Chapter 8 - Chapter 9

It was a clear sunny day at Ponyville as the Cutie Mark Crusaders were at their clubhouse, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were discussing on what tasks they would do today to earn them their cutie mark, Applebloom on the other hand has been quiet during the whole conversation. For the past few days, the story of her families demise and the destruction of Ponyville as told by her future-self worried the yellow filly. Applebloom never said a word about the discussion to her friends, as she made a promise to her older-self to keep it a secret between them, even though the young Cutie Mark Crusader was pretending that nothing was wrong when somepony ask her. Applebloom was lost in her own angst-ridden thoughts when Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo turns to her for an answer.

"Hey Applebloom, do you have any suggestions on what we should do today?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Well...to be honest, I don't know..." the yellow filly responded.

"Not a single idea?" Scootaloo raises a brow.

"No...I can't really think of anything." Applebloom sadly shakes her head.

The two fillies look at each other as they realize something was wrong with their depressed friend.

"Hey, is it me or somethings up with Applebloom?" whispered Scootaloo.

"Now that you mentioned it, she doesn't seem like herself." Sweetie Belle whispered back.

"Should we ask her whats wrong?" asked Scootaloo.

"Hmm yeah, maybe we should so we can try cheering her up" whispered Sweetie Belle before the two turn their attention to the glum earth pony. "Applebloom, is something bothering you?"

"What? N-no, nothing's bothering me" Applebloom denied. "What makes you think that?"

"You've been quiet and mopey since we started this meeting" stated Scootaloo. "Besides If something's bugging you, you could have at least tell us so we can help you."

"It's a personal matter, Scootaloo..." admitted Applebloom.

"Did something bad happen at your place?" asked the orange pegasus.

"No, it's nothing like that." Applebloom replied.

"Then what is it?" asked Scootaloo.

"I can't tell you, I already made a promise that I would never say a word to anypony" said Applebloom as she looks down. "It's best if you don't know about it..."

"Applebloom, we're your friends, it's alright if you can tell us what's bothering you." said Sweetie Belle who places her hoof over her dispirited friend's shoulder.

"Yeah, we hate seeing you all sad and depressed like this" said Scootaloo standing by her friend's side. "so please, tell us what's wrong?"

The yellow filly looks at her friends and thought to herself whether or not to tell them about the bleak future. Even though she'll end up breaking the promise she made to her mare-self, Applebloom knew she couldn't hide it forever from her friends, since they were concerned about her well-being. She lets out a long sigh as the filly finally decides to tell them.

"Alright...but you two have to keep this an absolute secret." said Applebloom.

"We promised." Sweetie Belle nods.

"Do you mean it? Because this is a really big secret and it should never leave the clubhouse." clarified the yellow earth pony.

"Yes, yes we mean it, so what is it?" said Scootaloo who's eager to hear the secret.

"Okay...the thing that's been bothering me for the past few days is-" Applebloom was suddenly cut off as the tree house and the surrounding area began to tremble violently.

"What's happening?!" Sweetie Belle panicked.

"IT'S AN EARTHQUAKE!" yelled Scootaloo.

"QUICK, OUT OF THE TREE HOUSE!" Applebloom shouted as she and the others quickly exits the tree house to find a safe area in Sweet Apple Acres.

Meanwhile, the citizens of Ponyville went into a full-blown panic as the earthquake struck their town; the Cakes at Sugarcube Corner hid under the table while holding their crying twins and Nurse Redheart along with the staff at the hospital had their hooves full making sure the patients were safe.

At the Golden Oak Library however, Spike was having trouble keeping himself safe from the earthquake as the books fell right off the shelves and lands on top of him. The baby dragon pushes the mountain of books off of him and got out while trying to avoid being buried again by the falling literature.

"WHAT IN EQUESTRIA IS GOING ON?!" Spike shouted in confusion.

Near the Ghastly Gorge area where the seismic disturbance were coming from, Twilight and her friends were in the presence of the enraged Lucifer who they tricked into coming out of the Underworld where the sun is still out in Equestria.

With the sunlight weakening the dark lord, the gang may have the advantage now that he's not as invincible but with the sheer power radiating from Lucifer, the ponies knew this wasn't going to be an easy battle. The earthquake finally dies down as the dragon regains his composure and prepares to make his first move against the group.

"Now...which one of you shall perish first?" Lucifer hissed.

The ponies silently glares at the dark lord as they weren't in the least intimidated by his threat, especially Future Applebloom who had more experience in fighting Lucifer from her timeline. In their last battle, she along with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle barely made it out alive after Lucifer mercilessly pummeled the trio. Even when they combined their efforts, the Cutie Mark Crusaders couldn't put a single dent on the dragon's thick hide and were forced to retreat before Lucifer could finish them off.

After traveling to the past and warning the Mane Six of Lucifer's plans, they've successfully prevented Princess Celestia's assassination and rescued Emerald from the depths of the Underworld. All that was left is to fight the dark lord himself in his weaken state, before Twilight and her friends could use the Elements of Harmony, the future pony notices smoke seeping through his sharp teeth as Lucifer opens his mouth.

"Watch out!" shouted Future Applebloom.

The black dragon unleashes his fiery breath at the gang who quickly reacts and jumps out of the way, the heat from Lucifer's flames was so intense that it sets a couple of nearby trees on fire and melted a large boulder.

"Whoa, if we hadn't dodge that, we could have been barbecued ponies!" said a shocked Applejack.

"Yeah! Talk about when things start heating up and I meant that literally!" Pinkie Pie exclaimed.

"Our only hope is the Elements of Harmony but we can't focus if he keeps attacking us." said Twilight

"It would be unwise to use them now especially if he's not going to give us the time to use it, our best plan is to fight him until he's weak enough." suggested Future Applebloom.

"Couldn't we just distract him?" Rarity asked.

"No, Lucifer will notice by then and he'll do anything to prevent you girls from using the Elements of Harmony." stated the future mare.

"So how are we gonna combat against him?" asked Rainbow Dash.

"I have an idea, there's this one spell I want to try out." Emerald spoke as the gang looks at her.

"Let's hear it." said Future Applebloom.

"It is called the Synchronization Spell, it's where two unicorns combines their magic which in turn amplifies their power that can be use for offensive and defensive spells." Emerald explained.

"I never heard this kind of this spell before, how do you perform it?" asked Twilight.

"To perform it, we need to focus our magic on each others horns so that it will create a magical link connecting us" Emerald instructed. "It'll take at least several minutes for it to complete the spell."

"Where did you even find this spell?" the violet unicorn asked.

"it's from a rare spell book I have in my personal collection back at home, but the only drawback is that we can't be seperated within five feet from each other, any further and the spell will wear off." stated Emerald.

"Alright, I'll volunteer to perform the spell with you but in the meantime, we need to keep Lucifer busy so he won't interrupt the process" said Twilight before turning her attention to her friends. "Can you girls stall Lucifer for us?"

"You can count on us!" Rainbow Dash replied.

"Good, now let's do this!" said Future Applebloom.

The gang starts their plan as Rainbow Dash grabs Future Applebloom and takes off in the air, Fluttershy does the same with Applejack with Pinkie Pie and Rarity following them. Twilight and Emerald stood within the five feet distance limit from each other and carefully concentrate their magic on their horns in unison, the magical auras from their horns slowly merges with each other in the shape of an arc. As the unicorns prepares the spell, Lucifer on the other hand was about to make his move against the two when suddenly a rock was thrown and hits his face, the dark lord turns to his left to see the Pinkie Pie taunting him.

"Hey Lucifer, your breath smells like a burning garbage dump!" yelled the pink mare as she sticks her tongue out at him and takes off running.

The enraged dragon chases after Pinkie Pie when he was struck on the back with a green ball that explodes on impact, catching him by surprise as the explosion causes him to stumble and fall. Lucifer lifts himself off the ground and looks up to see Rainbow Dash in the air carrying Future Applebloom who tosses another green ball at him, only this time he was able to dodge the explosive ball but was caught off guard as Fluttershy flies down with Applejack delivering a swift kick to Lucifer's ribs.

"Take that, ya overgrown lizard!" shouted Applejack.

Lucifer tries to slash the orange earth pony with his claws but Fluttershy flies up to avoid Applejack from being hit, the dark lord then breathes out a barrage of fireballs in the air at the flying ponies, Rainbow Dash easily dodges the fireballs despite carrying Future Applebloom while Fluttershy however was having a difficult time avoiding them as she tries not to get hit while holding Applejack.

One of the fireballs narrowly misses the timid pegasus but she eventually manages to fly away from the dragon's range, Rainbow Dash flies down and throws Future Applebloom where she raises her hoof and punches Lucifer across his face. The future mare jumps back as the lord of the Underworld felt something wet from his lips, he wipes it off and to his surprise, there was streak of blood smeared on his claw.

"Well what do you know, it looks like even the Lord of Darkness is capable of bleeding." Future Applebloom smirked.

"How dare you, you wretched pony!" Lucifer growled with teeth gritting.

"I take it your not used to battling others in the day time, since you prefer to fight in the shadows like a coward!" taunted the yellow mare.

"You will regret those words!" The dragon snarls as he charges towards the future pony.

Future Applebloom stood in position as she waits for Lucifer to get close, the yellow mare jumps in the air once Lucifer was near and struck the dragon directly in the face with a spinning kick, causing Lucifer to stumble back as the force of the kick broke a part of his tooth.

"That was for Ponyville!" exclaimed Future Applebloom.

"You insolent, little wretch!" growled the dark lord as he conjures a dark magic orb from his claw.

The future mare makes a dash for it as Lucifer throws the orb at the fleeing pony, Future Applebloom tries to outrun it but the orb was catching up to her fast, Rainbow Dash swoops in and grabs her in time as the magic orb lands on the ground and explodes in a burst of flames. The rainbow-maned pegasus nearly loses her balance from the shock wave but manages to land herself and Future Applebloom safely on top of the trees.

"Thanks, Rainbow." said the future mare.

"No problem." Rainbow Dash replied.

Lucifer conjures up two more dark orbs and was about to throw them at the two when out of no where, Pinkie Pie jumps on top of the dark lord and covers his eyes with her hooves.

"Peekaboo!" shouted Pinkie Pie.

This catches the dragon by surprise as he blindly threw the orbs, causing Rainbow Dash and Future Applebloom to quickly jump out of the way as the flying orbs narrowly misses the two and explodes in mid-air.

"GET OFF OF ME!" yelled the dark lord as he tries to grab Pinkie Pie, who was moving around to keep herself from out of his reach.

"Not until you guess who's behind you, mister" teased the pink mare before Lucifer manage to grab on to her tail and pulls her off of him. "Hey, you were suppose to guess!"

"You think I would let you get away with that little trick you pulled?!" Lucifer snarled at the giggling pony.

"Oh that wasn't the trick you should worry about." Pinkie Pie informed him.

"What are you talking abou-" Lucifer was cut off when a small log hits him on the back of the head, causing him to drop Pinkie Pie as he turns to see Rarity with several logs and rocks levitating around her.

"Claws off my friend, you ruffian!" yelled Rarity.

"If you think that you can fight against me with just a couple of rocks and logs, then you are sadly mistaken." Lucifer boasted.

The fashionista unicorn smirks as she starts running towards the dark lord while using her magic to carry the projectiles. First she fires a small rock at Lucifer who easily dodges its and hurls a couple of logs which the dragon burns them with his fiery breath, Rarity throws a slightly bigger rock at him and Lucifer breaks it into pieces with a single punch. This leaves the dragon open for attack as Rarity strikes Lucifer with a vicious kick to the abdomen.

"ARGH!" The dark lord cried out in pain while holding onto his stomach.

"That's what you get for underestimating us ponies!" said the confident unicorn.

Without warning, Lucifer swings his fist directly at Rarity's face in retaliation, the force of the blow was enough to send the unicorn flying about thirty feet away before dropping to the ground with a bloody nose.

"RARITY!" gasped Fluttershy.

"Oh no..." said a shocked Applejack.

"Hold on Rarity, I'm coming for you!" Rainbow Dash immediately flies over to rescue her friend but soon finds herself dodging a swarm of fireballs from Lucifer. One of them hits the end of her tail and catches on fire which the cyan pegasus quickly puts out, she swoops down in a second attempt to get to Rarity but was met with several more fireballs and had to fly away so she won't get hit. While Lucifer was busy trying to hit the flying pony, the others rush over the battlefield to their fallen friend's aid.

"Rarity, are you alright?" asked Future Applebloom as Rarity wakes up.

"Ugh...I feel like I was hit by a train..." the dazed unicorn responded.

"We'll get you out of the area so you can recover." said Fluttershy as she helps Rarity get back on her hooves.

As they were about to leave the area, the gang hears a sudden cry from Rainbow Dash who was hit in the stomach by a fireball, causing her to lose control and crashing straight down into the trees. Lucifer turns his attention to the horrified ponies with a sadistic grin on his face, cracking his knuckles as Future Applebloom and Applejack prepared themselves for combat.

"Now with that pesky insect out of the way, I can deal with the rest of you..." said Lucifer.

Just as the sisters were about to fight against Lucifer to protect their friends, the dark lord was struck from behind by a powerful energy bolt that knocked the dragon away from the gang. The ponies looks over to see both Twilight and Emerald had finish the Synchronization Spell; the two unicorns were surrounded by a radiant violet aura that gives off an odd vibration in the surroundings, their eyes glowing bright and their horns linked together by an energy arc.

The spell has made Twilight and Emerald work in complete sync as shown by how they walk at the same time, along with their breathing, blinking and even sharing the same thoughts. The other ponies were astonish to see not only the spell working but their magic is now twice as strong together, even the dark lord was surprised by the sudden attack as he stood back up and stares at the two unicorns.

"What kind of magic is this?" He thought to himself.

"You will not hurt our friends, Lucifer!" Twilight and Emerald spoke in unison.

"I don't know what spell you are using but it's not going to be enough to defeat me!" The dragon stated as he breathes out flames at them.

The two instantly casts a magic barrier around themselves and their friends before the flames could hit them, shielding the ponies from the immense heat as it burns the surrounding area, scorching the ground until it was charred black. The dark lord stops with his fire breathing but to his disbelief, it didn't damage the barrier, the unicorns lowers the barrier down to launch an attack by firing a bombardment of energy blades at the dragon.

Lucifer crosses his arms as he braces himself for the upcoming attack, the energy blades rained upon the dark lord with intense force, pelting against the dragon's thick scales and some even cut through deep. The two unicorn stops their attack as they prepare another spell against Lucifer, who took this opportunity for a counter attack by running around to find a blind spot, he throws a dark orb at the ponies only for it to get destroyed by a lightning bolt from the unicorns.

They fired several more electric bolts at Lucifer who tried to dodge them but one struck the dragon and causes him to fall, Lucifer was then hit by three more bolts before he could get back up. Twilight and Emerald conjures a small glowing ball that starts increasing in size while Lucifer is down, once the ball was about the size of a large boulder, the unicorns prepare to attack just as the dragon was getting up and seeing the ball aiming at him.

"This is for deceiving me/Emerald for all these years!" Twilight and Emerald exclaimed as they fire the ball at Lucifer.

The dark lord got back on his feet and with no time to dodge the glowing ball, he quickly uses dark magic to cast a barrier in front of him but when the ball comes into contact, it caused an explosion so powerful that could be heard from several miles away. The shockwave nearly ripped the nearby trees from the ground and the animals took off fleeing for their lives, a huge mushroom cloud could be seen even from Ponyville as the citizens watched with a look of concern on their faces. While the dust settles, the gang notices Twilight and Emerald were showing signs of fatigue as the energy arch above them was flickering.

"Hey, what's wrong with you two?" asked Applejack.

"We were...unprepared for this...we used up most of our magic, especially on that last attack." the two unicorns replied while catching their breath.

"That doesn't sound good." said a worried Rarity.

"We don't know how long this spell will last but as long as we still have some magic, we can continue fighting." said Twilight and Emerald.

"Don't push yourselves too hard, we got Lucifer on the ropes so reserve your magic for now." stated Future Applebloom.

"Lucifer can't possibly continue fighting after being hit with that big blast you two did." said Pinkie Pie.

"This should give us the time to use the Elements of Harmony but we need Rainbow Dash if we're going to finish this battle. Fluttershy, can you go out and find her-" Future Applebloom cuts her sentence short as she notice the pegasus's face had turn pale. "Fluttershy?"

"G-g-girls...L-l-look!" stammered Fluttershy as points her hoof out.

Looking over at the area where the explosive spell went off, the ponies watch in horror as Lucifer steps out of the dust cloud completely unscathed from the blast.

"For a moment there, I thought I was done for..." said Lucifer while brushing himself off.

"No way!" Applejack said with her jaw nearly dropping to the ground.

"T-that's...impossible!" stuttered Rarity.

"That was a clever trick you pulled, I give you that but it's no match against my magic." stated the dark lord.

"Damn it, here I thought we could have finish him off by now!" said Future Applebloom.

Lucifer took notice of Twilight and Emerald's current condition as the energy arch connecting them was on the verge of going out.

"Judging by how exhausted you two are, it seems that spell of yours has a limit and it won't be long before it wears off." informed Lucifer.

"W-what should we do now?" asked the frighten pegasus.

"Stall him for us" Twilight and Emerald spoke. "We can't attack him in this state, give us some time to recover so we can at least conjure up another spell."

"We better make this count." said Future Applebloom.

"Let's show this vile beast that we're not giving up!" said a determined Rarity.

"CHARGE!" shouted Pinkie Pie as she, Applejack, Rarity and Future Applebloom all charge towards the dark lord.

As Fluttershy stayed with Twilight and Emerald to guard them, the four ponies gang up against the dragon as they begin to attack him. Future Applebloom throws a pepper bomb at Lucifer that explodes in a red mist, causing his eyes and nose to burn from the extremely spicy mist as Applejack kicks him in the knee while he's blind, Lucifer tries to hit the nearest pony but misses and gets punched in the nose by Rarity.

"That was for nearly breaking my nose!" Rarity yelled.

The dark lord opens his eyes as he sees the fashionista pony in front of him, promoting him to breath fire at her but Rarity narrowly dodges it to avoid being burn. Future Applebloom tries to kick him but Lucifer grabs her leg and tosses the red-maned mare at Rarity, knocking both of them out of the way as Applejack runs in to attack only to be smacked in the face hard by the dragon, Lucifer then grabs the orange earth pony and lifts her off the ground as he slowly squeezes his grip tightly around her neck.

"You ponies are really getting on my last nerves!" growled Lucifer.

Applejack struggles against the dragon's vice-like grip while gasping for air, Lucifer smiles as he sadistically strangles the life out of the earth pony when suddenly Pinkie Pie bites down on his tail, causing the dragon to roar in pain as he drops Applejack and turns his attention to the pink mare clamping her jaws on his tail.

"Let go of my tail, you little dog!" yelled the dark lord as he kicks Pinkie Pie off of his tail and causes her to slam against a nearby tree.

Applejack gets back up while trying to regain her breath, she looks over to see Pinkie Pie having been hit hard and Lucifer was about to attack her, the orange earth pony immediately charges at the dragon.

"Don't you dare hurt her!" shouted Applejack.

Before Applejack could attack the dark lord to save her friend, she was struck by Lucifer's tail and was sent flying across the area, landing near where Future Applebloom and Rarity were knocked out. Fluttershy along with Twilight and Emerald are the only ponies left to fight against Lucifer, the two unicorns still haven't recovered from overusing of their magic and Fluttershy was left to guard them against Lucifer.

The timid pegasus was known for her fear of dragons and with their battle against the lord of the Underworld, it made things worse for Fluttershy as she was afraid to even fight him but when she see's her friends injured from trying to defend the weaken unicorns, her fear of dragons suddenly fades away and she became enraged like never before. As if something inside of her was telling the pegasus to protect her friends, building up the courage to fly over to where Pinkie Pie's at and guards her from Lucifer.

"What do we have here? A pegasus willing to throw her life away for her fellow pony." the dragon sneered while looking down upon her.

"Take one more step towards my friend and you'll be in a world of hurt!" warned Fluttershy.

"Are you honestly threatening me? You seen what I did to your friends and you have the galls to challenge the lord of darkness" Lucifer chuckled at the pegasus's threat. "Don't make me laugh, little pony, unless you want to end up like-"

All of a sudden, Lucifer was caught by surprise as he was struck with a devastating uppercut to the jaw from the yellow pegasus, the dragon nearly falls back but Fluttershy flew around him and kicks Lucifer in the back of the head. Lucifer quickly swings his fist back in retaliation but misses as the enraged pegasus punches the dragon's face in a rapid barrage, hitting the dark lord with every ounce of strength she has.

"YOU WILL NOT HURT MY FRIENDS!" screamed Fluttershy as she lands another major blow to Lucifer's face, breaking several of his teeth and causing him to fall to the ground.

The dark lord spits out pieces of his blood-soaked broken teeth as he gets up to fight back, breathing out a fireball at the pegasus who dodges it and got close enough to drive her elbow to his stomach. The dragon growls in anger as he attempts to land a punch against Fluttershy, the pegasus swiftly avoids his claws and flies around Lucifer in circles to confuse him. The dark lord tries to catch up with the pegasus's speed as he lifts his tail up to hit her at the right moment, however when his tail came down in hopes that he finally hit her, Fluttershy suddenly came at the left side and kicks him square in the face.

The others watch in awe as Fluttershy battles against Lucifer in full force, never would they have imagine the timid pegasus had it in her, especially with her shy and easily-frightened nature. Meanwhile in the woodland parts of Ghastly Gorge, Rainbow Dash had regain consciousness after being hit by Lucifer's fireball, having sustained burns on her stomach and a difficult time standing on her hooves. But luckily for the cyan pegasus, her wings weren't damage during the fall so she's still able to fly.

"That scaly bastard is so gonna get it..." Rainbow Dash mumbles to herself as she flaps her wings and flies off to the battlefield.

Fluttershy continues to unleash her fury against the lord of the Underworld, the furious pegasus punches the dragon a few times in the stomach and when she was about to land another blow, Lucifer slams both of his claws down onto Fluttershy as she hits the ground face first. Before she could get back up, the dragon grabs her by the mane and lifts Fluttershy up to his eye level.

"I'm going to repay that beating you gave me in ten fold!" Lucifer said this as he punched the helpless pegasus in the stomach, causing her to cry out in pain.

Rainbow Dash hears Fluttershy's cry from afar as she arrives to see the dark lord mercilessly beating her friend, Lucifer throws the yellow pegasus down and proceeds to stomp on her like an defenseless insect. Fluttershy tries to move herself away from the dragon who then kicks her across the field, breaking both of her wings when she crashed against a boulder, the others watched helplessly as they were weaken from the fight to help her.

Angered by the sight of Lucifer pounding Fluttershy like a punching bag, Rainbow Dash took to the air at a higher altitude as she flies straight down, picking up speed just as the dragon was about to attack the injured pegasus.

"H-help...m-me..." Fluttershy stammered in agony.

"I'll put you out of your misery as soon as I'm done with you." Lucifer smirked as he raise his claw at the helpless pony.

Then suddenly Rainbow Dash hurtles at the dark lord from the left side, hitting the unsuspected dragon as he was knocked several yards away from Fluttershy. Once Lucifer gets back up on his feet, he looks around to see what hit him when Rainbow Dash struck him again from behind, causing the dark lord to stumble as he caught a glimpse of the flying pegasus.

"What the? I thought I took care of that rainbow pony!" thought Lucifer.

Rainbow Dash makes a sharp U-turn in the air and hits the dragon from the opposite side, tearing a piece of his shoulder armor off as the cyan pegasus strikes at Lucifer again. With her airspeed increasing drastically per second, Rainbow Dash flew across Ghastly Gorge in a rainbow blur and bombards the dark lord from all directions. Her lightning-speed soon overwhelmed the dragon, making sure that he didn't have any time for a counterattack as Lucifer was being pummeled so violently, one of the blows causes him to hack up blood.

The cyan pegasus then flies out of the battlefield so she would gain altitude in the air, while Lucifer staggers to regain his balance from the immense beating he took, Rainbow Dash charges straight back to the area in rapid speed and heads straight towards Lucifer. The dark lord lifts his head up to see the pegasus coming at him like a comet and before he could have time to defend himself, Rainbow Dash rams right onto his chest just as a sonic rainboom appears upon impact. A huge multicolored shock wave swept through Ghastly Gorge as the collision sent the dragon flying, breaking through a bunch of trees in the way and finally plummeting into a mountain that left a small but noticeable fissure.

Rainbow Dash was also sent flying back due to the rebound of the impact, crashing into the ground and sliding through for several feet before stopping. The others were left dumbstruck upon witnessing Rainbow Dash landing a devastating blow to Lucifer, but when they notice she wasn't moving at all, the ponies immediately rush to their friend's aid.

"Rainbow Dash!" Fluttershy cried out as she ran towards her fallen friend despite her injuries and gently lifts Rainbow Dash in her arms.

"Dashie, Dashie wake up, please say something to us!" said a worried Pinkie Pie.

The cyan pegasus stirs as her eyes slightly open to see her friends around her and Fluttershy holding her.

"F-Fluttershy...y-you're not hurt badly, are you?" Rainbow Dash asked her with a weakly voice.

"Forget about me, you've could have gotten yourself killed pulling off a reckless move like that, what were you thinking?!" Fluttershy scolded her friend as her eyes filled with tears.

"I couldn't stand there while that monster hurt my friends, I nailed him pretty good, did I?" the injured pegasus smiled.

"Yes...yes you did, Rainbow." Fluttershy smiles back.

"Damn...my entire body hurts a lot" Rainbow Dash said wincing in pain. "I don't think I can fly or even fight at this state."

"Don't try to move too much, Rainbow Dash." said Fluttershy.

"Twilight, Emerald, are you two able to perform any spells?" asked Future Applebloom.

"We're still recovering from overusing our magic, we only have enough for one more before the Synchronization Spell wears off." informed the two unicorns.

"Then we're gonna need it for when Lucifer gets back on his feet, knowing how tough that dragon is, he's not going to be happy when he recovers from that attack Rainbow Dash did on him." stated the future mare.

"Don't forget that we still have the Elements of Harmony as our last resort." Applejack reminded to her sister.

"Right, now lets take Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy to a safe area so they can re-"

The gang suddenly hears a loud rage-filled roar echoing across Ghastly Gorge from the mountain area, followed by an explosion that left a huge dust cloud as Lucifer springs through the air in one big leap and lands in the battlefield near the surprised ponies. The sonic rainboom did some major damage to the dragon; his body riddle with scrapes and cuts and the horns on his head were broken off, the armor he wore was torn beyond repair as his chest bares a large smoldering mark from where Rainbow Dash had struck him. Now furious as ever, the dark lord slowly approaches the gang with murderous intent.

"I've...have had...ENOUGH WITH ALL OF YOU!" Lucifer roared at the terrified ponies as he conjures two dark orbs from his claws.

Twilight and Emerald quickly casts a barrier spell around the gang just as Lucifer hurls the orbs, the first one explodes upon impact and causes the barrier to crack, their magic was depleting fast as the energy arch connecting their horns was fading away. The second orb struck the broken barrier with enough force to shatter through and the shock wave knocks the ponies off the ground, scattering them through out the area as the arch disappears completely and the two unicorns were separated from each other.

The gang struggles to stand back up on their hooves but the blast had injured most of the ponies, with Twilight and Emerald having used the last amount of their magic to protect them from the blast, the situation is looking very bleak for the Mane Six as they barely had any strength left to use the Elements of Harmony. The dark lord lets out a sinister laugh while standing triumphantly against the fallen heroines.

"It appears that this battle has reach its climax and in the end, your efforts to take me down were all in vain." the dragon sneered at the injured ponies.

"No...this can't...be happening." Twilight muttered while struggling to stand up.

"We..can't...let him...take over Equestria!" Rainbow Dash said trying to move her injured body but to little avail.

"Don't feel too bad, you ponies should be quite honored that all of you will be the first to die under my reign!" Lucifer smirked.

The dark lord moves in to finish off the incapacitated Mane Six when he was hit on the shoulder by a green explosive ball, Lucifer flinches from the small explosion as he turns to see an injured Future Applebloom still standing in spite of her condition.

"There's no way we're going to let you win, Lucifer!" yelled Future Applebloom.

"You just don't know when to give up, do you?! " The dragon growled.

"I won't give up as long as your existence continues to plague this world, Equestria will not become a place devoid of light that you've created in the future and I'm sure as hell won't let that happen in this time line!" proclaimed the future mare as she sprints towards the dark lord.

Lucifer clenches his fist tightly as he prepares to attack Future Applebloom who takes out a black ball from her vest and throws it at him, a large net pops out from the ball and entangles the dragon just as the mare kicks him in the stomach. Future Applebloom jumps away from Lucifer who tears the net off of him and breathes several fireballs at the earth pony, she dodges them easily but the flames created a cloud of smoke around Future Applebloom.

With the smoke blocking her view, the mare cautiously keeps an eye out for the dark lord while reaching in her vest pockets for another explosive ball, but all she could find was one as the rest of her pockets were empty.

"Damn, only one left..." Future Applebloom thought to herself as she looks around to see where Lucifer is going to attack her.

Then a long black tail pierces through the thick smoke and strikes Future Applebloom from behind, causing her to drop the explosive ball as she flies out of the smoke cloud and lands on the hard ground. Before the yellow earth pony could stand up, Lucifer stomps on her back and pins the mare down to prevent her from fighting back.

"You've should have stayed in the future where you belong, if you hadn't time-traveled to the past and run your mouth to the princess about my plans, taking over this country would have been a lot easier for me!" the dragon chastised her as he stomps on the future mare.

"L-let..me...make this..clear for you, Lucifer..." groaned Future Applebloom while turning her head towards Lucifer with a smirk on her face. "You will never have a future of ruling Equestria...EVER!"

The dark lord growls in annoyance as he continues to stomp on Future Applebloom, each time Lucifer drives his foot down on the mare's back, her agonizing cries echoes through out the battlefield. As Applejack pulls herself up despite suffering from a bruise rib from the blast, she hears the cries from her sister and witnesses the dragon ruthlessly beating Future Applebloom so badly that the future mare was coughing out blood, the orange earth pony instantly charges at Lucifer from behind in a full blown rage.

"LEAVE MY SISTER ALONE!" roared Applejack.

Applejack kicks the dragon's other leg as hard as she could, causing Lucifer to lose his balance and fall down when he was about to stomp on Future Applebloom, the enraged earth pony then jumps on his chest and furiously punches the dark lord in the face. Just as she was about to punch him yet again, Lucifer suddenly grabs both Applejack's hooves and throws her off of him but when he stands up, his leg was being held back by Future Applebloom in an attempt to prevent him from attacking her older sister.

"Your efforts are futile!" growled Lucifer as he kicks the red-maned mare off his leg, knocking her towards several bushes and turns his focus on Applejack.

As the injured earth pony tries to get up to fight against the dark lord, Applejack winces from the aching pain of her bruised rib, causing her to stumble and fall back on the ground just as Lucifer draws closer towards Applejack. Looking upon the dragon's hate-filled eyes, the earth pony was paralyzed with fear as Lucifer was standing in front of her like a predator cornering its prey.

"You've put up a brave fight but it looks like this is the end for you, pony!" Lucifer smirked as he whips his tail upwards with the tip pointing at Applejack.

The future mare pushes herself through the bushes just as she spots Lucifer about to kill her sister, her eyes widen and memories about Applejack's gruesome death from her time line flashes through the pony's mind. Not wanting to let that event repeated again, Future Applebloom makes a dash towards her sister's aid, just when the dark lord's tail lunges at Applejack who closes her eyes and awaits her fate.

The orange earth pony kept her eyes shut for a second before realizing she wasn't struck, slowly Applejack opens her eyes and see's something that made her expression turn into complete horror; Future Applebloom standing in front of her with Lucifer's tail stabbing directly into her abdomen. Blood was dripping from her wound and forms a small puddle on the ground, the future mare was holding on to the dragon's tail while her body quivers in agonizing pain, the others watch in utter shock as Lucifer lifts the wounded pony to his eye level with his tail still inside her.

"What a shame, throwing your own life away to save your pathetic sister" The dark lord sneered at her. "Tell me, does it hurt when I do this?"

The dragon's tail drills even deeper into Future Applebloom's wound, causing her to let out a blood-curdling scream while Lucifer looks on with a sickening smile.

"APPLEBLOOM!" Applejack cried out.

"Ohhh I bet the pain is very excruciating, there's absolutely nothing better than hearing the wails of the wounded." Lucifer smirked.

"You...son..of a..." stuttered Future Applebloom with teeth gritting.

"That's enough from you, now why don't you do me a favor and die!" said the dark lord as he use his tail to fling Future Applebloom into the air like a ragdoll and when she came back down, Lucifer punches the wounded pony so hard that she went flying away from the battlefield.

Applejack and the others were left horrified after what they had witnessed, not only Future Applebloom saved her sister from being killed by Lucifer but as a result, she was wounded by the dark lord who took a delight on seeing her suffering before knocking her away like a piece of trash. Lucifer starts to laugh maniacally at the demise of the future mare much to the dismay of the gang.

"What a foolish mare, to think that she could change what has already set in stone." boasted the dark lord.

"Y-you...Heartless bastard!" shouted an enraged Applejack.

"Oh did I struck a nerve? It's not my fault that she was too weak to defeat me, let alone taking a fatal blow for you." Lucifer grins at the furious pony.

"I'll buck that stupid grin off your face if it's the last thing I do!" yelled Applejack as she tries to stand up to attack him but was quickly pinned down by the dragon's foot.

"Don't even bother, you and your friends don't have any strength left to battle me" stated Lucifer as he stomps on Applejack, causing her to cry out in agony due to her bruise rib. "You and the others will join your sister soon enough..."

The dark lord slowly begins to crush Applejack under the weight of his foot, her screams echos across Ghastly Gorge and with Future Applebloom having been critically injured, the hope of saving Equestria began to look like a lost cause. Even with the Elements of Harmony in their possession, the Mane Six were worn out from the on-going battle against the lord of the Underworld, the ponies thought to themselves if they were really going to die at the hands of Lucifer like Future Applebloom described in her time line.

Just when all hope seems to be lost for the ponies, a powerful golden beam suddenly appears out of nowhere and struck Lucifer from behind, knocking the dragon off of Applejack as he crashes through a couple of trees. The surprise attack left the gang dumbfounded and looking around to see where it came from, at the corner of their eyes spots a familiar alicorn in the air with long, flowing multicolored mane. Landing in the battlefield besides the injured Applejack was the ruler of Equestria herself, Princess Celestia.

"Princess...Celestia?" Applejack uttered while looking up at the alicorn princess.

"Are you alright, Applejack?" asked Princess Celestia.

"My rib is bruised..but other then that, I can still stand" said Applejack as she manages to push herself back up on her hooves. "How in the world did you know we were here?"

"I received a letter from Spike about a major disturbance outside from Ponyville, I asked my sister to watch over Canterlot while I head over to Ponyville" the princess explained to the earth pony. "And on the way, I've witness Rainbow Dash's sonic rainboom coming from this direction, so I flew over here only to find Lucifer about to finish you off."

"I can't tell you how really lucky we are to have you here, your highness" Applejack smiled a bit before looking down with a grim expression. "We fought Lucifer with everything we have but he still had us by the tail, the reason why we haven't use the Elements of Harmony was because we knew Lucifer wouldn't give us the time to-"

Applejack was cut off by the alicorn princess who puts her hoof on the injured pony's shoulders and leans over to whisper something into her ear.

"Go help your friends with preparing the Elements of Harmony, I'll take care of him" Celestia quietly instructs her with her gentle smile. "You have my word that I will keep all of you safe from Lucifer."

The blonde-maned mare smiled and follows Celestia's orders to aid her friends, even though she was still worried about her sister's wounded state, Applejack's mind was now focused on helping bring down the lord of the Underworld once and for all. While the earth pony began to help her friends up on their hooves, Lucifer recovers from the surprise attack and rises from the dust cloud to see the alicorn princess who once imprisoned him in the Underworld for centuries.

"Celestia..." the dark lord hissed at the alicorn. "I should have known you were responsible for that sneak attack!"

"You will no longer harm my student or her friends, your battle is with me now, Lucifer!" said Princess Celestia who stood in a fighting stance with a golden aura emitting from her horn.

"Ohhh how I waited so many years for this opportunity, I have not forgotten what you did to me the last time we fought a thousand years ago." said Lucifer.

"Nor have I forgotten the countless nations you'd conquered and the lives you've destroyed for your own demonic desire!" Princess Celestia replied sharply.

"Equestria would have been mine if you hadn't meddle in and prevented my empire from growing, Celestia!" the dragon argued.

"And let you bring ruin to this peaceful land and force my subjects into slavery? Never in an eternity that I would let Equestria be ruled by a ruthless monster such as yourself!" the alicorn princess lashes back at the dark lord.

"Then we'll have to see who comes out the victor in this battle, I won't be taken down so easily like the first time we fought even with this wretched sun light!" boasted Lucifer.

"I take it that the sun's rays has already affected your body you once claim to be impenetrable, kinda reminds me of how I crushed your pride when I gave you that scar." a smirk forms on the princess's mouth, noting the scar across Lucifer's right eye.

The alicorn's remark causes the dark lord to breathe out several fireballs that were heading towards the princess, Celestia then casts a magic barrier that instantly appears and shields her from the flaming projectiles. Once the smoke clears, the alicorn lowers the barrier and fires a golden orb at Lucifer, who narrowly dodges it but the orb makes a sharp turn and lands on his left shoulder where it explodes on impact.

"GAAAHHHH!" the dragon roared as the blast created a wound on his shoulder, blood was dripping and running down across his arm.

"That was for attempting to destroy Canterlot and trying to assassinate me!" claimed Princess Celestia.

While holding onto his wound, the dragon glares at the princess with bloodshot eyes as he conjures a dark orb from his claw, only this time it was bigger than what he had use against the Twilight and her friends. Lucifer hurls the dark orb towards Princess Celestia who quickly flap her wings and took to the air, just as the large sphere passes by and lands away from the battlefield where a huge explosion can be seen from afar.

"Though your magic is still powerful even under the sunlight, the injuries you received from fighting my student and her friends has apparently diminish your accuracy" said Celestia before landing back on the ground. "you might as well give up, Lucifer!"

"I...will...never surrender...to a bunch of ponies..." replied the dark lord, hyperventilating and nearly exhausted from the battle, clinching his claw so hard his nails pierces through the skin and bleeds. "Know this, Celestia...the lord of darkness...will never submit...TO THE LIKES OF YOU!"

Lucifer channels his dark magic to his right arm and drives his fist into the earth, causing the land around the area to tremble violently as the surface begins to crack, a series of holes appears from where the cracks form shoots out pillars of pitch-black beams that reached several stories in the air. Princess Celestia flew back to avoid being hit by the dark beams, one of them narrowly misses the alicorn by an inch from her head but not before slicing off a few strains of her rainbow mane.

The princess flew across the battlefield with her eyes locking on the dragon like a hawk, Celestia flies down to attack Lucifer from above when one of the dark beams nearly struck her wing, though it only singed a feather or two. Once she was near Lucifer, her horn charges and fires off another golden beam directly at the dark lord who counters it with his fiery breath.

The alicorn's beam and the dragon's flames collides as the two deities struggles to overpower each other, the heat from Lucifer's flames intensifies in a desperate attempt to push the beam back but to no avail, the golden beam pierces through the flames and Lucifer manages to jump out of the way before it could hit him.

The dark lord looks up to see the princess firing another golden orb at him, he throws a dark orb as it hits the other and causes the two to explode in midair, Lucifer prepares for another counterattack when Princess Celestia flies through the dust cloud and fires a magical blast towards the dragon at point-blank range.

The blast sent Lucifer flying across the area where he crash lands into a hill, once he rises up from the crater-sized hole left from the impact, the dragon tosses a couple of dark orbs at Princess Celestia who swiftly dodges them and fires a few back at Lucifer. Meanwhile at the other side of the battlefield, Applejack had helped her friends back up on their hooves, with Rainbow Dash having the most difficulty standing due to her injuries and Pinkie Pie having to hold her up.

"How are you holding up, Dashie?" asked the pink mare.

"Every bone in my body feels like a pile of broken glass..." the injured pegasus replied.

"And I can't fly with the way my wings are now..." Fluttershy sadly stated.

"I know it hurts right now but we got bigger things to worry about, the princess is battling Lucifer and she wants us to prepare the Elements of Harmony." explained Applejack.

"She's buying us time, isn't she?" asked Rarity.

"Yes Rarity, this is our only chance to finally take that son of a dog down once and for all." Applejack said as she picks up Twilight's crown and hands it to her.

"Now your talking my language." Rainbow Dash smirked.

"Alright girls, let's finish this battle for Applebloom and the future of Equestria!" exclaimed Twilight as she and the others rush off to the battlefield.

Before Emerald could catch up with the gang, she notices a small object from the corner of her eye in the patch of grass, it was Future Applebloom's last explosive ball which gives the green unicorn an idea. During the battle between Princess Celestia and Lucifer, the dark lord was using a magic barrier to shield himself from Celestia's golden beam, the barrier begins to crack and the beam pierces through but narrowly misses Lucifer by several inches from his neck.

The broken barrier vanishes around Lucifer who then spits out three fireballs in the air, Princess Celestia use her wings to create a gust of wind that reflect the fireballs back down, the dark lord crosses his arms to defend himself but the flaming projectiles passes by and explodes in a cloud of smoke from fifty feet away. The alicorn princess soars through the air before landing back on the ground, Celestia stared at her enemy while catching her breath and beads of sweat pouring down from her face.

"What's a matter, Celestia? Don't tell me this battle has took a toll on you already?" Lucifer chuckled a little.

"No Lucifer, don't mistaken this as a sign of weakness, my magic is still as strong as it was in the last thousand years." Celestia replied.

"And at the same time, you still haven't been able to take me down permanently." the dark lord sneered at the princess.

"As I said before, I will do anything to prevent you from destroying Equestria even at the cost of my own life!" the princess clarified with a firm, assertive tone in her voice.

"Willing to go that far, are you? After this battle is over and I take control of this country, I will enjoy having your head as a personal trophy of my victory." Lucifer said with a sadistic grin.

The alicorn's magenta eyes catches a glimpse of something behind the smoke cloud left by the dragon's fireballs, Princess Celestia turns her attention back to Lucifer as a smirk forms from the corner of her mouth.

"Well Lucifer, it looks like that this battle has finally come to an end." said the alicorn princess as she flap her wings and takes off in the air.

"Hey! where do you think your going, Celestia?! this fight is not over until I-" the dark lord turns around while keeping his sight on the princess until he sees something near the smoke cloud. "What the?"

Six silhouettes can be seen levitating in mid air as the flames were extinguished and the cloud of smoke blown away, revealing Twilight and her friends wielding the Elements of Harmony as they prepare to launch their final attack against the dark lord.

"WHAT?! NO! " Lucifer exclaimed, eyes widened in shocked disbelief. "How is this possible? They should be in no position to use the Elements after I-"

Then it became clear to the dragon as it hits him like a ton of bricks.

"Celestia...that wretched alicorn! She was distracting me to give them enough time to recover!" The enraged dark lord thought to himself.

"Lucifer, your days of terrorizing the lives of others are over!" shouted Twilight as her eyes glows along with her friends. "Now girls!"

The Mane Six were surrounded by a bright aura that illuminates the area as they fire a rainbow-colored magical beam, in a desperate attempt to counter the upcoming blast from the Elements, Lucifer was about to use his fiery breath when a small green ball was thrown at him and explodes on his face. The sudden attack left him blind him in one eye while the other was still able to see, the dark lord looks to his left to see a battle-worn Emerald with her horn briefly glowing and a satisfying smirk on her face.

Growling at the green unicorn for attacking him with the explosive ball, Lucifer was too late to notice the rainbow beam coming at him as it struck and penetrates through his chest, the dragon lets out an agonizing roar as the blast begins to cause an unusual effect on the dark lord; a bright light pierces through his right shoulder from the inside and another bores out from his abdomen. He tries to cover up the holes with his claws but the light burns through the palms, causing his hands to break apart as more beams of light pierces out of the dark lord's torso followed by his legs, tail and even through his golden eyes.

With his body being disintegrated from the inside by the Elements, the last thing that ran though the dark lord's mind was how a god such as himself was defeated by a group of ponies, Lucifer then rears his head back and roars for the final time just before the dragon explodes in a blinding flash of light that nearly envelops the entire battlefield. Once the light dies down and everything was visible, the gang now with their injuries having been restored by the Elements saw no traces of Lucifer anywhere, a sign that the lord of the Underworld has finally been vanquish for good with the Mane Six standing as victors of the epic battle.

"Did...did we win?" Fluttershy wondered.

"Of course we did, we totally toasted that dragon's @$$!" Rainbow Dash smiled.

"Yay! We did it! We did it! We defeated that big meanie Lucifer for good!" Pinkie Pie cheered while jumping around victorious.

"And best of all, our injuries have been healed thanks to the Elements." stated Twilight.

"No kidding, my ribs feels a whole lot better now." said Applejack.

"And my wings too." Rainbow Dash added as she flaps her wings.

"It's a good thing we didn't gain any permanent scars from this, I can't imagine the amount of make up I have to use to hide it." said Rarity.

"Hey girls!" shouted Emerald as she runs towards the Mane Six, limping a little from her injuries.

"Emerald, how are you holding up?" asked Twilight.

"I'm still a bit sore from the battle but I shouldn't worry too much about it." Emerald replied.

The gang notices Princess Celestia was still hovering in the air as she flies down near where they were, Twilight and the others bow to her when the white alicorn approaches them.

"As ruler of Equestria, I want to congratulate you all for defeating Lucifer and saving this country from a horrible fate." the princess thanked the gang with a smile.

"We couldn't have done it without everypony's help including yours too, Princess." Twilight smiled back.

"You should have seen the look on Lucifer's face when Emerald cast an attack spell on him right before we creamed him!" said the cyan pegasus.

"It wasn't a spell I used, it was one of those explosive balls your friend Applebloom had with her while fighting-"

"APPLEBLOOM" Applejack suddenly exclaims, interrupting Emerald as the others look at the now worried earth pony. "Oh dear, we got to find her immediately, Lucifer hurt her really badly and I have no idea where she is!"

"I'll go find her, Applejack." Rainbow Dash said as she takes off in the air and flies across Ghastly Gorge to find her friend's sister. Searching high and low around the area until she spots Future Applebloom lying motionless at a clearing not too far from the battlefield

"Hey, she's over here!" Rainbow Dash shouted to the others who took off to follow her.

The gang rushes through the woodland area with Applejack sprinting as fast as she could, passing by her friends with the thought of her wounded sister in mind. When they finally arrived at the spot where Rainbow Dash found Future Applebloom, Applejack runs towards her unconscious sister and carefully lifts her up in her arms.

"Applebloom, Applebloom, please wake up and speak to me, sis!" cried the orange earth pony.

The other watches silently as Applejack tries to wake her sister who appears to be unresponsive at first, the wound Future Applebloom received from Lucifer was still bleeding and blood was seen dripping from the corner of her mouth. The injured mare suddenly stirs and her eyes slowly opens as she finds herself in the arms of her older sister.

"A-Apple..Jack?" Future Applebloom spoke to her with a weak voice.

"Oh thank goodness, your alive" Applejack sighed in relief. "listen, you're badly wounded so we need to take you to Ponyville Hospital for-"

"Sis..." the wounded pony cuts Applejack off to ask her a question. "T-tell me, d-did you defeat..Lucifer?"

"Y-yes sugarcube, we defeated that heartless monster for good." the blonde-maned mare replied.

"Heh heh...it's finally over now...is it?" a smile forms from Future Applebloom's blood-stained lips.

"It is, Applebloom...it is." Applejack smiled for her.

The orange earth pony gasps when she see's Future Applebloom's left hoof slowly becoming transparent, followed by her arm and the rest of her body as the gang watches the injured mare begin to fade away.

"It's happening..." said Future Applebloom looking at her fading body.

"What's happening to her?" asked Emerald.

"The time line is starting to change now that Lucifer no longer rules Equestria in the future, and since Applebloom here is from that time era, she - this version of her...will cease to exist." Twilight sadly explained to Emerald.

"No!" cried Applejack, her eyes filled with tears. "You can't die like this, sis! There has to be another way for you to-"

"It's alright, Applejack..."said the dying mare as she place her hoof on Applejack's cheek, smiling to her sister while trying to comfort her. "This is exactly how I wanted..."

"Applebloom...what are you saying?" asked a confused Applejack.

"In these last ten years, I've suffered so much without you and our family...the pain and loneliness I had to endure as a filly...I never had a normal childhood like I always wanted, there were times in my life where I wish you were there for me like the good old days...and now that Lucifer is gone, I am finally at peace..." Future Applebloom calmly explains to her.

Tears poured from the earth pony's green eyes as she listens to her sister's heartfelt speech, her friends were brought to tears from hearing the mortally wounded mare's words including the princess herself. Future Applebloom's body continues to disappear while at the same time, she was slowly succumbing to her wound as she starts coughing up blood, Applejack grabs her hoof and held it tightly as she can.

"You still have me in this time line, sis..." said the wounded pony, her voice becoming gravelly yet still clear enough to be heard. "Can I..ask you one last request...for me?"

"What is it?" Applejack asked softly.

"I want my present self...to live a peaceful life with her family...I don't want her...to grow up alone in this world...as I had to in my time line...Will you...do that for me, sis?" asked the red-maned mare, looking up at her sister with her teary gamboge eyes.

"Yes, Applebloom..." Applejack replied to her dying sister with a tearful smile. "I promise from the bottom of my heart, I'll do it for you, sugarcube."

"Thank you...Applejack..." Future Applebloom smiled. "I was glad...to be with you..in...the...end..."

With her last breath escaping from her lips, Applejack watches her sister closing her eyes for the final time and the grip on her hoof becomes limp, then her body goes still as Future Applebloom passes away in arms of her older sister. The distraught earth pony tearfully held on to the deceased mare before laying her fading lifeless body on the ground, staring at the peaceful smile frozen upon her face as she and the others watch Future Applebloom's body completely fades away from existence, not a trace was left of the brave future mare who fought to the very end to fulfill her mission to save Equestria from Lucifer's reign.

Even though the dark lord has been defeated and Equestria saved from a dark fate, it left Applejack deeply heart-broken after having to watch her own sister die, she takes her brown stetson hat off to honor the memory of Future Applebloom's sacrifice in silence. The others held their head down for a moment of silence for the fallen mare, Applejack however couldn't contain herself as she breaks down crying hard with tears dropping to the ground.

"No...Applebloom!" shouted the weeping mare, her voice cracking with sorrow. "Applebloom..."

As Applejack cries her heart out over the loss of her sister, her friends gathers around the grieving pony to show their condolences for her, with Twilight wrapping her arms around Applejack in a comforting hug as she lets her friend cry on her shoulder.

"Applejack, I'm so sorry for what happened to Applebloom but we knew she was going to disappear once Lucifer was defeated..." Twilight said to her with a calm, gentle tone.

"I...I know that...s-she was from the future and all...but she was still my little sister" Applejack stuttered, trying to speak clearly to Twilight in between sobs. "watching her go like that...it's just hard to imagine the same happening to Applebloom in this time..."

"But it won't happen to your sister in this time line, right now her future self will be much different from the one that came to the present." said the violet unicorn.

"You..really think so?" the earth pony asked as she looks at Twilight.

"Since Equestria is no longer a dystopian place in the future now that Lucifer's gone, Applebloom wouldn't have to go through the same turmoil that the one from that era had to endure, she would have wanted this way for everypony including her own family." Twilight kindly explained to her.

"You're right, Twilight" Applejack replied, wiping off the tears from her eyes. "no pony should ever have to experience the kind of harsh life Applebloom grew up in, I promised her that she'll have a better life with her family by her side."

"Let us not forget that her death did not end in vain, Equestria would have fallen in Lucifer's grip if it had not been for Applebloom's heroic sacrifice." stated Princess Celestia.

"She prevented me from making the most terrible mistake of my life, I couldn't thank her enough for what she did and I should thank you all for risking your lives to rescue me from the Underworld." Emerald said to Twilight and her friends

"We're very glad to help you out, Emerald." Twilight happily replied.

"And Applejack, I feel for your loss and you have my most heartfelt sympathy, your sister was a brave mare and none of this would have happened if it weren't for her." said the green unicorn.

"Thank you, Emerald." Applejack smiled, her tears having been dried but then something popped in her mind. "Oh! We almost forgot, your mother is still at Canterlot, she's been worried to death about you."

"I guess we should head back, I don't want mother to get anymore worried." Emerald suggested.

"I'll have the doctors have a look at your injuries when we get there." said Princess Celestia as she and the other ponies leave Ghastly Gorge, which will forever be remembered where the grand battle against the dark lord took place and was finally defeated by the wielders of the Elements.

Later that day at Canterlot which was still rebuilding from the massive earthquake caused by Lucifer, Garnet was staying at the guest room in the palace with the thought of her daughter running through her mind, hoping that she would hear something from the princess about the progress of their rescue mission. Garnet quietly looks out the window and watches the construction crew fixing the damaged buildings, just as she hears the door behind her opened and turning to see Princess Celestia standing in the door way.

"Your highness" said Garnet, walking towards the alicorn princess with a concern look on her face. "Have you heard anything from them, have they found Emerald yet?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Princess Celestia smiled as she steps aside to let Garnet see her daughter standing by with the Mane Six, partly covered in bandages including a brace on her injured hind leg.

"Emerald!" the sapphire unicorn ran to her daughter and instantly pulls Emerald in a tight yet heartwarming embrace. "Thank heavens you made it out from that horrible place."

"I'm glad to see you again, mother" Emerald smiles as she hugs her back. "I'm sorry that I've put you through a hard time."

"That doesn't matter anymore, all that matters is that you're back in Equestria alive." Garnet replied.

"Mother, I have some good news to share with you, Lucifer has been defeated by the Elements of Harmony and I'm free from his control." the green unicorn told her as Garnet's expression turns to joy.

"Oh Emerald, I couldn't be any more happier now that you can finally put this whole ordeal behind you." Garnet said with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Yes and I have my new friends to thank for." Emerald said looking back at the six ponies, who were moved to hear that from the unicorn who never made a single friend through out her entire life.

"Thank you all for helping bringing my daughter back from the Underworld, I really appreciate for what you did for us now that Emerald has friends who helped her out in her time of need." the elder unicorn said to the Mane Six.

"It's an honor, Ms. Gemstone." Twilight smiled.

After reuniting Emerald with her mother and lifting the tremendous weight that was cast by Lucifer off their shoulders, the two took a train back to Manehatten but not before saying their farewell to the gang, Emerald promises to write a letter to them to stay in contact with while Garnet states that she will reward the six with jewelry much to Rarity's delight.

Emerald waved goodbye to her new friends as the train heads off to the city of Manehatten, with the experience she gained from her first encounter with the dark lord to helping leading to his defeat, inspiration struck the green unicorn as she writes down notes for what it appears to be an idea for a novel.

Meanwhile, Twilight and her friends also bid farewell to Princess Celestia as they left Canterlot to head back home to Ponyville, now that Equestria is once again saved from becoming an dystopian hell, the mane six each went their separate ways to earn their much-deserved rest from the grueling battle they endured. Applejack was walking along the trail leading to Sweet Apple Acres, while looking back on the last moments of Future Applebloom before she passed away in her arms, it left the orange earth pony wondering in deep thought about her own unpredicted future now with Lucifer out of the picture.

"Applejack!" the mare raise her head up upon hearing the voice of Applebloom, who happily ran to her older sister and welcomes her with a hug. "I'm so glad to see you back home, sis."

"Thanks sugarcube, I'm glad to be back home too." Applejack smiles at Applebloom, holding her little sister in an endearing embrace.

"Hey, how come cousin Applelove isn't with you?" asked the yellow filly, not wanting to mention her real name to Applejack. "Did...did she leave?"

"Yes..." the orange mare paused for a moment, as she didn't have the heart to tell the filly about the fate of her future version. "Sadly Applelove had to leave to go back home, Applebloom."

"Oh, that's a shame..." said a disappointed Applebloom with her head hanging down. "There were some things I want to ask her before she left."

"What did you wanted to ask her?" wondered Applejack.

"Well I wanted to know about..." the filly then stops herself from going into any further details. "never mind, it's nothing really important."

"Since I'm now back in Sweet Apple Acres, how's about I cook up some apple cobbler for supper?" suggested Applejack.

"Yay! I love apple cobbler" Applebloom cheered in glee. "Can I help you make them, please?"

"You sure can, in the meantime you can tell your older sister what you've been up to while I was away." said Applejack who puts her arm around Applebloom's shoulder.

"Oh there's so much to tell you, I don't know where to begin..." said the eager little filly as she and Applejack heads back to their house together, with the sun setting down and the moon taking it's place, thousands of stars illuminates the night sky as the day ends with the threat against Equestria finally comes to a peaceful conclusion.

Ten years into the Future

With Lucifer having been vanquished in the past thanks to the actions of Future Applebloom, Equestria has been restored back to the colorful paradise it was once known, every evidence of the dark lord's regime were erased from existence and cities like Canterlot which were in ruins have been brought back as if he had never invaded Equestria in the first place.

No longer the sky was covered by the massive black cloud that once blocked out the sun, nor were the citizens subjected to the brutal slavery that was forced upon them by Lucifer and his army, the country of Equestria is still under Celestia's reign and the wielders of the Elements are still active including Twilight who is now an alicorn princess residing in Ponyville.

At the Sweet Apple Acres residence where it had remain unchanged through out the course of time, Future Applebloom was seen in her room lying in bed while reading a book, now a healthier-looking young mare with no visible or psychological scars as her post-apocalyptic version once had. Applebloom flips the page of her book to read the next chapter when she hears a knock on her door, she puts the book down and opens the door to see her friends Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo standing in the doorway.

"Hey Applebloom." greeted Sweetie Belle.

"Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, what brings you two here?" Applebloom asked her friends.

"We were wondering if you're going to the Summer Sun Celebration with us." Scootaloo said as it hits Applebloom like a buffalo stampede.

"The Summer Sun Celebration is today?! Oh boy...I guess I kinda lost track of time, heh heh." the yellow mare grins sheepishly while rubbing the back of her head.

"Don't tell me you're still reading that novel Princess Twilight gave to you?" the pegasus asked with an annoyed tone.

"Yes I'm still reading it, I'm already halfway through the story and it's getting good so far" Applebloom countered before changing the subject. "And of course I am going to the Summer Sun Celebration, did you really think I miss out on that without my best friends?"

"It won't start in a few hours so you want to come hang out with us till then?" suggested Sweetie Belle.

"Well since I'm not doing anything besides reading, why the heck not?" Applebloom smiles as she exits the room to go out with her friends.

"Oh wanna hear something funny? Me and Scootaloo saw Diamond Tiara while on the way here and she got a new mane-style that look like she stuck her head in a thundercloud." Sweetie Belle told Applebloom who giggled a bit.

"No kidding?" Applebloom replied.

"And the funny thing about it is that she thinks it's the hottest trend, yeah maybe for Nightmare Night to scare the little fillies away." joked Scootaloo.

As the three mares heads off while laughing about Diamond Tiara, the front cover of the book Applebloom was reading earlier has an illustration depicting an earth pony mare; who bears a striking resemblance of her alternate counterpart standing on the edge of a cliff while watching the sun setting. The title of the novel is written in bold letters that reads.

HOPE FROM THE FUTURE

By Emerald Gemstone.

On the back cover of the book, there was a quote from the author herself just below the novel's synopsis that reads.

"A tribute to the brave mare who saved Equestria from it's dark path and into a brighter future."

The End

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