, this is it.

All these hopes and prayers have energized the Tower Key beyond belief, glowing brightly and causing extended spires to appear off the corners of the Bell Tower's roof. From these four spires appeared bells similar to the central one. As for Plantium's offshoot in the Tower Key, it would be outnumbered by the power filled in by the heroes present.

It's working! The Bell Tower is fully charged! With the Bell Tower charged at maximum power, it will unleash its devastating defense mechanism. A very powerful pulse blast will send the enemy flying! Mwah hah hah hah hah!! Now the Metal Legion will cower in fear by the Bell Tower's power!

Troubling enough, the spiritual offshoot doesn't try fighting back - instead, it just sits there within the Tower Key, allowing itself to be overwhelmed by the massive amount of energies present and seemingly dissipating...

-----

"Thisss bodesss ill," Ripsaw hissed to himself as he watched the unsettling changes to the Bell Tower, shortly before turning to his master. "My lorrrd, shall we retrrreat?"

Plantium, on the other hand, is mostly unresponsive; concentrating all of his strength as the purple aura surrounding him from before starts flickering on and off, whilst muttering something indiscernible under his breath; a grin slowly spreading across his face.

"Lorrrd?" Ripsaw hesitantly questions.

-----

Meanwhile, a jet-black ghostly being emblazoned with numerous glowing markings suddenly appears in the distance, flying over the ocean. He soon comes upon the scene happening over at the Bell Tower and swiftly pauses in his tracks, staring blankly at both the Metal Legion's massive presence and the brightly glowing tower.

"..Disturbing," the creature said, apparently sensing the many energy fluctuations in the area.

Now that Renna was linked to the tower key, she could feel the four towers growing out from the main tower, and grinned as she felt the bolt of energy the tower was charging getting stronger. Her eyes for some reason still glowed slightly although the key was back to it's normal state as the blast from the enemy faded away. Renna would have been puzzled by this if she wasn't already busy giving the tower a little bit of extra power. I hope this works. Which it will! Don't think of the negatives Renna!

"(!) Uh...does anypony else feel something wrong suddenly?" Twilight asked, having felt a disturbance within the Tower Key. Whatever it was, it might make things worse...!

"Is now really the best time to think about how things can possibly get worse?" asked Dr. Y.

"I KNEW IT WAS A BAD IDEA!!! AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!" Claptrap is running around like a maniac, "WE'RE ALL GONNA DIIIIIIIEEEE!!!!"

"..You little pests have no idea the repercussions you will endure because of this," the voice of Plantium's offshoot abruptly says, coming upon some sort of realization - the voice's source meanwhile having resurfaced, echoing from within the Tower Key, albeit sounding incredibly distorted.

"Even though I may have lost this battle, it matters not; the Metal Legion is TIMELESS! Though I did not find what I was looking for, you have, in the end, inadvertently provided me with a far greater alternative for it!"

A dark power suddenly overloads the Tower Key from within, as Plantium's offshoot laughs maniacally - the additional energy circulating to the Bell Tower in an attempt to both overcharge and manually activate its pulse blast defense!

"(!) No - !!" Even Valentine almost flinched upon this.

"H-How - ??" Twilight fretted. "And we almost got it activated...!"

"Is this all we can do...?" Jagger uttered. "Is this really the extent of our own hopes?!"

"T...Twilight..." Spike weeped, "What's gonna happen now...?"

Indeed, all suddenly turned bleak. There seemed to be little the heroes could do to...

"...NO!"

Peacock's attention was brought to Zenmei. "(!) Zen..."

"What's with you all right now?! Did we all endure mass in-fighting, dirty tricks, blistering cold, dwarf armies, robot armies, and the tests of higher beings to let this jerk win? I don't think so! We're here right now, we're going to keep this planet alive, and we're gonna show the Metal Legion how outnumbered they are!"

As he spoke, he was typing a text message into his phone, and sent it to someone.

"(?) Wait, what exactly did...?" Jagger asked.

Zenmei merely smirked and said: "Called for backup."

Plantium's offshoot, meanwhile, goes into a fit of insane, distorted laughter in the background; the gravity of the situation he had stumbled upon after melding with the Tower Key - having originally had a different goal in mind at that time, no less - warping his mind within mere seconds, coincidentally making him fail to notice what Zenmei just did.

"To think, that the answer I was looking for - the means to remake the world and secure my legacy - lied in the bumbling antics of you foolhardy heroes, all this time! Aaahahahahahahah..! What a twisted, ironic delight, this all is!"

Plantium, now possessing the Tower Key, floats about the room, giddy with the idea that his ultimate victory is at hand, and begins gloating rather obnoxiously.

"Yes, I suppose I should be thanking you people for making it this far, after all. With my immense power, coupled with the conflicting, focused energy your foolish wishes brought about in this key, the utter range and devastation of the Bell Tower's pulse wave will be ASTRONOMICAL when I release it! And it is upon those ashes, where I will make my own world; and the Metal Legion shall spread out to the stars! Not even the gods themselves will be safe from my wrath!"

Plantium starts laughing once more, but soon abruptly pauses during his flight path, hovering in mid-air, and eventually falls silent for a little bit.
The heroes should then suddenly feel a cold, piercing glare emanating from the possessed key.

"..Of course," he says, suddenly calm and collected once more, "I am afraid you all will not live to see my glorious new world - I can't have you pests screwing everything up after practically handing me the planet's keys. A little house cleaning may be in order first, though, before we engage with the roughhousing... hold on."

------

Meanwhile, back outside the Bell Tower, Plantium's physical body promptly collapses into a heap on the airship deck it was previously standing on, much to the nearby Ripsaw's surpirse.

-------

"..There, much better! Now then, who'll be first to volunteer in your pathetic attempts at flailing angrily at me? The new world has a long eon ahead of it, after all!" Plantium's no longer offshoot, but rather full-on spirit resumes, before breaking into more mad laughter.

NOTE: Guys, please try and read all of the post, no matter how long. I'm seeing a few continuity issues. I don't mean to be a b*tch but please, read the posts.

Renna felt the tower key rise out of her pocket, and now knew the new power in the key was bad, bad, bad. She growled and the remaining good power that had flowed from the key into her was still hanging on, and she used it to float in front of Plantium. "You are not getting this planet, whether you like it or not." She heard the villain laugh at her but she didn't care. She could feel Ganymede struggling to get the spell working behind her, and knew she hadn't much time. She looked Plantium straight into where she assumed his eyes would be and let her inner beast out.

She remembered everything she had experienced with all these amazing people, of all the people that would die, and her eyes lit up in a raging fury at the thought of Plantium ruining everything. She pulled out the last bit of power in her, closed her eyes, and opened them wide again. This time they blazed like a full scale sun, and she floated a bit higher off the ground. She yelled at the top of her lungs, and stretched out her arms wide, her coat billowing like it was in a massive gale, and a beam of light shot out from the center of her chest. The magic that had poured in to her was shining bright and he whole room was lit up by a flash of bright light. Renna cried out, and landed back on the ground in a crouched position.

She rose slowly, her coat smoking slightly at the corners. She stared down at the key that was laying on the floor, smoking slightly, and walked over to it. "Hello? Anyone home?" She tapped the key while Chelle readied to fire a portal underneath her feet bin case anything bad happened.

"I can only keep this stable for so long!" said Ganymede. "So if any of you have a plan to help now would be the time!"

"Still here, woman," Plantium growled in response to Renna. "Let me ask you something, though, seeing as you DID just eagerly throw yourself in harm's way: What is the sound of one hand clapping?"

A torrent of dark miasma is suddenly vented from within the Tower Key before an answer can be given, quickly forming a cloud around the key as a monstrously large and burly human arm, sporting five clawed fingers - the thing seemingly made entirely of what looks to be a dense, albeit shiny metallic 'skin' - erupts from within the miasma, promptly swatting Renna into a nearby wall with surprising force - enough to knock a normal person unconcious.

"..You know, despite the powers I held before, and the almost planet-sundering-level ones I probably do now, there still really is no satisfying substitute for direct, hands-on violence," Plantium said to no one in particular, chuckling, the large metal arm clenching its hand for dramatic effect, before the possessed Tower Key floats back up into the air, the gruesome arm and miasma with it. "Now, whom else among you rodents hungers for sweet release?"

Just then, many beams of light were coming to the Bell Tower from Haven's direction.

"Hey, check it out!" Peacock said. "Guess we're not alone in this after all, huh?"

At that time, Zenmei's cell phone also radiated brightly, letting out even more thousands of lights around the Tower Key. "(!) Ekiyu... {warm smile} ...thanks."

All these lights gathered around the Tower Key, merging in alongside the present groups' hopes manifested. The corruption process on the Tower Key began reversing.

"...I said we'd show you that you're outnumbered, Plantium," Zenmei continued. "After all, now you're up against five thousand strong...and counting!"

"Outnumbered? What are you blathering on ab-" Plantium starts, before he suddenly starts screaming in agony, manipulating the metallic arm that is jutting out of the miasma, trying to shield himself from the burning light of the planet's collective hopes, although to no avail, as they quickly surround the Tower Key and begin searing Plantium's spirit from within.

"FOUL PESTS!" Plantium screams at this - a shrill, distorted noise. "You LIE! No will, collective or not, is stronger than that of the lord of the Metal Legion! My power is INFINITE! My army, TIMELESS!"

Plantium continues roaring in agony as the miasma around the Tower Key slowly disperses, the monstrous metal arm meanwhile suddenly shattering into dust.

"Rrrgh..! I REFUSE to allow my legacy be stolen from me like this; not when I was so close! Do you hear me?! I.. REFUSE..!"

The purple aura surrounding the Tower Key starts flickering faintly, as Plantium struggles to keep control - his powers greatly weakening... but he soon breaks into a weak, gasping laugh.

"Hah.. hahaha.. FINE!" He sputters. "It's quite clear that I've.. lost, here! But, I have one last surprise, left.. One you will pray dearly, to never encounter! In your eyes, I may fall, but.. that does not mean I, nor my Legion, truly die!"

Plantium starts laughing madly, the laughter slowly fading away until it can't be heard anymore, as the Tower Key suddenly falls to the ground with a clang - the warlord's connection to both the Bell Tower and the key being severed, the tower's energy no longer on the brink of overloading.

However, the tremors from the rest of the Metal Legion's siege against the tower continues unabated; they are definitely not going to leave on their own free will now, and unless something is done, they're bound to eventually break through the barrier...

After exorcising Plantium's spirit from the Tower Key, all the hopes resumed energizing it, lifting it back off the ground.

"Now, I'm not sure exactly how strong the tower's defense is, but you all might want to brace yourselves," Valentine said.

"If it helps, I could magnetize our feet to the floor," Jagger said.

The Tower Key then linked a beam to the bell above, letting out a mighty ring. Unusually, its tintinnabulation prevented shock up close, so no harm to the group within. The four surrounding bells also started ringing, generating a pulse of light around the tower and casting it outward at the Metal Legion's fleet!

"YES!!" Karasz raised his arm in triumph, "WOOHOO!! Plantium is toast!"

"Hope you have a bright future, Plantium!" Toniyo taunted, "Oh wait~ That's irony! Ha ha ha ha ha~"

"Tenebris, you seem optimistic about this situation..." Leilanie said to him, "Weren't you scared of him?"

The wolf happens to have a backup plan. I sense it in his heart that if all else fails, there is always a backup plan. And this is it. The bells are finally ringing thanks to the Tower Key's power. The pulse wave will destroy Plantium and his armada once and for all. But at what cost?

"Excuse me...?" Leilanie raised her eyebrow for a moment, "Cost? What do you mean?"

His phone bill is rising.

"If your plan was ever to become a comedian," said Dr. Y. "Find a new plan."

"Plantium!" shouted Ganymede. "If you can hear me, know this! This planet has survived thousands upon thousands of men like you! It will survive you, too! We care nothing for your legions - the hopes of but one man are stronger than any weapon you have, and we have thousands of hopes working against you! You haven't a chance!"

Meanwhile, back on the airship Ripsaw and Plantium's unconscious body are sitting at, the former has the latter tied to the mast so he doesn't fall off the side of the airship - Ripsaw also trying his best to wake his master, who is quite out there, what with being separated from, and then forced back into his body within a short period of time.

It's around this time that Ripsaw then turns around, and notices the wall of light speeding along towards the Metal Legion's fleet. Behind him, Plantium soon awakens from his stupor to this sight, a simple grimace etched on the defeated Koopatrol warlord's face.. before he suddenly grins.

"...Well, ssshi-" Ripsaw, on the other hand, began.

The Bell Tower's pulse defense passes through the Metal Legion's fleet, overloading the airships and the base itself, massive amounts of electricity wildly sparking about them as the airships either spin out and crash into the open water, or explode into bits and pieces of flaming shrapnel outright, likely due to their unstable energy sources being overwhelmed, or crashing into the Bell Tower's barrier.

At the same time, the glass dome surrounding the Legion's base shatters immediately under the sudden force, explosions erupting from within the base as thick smoke billows out of the now slowly-sinking citadel.

Within a few short minutes, a large quantity of the open waters surrounding the Bell Tower is now occupied by the flaming wreckage of airships, the destroyed citadel, thousands of robot bits, and a lot of oil.

Goddess help whatever fish species had been living there at the time.

------

The Lurker, meanwhile, whom is still a ways away from the tower and, coincidentally, just out of the pulse's reach, watches this travesty unfold in utter horror and embarrassment - or, at least, what comes close to those two for one so disconnected from their emotions.

"...And third time's the charm," the Lurker says to himself, shaking his head in disappointment. "Time to find a hideously mangled body, now.."

Another pulse cast from the bells pushes all the shrapnel away from the tower, and even cleanses the oil in the water. The tower, the outreach of the world's very soul, is re-energized and back to its optimal state.

At the same time, another light engulfed the heroes, warping them out of the tower as its barrier was restored...