Chapters The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
Sundown. One last glimpse of light before the calm vanishes.
Twilight just finished gathering all his friends and the Elements or Harmony. Applejack is squeezed into a group hug with her Apple family, Rarity is talking to Sweetie Belle, Pinke Pie is giggling with Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and Fluttershy keeps talking to her animal friends. Everyone's saying their goodbye's while they can.
"C'mon, girls," says Twilight. She opens a case that she hides in the library, and there lay the Elements of Harmony. Honesty, Loyalty, Generosity, Kindness, Laughter, and Magic. One by one, the ponies put on their corresponding element. And so, they gallop into the dark murkiness of the Everfree Forest.
* * *
Meanwhile, in Canterlot, Princess Celestia watches her dying sun as it makes way for Luna's moon, so she hopes. Princess Luna dragged her to the balcony to show her what happens to it.
"So, you're saying that something else is rising the Moon and not you," remarks Celestia.
"Yes, sister," answers Luna. "Thou have not seen it, but it's true."
"Maybe it went independent," suggests Celestia with a smile.
"Independent? Now's not the time for thy jokes. How could a moon move by itself?"
Princess Celestia watches her sun plummet into the faraway mountains. She turns to Princess Luna. "If it doesn't rise in a minute, you know what to do," she says.
Waiting for a minute couldn't feel so torturous before. Celestia keeps anticipating that the Moon doesn't rise unless Luna does something about it, but Luna is the opposite. She wants her sister to know the dreadful truth, that the creature in the Everfree Forest can rise and fall the Moon of Equestria.
The shining, silver ball know rises. Celestia's eyes widen as she snaps her neck to Luna. "I told you to wait a minute," she says, dissapointed.
"I am not doing it," says Luna.
"Is this some kind of joke? Maybe you ARE rising the Moon. It just doesn't look like you are."
"Jokes? Forgive me, sister, but those are so inappropriate at a time of panic. I swear to you or myself that I'm not doing anything but watching the upcoming night."
Princess Celestia shifts her eyes back to the rising Moon. The orange glow of her Sun vanishes, and the first stars start to glow. Celestia's long, ever-flowing mane gets in the way, so she wipes it aside.
"I'm afraid," mutters Princess Celestia.
"What? You're never afraid, sister!" replies Luna, extremely surprised. "Why would you?"
"I just am." Celestia turns around and leaves the balcony. Luna follows her sorrowed, older sister back inside.
* * *
The Everfree Forest is surprisingly calm today. Twilight Sparkle and her friends, including Spike, who agreed to come, walk down a slightly damp pathway as they anxiously wait for something to leap at them and tear them apart, but nothing. They can't even hear any howls, roars, or even the annoying sounds of flying insects. They're truly alone.
"Twilight, darling, how long till we get there? My hooves are starting to ache," whines Rarity.
"Iunno," answers Twilight. The simple gesture of turning her head to Rarity makes the moonlight reflect on her crown. "This thing could be anywhere in the forest, but hard could it be to find it?"
"When we do," interrupts Rainbow Dash, "If it tries anything funny, it's asking for a kick in the face!"
"If it has a face," adds Applejack.
"Can we g-go home?" suggests Fluttershy, scared.
"Fluttershy, don't you understand?" says Twilight. "We have to prove whether this thing exists or not. There's mass hysteria all over Equestria! And we need your Element of Kindness."
"Okay." Fluttershy bows her head and closes her teal eyes, making her necklace drag across the floor.
The group grows silent, even Pinkie Pie. The rest of the walk only involves a mass amount of turning heads with worried eyes. The ponies' odds are clearly not in their favor, even when holding the Elements. At some point, an optimistic Spike decides to break the silence.
"How about a game to pass the time?" he suggests.
The ponies look at him, surprised. "Ooh! What kind of game?" asks Pinkie Pie with extreme anticipation.
"Um, I spy?"
"Okay! You go first!"
"Uh, I spy with my little dragon's eye...something...colorful."
Pinkie Pie looks around and spots a vivid-looking flower. "Flower," she answers confidently.
"Good."
"Okay, my turn! I spy with my little Pinkie eye...something blue."
"Uh, the sky?"
"No, you silly!" Pinkie giggles. "It's in the forest."
"Okay." Spike looks around for the blue thing. He struggles to find it. At the point near to giving up, he says a couple of blue tails dangling over a branch. "Tails?" he answers nervously.
"Yup!"
"Wait, tails?" interrupts Twilight.
"They're right over there." Pinkie Pie points her hoof at a tall tree that has a couple of blue tails hanging from a branch. Twilight takes a closer look, and he heart stops as she notices a figure lying on one of the branches. The tails are its tails. She gasps loudly, agitating the figure. It springs away at an amazing speed.
"After it!" commands Twilight. They all start running toward the figure's direction, hoping to catch up with it. Rainbow Dash flies faster, so she zooms past the group.
"You won't get away from me!" says Rainbow Dash, determined. But the rest notice her stopping at a distance, jaw-dropped. As soon as her friends catch up, they notice that she looks petrified. Applejack waves her hoof in front of Rainbow Dash's face, but Rainbow doesn't move at all.
"Rainbow? Are you alright?" asks Rarity nervously.
"Look..." mutters Rainbow.
Everyone turns to what she's staring at, and jaw-dropped expressions are passed around like complementary peanuts in a flight. They're staring at another tree that's at the edge of a plain area of the forest. On one of the branches, lies the creature, but exposed in the moonlight. The ponies could express it quite vividly.
The creature has a blue coat of fur with black markings on its cheek. It's wearing a black overcoat with white robes. It has three fingers and a thumb with a light blue fur for its palms, also for its lower half of the face and feet. About the feet, they're also light blue and are bipedal. The creature also wears a blue medallion that only shows a crescent moon on it. But the most noticeable features are its eyes and tails. Its eyeballs are black with a light blue iris. Its pupils are also black. Also it has more than two tails. It has seven tails. Foxtails. Overall, the creature resembles a fox, but nothing like the ponies ever saw, and it has a blue aura glowing.
It chews on a fruit as it relaxes on a tree, until it notices seven faces staring at it. It awkwardly keeps chewing slowly, but being stared makes it lose its appetite. It throws the fruit away and is now sitting on the branch, arms crossed.
"What?" it says, feeling slightly annoyed. Its voice is surprisingly majestic, that of a beautiful woman. It sounds calm and slightly deep, but still sounds wonderful to the ears of the ponies. The creature is female, or at least that's what the ponies assume.
"W-What are you?" asks Fluttershy nervously.
The creature doesn't answer. She hops off the branch, and her seven tails trail after. "I've seen one too many of you ponies," she says. "Go away."
"Hey! You can't tell us what to do!" shouts Rainbow Dash, angry.
"Just did."
This infuriates Rainbow Dash. She zooms toward the creature at full speed.
"Rainbow!" yells Twilight.
As soon as Rainbow Dash is about to land a kick, something squeezes her tightly. She struggles, but finds it futile. She notices that a blue foxtail is holding her. The creature's tail. "What?" says Rainbow Dash.
"What did I just say?" says the creature. The tails keeps tightening, making Rainbow Dash scream.
"STOP IT!" yells Spike. "Please! let her go!"
The creature stares at Spike. "As you wish, dragon..." she responds. The foxtail loosens on Rainbow Dash. Rainbow hovers back to her friends, terrified. "I thought no one came her at night."
"Oh! Well, you see," says Pinkie Pie, trying to sound cheery, "Princess Celestia told us to find you!"
The creature's straight face shifts to confused. "Who?"
"Princess Celestia."
"I don't know a single princess, curly."
"Um, Miss?" says Applejack. "What are y'all doing in the forest?"
The creature turns around, refusing to answer Applejack. She looks a strange alignment of trees as if it's more interesting than them.
"Please, we just wanna know if you're causing trouble or not!" pleads Twilight.
The creature keeps ignoring them.
"Come on! Let's just use the Elements!" suggests Rainbow Dash, still mad at the creature.
Twilight considers Rainbow's idea, and she says, "If you don't answer us, we will be forced to use the Elements of Harmony against you, fox!"
"The what?" says the creature. She notices the jewelry they're wearing. "Hmm, nice jewelry. Now go away."
Twilight is now angry, and is the rest of the group. "Need I say 'formation'?" she says.
It's no need. The six ponies are now aligned to activate the Elements. They start floating, and a white aura intensifies around them. The creature turns around, noticing the bright light, but it doesn't affect her view at all. Twilight's eyes start to glow, triggering the massive rainbow that spins around them, and shoots toward the creature. The rainbow now circles the creature. She doesn't look around with fear, but with curiosity. Then it turns to anger. She lets out a loud roar, causing a shockwave of blue energy to burst around her. The force of the shockwave shatters the spinning rainbow. Twilight and her friends stop glowing, and fall on the ground. They all share moans of pain.
"What just happened?" asks Rarity, confused.
"It didn't work?" asks a worried Fluttershy.
Rarity looks at where the Elements aimed at. There's a few dust clouds, but she notices the creature's still there, without a scratch.
"Oh my Celestia, she overcame the Elements!" yells Rainbow Dash, extremely surprised.
"What? But's that impossible!" says Twilight. "No one could stand up to the elements like that. Not Nightmare Moon, and not even Discord."
"So, what now, sugarcube?" asks Applejack.
"Yeah, what now?" adds Pinkie Pie. Her sense of cheer is gone.
"Uh g-guys?" says Spike, trembling. "She l-l-looks m-mad."
The ponies pick themselves and notice the creature staring at them, not with her typical straight face, but with anger. She floats into the air. It flies, thinks Twilight Sparkle.
"I don't know what you ponies are trying to do," says the creature, "but you're obviously trying to get rid of me." Fluttershy trembles as she lays back down. "I ask for solitude, and this is what I get? A bunch of ponies that claim to only be following orders from your dear princess? Tell me. Why doesn't she face me herself?" The ponies are too afraid to answer. "She's obviously a coward. I could've killed you all with ease, but you're lucky I'm generous enough not to."
"At least tell us what you are," says Twilight Sparkle nervously. It takes a lot for her to form up those words.
The creature stares at Twilight with her black eyes. She overflows her with fear. "Fine," she answers. "You may address me as the Moon Fox, and I hope this is the last time we meet, ponies." The Moon Fox spreads her arm toward a mountain and shoots a stream of blue and white energy heading straight for it. When it makes contact with the mountain, a white light fills the night air, blinding Twilight and her friends. When the light dims, they stare with bewilderment when noticing that the mountain is gone. All that is left is dust and dirt being blown by the wind.
"And that was a demonstration of my potential," says the Moon Fox, feeling uninterested. "This time, the mountain. The next time you disrupt me, it's your town. Now leave."
The last word of the Fox's is unimaginably stern. Twilight, Rainbow, Rarity, Applejack, Pinkie, Fluttershy, and Spike heard it. They all heard it loud and clear. They turn around and vanish into the thickness of the forest, leaving the powerful and mighty Moon Fox alone again.
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
Chapter 2: Luna and the Fox
As the night darkens, so do the poor ponies' spirits. They keep making their way back to Ponyville like they received a bullet to the chest. It's a painful feeling for them, more painful than anything the Moon Fox could have done to them. She could have squeezed the life out of Rainbow Dash. She could've destroyed Ponyville like she destroyed that mountain. The mountain was only a demonstration, though. It's a warning to the ponies to be careful around the mysterious Moon Fox. Twilight and her friends, still hanging their heads low, can't believe what they witnessed. The Elements of Harmony, their ultimate weapon against all that is against peace and tranquility, failed them for the first time.
No one dares to break the dreary silence that accompanies them on their walk. There's nothing left to do but to go home and report the findings to Princess Celestia. Nopony is scared or terrified anymore. They already have the Moon Fox, a majestic yet deadly creature, to fear. They already left, and she already stated that she won't bother them as long as they don't bother her. The Moon Fox is like the mighty bald eagle, a majestic beast that shines in the sky like the sun, but when agitated, it will tear your eyes right out of your sockets and feed them to its young.
Fluttershy looks up at the Moon. 'That's not Luna's moon,' she thinks.
She's right, and by observing it closely, she knows. It's not Luna's moon. It's the Fox's moon this time. She trembles at the sight of the silvery, white ball hanging above them. It's a new fear not just for Fluttershy. Her friends also look up and start getting a new sense of fear. From now on, the Moon will be a reminder of the Fox's dreadful promise. Just like the Moon, she will watch the night.
The only one in the group who can feel a bit optimistic is Spike. "Look at the bright side, everypony," he says nervously. "At least she's not causing any harm."
"I guess," agrees Twilight Sparkle. Her tone is more depressing than relieved.
"Isn't that a good thing? Equestria is safe as long as we don't bother that fox thing."
"Spike, darling, we're glad that there won't be any trouble," says Rariry, "but did you see what happened? The Elements didn't work against her." The rest of the group doesn't need to hear that. It's echoing in their minds for the fourth or fifth time. The thought of failure is like a rerun for their imagination.
"Don't get me wrong, I saw the whole thing."
"Spike," interrupts Twilight, "don't you get it? The Elements worked on Nightmare Moon and Discord, but it didn't work on the Moon Fox. I'm gonna assume Discord is as powerful as Princess Celestia, but I could be wrong."
"You can't be serious!" blurts out Rainbow Dash. She's fearing what everypony else is. "If the Elements worked on Discord but not on the Fox, then that means..." She doesn't want to say it, but it could be true. She remembers when the Moon Fox nearly squeezed her to death. Rainbow Dash feels great to be alive, but there's a new force in Equestria now. Everypony feels safe under Celestia's majesty, because they know that she only does what is best, but the Fox. What she gave the ponies is a threat. Ponyville gone if the wrong move is played. "...Moon Fox is more powerful then Celestia."
* * *
Twilight is tired, even though it's only 8pm. The walk back home felt slower. She opens the library door with her magic and hey hooves clop the steps leading to her bedroom. Twilight feels like sleeping off her depression, and her friends probably have the same idea. Spike runs after her, instantly remembering something.
"We gotta write a letter to the Princess!" he exclaims.
Twilight turns around. Her purple eyes are corrupted with bags hanging below them. "Oh yeah," she replies groggily. "Take a letter." Spike digs around for a quill and paper, and finds it. He points the quill at the paper, ready to write. Twilight starts to form his written words.
Dear Princess Celestia,
We went to Everfree Forest as you requested. The rumors were true. There really was a creature dwelling there, and she had the courtesy to identify herself. This creature calls herself the Moon Fox, a bipedal being that resembles a fox. She has blue fur and black markings on her face. She also has seven tails, which she had proven to be able to control as if they were tentacles. Overall appearance? She wears a black coat with white robes underneath, speak in a woman's voice, and has eyeballs that are black as night. When we encountered her, our presence bothered her. She wanted to be left alone. Rainbow Dash tried attacking her, but she was suppressed with ease. Don't worry, she's fine now. The Moon Fox was not pleased with us, and we weren't either, so we used the Elements of Harmony. To our surprise, it didn't work. In a fit of rage, the Moon Fox displayed her power by destroying a mountain with an unlikely form of magic. She threatened to destroy Ponyville if we bothered her again. So far, there's no note of her causing any other harm. We are not sure how to react to this, so I'm hoping you would.
Your faithful student,
Twilight Sparkle
"Man, that's hurting my wrist," complains Spike. He rolls the letter up into a scroll and blows a puff of green fire at it. This sends the letter into oblivion and off to the presence of Princess Celestia. "Now we wait."
"Yeah," agrees Twilight. She's still nervous about the Moon Fox, but still hoping that the Princess will find a proper solution. "Wait..."
* * *
Meanwhile, in Canterlot, Princess Celestia is lying on a couch in her palace. Even for a goddess, she looks weak. Her mane is slightly messy, and she has a bunch of wine glasses scattered over the floor. There's also a bottle lying at the center of the mess. 'Twilight and her friends should be back by now,' she thinks. The anticipation is killing her, an immortal. She always watched over Equestria with unquestionable power and authority, but she's afraid. She's afraid that she would be unable to control the Moon Fox.
The letter arrives, perking up the Princess for a second. Then she thinks about what's inside. It's the moment of truth. For her. For Equestria. She uses her magic to slowly open the scroll. She closes one eye, thinking that the letter could be a time bomb that could explode if it's yanked too hard. Princess Celestia reads Spike's familiar handwriting, muttering Twilight's direct words. She reads slower and slower, and her eyes keep widening. Every word adds more into her sense of panic, but she must keep calm. When the ruler panics, so does everyone else.
"...not sure how to react to this, so I'm hoping you would," she reads. Celestia tosses the letter away and turns to her other side. Her ever-beating heart beats faster. What she fears has probably been realized. She keeps picturing Twilight's description. To her, it's like a nightmare. She's the day, but the Moon Fox is the night.
Princess Luna walks in, and notices her sister in a paralyzing trance, a state of thought that completely cuts her off from the real world. "Sister, what has happened to thee?" asks Luna as she shakes her. Celestia leaves her trance, and her eyes spin. It's an extremely rare moment, for Luna to see her sister, the godess, the sun of Equestria, looking like a mentally disabled pony for a second. Luna notices the letter she tossed. "From who is that?"
"Twilight," answers Celestia. Luna uses her magic to pick up the letter and skims through it. Her reaction is the same as her sister's: terrified.
"The Elements did not work?" she exclaims, panicking.
"Afraid not."
"This Moon Fox. Why would she be so aggressive?"
"Maybe it's her nature."
"I do not think so, Sister." This makes Princess Celestia have wide eyes again. "It says her that one of Twilight's friends has been spared by her. That does not sound like pure evil to me."
"Are actually sympathizing for this monster?" says Celestia. She can't afford to be mad at Luna right now, so she tries to bottle it up. Also, a fit of rage would probably destroy Canterlot. "She's going to destroy Ponyville!"
"Only if bothered," adds Princess Luna. "But I am not sure I can put up with her either. She stole my job." Celestia knows exactly what Luna is talking about. Rising the Moon is her duty.
"Well, sorry for your sudden insignificance," replies Celestia, rudely. Luna ignores the remark.
"Twilight Sparkle anticipates your advice," she says. "What will thou do?"
Princess Celestia thinks for a moment. Her mane reflects the moonlight across the room. She grows sadder as she keeps thinking. "I don't know. The problem with the Moon Fox is not just because she threatened to hurt my little ponies. It's that she might be more powerful than both of us."
"I am not in the mood for competition, if I must say."
"A competition among gods is deadly. Equestria will only get stuck in the crossfire."
"According to Twilight Sparkle, she won't bother anyone as long as they don't bother her. I suggest we go to Ponyville and make an announcement." This slightly cheers up Princess Celestia. She she gazes deep into Luna's eyes.
"Could you do it for me, please?" asks Celestia sweetly.
Luna nods, only more than glad to see her sister happy again. "I will go to Ponyville tomorrow and make an announcement," she responds.
Princess Celestia leaps off the couch and wraps a hoof around her sister. "Thank you!" she says sentimentally. "But try not to scare them."
They both laugh, as if they completely forgot about the issue. Their laughs are one of the few manifestations for happiness left at the moment. Far away, sitting on a tall tree, the Moon Fox gazes at the elegant buildings of Canterlot. She's too far away to notice the Princesses, but she can hear their laughs. They echo loudly across Equestria, so it wouldn't be surprise if anyone else would, too. The Moon Fox doesn't speak. She just stares at the castle while eating more fruit.
* * *
The next day, Princess Luna sticks to the favor her sister asked for. The rumors are still bouncing from pony to pony, but she's about to put an end to it. All the ponies stop at stare at the sight of her carriage landing on the streets. Princess Luna and all her grace, emits an aura of the night, even in the morning. Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy are among those who immedately saw her. The Princess gracefully spreads her pegasus wings and emits her world-famous Royal Canterlot Voice. All of the ponies bow in her presence.
"CITIZENS OF PONYVILLE, THOU MUST NOT BE ALARMED FOR WHAT I AM ABOUT TO SAY!" she announces. Luna's voice echoes far past the boundaries of Ponyville. Everyone can hear her. "THERE IS NO NEED TO SPREAD THY RUMORS NOW, FOR WE NOW POSSESS THE TRUTH! THE CREATURE EXISTS, AND SHE SHALL BE KNOWN AS THE MOON FOX! SHE'S MIGHTY LIKE MY SISTER AND I, BUT SHE IS ALSO DANGEROUS! I ADVICE THAT ALL OF YOU TAKE MY WORD FOR IT. FROM NOW ON, THE EVERFREE FOREST IS OFF-LIMITS! THE MOON FOX STATED THAT SHE WILL DESTROY PONYVILLE IF SHE IS DISRUPTED! FOR THE SAKE OF THY TOWN, STAY AWAY FROM THE FOREST!" She drops the Royal Canterlot Voice. "That will be all," she adds.
As she lands on her carriage and flies away, she leaves Ponyville with a citywide conversation. It spreads more curiosity than panic, a direction that Luna intended on most. They consider her advice, and the Everfree Forest will be out of bounds. As Luna heads back to castle, something strikes her left side. She falls off her carriage. Something tackled her, and she is now plummeting into a bushel of trees. Luna opens her eyes, and they widen. Her jaw drops at the sight of the Moon Fox o top of her, pinning her down. Her expression is as unwelcome as ever, but this time, her eyeballs are white instead of black.
"Hello, Princess," says the Moon Fox in a sly tone.
"You must be the Moon Fox," answers Luna. She tries not to show fear by shrouding it with curiosity. "I thought your eyeballs were black."
"It's only at night, pony."
"Why hast thou attacked me?"
"Attack? You're getting the wrong idea, and what's with the old world talk?"
"Then what are thou doing?"
"I just wanted to thank you for giving me some alone time." Princess Luna can't believe the sight of the moon-stealer. The Moon Fox sounds so polite, yet she looks like she's about to kill her. Her tails are kept away from Luna, but Luna notices all seven of them. Twilight was not exaggerating at all. "How strong are you, pony?"
"I'm a goddess, like my sister."
"Oh, what a coincidence. So am I." This makes Luna's heart stop. There's no doubt they're both on the same league.
"Please! Unhand me!" shouts Princess Luna.
"Fine, then. If you ever wanna fight, you know where to find me." With that, the Moon Fox darts her way back into the Everfree Forest, leaving Luna on her back, confused and curious. Fear is now a feeling that is minimized, but still there. The Moon Fox sounds so daring and rebellious to her, but not threatening. She heads back to Canterlot with a claw mark on her wing. A present from the Moon Fox.
* * *
Fluttershy opens the door of her cottage and slowly walks out with a saddlebag. She stares at the Everfree Forest. The only person living closer to that place is Zecora, and she's within the forest in her own, little hut. She keeps staring at the forest. Her teal eyes sparkle and they keep sparkling. It's like Fluttershy is having a staring contest with the Everfree Forest. Her eyes change to one of her rare emotions: determined.
Flutter shy turns around and says to Angel, "You're in charge while I'm gone, okay?" Angel, her disliking pet, nods in agreement. Fluttershy turns around and spreads her wings. She slowly flies through the thick leaves that border the now-forbidden Everfree Forest.
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
There comes a time in life when one is challenged to go past their limits. One would have to put all of his or her doubts and fears behind and move on. Any living being has their strengths and weaknesses, but this is not the right way to judge. The right way is to judge one for how they cope with what they have.
Fluttershy never felt her wings to feel so shaky before. She knows she's timid, but this has to be the worst. She's alone, with none of her friends to back her up, heading toward the demon of the Everfree Forest. Compared to previous experiences, this is the hardest decision Fluttershy ever made. None of her dear friends motivated her, nudged her, or persuaded her to do it, unlike that one time they had to deal with the dragon that was smoking up Ponyville. This is her own decision.
Fluttershy's fear is a worn-out barrier that is getting old and rusty. It blocked her too many times in the past. It's bound to crack from the effects of corrosion. Yes, she is afraid of the Moon Fox, but something else besides fearing her is in her mind. Princess Celestia despises the Moon Fox for being beyond her control and willing to do whatever she pleases. In a way, she's above the law. Princess Luna dislikes the Moon Fox because she stole her duty of controlling the Moon. Fluttershy's friends hate the Moon Fox because she threatened the destruction of Ponyville, if not Equestria. But Fluttershy. She can't hate this beast of the night. The Moon Fox is a creature of the Everfree Forest. That's as far as everypony knows at the moment, and Fluttershy has been known to have a specialty for animals. Her fear is overwhelmed by a sense of curiosity and love, but how could one love the majestic, yet deadly Moon Fox.
To Fluttershy, she is like a hundred dragons combined. That is her way of measuring her potential as a monster. Regardless of how scary the Moon Fox is to her, she tosses aside Luna's words of advice and keeps flying under the trees. Fluttershy is worried that flying out in the open will give her away easily. She has nothing but the sunlight peeking into the leaves as a source of light. Night would be an untrustworthy time to search for the Moon Fox.
Where is she? thinks Fluttershy. She looks around for any sign of blue, but she only glimpses of blue sky above the trees. She keeps searching for those nightmarish black eyes. The same that stared right into Rainbow Dash, who was nearly squeezed to death. Fluttershy wants the horrible memory go away. The thought of nearly losing a friend sickens her deeply.
Like in their last trip, the forest is still calm. To Fluttershy, it's a sign that the Moon Fox is close. She's nearing the area where they met, but stops, hovering in place. She starts to hyperventilate, making every short breath more straining. Fluttershy knows she's at the gate of the lair. Beyond this point, she can't turn around. She must do what she came for. With that, she gulps and regains a determined look in her sparkling, teal eyes. Her wings take her inches, then feet, into the scene of the monster.
Fluttershy looks around, but no sign of the Moon Fox. She spots the tree branch where her friends first saw her, but she's not there. She scans for anything extraordinary, and notices an odd-looking tree placed at the center of the field. Fluttershy hovers over to that tree and notices that it's shaped into a circular arch. Through further examination, she figures out that it's actually two trees bent together. There's branches scattered on the floor, and bowls full of colorful paste close to the tree arch. Oh my. What is she doing? thinks Fluttershy, now more confused than afraid.
Suddenly, her yellow ears pick up a faint noise. She snaps to where it came from and quietly hovers toward it. It leads back into the thick forest. Fluttershy catches glimpses of a body of water, and something else. It's blue like the water, but not as calm. She heard snoring. The Moon Fox is sleeping in a hot spring, letting her blue fur soak into the pleasant heat of the water.
Fluttershy's eyes widen. Her heart is pounding. She finds herself blessed to find the beast asleep. It feels strange for her to see the mighty Moon Fox is such a calm state. Moon Fox is neck-deep in the water, and Fluttershy notices that she has excess on the back of her head that reaches down to her back. It resembles long hair, but it's the same color as her blue fur. She has a mane like a lion, like a pony's. Fluttershy sees that mane floating on the surface of the water, flowing through the small currents. It's shining brightly, like Celestia's sun. The fox's seven tails spread from the spring and rest on the ground. Those monstrous snakes. Fluttershy turns to left and notices the Moon Fox's black overcoat and white robes hanging over a tree branch. This discomforts her because she realizes that Moon Fox is naked.
She takes a few, quiet steps back, but then realizes that the Moon Fox is too deep in the water for her to see her body. Oh, my, she thinks. Fluttershy knows it's a violation of privacy, but she returns her view to the sleeping fox. Her eyes are closed, obviously. Fluttershy knows what's behind those eyes. It's a death stare to her, and she refuses to see them pointed at her. They also mean cowardice to her. The eyes are being hidden. Fluttershy turns around, annoyed by the sight of the covered eyes, and flies away.
Maybe I'll try again tomorrow, thinks Fluttershy, dissapointed. She wants to respect the Moon Fox's privacy, but she's not in the mood to wake her up. Even if she tries in the sweetest way possible, the reaction would not be pretty. Suddenly, Fluttershy feels something squeezing her. She panics, making it even harder for her to breathe. She looks down and sees a blue foxtail wrapping around her. Fluttershy flaps her wings as hard as she can, but it's no use. The tail yanks her back to the spring and turns her around to an unpleasant-looking Moon Fox.
"Didn't I make myself clear?" she asks, hatefully. Fluttershy can't even find the strength to answer to her voice. She gives up trying to break free. If Rainbow Dash couldn't get out, how could she?
"Y-yes.." stammers Fluttershy.
"I remember you too well. You're one of the ponies who tried to kill me using those weird jewels."
Kill. This word echoes in Fluttershy's mind. Through her intense heart rate and overwhelming panic, she manifests the word. She never thought of it. Nightmare Moon was turned good, Discord was turned to stone, but what would happen to the Moon Fox if the Elements of Harmony worked? A stone imprisonment probably wouldn't contain her, and she doesn't seem possessed or corrupted. It's possible the Elements could have killed the Moon Fox. Kill. Kill. Kill...
This word is a stab in the head to Fluttershy, and she begins to cry. It's calm, but it sounds like it's going to get wild. The Moon Fox doesn't show any sign of sympathy toward Fluttershy and her infamous tears. "Pony, there's no reason to cry," she says blankly. The tail's grip loosens slightly, so it only carries holds Fluttershy gently enough not to choke her. Fluttershy is too busy crying to even consider escaping.
"I'm sorry!" sobs Fluttershy. This surprises the Moon Fox. "Please! Don't kill me!"
"Sorry? For what?"
Fluttershy wipes her tears away with one of her hooves. It's futile. The tears keep flowing like a river. "For not giving you a chance."
"The purple one said that you were following orders. Right?" Fluttershy nods slowly. "What would you do?"
"I would try to show nothing but kindness..."
"You should be the ruler," jokes Moon Fox, but she maintains a straight face. "And I do admit I was a little bit uncooperative the other day."
Fluttershy stops crying. "We were only curious, Moon Fox. Everypony was spreading rumors about you."
"Ah, mass hysteria. I remember how that went." Moon Fox drifts away into deep though, but snaps back into reality. "The spring is nice," she suggests.
"Oh, no. I shouldn't be here when you're undressed," answers Fluttershy innocently. "I'd leave if you would let go of me and wait for when you're done, if you don't mind..."
"We're both girls. Lighten up." The Moon Fox's tail lets go of Fluttershy, making her drop into the hot spring. Fluttershy sinks, letting her body soak all of the warm water. She emerges with a deep breath. She feels intoxicated by warm feeling of the water, and has an immense urge of laziness. She slowly sinks down to the point the water lines her neck.
"I guess it's alright," says Fluttershy, droopily.
"So what's your name?"
"Fluttershy." Fluttershy notices that Moon Fox's eyeballs are not black like they were at night. "Your eyes. They changed."
"Yeah, they change to white during the day. So, Fluttershy, I didn't really mean to destroy your town."
Fluttershy's eyes widen. So much for feeling lazy. "Then why did you threaten us like that?"
"I had a lot on my mind. I was in a really bad mood when you guys showed up. Trying to kill me made it even worse. I wanted to be alone, but I wasn't in the mood to hurt anyone. So yeah, sorry."
"You almost killed Rainbow Dash."
"The blue one? She was asking for it. Cocky bitch, I'd say. She's lucky to have you guys to vouch for her," says Moon Fox in an annoyed tone.
"Why are you even here?" Fluttershy knows she may have made a mistake. She knows how the Moon Fox gets when asking such questions. The Moon Fox's eyes ponder at the innocent-looking pony. Fluttershy's eyes are like a book to her. She can read exactly what she's thinking.
"Fluttershy, I don't feel comfortable answering that. I am here, but that shouldn't be a bad thing."
"Everypony was afraid that you were a force of darkness. A force of chaos."
"Everypony? Don't you mean everyone?" asks the Moon Fox, confused.
"No."
"Oh God, I'm in a pony world..." mutters the Moon Fox.
"Don't you mean 'Celestia'?"
"Look. Let's just not walk into that wildfire topic. I'm not a dark force, but that doesn't mean I'm a good one, either. I admit my appearance is dark, but this whole thing with people fearing me is just recurring news."
The Moon Fox gets up, which makes Fluttershy's eyes widen. She leaves the spring and heads to where she hung her clothes. Her seven tails are dragged behind her. Fluttershy is seeing what the robes covered. It's the bare body of a woman, covered in blue, wet fur. She never saw a human being, nor considered their existence. She doesn't even how one looks like, so the Moon Fox's body feels like a mystery to her. The bipedalism is strange though. Moon Fox's legs are like a dog's hind legs bent up, and they somehow work as human legs. Fluttershy gets up and out of the spring, shaking away the water dripping through her fur. Moon Fox does the same, and she puts her clothes on.
"I'm assuming you never saw a body like this," says the Moon Fox. "You ponies probably never saw a human being."
"I...haven't," answers Fluttershy nervously. "They actually exist?"
Moon Fox nods. "I have some work to do, so it's best if you went home."
Fluttershy starts heading back home, but turns around when nearly invisible through the leaves. "Um, can I come back?" she asks.
The Moon Fox is speechless. With all the mass panic she's causing, this is a rare question to her. "Why not," she responds while shrugging her shoulders. Fluttershy smiles and leaves the Moon Fox alone. Moon Fox catches a glimpse of Fluttershy flying away with a cute smile, and it makes her smile a little. But it's only brief. She wonders about what Fluttershy said. About the princess.
"Celestia..." says the Moon Fox slowly. Her tone is full of curiosity. She starts hovering over the trees of the Everfree Forest and locates the palace at Canterlot. You're safe for now, Celestia, but we'll meet soon, she thinks in a exhilarating, yet devious tone.
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
It's been a few days since Fluttershy first 'befriended' the Moon Fox. She keeps visiting her, but it's not so easy. Moon Fox is incredibly fast, so she can't find her easily unless the beast finds her first. But when they meet, they're not sure what to do at first. The Everfree Forest is not a place of fear for them, even when forbidden. It belongs to them to do whatever they please.
Fluttershy assumes that the Moon Fox doesn't know much about the forest, so she shows her a few things, like introducing her to the many animals that live there. The Everfree Forest got a bit noisier since they first met, so there's plenty of them. Sometimes, the Moon Fox would put her unexpected cooking skills to good use. She gets ingredients from foraging, and hunting is incredibly easy for her. But she knows Fluttershy isn't a carnivore like her. Being a fox, she's an omnivore, so whenever Fluttershy visits, she makes out of a combination of fruits and herbs growing in the forest. To Fluttershy, it's a miracle how she didn't find anything poisonous yet.
The Moon Fox rarely smiles, or laughs. Fluttershy tries so hard to make her, but she doesn't care that much. They can still hold a decent conversation. Throughout the days, she is able to see the so-called deadly creature for what she truly is. Fluttershy finds her stunningly beautiful, yet unreachable and eluding. Her friendship with her is very unlikely and unusual, after the hostility of that infamous night.
It's noon in Equestria, with Celestia's sun perched at the peak of its arch. Fluttershy is in her house, taking a nap. She stayed up hanging out with the Moon Fox last night. She even got a chance to see her rise the moon. It was unforgettable to her. The Moon Fox was never so luminous to her before, and yet it was so brief, but she wouldn't forget the majesty and beauty that the Moon Fox gave off at that moment.
Knock, knock, knock!
Fluttershy bobs her head up. Her yellow ears shake to the knocking. She's startled, but for moment.
Knock, knock, knock!
She gets off the couch and moves her hooves toward the door. Yawning, she thinks, Who could it be? She places a hoof on the doorknob and turns it. Her teal eyes shrink by the sight of the Moon Fox, leaning on the doorway.
"Hey, Fluttershy," she greets.
"Oh, hi, Moon Fox," says Fluttershy in a resurgence of happiness. "What are you doing her? I never told you where I lived."
"Wasn't so hard, to be honest. You have butterflies on your butt and hang around with animals all the time. You're a perfect match for this cottage."
Fluttershy giggles. "So true. So, why are you here? I thought you liked being in the forest."
"Most of the time, but it gets boring in there, and I was thinking. I'd like a change of scenery."
"No! You'll scare everypony!" shouts Fluttershy, fearful.
"You're a bit far from any other house, Fluttershy," says Moon Fox in a tone that implies a disbelief toward Fluttershy acting unreasonable. "May I come in?"
"Um, no need to ask."
"Meh, I like a vampire's courtesy."
"Then come in," says Fluttershy. The Moon Fox treads past the yellow pony. Her mane slightly gets brushed by one of the blue foxtails. Fluttershy still finds it unreal seeing the bushel dragged behind her. It just screams excess to her. Moon Fox sits down on a char next to the couch and stares at Fluttershy. The white eyes are always more pleasant than the black ones.
"I came because I needed something," says the Moon Fox.
"What is it?"
"Isn't there pony magic?"
"Why, yes. There's a lot of it. Why would you even ask that? You already know magic."
The Moon Fox scowls at the last word. "'Magic' is not the right word for me. What I do is only a manifestation of my inner energy and I release to guide it how I need it to. So, do you know magic?"
Fluttershy thinks the question is stupid, but reminds herself that the Moon Fox is not experienced with this world. "I can't do magic," answers Fluttershy. "Only unicorns can do magic. I'm a pegasus. We control the weather."
"Unicorns," says the Moon Fox, slowly. "The purple one is a unicorn, right?"
Fluttershy's heart stops. "No! Don't tell me you're going to Ponyville!"
"Why not?"
"Everyone is gonna freak when they see you!"
"Sorry if I cause panic, Fluttershy, but I need to study pony magic to finish my work. You said her name was...Twilight Sparkle?" Fluttershy nods. "I don't really care how people react to me, but I have my objective. I'll just persuade Twilight to let me borrow some of those books." Moon Fox gets up and rubs the top of Fluttershy's head with one of her hands. It's like she has a feeling that Fluttershy is a pet. "I'll see ya later. Thanks for having me." Moon Fox opens the door and flies away. Fluttershy gets off the couch and runs out the door. She only sees her for a second before the trees could hide her. She examines the direction she's heading for. Definitely Ponyville. Fluttershy starts to panic, imagining a scene of everyone screaming and running. But what would the Moon Fox do? Fluttershy knows that it won't try to hurt the ponies, so will it be fine?
* * *
The Moon Fox lands near the library and starts heading for it. Fluttershy already told her that it's a house within a tree in one of her visits. She looks around, noticing that all the ponies are staring at her. There's no panic yet, but she expects. The Moon Fox closes her eyes and gives them a friendly wave, then heads for the library with the same, familiar expression. She disregards the consequences of being in public completely. There's so my many pony eyes aimed at her, and they ask questions about what she's doing, what she's going to do, and why she's here. The ponies themselves aren't asking that. The Moon Fox can read their eyes, because she's used to having eyes at her with that expression. She knocks at the door of the library, surprisingly eager to meet Twilight Sparkle, yet worried how she's going to react to being in front of her enemy.
Twilight and Spike are having a lunch of hay sandwiches. Spike has his mouth full with a ruby he stored as a treat, so Twilight gets off her chair and opens the front door. And here we go, thinks the Moon Fox as she sees Twilight's face go from joyful to terrified. She slowly steps back trembling.
"Twilight Sparkle?" says the Moon Fox, wondering if she got the name right.
"You! Wait. Moon Fox! Stay away!" yells Twilight, moving in a way to destroy the hallucination in front of her.
"Okay, let's calm down first," says Moon Fox in an caring tone.
Spike enters the room confused, saying "Twilight, what's with all the ye- AAAH!" He notices the Moon Fox. "Please, don't hurt me! Take Twilight instead!"
"No! Take him!" Twilight crouches behind Spike, attempting to use him as a meat shield. They were both too scared
"I'm not gonna hurt anyone," says Moon Fox. "I just need your help."
"Help?" Twilight's panic shrinks. Last time they saw each other, she's the one who desperately needed help.
"Look. I know I scared you ponies, but I'm not going to destroy Ponyville. I know you can do magic because you're a unicorn."
"How do you know?" asks Twilight, still slightly scared.
"It's okay, Twilight." The Moon Fox turns around. She didn't say that. Fluttershy is right behind her, sporting a small smirk. She doesn't look devious with that smirk, but forgiving instead. A hurricane of confusion spins rapidly in both Twilight's and Spike's minds. "I told her."
"Fluttershy, why did you tell her that? She said she was gonna destroy Ponyville if we bothered her."
"I couldn't stay away. I had to do something."
"She's a monster!" says Spike, more angry than confused.
"No. She's misunderstood. Just because she looks scary and has all that power doesn't mean she's bad."
"Fluttershy, you didn't have to follow me," interrupts Moon Fox. "They would've calmed down eventually."
"I won't be calm unless we sit down and you pour out everything you know about yourself," says Twilight in a hostile tone.
The Moon Fox sighs and closes her eyes. She goes inside the library and sits down on the floor, crossing her legs. Her seven tails spread acros the floor, some touching the base of the bookcases. "If I do, can I borrow some spells?" she asks.
"Fine." Twilight, Spike, and Fluttershy sit down, forming the corners of a perfect square on the floor. Twilight and Spike are amazed at only the fact that they're sitting peacefully in front of an supernatural being that can destroy mountains. The Moon Fox is silent at first, but they give her the privilege to. They assume that she's trying to collect the thoughts and where to start. Twilight knows that she's desperate for her spells.
"My real name is a mystery to all, even to myself," begins Moon Fox. "What you all know me as is only a name that explained my newfound duty: rising the Moon. I couldn't believe I had enough power to move something so big and heavy. I recall looking different before, but I can't recognize it after it being gone for so many years. What am I? I can only describe myself as an anthropomorphic being resembling a fox. I've seen humans, and they've seen me. We interacted before, but I prefer to be alone most of the time. Why? The presence of being next to another living being feels a little painful. I don't know what your world is called, but I know mine. I came from Vremena, and that's where I do my job of rising the Moon. I didn't know I was in your world for a while, nor of the pony Luna who had the same job as I did. My hostility towards you ponies came from confusion. I thought I was going mad, but I was wrong. I was busy working in the forest that any form of interruption would infuriate me. Happy, Twilight?" The Moon Fox's last words make Twilight realize that she's annoyed by her. "So I'm sorry for hurting that rainbow pony, I'm sorry for threatening you all, and I'm sorry for causing mass hysteria in your world." Strangely, she doesn't sound like she feels guilty. It's just that same, normal tone.
Twilight Sparkle and Spike look at each other, then back to the Moon Fox. "You're in Equestria," says Twilight. "Ponies of all kinds rule here under the sun of Princess Celestia and the moon of Princess Luna."
"I met Luna. I offered a friendly competition."
"You can't fight a goddess," disagrees Fluttershy.
"Ponies, and little dragon boy, I'm a natural fighter. Back in my world, it's a constant war. You can't depend on others to protect you. You have to grow into a force to be reckoned with, and fight for the right and freedom to live."
"So, how did you and Fluttershy meet?" asks Twilight.
Moon Fox and Fluttershy's eyes widen. They remember that time so vividly. "Uh, she found me," answers Moon Fox nervously.
"Yeah. Found her," agrees Fluttershy.
"Okay...so why do you need my spellbooks?" asks Twilight.
"I'm working on a way back home."
"Sorry, but I don't have any books about multiverse travel," says Twilight disappointedly.
"Maybe not, but with the knowledge I have from my world, I could figure something out. Vremena is pretty similar to your Equestria. Lots of species, wizards, knights, and civilization. Except, we see magic in a different way. We see it as an exertion one's own energy, manipulated to fit their needs. Doing that, I could probably invent a multiverse travel spell.
"Fox, you already proven yourself to be too much for us to handle," says Spike. "I wouldn't be surprised if you invented a spell."
"it could work." Moon Fox notices a large book dangling like it's about to fall. It does, but one of the Fox's tails catches it nimbly. "Why is this book sticking out?" she asks Twilight.
"Well..." stammers Twilight. She grows worried as the Moon Fox grabs the book with her hand and opens it. She only sees hollowed out pages that make space to contain the Elements of Harmony. Twilight feels like she's dead. Those were the tools used to attempt the defeat of the deadly Moon Fox.
"I remember these," says Moon Fox, curious. This relieves Twilight. "You guys were wearing these when we encountered."
"They're the Elements of Harmony," says Fluttershy.
"Harmony..."
"We each hold one of the Elements, and together, we would use them to stop any evil force that would try to disrupt that harmony."
"At least you got harmony..." says Moon Fox, disappointed. Fluttershy understands exactly what she meant. She heard her mention something about her world being in constant warfare. "So, Twilight, a deal's a deal. May I use your books?"
"Absolutely," answers Twilight cheerfully. "Spellbooks are on that case over there." Twilight points her hoof to one of the bookcases, and Moon Fox gets up and heads toward it. Her tails flutter around gracefully, picking extra books as she skims past the titles. "Would you mind if we told Princess Celestia about you?"
The Moon Fox stops skimming, and turns to Twilight, slightly agitated. "Why would you do that?" she asks.
"Well, she has to know that you're not dangerous, so she can announce it to all of the people of Equestria." Twilight sheds a tear, and her purples eyes widen, sparkling. "I don't want you to feel outcasted, Fox."
Moon Fox is touched by Twilight. Instead of crying, she leaves her move slightly open and not moving a single book. "Then yes. You can do that." Twilight turns to Spike, and Spike can tell what she wants just by the look on her face. Spike looks around for a quill and paper and starts writing a letter.
"Spike, I haven't said anything," says Twilight.
"You don't have to. I wanna write this one myself," answers Spike, excited.
* * *
Meanwhile, in the royal palace, Princess Celestia, looking majestic and clean, gazes at Ponyville. She's still worried, but tries to hide that emotion with a straight face. She scans the Everfree Forest for a sign of the Moon Fox, her supposed equal. Princess Luna enters the balcony, worried about her sister.
"Sister, what hast happened to thee?" she asks. "Thou hast been looking at Ponyville for two hours now."
Princess Celestia doesn't answer at first. She's too focused to listen to Luna. Her ear seems like it has a delayed reaction to carry the audio, convert to electrical impulses, and send them to her brain. She turns to her sister. "You met her, didn't you?" she asks in a hostile tone.
This slightly worries Luna. "Yes, but she only said that she shall not destroy Ponyville and that she desires combat."
Celestia goes back to staring at Ponyville. Her anger grows, but contained to not cause any destruction. "I don't care anymore. I don't care how strong she is! She's below me, just like everyone else!" A flickering fire grows in the goddess' eyes. "If this fox demon causes trouble, then I'll give her trouble..."
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
Twilight's library becomes exhaustingly busy, but by one person only. Twilight Sparkle sticks to the end of her deal and lets the Moon Fox study her books. Moon Fox basically dumps out every book that is magic-related. She studies like she has an exam upcoming the following day, inconspicuously stressed, yet calm. The Moon Fox, unyielded by even an urge to rest, pulls out a pair of eyeglasses she rarely uses so she can read better. Twilight assumes that she's not the studious type. Moon Fox skims past book after book, using all of her "arms". The tails behind her never cease to move, picking and opening books, displaying them to their master. Moon Fox's eyes are rapid, alternating between the many books she has open. Some are scattered on the table, while others are being held by her tails. She's even a more effective learner than Twilight.
Celestia's sun is setting, so Twilight decides to interrupt her. "Um, Moon Fox?" she says as she gentle nudges her shoulder.
The Moon Fox turns around and takes off her reading glasses. Her eyes are locked to Twilight's. The white in them is slowly fading. "Yes?" she says.
Twilight expected a more hostile reaction, but Moon Fox is as calm as she'll ever see her. The monster that conquered the Elements of Harmony not too long ago, is as peaceful as any other Ponyville citizen. "The sun's setting," says Twilight, pointing a hoof toward the window. Moon Fox leans, seeing the sky turning into a fruity color.
"I don't have time for that."
Twilight's shocked. It's not like the Moon Fox can just refuse to rise the moon. "But you're the 'Moon Fox'! You rise the moon. Isn't that what you do?"
"I would, but I'm extremely busy. Let that black pony do it." Moon Fox's eyeballs fade to black. It's officially nighttime.
Luna, thinks Twilight. She almost forgot about her. She also remembers what the studious Moon Fox told her. She's not from our world. It's Luna job to rise the moon, not her. "But why did you do it anyway?" asks Twilight.
"I had no idea your kind even existed. I thought I was still in Vremena. Now please, I'm trying to work." Moon Fox puts her reading glasses back on, giving Twilight a clear signal. She does not want to be disturbed. Twilight already knows the consequences of having her agitated, and still fears that it will happen. With that, she leaves.
Twilight gives Moon Fox her space for the rest of the night, but sometimes she would take a peek to see how she's doing. She gets a growing urge to help her, considering her knowledge on magic, but keeps it sustained. The Moon Fox is more of a "do it yourself" type of person. Twilight peeks on more time, but notices a bit of Moon Fox's eyes, half-closed.
"Enough is enough, Fox," says Twilight. "You should go to sleep."
The Moon Fox drops seven books simultaneously. She puts away her reading glasses and turns to to Twilight, droopy and tired. She opens her gaping mouth and lets out a yawn. Twilight sees more than enough of those sharp teeth jutting out. Moon Fox slowly smacks her black lips. "Thank you, Twilight," she says calmly.
"You can come back tomorrow if you like."
"No, I'm good. I couldn't find anything helpful, anyway." Moon Fox drops her head. Twilight thinks she fell asleep, but there's still movement, and speech. "I couldn't find anything about multiverse travel, but I learned too much about other useless crap. Except there's..." She raises her head, locking droopy eyes at Twilight. "...teleportation."
"It's possible, but who knows how far away your world is. I can only do it on short distances."
"It could work..." says Moon Fox. She can only manifest a little bit of hope. "If not, I'll have to stay here, build a house."
Twilight doesn't reply. Moon Fox gets up and approaches her with open arms. "So nice of you to help," she says nicely.
"Wait, you want a hug?" Twilight is very unsure of embracing the beast like so.
"A nice good-bye hug too much too ask? Don't tell me you're still scared." Moon Fox's tone is both disappointing and stern.
Twilight's uncertainty shifts to determination. What Moon Fox said to her was a challenge. She accepts and jumps into the strong grip of her guest. She mostly feel the fabric of her robes, but her face touches hers. The purple fur mixes with the blue fur for only a few seconds, then they break apart. Moon Fox doesn't smile at all. She only leaves, dragging her tails behind her. Twilight can't move. She's too amazed with what just happened. She just experienced affection from a very unlikely source. The monster that dwells in the Everfree Forest had her arms wrapped around her, not to strangle, but to care.
* * *
"Fluttershy, I'm not sure about this. I already got what I needed out of Ponyville."
"But you can't stay in that scary forest the whole time."
"A picnic with all of you ponies? Are you kidding me?"
"Please, just give it a chance."
The situation is backwards compared to yesterday. This time, it's Fluttershy who wants the Moon Fox to be seen. It's a beautiful morning under Celestia's sun. Nopony forgot about Moon Fox's appearance yet. Fluttershy is sitting with her on a checkered, white and red blanket. There's a woven basket next to them, filled with a batch of baby carrots Fluttershy prepared. The heat of the sun is unbearable for her, but Moon Fox is unaffected, even when wearing her robes. The Moon Fox's eyes keep staring down, worried about how the other ponies would react. Fluttershy, Twilight, and Spike are already fine with her presence, but what about the other four?
"Fox," starts Fluttershy, sweetly, "I work with animals all the time, big and small. Something that I always realized is that even the most vicious of them have a softer side. The roaring, the claws, the sharp teeth. It's all just a mask covering their true self."
Moon Fox is amazed, especially for hearing something so deep and touching to come out of a pony's mouth. "It's true," she says. "I had friends of my own, and we would have the best time together."
"I bet they miss you..."
One of the Moon Fox's pointy ear twitches. She hears the sound of hooves rustling on the evergreen grass. Twilight Sparkle and Spike arrives, with the rest of her friends following from behind. Moon Fox can see what they brought to the picnic. Applejack is carrying a basket full of apples with her mouth, Pinkie Pie bounces as she carries cupcakes, and Twilight is using her magic to levitate a basket of warm, fresh croissants. Moon Fox notices everypony's eyes. There's barely any hint of fear on them. She assumes that Twilight told them that she wasn't dangerous. They all reach the blanket and put the food down.
"Looks like we got another egghead!" teases Rainbow Dash.
They all laugh, except for Moon Fox. She remembers her long night of studying. "Cute," she responds.
"We're sorry fer that night," says Applejack.
"I know you're all sorry, but past is past."
"I'm so glad you all came," says Fluttershy as she opens her basket and takes out the baby carrots with a SQUEE smile. She's in that level of cuteness that can make hearts explode.
"Why wouldn't we? We needed a proper apology for our guest," says Rarity. She sits down as she flicks her mane.
"It's...nice," replies Moon Fox. "You ponies remind me a little about my friends back home."
"You have friends?" asks Rainbow Dash. Twilight smacks her in the face, implying to not be rude. Rainbow Dash glares at Twilight as she rubs her face.
"Had."
Everypony starts feeling sorrowful.
"Wh-what happened to them?" asks Rainbow Dash.
The Moon Fox leans her head to the side. "It was a long time ago. I really don't wanna talk about it..."
"Are we your friends?" asks Pinkie Pie, anticipating Moon Fox's response with big smile.
"We're not hostile anymore, so I guess so. I dunno about your princess, though. What was her name again?"
"Princess Celestia," answers Twilight.
"Yeah. And there's still that thing where you can't go into the forest, too."
"It can be our little secret," says Fluttershy, optimistic.
"This pony queen seems so highly praised. She'd find out eventually. I'm just saying. It's better for all of you to not get dragged into the mess I'm in."
"Princess Celestia is very compassionate," says Twilight in a sense of defense. "I can guarantee she won't cause you any harm."
"Harm?" says Moon Fox. She bursts into laughter. Spike gets closer to her as she clenches her ribcage like they're going to explode.
"Fox? I don't get it," says Spike.
The Moon Fox gets back up, relieving pressure on the base of her tails and wipes a tear off. She's still chuckling a little. "Do you ACTUALLY think your princess can hurt me?"
"Moon Fox, do not take her lightly," says Rarity, worried. "She's a goddess."
"Surprise, surprise. Me too." Everyone gasps. "Guys, I've been through a lot in my life. Whatever this Celestia can do to hurt me will never be as painful as what I've experienced before. But can we talk about something else?"
"Uh, sure," answers Applejack. "What do y'wanna talk about, sugarcube?"
"I'm just wondering what you guys do here," says Moon Fox. "As for me, I'm an adventurer, always traveling the world, searching for excitement."
"Well, we ain't adventurers. We all settle as part of the Ponyville community. I work over at Sweet Apple Acres." Applejack tosses an apple to Moon Fox. She catches it and takes a bite.
"Oh my God, this is good!" says Moon Fox. "You must be pretty good at your job."
"Oh, she is!" says Pinkie Pie. "One time, she and the whole family made apple cider and everypony was ITCHING to get some, especially Rainbow Dash!" She bursts into hysterical laughter. "But they kept running out of cider!"
Rainbow Dash glares at Pinkie Pie, suspecting that she had something to do with that.
"Fox, I've dedicated my life to fashion. I design outfits for my customers," interrupts Rarity, pridefully.
"Interesting," responds Moon Fox.
The ground shakes, then stops. Everyone feels the monstrous shockwave. Most of the ponies are shook off their feet, but the Moon Fox is in all four, trying to keep her balance.
"What the hell?" she says. She starts flying, along with Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy.
"Oh, my, it's an earthquake!" yells Fluttershy, with her hooves slightly covering her mouth. She stars hovering aimlessly, panicking and muttering.
"No, it couldn't be. It's...footsteps!"
"Uh, Fox?" says a worried Rainbow Dash as she taps Moon Fox's shoulder. When she gets the Fox's attention, she points behind her. Moon Fox turns around and her eyes widen and her mouth gapes wide open. It really was footsteps. They seismic waves caused by them grow stronger, until Moon Fox, Spike, and all the ponies in the park catch sight of a dreadful Ursa Major.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" shouts Moon Fox, shocked.
"Ursa Major!" answers Twilight Sparkle.
"Oh my God! Look at the size of it! It's like...taking 5 mountains and squishing them together! IT'S THAT HUGE!"
"Uh, yeah," replies Spike.
"Moon Fox, can you be a dear and GO GET THAT BEAST?" shouts Rarity, panicking.
Moon Fox turns around and witnesses the Ursa Major hammering a building, reducing it to pile of debris. Thoughts run in her head about the possibility of innocent lives being there, taken away by the behemoth. She turns to her friends and says, "No! I have to get you all to a safe place!"
"We can take care of ourselves!" says Twilight Sparkle. "Just stop it!"
"Take care, ponies..." says Moon Fox. She turns around, and an blue aura glows around her. Her seven tails flutter in the air, then she darts off toward the ferocious Ursa, who's still destroying buildings and terrorizing Ponyville. The courageous Moon Fox drives a had blow to the beats's stomach. It causes the hundred-foot-tall Ursa to stagger a few steps back. It steps on another building, and Moon Fox notices the ponies struggling to run away from certain death. Fighting it here is too risky for the town, she thinks. I have to lure it away .
The Moon Fox hatches a small plan. "Hey, ugly!" she shouts. This angers the gigantic Ursa Major. "Catch me if you can!"
The enraged Ursa Major grunts as it swipes its giant paws toward the Moon Fox. Moon Fox dodges them, hovering backwards. "That's it! Catch the doggy! Catch the pretty, little doggy!" she teases. Moon Fox darts away from the Ursa, causing it to chase her. The shock of the footsteps get weaker as the Ursa runs away from Ponyville. Everypony notices the diminishing presence of the beast and all sigh in relief, but only to be disappointed by looking at the damage it caused. Twilight is the last one to see the Ursa Major leave.
"Thank you, Fox," she mutters in peace.
The Moon Fox underestimated the Ursa Major's speed. It's catching up quite easily. The beast keeps grunting as it tries to swat the flying Moon Fox out of the sky like she is a housefly. The Ursa Major suceeds. The Moon Fox is sent crashing through bushy trees, but nimbly gets up. She starts shooting spells at the colossal monster, but they do nothing. She charges up one more spell and fires. It pushes the Ursa back, but it only makes it even angrier. It swings one of its legs, sending poor Moon Fox flying once again.
Moon Fox crashes on the side of a mountain. Her robes are torn and she is coughing up blood. She can't pick up the strength to get back up. The Ursa Major approaches her, overwhelming the Fox by its size. It stretches one arm back and delivers a fist right at the Moon Fox. The pain feels terrible, but the Ursa doesn't stop. It punches the mountain again, and again, and again. Moon Fox is dealt with serious constant pain, begging for it to stop.
I've already died once, she thinks as the mighty Ursa Major keeps hitting her. I won't die to what I fear to become. I WON'T DIE TO THIS UGLY BITCH!
The Ursa Major readies another punch, but it gets a different result this time. It's stopped. The Moon Fox has an arm stretched, and it's holding the room-sized fist. The Ursa Major frowns in confusion. The Moon Fox slowly starts to get up, pushing the fist back. An aura grows around her and explodes, blinding the Ursa Major. But blindness is the least of its worries. It experiences severe pain on one cheek. The Moon Fox slammed a spell right at its face, causing the beast to fall on its back.
Then, the Moon Fox lets out a mighty roar. The blue intensifies around her, and she rushes toward the fallen Ursa. Her seven tails extend at an amazing length, tying up the Ursa Major's limbs and necks. With them, the Moon Fox picks up the moster and swiftly swings it back to the ground, dealing heavy pain on the Ursa Major. She swings it again, and repeats. The Moon Fox has reached the point where there's no mercy left to show. After around ten ground impacts for the Ursa Major, it's too shattered to move. Its nose is bleeding, one of the arms are broken, and some of its teeth are gone. Moon Fox loosens the tails and extends a tattered arm upward. Her blue aura intensifies, centering at her raised hand.
When the aura reaches a blinding, white glow, the Moon Fox swings her arm down, shouting with a godly voice.
Orbit Shatter!
A large, magical energy jet shoots down toward the defeated Ursa Major, landing a direct hit. The impact of Moon Fox's spell releases a huge, blinding explosion. It completely disintegrates the Ursa Major. Moon Fox can hear the echo of its cries of pain. To her, they are unanswered pleads for mercy. She is left with staring at a large crater her spell caused, and leaves to return to Ponyville. She may be wounded, but she can still fly decently.
Nopony missed gazing at the destruction of the Moon Fox, but nopony can make out what happened. Some of them are busy rescuing other pony folk stuck in piles and mazes of debris. Rainbow Dash hovers high above the other ponies, scoping for any signs of the Ursa Major. Fluttershy is with her, feeling uneasy.
"That explosion c-couldn't be good," she says.
"When is one actually GOOD for us?" replies Rainbow Ash. She feels annoyed, worrying about what happened to the heroic Moon Fox, the creature they once feared. "Where is she?"
"Who?"
"Fox. I don't see the Ursa anymore, but I can't find her either."
"Rainbow! Fluttershy!"
Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy look down at the source of the voice. It's Applejack, along with Pinkie Pie and Rarity. "Get down here and help us with some lifting!" she insists as she points a hoof at a male pony who's stuck under a large wall. Rainbow Dash immediately gets to work, and the others join her in the effort. They manage to lift the heavy wall, giving the male pony space to get out.
"Thanks!" he says.
"All in a day's work, sugarcube," responds Applejack.
The male pony leaves as Twilight and Spike arrive. They're both sporting the wide eyes.
"Sweet Celestia," mutters Twilight.
"Something wrong, Twilight?" asks Rarity.
"That POWER! That was absolutely INSANE!" Twilight's mane starts to turn messy.
"Wait, the Moon Fox caused the explosion?" says Fluttershy. Now she joined the wide-eyes club.
"Yeah."
"But where is she?" wonders Applejack.
"I dunno. Fox could be either on her way back, or such a powerful spell could've..." She stares uneasily at her friends. "been fatal."
"C'mon, Twi! She couldn't have died!" argues Spike. "She's still out there. I know it!"
"Look, everypony!" shouts one pony, pointing a hoof at an approaching figure, and it's not a pony.
Twilight and her friends stare with amazement as the Moon Fox approches them, limping and bleeding. She pants like she's out of breath, but it's just for dealing with the pain. When she reaches them, she drops to her knees. "I...killed it," she says.
All the ponies in Ponyville stare at the Moon Fox, so vulnerable and weakened at her current state. They all start stomping their hooves, giving her their own style of a round of applause. All the ponies in Ponyville cheer for the Moon Fox. She's no longer the mysterious creature rom the Everfree Forest. She's now the guardian of their town.
Fluttershy lunges to the Moon Fox and gives her a hug without any hesitation. "Thank you! Thank you!" she shouts. Her friends join in, burying the Moon Fox with their love. Moon Fox slowly gets back on her feet, still struggling to stand straight, but the ponies notices tears running down her eyes.
"Why are you crying?" asks Fluttershy.
The Moon Fox sniffs a tear back in. "I'm just," she begins, still crying, "happy, Fluttershy. I'm glad that you, your friends, and the town doesn't fear me anymore. Thank you all."
The stomp of hooves dominate again, and Moon Fox keeps staring at all the ponies cheering on her, with a smile. Then she falls with a thud...
* * *
"Doctor, is she gonna be alright?"
"Well, her case is pretty bad, but we did all we could. The surgeons had to go through so much blood. Nauseating."
"Oh, my..."
"It's a miracle how she managed to head back to Ponyville."
"Please help her, Doc. She doesn't deserve to die."
"Like I said, her case is bad, but we can help get her back on her feet."
Fluttershy is talking to a doctor, while the Moon Fox is in bed, unconscious with a slowly beeping heart monitor.
"Would've been bad for her if the Ursa destroyed the hospital," says the doctor. "Anyway, we can help, but her anatomy is slightly different. We don't get many bipedals around her."
Fluttershy turns to the Moon Fox. Her wounds include internal bleeding, a broken ribcage and leg, and difficulty breathing. All the ponies can do for her now is to give her rest. Even some of her tails are bandaged. They don't move at all. The only part of the Moon Fox that is slightly moving is her chest, expanding from her deep breaths.
"That friend of yours is crazy," teases the doctor. "Taking on an Ursa Major. You'd have to be insane to even consider doing that."
"She IS insane," replies Fluttershy. "Insanely brave."
"Fluttershy?" Rainbow Dash enters the room. Fluttershy turns to her. "Twilight wants us at the library."
"What for?" asks Fluttershy.
"I really couldn't understand why, but it's something related to her." Rainbow points at the unconscious Moon Fox.
"Okay," mutter Fluttershy. She nears the Moon Fox and snugs her head close to hers. Rainbow Dash leaves the room, and Fluttershy follows.
* * *
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash enter Twilight's library, coming across the rest of their friends. Spike is holding a letter, and Twilight Sparkle is reading it, for the tenth time.
"Okay, I found her," claims Rainbow Dash. "So, what's this about?"
Spike clears his throat and waves the letter, shifting the attention of all the ponies toward it. "It's a letter from Princess Celestia, and it doesn't sound very friendly."
"Can you read it?" asks Fluttershy.
"Yeah." Spike looks at the words in letter and reads. "Dear Twilight Sparkle, and friends if they also come across this letter, I've been worried sick about the creature, but I am more worried about you. The Everfree Forest was declared a forbidden place, and I've been hearing that your friend Fluttershy disobeyed my sister's royal decree. She should have never dealt with such a dangerous creature. Consider yourselves lucky that it didn't destroy Ponyville during her visits. I saw the explosion, and it made my heart stop, So I immediately wrote this letter to make sure you're all okay. I highly request a reply right after you're done reading this letter. Anyway, I'm tired of wondering how the Moon Fox behaves. I will not punish anyone, but I demand a talk with her. Tell her that she's invited to my palace tomorrow night. Sincerely, Princess Celestia."
Spike rolls the letter back into a scroll, coming across six worried ponies.
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
The six mares look at each other, worried. Princess Celestia is basically demanding to see the Moon Fox, but she's in the hospital. Fluttershy lowers her head, feeling depressed for getting caught. She starts to cry.
"Fluttershy," says Spike. He approaches her, trying to catch a glimpse of her face, covered by her own yellow hooves.
"I never wanted to make her mad," sobs Fluttershy.
"It's not your fault," says Rainbow Dash. "Besides, the Princess won't punish you, so she probably forgives ya."
"Fluttershy," interrupts Twilight Sparkle. "It's okay. Despite disobeying orders, you helped us make friends with the Fox." Fluttershy cries a little less and sports a little smile. "I'll have to admit. Perhaps staying away from her was not the right thing to do."
"We tried to kill her with those petty Elements," says Rarity, feeling hostile. "Like she was another dark force."
"At least we know she's not," says Fluttershy, feeling happier. "Now, how are we gonna get Moon Fox out of the hospital for tomorrow night?"
Twilight looks away, thinking. "Maybe Zecora has something for quick recovery."
* * *
Celestia's sun sets on the day after. Moon Fox is still in bed, but she's awake now. With one of her tails, she is carrying an open book, leaning back and enjoying the story. Her roommate, a teenage colt with a messy mane, is in a full body cast. Moon Fox turns to him, flashing those blue eyes at him. The colt stares back.
"So what happened to you?" asks Moon Fox.
"Uh, I kinda fell three stories," answers the colt. Moon Fox detects little to no fear in his voice. "What about you?"
The colt's voice is slightly raspy and sounds undeveloped. "It's nothing, I just...got smashed by an Ursa."
"Woah. How are you even alive?"
"Because I don't go down without a fight."
"Damn, I bet you're strong."
"Yeah," says Moon Fox as she smiles.
Suddenly, Twilight Sparkle and Spike enter the room. Moon Fox tosses the book aside.
"Oh, hi guys!" she says quickly.
"Hey, Moon Fox," answers Spike. "Uh, you gotta see this." Spike takes out the letter Celestia sent. Moon Fox using one of her tails to grab and it carries it to reading. She reads quietly, as her friends wat for her reaction. She places the letter aside with her eyes wide open.
"My God..." she mutters.
"Yeah, we're kinda worried," says Spike.
"I don't understand. Why does your Princess want to see me?"
"Maybe she's tired of not knowing about you. To be honest, she still doesn't know that you're good," says Twilight.
"Well, if she wants me, then I guess I'll go. One problem, though..."
Twilight giggles. "Don't worry. I got that covered." She uses her magic to present a vial to Moon Fox. It's small, containing a green, glowing liquid.
"Is that some sort of healing potion?" asks Moon Fox.
"Yup. I asked Zecora for one yesterday. It should fix you right up." The Moon Fox grabs the vial and carefully pulls the cork out. She swigs down the entire potion without hesitation and smacks her lips, judging its taste. "Um, how do you feel?"
"I'm not feeling anything, but I can't put my claw on what the flavor is, I think it's-"
A strong surge of adrenaline rushes throughout the body of the Moon Fox. Her body starts squirming, but she clenches her hands into fists and jumps out of bed. Wearing the long shirts the hospital gives to the patients, Twilight can see her legs, bipedal, yet resembling hind legs. The robes cover so much.
"I feel great!" shouts Moon Fox. "This Zecora sure has some brewing skills."
"Now you can go see the Princess, " says Twilight. "But, one thing..."
"What is it?"
"Please behave."
Moon Fox shifts her attention to her robes, scattered on a chair and table next to her bed. She turns back to Twilight and says, "Your princess lives in that city on the mountains, right?"
"Yeah."
"I can fly over there easily, but I need someone to come."
"Why? Princess Celestia only invited you."
"I need someone to vouch for me. I have a hunch that she won't trust a demon like me."
"Just..." Twilight lowers her head. "...be careful."
* * *
The Moon Fox's eyes turn black as the last shred of light diminishes from the sky. The wind brushes past her and Fluttershy. Fluttershy is nowhere near as good a flyer as the Moon Fox, so she's being piggybacked. She holds her tightly, afraid to fall off, even though she has wings to save herself with.
"Can't we just take the train?" suggest Fluttershy, worried.
"Too slow," responds Moon Fox. Her eyes are fixed on the beautiful city of Canterlot. She is both anxious and anticipant about meeting the head of Equestria. "I can slow down a bit if you're scared, I guess..."
"Thanks. So, why did you ask me to come, above the rest?"
"Because you're the one who knows me best."
"But Twilight has logic. She can put up a good argument."
"I know, but I trust you the most, Fluttershy. If I'm going to get on your princess' good side, I'm gonna need your voice. She may fear me or hate me. I'm not sure."
The Moon Fox speeds up the flying a little, making her seven tails zigzag through the night's wind. The moon is rising, so it must be Princess Luna's work.
"Princess Celestia's gonna be mad at me. I know it," says Fluttershy.
"If she gives off the slightest bit of hostility toward you, any hope of building a peaceful relationship with her is gone."
The Moon Fox lands on one of the Royal Palace's balconies. Fluttershy crawls off her back, feeling good to be on solid ground again. Moon Fox looks around and notices and entrance into the palace. She walks slowly toward it. Fluttershy follows, still worried. Moon Fox's footsteps echo through the long hallway, or at least the clicking sound of her toenails. Fluttershy's footsteps echo easily, her clops are much louder. Moon Fox keeps looking around for Princess Celestia, but notices a familar, dark blue pony emerging from another hallway. Princess Luna sees the Moon Fox and Fluttershy, looking a bit surprised.
"What are thou doing here?" she asks.
"Your sister invited us," answers Moon Fox. "For dinner."
"Odd. Maybe she wished to surprise me with you as guests. Come close, please." Moon Fox approaches. Luna waves a hoof toward her, gesturing to lend her an ear. "My sister's been acting strange lately," she mutters into Moon Fox's ear, "and she talks how she wants to, well, get rid of you. I do not think thou aren't so bad, but please. Do not set her off."
"I don't plan on doing anything stupid."
"By the way, did thou cause that explosion?"
"An Ursa Major showed, destroyed a few buildings, and beat the crap out of me. What other choice did I have?"
"Fair enough. I believe my sister is waiting in the dining hall. Oh, greetings Fluttershy."
"Hi," answers Fluttershy, lowering her head.
"Seems like thou and Moon Fox got along quite well."
"Yeah."
"Okay, follow me."
And so, Fluttershy and the Moon Fox follow Princess Luna. After a while, they reach the dining hall, an elegant, long room, crowded by one long table. Princess Celestia finally sees the Moon Fox with her own eyes. She is sitting at the end of one table, staring deep at her black eyes. Moon Fox crosses her arms and says, "Hello, Princess."
"Hello, Moon Fox," responds Celestia. Her tone sounds normal. "Have a seat. All of you."
Moon Fox slowly walks toward the goddess. Celestia's eyes will not come off of her. Even with her rainbow mane blocking her view at times, it's still locked. This makes the Moon Fox slightly uncomfortable. She takes a seat next to Celestia. Princess Luna takes a seat on her other side, while Fluttershy sits next to the Moon Fox.
"Fluttershy? Why did you come here?" asks Celestia, curiously.
"Moon Fox asked me to," she answers quietly.
"And why is that?"
"Because she doesn't think you can trust her."
"Well, you're sorta right. Moon Fox? In case you don't known, my name is Princess Celestia, and I rule all of Equestria."
"I've heard about you. Ponies wouldn't shut up about it," says the Moon Fox humorously. This makes Fluttershy giggle a little.
"You also must be aware that there's still mass hysteria about you. It eased down a little because you haven't shown any sign on intolerance, but then..."
"You saw the explosion, didn't you?"
"Who hasn't? How do you explain that?"
"I had to kill an Ursa Major."
"Why did you kill one?"
"Princess, it rampaged through Ponyville and put me in a hospital."
"So you were, protecting Ponyville."
"Yes."
"It's true," adds Fluttershy. "Princess Celestia, we all used to be afraid of her, but she showed to us that she is not a monster, and I'm also sorry about going into the Everfree Forest when I wasn't supposed to. I just had to help her, somehow."
"So you appeared in the forest, resisted the Elements, met Fluttershy, made friends with her friends, then saved Ponyville from an Ursa Major attack?" says Princess Celestia.
"That sums it up," answers the Moon Fox. "Princess, do you want me dead?"
This leaves Celestia speechless. She looks at her sister, figuratively crying for help, but Luna only glares at her. "Perhaps it;s better if we discussed this AFTER dinner," she suggests.
"Yes. Let's eat," agrees Celestia nervously.
The table is full of bowls and dishes of mashed potatoes, apple pie, cherry pie, corncobs, and salads. "Moon Fox, I hope thou eats like others do."
"Oh, I eat," answers Moon Fox. "A lot, actually."
The three ponies and the fox dig in. Not a single word is exchanged among them. Celestia eats calmly, but she judges the rest as eating like pigs. Not exactly, though. They're just eating faster than her, but Celestia now questions to herself, why she let the horrid Moon Fox into her very home, and why she's the only who feels troubled about it. The reason is not because of what the Moon Fox can do, but the question of who's really under control. It doesn't take long before plates are empty, while bellies are full.
"Compliments to the chef, Celestia," says Moon Fox.
"Uh, thank you," replies Celestia.
"So, do you hate me or something?"
"Well, you've been getting some negative feedback," begins Celestia, feeling a bit of implosive anger. "But what do the people of Ponyville think of you?"
"They love me for saving their town. Afraid at first, but yeah."
"That's good. At least you're not scaring people anymore, but I don't exactly want you dead. I'd never think of anypony as that. Well, there's Discord and the Changeling Queen, but not you. Look, the reason why Invited you here is to finally know who you are and where you came from. I want to assure all of Equestria if you're a threat or not."
"As you wish. My name, like you know, is the Moon Fox, I'm a unique type of an anthropomorphic creature, and I came from a world that is plunged into warfare, but Celestia, there's something you don't realize."
"And what would that be?"
"You're mad." Celestia's eyes widen instantly. She gets off her seat and nears her face close to Moon Fox's glaring.
"And why would you say that?"
"I can read your face like a book, Princess," starts Moon Fox. "I know why you're so worried about me, but you shouldn't. I can destroy mountains and villages, but take note that the only thing I killed since I arrived in Equestria was a bigass bear who wanted to destroy Ponyville. I don't abuse my power, and neither do you. But you're still mad at me..."
"Moon Fox, please stop," says Fluttershy, worried. Celestia is just speechless.
"You want me out of here, Celestia, and not because of my behavior." Moon Fox's black eyes melt into Celestia's as she gets up and locks them. "You're angry, Celestia, because you're afraid, afraid of the possibility that I am not your subordinate, that I am your equal, or worse, your conqueror."
Absolute silence. Fluttershy and Princess are jaw-dropped. Same goes for Princess Celestia. No one dares to speak a word, because the Moon Fox talked to the Princess in a way no one has before.
"You're right," says Celestia, softly. "I'm just so frustrated that it makes scream. The problem is, if I let out my anger, it could be catastrophic. You're a wise creature, Moon Fox. I appreciate what you said."
"If you're angry, I have just the thing to take care of that," says Moon Fox as she taps a claw on her jaw.
"What is it?"
"As an adventurer, I get frustrated at times, but then I start venting it out through my fists, rather than my mouth. Fighting is always a good way to exhaust that anger."
"What are you saying?"
"I'm saying that we should go to the middle of a wasteland and fight," says Moon Fox, deviously. "Come on, Celestia. Show me who's boss..."
"Wait, are you asking ME to fight you just for sport?"
"Moon Fox, are you crazy?" shouts Fluttershy.
"I probably am, Fluttershy," says the Moon Fox.
"Moon Fox, how old are you anyway?" asks Princess Celestia.
"A thousand, but does it matter?"
"Well, no offense, but you're acting really foolish by challenging me."
"Come on, Celestia!" says Moon Fox, deviously. "Make me pay for trespassing, for plunging your kingdom into panic!"
"Moon Fox, I can't punish you unless you did something wrong, but you haven't."
"Then why won't you fight me?" asks Moon Fox.
Princess Celestia glares at the Moon Fox's black eyes and spreads her wings, attempting to look intimidating. "Because my power can hurt innocent ponies, and it's my responsibility to contain it. I will NOT fight you just for thrill!"
"But don't you wanna who's stronger? Wanna know once and for all?"
"Yes," answers Celestia, "but if it means losing control of myself, then it's not worth finding out."
"In that case, I really don't see how you could be the ruler"
"How dare you!" shouts Celestia, causing the room to shake. Fluttershy lowers her head in fear, while Luna only watches. "I am Princess Celestia! I rule Equestria with my sister because we are strong, and we protect those who can't defend themselves. Ruling for eternity is an overbearing responsibility, and you let that mouth of yours run, letting out such ridiculous words. I am frustrated just thinking about you, Moon Fox! Stronger or not, you're in my kingdom, and I am your ruler! DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"
Moon Fox looks around, seeing cracks growing on the walls. Instead of being worried, she is fascinated. She hears Celestia's heavy breathing. "Princess," she replies, sweetly. "I'm only trying to help you. You're getting furious, and we need to let it out somehow. Don't get the wrong idea. I can tell you're incredibly strong, and it excites me just thinking about it. You have to fight me, Celestia. Get that anger out."
"But what about Equestria? What about my ponies?"
"Let's go find a wasteland or something, where every living thing is too far away to stuck in the crossfire," says Moon Fox. "If you fight me with all you got, that anger will go away."
Princess Celestia stares deeply at Moon Fox's black eyes. "Fine, then. Tomorrow, you'll be nothing but a punching bag to me. You asked for it, Moon Fox. I hope you're happy."
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
Chapter 7: Dog and Pony Show
The Moon Fox wakes up in Fluttershy's house. The bed in her guest room is small, and the room itself is dusty. She smacks her lips, dealing with the disgusting taste of her mouth. She feels nauseated of the thought of smelling her morning breath, so she slowly gets up for some water. Moon Fox lets out a yawn as she heads down to the kitchen. Fluttershy is surprisingly waiting for her downstairs, but there's no food on the table, not even for herself. Fluttershy glares at the Moon Fox, scowling at her, leaving Moon Fox confused.
"Uh, good morning?" says Moon Fox, confused. "So, thanks again for letting me sleep here. Uh, mind if I get myself a glass of water?"
"You're insane..." says Fluttershy, coldly.
"Jeez. You're not acting like yourself today. I only want some water."
"Do you have ANY idea what you've gotten yourself into?"
"Yeah, I'm fighting Celestia today. Should be fun."
"Fun? She's going to murder you!" Fluttershy hovers off her chair and gets nose-to-nose with the Moon Fox.
"High stakes," responds Moon Fox, feeling optimistic.
"I just don't want you to get hurt."
"Then we got ourselves a problem." Moon Fox sits down, and so does Fluttershy. "Fluttershy, fighting is just one of those things that are part of who I am. Growing up, I had to fight for what I wanted, including my freedom. I don't know a single thing about Celestia, but I can read her quite easily. She's infuriated by questioning herself who's stronger. I've been around people who don't know how to control their anger, and believe me, it's not pretty."
"Why are you fighting her?"
"So that she can take that anger out on me. Sure, I'll probably get something broken, but a small price to pay for Equestria."
Even if Fluttershy was with the Moon Fox last night when she talked to Princess Celestia, she assumed that Moon Fox proposed the fight just for sport, but she knows the true reason. "So you're protecting us?" she asks.
"Yeah," answers Moon Fox. "Celestia's bound to crack sonner or later, and you DO NOT wanna come across a berserk god. But I'm also excited about this fight. I wanna see how strong she is."
"Oh, please be careful." Fluttershy gets off her seat and looks through a cabinet. She grabs a clear glass with her teeth and puts it under the sink faucet. She turns the knob and the water flows. Fluttershy carefully holds the glass with her teeth again, leaning her head sideways so it won't spill. Moon Fox grabs and takes a sip. "Remember when we first met?" says Fluttershy.
"I do. I thought I was on something when I saw you ponies."
Fluttershy giggles in a most adorable manner. "Yeah, we got on the wrong hoof at first, but now everything's fine, or at least I hope so. Moon Fox, do you miss your home?"
"My home." The Moon Fox looks away, thinking. "I do, but I'm not sure how to come back. I looked through all of Twilight's books, and nothing helped me. I could be stuck here forever."
"Anyone misses you?"
"Yes, actually. There's this one boy, and he's just, incredible. He probably misses me a lot..."
"Don't you want some fighting fuel?" suggests Fluttershy. Moon Fox looks at her sparkling, teal eyes, and her little, cute smile.
"Thanks," answers Moon Fox.
* * *
"WHY? Just WHY?" shouts Twilight Sparkle. Moon Fox is only giving half her attention to her. The other half is focused on a workout session she's having. Twilight glares at her as she continues doing pull-ups on a tree branch. Moon Fox has her coat hanging on an adjacent branch, so she's only wearing the white robes that are usually underneath it. Spike and Rainbow Dash are hanging around, watching her.
"Because it's fun?" answers Moon Fox. "Come on, Twilight, this isn't really your problem."
"Not my problem? You're gonna fight my TEACHER!"
"Twi, just calm down," says Spike. "They're gonna do it in the middle of nowhere."
"Yeah, and we can watch it through a telescope or something," adds Rainbow Dash, feeling excited.
"Ugh, I can't believe you're actually supporting this," says Twilight.
"Twilight, I just think Celestia needs to let out some steam sometimes. She's kinda stressed out," says Moon Fox, grunting quietly from her pull-ups. "Oh, crap! I lost count. Dash, what was I at?"
"Uh, probably a hundred," answers Rainbow Dash.
"Hundred and three, actually," corrects Spike.
"Does it matter? This is gonna be the most epic thing ever! Gonna be SO AWESOME!" Rainbow Dash presses her cheeks together, making that familiar that makes all the bronies explode from its cuteness.
Moon Fox resumes her pull-ups, but Twilight puts it to halt quickly. "Fox!" she shouts. The Moon Fox lets go of the branch and lands on the ground. "We were trying to make everything okay with you. Everyone likes you now, and if they were to find out about this, they'd stop liking you because you're basically trying to overthrow Princess Celestia."
"Overthrow?" says Moon Fox. "That's ridiculous. One, I'm not right for the job. Two, I'm only fighting for the thrill of it."
"She can kill you."
"Yes, there is a risk, but if the Elements didn't work on me, it won't be easy for her to do so."
"You're playing with fire, Moon Fox. You're dealing with a goddess!"
"Newsflash, I'm a goddess, too. Should be a fair fight."
"Clash of the Gods, WOO!" yells Rainbow Dash.
"Shut up!" Twilight turns back to the Moon Fox. "Look. I can't talk you out of this, but can you promise not to hurt the Princess too bad?"
"Wait, so you think I'm stronger than her?" says Moon Fox, sporting sly eyes.
Twilight sighs. "Yes. You're the first one who resisted the Elements of Harmony. After that, I was convinced that you were invincible."
"If you wanna know once and for all, then watch the fight. Fluttershy already agreed, and Spike and Rainbow are pretty excited about it."
"Please, just don't hurt her too much."
Twilight leaves Moon Fox, Spike, and Rainbow Dash. The purple pony gallops away with her head low. She is concerned for her teacher. A demon invaded Equestria, and it challenged her divine power.
"Hey, Fox!" shouts Rainbow Dash. "Can you show us some moves?"
"Hmm, I kinda wanted to keep some as a surprise," says Moon Fox as she hovers back toward them.
"Back in your world, who did you fight?" asks Spike curiously.
Moon Fox thinks, attempting to collect some memories. "In my time, I fought many, but not all of those fights were just to challenge myself or among good friends. Some people are just unforgivable, and they deserve to be punished. I once fought an insanely strong man named The Forbidden. It was...world-changing. There was also this young man who was consumed by the darkness of his soul. One of the toughest fights in my life."
"But Celestia is a good ruler," says Rainbow Dash.
"She is. I'm not saying she's not, but times come when the kings and queens of the world are challenged. They are constantly to see if they're worthy of maintaining the position of the throne."
"But you wouldn't overthrow her. You're a good girl, Fox," says Spike, worried.
"I'm not. The only thing on the line is Celestia's sanity."
* * *
It's early afternoon. Celstia's sun crowns the sky over a no pony's land. Princess Celestia flaps her wings as she touches the dry, dusty ground of the desert. She tucks them in and looks around. She is alone right now, and the wind lashes her rainbow mane. If you're going to challenge the ruler of Equestria to a duel, at least have the decency to make it on time , she thinks. It's two o' clock. We agreed to come here at two. Where the hell is she?
Fate answers Princess Celestia, as the Moon Fox crashes to the ground in front of her, sliding through the dusty dirt and sand. She slowly extends her legs. Moon Fox's seven tails flutter through the strong winds of the dead land. Her entrance is like a meteorite's, but the only difference is that the destruction comes later.
"You're late," says Celestia.
"I had to help the ponies with something." replies Moon Fox.
"With what?"
"Setting up a telescope. They're watching us as we speak."
"Idiot. We're supposed to keep this quiet!"
"What? We can trust those mares, not to mention your own sister."
"Very well." Princess Celestia uses her magic to remove her crown. She tosses it aside and starts stretching. Moon Fox does little of that, too. Ironically, the Princess stretches like a dog, while Moon Fox doesn't. "Are you sure about this, Fox?"
"I've fought the strongest of my world. To win, you must turn your anger into a steady flow of energy."
"How do we decide who wins? First one unconscious for ten seconds sound okay?" suggest Celestia, kind of forcefully.
"It's fine." As Moon Fox keeps stretching, she observes Princess Celestia to decide how to approach her in the fight. Probably a good flyer, but I bet she's gonna use that horn alot, for shooting spells and stuff, she thinks.
Celestia does the same. Hmm, those seven tails are just a tangled mess of trouble. I bet they're gonna come lashing at me the moment we start, she thinks.
The two goddesses conclude their stretching. Moon Fox slowly shifts into a fighting stance, raising both fists the same level of her chest. Princess Celestia bends her front legs and spreads her large, white wings. She's ready to pounce. The mares, Spike, and Princess Luna prepare to watch the upcoming quarrel from one of the palace's balconies, where everything is seen from an bird's eye view. Spike looks through the telescope and spots the Moon Fox and Princess Celestia.
"They're about to start," he says. "Too bad we can't get any closer."
"Good thing I brought POPCORN!" shouts Pinkie pie as she inexplicably pulls out a tub of buttered popcorn her own size. "Wait, but I'm not sure how all of us could look into the telescope at the same time. We could try!"
"I believe I have thy solution," says Princess Luna. Her horn glows as she focuses on the telescope. The telescope also begins to glow, mainly the lens. A small flash of light emits from it, and a large screen appears above the telescope. It's showing the same thing the telescope is aimed at.
"Oh, a projection spell," says Twilight, fascinated. "Thanks, Princess."
"Please, even with troubles, who would miss such an incredible event?"
"Hey Pinkie, got some soda to go with the popcorn?" asks Rainbow Dash.
"Don't y'worry, Rainbow Dash. I already took care a'that," says Applejack.
"Alright!"
The ponies watch as the Moon Fox and Princess Celestia share their hostility through a stare-down. Neither one of them makes a move, and it dissapoints Rainbow Dash. The truth is, they're both hesitant, because of little knowledge of her opponent. It may be exciting for the Moon Fox to discover the potential, but she's going into a room with no lights on with this. Moon Fox grows tired of staring and stretches an arm, firing a jet of blue magic. It impacts where Celestia stands, exploding into smoke, but when it clears, Celestia seems to have banished. Moon Fox looks around, but hears an unnatural noise from the wind. She jumps off, seeing Celestia crush the place where she stood.
"Woah! Not bad!" compliments Moon Fox. "I'll have to watch my back, Celestia. I could get into some serious trouble."
"Oh, you will..." mutters Princess Celestia. She charges her horn and fires a stream of yellow magic. Moon Fox evades it and charges again, landing a left hook right on Celestia's cheek. It sends Celestia rolling yards on the dust, then Moon Fox quickly moves to where she's going to be and kicks her stomach. Celestia is now falling upward, but Moon Fox shifts the direction of force once again and kicking her back into the ground.
"Sister's not doing so well right now," says Luna, worried.
"She won't lose that easily," replies Twilight, feeling a bit hateful toward the Fox.
Princess Celestia quickly gets back up and fires another stream of yellow magic. I forms into glowing and it wraps around the Moon Fox. Moon Fox struggles as much as she's surprised. Celestia titls her head to hurl Moon Fox into ground. She tilts it back to send her flying in an arc. She hits the ground again. At this point, Moon Fox's tails swarm toward Celestia. Celestia lets go of Moon Fox and charges toward her, evading the jabs from the tails. She tackles Moon Fox and sends her flying.
"Still can't tell who's the stronger folk," says Applejack as she grabs a hoof-full of popcorn and stuffs it in her mouth.
"They both seem to be getting edges toward one another," adds Luna.
Celestia fires a beam of magic from her horn. It hits Moon Fox, and the impact causes an explosion in the air. Moon Fox falls out of the smoke clouds, but like a cat, she flips and lands on her feet, breathing heavily. Celestia fires a spell at her, but she dodges it with a roll. Moon Fox swarms her tails toward Celestia again. They jab Celestia repeatedly, like they were fists, then they entangle her. Moon Fox carries Celestia closer to her, but Celestia reveals a devious look in her eyes. Moon Fox's eyes widen as she witnesses Celestia's body glowing, and burst of white light explodes around her. It sends Moon Fox rolling, but she gets up, looking impressed.
"I find it amazing that you're not afraid to get dirty," she says.
"I do it for reasons," answers Celestia.
Both of them charge toward each other. The first clash causes an overwhelming shockwave, then the two are exchanging punches and kicks as fast as lightning. The intensity of their attacks causes the ground near them to crack. Both of them are now flying as fast as bullets, and clash constantly. They're basically turn the desert into a giant pinball machine. At times, they would crash on large rocks and hills, reducing them to rubble. As Moon Fox gets back up, she notices Celestia flying toward her to clash again, but she extends an arm and fires a stream of energy at pointblank range. Celestia screams in pain as she is forced back rapidly. She crashes on another large rock.
"Ouch!" says Rainbow Dash.
"Oh, why am I even here?" complains Rarity. "Why couldn't they have settled this over a nice, quiet board game or something?"
"Because that would be boring to watch," answers Spike.
They all laugh except for Rarity, but quickly shift their focus back to the screen. Moon Fox feels her hand straining from the spell she used, but she gets back up. She looks at where Princess Celestia crashed and spots the tall, white horse, with eyes that are flaming with pure anger. That's it, thinks Moon Fox. Now use it properly . Both of them look like a mess. Moon Fox's robes are tattered, torn and stained with dirt. She has blood dripping off the side of her face and her mane is flowing freely instead of normally being tied up. Princess Celestia's face and legs are bleeding, her fur is burnt at some spots, and her rainbow mane is messy instead of smooth and flowing.
"Sister?" says Luna, worried.
Celestia starts to growl, but she remembers Moon Fox's words. Turn your anger into a steady flow of energy . The growling diminishes, but the fire in her eyes intensify. The divine pony takes the most calming of breaths and shouts with the mightiest of voices. "MOON FOX, KNEEL TO YOUR PRINCESS!"
The furious Celestia charges toward her. Moon Fox also charges. They both yell at the top of their lungs, moving forward to clash again. They fight to know who's the true superior. They clash. They create a blinding explosion, leaving the spectators jaw-dropped. When the explosion banishes, it leaves a crater, but no sign of the Moon Fox nor Princess Celestia.
"Anypony see 'em?" asks Applejack.
"No," answers Twilight, worried.
"Would thou prefer for me to check?" suggests Luna.
"Please do."
Princess Luna takes off toward the crater. In it lie the Moon Fox and Princess Celestia. They're both on the ground, motionless. They both lost their will to continue the fight. They're beyond exhausted, but they're not alone. A third figure appears between them, and it's as unfamiliar as the Moon Fox. The figure looks around with curiosity. It's a teenage boy, but he's wearing ancient mage robes, featuring armored sections and a lava cape. The only skin he shows is through his hood, and it's remarkably tan. The boy looks around and spots Princess Celestia. He approaches with wide eyes.
"Oh, my God," he says, shocked. "PRINCESS CELESTIA?"
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
The mares and Spike desperately focus on the screen, looking for signs of either the Moon Fox or their beloved princess. Sadly, the crater is still shrouded with dust. Princess Luna is flying as she can to see the damage, leaving the rest of the ponies to only wonder.
"Maybe both of them got knocked out," suggests Spike.
"Maybe," agrees Twilight.
"Awesome..." mutters Rainbow Dash, still jaw-dropped from both witnessing and feeling the explosion.
"Oh, I hope they're okay," says Fluttershy, worried.
The boy steps back at the sight of the Princess Celestia. Somehow he knows about her. The boy seems nice, but it's what he wears that is odd. He slowly approaches Celestia as she sleeps. He curiously taps her stomach with his foot, as if assuming she's dead. He keeps tapping, hoping that she would wake up.
"This is weird," he says to himself. "Well, Frankenstein time."
The boy rubs his hands together, building up a strong amount of friction. Sparks fly out of his hand like it's magic, or it is magic. This boy is capable of performing magic. He opens his hands wide, covered with electricity.
"Probably gonna get sent to the moon for this," he jokes.
The boy puts both hands around Celestia's chest, sending the electric current throughout her body. Celestia's eyes open wide. Her sight is blurry, but makes a futile attempt in looking around. Yes, she's alive, thinks the boy, anticipating a warm welcome.
"Hello?" says the boy. Princess Celestia's eyesight improves, but she can only make out a blurry figure. She doesn't see any blue, so she assumes it's not the Moon Fox. The voice calling sounds nothing like her, either. Despite fatigued by the collision, she gets up and shakes her head. The boy is surprised to see the princess so torn and wounded.
"Um, Princess Celestia?" calls out the boy.
Princess Celestia's eyesight sharpens back to normal, and turns to the source of the voice. She breaths heavily, and also feels a little nauseous. She gazes at the human boy standing in front of her, then notices Moon Fox behind him, still unconscious.
"You don't look so good, Princess," says the boy. He wants Celestia to answer. Somehow. He is secretly amazed to run into such a figure that is so familiar to him. He smiles nervously, but Celestia just keeps staring, breathing heavily. "I know you can talk."
The boy's words turn into a trigger. Celestia picks up a rush of adrenaline and charges the boy. He is completely unprepared, and gets toppled down easily. Celestia pins him down with her bleeding hooves, and glares deep into the boy's eyes.
"What the hell?" says the boy, confused.
"How do you know about me?" yells Celestia, looking furious. The boy is too scared to ask. He only stares at those fiery eyes of the divine. He starts to forget about the pain the hooves are causing. "ANSWER ME!"
"What's your problem?"
Princess Celestia. Instead, she uses her magic to carry the boy. The boy struggles, but he's no match for the goddess. The yellow aura consumes him, ensuring his containment. "Let me go!" he commands. "You're making a huge mistake!"
"SHUT UP!" Celestia hurls the boy into the air, then she catches up to him to buck him back into the ground. The spectators spot their princess at last.
"There she is!" says Rarity.
"But where's Moon Fox?" wonders Applejack.
"She just kicked something, but it's not Moon Fox," says Rainbow Dash.
The boy coughs as the dust engulfs him. He struggles to get up, but only to get pinned down by Princess Celestia again. She uses her magic to electrify the boy. The boy screams in pain and starts to shed tears. Celestia only glares with the fire in her eyes. The boy whimpers, confused and agonized.
"What did I ever do to you?" he sobs.
"You're trespassing," answers Celestia, coldly. Her horn starts to build up a strong aura, and it's aimed at the boy.
"You're gonna regret it, Princess. Shoot me again, and you'll regret it!" yells the boy.
"Do you really think you're in a position to tell me what to do?"
"I'm confused, Celestia, and you're making me angry. You're insane! You'll pay if you try to kill me!"
"FINE!"
The boy's peaceful and mild face fades away. He lets out a monstrous roars, and his eyeballs turn black. Black markings appear on his face. The roar startles Princess Celestia and she hovers back. The boy gets up, and black lightning consumes him. It surrounds him like an aura, and it's intensifying. The boy glares at Celestia with his black eyes, and roars again. The aura turns into a blinding, white light. Fury is rushing through the boy, and it's flowing fast.
When the light dims, Celestia is shocked at the sight of the boy. He looks completely different now. His armored robes are black and blue, and his face has a drastic change to it. He appears to have fur on it now, along with the rest of his body. He also has long, blue hair flowing over his back and shoulders. The boy transformed into a being that's similar to the Moon Fox, and his black eyes glare deeply at Celestia. Celestia starts to shake at the sight of him. She has no way of explaining how it's possible.
The boy, now a beast, does not speak a word, but slowly walks toward Princess Celestia. At this point, Celestia notices that he has a foxtail now, fluttering out of his cape and over the desert ground. It's like the Moon Fox infected the boy, turning him into a creature like her.
The beast banishes. Celestia looks around for him, and he reappears at breathing distance, glaring right in her eyes. Celestia is paralyzed by the stare. She feels like she's having a nightmare.
"Do you really wanna let the dog out, Celestia?" says the beast in a cold, murderous voice.
He snatches Celestia's horn, paralyzing Celestia. Then he swings his arm and throws Celestia away. The beast is strong, and fast. He flies up to Celestia's hurdling body and covers her face with one hand and buries her head into the moving ground. The beast grabs Celestia's rainbow and tail and spins her around, throwing her away once more. He then banishes and reappears in the sky. The beast charges from upward, pushing Celestia down with him to the ground. The impact sends a puff of dust into the air.
The impact also forms a small crater in the ground. When the dust dissipates, the beast stands where Celestia is lying. They're both motionless. The beast glares at Celestia' closed eyes, while Celestia struggles to collect enough strength to get back up. She hit the ground several times already. The beast sits closer to her, allowing her to have a good look at him.
"You're lucky I have restraint," says the beast. "If you're wondering, I'm still that boy who you attacked. Why did you attack?"
Princess Celestia opens her eyes, and the first thing she sees is the beast. She does not flinch at the sight of black eyes. She listened to his words, and is willing to answer. "I'm sorry," she says, weakly. "When I saw you, I just...lost my mind."
"Do you have something against humans?"
"Humans? They're supposed to be a myth."
"Well, according to my world, unicorns and pegasi are from fairy tales."
"Humans can't do magic, nor can they transform into beasts." Celestia slowly gets back up.
"I am special, Celestia." The beast roars and starts glow. The black lightning aura diminishes, and the beast turns back into the boy. His robes are a bit torn from Celestia's attacks. "Now I believe we got off on the wrong foot," he says in his returning normal voice. "My name is Victor."
"How did you know about me?" asks Celestia. She feels to beaten up to even offer a hoof-shake. Her rainbow mane attempts to regain its majestic flow.
"I'd rather not say."
"But I insist, child."
"Can't I just tell you later? I'm trying to find my friend."
"Moon Fox?"
Victor's eyes widen. "How did you know?" he asks.
"Because she's been keeping us company for a while."
"Where is she?"
"Over in that crater."
"Which one?"
"The big one."
Victor's arms and back begin to strain. He struggles on the ground. Celestia is concerned, but taking a step is excruciatingly painful for her at the moment.
"Dammit!" says Victor, sarcastically. "Looks like I'll have to lie here until the pain goes away..."
"Perhaps I will, too." Celestia lets herself fall to her side. She finally feels relaxed she even heard of the Moon Fox. "So, how do you know her?"
Victor realizes that a conversation is the only thing they can do right now. "She saved my life once. I became her student, and she trained me every day. She was hard on me, but it was for my own good. Never have I met someone like her. She's always doing her own thing, keeping secrets and following her own rules. But overall, she's an amazing friend. So, yeah."
Princess Celestia smiles as she sees her little sister approaching from a distance. She had enough action for the day. Princess Luna sighs in relief, knowing her sister's okay, but then she turns to Victor.
"Hey, Luna," says Victor, nervously.
"How do you know my name?" asks Luna, feeling suspicious.
"I'll tell you later. I just need to get to Fox, but I'm too beat up to run to her."
"Is she thy friend?"
"Yes, and I've dying to see her. Please help me."
"Sister, do you mind?" asks Luna.
"Not at all," answers Celestia.
Princess Luna uses her magic to carry the young mage. She flies toward the large crater Moon Fox is still at. Victor is released from the telekinetic grab and sees the Moon Fox, still unconscious. He drops to the ground and admires her, sleeping so peacefully. Victor starts to cry, but he is happy to see Moon Fox again. "I missed her, Luna," he sobs.
Victor rubs his hands together, causing friction. He places his charged hands on Moon Fox, jolting her back into consciousness. She gets up instantly, breathing heavily. She turns to Victor, never so surprised.
"Fox? It's me," says Victor, calmly.
"Victor? How did you-?"
"I missed you!" Victor leans toward Moon Fox, giving her a hug. He cries under her robes. "Don't ever do something like that again. Please!"
Princess Luna gazes at Victor, feeling concerned. Moon Fox only looks down to his friend, embracing him. She lets him cry. She knows she must. "How did you get here?" asks Moon Fox.
"Can we eat something first?" Victor tries his best not to say any indistinct babbling from the crying. "I just wanna spend time with you, Fox. Just like we used to."
Moon Fox gives him a peaceful smile, then nods.
"Uh, Victor?" interrupts Luna.
Victor sniffs a few tears away. "Yeah?"
"I'm afraid thou will have to come to the palace. We need to talk."
"But I'm really hungry."
"We'll serve you something if you please."
"Wow, thanks!"
Meanwhile, the mares and Spike keep looking at the screen. They see Luna, the Moon Fox, and Victor, but they wondering about the human.
"Okay, this is just weird," says Applejack.
"I know! Who IS that guy?" adds Pinkie Pie.
"Oh, wait! I see Princess Celesita! She's walking to them!" claims Rarity.
"Girls, let's just focus on the new guy!" commands Twilight Sparkle. "He showed up when both of them crashed, then Moon Fox appeared out of nowhere, then banished again. Now he's back."
"Maybe she has some changeling in her," suggests Spike.
"Spike, I see both of them now. They're two different people."
* * *
The fight is over. Everyone, including the newcomer human, is back in the palace. They all relax in an elegant room full of soft chairs and couches, but Victor has a dish of salmon and a glass of water to fill himself up. They all watch him eat. Victor tries to eat fast while still retaining decent table manners. It's hard for him, but he copes. Moon Fox, Celestia, and Victor all have their wounds treated, especially Celestia's. She regains her majestic appearance, but loses something that was causing her trouble. She smiles at the Moon Fox.
"Oh my God, this is amazing!" yells Victor with his mouth full of salmon. "Just like my grandma used to make, before she...yeah." He finishes the last bit of and washes it down with the last bit of water. "Want me to wash this?"
"Nah, it's fine. Just push it aside for now," answers Celestia. Victor does as told. "You do know you have explaining to do."
"I know. So where do we start?"
"Name these ponies." Princess Celestia points a hoof to Twilight and her friends.
"Okay," replies Victor. "The purple one is Twilight Sparkle. She's your very smart and studious pupil. The blue one is Rainbow Dash, a pegasus with an insane skill of flight. The pink one is Pinkie Pie, constant screwer of physics, and prone to crazy partying."
"What are physics?" asks Pinkie Pie.
Victor continues, ignoring Pinkie's question. "The white one is Rarity, snobby yet polite. Also a fashion designer. The orange one is Applejack, country girl and works at an apple farm. The yellow one is Fluttershy, known to be sweet, shy, and very close to wild animals."
Jaws drop. No one can believe how the human could know so much about them. "How do you know all this?" asks Twilight. "Have you been spying on us?"
"There's no way I could've spied on any of you. I've been transported to this world just like the Fox."
"Then how come you know so much about us?"
All eyes are on Victor. He gets nervous, then starts to snicker. "What's so funny, smart guy?" asks Rainbow Dash, glaring at him.
"I hate to break to to you," says Victor, "but you guys are from a show called My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic."
Silence dominates the atmosphere of the room. Moon Fox is also surprised. The ponies look at each other, speechless. Then they all burst with laughter. It makes Victor laugh, too. The princesses also also laugh, basically falling off their seats. Even Moon Fox laughs like a maniac. None of the ponies ever heard her laugh.
"Oh ho! That's a good one!" says Rainbow Dash, still giggling.
"Oh, but seriously, sugarcube. Tell us why y'really know about us," says Applejack.
"I'm serious," says Victor. "You're all from a cartoon show. Want me to prove it? I'll need some sort of memory projection spell, if those exist."
"It does," responds Celestia. She gets up and walks to Victor, standing tall compared to him. Victor is nearly six feet tall, but Celestia is a few inches taller with her neck upright. "But you'll have to open your mind to me."
"Celestia, I'm telling the truth."
"We're just making sure." Celestia's horn glows. She slowly lowers it, and the tip touches Victor's clear forehead. Victor's body is surrounded by the Princess' yellow aura. He closes his eyes and relaxes. Even though she tried to kill him, he feels safe to have Celestia around. She feels more protective to him rather than his beastly transformation. Victor wonders how long he has to stay like this, but he doesn't mind. The Princess can take all the time she needs. Celestia raises her head back.
"Did you find anything?" asks Victor.
"I had to dig around. Tried my best not to look into other things," answers Celestia.
"Like what?"
"Deepest secrets and desires."
"But did you find a memory of me watching the show?"
"I did." answers Celestia, feeling amazed. "There was this machine with a rectangular screen, and in it, I saw myself, fighting the Changeling Queen."
"That's a season finale."
"I don't even know how to react to this..." says Celestia.
Victor starts to feel guilty. "I should've just pretended to not recognize you, then I wouldn't have had to tell you. I'm sorry."
"It's not your fault. But I'm still curious, about your relationship with you and Moon Fox. Do you know how she made it to Equestria?"
"Kind of." Victor takes a deep breath. "Okay, so Moon Fox died back in Vremena, the world we live in, and I felt terrible because I'm the reason why she died. After a while of moping, I run into someone who knows how to bring someone back from the dead, but it's a risky procedure."
Victor rolls up a sleeve, showing everyone a glowing bracelet with leaf marks carved in it. "As long as I'm wearing this, I can come back from the dead, along with someone else. What I didn't know is that apparently, death sends you to another world as a reincarnation, but you're someone different. I can't explain why that didn't happen to Moon Fox, but I kept my initial self thanks to this enchanted bracelet."
"So if you're here, then you're dead in your world?" asks Fluttershy.
"Yeah. I drank some poison, but I'll be revived sooner or later. I never expected Moon Fox and I to come to a world that only exists behind a TV screen. It's amazing when you think of it. I'm just here to take Moon Fox back to Vremena."
"How's that thing gonna bring you back?" asks Twilight as she examines.
"Because my time here is temporary. It'll tell me when I go back," answers Victor. "But I'm not sure when."
"Then you're staying here in the meantime," says Moon Fox.
"Sweet! I can't wait to check out Ponyville!" Victor then looks at the Moon Fox, feeling curious. "How did she do around here?"
"Well, we kinda, tried to kill her," answers Twilight, nervously.
"Then she caused trouble..."
"Meh, just a little," answers Moon Fox, trying to act innocent.
"You could settle in with Twilight and her friends," says Celestia, feeling paranoid. "But try not to startle the others. In this world, you're only a mythical creature."
"Okay. I'll try," answers Victor. "But I'm no ordinary human. Princess, I was born on a world called Earth, where there's ordinary humans all-around, but then I came to Vremena, somehow. That's the world I learned how to control storms so I could be a strong fighter." He starts to laugh. "My middle name might as well be Mythical."
"I don't even wanna hear the word 'fight' anymore," groans Celestia. "But I'm sure you'll have a better image than Moon Fox."
Victor laughs a little. "Don't worry, Celestia. Moon Fox and I will be gone soon, and everything will go back to normal."
Victor is the only one who smiles. Celestia, Luna, Moon Fox, Spike, and the mares only look at each other, worried. The ties that they formed with the mysterious Moon Fox are temporary. If the idea of a multiverse does exist, then there could thousands of other worlds waiting to get sucked into. Equestria and Vremena are both linked to many other worlds, along with Earth. It's uncertain when the time to leave will come, but Victor, the boy who can control lightning, is here to take Moon Fox back home, and they will say their last good-byes to Equestria.
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
A day passed since Victor arrived. Moon Fox's and Celestia's wounds are healing up fine, and they don't have any hostiliaty toward one another anymore. Moon Fox is pleased with herself to know that she was right. Princess Celestia admitted to her that she felt calmer now. A calm god is a happy god, she replies.
It's a beautiful morning in Ponyville. Celestia's sun is beginning to rise, and the town starts to bustle. At least of most of them. Victor, the legendary human who now lives among the ponies, is resting on the branch of a large tree. Some passing ponies gaze at him, confused yet curious, then walk away.
Victor feels something shaking his shoulder. He opens his eyes, seeing a familiar fox face. "Oh, hey," he says, groggy.
"I need your help," says Moon Fox.
"With what?"
"Fluttershy's birthday is coming up, and I gotta get her something."
"So you want me to get it?"
"No. I'm asking you to help her friends set up a party. I'll go look for a present."
Victor yawns and rolls of the branch, making a three point landing below. "Kay," he answers.
"Thank you." The Moon Fox comes down and gives Victor a hug. "Start off with Twilight. She's hosting the party." Then she darts away from Ponyville. Victor stares at her banishing, then starts running to Twilight's library.
* * *
Victor makes it to Twilight's front door, panting. He knocks. The door is opened, showing the purple pony Twilight. She is confused upon the sight of Victor. "Morning, Victor," she greets, laughing nervously.
"Morning, Twilight! Hey, Moon Fox sent me here to help with the party."
"Oh! That's why you're here! Well, come right in!"
Victor enters the library, and feels overwhelmed by the amount of books it has. He examines the room. There's no decorations, but it's still early morning. Victor wonders why Moon Fox woke him up so early. "So what do we start with?"
"Balloons!" Victor notices the child-like voice coming from Spike. He pops out of a box full of deflated balloons and starts blowing one up. "Man, this is gonna take forever," he complains, gasping for breath.
"I could help with ballons." Victor is not exactly the hardworking type. When forced to work, he aims for the most bearable tasks. He grabs a balloon and joins Spike in blowing them. Twilight heads out of the room.
"I'm gonna go get the rest of the decorations," she says.
As soon as Twilight leaves the room, Spike finishes another balloon and turns to Victor. "So, uh, you kinda went freaky on the Princess yesterday," he says, in a joking mood.
"I don't blame her."
"So, how does it feel? Y'know, transforming."
Victor starts to blow on another balloon. "Gosh, that sure is a good question. Knowing you're still a baby, you ask like a million questions."
"No I don't."
"Well, human babies," says Victor. "They're a pain in the ass. Anyway, transformation." He thinks about it for a moment. "I guess you could say it feels...different."
"Different how?"
"I really don't like transforming, and it's still kinda new, but when I do, I feel an explosion of fury. But I don't lose myself into a fit of rage. It's basically controlled, yet deadly. But the transformation also feels painful. It strains my body, so I can't stay in it for long."
"That's pretty awesome. Can you show me it?" Spike starts to hop in excitement.
"Spike, it's not for entertainment!" scolds Victor. "It's for when someone needs to be punished."
"Wow," says Spike. "In that case, you don't have to show it."
"I'm back!" says Twilight as she gallops back into the room, using her magic to carry a few more large boxes. "You boys didn't get much done."
"Sorry," says Spike, feeling nervous.
"Well, keep blowing those balloons."
"Yes, Mom," teases Victor. This makes Spike burst with laughter. Twilight starts to chuckle, then joins in on the laughter. The boy feels joyous to join in on the happiness of this world.
"Can you ask you a few things?" blurts out Twilight. It was a complete subject change, but Spike can already tell that her curiosity is starting to take over.
"Like what?"
"I dunno. I've always been curious about humans."
"I'm curious about everything, so fire away, Twi."
"Okay, so humans were considered non-magical creatures, so how can you do magic?"
"Well, I hang around with non-humans all the time, and they taught how to do all the magic stuff. I don't like calling it magic, but energy instead, because what I do is fueled by my life essence. The point is, humans can be capable of using magic, but it takes determination and strong will." Victor smiles. "Twilight, you remind me of when I'm studious. Even though I hate studying, I know I have to do it sometimes, but when I do, I want to know EVERYTHING."
Twilight giggles. "I guess humans also have a lot of emotion."
"In short, we're like the people of Equestria but without the magic. That's how it is on Earth. Vremena, however, is close to Equestria, but that world's a cornucopia of all types of intelligent life."
"How did you travel between two worlds?"
"Well, that's what I'm trying to figure out. Maybe I died back on Earth and I forgot about it." Victor starts to gaze at Twilight Sparkle's cutie mark. Her body is fixed toward him, so it's hard to see the stars that she shows proudly.
"What're you looking at?" asks Twilight, getting suspicious.
"Aren't those things called cutie marks?" says Victor as he points to Twilight's flank.
"Yeah. They depict your special talent."
"You ponies got it easy finding your purpose. We don't get a picture on our butts telling us what our talent is. Humans like me have to go out and find it."
"Do you know it?" asks Spike.
"I knew it forever. I can draw real good."
"Idea!" shouts Twilight. "You could draw something for Fluttershy!"
Victor's eyes gaze at Twilight. He feels unsure about it. He gets up and heads for the door. "Well, glad I could help, but I gotta go help Rainbow Dash now!"
"Don't forget the drawing!" calls Twilight as she sees Victor run out the door.
* * *
The speed demon of the Ponyville twirls in the sky, practicing tricks to perform for her friend Fluttershy. Victor manages to find her, and Rainbow could not be any more excited to see him.
"Ohmigosh! You're here!" she shouts.
"Yeah," pants Victor. "I'm here." He looks around. "So, what do you need help with?"
Rainbow Dash quickly lands next to Victor. It startles him a little. "I saw you go beast on Celestia yesterday, and you got some mad flying skills! I was hoping you could teach something. Y'know, to spice up my performance."
"So you want me to transform..."
Rainbow Dash nods, very anticipant. "Yeah! It's gonna be super awesome!"
Victor puts hand on one of Rainbow Dash's shoulders. Her excitement diminishes as she locks eyes with him. "You're asking me for quite a bit, Rainbow. I'm a stranger to this world, and I don't wanna scare or hurt anyone. They'll get the wrong idea if I transform, like I'm going to hunt them down."
Rainbow Dash gives Victor a sly smirk. "Victor, I really wanna see you turn blue! Why else did you think I got you so far away from Ponyville?"
Victor looks at the direction of the town. Rainbow. They're quite far from the buildings. Victor turns back to Rainbow Dash and sighs. "I'll do it for one thing," he says.
"Sure! Anything!"
"Okay. Do that face where you press your cheeks together, smiling like you're really, really happy."
"What?" Rainbow Dash is confused. Victor couldn't help it. The brony is just being a brony. "Just that? But why?"
"Because it's frickin' adorable," answers Victor. "Come on, it's all I ask."
"Okay, if you say so." Rainbow Dash quickly presses her cheeks with her hooves, squinting her eyes and smiling. Victor nearly bursts from laughter, but he can his heart explode from the adorableness.
"Thank you, Rainbow. Now to stick to my end. I'll have to warn you though, this transformation is a state of contained, powerful fury. My speed and power increases dramatically, but it also causes extra strain. I might scare ya."
"Bring it on!" says Rainbow, determined. "I'm not scared of anything!"
Victor takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. He focuses on the beast caged inside him. He looks for the key. He finds the key. Victor clenches his fists together. He digs the key into the lock. He twists the key, and the beast is unbound once again. Black lightning starts to surround Victor, and he starts to feel the strain. He's also seems like he's angry. The black markings appear, and Victor lets out a monstrous roar. A light consumes him, and Rainbow Dash stares at him with wide eyes. The beast is standing in front of her, glaring.
"You okay?" asks Rainbow Dash, feeling worried.
Victor starts rubbing his head. "I'm fine," he says in a cold, low voice.
"You sound different."
"I know. I only got so much time in this form, so let's get started."
"Why do you sound so serious?" asks Rainbow Dash.
"Probably a side effect." Victor takes off, and Rainbow Dash follows him. He looks around, seeing if anyone is watching, then glares back at Rainbow Dash. "I'm thinking we should spice up your Sonic Rainboom."
"But that was gonna be my finale."
"You can still do it, but it just needs something, to make it how you say, twenty percent cooler." Victor flies higher up and starts darting off multiple directions. Rainbow Dash can't even catch her eyes on him, but she notices the beast forming a blue trail, like her rainbow trail when she flies really fast. The trail does not form at random. With wide eyes, Rainbow gazes at a name formed in the sky by Victor's blue trail. It reads This kind of spice in cursive.
"That was so...AWESOME!" shouts Rainbow Dash.
"There, I showed you a trick," says Victor. "Now if you don't mind, I'll change back to normal."
"Wait!"
Victor gazes at Rainbow Dash, confused.
"You gotta teach me how to do that," she says.
Victor sighs. "Fine," he says in an annoyed tone. Rainbow Dash gets closer to him. "It's not so complicated once you know how to do it. You'll have a problem with the sharp curves, but I kinda push myself away to do 'em."
"But there's only air. How can you push yourself off nothing?"
"All living things have energy inside them. It's what keeps them living. You just gotta bring it out."
"Uh, how?"
"Just concentrate. That's all I can say." Victor roars again. It echoes past the trees. An aura covers him, then he reappears back to his old self. "I gotta go help Rarity now." He rubs Rainbow's head, messing up her mane, then runs off. Rainbow Dash places a hoof on her head as she gazes at Victor running off, then smirks at him.
* * *
The young mage pushes pace after pace through the streets of Ponyville. Victor's libs are starting to hurt, but he knows there's really no rush to all this. Rarity could wait a little longer for a helping hand, but Victor tends to rush anyway. That's how he spends his life. He thinks that the time he has left could be gone any second.
As Victor rushes past crowds of ponies, some of them turn their heads toward him. They react either confused, surprised, or afraid. Victor doesn't even pay attention to them. He doesn't give a flying feather about what people, or ponies, would think of him. He knows he means no harm to them Try telling him that to the beastly side of him.
Victor catches sight of a rapidly glowing, purple aura. It pops like a balloon, and a familiar pony appears from it. Victor makes an unnatural reaction (at least for him): he grabs the pony and puts her in a headlock. The purple mare tries to pull his wrist away from her neck. At this point, Victor notices that she is Twilight. He drops her with no second thoughts.
"You scared the crap outta me!" complains Victor.
Twilight coughs. "Come on, Victor. How could I scare you?" she replies.
"Very easily. So what gives?"
"Oh, hi."
Neither Victor nor Twilight said that. They both turned their heads to the Moon Fox, who's walking toward them, carrying some odd-looking branches and stones. Victor pays more attention to the materials she's carrying, while Twilight pays more to the Moon Fox.
"Uh, hi, Fox," says Victor, attempting to sound polite. "What're you carrying?"
"It's for Fluttershy's present," answers Moon Fox.
"Not sure she would like that."
"Oh, don't you get it? It's all but puzzle pieces."
"Uh, Victor? There's something you need to know," interrupts Twilight.
"Please hurry up. I gotta get to Rarity's boutique," says Victor.
"I got a letter from Princess Celestia, and she wants to talk to you. Now is appreciated."
"But how am I gonna get to Canterlot so fast?" says Victor, starting to get frustrated.
"Just go blue."
Victor knows exactly what she meant. Unfortunately, he's not a big fan of his transformations. Sure, he increases his power dramatically and gains the ability to fly, but every up has a down. "Goddammit..." he mutters.
"This God sounds important," replies Twilight, interested.
"It's nothing, Twilight," says Moon Fox.
"Twilight, tell her I can't. I still gotta help out Rarity, AJ, and Pinkie for the party," says Victor. He eyes are fixed on his feet. He only sees ground, Twilight's hooves, and the ends of Moon Fox's black, blue, and white robes.
Moon Fox drops what she's carrying and puts a shoulder around the boy. "Victor," she starts, "if Celestia is calling you, it has to be important. Just go. I'll help out the rest of the ponies. The present can wait."
"It's not that," replies Victor. He tosses Moon Fox's arm aside, takes a deep breath, and his body changes once again, signaled by a powerful roar. The ponies all stare at the emerging beast, paralyzed. They have no idea what to do but stare at certain death standing near them. Victor them runs away and makes a mighty leap. He vanishes into the sky, heading for Canterlot. The spectating ponies slowly get back to their lives, leaving Moon Fox and Twilight as the only ones still staring.
"I don't understand him, Fox," says Twilight, curious. "He's nothing like the myths claimed."
"Twilight," says Moon Fox as she stares closely at her, "the first thing you should know about humans is that they're unpredictable."
* * *
Victor skids on the balcony floor. He arrived to the palace in a matter of minutes. With the belief that he has little time to spare, he runs into an empty room and out of it. He runs down a hallway, peeking at every room he passes. He's been here once before, but completely forget to keep a mental note of its structure. The hallway reaches a jagged turn, and when Victor reaches it, he instantly sees a white horse with a flowing, rainbow mare. She gasps and takes a step back.
"Oh. Glad you could make it, Victor!" says Celestia, hinting an apologetic tone.
"What is it, Celestia? It's not easy getting here," says Victor, with that serious tone that comes with the transformation.
"I was expecting Twilight would teleport you here, but there's always flying."
"It's not easy staying like this. I'm only doing this for you." Victor roars away from Princess Celestia, and the blue fades away. Once again, he's back to his normal self. Victor tries to give her a sincere, non-threatening gaze with his normal eyes, but he drops to the floor, feeling very fatigued. Celestia picks Victor's head up with one hoof.
"Are you okay?" she asks, worried.
Victor only gazes at her eyes. As Celestia anticipates his response, he tries to comprehend what's happening right now. Victor starts to feel touchy by the fact that Celestia has an arm around him, giving him her support. He gives out a weak smile and says, "I never noticed, but you have amazing eyes."
"Thank you," answers Celestia as she uses her magic to get Victor back on his feet.
"But I'm saying it as a friend!" adds Victor. "'Cuz y'know, I'm not interested in dating ponies, could that would be ridiculous." He gives out a weak laugh, trying to keep eye contact with Celestia.
"I know. I kinda needed that today."
"So why did you want me here?"
"Well, I got something to show you. Can you walk just fine?" Victor starts to realize what Celestia is really saying. He feels like she knows the side effects of his transformation.
"I'll manage." Celestia smiles, then turns around. Victor follows here through a few corridors, until they reach the palace's library. Victor feels overwhelmed by the amount of books there, and it puts Twilight's to shame. As he keeps following the goddess, he notices Princess Luna skimming through a pile of books on a table. She notices Victor and smiles.
"Good day, human!" greets Luna.
"Hey," answers Victor.
Celestia gives Victor a large piece of parchment and quill, presented with the yellow aura of her magic covering them. He grabs both and gives a curious glance to Celestia. "I want you to draw this Vremena," she requests.
"You want me to draw a map? What for?"
"I want to see how it's like there."
Celestia starts to give Victor the puppy eyes, and it puts the boy to work at once. He melts so quickly to cuteness. He shakes the quill and starts sketching what he can remember about the world he lives in. Celestia and Luna both peek over his shoulder, but Victor finds it annoying. Their flowing manes start to pile over the parchment.
"Girls, you guys are cool and all, but those goddamn manes..." says Victor. He brushes both of them away from the parchment and gets back to work. The two sisters stare at each other and start snickering. They both look at each other's mane and start playing with them. They now understand what Victor felt about them.
"Ok I'm done," says Victor as he puts the quill down. The two sisters look at his sketch. Victor put tiny symbols in it to indicate what is land and what is ocean. They quickly understand the drawing because of Victor's skill in drawing.
"That is the weirdest peninsula I've ever seen," says Celestia.
"Yup. That's a spiral land right there," says Victor, feeling a bit proud.
"Sister, it looks quite basic," says Luna. "Flat, mountains, ocean, desert, and mountains. It's just like our world."
"Victor, can you draw Earth now?" asks Celestia.
"Kay." Victor works on this sketch much faster. He feels more familiar to recognizing the shape of his home world. He still questions how he lives in another, but he will never forget how his own world will look like. He presents the sketch to the twi sisters.
"This one's basic, too," says Luna.
"Of course they do," says Victor as he outs the sketch away. "It's for the living conditions."
Celestia drops a painting on the table by surprise. She looks at Victor, nudging to take a look at it. Victor takes a glance, confused. "What do you see in that painting?" asks Celestia.
"I see a pony with a long beard and classic-looking clothes," answers Victor.
"No, pay closer attention to the background."
"Oh. Well, he's stretching his arms and legs, shaping a circle, and there's a bunch of ovals behind him."
"And what do you see in the ovals?"
"Just some lines."
"Look closer. This is why I wanted you to draw."
Victor does as he's told. He notices that all the ovals differ in contents. The scribbles drawn within them all look unique compared to the others, but then Victor's eyes grow wide as he finds one oval having a spiral sketch on it, and it looks just like the map of a Vremena he drew. He quickly scanned over the painting and finds another oval containing the outline of Earth, down to every continent. "What is this painting?" he asks.
"Oh, that would be a work of art created by Garudon, a brilliant artist from around 5 centuries ago," answers Luna. "Look, human. Thou have just witnessed some of his thoughts. The ovals in this painting, according to historians, represent other worlds. Garudon was a fan of the multiverse theory."
"Jesus Christ..." says Victor. "He must be right!"
"The real question is how," says Celestia.
Victor starts to feel nervous. "Look, you two are the thousand-year-old ponies ponies around here. I can't answer that," he says.
"Could you at least answer something else?"
Victor takes a seat, gesturing a yes.
"My sister and I have been baffled since thou arrived," says Luna. Victor has an idea of what they're going to ask.
"Yeah, we can't understand how a human could possess such power," says Celestia. "Don't get me wrong. The idea is just fascinating."
"Didn't I explain last night? I think I did?" says Victor.
"Not really, human," answers Luna. She locks eye contact with Victor. "Ever since Moon Fox arrived, my sister and I have been worried about her, whether she'd be a threat to our subjects. But our suspicions were nothing but quarreling thoughts. We know that thy friend is immortal like us, and we can comprehend her having power leveled to us as well. But then, out of nowhere, thou came." Luna puts a hoof on Victor's chest. "Thou proclaims thyself as a human. We can believe that, but it's the beast inside thee that we can't. Thou hath power, Victor, but how did you thou earn it?"
Victor blinks twice, and Luna seems to copy him. He smiles and says, "Luna, all I can say is that all life has a potential waiting to be discovered. Remember how we're both dead in Vremena right now?" Victor holds the hoof Luna placed on him tightly and starts to cry a little. "I turn into the beast because I saw Moon Fox died right in front of me."
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
Victor lowers his head, sobbing. He tries not to because he wants to show good behavior in front of the princesses, but it's too much for him to bear. The tears starts, making Luna's eyes water, too.
"I'm so sorry," says Luna, sympathetically. "How did it happen?"
"Luna, I think it's best we did not ask," says Celestia, trying not to start crying.
"No, it's okay," says Victor, sniffing. "You've both been good hosts, so I'll tell you if you really want to know." He regains a normal tone and clears his throat. "Vremena's been under some chaos lately, because of an order that wants world domination. I initially became an adventurer so I could defend myself from them, because they massacre anyone who doesn't join them.
"Little by little, they captured all my friends, and that's when I met the Moon Fox. She was little to no affection toward me, or at least she didn't show it. She made me train hard, making all my muscles ache and some of my bones to crack. She broke me, then put me back together, and she did all because she cared about me, and her world. Moon Fox wanted to turn me into the hero Vremena needs.
"One day, I heard the news of some executions, so I rushed over to the order's capital to save my friends, but Moon Fox told me I was not ready. I ran away from her, anyway. When I reached the capital, I fought an entire army by myself."
"In your current state?" asks Celestia.
"Celestia, I'm still powerful like this. The transformation is merely a multiplier. Anyway, I fought all these guys, either killing or severely wounding. I made it to their leader, and challenged him to a fight to the death. He was too strong, and I was too weak, but my friends depended on me. When the leader was about to kill me, one of my friends appeared and killed him with ease. I was relieved, but only for a moment."
"But he killed that terrible person. Thou should be glad," says Luna, confused.
"I was for like a minute. When he killed him, he absorbed his energy, and transformed into a hellish being, making him insanely powerful. At this point, he beat me with ease, and left me to bleed to death. Moon Fox showed up and fought the monster, along with one of my friends Jin, who somehow managed a transformation similar to mine. But it was too much for them. The monster kept hurting them, and hurting me on the inside because i dragged them into this.
"Someone who I could trust betrayed us for raw, unholy power. And with that, he killed the Moon Fox."
"I'm sorry to hear that," says Celestia.
"And then I cried as her body dropped on the ground, then glared at the killer, and it happened. I roared at the sky. It was a monstrous roar, and I have no idea how I pulled one off. Black lightning starts to flicker around me. The sky is cracked by lightning and it strikes near me. I suddenly feel like a different person, with a feeling of nothing but to make the traitor pay. And that's how I became like the Moon Fox: to avenge her death."
"What happened after that?" asks Luna.
"I kicked his ass and dragged his face on the concrete. I even hit him while he was down."
The two sister widen their eyes. "Geez, that's a little dark," says Celestia, worried.
"In all of that training, I've been learning from the Moon Fox. I never realized I was actually absorbing her teachings, and when my fury exploded, it triggered the beastly metamorphosis. I am a sadistic monster when I transform. Of course I'm dark."
"What happened to the traitor?" asks Luna. "Killed him, perhaps?"
"Worse," answers Victor. "I ripped the soul of the order's leader off him and told my so-called friend to leave before I have second thoughts. He does as he's told. The bastard's name was Groves."
Luna knows that poor Victor has gone through so much lately. World hopping, fighting, and even getting nearly killed by her own sister. "The thought of taking someone's hard-earned trust and crushing it sickens me," says Luna, getting closer to Victor. "Nightmare Moon had sister's trust, and look how it turned out."
Victor digs into his memory of watching the first episode of My Little Pony. He recalls when Nightmare Moon was released from the Moon and how she was going to put Equestria into eternal night. He also recalled when her plans were thwarted by the Elements of Harmony, reverted into her old self. Victor glances at Luna's nearing, reminding himself of the darkness that was once inside of her. He doesn't know her as a long-time friend, but an admirer.
"You're just adorable, Luna," says Victor as he wraps an arm around her. "It's a world of cuddly animals, that's what I'm saying. If only my world could be like that."
Celestia giggles, putting a hoof over her mouth. "I see. You like animals," she says.
"Yeah. Too bad most of them try to kill you. And don't get me started on the devils that run around Vremena. So anyway, after Groves left, I got all my friends back and got nursed back to health. I sulked in the hospital for a while, until supposed former friend of the Moon Fox appeared and proposed a way to bring her back from the dead. Like the Garudon dude, he believed in the multiverse theory, so he crafted the bracelet I'm wearing right now, I drank some poison, and here I am."
"I understand," responds Celestia with a warming smile. "You transformed because you were angry. Just like I made you angry the other day."
"Exactly, but a much as I love the power that comes with it, I still hate it." Victor looks away. "It reminds me of Fox's death, and the son of a bitch who killed her."
Luna raises a hoof to turn Victor's face back, regaining eye contact. Victor notices it was a rude gesture, so he smiles nervously. Luna only smiles back and says, "Thou should not think of the beast as a symbol of your grief. Think of it as a guardian of the ones you love."
Victor stares deeply into the starts within Luna's yes and grows sentimental. "Y'know," he sobs, choking on some of the words. "Moon Fox and I could've been sent to another world, probably much worse than here. We would have no one to help us and no idea what to do, but we ended up here, inside the world that I recognize from a television. You and your sister are very good ponies, and I admire the curiosity, too. We'll pass each other as many questions as we'd like, okay?"
Luna nods happily. Victor gets up and looks at the painting again. "Now you know how I unleashed the beast," he says.
"Still got one question," says Celestia. "Why does your transformation resemble Moon Fox?"
Victor chuckles a little. "This one is more of a theory, but throughout all the time I spent training under the Fox, I think I absorbed more than just her talent in fighting. I can't go through it any further." He shifts his attention back to Garudon's painting. "So what are we gonna do with this?"
"Glad you asked," says Celestia as she trots beside him. "Your arrival gives me a window of opportunity. We could discover how to perform stable inter-universe travelling."
"Uh, that wouldn't be a good idea," says Victor, feeling nervous.
"Why not?"
"Well...how do I put this? Humans are dominant on Earth, and they have a natural fear of the unknown. I'm not sure they'd be cool with seeing talking ponies. Also, there's something I gotta tell you about the show. Your show."
"I thought you told me enough about it."
"No, I didn't." Victor laughs nervously. "My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic was aimed toward little girls around the age of eight, but teenage boys and grown men were starting to realize that they liked the show, too."
Celestia and Luna are both shocked. They look at each other, desperately trying to get a decent response out. Luna clears he throat and asks, "Why would men watch a show meant for little girls?"
"We ask ourselves that question, too. I'd have to say it's because of how the show's structured. The plot and characters are very appealing, and it's not your typical, girly show. Overall, it's enjoyable for all ages."
"That sounds pleasant, I suppose," says Celestia, regaining excitement. "Have something for a colt and her little filly to enjoy."
"Yeah, but can we not focus on that? Bottom line, Equestria is real, not just a program," says Victor, grabbing a large price of parchment and quill. "Celestia, if you really wanna put yourself through the work of perfecting this transportation, just be careful when you meet the aliens."
Victor starts scribbling the head of a pony, and Celestia and Luna don't even consider bothering. They know he wants his privacy for now, so they both leave the library. Victor keeps scribbling a tree, mane, butterflies, and a pair of big eyes. He repeats in his mind what Twilight said to him earlier that day.
An hour later, he finishes the sketch. He raises it up and examines it, admiring the work he put into it. He feels like it's going to be quite a unique present for Fluttershy, and that's how he wants it to be. Fluttershy is his favorite pony. Victor looks around the library, realizing he's alone, and that worries him. The palace is no place to get lost in.
"Celestia? Luna?" he calls out. He gets off his seat and leaves the library, holding his work. He needs at least one of the princesses right now, and of course, feels like he has no time to spare. His footsteps echo through the tall hallways, and he starts hearing others. This both startles and excites Victor. It could be one of the princesses, or a guard that has no idea who he is. Either way, he hears around for the source. He finds a white stallion wearing armor, instantly recognizing him.
"Afternoon," says Shining Armor, cheerfully. He only seems half-surprised to run into a human.
"Are you Shining Armor?" asks Victor.
"That's me. I never saw you around here. Who are you?"
"Uh, my name's Victor, and I'm a storm mage," answers Victor. He answers in a tone where he doesn't want to brag at all.
"Storm mage? Never heard of those before." Shining notices the drawing he's holding. "What do you got there?"
"It's nothing." Shining uses his magic to swipe it off Victor's hands. "Hey!"
"I wanna see it," says Shining as he looks at the drawing. "Wow, this is good. Who made this?"
"Me," responds Victor, sounding uninterested. "I just finished it."
"Dude, you gotta frame this!"
"That's why I'm trying to do. It's supposed to be a birthday present."
"I know where some of stored. Just follow me."
"Aye you sure?" says Victor. "You seem like a busy guy."
"I'm sure," answers Shining with a smile.
* * *
Victor's is now framed and wrapped, ready for Fluttershy's birthday party tomorrow. He keeps walking down the hallway after thanking Shining Armor for his contribution. He finds it confusing how he didn't question his species. As far as he knows, only three ponies in Canterlot know about him: Luna, Celestia, and now Shining. Tons of Ponyville folk know him, though. Not as friends, but someone they see walking through town often. Victor's moderately social, but he prefers his alone time more. Right now, he doesn't want it. He keeps looking for the princesses.
I could've asked Shining where they were , he thought. He feels like hitting himself for forgetting to ask, but he pressing his shoes down hallways. He comes across a door that looks unusual compared to the rest. It looks more elegant. Victor knocks on the door.
"Yes?" responds the familiar voice of Princess Celestia.
"It's me," answers Victor.
"Oh, good! Just a moment."
Victor sees the door glowing yellow, and it swings open. He comes face to face with Celestia, who's giving him a warming smile. "Uh, I finished this."
"Is that a present?"
"Yeah. It's for Fluttershy."
"Oh, yeah," says Celestia, feeling a bit stupid for forgetting.
"I'd show it to you, but Shining Armor insisted it should be wrapped."
Celestia giggles. "Nah, it's fine. I'll just use an X-ray spell." Victor seems surprised when he hears the word 'X-ray'. It's like every kind of spell exists in the ponies' world. He holds the frame to present to Celestia, and she concentrates on the gift wrap. She quints her eyes, and Victor notices that they're glowing a little. Celestia turns back to him and smiles. "That looks wonderful, Victor. I didn't know you were an artist."
Victor laughs nervously. "Well, you could say that. Now to get this back to Ponyville." Suddenly, he remembers that he has to transform again. "MOTHERBUCKER!" he shouts.
"Something wrong?" asks Celestia.
"Yeah. I have to get back to Ponyville, but I can only do that by...transforming."
"Then do it."
"I can't. It's not some flashlight I can just flicker on and off when I want. Besides, I got really dizzy the last time."
Celesita thinks for a moment, then hatches an idea. "If you wanted a ride back, all you had to do was ask," she says.
"Wait. Ride, on YOU?" says Victor. Celestia nods. "But you're a princess! You can't be piggybacking common people like me."
"It's either that or staying here until you feel well enough to transform again, and I have a feeling you have stuff to do back in Ponyville."
"Kinda." Victor rolls his eyes and says, "Okay, if you insist..." Celestia opens a window and Victor his both hands on her back. "Y'know, back on Earth, humans rode on horseback for centuries."
"Really?"
"Yeah, but they don't talk or do magic, and they have no horns or wings. Just like earth ponies, minus the talking. Anyway, horseback riding was used mostly for transportation, until the automobile was invented."
"What's an automobile?" asks Celestia.
"It's this machine that has am engine and wheels, and you control it to take you somewhere else. It's a like a train, but it doesn't need rails," says Victor. He rounds a leg across Celestia's back, carefully avoiding the wings. "Not sure anyone rode an alicorn before."
Celestia laughs. Victor finds her laughter soothing because her voice is similar to Moon Fox's, but Moon Fox barely laughs. "There's a first time for everything," replies Celestia.
Celestia spreads her wings and dashes out of the window. Victor feels his heart stop when he has the sensation of falling. Celestia flaps her wings once, and the feeling is gone. He wraps his arms tightly near her neck, but makes sure he's not choking her or anything. He starts to calm down and let go of the neck. "Sorry," he says.
"Yeah, you don't wanna choke your pilot," jokes Celestia. The rest of the flight goes smooth, and it lasts about ten minutes, longer than Victor's flight time when he's the beast. Celestia lands near the town's edge. Victor gets off and looks at her eyes.
"Thanks," he says.
"Always glad to help a friend," answers Celestia. Victor wraps his arms around Celestia's neck and gives her a hug. Celestia gives one back, wrapping her arms over Victor's back. Victor starts to laugh, uncontrollably. "Y'know, Celestia, you remind me of my mother."
"Then you must have a wonderful mother," says Celestia, sweetly.
"I do," says Victor. "And one day, I'll learn to be as kind-hearted as her."
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
"Goddammit!"
"What? What happened?"
"You're not gonna like it. The bracelet started to glow, and then it just...exploded."
"It...exploded."
"Do you even know what that means? That bracelet was the only thing that could resurrect Victor!"
"So that means...No! No! It can't be true!"
"I'm afraid it is. I warned him about this when he was alive, but he just wanted to go after her, no matter what. He should've learned to let her go..."
"But we needed her. He needed her, Twig."
"I'm sorry, but he's gone. We lost our hero..."
* * *
It's dawn in Equestria, and Celestia's sun is just about to crack through the sky. Victor is wide awake, lying on a bed in Fluttershy's cottage, who allowed him to stay along with Moon Fox. He recalls sleeping outside the other day because he didn't feel like bothering anyone about a place to stay, but Fluttershy insisted since she already had Moon Fox with her. Speaking of which, he can hear her soft snoring, considering they're sharing a bed. But the snoring was not the reason why Victor couldn't fall back asleep. He feels too happy to have his friend back.
He gets up, wearing a white shirt and shorts he keeps under his robes and looks at his mage robes, hanging on a chair at the other side of the room. He looks out the window, seeing only night. He leaves the room and takes a seat in the kitchen. Kinda hungry , he thinks.
"Oh, good. It's you," says a soft voice. Victor turns around and sees Fluttershy with baggy eyes.
"I couldn't sleep," answers Victor. "Sorry."
Fluttershy makes a long yawn. Victor's heart explodes from the cuteness. "It's okay. You could try going back to sleep."
"Nah. I'll just do something. Something quiet, at least." Fluttershy takes a seat next to Victor. "Aren't you gonna go back to bed?"
"In a little," says Fluttershy, sweetly. "I kinda wanna talk...if you don't mind that is."
Victor gets the feeling he's in trouble, and he knows what happens when you mess with Fluttershy. "About what?"
"It's about Moon Fox..."
Victor starts to get worried. "Did she do something?"
"Oh, no. It's just that, before you came, she was kinda hard on us at first."
"Oh, yeah. That thing with the Elements."
"No, not just that," corrects Fluttershy. "I just felt like telling you about that time I went looking for her, since you know her the most..."
"So what happened?"
Fluttershy yawns again. Victor starts to feel like he's the one responsible for her sleep deprivation, but is too busy having his heart explode, again. Man, is she adorable, he thinks. "Well," starts Fluttershy, "I went to the forest to look for her, even thought she said not to. I found her, and she strangled me with one of those tails."
"The tails always get to you," jokes Victor. "They're so scary. They're like a bunch of snakes ready to strangle you in an instant."
"So she nearly killed me, but then-"
"That bitch!" yells Victor has he slams his hand on the table. This startles Fluttershy, making her wide awake. She trembles with fear, and Victor notices. He feels bad and says, "Sorry. That bitch." He whispers the last sentence."
"So she spared me, like she spared Rainbow Dash. She did it because I wanted no conflict. After that, we've been secretly meeting each other, then Twilight got in it, and now everypony likes her because she saved the town from an Ursa Major."
"Wow, that's impressive. So why are you telling me this?"
"Because I want to know how YOU met the Moon Fox..."
Victor looks away from Fluttershy. He thinks, and keeps on thinking. He's not the best at remembering, but he tries to recreate when he first met the Moon Fox in his head. "Basically," he starts. "She saved my life."
"What happened?"
"I was about to get killed in a fight, and then everything went dark. I wake up, and she's treating my wounds. At first, she showed no emotional affection toward me. She always thought of me as a whiny kid because I couldn't stand all the work she put me through. And I'm talking about the training. It was an ordeal, Fluttershy, but she did it to make me a better fighter. She developed feelings for me as time passed and now we're friends."
"Sounds a little like my story."
Victor opens his yes wide. "Not sure," he says, "but I think I understand a little about Fox now. She makes you work for a relationship."
Fluttershy giggles. "Yeah," she agrees.
"Hey, Fluttershy."
"Yeah?"
Victor gazes at her teal eyes. They just melt him. "When I take Moon Fox back to Vremena, I'm gonna miss you. Sure, we've only just met, but someone, I mean somePONY like you who's so kind doesn't come very often. You eased up the tensions, and Fox is not seen as a rampaging monster, and all because you wanted to show kindness. Thank you."
Fluttershy realizes that now. She was the one who went after the Fox, while the others ran away. Instead of running from the beast, she went after it, knowing the consequences. "I did..." she mutters.
"And that's why you're my favorite pony," adds Victor. Fluttershy is confused at first, but then recalls when Victor explained the show scenario to them. She smiles, blushing. "Oh, and happy birthday." Victor spreads his arms. "Birthday hug?"
Fluttershy accepts. Instantly. She flutters her wings and zooms right into Victor's arms. Compared to his size, she's a large, stuffed animal. That's how it feels for Victor to hug all these ponies. Many of his friends are hug people, and there's nothing wrong with embracing the people you love. "You're gonna have to wait for the present, though," says Victor.
"Present? I thought two new friends were my presents." Victor and Fluttershy laugh, and Moon Fox miraculously sleeps through it.
"Y'know, the princessses and I are working on a portal for multiverse travel," says Victor. This intrigues Fluttershy, because she loosens her grip and stares blankly at Victor. "If it works, we could visit.
* * *
"SURPRISE! "
It's noon, and Celestia's sun is at its peak. Everyone pops out of a hiding place in Twilight's library. Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Spike, and Moon Fox. The party starts strong. There's colorful decorations everywhere, Applejack made her apple cider, Pinkie helped with entertainment and sweets, and Rarity made some fancy-looking party hats for the occasion. Fluttershy scoots back, startled. Then she grows with joy.
"Oh my!" she says. "Thank you, everypony!"
"Told you it was a good idea to visit Twilight," says Victor.
"Let's get this party started!" shouts Pinkie Pie as she trots over to a phonograph, playing merry-like music. Victor recognizes the music as jazz. Pinkie Pie starts dancing on her two hind legs in beat to the music.
"Bring it on, Pinkie!" says Victor as he nimbly jumps to her and starts dancing, too. "I call this one the Firecracker!" He moves his feet at an increasingly rapid motion, and Pinkie can see sparks of electricity flying out. Victor then takes a leap, bursting with tiny sparks.
"Neat!" says Pinkie Pie, excited. Rainbow Dash and Applejack join in the dancing. Meanwhile, Twilight, Rarity, and Fluttershy have a small chat, while Moon Fox is leaning back on the wall, drinking some apple cider.
"Looks like we got another Pinkie in the house," teases Twilight.
"Uh, he's actually kind of quiet," says Fluttershy. "Last night, he just looked out the window. For an hour."
"That's odd," says Rarity.
"Fluttershy," says Moon Fox as she joins the group. She looks away, noticing Spike joined in on the dancing. "Victor's a dreamer. He likes to think about what he wishes to happen."
"But I thought he was happy," says Rarity, confused.
"True, but he doesn't have everything he wants. None of us do, but he can still be happy for others. He's not very pleasant in a bad mood. It's a teenager thing."
"How old is he?" asks Twilight.
"17. Maybe 18." Moon Fox looks back at the dancing. Victor is giving Pinkie Pie a ride on his shoulders, while Pinkle is laughing and waving her arms in the air. Victor steps in a beat in sync to the music to make it look like a dance. "He knows he can go from likable to horribly unpleasant in an instant."
"Y'know, he's not the only one who can be unpleasant," says Twilight. Rarity and Fluttershy laugh. Moon Fox chuckles a little.
"But doesn't it seem like we all have beast inside us?" suggests Moon Fox. "It gets loose when you can't keep it in its cage."
The rest of the party gets repetitive. Some talk, and some dance, but most importantly, the birthday girl is having a good time with her friends. Victor lights the last candle placed on a cake Pinkie baked especially for Fluttershy. This is one of the most magical moments, where all of her friends are all sitting together, waiting for her to take the first bite of that delicious cake so the rest can follow.
"You ponies know the 'Happy Birthday' right?" asks Victor.
"Well, we do. But I don't reckon it'll be the same yours," answers Applejack.
"Actually," says Fluttershy, softly. "I'd like to hear that one."
"And to spice it up, I'll sing it traditionally."
Victor takes a deep breath, and all the windows in the library are covered by curtains. The only light in the room is the glowing wax of the candles, flickering shadows everywhere. And so, Victor starts to sing:
Cumpleaños feliz,
Te deseamos a ti.
Cumpleaños, querido Fluttershy,
Cumpleaños feliz!
Moon Fox starts clapping, Spike slaps his clawed hands together, and the rest clop their hooves together. Victor's singing voice is strong, yet pleasant, and his friends loved it.
"That was...beautiful..." says Fluttershy, touched.
"Awesome singing, but what language was that?" asks Spike.
"That was Spanish. I can speak both English and Spanish," says Victor, then he starts to think. "Does Spanish exists around here?"
"I think I heard of it before," says Twilight. "Nonetheless, great singing!"
Fluttershy she forgot her cue to blow out the candles. The wax is starting to drip on the cake, so she inhales deeply and blows them all out at once. Applause ensues, and Fluttershy starts to blush.
"Fluttershy, darling, would you like to open your presents?" says Rarity, carrying a present for her with her magic.
Fluttershy looks at Victor, then says, "Not now. I'd like to say something first, if that's okay..."
"Of course it is, sugarcube! You're the birthday girl!" says Applejack.
Fluttershy clears her throat. "Um, I'd like to a few words on the Moon Fox and Victor, our very special guests." She stares at them deeply, not knowing where to start. Victor and Moon Fox stare back, wondering what she's going to say. "They both had a bumpy road to go through, but they were reunited here in Equestria. I'm blessed to have such strong and caring people as my friends, and knowing that you're both from another world gives me hope. Hope that we can all unite in peace and harmony."
Both Victor and Moon Fox are speechless. They look at each other. Fluttershy just poured her heart out to them, and they just don't know how to react. Victor only says, "Let's open those presents!"
Rarity gave Fluttershy a necklace with an emerald gemstone. Applejack got her an apple tree sapling so she can grow her own apples, and Twilight and Spike got her a board game to play when she had ponies over, or humans and foxes. For Rainbow Dash, she ran outside and everyone else followed.
"I couldn't wrap my present, because it's too AWESOME to be contained!" says Rainbow Dash.
Victor rolls his eyes. Typical Rainbow Dash , he thinks. Rainbow takes off into the sky and starts flying swiftly. She makes a giant loop, and an elastic becomes visible in front of her. She breaks through it, creating a Sonic Rainboom. The explosion sends an enormous gust of wind, but Fluttershy notices that Rainbow is not done yet. C'mon, Rainbow, thinks Victor. With a smirk, Rainbow Dash starts spinning and looping the air, leaving a rainbow behind her. She pulls off the jagged turns like Victor demonstrated, and when she's done, she lands right in front of her friends, feeling proud of her work. Fluttershy's mouth is wide open and she reads her own name in the sky, made of rainbow trails. "Way to go..." she says softly.
"Glad you liked it," says Rainbow Dash, feeling cocky. "Took me forever to get it right."
Victor chuckles. "Guess it's time to give you my present," he says as he walks toward a hollowed tree. He digs around in it, and by his surprise, finds a ball. "Pinkie Pie..." He tosses the ball out and keeps digging. He finds his present and gives it to Fluttershy.
Fluttershy tears the wrap open, and drops her jaw when she sees the picture Victor drew. It's her sitting on a bloomed tree. It's the first gift that makes her teary-eyed. She gazes at Victor, shedding tears of joy and says, "It's wonderful. Thank you."
"For being a good host," replies Victor. "And a reason for me to be happy."
Fluttershy jumps to Victor and hugs him. Victor is surprised by her grip. It's strong compared the hug he gave her at dawn. He struggles to hug back, but Fluttershy is trying to squeeze every ounce of love out of him. Victor falls on the ground, and Rainbow Dash yells, "Dogpile!"
"What?" shouts Victor.
Everyone but Moon Fox all dive on top of Victor, laughing and giggling while Victor tries to find light instead of fur coats. When they get off the pile, Victor hatches an idea. "Oh, Pinkie..." he says deviously.
"Yeah?" says Pinkie Pie. Victor leans toward her and pats her head.
"Tag." Victor runs away. Pinkie Pie laughs as she scouts for her victim. The atmosphere is filled with laughing and indistinct talking. Moon Fox looks at everyone playing around with a weak smile, until she feels something touch her shoulder. She turns around.
"Hey, Luna," she says.
"How are you today?" asks Luna, cheerfully.
"Really good, actually. The kids are playing."
Luna giggles. "Well, thou should meet me in the forest with Sister to discuss the project. Do you think it shall work?"
Moon Fox looks back at her friends. They're all still laughing and tossing each other around. She smiles as she turns her head back to Luna and says, "It has to."
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
Chapter 13: Welcome to the Jungle
The Moon Fox can't explain the sensation. The aura from the portal merely consumes her, and now she feels like she's floating in the middle of nothing. She can't tell whether she's moving or not, and doesn't see any sign of Victor, Celestia, or Luna. She's all alone. Did something wrong happen? she thinks. No. It couldn't have. They ran dozens of experiments. They made sure nothing could go wrong, but like Victor said. The slightest mistake could screw them over...
* * *
THUD! THUD! THUD! THUD!
Moon Fox, Victor, Celestia, and Luna all feel something hit them. As Victor groans in pain, he feels the ground. It's concrete. He slowly gets up and looks around. He sees nothing but the concrete platform they're on and a tree arc. The tree arc! He remembers what Twig said. Three gates now exist in each world: Equestria, Earth, and Vremena. As he watches his friends get up, Victor remembers how they managed to get the connection to Earth: him. That's how they got here. They used his energy, his life essence. Same goes for the Moon Fox. Celestia and Luna used her energy to make the connection to Vremena. Victor keeps looking around, and sees another building, peaked high in the sky. It's higher than the one they're on/
"We're on a building," says Victor, feeling interested. "Yeah, this is definitely Earth."
"Concrete," mutter Luna. "Yes, you're right."
"Wait..." Victor examines the building a bit more. He's been on enough vacations to make it impossible to NOT recognize it. "That's the Empire State Building!"
"The Empire what?" says Celestia, confused.
Victor walks to the edge of the rooftop, then turns to his friends. "I think it's best to show instead of talk," he says. Moon Fox, Celestia, and Luna get close to Victor and also look down. They're all shocked by the sight of hundred of cars moving down the streets. They see thousands of humans walking by or across the streets, signs advertising products and stores, and an insane amount of large screens placed on the buildings. They also see dozens more of skyscrapers. They are simply amazed. "Welcome to Manhattan," says Victor.
"Manehattan? That's not Manehattan," says Luna, confused.
"No, no. MAN-hat-tan. We're in New York City. See that place with all the screens. That's Times Square."
"Look at all the humans down there," says Celestia, surprised.
"Apparently, we got sent to one of the largest cities on Earth," says Victor.
The tree arc behind them starts to flicker. They all turn away from the excitement below them and gaze at it. Moon Fox puts up a fighting stance, but the rest don't. Victor tries to explain what's happening, but before he can, three figures fall out of the aura contained within the arc.
"Goddammit, Yellowtail, get off me!" says one the figures. To Celestia's and Luna's surprise, it's a human, and he's on top of two non-humans.
"Hey, I'm not the one who built this weirdass portal," snarls Edward. The human likes to nickname him Yellowtail.
The other non-human gets on her feet and wipes dirt off her clothes. "Anyone know why Twig was so hasty about this?" she asks in an elegant woman's voice.
"Oh my God, you guys!" shouts Victor, very happy. "Corvus, Edward, Jin!"
As the three newcomers get up, Celestia and Luna can see them perfectly. Jin has pale skin and long, jet-black hair, tied into a ponytail. He wears a white undershirt, blue jeans, and a tan overcoat and straw hat. In basic terms, Edward is a dragon, but he shares the same bipedalism concept Moon Fox has. The same goes for Corvus, a cheery friend who resembles a raven.
Edward has yellow scales all over his body, gray and spiky hair and beard. He also has wings, a long tail, and he's only wearing black pants with white cloth covering the top. The rest of his body is bare, showing all his muscles and claws on his hands and feet. He looks just as frightening as Moon Fox when she has the black eyes, but he gives Victor a weak smile.
Corvus' entire body is covered with violet feathers, and her head, hands, and feet are that of a raven's. She's wearing a classy, black suit, while the rest of her body is human-based. She looks as beautiful as the Moon Fox, but actually looks more pleasant, mainly because of her eyes. They're large, purple, and cute. She starts to break down when she sees Victor. Corvus rushes to him and strangles him with a hug.
"Victor, I missed you SO MUCH!" she shouts, shedding tears of joy.
"I missed you, too," says Victor, choking.
"Celestia? Luna?" calls out Moon Fox. "These are our friends: The purple one's Corvus, the yellow one's Edward, and the kid's Jin."
"Hey, I'm eighteen," says Jin, annoyed. Then he looks at Celestia and Luna. He starts to make a huge smile that tops Pinkie Pie's. "Are you being serious? Vic, you went to EQUESTRIA?"
"Guess so," answers Victor, snickering.
"Dude, you just got two bamf ponies right here!" Jin's voice is slightly higher than Victor's, but overall he sounds nice. "Princess Motherbucking Celestia and Princess Frickin' Luna!"
"Wait. You're a brony, too?"
"Hell yeah!"
Corvus lets go of Victor and looks at the two sisters. "So who's your friends?" she asks.
"This is Princess Celestia and Luna," answers Moon Fox.
"Oh, so you made friends with ponies..." says Edward. "Yeah, nothing wrong with that."
Jin walks up to Luna and offers a handshake. "Sup. Nice to meet ya," he says.
Luna tries to put up a little smile as she raises her hoof and connects it with Jin's hand. "Charmed," she says.
"Uh, Victor. Does he also watch the show?" asks Celestia.
"I honestly didn't now," responds Victor. "I've been with him for like, months, and he never told me."
"Why didn't you tell me?" asks Jin.
"Wait, if I met you in Vremena, then how could you possibly know about the show?"
Jin thinks for a moment. "I'm not sure. Somehow I do..."
Edward walks up to Princess Celestia and puts his hands on his as he stares down at her. He snickers a bit. Edward is very tall. Victor only reaches up his upper torso, while Celestia can only reach up to his shoulders when her neck is upright. Celestia bends her neck back to meet with the eyes of the dragon. "So you two are talking ponies?" he asks. "You don't even look like real horses..."
"You don't even look much like a dragon," says Celestia. "You're more human-like."
"You should see all the monsters I gotta fight. Believe me. Where I'm from, we got these hugeass dragons that just wanna tear you apart. You'd get melted into a bowl of molten marshmallow."
"I could handle your dragons with one hoof tied behind my back," gloats Celestia, "the name's Celestia. Princess Celestia."
"Oho! Watch out guys! We got a badass here!" jokes Edward. He holds his hands up, snickering. "Damn, how can something that looks so girly exist? It's like you're from a cartoon."
Celestia scowls. Victor notices and says, "Edward, they are..."
Corvus also listens to Victor. The happiness and laughing from Edward and her is replaced with shock. They keep staring blankly at the two sisters. Victor, Moon Fox, Jin, Celestia, and Luna all stare back, but with confusion. Then Corvus and Edward break out into hyena laughs.
"Uh, guys? He was being serious," says Jin. Corvus and Edward immediately stop laughing.
"No joke?" says Edward.
"No joke."
"That's actually pretty interesting," says Corvus, in an optimistic mood. She crosses her arms and keeps looking at the two princesses, mainly at their flowing manes and tails. "There's actually a world out there that comes from a television show."
"Wait," says Victor, thinking. "If My Little Pony is an actual world, then..." A smile grows on his face. "Jin! Pokemon could be a real world!"
"Awwwwww yeaaaaaaah!" shouts Jin.
"Now's not the time for Poke-whatever," commands Moon Fox. "Haven't you all forgotten why we even CAME to Earth in the first place."
"Oh yeah," says Edward. "He said something about warnings and danger coming here."
"In New York..." says Victor, annoyed. "God, everything happens in New York!"
"But the city looks fine," says Luna. "Speaking of which, we shall settle in somewhere to prepare for this threat."
"You two? Fight?" says Edward, starting to snicker again, then laugh.
"Edward, stop it!" says Moon Fox, right at his face. "These two are the strongest of Equestria. They're immortal, and have an extraordinary amount of power."
"Are you serious?"
"Do you want them to demonstrate?"
Edward looks at Celestia and Luna, who are both glaring at him. "I'll just take your word for it, Fox," he answers, nervously.
"Good. Now let's go find a place to stay."
"Shouldn't we cover this up?" asks Corvus, pointing at the tree arc. It's currently morning, but at night, it would glow like a Christmas tree. Who would miss it? Moon Fox sees a large sheet of cloth near her. She grabs and hovers over the gate, covering it with the cloth.
"That works," says Jin.
"But we still got issues," says Victor, looking at everyone except Jin. "How are we going to get you guys around without being seen."
"I don't care if any humans see me," says Edward. "I'll just walk down there like that."
"No!" yells Jin. "Dude, these are Earth humans. They're not used to seeing creatures like you, let alone everyone here but Victor."
"I don't care."
"They're gonna call the frickin' military on you!" says Victor, starting to get angry.
"Oh. That doesn't sound good..."
"You're all gonna have to stay hidden. Jin and I will take care of the food and shelter. Wait...FUCK!" Victor puts his hands on his head, quietly swearing to him. "We don't have any money!"
"Oh, that's bad," says Jin. "We're gonna have to beg for it on the streets."
"Screw that. I'm not going near the bums." Victor looks off the edge. He scans the city, looking for places to get money.
"Then it probably was a bad idea to bring bits," says Luna, laughing nervously.
"Look!"
Everyone turns to the covered portal. It glows beneath the cloth, and with a flash, a few bags zoom out of the bottom of the cloth. Edward picks one of them up and opens it.
"Nyxx," he says. "Twig just gave us some money."
"Yeah, but we need dollars," says Victor.
Edward digs through the bag of golden coins and finds an old parchment. "Hello, what's this?" he says. He mutters the words as he reads the parchment, then smiles. "It's a money converting spell."
"Really? Sweet," says Jin, feeling relieved.
"Lemme see that," says Corvus as she takes the parchment from Edward.
Victor walks up to Celestia, smirking. "And humans were supposed to be myths," he says, feeling clever.
Celestia laughs softly. "If I jump down there right now, they're going to be freak out," she says, still laughing. Victor and Jin join in the laugh while Edward, Corvus, and Moon Fox keep reading about the spell.
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
Chapter 14: Victor the Battlefield
Victor and Jin walk through an ocean of people. The city is bustling twenty-four seven. Neither Victor nor Jin enjoy crowds, especially when they're getting in the way of some errands. Victor imagines if all these people just banished. Then he could get to the outlet store with ease.
"Careful now, Vic," says Jin. "New York is the last place you wanna get lost in."
"Yeah, but I really need some regular clothes," says Victor as he looks at his mage robes. They make him the center of attention, and he finds it embarrassing to wear. Yes, he does wear it all the time bak in Vremena, but that's when he has to be battle-ready at in instant. He's finally back in his world, and he tends to leave behind any signs of alienation.
"It's not that bad. Lots of people hang around on the streets with costumes," says Jin.
"I don't care. I need some clothes. Now where's that American Eagle store?"
"Right over there, my comrade." Jin points to the other side of the street. Victor groans to the idea of crossing one of the busiest streets in the city.
"Good thing we had that spell," he says. He sounds like he'd find it funny if they were screwed.
"Yeah." Jin pulls Victor over to a crosswalk. "By the way, haven't you noticed how our bronydom turned out to be really useful?"
Victor gets an expression as if he had an epiphany. Oh wait, he probably did. "Now that you mention," he says, "I wouldn't have been so friendly toward the ponies if it wasn't for that."
* * *
Celestia and Luna are both lying on a cloud, high up in the air. The wind brushes through their coat and mane, and stare down at all the ants and fireflies down in New York.
"Manehattan's nowhere near as big as this place," says Celestia, amazed.
"Sister, does this cloud feel weird to thee?" says Luna, shuffling her hooves into the fluff of water.
"Yes. It does. They have more...depth."
"At least we can still sit on them." Luna lies down and smiles at her sister. "This is perfect. We can see the entire city and not get spotted."
"I dunno. See all those contraptions moving down there? I think Victor said it was an automobile."
"How can thou NOT see it?"
"That's not the point. I'm thinking these humans also figured out a way to access the sky."
Luna laughs. "Don't be silly, Sister. How could they possibly-"
Luna stops short when she says a machine zooming at the corner of her eye. She drops her jaw to the sight of large, commercial plane. The sound of its turbines deafen the two sisters. Celestia is also shocked, but more amazed. She turns to her sister with an 'I told you so' face.
* * *
Victor and Jin, with their new clothes, open the revolving door of the first hotel they see. Victor's wearing blue jeans, a red hoodie, and a white T-shirt, while Jin is wearing blue jeans and a buttoned shirt. Victor, having his robes tucked around his right arm, walks to the counter.
"Hello, we'd like to check in," he says politely.
The hotel manager, a white woman in her mid-thirties, looks at him suspiciously, then says, "How long?"
"Uh, a week. Just one room for my friend and I." Victor is not a good liar, but how is he going to explain that they have five more creatures as friends? The hotel manager types something on a computer and gives both Jin and Victor their room card.
"Room 815," she says.
"Thank you." Victor and Jin make their way up to their room and open the door. It consists of two queen beds, a couch, a mini-fridge, and a bathroom. The room looks nice overall, but it's not the best suite ever, and it couldn't be the worst. Victor only aimed to give his friends a decent lifestyle.
"Should I call them?" suggests Jin. Victor locks the door and nods. Jin smiles in anticipation as he opens the window. He cups his hands and makes a bird call. Far up, in the sky, Celestia's ear twitches to the anticipated noise.
"Time to go!" she says. Her horns brightens up and she vanishes, along with her sister. A second later, they appear inside the suite, along with Edward, Corvus, and Moon Fox. Princess Celestia directed all of them into the suite. She looks at Victor's and Jin's new clothes and says, "Aww, I liked the other outfits..."
"We're just trying to blend in," says Jin, annoyed. Celestia and Luna both hop on the bed and lie down. The next theing they notice about the suite is the television set right in front of the beds. Corvus and Edward keep looking around, while Moon Fox sits down on the couch, making her seven tails flutter out everywhere.
"Is that the TV thing thou were talking about?" asks Luna as she points a hoof at the screen.
"Yeah. You can watch a bunch of shows in it," says Victor as he grabs the remote from the nightstand.
"Ooooh, turn it on!" says Celestia, feeling excited.
Victor presses the power button. Static flickers on the screen, and a program to fade into visibility. "Can I see that?" asks Luna while looking at the remote. Victor stretches it out to her and she uses her magic to bring it close. Luna and Celestia both look curiously at the remote and its buttons. "Okay, I shall hit the up button."
Luna uses her magic to focus directly on one button. The screen changes from a show with actors in it to a cartoon show. It turns out to be Spongebob. "Are ya ready kids?" says the painted pirate.
"Ah, sweet. Spongebob," says Victor. He sits down near the ponies.
Celestia and Luna both listen to the merry theme song. They even start bobbing their heads to the beat. The Moon Fox only watches with a straight face, failing to receive any emotion from viewing. The song ends and Spongebob plays his own nose as a flute like he always does in the end.
"Oh, that song was wonderful," says Luna, who seems like she's about to start praising the television. "I wanna listen to it again!"
"Just watch the episode. It's better," says Victor.
Luna puts down the remote and reads the title of the episode. It's the one where Mr. Krabs earns his millionth dollar. "Are those things supposed to be sea creatures?" asks Celestia, confused. "They look nothing like them. Sponges aren't square!"
"As far as I'm concerned, there might actually BE a Bikini Bottom out there," says Jin.
"Guys, remember why we're here...?" says Moon Fox, annoyed. "Disaster's about to happen, and we have to be ready for it."
"Then how's this?" says Edward, raising his arms. "We all have shifts as a lookout. Just sit around on a rooftop and look for anything weird."
"That sounds like a good idea," says Jin, nodding his head. "Although it might be a problem for Victor and I."
"Why's that?" asks Corvus.
"Well, in our normal state, the best we can do is climb the buildings, but in the transformed state, we tend to get a little agressive if maintained for too long."
"Thou can transform, too?" asks Luna, getting her attention away from the screen.
"Yup. And as far as I know, some friends we got back home are going to-"
Celestia laughs hysterically. She keeps bobbing her head as she laughs. It's so loud that it gets everyone's attention, then Victor looks at the screen. She was still watching Spongebob. He joins with the laughing, but softly.
"Were you even listening, pony?" says Edward, starting to feel hostile.
"Of course I was!" answers Celestia, feeling annoyed. "Disaster, lookout shifts, transformation. I got it."
"No problem for you two, but what about us?" says Moon Fox as she gets up and walks to Victor. "In this world, we're nothing but circus freaks."
"Or the best damn cosplayers the city's ever gonna see," responds Victor, shifting his eyes.
Edward laughs in a mean kind of way. "Do you really think people will take us for humans in costumes?" he says.
"I've seen really good costumes before. Good enough to be used for movies."
"Honestly, Victor, who's gonna buy it?" says Moon Fox.
"Look, I just don't want you guys to be bored," says Victor, lowering his chin. "I'd hate lurking around if I had to do it."
"We're not even here for vacation, comrade," says Jin.
"Everything was gonna go smoothly," says Victor, starting to get mad. "We worked for about a month on studying about teleportation and building that stupid arc! I wanted to go back to Vremena with Moon Fox, so she could be with all her long, lost friends." Lightning starts to crackle around him, but it's dim and slightly visible. "I never wanted to go to Earth because of how people would react to seeing you all! Now we're getting a warning for a guy that I only knew for a week who claims to be another friends of Moon Fox, and now the five of you are now JAILED, because we just HAD TO be teleported to Manhattan!"
"Victor, calm down!" commands Celestia, glaring at Victor. Victor starts taking deep breaths. He closes his eyes and lowers his head. "You're the last person who does should get angry."
"Remembering all we've been through, dude?" asking Jin as he puts a hand on his shoulder, Victor glares at him. "You were nothing a but a clueless boy when we first met, then in an instant, one of the most unique mages in the world. So many people tried to kill us, and we've managed to get through 'em. The point is, shit happens."
"I hear ya. I'm stripped of my normal life on Earth, with no worries but the regular ones. I'm forced to kill just to survive, I get betrayed by my friend, I turn into a beast, and now Equestria turns out to be real. Yeah, it really does happen." Victor looks out the window, feeling paranoid of anyone watching them.
"You didn't have a choice," says Corvus. "Some things just can't be controlled."
Victor glares at Corvus. She doesn't deserve it. When Victor gets mad, he has no control of where it hits. "And I'm starting to think I'm turning into one of those." He forcefully opens a window and jumps right out, giving everyone in the room a heart attack. Victor holds on to the windowsill and nimbly jumps from one to another, heading upward. Back in Vremena, he only did not learn how to perfect magic and energy, but to improve his physical strength. Moon Fox peers out of the window.
"Get back her! Now!" she says.
"YOU get back! They're gonna see a glowing, blue dog!" shouts Victor as he keeps climbing up the wall. Moon Fox growls while in defeat. He's right. If she started hovering out in the opening, she would be spotted in a heartbeat, and Victor's already starting to receive some attention. The Moon Fox closes the window and bottles her anger up with a sigh.
"It's just like back when I trained him," she says. "Always complaining about something."
"Meh. The boy was bound to show his darker side eventually," adds Luna. "He was always so pleasant and friendly."
"The problem with him," says Moon Fox as she looks at Luna, "is that he doesn't know how to react when things don't go as planned."
* * *
The wind is strong, and the skies are cloudy. It gives plenty of cover for the two alicorns, their guests. Victor jumps off a building, clinging to the wall of another. He wants go away. As far as he can. He climbs to the top, struggling. He knows he's no Superman, or Spiderman, and that he's only a bit less fragile than the average human. He knows that one slip could cause him to plummet to his death, but he does not care about that. He grunts for every time he pulls himself up. When he makes it to the rooftop, he nearly loses his grip to the sight of an angered Princess Celestia.
"Dude! You almost made me fall!" complains Victor.
"Even if you did, you could save yourself," says Celestia. "But what the hell was that back there?" Victor looks down. "You're NOT going anywhere until you answer me."
"Fine." Victor swings leg over the ledge and picks himself up. He sighs in defeat, knowing he'll regret angering Princess Celestia.
"That was some attitude you put there, and I do not like it," says Celestia, glaring right at his empty eyes.
"What? You were surprised? No one's perfect."
"Yes, but that's no excuse to act as such. You're being selfish." The last word gives Victor a pain in his chest. He tries to look away, but he can't escape those eyes, growing in fire. Celestia has clearly learned plenty from the Moon Fox. "You were masking it back in Equestria, especially when we built the arc."
"Okay, fine. You're right," says Victor, starting to feel sad. Celestia can still sense some anger in him. "I am being selfish. I only wanted to know why I left Earth in the first place. The thing is, see the medallions Moon Fox, Corvus, and Edward were wearing?"
"Yes. They're blue and all had different symbol."
"It's their mark." Victor looks away from Celestia. "They belong to a group of seven beings who are older than the world of Vremena itself. The downside, well, they have amnesia. Ever since I got all this magic stuff thrown at me, I suggested that we got them all back together, maybe get their memories back if we put them together like a puzzle. I thought it could've gotten me a way back home, but then Moon Fox was killed. I had to get her back. She was the last one, except, he didn't have amnesia."
"So she knows about this origin?"
"Yeah, but every time I try asking her about it, she refuses to tell me. It bother her in some way." Victor's anger rises again. "I only went after her to get her back with her friends, and as a bonus, I could finally know the answer. I never expected to end up in a world full of talking ponies, and I never expected the bracelet to just explode."
"Victor," says Celestia, losing the glare, "do you care for them?"
Victor is speechless. He starts shifting his eyes on different parts of the rooftop. His body starts to heat up and he starts sweating, a nuisance to him when he's nervous. He takes a deep breath and says, "Deeply, yes."
"Deeply..."
"I'm sorry, but I always find something annoying about everyone I meet. I try to like them, but in a way, I always get back to the impulse that I hate people."
"Why would you hate others?"
"Because other people are different. They have their own opinions, and they put mine to shame. It's infuriating how others judge you, and how they always after you, for any reason!"
Celestia's glaring resumes. Victor is starting to get scared. "You never showed us this side of you in Equestria. You were doing so well with Twilight and her friends. Why can't you stick to being that friendly boy everyone loves."
Victor glares back at Celestia. "Because I have no self-control," he says, coldly. "On account of my previous statement, I avoided any form of behavior that would give a negative influence to my image. I liked you guys, and I feared that I would show my dark side sooner or later."
"Would you care if everyone but you died?"
"It's complicated," says Victor, starting to cry. "I don't want my friends to die, nor the ponies or you. I'm just fed up with all these events that it just pisses me off. I only wanted to build the arc so I could get Moon Fox and so we could hang out more and not having to say goodbye forever. Sometimes I hate people, but in the end, I promise myself to always go back to the Victor wants to see. I've fought and won many times, but I'm losing the fight within me..."
Victor intentionally drops on the ground. He lies on his back, looking at the blinding Sun, leaking sunshine through the clouds. Then Princess Celestia joins the clouds as her head and rainbow mane block the rays of light. Victor notices that she looks concerned for him. "Victor," she starts, leaning her head down closer, "growing up, you must put away those selfish thoughts, and think more about pleasing others. Yes, it's a shame how you got your normal life taken away, but if that didn't happen, you would have never met those friends of yours, or even went to Equestria. You can't wish for something to never have happened, but you must move on. Think about this: Vremena was in chaos, and you helped put an end to it. That's very selfless of you. Moon Fox and I had our differences, and you showed up and shed light on the entire situation. What about that present you made for Fluttershy? That was a gift from the heart. The point is, you've got to getting mad for things that are beyond your control. When this upcoming disaster is over, you can show me around all you like."
"Some of the selfless things I do include selfish motives," argues Victor, quietly.
"Then just think of how you're being a wonderful person," says Celestia, smiling. "What is your motive for fighting? Give me the real answer."
Victor looks back at the first day he was sent to Vremena. He starts to smile at the thought of it, even thought it was a painful day for him. "My first fight involved protecting someone I only knew for an hour. I kept fighting when someone would be in trouble. Then I started fighting to take down the order that was a plague to the world. I guess I fight to defend."
"And that's not very selfish, if you ask me," says Celestia as she uses her magic to pick Victor up. She teleports him and herself back to the suite, to reunite the group for commencing lookout duties.
* * *
The rest of the day was very dull for Victor, Jin, and their otherworldly friends. They all stayed out of sight on the rooftops, watching Manhattan like a hawk. Victor and Jin, however, blended into the mass of people to check for what a bird eye's view couldn't offer. They also provided food and water for whenever their friends needed it. Princess Celestia and Luna both camped on the clouds, passing their time with a long chat. Edward and Corvus alternated through various tall buildings. The Moon Fox lurked all over the massive city, and no one could get an eye on her. Her pervious life experiences made used to being stealthy. Overall, it was a boring and uneventful.
The only thing that happened that actually happened was when Edward had a chat with his friend through the arc. The aura contained by it already proved itself well to work for communication. Twig, the mysterious friend unknown to the princesses, gave Edward a few reports on the storms, mainly on the cloud formations. He reports that there hasn't been a sunny day for weeks.
It's midnight. Around sunset, Victor had to tell both Luna and the Moon Fox that doing their mutual job was not necessary on Earth. They both felt embarrassed for forgetting. Now they all sleep to ready themselves for yet another boring day as lookouts. Celestia and Luna are sharing a bed, while Corvus and Edward share the other. The Moon Fox is sleeping on the couch, which conveniently is a pullout bed, and lastly, Victor and Jin pile up some blankets to make themselves sleeping bags. It was hard for them to order the blankets because they had to hide their friends in a bathroom. The maid that came to their suite looked at them suspiciously for requesting so many blankets and pillows. The suite is filled with snoring, especially from Edward. As he snores, small streams of smoke escape from his nostrils.
Two thirty. Jin wiggles around in his blankets. He groans quietly and gets up. His hair messy and bushy when it's not tied up. Jin cracks his neck, picks up his straw hat, takes a room card, and looks at the door. He slowly turns the knob and tiptoes out of the suite.
Jin runs down to the first floor (or ground floor if you prefer it so). He can hear the sound of cars zooming past him on the streets. Truly is the city that never sleeps. He keeps turning his head, looking for something. However, he can't really be taken serious nothing but a plain shirt and fuzzy pants. He is pleased when he locates a sign reading 'Computer Room'. An arrow points the location of said room, and Jin gladly follows. He easily finds the room, but almost has a heart attack at the sight of a dark blue pony fiddling with a computer mouse.
"Luna? What are you doing here?" asks, Jin, sounding worried but trying to remain quiet.
Luna turns around and smiles at this pleasant surprise. "Oh! Thou could not sleep, either?" she says.
"That's not the point. Why are you even down here? Someone could see you."
"Worry not, human. No one saw me on the way down here." Luna shifts her attention back on the monitor. "Now, will thou help me figure out the sorcery of this contraption?"
Jin goes from worried to happy. He snickers. "I remember now," he says. "Equestria doesn't have computers."
"Equestria is only the name of the country. Is thy country's name Earth?"
"Actually, last I recall, we're in the United States of America." Jin pulls one of the office chairs toward him and takes a seat next to Luna, who's sitting on the floor. "I guess I can show you how these 'contraptions of sorcery' work."
"All I could do was move that little arrow into and over that grassy field."
"Well, you're lucky computers exist in Vremena. It's basically a machine that lets you do numerous things. Write in documents, take notes, play games, but my personal favorite, browse the Internet."
"What's this Internet thou speakest off?"
"Well, it's a form of link to every computer in the world, where you share pictures, videos, documents, etc.," responds Jin as he moves the mouse ove to Luna. "Wanna use the hoof, or work the pony magic on that?" Luna hesitantly covers the mouse with a blue glow. "Now drag the mouse over to that icon there, and then press this button." Jin points to the left button on the mouse. Luna moves the mouse to the Firefox icon, and clicks on it. To her surprise, a window pops up, showing the Google homepage.
"Pray tell. What's a Google?" she asks Jin.
"Oh, that's just a search engine. Whatever you type in there, it will be found. You type using the keyboard." Luna curiously examines the keyboard and starts using her magic to type in letters. She does it slowly, and when she's done, the text reads 'Princess Luna'. "Oh, you would," jokes Jin.
"Victor said something about us being part of cartoon show," says Luna. "If this Internet does what you say..." Luna clicks the left button, and another window loads up. She feels overwhelmed by the amount of links the search engine gave her, but one button intrigues her: Images. She moves the mouse over to it and clicks. Jin panics and pushes Luna off her balance. He quickly scans the screen, then sighs in relief. "What be the meaning of this?" asks Luna, starting to get angry.
"I was making sure Safesearch was on," answers Jin, nervously. "I must warn you, Luna. The Internet is a dangerous place for someone so naive and new to it. In other words, there's some humans out there who like to take something so innocent, so beautiful, and turn it into a sick manifestation of their inner thoughts."
"So thou claims there be bad humans out there..."
"Exactly," says Jin as Luna gets back into sitting position. She sees countless of pictures of her. She is not shocked, but amazed instead.
"My, this is all too much," says Luna, blushing.
"Quite flattered, I see. Well, some of these pictures are from the show, and some of them are fanart."
"I must ask. Return to the previous window?"
Jin clicks the Back button, reloading the window with all the links on it. Luna points a link leading to the My Little Pony Wiki. "That one? It has quite the information on your world. Come to think of it, you seem to be taking this so well."
"If our world is based on a story," says Luna, taking control of the mouse with her magic, "then there is an author. I wish to know who this divine creator is."
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
Corvus, Luna, Edward, Celestia, Moon Fox, Jin, and Victor all struggle to wake up. They pass around yawns and lip-smacking. The nasty taste in their mouth all give them the same idea: rush to the bathroom. Corvus manages to get in there first.
"Aw, no!" moans Victor.
"I won't be long," says Corvus, giggling.
"Good morning, my comrades," says Jin as he's stretching.
"Did you all sleep well?" asks Celestia.
"Well, Sister, last night," says Luna, starting to feel nervous, "Jin taught me about the marvelous world of the Internet."
"What's an Internet?"
Jin sighs, then says, "The Internet is a link to all other computers in the world, giving the freedom of sharing images, videos, and documents."
"Yes," says Luna, nodding. "With this Internet, I found our creator."
"Creator?" says Celestia. She starts to stretch.
"The creator of the show, of course."
"Oh. Well, who is this creator?"
"She goes by the name Lauren Faust."
"Huh, I wonder what's on," says Victor as he grabs the remote. The moment the television turns on, a very familiar opening song starts loudly. "Oh, surprise, surprise. My Little Pony."
The last 3 words instantly get the two princesses' attention. They lock their eyes to the screen, along with Victor and Jin. "So they're gonna watch themselves," says Moon Fox, emotionless.
"Pretty much," answers Jin, not paying much attention.
"Don't take too long," says Edward, spreading his wings then tucking them back in. "We got yet another uneventful day ahead of us."
"I like this song," says Luna, bobbing her head to the beat. Victor and Jin laugh.
* * *
Meanwhile in Equestria, Rainbow Dash is taking a nap on a cloud. It's a windy day in Ponyville, and the blue pony's rainbow mane is blown to the side.
"Rainbow! RAINBOW DASH!"
Rainbow is shocked awake. She rolls off the cloud and drops to the ground, next to the source of the shouting: her friend Twilight Sparkle. Her eyes spin, seeing over four Twilight's.
"Rainbow, are you listening?" says Twilight, annoyed.
"Oh, hey, Twilight," says Rainbow. Her red eyes stop spinning. "You sound a little mad."
"You bet I am! A storm wasn't supposed to be scheduled today." Twilight uses her magic to turn Rainbow toward the sky. Rainbow sees it. To Ponyville and beyond, dark clouds are forming into a swirl.
"No. It was supposed to be sunny today, but I didn't do it."
"Then who?"
"I'm not sure, Twi. Maybe the pegasi got their schedule mixed up."
Twilight keeps looking at the swirling clouds, growing with concern. "I hope the Princess Celestia and Princess Luna come back soo. If they left Equestria, they must have had a good reason to."
"Did you see that arc thing in the forest? It's still glowing with all this freaky magic," says Rainbow. "If anything goes bad, we can just call them back in a jiffy."
* * *
Equestria shares the same weather as Earth today: dark and cloudy, but no rain. Everyone takes their places in watching Manhattan. Edward is bored silly, sitting with and his head leaning on his own hand. Celestia keeps a watchful eye on the clouds, but Luna is fallen asleep. Victor and Jin try not to divert their attention toward the many stores near them. They don't usually like shopping, but it seems exciting at the moment.
The Moon Fox watches all the people. She notices a family. A mother, a father, and two hyperactive kids. She can ever hear their squeals of joy when they notice all the television screens of Times Square. She chuckles, finding it a little funny. Then she spots a group of teenagers just coming out of an Italian restaurant. They chatting, but Moon Fox can't make out what they're saying. Curiosity is taking her over, but if she gets closer, she would be visible to about a million people. This is how she spends her time as a lookout. She looks up at the sky with growing suspicion. The Moon Fox glares at it like it's a monster challenging her.
Corvus lands near Edward, noticing he's bored. "Y'know, it's a disappointment," she says.
"What is?" asks Edward.
"There's tons to do in this New York place, and we can't do a single thing but sightsee."
"I'd take the word for it if these humans would be scared if they saw me, but we can't stay hidden."
"You're right. When this disaster shows up, we'll have to reveal ourselves."
A blinding light flashes in the sky. It gives all of the lookouts a jolt. A stream of lightning warms the cool air, striking a building. Even with lightning rods, the building gets nearly cut in half by the powerful force. An explosion of debris blinds the people near the building. Some stare at it with confusion, while other run away screaming.
"Uh-oh," mutters Edward. One half of the building starts to lean, giving off a low, creaking sound that splits eardrums. It's leaning toward the street, about to hit a building on the other side. Celestia notices at and nudges Luna awake. Moon Fox also sees the cracked. They all take off, along with Edward and Corvus. Celestia, Luna, and Corvus use telekinetic powers to keep the building from leaning down further. It's really heavy for them, so they start to grunt and sweat. Victor then hatches an idea.
"FOX!" he calls from the ground. "Use your tails to pull it back!" Moon Fox does as told without hesitation. The seven tails wrap around the walls, helping further on pulling the building back in its place. It's also very heavy for her.
"What...nnnoooow?" says Corvus, struggling.
Victor then calls out to Edward, who's helping push the building back. "Edward! Melt the cracks back together!"
When the building is back in its place, he flies around and breaths a storm of fire on the parts the lightning bolt cut the building open. He melts the metals in the wall as he keeps breathing the stream of fire. Celestia, Luna, Moon Fox, and Corvus keep the building together, and then let go. It stays in place.
"I'm impressed, ponies," says Edward as he flies back to them. "As girly as you both look, you got some power in ya."
"Edward, just lay off," says Moon Fox.
"What? I'm just saying that they got power!"
"We have another problem now," says Corvus, looking around.
"What is it?" No one answers. Edward turns around and sees a large crowd of people staring all five of them, hovering in the air. "Oh..." Edward can hear indistinct chatter, and doesn't even need to take a guess that they're talking about the creatures that just showed up. Victor and Jin shove their way through the crowd and make it to the clearing the building would've collapsed into. Their friends hover down, touching the concrete.
"Oh, this is bad," says Corvus, putting her hands on her head. "Someone's gonna call the police."
"Hey! No, no," says Victor, grabbing Corvus by the shoulders and shaking her. "Lots of people would have died if you all hadn't done anything. This is why we're here."
"We might as well explain to the humans," suggests Moon Fox.
"I'll handle this," says Edward, smirking. He jumps into the air hovers, getting the massive crowd's attention. He starts to laugh nervously. "I'm gonna need a microphone or something."
"I'll handle this, dragon!" says Luna, feeling annoyed. She hovers over to Edward and pushes him aside. She turns to the crowd and clears her throat, initiating the Royal Canterlot voice. "CITIZENS OF-" she roars, but stops short of two words. She looks down at her friends. "What's this city called again?" she asks.
"New York," says Jin.
"NEW YORK!" roars Luna. "FEAR NOT, FOR WE COME IN PEACE!"
"Are you all aliens?" asks middle-aged man wearing a polo shirt.
"Hmm, in a way, YES, WE ARE! WE CAME HERE FROM OTHER WORLDS TO PREPARE OURSELVES FROM AN UPCOMING DISASTER!" Luna points at hoof to the building that they salvaged. "THIS IS ONLY A TASTE OF WHAT IS COME!"
"Oh my God, you guys! It's Luna!" shouts a teenage brony to his friends.
Luna starts to like the attention. "YES! TIS I, PRINCESS LUNA! AND THESE BE MY SISTER AND MY FRIENDS!" Luna points a hoof over where her friends and sister are. They all give a weak wave. "AGAIN, FEAR NOT! FROM NOW ON, WE SHALL BE THE GUARDIANS OF THINE FAIR CITY!"
"So here's the deal, New Yorkers," interrupts Moon Fox as she hovers over the crowd of people, crossing her arms. The crowd shifts their attention to her. "Something bad is about to happen, and we'll protect you from that. We can be friends, or we can be enemies. Your choice."
"Where are you from?" asks a young woman.
"And what are you going to do?" adds a portly man.
"That's none of your concern. And I know how you all act when you see something strange. You run away from it like it's the Boogieman hiding in your closet. It's such an infuriating reaction, and I do not want to see it happen. Yes, we are powerful, but we're responsible about it, too. I..." Moon Fox bites her lip. "...Pinkie promise that we will not harm the innocent."
"You gotta hold your pinky finger when you pinky promise," says a little boy holding hands with his mother.
"No, it's a Pinkie promise. It's like, a promise I'll regret breaking."
"But you didn't use your pinkie, Miss Glowy Dog."
"Never mind. I still promise anyway." The Moon Fox lands between Victor and Jin and points to them. "These two will vouch for us."
"Yeah. These guys are cool," says Victor.
"Indeed. They're great company."
"Thank you, boys," says Moon Fox. She returns to hovering in the air. "This lightning bolt incident was just a warning. I suggest evacuating, but I have a feeling this disaster is going to be beyond the city radius."
"Um, one question," says the brony with his hand up.
"Shoot away, kid." Moon Fox lands in front of him and his friends. They seem a bit startled.
"Why do you guys have two cartoon characters with you?"
Moon Fox approaches the teenager. He feels too paralyzed to even move away. "You probably think this is a weird dream." Moon Fox gives him a pinch, and the teenager gets a jolt. "It's kind of a funny story. You know that Equestria place? It's real. Don't ask me why, it just is. My two human friends watch the show, too, and since these two divine ponies are here, I bet we'll all get along well." She gives him a pat on the back and goes back to floating.
"How did you all get here?" asks the brony's friend.
"Inter-dimensional travel. And that's none of your business. We won't allow humanity to abuse this invention."
"Don't you think you're being a little harsh, Moon Fox?" says Celestia, flying right next to her. "They're just confused, is all."
"Humans don't listen to softies," answers Moon Fox.
"Yes, true. I personally would not like humans running around in Equestria. Not when they're not ready. The ponies..."
"Mommy, look at the pretty pony!" yells a little girl, pointing a tiny finger at Princess Celestia.
Celestia looks down at the little girl. "Aww," she says.
"Are you lost?"
Celestia smiles at the little girl. "No, my sweet. I'm right where I should be." Her words make the little girl drop her jaw, making the most hilarious face Celestia will ever see.
* * *
Later that day, specifically the afternoon, the group is back in their suite, watching the news. They're all over it. Celestia and Luna are both lying on their bed, along with Victor and Jin. Edward, Corvus, and Moon Fox take the other. They watch as the anchorman talks to the camera, with a picture of Princess Luna doing her speech earlier.
"Superheroes or menaces?" starts the anchorman, a man in his thirties with a photogenic face. "This is the question that's been buzzing around the city of New York. We now go to Han Johnson with a report of a sighting of these creatures.
The camera switches to a Han, a middle-aged man with white hair and a slightly thin body. "Thank you, Joe," he says through a microphone. "A few hours ago, a bolt of lightning sliced a building in half, coming from the swirling clouds that have been at the same place since this morning. One half of the building would have toppled over, but then a group of unknown beings showed up and pushed it back in place, potentially preventing what could have been a disaster. These beings include a yellow dragon, a blue fox, a purple raven, and what appear to be two flying horses. They've proven to have extraordinary powers for achieving the feat of moving that building. These creatures are linked to humans as well, named Victor and Jin. Here are the thoughts on the creatures from local New Yorkers."
The television plays footage of Han asking questions to bystanding citizens. Here are the answers.
"They're bizarre, but I'm glad they stopped that building from falling down."
"Gave me a fright, but I'm sure they mean no harm."
"Seems like the circus is in town."
"The fox lady is kinda scary."
"You do NOT wanna mess with that dragon."
"The ponies are so cute!"
"That raven girl. She looks nice."
"Luna sure knows how to make a speech!"
The Moon Fox turns off the television. "Well, everything went better than expected," she says.
"Oh, they love us!" says Corvus, bouncing a little on the bed. "We're like celebrities!"
"Now we can finally have some fun with this city," says Edward, thinking about what to do.
"Love it when things go as planned," says Victor, sporting a wise guy look.
"Wait," says Celestia. "You knew this would happen?"
"Well, I didn't predict much." Victor gets up. "You see, if you guys were to show yourselves the moment you arrived, mass panic would ensue. I needed something to happen. Something to make people like you. And who doesn't love a hero? Everyone but the villain." Victor starts to laugh nervously. "I didn't tell anyone, but I've been noticing little sparks of energy forming inside the clouds, and I knew something was gonna come down. So I...gave it a direction..."
"You WHAT?" says Moon Fox, getting off the bed, extremely shocked. She runs right up to Victor, glaring at him. Victor keeps laughing nervously. Everyone else shares the her reaction.
"Yes, it was a gamble, but I'm not the one who shot the lightning bolt. It was going to strike somewhere, so I directed it to a building."
"Why didn't you redirect it somewhere where it couldn't hurt anyone?"
"Because this was the chance I was waiting for, Fox. Everyone likes you now."
"So you threatened people's live just so we could get good publicity?" asks Moon Fox, melting Victor with her glare.
"Yes..."
By Victor's surprise. Moon Fox embraces him, but from anger, but with affection. "You're crazy, Victor," she says to him, smiling.
Victor returns the hug to the Moon Fox. "Well," he says, "all the crazy ones usually turn out to be the best people out there."
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
Chapter 16: Thor and Loki
Victor, Jin, and their otherworldly friends can take a sigh of relief now. Being lookouts became much less stressful since they made their appearance. People passing by would look at them and wave. They would wave back, assuring their peaceful relationship. It's early afternoon on the day after making the appearance. Victor is on a cloud with Princess Celestia, thanks to her providing the spell Twilight and her friends used to walk on clouds on that one episode. Victor decided to wear his ancient mage robes today, so he's battle-ready. Luna is not with her sister this time. She's flying around with Edward and Corvus. Jin decided to tag along with the Moon Fox on a stroll throughout the city, to get a view of what the sky cannot offer.
Victor feels a little sleepy, so Celestia allows him to lean on her. It feels like she's a pillow to him, but the hot sun is frying him like breakfast this morning. "Does everything feel a bit more stable to you, princess?" asks Victor.
Celestia looks at Victor, smiling. "Stable. You must be referring to a mental stability." Victor nods. "Then yes. It does feel like that."
"Well, after that incident with the lightning, something else is going to happen..."
"And we're out here, ready like we were yesterday."
"Yeah." Victor smiles at the majestic horse. Her rainbow mane sparkles as it's blown by the strong gusts of high altitude wind.
"Victor?" says Celestia.
"Yeah?"
"Can you tell me more about yourself?"
"I already told you everything."
"No. That's not what I meant." Celestia looks down at the city, bustling as always. "My sister and I keep watching that show. It feels a bit enjoyable to see our past from another view, and it gave us a new perspective on what our subjects think about us. We even went down to those computers to watch more, with the help of Jin. We got to see how our little ponies lived their lives when I'm not watching over them, and it feels nice to know that even though I'm not under their watchful eye, there's still a great community in Equestria."
"Okay, now you're getting off-topic," says Victor.
"I'm not done." Celestia looks back at Victor, who's sinking in to her white coat. Her crown reflects sunlight as she says, "My Little Pony was supposed to be for little girls, right? I don't understand how young men like you and Jin got a liking to it. What we do in Equestria affects the lives of a wide audience."
Victor laughs. "Those are only aimed demographics, Celestia," he says. "We thought the show was not meant for us at some point, but then we gave it a shot, and now we like it. Jin may have told you this, but a dude who watches My Little Pony is called a brony."
"Ooh, that's clever! Brother and pony!"
Victor laughs at the fact how she understood it instantly. "Anyway," he resumes, "we get poked fun at for liking a show for little girls, but we don't care. The demographics and the history of the My Little Pony franchise, along with some douchebags out there tell us that we shouldn't watch a certain show, but we don't listen. We do what we want. Celestia, I'm about to answer your initial question, and I'll tell you something very personal. This is between you and me."
"Understood," answers Celestia, giggling.
"The world tells you to do this and do that," says Victor, looking down at the city. He sees so many ants down there. Lots of insignificant ants. "But I don't normally do something because everybody else is doing it. I now understand what you're asking. You're asking about my previous, normal life."
"Yes. That is exactly what I want to know."
"Nothing special, really. I went to school, played videogames and guitar, and I liked making stories. But I would always thinking of wishing to be somewhere else, a world that felt like paradise to me. This is why I loved dreaming. It was the only real place where I could have that paradise. I never really valued my normal life until it was gone. I missed my family, my friends. I realized that to reach paradise, I can't just run off to one. I have to form it where I already am. Watching your show made feel happier about my life, and I don't care what anyone says about me. I wished I could go to Equestria, but I knew it was impossible, so I had to learn how to find happiness in my own world."
Celestia rubs her head on to Victor's. "Are you happy?" she asks.
"I..." Victor moves away from Celestia. This concerns her. "Are you happy, Celestia?"
"More or less," answers Celestia. "I got to meet such great people like you. Edward is okay, but I don't blame him. We do look a little girly. I see some Pinkie Pie in Corvus. She always makes me smile. Jin's also adorable when he's being funny. And it takes a lot for me to say this but, I admire the Moon Fox's will. She's been through a lot, but she easily manages to get back on the highest of horses."
"Yeah, that's Moon Fox for ya," agrees Victor. He gets close to Celestia once again. "I try not to let past events haunt me, nor do I want to wish for something to happen. I want to focus on the moment we have now. And I am happy, Celestia, and that's why becoming a brony was one of the best things that's ever happened to me. The show is just so cheery. It would keep me smiling, and I'd be happy for having what I already have, not for what I pursue."
Celestia smiles at Victor once again leans her head on him. "I love it when you're sweet, Victor," she says. "You turn into a man of virtue when you are."
* * *
Edward, Corvus, and Princess Luna are swerving over streets, talking how they spent their morning.
"Damn, this place has lots to do!" says Edward.
"Remember the museum? That was SO MUCH FUN!" says Corvus, smiling.
"Yes, it was amusing," agrees Luna. "But must we return to lookout duties?"
"You're right, Luna," says Edward. His spirit is lowered. "So boring, though."
"We could could still go do stuff," says Corvus. "We'd just...have to keep our eyes peeled."
"Wait. That gives me an idea. Since everyone now knows about us, they could be our eyes."
"I like thy thinking, dragon," says Luna. "Fourteen eyes be so little, but millions of them. That is marvelous!"
Edward lands near an intersection, making sure he lands on the sidewalk. A few people give him space to land, and he starts walking. The dragon drags his tail on the ground, but he raises it off so people wouldn't step or trip on it. People look at Edward, either just staring or waving hello. "Man, do I like this place," he says.
Edward starts to pick up a crowd. Just as planned. Suddenly, a little boy with a lollipop and wearing overalls tugs his pants. Edward looks down at the little devil. "Hey, mister!" he says. "Are you a dragon?"
Edward chuckles. "Yeah. I'm a dragon."
"Mommy said dragons were mean. Are you mean?"
"What? NO! No!" says Edward, in a tone parents usually do when talking to little kids. "Yes, some of them are mean and vicious, but there are nice dragons out there."
"Kids are so funny," says Corvus, watching Edward from above. "They ask the cutest questions."
"At least they do not run away like back on Nightmare Night..." mutters Luna.
"Oooooh," says the little boy. He takes a lick of his lollipop.
"So, where's your Mommy?" asks Edward.
"I don't know."
"WHAT?" Edward feels his heart pounding. It makes him jump. He quickly picks the kid up and looks at the people around him. "Is this anyone's kid?" The people all shake their heads. "Oh my God. Don't worry, I'll find your parents!" Then Edward remembers why he landed in the first place. He turns to the crowd and says, "Can I ask you guys a favor?" The crowd mumurs in agreement. "Cool. Okay, so we're expecting another incident to happen like yesterday, and seven people can't watch the city. We need as many eyes as we can. Spread the word. Let everyone know that we want reports on any disturbances or supernatural hazards."
"Jerry!" shouts a concerned mother. She runs up to Edward and looks at the child he's holding. "Jerry, why did you run off? Mommy was worried."
"But I'm fine, Mommy," says Jerry. "I got a big, strong dragon here."
"Aw, it's nothing," says Edward, blushing from flattery.
"Let's go, Jerry. The dragon has work to do, protecting the city from nasty things," says the mother.
"Can I ride him, Mommy?" asks Jerry.
Edward brightens up to the idea. "Ma'am, this is a once in a lifetime experience for your son," he says, looking at Jerry. "What other kid's gonna tell his friends that he rode a DRAGON?"
The mother laughs as Edward swings Jerry around his back and takes off. "YAY, I'M ERAGON!" shouts the boy from a distance. His joyous scream echoes on the buildings.
"My, I never expected Edward to have such a way with kids," says Corvus, happily surprised.
"He sure does better than me," agrees Luna.
* * *
"Anything happen?" asks Twig through the tree arc. The Moon Fox and Jin are talking to their distant friend through it.
"Well, lemme tell ya," starts Jin. "There was this lightning, and it split a building in half."
"Any casualties?"
"None. We reacted nice and swiftly."
"Good, because that was only the beginning," says Twig's voice coming from the aura. "So, now the city knows about all of you, right?"
"Correct," answers Moon Fox.
"How are they reacting to it?"
"They're doing fine. No trouble or anything."
"In that case, this is all I have to say," responds Twig. "The storms are getting worse, so be prepared. Also, I came in contact with the uh...other world."
"Equestria?"
"Yes. I talked to this blue pony through the arc, and she told me that storms were forming in their world, too. It's the same swirling cloud."
"Send some fighters in Equestria," says Moon Fox. "Tell them to be careful with the citizens."
"I'll think about it, but some need to stay here. I don't think this disaster is going to only happen on Earth. I have to go now." Twig pauses. "One more thing: you're getting a guest." Moon Fox can no longer hear Twig's voice, so she turns away from the arc.
"A guest?" says Jin. "Who could it be?"
"It could be Mar, Teddy, Phil, Castus, Adam, or Nick," answers Moon Fox. "The question is, why would Twig put one more into the group? We have enough firepower as it is. With all due respect, I think some of us should go back to Equestria or Vremena."
"What if the disaster only happens here?"
"Possible, but we can't predict the future."
"Then we gamble until we can't gamble no more, my blue comrade," says Jin, feeling proud and confident of himself.
* * *
After another long day of exploring and watching the city of New York, Victor, Jin, and their friends all go out for dinner at night. Almost nobody fears them since they made their appearance, so they can indulge into the delights of the city, starting with the food. Corvus insisted on going to an Italian restaurant, but she doesn't even know what Italian means. She only liked the word, and wouldn't stop saying it. She continues to repeat the word at the table, while reading the menu.
"Italian...Italian...Italian!" she says, laughing. "It makes my tongue tickle."
"Corvus, Italian is anything based off the country of Italy," says Victor.
"Where's that?"
"Europe."
"Where's Europe?"
"It's on the other side of the world..." responds Victor, feeling annoyed because of her failing to realize what Europe is. Then again, she's never been on Earth. "So this place serves stuff like pizza and pasta. That's Italy's specialty." He turns to the two sisters, who are quietly examining the menu. "Celestia? Luna? What do you guys usually eat?"
Celestia looks at Victor. "All kinds of food, just like you," she says.
"I kinda expected you ponies to refrain from eating, well, meat," says Jin.
"We eat it sometimes, most likely fish or chicken," says Luna, not looking away from the menu.
They all sit at a round table, but it's big for them. The Moon Fox has her tails scattered all over the floor, so she moves beneath the table. Unfortunately, her friends tend to step on them at times. Celestia and Luna aren't using chairs. They're just sitting on the floor, but when upright, they reach the heigh of an adult sitting, especially Celestia. The people around them can't take their eyes off them, but they simply ignore it.
"I kind of recognize some of this food," says Edward. "Existing in Vremena."
"Your foods have the weirdest names," argues Victor.
"And yours don't? 'Fetuccine'..."
"That's Italian...for something."
"Y'know, I completely forgot what drinks they have here," says Jin.
"When were you on Earth?" asks Victor.
"Two years ago."
"I asked someone about the date today, and apparently, we're in 2014. Last I recalled being in Earth, it was 2013."
"And through all that time, not a single new My Little Pony was made."
"We haven't really checked," says Victor.
"Oh! They have wine! Excellent," says Celestia.
"Come to think of it," says Edward. "You'd be an interesting drunk."
"No," argues Luna. "No, she won't."
Their waiter comes up, pulling out a notepad and pen. "And what can I get you all to drink?" he asks.
"I'll have some...Coke!" says Victor, remembering the taste of that drink.
"Perhaps something to tingle the mouth," says Moon Fox, putting down the menu. "I'll have a club soda."
"Strawberry. That sounds tasty. Can I get a strawberry smoothie?" asks Corvus.
"I'll have one, too," says Edward.
"Victor, what has thou requested?" asks Luna.
"I ordered a Coke. It's this soda that lots of people like," says Victor.
"Marvelous. Waiter, I shall have one of those."
"May I have some wine?" asks Celestia. This leaves the waiter for a moment. Having that horse stare at him with concerned eyes.
"Uh, how old are you, miss?" asks the waiter.
"Millennia," answers Moon Fox. "Sir, she's more than eligible to drink alcohol."
"Okay, then," says the waiter, laughing nervously. "Sorry, I never served magical ponies before." He makes everyone laugh, even the Moon Fox, but she tries to hold it in. He turns to Jin. "And about you, son?"
"I'll have some wine, too!" says Jin.
"You don't look 21 to me."
"Jin. Drinking age here is 21," whispers Jin.
"Dammit..." mutters Jin, straightening his eyebrows into a glare. "In that case, I'll be having...a Fanta sounds tempting, whatever it is. Yeah, that."
"Alright," says the waiter, writing down the orders. "I'll come back with your drinks shortly."
Ordering the main course was not as variant. Everyone got a different type of pasta, but nonetheless, they're full. The rest of their fine dinner was spent talking about other and themselves, what they do and everything. Celestia and Luna got to know more about Corvus, Edward, and Jin. Corvus lived in a quiet town, and then she met Victor, Jin, along with some other friends. They reunited her with her little brother, Castus. Edward used to work for the order in a different identity, but only for the chance to find strong opponents. One night, he came across the group, and he challenged one of Victor's long-time friends, Adam, a human who also inherited supernatural powers upon arrival. It was a hard and painful moment for Edward, not being able to understand the power a mere human had, but that's when his colleagues figured out his true identity, and he tagged along with the group, all forgiven. Celestia and Luna are both intrigued by their friends' pasts.
Luna likes Coca-Cola. Yes, there are sodas in Ponyville, but not this brand. She even got three refills, and now her stomach feels like it's going to pop.
"Oh, that was splendid," says Luna, patting her stomach with a hoof.
"I don't wanna move," agrees Celestia.
"I just noticed something," says Jin.
"What?" asks Victor.
"We are by far the most diverse group of people...EVER."
"Oh. Yeah, you're right." Victor laughs softly.
"I'll treasure these kinds of moments," says Corvus. "When there's no worries at all."
Corvus' words echo in the heads of her friends. Even if she's immortal, she still finds a reason to value her life.
* * *
"Aren't you Groves?" asks Twig.
"I am," answers Groves.
"You got some nerve coming here. You're lucky the Settlers aren't around. They would gang up and tear you apart."
"I know they would, but what's done is done. I can't change that."
"You know you can't just turn your back on a murder..."
"I'm well aware of that."
"Victor told me everything, and after all that, I can't believe he just let you go."
"Probably too much of a wuss to finish the job."
"Groves..."
"No, no. I'm not done yet. Probably that, or because he still had hope."
"Hope?"
"I've made a terrible mistake, Twig," says Groves, immune to any touchy emotion. "Yes, they were all my friends, but I wanted power, not friends. I killed the overlord only to absorb his power, not to topple down the order. Then I killed the Moon Fox, because she was in the way. She could have survived if she wasn't being a nuisance to me. And then there's Victor. Even though I saw him as weak and uncooperative, he pulled off the same type of transformation I did. The fusion of one's energy along with another, plus the body. It's inconceivable. Our fight was legendary, putting all other fights to shame. We both fought hard, but he won, but I wasn't dead. I got healed, then he told me to leave, so I did. After that, I've been thinking about my obsession to be the strongest in Vremena. I realized that it was a childish pursuit. I can live without being forgiven, but now I know that I wasted my power to pursue my own desires."
"Can you still transform?" asks Twig.
"I had trouble doing it at first, but as I left behind my thirst for power, I would feel less pain. I'm not feeding a beast anymore. It's dying in its cage as I work my way to redeem myself."
"I know a nice way to redeem yourself, Groves. You fight for the right cause."
"But the order is gone. I will have to wait for some other dark force to show up."
"Actually, there's one coming. Back on Earth. Are you familiar with it?"
"A little," answers Groves. "I was only six went I lost my place on Earth."
"There's something big about to happen there, and Victor would need some help."
"If he fights me, then I fight back," says Groves, coldly.
"Portal's right over there. Your choice." Twig points a blue, scaly finger to the tree arc, glowing as always.
* * *
Victor and Jin agree to the princesses' request to show them about the Internet more, so they both go down to the computer room late at night. Victor and Celestia are on one computer, while Jin and Luna are on another. The room is so quiet, the only audible noise is fingers tapping on the buttons of the keyboards.
"I just noticed something," says Victor, widening his eyes.
"And what would that be?" asks Jin.
"If I was gone for ages, then imagine how much I got in my email. And there's my Youtube, my Facebook, then..."
"I get it. You have lots of mail..."
"Indubitably," says Victor, pronouncing the last of that word in an odd way.
"What are those?" asks Celestia.
"They're social networks, but I can check those later. So, what do you need help with?"
"I just want to watch another episode," says Celestia, smiling innocently.
"As do I," adds Luna.
Victor rolls his eyes, doing the 'oh you' face. "Okay," he says.
The door starts to shake. Victor, Luna, Celestia, and Jin turn around, noticing. The knob turns. Someone's coming in. The door creaks open, revealing the one who opened it. Victor's heart starts to sink. He feels a pain in his chest as he comes face-to-face with their little visitor. He's a human, wearing a black leather armor, along with a black cape, red metal boots, an amulet encrusted with a purple gem, and two swords tucked into the belt, both having shining red blades. The most notable of this person's features is his helmet. It covers his face, only showing darkness beneath, all but a pair of glowing red eyes, and they glare at Victor. Victor recognizes him. It's Groves.
"Surprised to see me?" asks Groves. His voice is smooth, and deep for his age.
A bright-yellow staff with a gem on its tip appears in the hands of Victor. He grabs the lower end of the shaft and draws out a hidden sword, elegant and shining. He points the tip at Groves. "GET THE FUCK OUT!" he says, loudly and coldly.
"I haven't forgotten, but isn't the Moon Fox alive now?"
"Yeah, no thanks to you! You betrayed us and then killed her! I think you're insane for even coming back!"
"Why do you think I'm here?" asks Groves, gently pushing the blade away.
"Because you're here for Round 2. You want to reclaim your spot as the strongest."
"That will have to wait."
"No it won't!" Victor slashes the sword toward Groves, but Groves nimbly draws one of his out and clashes it with Victor's. As he pulls out his other one, and their fight begins. Celestia, Luna, and Jin are merely speechless. Victor draws Groves away from the room, causing him to retreat back to the lobby. Victor prepares to shoot a spell, but then something comes to mind. Celestia said something me being a danger to everyone when I'm angry. I'll have to stick to using swords , he thinks. Victor rushes to Groves tackling him.
"This is not the time!" says Groves.
"SHUT UP!" shouts Victor. He raises a hand up, charging some lightning in it.
Jin runs up to Celestia and Luna. "Teleport us to Central Park! NOW!"
Princess Celestia does this without hesitation. Her horn begins to glow, and as Victor is about to impale Groves, they all vanish, leaving nothing but dust.
They all reappear at a clearing in Central Park. Victor looks around, then goes back to glaring at Victor. "Now I can kill you without holding back," he says.
"I told you. I am not fighting," says Groves. He springs Victor off of him, making him land in a pond. As Victor emerges from the cold water, Groves continues. "Victor, you're missing the point. I did not come here to fight you."
"Yes you did!"
"If you would only give me a chance to expl-"
"BURN IN HELL YOU TRAITOR!" Victor shoots himself out of the water and shoots a stream of lightning at Groves. Groves rolls on the grass, dodging it with ease. Victor then crashes down, sending a small shockwave of electricity away from him.
"Stubborn as always, even when I'm trying to-"
"AAAAAAAAAAH!!!!" roars Victor as he lunges his staff at Groves, sending a shining energy wave at him. Groves jumps up and flips over Victor. The wave nearly hits Jin, but it only makes him fall over. Groves traps Victor by clenching his arms toward him. Victor struggles to break free, emitting electricity from his body. Groves attempts to endure the pain.
"Victor, stop!" shouts Luna. "This destructive behavior must end!"
"Listen to the blue one, Victor," commands Groves. "I come in peace."
Victor gets even more furious as he tries to break free from Groves' grip. "Regardless," he says in a murderous tone, "I asked you for ONE THING. I asked you to LEAVE!" Victor roars at the sky. Black lightning starts to consume him, lighting up the cool night air. "One thing has changed, Groves! YOU KILLED FOX! AND I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!" Victor explodes into a burst of blue aura, sending Groves flying back. He gets up, and amazingly doesn't flinch to the sight of Victor's transformation. It's the very beast that conquered him, and it's about to di it again. Victor shifts his black eyes to Groves, marking his target. Groves starts to chuckle mockingly. "I'll punch the laugh right out of you," says Victor.
"It's amusing," says Groves, getting closer to Victor, "how you're holding a grudge. I know you, Victor. You won't kill me." Groves takes a deep breath, smirking. "And by the way, you never came close to even crippling me."
A red and black aura starts to consume Groves' body. To Victor's surprise, he bursts into an explosion of energy, then appears in his nightmarish form. Groves' transformation includes black, spiky armor, black bat wings, a long, scaly tail, but overall, he keeps his helmet, but now it has red markings on it, and two horns stick out from the sides and point down. "I dragged your face in the concrete when we last fought. This time, I'll make you eat it."
"I've been improving, Victor," says Groves, deviously. "You see, I left behind my pursuit to be the strongest, and that desire was actually pulling me back. Letting it go felt enlightening, and I could feel more confident about my fighting. I am warning you. We don't have to fight, but we will if you want to."
"Of course we're fighting!" yells Victor, furious. "And this time, I guarantee death!"
"If you kill me, you're only going to die later on," says Groves.
"PROVE IT!" Victor rushes to Groves and readies to punch him in the face, but Groves grabs the fist without even flinching. He hurls Victor to the side, making him crash on a tree.
"Your anger is not controlled as usual," says Groves. "This is not the Victor I fought back in Vremena, the one who was willing to protect all of his friends."
"SHUT UP!" roars Victor as he rushes back to Groves. He punches him in the face, sending him rolling on the ground. Then he meets him there, kicking him up into the air. Next, he swiftly jumps up and grabs his heels, then he flips rapidly, throwing Groves back into the ground. To finish it, Victor launches a barrage of energy balls at the place Groves crashed into. The explosion shroud the park with dust. Victor scans the destruction for any sign of the murderer, and he finds him, but too late.
Groves comes from above and crashes into Victor, making him plummet into the ground. They both get up and clash again, fighting with blows as fast as lightning. First, they're on the ground, and second later they end up in the sky. Jin, Celestia, and Luna watch the two rivals keep fighting, without showing any sign of fatigue. Victor and Grobes both force each other back, landing on the ground. Victor holds one hand back, charging orange-colored lightning in it. Groves spreads his arms away from him, harnessing red-colored lightning at his palms.
"Oh, this is bad," says Jin, worried. The air gets heated by the second. The ground starts to shake, and all the bits of the park start spinning around Victor and Groves. They both shout, like they're gods themselves, the mightiest of shouts that portray raw, absolute power.
ARCANO STORM!
INFERNAL LIGHTNING!
"STOP!" roars Celestia. Both Victor and Groves are shocked by the volume of her voice. They both cancel their attacks and look at the angered horse. "Victor, that is enough! Don't you realize that Groves does not want any conflict with you?"
"You're not the boss of me!" says Victor, glaring at Celestia. "You don't know what he did. He's a selfish, power-hungry traitor!"
"We all heard Groves!" says Jin. "He probably knows about the upcoming disaster!"
Victor turns to Groves. "Do you?" he asks.
"I do," answers Groves. He walks up to Victor. "I know I made some terrible decisions in the past, but none of that can be changed. But now I know that I was wrong. I should have never abandoned friends for power. Fighting with you all again is the perfect way to redeem myself, so I wish not to fight you, Victor. I'm not asking for your forgiveness, but for an alliance."
Victor thinks for a moment, glaring at Groves. He can't forgive him. Ever. To him, he's a traitor, and Victor hates traitors. Traitors are people who take someone's trust and rip it apart. Victor never felt so torn when Groves betrayed him, but he also hates to kill. "I will not forgive you, but if you're in this fight, then fine by me. You and me, Groves. We're like brothers. You be Loki, and I'll be Thor."
Victor and Groves, both still in their beastly transformation, shake hands, putting differences aside to protect the Earth from an upcoming horror.
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
Victor and Groves turn back into their normal states. Victor tells Groves about all that happened since their fight. They sit at a table they found that wasn't destroyed by them, along with Jin, Celestia, and Luna.
"...and that's how we're here," finishes Victor.
"I still don't understand the ponies. Seriously. Why ponies?" says Groves, shifting his eyes to the two sisters.
"I can't explain that either. The white one's Celestia, and the blue one's Luna. They're both princesses in their world."
"Why would two princesses be hanging around in another world, while they got their cushy castle?"
"Because these two are awesome."
"I don't see it. They just look like a bunch of ponies to me."
"Just ponies?" says Luna, annoyed. "Choose thy words careful, Groves. We know what you did."
"It may not look like it," says Victor, "but they're both strong."
"And why do they have drawings on their butts?" asks Groves.
"It's kind of a symbol for their specialty."
"I would not prefer some symbol stuck on my ass."
"Groves, be nice!" commands Victor. "They're goddesses!"
"We know like, seven immortals, Vic," says Groves. "Princess or not, I am NOT letting them be above me."
"You do know we have no authority whatsoever in this realm, right?" says Celestia.
"Still, I despise royalty."
"I must ask, Groves. You don't have a good past with Victor, but are you a human?" asks Celestia.
"I am. Somewhere around his age as well."
"Why do you wear that helmet?" asks Luna.
Groves sighs, trying to remain calm. That question is a nuisance to him. Everyone asks about the helmet. That metal dome's been shielding his head for as long as he could remember, and he never takes it off. "Because I'm smart enough not to look at the world with uncovered, fragile eyes."
"Don't get the idea that I actually care for you, Groves," scolds Victor, changing the subject. "You still killed Moon Fox, yet if I didn't have to go get her back, I wouldn't have met these two lovely sisters. So I must say..." Victor looks like he's going to throw up. He starts to murmur out indistinct sounds, attempting to get something out. "...thank you."
"Ironic," agrees Groves.
"Come on, Victor. I know he's a murderer, and I can't tolerate that," says Celestia. Her eyes glisten at Victor's glaring ones. "But everyone deserves a second chance. Have you ever done something that disappointed you so much? Something that made the whole world turn against you?"
Victor looks down. Sadness starts to cover his anger. "Groves was only the murderer, but I was the one responsible for leading Moon Fox to her fate. She died because I was stubborn."
"But it's the past, my comrade," says Jin. "Can't do nothing about it."
"It's going to be a long time before I can forgive Groves, or even forgive myself," says Victor. His voice hints to his spirit rising slowly. "But for now, we need firepower, and this bastard right here's got plenty of it."
"I'm okay with Groves, since he regrets doing all that," says Jin.
"Groves," says Luna. Groves turns to the dark blue mare. "Even for what you have done, I cannot seem to hate thee. It's strange."
"I understand," says Groves. "But the damage I caused was undone, not to mention that I was the one who killed the Overlord of that godforsaken order."
"Only for his power..." mutters Victor.
"Victor!" shouts Celestia, stomping a hoof on the table. It causes a weak tremor on the ground. "That is enough! How would YOU feel if someone kept dragging back something terrible you did, even though you want it forgotten? Completely! He knows what he did! He knows he's a murderer! ALL HE'S ASKING FOR IS FOR A CHANCE TO FIGHT ON THE RIGHT SIDE ONCE MORE!"
The park is silent. Victor stares blankly at Celestia's eyes, seeing a fire burning rapidly within the pupil. The only audible noise is Victor's silent hyperventilating. Celestia is right over him, glaring him down.
"Remember that sweet, little boy I sat with at the castle?" she continues. "Remember that boy having fun with Twilight and her friends? Remember that boy I talked to up in the clouds?" Celestia's glare diminishes. Her eyes change from emitting anger to sorrow. "Why can't you stay like that?"
"Oh, Mom," says Victor, quietly. Jin, Luna, and Groves start to get confused. They stare at Victor with wide eyes. "You're always so worried, Celestia. Even when I'm a world apart, I can't get away from her. Corvus, Moon Fox, now you."
"What are you talking about?" asks Celestia.
"All of those girls acted just like my mom at some point. So worried, so concerned."
"I AM concerned!"
"Don't be," says Victor, standing up then turning away. "It's only going to distract you. Let's think for a moment. How did Groves get here?"
"The only he could've traveled to Earth is the arc," answers Luna.
Victor turns to Jin. "Jin," he says. "Where is the arc in Vremena located?"
"It's in the large house you settled in with Adam and Nick," says Jin.
Victor looks at Groves, feeling a little suspicious. He being a thinker, Victor tends to deduce. "Groves could've never entered the arc because he didn't know where we lived. After our fight, we settled in Peake City, far from Rottoe, the capital where it all ended. So far, the only one back in Vremena who can understand the multiverse travel is Twig, and if Groves is here, then that means Twig let him through, but why?"
"Didn't I already tell you?" says Groves. "I'm here as your ally."
"No..." says Victor, coldly. The air around them somehow cools as he says that little word. "It's bigger than that. I already told Twig about Groves, and he knows about his potential. Groves is quite the formidable opponent, and he'd be very useful to have when this disaster comes, but we already have a good amount of power as it is." He looks at the two sisters. "Two goddess monarchs..." He turns to Jin. "...Jin and I, two humans who learned a new league of fighting, and later a destructive transformation..." He finally looks up at the sky. "...and three Settlers, all immortal."
"I'm not following," says Jin.
"Don't you get it? We don't need Groves!" says Victor. Celestia starts to glare at him again, but Victor holds a hand up, gesturing to wait. "Unless...the disaster is coming sooner than we expected."
* * *
"Wait, come again?" says Corvus.
"Groves is here," answers Jin.
It's the next day, around the late morning. Everyone takes a place keeping a watchful eye on the city. Jin and Victor were both wearing their combat gear yesterday and they haven't taken it off. They need to be ready in an instant. Last night, after the little quarrel, Luna told Moon Fox, Edward, and Corvus about Groves. They were all shocked, and willing to go after him, but Luna assured he's here as an ally. Not truly understanding their past with him, they all glare at the poor princess.
"Come on, Prettybird, Luna already told you," says Jin, annoyed. Prettybird is what he nicknames Corvus.
"How are you okay with this?" asks Corvus.
"Because he understood his mistake, and that's good enough for me."
"I still feel like he needs to be punished. I dunno..."
"He's already been punished. Getting his ass kicked by Victor, left alone with no one turn to. I think he learned his lesson."
Corvus turns to the tree arc, still glowing on a building not too far from them. "Remember when you first...you know. Turned into me?" she asks.
Jin laughs. "How could I forget that? That was a pretty weird moment for me. I never expected a transformation."
"Me neither. Confusing how yours was based on me, then Victor's was based on the Moon Fox. Also..." Corvus looks away.
"Also what?" asks Jin.
"I'm getting the strangest feeling that I've been here before..."
* * *
Yet another stormy day in Equestria. Rainbow Dash is flying fast through Ponyville. Ever since the two princesses left to help defend Earth, it's been stormy day after day. The folks in Equestria are beginning to miss Celestia's sun. Even if Princess Celestia and Princess Luna aren't here, they somehow left an influence on the Sun and the Moon, allowing them to rise and set independently for a while, but neither one have been seen very much. Only the light from the two glowing orbs break through the cracks in the swirling clouds.
Most of the ponies complain about how the pegasi are doing a lousy performance in their jobs, but the pegasi keep claiming that they are not responsible for the current weather. For days, Rainbow Dash has been oppressed by every non-pegasus pony in Ponyville for it, and she's sick of it. She swoops into Twilight Sparkle's library and slams the door shut.
"Ugh! I can't take anymore of this!" she says, annoyed. Twilight, searching for a book, only glances at her friend for a second, then returns to searching. "Did you find anything?"
"I'm afraid not," answers Twilight, disappointed. "But one thing's for sure, this is not an ordinary storm."
"The rain just turns on and off, but the clouds don't move..."
"I know," says Twilight. "Oh, I hope Princess Celestia and Princess Luna come back soon..."
"They SHOULD be back so they could explain all this stuff so everypony can stop blaming me!" yells Rainbow, crossing her arms, or front legs. "It's really pissing me off."
"They must've had a good reason to leave Equestria," answers Twilight. She puts the book down, and gives her friend full attention. Rainbow Dash hovers down. A spark flashes in Twilight's eye. "Maybe we could figure out why they left."
"Fox only told us something about going back."
"Rainbow, what is the Moon Fox?"
"Uh...a demon fox that can fight really good."
"And boy, she did a lot of fighting," says Twilight, laughing. "Us, the Ursa, even Celestia!"
"So, they...left to fight...stuff?"
"Maybe."
The ground shakes, making the blue and purple mare to lose their balance. A flash of light blinds them, along with the rest of the room.
"What was that?" asks Rainbow Dash, worried.
Twilight bursts out of her house, and stops after not even five gallops. She sits, bending her neck back. Rainbow wonders what she's staring, so she also looks up. Same reaction. The swirling are rising, and shrinking. They're also spinning fast. They condense into a spinning orb, charged with thunder and lightning. The charge grows stronger, giving off a strong gust of wind in all directions.
"The clouds!" shouts Twilight. "What is going on with those clouds?"
Beams of pink light crack out of the orb of clouds, until it turns to a massive explosion, engulfing all of Equestria. Everypony is blind and helpless.
* * *
"Hey, Prettybird," says Jin. "Uh, is it me or is the sky going all weird again?"
Corvus looks up, and the clouds are condensing. Her purple eyes shrink. She grabs Jin and jumps off the building. Her wings appear out of nowhere, its feather glistening to the missed sunlight. Corvus is capable of hiding her wings for when they're not necessary. They can be inconvenient at times, so instead of tucking them in like Edward, Celestia, or Luna, she can make them banish.
"Hey! What gives?" asks Jin, confused.
"Oh, I just thought we'd pay a little visit!" answers Corvus, nervously. The condensing are starting to charge like the ones in Equestria. Corvus glances at them for a moment, and she knows something bad is about to happen. She gulps and jets toward the building that has the tree arc on it. She tosses Jin aside and rushes to it. "Hello?" she shouts into the portal.
"What's your problem?" says Jin, annoyed. Then he looks at the condensed orb of clouds shining brighter and brighter in the sky. Many cars stop and let out people. By the hundreds, the people of New York hold still and stare at the bomb of light, about to explode. "I guess this is it. What we came for..."
Corvus turns back to Jin, shedding a tear. Jin turns to her as she gives him a weak smile. "Exactly," she says, quietly.
The light consumes them. It consumes all. Jin and Corvus can hear the shouts of millions of tortured souls. It's torture itself listening to it all. But they see nothing. The light is too strong, and all that is visible is white. Jin can only feel something wrapping around him. It must be her friend Corvus. He wonders how his other friends are reacting to this, but at least he knows he's with her.
* * *
"Some light," says Twig.
Jin and Corvus rub their eyes and look around. The light still blinds them, but they notice they're somewhere else now. They're home. In Vremena. They notice that they're in the same room where the tree arc appeared in their world. Victor, Celestia, Luna, Edward, and the Moon Fox are also in the same scenarion as them: blind and confused.
"What just happened?" asks Celestia.
"Beats me," responds Moon Fox, "Just this blinding light."
"I dragged you all back here to talk," answers Twig. Celestia turns around and finally sees Twig in person. It's surprising to her. He's like Corvus, Edward, and the Moon Fox: anthropomorphic. Twig is a blue dinosaur with purple stripes in some parts, wearing a sleeveless shirt and a black pair of pants, slightly less baggy than Edward's. He seems unpleasant, having yellow, snakelike eyes, or one eye. The other is covered with bandages. He's slightly shorter than Edward, and he appears a bit middle-aged. "So these are your friends, Fox?"
"Save it," says Moon Fox, feeling a bit hostile. "You've got lots to explain, Twig. How are you even here? You died a long time ago!"
"I'm as stumped as you are. But unlike your friends, I still remember..."
"So no memory loss? That's convenient."
Twig smirks. "I know your name."
Moon Fox's eyes widen. She slowly shakes her head at Twig. Twig nods back, then turns to Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. "My, my. You two are quite the elegant mares."
"Thank you," responds Luna. "So thou must be Twig. My name is Luna, and this be my older sister Celestia."
"Guys, aren't we forgetting something?" interrupts Victor. "We got a crisis here! What was up with all those clouds building up together?"
"You might wanna look out the window," says Twig, pointing a claw at a window. Victor runs to it and looks outside. Celestia and Luna run behind me and also look outside, but they're more intrigued by the structure of Peake City. Victor steps back, terrified.
"Holy crap..." he mutters.
"Wow, this city looks even more amazing than New York!" says Celestia, looking at all the tall buildings.
"Girls! Look up!" says Victor, still shocked. They listen to him. Like Victor, they're also shocked.
"That's impossible..." mutters Luna.
"Why is Earth up there?" asks Victor, confused and shocked.
"And why is our world right next to it?" asks Celestia.
"Don't forget the portal in between," says Twig.
Victor looks out the window again, terrified by the sight of an aura floating high up in the sky. Vremena, Earth, and Equestria are all aligned in a triangle in space, and a massive sphere of aura floats in the center.
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
"I did not expect this," says Twig, leaning over Victor to get a view of the massive orb of aura centering their worlds.
"Okay, okay," says Victor, feeling nervous. "Twig, what is going on?" He's in the brink of experiencing a mental breakdown.
"And how did we all end up back here after that flash?" asks Edward.
"Beats me," answers Twig. "And I went to Earth and grabbed all of you during flash."
"I'm having this weird feeling that the fault lies in the construction of the arcs," suggests Jin. "The space-time rift Moon Fox, Vic, and the ponies created could've pulled all our worlds closer."
"But that does not explain the big ball of weird, purply darkness hanging in the center," says Corvus, looking out the window. Celestia and Luna pay more attention to the architecture of Peake City. The buildings are all built as giant trees with windows and doors on them. It puts Twilight's library to shame.
Luna turns back to Twig. "My guess," she says, "is that something will come out from there."
"Hang on!" says Victor, nudging Luna to look up. "There's more to it! See the Sun?"
"I don't follow," says Luna, confused.
"No, I mean that the Sun is smaller! The Sun in Vremena is twice as big as the one on Earth. So I think we're in the Milky Way Galaxy."
"Is that the galaxy Earth is in?" asks Celestia.
"Yup. The two worlds got teleported into this very galaxy when that light flashed."
The Moon Fox decides to also look outside. She gets no reaction whatsoever. She can see the world of the ponies, and she can see Earth, but not even the centerpiece surprises her. "Yes," she says. "This is the disaster."
"Wait, what are you talking about?" asks Edward.
"I have a feeling someone, or something, has been secretly using the arcs. Whoever's behind this was responsible for the weird clouds, the lightning bolt strike, and the explosion of light. Something's gonna come out of that orb. It's a massive portal."
Everyone starts to look worried. They all take turns looking at each other to see if there's something to say, but nothing. This is it. This is the disaster. An unknown force is going to invade all of their worlds. They could be weak, or they could be strong. No one is sure. Everyone snaps their necks to the sound of a creaking door, and two boys walk into the room. One of them is a slightly chubby teen with hay-colored hair, pale skin, and wears archer-like gear. It features a big shoulder pad, a black hood, and a quiver. The other one is tall with smooth, flowing blonde hair, pale skin, and wears long, white robes with blue highlights.
"Moon Fox!" says the archer, excited. He runs up to her and tackles her with a hug. "I guess Vic brought ya back!"
"Yeah, it's been so long," says Moon Fox, happily.
"Hey, Adam," says Victor. He turns to the tall, blonde guy. "Hey, Nick." They both walk up to each other and hug.
"Dude, how was it?" ask Nick.
"Well..." Victor looks at Celestia and Luna and swings his hand toward him, gesturing them come to him. They trot over to the confused Nick. "Nick, this is Princess Celestia and Princess Luna. On my trip, I made friends with them."
"Why do they look so familiar..." mutters Nick. "What was that one show? Uh...My Little Pony?"
Victor laughs. "Okay, I'm starting to enjoy everyone's reactions when they meet you two! Nick, they're not the prissy ponies you're thinking about. They are pretty badass."
"I hear ya, man." Nick looks at Luna and smiles. "I'm guessing you're Luna."
"Charmed," says Luna.
"Uh, Victor?" says Celestia. "Is Nick another one of your Earth friends?"
"Yeah!" answers Victor. "Like me, he learned how to fight with energy. He has a sick power."
"Yeah, I'm a Druid," says Nick. "I can summon creatures to do my bidding, turn into them, or control natural elements for a short time."
"That is amazing!" says Luna. "And what does your other friend do?"
Adam walks up to them, and instantly notices the ponies. "One of your pony friends called," he says to Victor. "What is it?"
"Adam! Glad that you're here!" says Victor. He grabs him over the shoulder and turns to Luna. "This is Adam. Another of my Earth friends, and he learned just like we did. He's a Torturemaster, so he has the power to pull out any weapon to aid him in combat."
"Vic, why do these two look like those things from that little girl's show?" asks Adam.
"Hey!" shouts Twig. He gets everyone's attention. "We can save the formalities for later. Yes, they're ponies. Yes, they look girly, but I can believe in the fact that they're capable fighters, and that's what we need right now. Our worlds are about to fall to this unknown force and we need to prevent that from happening. We'll split into teams, one for each world. I'm assuming this is a widespread invasion, considering the placement of the giant orb." Twig looks at Princess Celestia and Victor. "Celestia, Victor, Jin, and Corvus. You guys got Earth." He turns to the yellow dragon. "Edward, Groves and Luna. You two stay here in Vremena and help the other Settlers." Lastly, he turns to Adam and Nick, smirking a bit. "Adam, Nick, Fox. You're going to the pony world with me."
"What?" shouts Adam.
"No, why must you separate me from my sister?" asks Luna.
"Luna..." says Celestia. She looks deeply into her blue eyes. "It's only for a while. Look at Twig."
"What is it?"
"He looks like he went through a lot in his past. He's obviously been through a lot of conflict before, so he knows how to handle it."
Luna starts to cry. "When this is all over, we should celebrate," she says, sweetly.
"Anything you wish."
"Hey, Vic," says Adam, gesturing him to come to him. Victor walks up to him with a curious expresion. Adam speaks to him quietly. "Ever get the feeling you've seen those two somewhere before?"
"Yeah. They're from the show My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic," answers Victor.
"How would you know that?"
"Because I've been watching it for years."
"You've been watching a show for little girls for all this time?" says Adam, shocked. "I don't even know why they're even with us in the flesh."
Victor starts to glare at his friend, abandoning the quiet tone. "You know," he begins, "I've had it with people trying to tell what to do, what to wear, and what to watch." His tone is loud enough to get everyone's attention. Adam is noticing this, but Victor isn't. "I'm seventeen years old, and people are all like 'you should watch MTV and reality shows' or some shit. Why? Because apparently, that's what you're supposed to watch! But no. I won't watch those. A lot of teenage boys like me enjoy My Little Pony because it has a good plot and great characters. Yes, it was meant for little girls, but we didn't care! You probably think I should go to a mental hospital for liking something so girly. Well, let me tell you. I will be ten times the man you'll ever be because I can admit the fact that I watch My Little Pony!"
The only noise after is Victor's heavy breathing. He inhales a deep one and walks away, leaving the others still shocked. "Dude," says Adam, "it sounded like you've been holding that in for a while."
"I was..."
* * *
The tree arc on the building spits out Victor, Jin, Celestia, and Corvus out of its vortex. They all struggle to get up because of the impact they receive. Nonetheless, they're ready to fight. Corvus looks down at the citizens of Manhattan, and it doesn't seem the same.
"Think they noticed the big ball of darkness up there?" she asks.
"It's kinda hard to miss," says Jin.
"Yeah...but look down here. There's not many people outside as before."
"Probably staying indoors," suggests Celestia. "But they're still confused. They need to know more."
"Wait, so we're going to spread the word?" asks Victor.
Princess Celestia doesn't answer Victor. She only hops into the wind, spreading her white, shining wings and swooping down to the streets. Corvus grabs both Jin and Victor and reveals her shining, violet wings and also jumps off. She rushes after the white horse, who's darting aimlessly, as if she was looking for something. Celestia spots a reporter nearby, an uptight woman in her forties, and heads for her. Her broadcast can be seen on one of Times Square's large screens.
"And so," announces the reporter, "chaotic confusion still shrouds over our great city. No one is uncertain about the explanation of two planets appearing next to ours, along with the large orb. My advice to you is to stay indoors."
Celestia trots over to the reporter, startling her. "Greetings, ma'am," she says politely.
"Oh, hello there." The reporter keeps talking to the microphone. "Well, this is convenient. I'm here with whom people call Princess Celestia, an animated character that has somehow come to life. She's known as one of the city's mysterious defenders. So Celestia, what do you have to say about current events?" The reporter leans the microphone to her muzzle.
"May I?" Celestia grabs the microphone with her magical aura and turns to the camera. "Humans," she announces, "this is exactly why we came! An unknown dark force is about to emerge from the orb in the sky. It's a portal, just like the one we constructed, but much bigger." Celestia starts to appear in more of the screens. Everyone is watching her. "As the divine ruler of Equestria, I vow to protect this foreign land. Either stay hidden or evacuate. That is my advice. I will fight the invasion head-on with my friends, to the last breath if we must."
* * *
Adam, Nick, and the Moon Fox are thrown right out of the portal. Each of them either hit the dusty ground or a tree. Adam and Nick moan from pain, but the Moon Fox nimbly gets on her feet. She wipes the dirt off her black overcoat and extends a foxtail to each of the boys. They both grab it, pulling them up. Nick looks around the clearing.
"This place looks so cartoony," he says. Moon Fox shrugs her shoulders and hovers up. She turns her head wildly, looking for Ponyville.
"Boys, you have to get to Ponyville," says Moon Fox, pointing a claw toward the direction of the town.
"Ponyville?" says Adam. He feels like laughing, but is more confused than amused. "Won't all the little ponies get scared if they see us?"
"If you do something stupid, then yes. Go find a house in a tree and tell her everything." Moon Fox twirls to another direction. "I'm going to the capital."
"But-" says Nick. Too late. The Moon Fox darts away like a rocket, toward the city of Canterlot, perched graciously on the mountain. "...wait..."
Adam walks in front of Nick. "You heard her," he says. "Let's go."
"But who knows how far away this town is. Might take forever to get through this forest."
"We can fly over it if you, I dunno, cooperated," says Adam as he gives Nick a gentle nudge. Nick gets confused, but then knows what he's trying to say. "Dude, you just gotta get your beast on and carry me over this forest."
"Oh, yeah! Forgot. That's what I can do. Yeah..." Nick takes a deep breath, and his body starts to morph. It grows and changes in color. He drops his two arms on the ground, which are turning green and scaly. Tails and wings grow out from their proper spots, and Nick's transformation is complete. Nick is now a large, green dragon, walking on all four. He bends his hind legs to let Adam climb aboard.
"To Ponyville!" shouts Adam.
"Maybe I should've turned into something less scary-looking," says Nick, looking at his front legs. His claws are long and dangerous. Regardless, he leaps into the air and flaps his wings toward the town.
It takes little time to arrive, but Nick has an idea. When reaches the edge of the Everfree Forest, he dives into the trees and quickly turns back into his human form. Adam falls out of the border and gets back up, confused about what just happened.
"Sorry, man," says Nick, "I figured these guys would find a human to look less threatening."
Adam laughs. "Can you imagine," he says happily. "You going to the ponies as a dragon."
"Oh, they would shit themselves," laughs Nick. And so, they make their through Fluttershy's cottage without being noticed by the shy, yellow mare. Maybe it's because she's not there.
When Adam and Nick make it to the town area, they are slightly amused by how the place looks. Everypony keeps gawking at them. Adam has no problem with that, though. He's used to people thinking that he's weird, so he enjoys it instead. It is a problem for Nick. To put a stop to it, he speaks up. "Excuse me, guys. We're looking for this tree...house...thing."
The ponies start to murmur among themselves, not understanding what the mysterious human in robes is asking.
"We're with the Moon Fox," says Nick. The two humans now hear relief and excitement in the murmuring.
"Ponies!" shouts Adam, getting their attention. "We're here to kick ass and save the day, and we need to get to this house, which we were told is in a tree."
"You mean the library?" says a young colt.
"Uh, we don't know what kind of building it is, pony bro."
"It has to be Twilight Sparkle's library," speaks a green mare.
"Okay, so where is this library?" asks Nick. The ponies all point hooves to a tree with a door, windows, and balconies. "Thanks, guys! By the way, hide somewhere, 'cuz that orb in the sky's gonna start spitting out bad things that'll try to kill you."
The ponies all look at each other and rush over to their homes, in a panicky manner. They all disperse to random directions, leaving Adam and Nick, Victor's friends, heading over to Twilight's library. Nick knocks on the door, and hears Twilight's voice from inside.
"Who is it?" she asks in a polite manner.
"The Moon Fox sent us here," answers Adam.
"Who are you? I don't recognize that voice." Twilight opens the door to confront the two foreign figures. With her experience with the Moon Fox, she is only impressed rather than intimidated. "Oh, you must be her friends! So what brings you two boys in Equestria?"
"We'll be your soldiers for when this invasion happens," answers Nick. "Name's Nick, and this is Adam. Do you by any chance know Victor?"
"Well, I'm Twilight Sparkle, and yes, we all know Victor." She walks back into her house, gesturing the two boys to follow her. "Such an interesting kid."
"I hear ya, uh, Twilight. Sorry, I'm not really used to talking ponies."
"If you know Victor, then don't you hang out with all kinds of creatures?"
"Good point."
"So, an invasion," says Twilight, looking worried. "Not sure why you two went through the trouble of coming to me. What could I possibly offer?"
"The Moon Fox told us to come here to explain the situation," says Adam.
"She's back? Where is she?"
"She said she was going to the capital."
"Ah. Canterlot. She's probably warning the palace about the invasion," says Twilight.
"Ooh! More weird people!" shouts the pretty pink Pinkie Pie. She gallops toward Nick, causing him to fall back. She examines the boy with the cutest, little eyes. "Hi, I'm Pinkie Pie!"
"Pinkie! Get off of him," says Twilight.
Adam notices that there are four other ponies and a baby dragon in the room. Twilight's friends.
"Y'all must be Victor's friends," says Applejack.
"My, those outfits," says Rarity, "so rebellious and unique."
"Uh, thanks," says Adam, nervously. "Are these your friends?"
"Yeah!" answers Twilight. "After the burst of light, they all barged in here because of all this stuff appearing in the sky." She turns to her friends. "Everypony, this is Adam, and the one with Pinkie is Nick." She turns back to Adam, who's nervously waving at Twilight's friends. "So, what exactly is happening?"
Adam never felt so uncomfortable in his life. He's inside a world that is for the eyes of a little girl. He may have had a history of being free-spirited, but he knows how to be polite when it's proper. He doesn't want to hurt their feelings, thinking that they're fragile, helpless ponies. Pinkie Pie gets off of Nick and rejoins her friends.
"Well," starts Adam, "so three worlds are now close: your world, Earth, and Vremena. Something was going on with the light business, and now we're in the same galaxy. Unfortunately, there's a black, nightmarish orb in the center, and who knows what could come out of there. I haven't heard much, but I think all the fiddling with multiverse travel was messed with by something. But what is it?"
"Are you here to protect us?" asks Fluttershy.
"Yup," answers Nick. "We're just like our mate Vic, with the powers and all, and we're gonna destroy whatever comes out that portal. You're in good hands, ponies."
"We could help," suggests Twilight.
"Uh, hate it to break it you, but this is kinda out of your league..."
"We got the Elements of Harmony."
"The what?"
"Magical jewels, extremely powerful," answers Rainbow Dash, as confident as she can. "The point is, we all got a special trait, and together, we're a force to be reckoned with!"
Honestly, the two non-bronies will have to see it to believe it.
* * *
Edward and Luna soar through the skyscrapers of Peake City, with Groves carried on the dragon's back. Princess Luna is barely keeping focus on her flight patterns, but more at the beauty of the buildings. Edward can't help but chuckle at her reaction. "I'm guessing your world doesn't have a place like this," he says.
"Oh, no," answers Luna. "This place looks amazing!"
"Yeah. Too bad something out there wants to destroy it."
Luna completely forgot about the reason why she was separated from her dear sister. Edward's right. This marvelous city might be shattered by the invasion that is about to come. Luna quietly prays for Peake City to remain standing. She then turns back to Edward. "So, I must ask, dragon. What are these Settlers?"
"Well..." Edward rolls his yellow eyes away from Luna, thinking. "The Settlers are the oldest beings in this world. There's seven of us, and if we're all together, it could unlock the unknown origin of Vremena. I'm a Settler, Corvus is a Settler, and the Moon Fox is one, too. You can tell because we all wear a cursed medallion that we can't take off. EVER."
"So I have four that I have yet to meet?"
"Yeah," answers Edward. "You know what those boys did? The Earthlings?" Luna shakes her head. "We Settlers had most of our memories wiped long ago, and we couldn't recognize each other. Those guys brought us back together. We still have that amnesia problem, but it's no biggie. I already know myself well."
"How doth thou go so long...not knowing who thy true friends are?" asks Luna, sympathetically.
"It wasn't that bad, because I didn't know that I had long-lost friends, but it was hard when I've been told the truth..."
"Yes, the truth can be hard."
"But not knowing the truth is much harder." Edward looks down at the city. As usual, everyone is gazing at the black orb in the sky. "So how should we do this?"
"Perhaps warn the officials?" suggests Luna.
"Good call." Edward starts to laugh. "So Luna, aren't you worried?"
"Worried?"
"Worried about how messy all of this is gonna get. I dunno. You just seem like the type of creature that is well, fragile."
"Nonsense, Edward," laughs Luna. "Yes, you may be a dragon. Strong and fearful, and I may be just a helpless pony to thee, but if the invaders think the same, then they shall be horribly mistaken."
Edward leans his eyes toward his back, noticing his passenger. "You haven't said much, Groves," he says.
Groves leans over to an angle where Edward can see his helmet, concealing his devilish, red eyes. "Not much to say," he says. "We just fight."
* * *
Back in Manhattan, the streets are mostly cleared. Time seems to have sped up, nearing to sundown. The humans decide to listen to the wise being that is Princess Celestia. She's like an angel to them, granting them safety. Victor decides to succumb to curiosity and climb one of the tallest buildings he could spot. He makes it to the top of the Empire State Building and looks at the gaping hole in space. Corvus finds him, wondering what he's up to.
"I don't think we should wait," says Victor, locking eyes on the portal.
"Then what else can we do?" asks Corvus.
"We gotta close that thing before anything comes out."
Corvus crosses her arms. "Well, how do you suppose we do that?" she asks.
"There's this one movie I saw," begins Victor. "It's called The Avengers . So all these dudes invade New York, which is where we're at, and this machine opens up that opens this portal to some other world. The same machine was used to close it." He comes to a sudden realization. "Oh my God, this is just like that movie!"
"This is real life, Victor..."
"Yeah, but hanging around with you guys convinced me that this is all just a big dream. With pain. Lots of pain."
"Pain...pain from all that fighting?"
"Most of it, yeah," says Victor. He laughs softly. "But here comes the pain."
Like a cue, the dark orb on the sky starts to bubble up, and it spits out one figure from above. To Victor, it's the size of a flea. It turns out to not be so tiny, but just very far away. The object coming out starts to grow, and its size grows. No, it's getting closer. Victor sighs in relief, which is an ironic reaction. Instead of fear, he's glad to finally get this over with. He turns to Corvus, who's confused instead.
"Now would be a good time to go wild," says Corvus.
"Actually, I'm not," responds Victor. This confuses Corvus. "Not yet, at least..."
"I kinda expected a large fleet to pop up. Why only one?"
The figure crashes down on one of the buildings. It's about the size of a person, but it obliterates the building. Debris flies everywhere, and Corvus is too scared to even think of the possibility of people being in there. She hears an evil cackle, slowly rising in volume. The figure flies out of the debris and looks around. Victor and Corvus can't get a good view of its detail. He's too far away. Princess Celestia and Jin easily notice the collapsing building, so they go look for Victor and Corvus. The mysterious then turns to Victor, who's still camping on the Empire State Building. Victor blinks, and the figure vanishes. He blinks again, and it reappears inches away with a sadistic smile. Victor and Corvus are startled, but now they can explain the figure well. It's what appears to be an elderly man with long, silver hair and a short beard. The man shares Nick's height, has blue eyes, and wears dark green robes. He may not look scary, but this man is terrifying.
Princess Celestia meets up with Victor and Corvus, having Jin mounted on her back. The first thing she sees is the man that is hovering right in front of Victor, staring him down. "Ah, so the gang's all here," he says, deviously.
"Who are you?," asks Victor, his voice having a sense of hostility. He feels more than ready to go Moon Fox on him.
"Of course you wouldn't know me." The man turns to Corvus. "But I'm surprised you don't, Corvus..."
"How do you know my name?" asks Corvus, scared.
The man chuckles quietly, then turns back to Victor. "So how's your little brother? It's been so long, Corvus. And as for you, boy. I don't recognize you."
"Wait..." mutters Celestia. Her eyes suddenly widen and snaps her neck to Corvus. "Corvus! Remember your amnesia. This man must be involved with your forgotten past."
"Well, I don't like him," says Corvus.
"No, you shouldn't," agrees the man.
"What are you doing here?" asks Victor, still sounding hostile.
"To continue where I left off a thousand years ago," answers the man, sadistically. Lightning strikes behind him. His voice starts to sound more godly. "I am The Forbidden, you insects. I am above all of you. No one can defeat me!"
"Yeah..." says Victor in disbelief. "That's not gonna work, Gramps. Why? Because we're all here to defend and all, and we've been waiting for you."
"I've never seen you three in my life, but do you actually think you can stop me?"
"Uh, Forbidden Dude," says Victor, sounding surprisingly casual. "Don't judge a book by its cover. We got skills and we got power on our side. Also, I never really understood evil motives. So why do you want to terrorize a world that hasn't really caused you any harm?"
The Forbidden One starts to laugh unpleasantly. It's the only possible laugh that is not even contagious. "Oh," he responds, "it's nothing, really. I just despise humans."
To The Forbidden's surprise, Victor pulls out his staff, twirling it and aiming an intensifying gemstone on its tip. "I'm human, and I find that offensive," he says, hostile again. "But you've been here for like, a minute, and you already killed...the number of people in that building you destroyed."
"And how do you plan on stopping me?" asks The Forbidden One, maliciously.
No talk. Just action. Victor springs off the skyscraper's wall and jets toward the new foe. He tackles him, sending both of them plummeting into the ground. Their impact spreads a puff of debris and dust. Jin hops on Celestia's back as she follows Corvus down toward the damage. They can see it. Victor and The Forbidden One are shooting spells at each other. Lots of blocking and evading, but his friends don't leave him alone. They all start ganging up on The Forbidden One, but this guy does not show any sign of fatigue. Far away, a helicopter is filming the action. Clearly this would be very entertaining.
The Forbidden One palms the ground, sending a shockwave that gets both Victor and Jin. Corvus and Celestia simply fly up to avoid it. Celestia fires a stream of magic through her horn, but The Forbidden One evades it with little effort. Victor and Jin get back up, but they're in pain. Jin notices Celestia worrying about his current state, so he starts to laugh.
"I'm fine, Celestia," he says.
"Good," says Celestia, and she returns to firing at The Forbidden One.
Corvus decides to get closer to their foe, pointing her feet right at him. She nearly slices The Forbidden One's face with her talons, but she lands with two glowing hands. Corvus swings them at The Forbidden One, but can't land a hit on him. He's too fast, so he gets on a horse stance with her arms crossed and then spreads the arms apart, expanding a force that pushes The Forbidden One away. The old man topples on the ground as Corvus flies up and charges a spell in her palms.
The Forbidden One vanishes as Corvus is about to release the spell. Then she feels an insane pain on the back of her neck. The Forbidden One appears behind her and must have smacked her. She drops to the ground, and during that, Victor jumps up to the Forbidden One with lightning on one hand. The Forbidden One nimbly grabs his wrist and hurls him blocks away. He then notices Jin and Celestia close together, so he inhales and breathes out an inferno of fire. The flames engulf both. As they shrink, The Forbidden One sees Jin and Celestia with burn marks at the most. Jin blocked the firestorm with an ice barrier. The Forbidden One then snaps his fingers and a force pushes both of them away. Jin lands on a car, while Celestia lands on a building, which turns out to be the place Victor crashed into. The Forbidden One is clearly ina league of his own.
Corvus gets back up and jumps toward The Forbidden One with a punch ready for him, but The Forbidden One simply pushes her away. Corvus crashes through the windows of a store and experiences the pain of shattering glass all over her body.
"Discord," mutters Celestia, weakly. Victor gets up, feeling so much pain, and limps over to Celestia. Her mane is messy, her white fur is damaged, and she is bleeding in some places. Victor grabs her by the shoulders and tries to pry her off. He succeeds, but only to have the white horse collapse over him. She's heavy compared to a human.
"Alright," says The Forbidden One, "now where is that meddling fox?"
Upon hearing the old man's cold words, Victor reveals himself in an instant, just as wounded as everyone else, "Wait," he says, eyeing him. "Are you talking about the Moon Fox?"
"The Moon Fox?" says The Forbidden One, stroking his silvery beard curiously. "So that mutt came up with a title."
"How do you know her?"
"You could say we're long-time rivals," answers The Forbidden One.
"Why?" Victor takes steps closer to his opponent.
"You know. Wanting to thwart my plans and all. You and your freakish friends aren't even a threat to me, so I might as well tell you." Victor and The Forbidden One are close to each other now. Victor has a mighty urge to just punch him in the face, but he knows it would be futile. The Forbidden One is clearly a being that is unholy and unforgiving. Not to mention cocky and inconsiderate. "I was going to create my own world, where I'd be the supreme ruler. When a life ceases, he or she is reincarnated into another world, as a new form of life. Naturally, it's random, but I figured out a way for my murders to always lead to my world. Your bitch friend and the other pests were in my way, so I had to dispose of them."
"Moon Fox must've kicked your ass," says Victor, cocky.
"No," corrects The Forbidden One, in the coldest of tones. At this point, spectators are peeking out the windows to watch the standoff. "It was Oliver. Too bad he's dead..."
"So you think I should just give up," says Victor in flat tone.
"It's your only option. I'm quite used to getting my hands filthy."
Victor thinks for a moment. All the talking made him forget about the pain from his wounds, but they're nothing serious to him. "I don't think so," he answers. Amazing how casual he can treat his opponents like they were almost friends. "My name is Victor, The Forbidden One. I am a human, raised here and transformed in Vremena. Two things I've learned about myself in all my experiences is that I hate losing and that I eventually rise above anyone who stands in my way. I know where you came from now. From that Overloard! When he died, you were released."
"An excellent assumption," responds The Forbidden One.
"Alright, now I'm getting how you tick, Gramps. You're just another guy who wants bad stuff to happen to others." Victor glares at The Forbidden One. "Now let's see how much punishment you can take..."
Victor roars right at The Forbidden One's face. It startles him slightly. Black lightning surrounds the young mage, and his eyes turn black, like the heart he has for sick people. The aura around him explodes, leaving The Forbidden One in front of the legacy of the Moon Fox.
"Oh, now we're talking," says Jin from behind. He sports a devious smile at The Forbidden One. Victor, now in his transformed state, also starts to smile, which is rare in his current state. "The punishment shall be doubled!" Jin lets out a glass-shattering screech, one that would come out of a bird. A purple aura starts to glow around him, and it's intensifying. The purple aura surrounds Jin, along with a black one, mixing like they're in a running blender. Jin's eyes also glow, and the aura around him explodes.
After the flash, The Forbidden One now gazes at the transformed Jin curiously. Princess Celestia gets to a spot where she can clearly see him. It's shocking to her. Corvus also sees it, and she seems satisfied about it. Jin's transformation is linked to Corvus, so he's now an anthropomorphic raven like her, but with big differences. He wears an improved version of his usual gear of a trenchcoat and blue jeans. Now it's a leathery brown jacket zipped open, black pants held by a shining belt, and his straw hat is now black as night. It slightly covers his head, now replaced by a raven's. His eyes change like Victor's, too. They're colored violet, and the feathers in his face are detailed with swirling, white marks. He has these white markings in certain parts of his body. No wings, though. Oh, wait. Jin probably has the ability to hide his wings like Corvus.
The newly transformed Jin tips his hat to Victor with a sly smile. His gear looks more casual than Victor's, so he doesn't look exactly battle-ready. Victor turns to The Forbidden One, glaring. The Forbidden One only laughs, which infuriates Victor even more.
"Do you think a measly transformation can stop me?" he says.
Victor and Jin are done talking. They both fire a stream of energy at The Forbidden One. They both make a direct hit, pushing him back. The Forbidden One retaliates with releasing a barrage of fireballs out of nowhere, all aiming at the two beasts. Jin makes an ice dome to shield against the rain of fire. When it's over, he reveals his wings, just as graceful as Corvus'. He raises his arms up in the air, charging a cyan-colored ball of energy. It grows larger than himself, and like an executioner, he swings his arms down like he's carrying the heaviest of axes, chanting in a god-like voice the well-deserved title of his technique.
TUNDRA BOMB!
The ball of energy flies down to The Forbidden One, engulfing him into an icy prison. As the energy expands and bursts, Victor notices him flying away from it. Victor chases after him by darting off at an amazing speed. Sadism. That's all he can think of right now. Victor catches up to The Forbidden One and grabs him by the face with his blue claws. He keeps flying toward that direction, and he buries his face right into a building. The Forbidden One lets out a quiet grunt of pain, but he retaliates by forcing Victor away from him. He tries to keep a distance away from Victor, but Victor fires a stream of lightning at him. It nearly hits.
Jin shows up and tackles The Forbidden One. The Forbidden One punches him in the gut and hurls him away, making Jin crash somewhere far away. Victor can tell the old man is furious right now. "YOU INSOLENT PESTS!" he shouts at the top of his lungs. His voice echoe all over Manhattan. Victor is about two hundred feet away and he still finds it loud. "I AM YOUR GOD NOW! AND I'M NOT GOING TO WASTE MY TIME WITH INSECTS LIKE YOU!"
The Forbidden One snaps his finger, and before you know it, the sky is covered with monsters. All kinds, and most of them can't be identified. Victor is barely intimidated by all of the monsters, considering he already is one. Fear is not an emotion that is exploited in his transformation. He glares at The Forbidden One with those empty, black eyes he inherited. He growls like all the other monsters above him. "I'm not letting you enslave so much as one individual mind!" he shouts as he claws a hand downward.
The Forbidden One raises an arm in the air, and an inferno of blood-red fire and dark energy builds up in the palm. Victor's hand builds up a purple aura, mixed with black and white lightning. When both energies are built up, The Forbidden One rushes over to Victor. Victor rushes to him also, holding his weapon of execution on his left hand.
Victor is ambidextrous, actually. He uses a pencil and silverware with his left hand, while anything around sports is for his right hand. It's only proper that he uses his hand of creation to destroy as well. The Forbidden One and Victor are about to impact, both with fire in their eyes. The strong aura the energies are giving off are making small parts of nearby buildings chip off and float in the air. Before Victor meets his attack with The Forbidden One's, he chants the last words that he hopes for the man to hear.
VIRTUOUS SPEAR!
The two energies collide. They send twenty-foot-long streams of lightning and energy everywhere. A new Sun has been formed on the streets of Manhattan, and it's deadly. It only takes a few seconds of collision for a light to blind both Victor, The Forbidden One, along with the rest of Manhattan and all the monsters The Forbidden One invited.
Victor has no idea what to do, but to keep his left arm raised up. The Forbidden One could still be under all that light.
Victor starts to feel dreary, and all the white around him turns black.
* * *
Meanwhile, in Equestria, it turns out that The Forbidden One's influence expands further than Earth. Monsters of all kinds are hovering above all of Equestria, ready to come down from the heavens, a place where they do not belong, and terrorize all of the civilians. Adam catches a sound that is similar to the sound from Nick's summoning spells. He hears lots of them, even if he's in a library with thick walls.
"Anyone hear that?" he asks.
"Hear what, darling?" says Rarity, confused.
Adam looks out the window, and his heart stops by the sight of all the monsters. Some of them are very ugly. "HOLY FUCK!" he yells. "They're here!"
"The invasion?" says Nick.
"Yeah!"
Twilight Sparkle looks out the window and glares all the nightmares surrounding everypony. She turns to her friends. "Girls," she says, "ready the Elements of Harmony."
* * *
It's the same in Vremena. All the monsters about to start terrorizing of the most dazzling cities on the planet. Luna is a bit worried, but Edward only glares at them. Groves does the same.
"Showtime," says Edward.
"Shouldn't we unite with thy friends first?" suggests Luna. "Strength in numbers."
"Oh, we will," answers Groves, deviously. "We'll just have to haul our ass through countless walls of beasts on the way there."
And so, the heroes begin the fight to defend their worlds from The Forbidden One.
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
Victor wakes up to the smell of salt in the atmosphere. He picks himself up, but it's difficult for him. He feels pain in his torso and some on his right thigh. He raises a hand in front of him, and it's blue, tipped with black claws. He's still in his transformed state. but he can't make out his surroundings. Victor starts to think about where he could be. The blurriness doesn't give a hint to a single building. He's probably not in New York anymore. He only remembers colliding with The Forbidden One, and then everything went black.
The blurriness in his black eyes starta to fade. He runs through a few thoughts as he examines his surroundings more clearly. Trees. Dirt. Flowers. Big rainbow. Wait, what? Victor looks at the sky. It's not blue. The clouds are blended with every color he can identify. Victor assumes he's not in Earth anymore, but he can't be in Vremena, either. Never has he seen this type of sky in the months he spent travelling that enchanted world.
Pain sears in Victor's limbs, but he walks it off. Whenever this kid goes beast, he feels invulnerable and unyielding, like nothing can stop him or slow him down. At least that's how he felt. The Forbidden One pulverized him. He was no match for that devil. He keeps looking around. More trees, still the rainbow sky, and something white lying over there. Wait! Victor runs over to a figure lying under a branch, disregarding all the pain in his body. It turns out to be Princess Celestia, and she's in a just as bad shape as her troubled friend. Her mane is messy, and her neck and right arm is covered with blood.
"Celestia!" shouts Victor as he grabs her bobbing head. He shakes her body, but she does not wake. He doesn't know what else to do, or either he's drowning in panic that he forgot about a better solution. "Come on, wake up! Celestia! Wake up! No! CELESTIA!" Victor, being mostly an optimist, tries to look at the bright side. He thinks she's is only sleeping. Thinks, that is. Victor clenches the white horse's head to his chest, right next to his beating heart. The beast begins to drip tears on the rainbow mane of his friend.
There's only one time Victor cried when transformed. It's a very rare because of the behavior he has that comes with the power. He goes back to the day he challenged the overlord. It was a stormy night, and he was fueled with nothing but hatred and anger. Groves killed the overlord, but he turned on his friends for the raw power. Victor remembers when he executed the Moon Fox right in front of him. He never felt so agonized before in his life. It was torture for him to endure all of it, and he was only a mere child. He cried to the heavens, pleading for help.
Wish granted. The Moon Fox left her legacy engraved within the boy from Earth. In his first few seconds transformed, Victor merely glared at Groves with shining tears running down his fur-covered face. It was the face of unleashed pain, and it was all aimed at the traitor.
Victor keeps crying, trying to deny the painful truth. Princess Celestia slowly raises her eyelids. They're very heavy. Looks like the painful truth will have to wait. She looks around, noticing the sound of Victor's crying. She can feel her ear pressed on his robes, hearing a faint heartbeat. "Victor?" she says softly.
Victor stops crying. He lets go of Celestia's head and smiles at the sight of her eyes. "Oh, thank God! You're alive," he says. It's also rare for Victor to actually look happy when transformed.
Celestia snuggles to Victor's chest. "I'm only glad you're fine." She notices they're in a forest. "Any idea what happened?"
"Not sure. Last thing I remembered was colliding attacks with the old guy, and then boom."
"Oh yeah. I ran after you..."
"Figures..." mutters Victor. "This can't be Earth."
"Or Equestria."
"Not even Vremena. Never seen nothing like it."
"Maybe we died."
Celestia's words hit Victor like an arrow. Could they have really died? They already know about the reincarnation process, but they're still the same beings they used to be. "No, we didn't," says Victor, stroking his hand into Celestia's mane. "If I did die, I'd be back in my normal state. Something freaky must've happened with the collision."
"That guy was tough," says Celestia, dissapointed.
"Yeah..."
Defeat. That's all that echoes in Victor's mind. No. It can't end that way. He hates to lose. "We should go figure out where we are, but I feel really comfy right now." He's also lazy.
"I feel fine as long as I'm with a friend," says Celestia, smiling.
"How much are you hurting?"
"I can still fly. No strain on my wings. You?"
"I feel sore all over, but I'll walk it off." Victor carefully grabs Celestia's head and gets up. "We're not done yet, you know."
Celestia also gets up, but fatigued by soreness in her limbs. She stretches them out a bit. It helps a little. Victor can see it. The sense of giving up. The Forbidden One is too strong for the sun goddess and a beastly mage, not to mention their other beastly friend and the raven. Celestia slowly spreads her wings. Victor starts to hover as she does, and they both take off a random direction.
"We gonna try to go back?" suggests Victor.
"To be honest, we don't have much of a choice," answers Celestia.
"I'm warning you. The longer I stay like this, the harder it is to control my anger. So hurry."
Nothing interesting passes by them. Only forest, forest, and more forest. The only interesting thing so far is the color of the sky, but back in Vremena, the sky is just as blue as Earth's. But Victor hasn't explored the whole planet yet. In his journey toward becoming an adventurer, he only covered about a sixth or seventh of the entire planet. Who knows. Maybe they could be in Vremena.
They reach the end of the forest and enter an ocean of sand. Shortly after, there's life ahead. Ironic how life was not found within the lushness of the forest. "Victor, do you see them?" asks Celestia.
"Yeah. One of them looks like-" Victor stops. His face is frozen with a blank expression. It's like he's a zombie. Celestia waves a hoof in front of him, but no reaction. "Those things..." mutters Victor. Celestia looks at what the direction her friend is looking at.
"What's the big deal? It's just a dinosaur, wolf, a big bird, and a...walking cactus."
"Celestia, I don't know how to say this." Victor makes eye contact with Celestia. "They're DIGIMON!"
"Digi-what?" says Celestia, raising an eyebrow. Victor watches some of his childhood heroes as they fight against a monkey wearing pajamas. He remembers that the villain is called Etemon, and he talked like Elvis. "Is this another world?"
"We're in another world, alright. Just like we're you're from, this is also a show." Victor puts a claw under his chin. "Now how are we gonna get out?"
"It's HIM!" shouts Celestia.
"Who!"
Celestia does not respond. Victor follows her eyes, seeing The Forbidden One, grinning at them. Victor growls, but that's all he can do. They're both worn out. "Looks like we both took a little detour," he says deviously. "I must be leaving now. My little pets need a little guidance." With that, he vanishes into a burst of energy. One of the Digimon gets distracted by it, but it just shrugs and returns to fighting.
"Damn, we're trapped," says Victor.
Without warning, Celestia lunges at Victor, throwing him to the ground. Victor starts to get angry about it, but then notices a large body flying over them. It's a blue wolf. Garurumon , thinks Victor.
Garurumon gets up and notices Victor and Celestia. He gawks at them with interest. "Uh, need some help?" says Victor.
"Oh, you better believe it," answers Garurumon with the same voice Victor remembered. "Who are you two?"
Victor shifts his eyes, then hatches an idea. Knowing Celestia and him are complete strangers in this world, they must blend in with the digital monsters. "I'm Magemon and this is Celestiamon."
Seriously? thinks Celestia.
"Well, nice to meet you two. I'm Garurumon," says Garurumon. The digimon turns back to Etemon. "This guy is really tough. What's your digivolution ranks?"
"Champion," answers Victor. Of course. He was never the boasting type.
"Feel free to jump in." Garurumon leaps away, reuniting with his other Digimon friends.
Victor turns to Celestia. "So how are we gonna get back to Earth?" he asks.
Celestia thinks for a moment. "Well, there IS one way," she says.
"What is it?"
"Remember when we worked on that arc? I've looked through the work of Starswirl the Bearded to achieve it, because he believed that there were other worlds out there. There is this one spell that allows multiverse travel, avoiding all the complex work we went through."
Victor is baffled. "Then why didn't we just use that in the first place?"
"Because it's highly unpredictable, and it's only limited to a couple, maybe a few beings at the most. The reason why we built the arc is to establish a permanent link with the other two worlds. That link must be why the three worlds are in the same galaxy now."
"I see." Victor lowers his head. "We were trying to avoid going somewhere else."
"Exactly. It took me forever to find this spell, and I thought it could be an easy way out of all the work, but then I notices that it came with a price. It was too alternate for it to be safe."
"But we don't have a choice..." says Victor.
"Then hold still." Celestia's horn starts to glow yellow. A circle of light surrounds the two, and it rises form the ground as a cylinder. Midway through the spell, Victor decides to turn back to normal. There's no telling how long he's been unconscious, so better to not take any chances. Celestia's and Victor's bodies glow to a light-yellow, and they vanish.
* * *
Chaos reigns over the city of New York. Corvus and Jin both look up at the incoming swarm of monsters. Their red or black eyes glare at them, marking their prey. Jin is still in his transformed state, by the way. It includes a slight increase in height as well. Corvus is torn up. Most of her shirt's right sleeve is missing, along with half of one her trouser's legs. Those bare spots have blood either dripping or drying. Jin's only has scratches to worry about, along with the swarm of monsters.
"So, what do you figure happened to Vic, Celestia, and that other guy?" asks Jin.
"Uh, space-time rift in result of the collision?" suggests Corvus.
"Kinda stupid of Celestia to run after them."
"Can we talk about this later? It's two against thousands!" snaps Corvus. Jin is startled. Corvus is always so cheery and friendly. It doesn't seem right to him seeing her mad, but Corvus' anger also works as a reminder: This is absolutely not the time to mess around.
The Forbidden One appears next to them, making Jin lose all sense of happiness. "Where are they?" he says in a hostile tone.
The Forbidden One glances at Jin's feathered face like he doesn't even care. "Oh, they're both long gone," he answers blankly. "You will be, too. My pets are really fond of poultry." He laughs at his joke.
Jin growls at The Forbidden One. He starts to approach him, but Corvus puts her hand in the way. "Jin," she whispers. "I'll deal with him. You get the swarm." Jin nods in agreement and takes off.
"One against thousands? Oh, and I ponder about your brain size..." says The Forbidden One.
"Actually, I just evened up the playing field," says Corvus, giggling. The Forbidden One looks up, seeing fighter jets darting through the sky, drilling down the army of monsters. "It seems the military just arrived."
The Forbidden One chuckles with devious smile. "They can't save you..."
Corvus spreads her legs, positioning into a fighting stance. The Forbidden One rushes toward her, delivering nothing but punishment.
* * *
The only upside for the ones in Equestria is that The Forbidden One is not there. The monsters swoop down, terrorizing the whole country. Buildings start setting on fire and explosions go off every few seconds. It's absolute chaos. Adam and Nick prepare to go out and fight, but Fluttershy gets in their way. Adam turns to her with a disappointed expression.
"What is it?" he asks.
"You can't go out there!" insists Fluttershy. "You'll get killed."
"Then what else are we supposed to do?"
Fluttershy does not know either. "Uh, wait for us to get ready?" she suggests. "With the Elements?" If Victor was here, he would have agreed with her in one second flat, maybe less. Adam and Nick loot at her with disbelief. This is the usual scenario for when non-bronies are tossed into Equestria. They underestimate the ponies' potential.
"OH, BUCK!" shouts a distant Twilight from her room.
Spike runs up to the voice. "What is it, Twilight?"
"The Elements are back in Canterlot! I forgot to take them home!"
Nick does a face-palm, while everypony else either groans or look down in despair. "So much for that force thing you ponies were talking about," he says. He turns to Adam. "Come on, dude."
Fluttershy politely moves out of the way as Adam turns to the knob. He opens it, only to feast his eyes on the Moon Fox, standing an inch away from him. She gives him a jolt. "Dammit, Fox! You almost gave me a heart attack!" shouts Adam.
"No time to cry to about it," snaps Moon Fox. The Mane Six and Spike are all glad to see her. She smiles to her Equestrian friends. "Looks like you all missed me."
"No kidding!" says Pinkie Pie. "The sky just kept swirling and swirling, Dashie kept getting hated on, and these two party poopers showed up!
Moon Fox glares at Adam and Nick. "Be nice, boys."
Nick notices that one of the Fox's seven tails is holding a chest. "What's in the chest?" he asks.
"The Elements of Harmony." Moon Fox presents the chest to the Mane Six, opening it with another tail. Twilight sighs in relief. "The two boys came with me to Equestria. I made a stop at Canterlot to warn Shining Armor and Cadence about the invasion. The military's being deployed as we speak. Oh, and I also snagged the Elements for you girls."
"So what's the plan?" asks Adam. The mares put on their corresponding Elements, feeling proud of themselves.
"Fight like hell," answers Moon Fox. "I don't plan on dying a second time."
The Elements of Harmony begin to glow. Adam and Nick are surprised by this. Strangely, the Mane Six are, too. "Who's doing this?" asks Rainbow Dash.
"Not me", "nope", and "wasn't me" is passed around the room. Moon Fox puts a claw under her chin.
"Hey, Fox," says Nick, "what are those necklaces doing?"
"Beats me," answers Moon Fox.
Adam, Nick, Moon Fox, and Spike watch as the Mane Six start to get consumed by their glowing Elements. Nick is beyond confused, while the other three are interested. The Mane Six are being dragged. Closer to each other. Their positions form a shrinking hexagon, and they touch. The light consumes them, and no one can make out who's beneath it. Moon Fox can feel a strong aura.
The light dims. Nick drops his jaw.
"Whoa," says Adam, astonished.
"Oh. My. God," mutters Moon Fox.
The light reveals an alicorn no one has ever seen before, with a long, spiky mane that fades into different colors like lights in a night club. The same goes for her tail. The alicorn's fur coat is white like Celestia's and her eyes are rainbow-colored. They gaze at the Moon Fox. The Elements of harmony fused the Mane Six into one powerful being.
"Well," says the Moon Fox. "This is new..."
"Indeed," says the alicorn, examining herself. Her voice sounds godly, and the Moon Fox can barely make out a fragment of each of the mane Six's voices. She notices that she's wearing a necklace that fuses all of the Elements' symbols. "I am Twilight Sparkle. I am Rainbow Dash as well. I am Pinkie Pie, Applejack, Rarity, and Fluttershy. We never knew the Elements could do such a thing."
"At least you didn't have to do a ridiculous dance to fuse," jokes Adam.
"Ha! I see what you did there," says Nick, laughing.
"This is not the time for jokes," says the alicorn, glaring with her rainbow eyes. "So, do you two still think we can't help?"
"Not anymore," answers Adam.
"So, what are we supposed to call you?" asks Moon Fox. She sounds like she was holding in that question for a while.
The alicorn looks straight at her eyes. "Harmony," she says.
"Okay, Harmony." Moon Fox's ear twitches. "Wait, wasn't that grumpy dinosaur supposed to come with us?"
"Who? Twig?" says Adam. "He said he would catch up with us."
"We can't wait for him," says Harmony. "We must strike." She zooms out the door, leaving a shining rainbow trail behind. She curves up to the sky, drilling through a good number of monsters. It's like Rainbow Dash's nuke technique, but shaped like a drill.
"Damn," says Nick.
"Indeed," agrees Moon Fox, astonished by the power of the Elements of Harmony.
* * *
Airships, magicians, and many species capable of flight spring into the sky over Peake City, all aimed to fend off the army of beasts. Edward looks at Groves, who's still riding on his back. Luna looks at him, too. The sky fills with strong beams of light and fire. It's like a firework display. Edward keeps glaring at Groves with his yellow eyes.
"Alright, Groves," he says, "let's see if we can truly forgive ya."
Groves responds with an evil laugh that echoes for miles. This scares Princess Luna. "Oh, Edward, you've been on the other side like me once. How did it feel?"
Edward's glare breaks. "Terrible," he says.
"And you wish to never come back, now do you?"
Edward nods.
"Then it's time to unleash the fallen angel," says Groves. He calmly lets go of Edward and falls down. Groves laughs evilly as his velocity increases to the acceleration of gravity (same as Earth's, if you're wondering). A black and red aura bursts from his body, allowing the power of the fallen lord to consume him. The aura dims, revealing Groves as the monster that once killed the Moon Fox.
Luna smirks at Groves. Her expression shows a but of slyness. "Thou hast unleashed a beast," she says. "Now it's my turn." A dark blue, night-like aura consumes the body of Princess Luna. Edward can see a silhouette of her eyes, glowing white. Lightning strikes near Luna, as she reveals herself as the treacherous Nightmare Moon.
Edward whistles in astonishment. "That's one badass pony," he says. With that, he takes off into the sky to join the defenders. Nightmare Moon and Groves follow him, having the same intention. Edward breathes out an inferno of fire that consumes a large number of the monsters. Groves pulls out a fancy sword with a black blade and swings, cutting the air into a bloody red slash that rushes after many of the monsters. Nightmare Moon shoots a dark beam from her horn, pulverizing many as well. All three rush to get more, on their way to rally up with the rest of the Settlers.
* * *
Back to Victor and Celestia. White light bursts open, revealing the two. They look around, hoping to have made it back to Earth. Very uncertain, though. Victor looks up, noticing their flower-shaped clouds in the sky, and they're multicolored. Celestia feels as if the atmosphere is wet. Very wet. Her mane flows in a different manner compared to the atmosphere in Equestria.
"Are we underwater?" asks Celestia.
"Then why can I breathe just fine?" says Victor.
"I don't know..." Celestia looks down. The ground is nothing but white sand. She also feels mich lighter than in the other worlds. Victor also studies his surroundings. He spots a few buildings, but pays attention to one in particular. As he runs toward it, he comes across a dollar bill on the sandy ground. Score! he thinks. He picks it up, and the bill looks like an ordinary United States dollar, but it has a clam shell on it. Victor smiles as he notices how cartoony it looks, too.
"We're in Bikini Bottom!" he says joyfully.
"Lemme guess. Another show?" asks Celestia, annoyed. She catches to Victor easily, with her weight reduction and all.
"Yeah."
"Then come closer. I'm trying the spell again."
"Wait! Lemme try something first!"
"Victor!"
Too late. Victor runs to the building he was paying attention to, a brown one with many flags hanging on it, next to a signpost reading 'The Krusty Krab'. He calmly opens the glass door and casually walks into the restaurant. The fish people all gawk at him. Victor ignores them and continues to make his way to the register. Squidward's pouting face waits him there, and he meets it with a fanboy-like smile.
"What're you so happy about?" asks Squidward in a moody tone.
"First time here, Squi- I mean, mister," answers Victor.
"Wonderful..." mutters Squidward, sarcastically. "May I take your order?" Obviously, he's not concerned about Victor's appearance.
"One Krabby Patty, with bacon," orders Victor.
Squidward turns to the window behind to inform his yellow colleague. "Spongebob, one Krabby Patty, bacon," he says.
"Coming right up!" shouts a familiar, high voice from the kitchen. Victor hears the spatula flipping and the patties sizzling on the grill.
"Um, I'd like it to go," says Victor in a hasty tone.
The kitchen door is swung open, and SpongeBob is in front of Victor with his order. "WOOOOOOOOOW!" he yells. Victor doesn't even care if that split his eardrums. "I've never seen you before!"
"So you're SpongeBob."
"Ooooh, how do you know my name?"
"Uh, you're famous for your fry-cooking expertise," lies Victor. He knows him because he saw about a million episodes of his show in his lifetime.
"Oh, why thank you," says SpongeBob, flattered. "But you don't look like a sea creature." SpongeBob gets closer to Victor, staring at him with those big, hypnotic, blue eyes. "Maybe you're an ALIEN! Oh, I always wanted to meet an alien."
"Actually, I'm Mermaidman's apprentice," fabricates Victor.
"Ahem." Squidward gets Victor's attention, showing him an open tentacle. "Two ninety-nine," he says.
"Right." Victor gives him the bill he found. Five dollars. "Keep the change."
"Ooooh, how kind of you," says SpongeBob as he gives Victor his Krabby Patty. "Bye! Come back soon!"
"Nice to meet you, SpongeBob." Victor runs out of the restaurant, remembering about Princess Celestia. Oh, man, the thinks. She's gonna go all bitch mode on me for sure. But how could I let an opportunity of a lifetime go by? Irregardless, he continues to face the consequences. He sees Celestia, and she's not happy. Oh, balls...
"Okay, what the hell was that about?" asks Celestia, angry. Victor responds by opening the bag he's carrying, showing her the Krabby Patty. This only infuriates her even more. She is literally red with fury. "YOU KEPT ME WAITING FOR A GREASY HAMBURGER? OH, THE NERVE YOU HAVE, VICTOR! KNOWING THAT WE'RE SUPPOSED TO STOP THE FORBIDDEN ONE, AND YOU RUN OFF TO APPEASE YOURSELF WITH-" Fist in the mouth. Not exactly, but Celestia's mouth is full now.
When Celestia was letting out steam, Victor tore the Krabby Patty in half and shoved one half into the Princess' mouth. Celestia makes a naturally response by chewing the patty and swallowing. Her eyes grow until the iris and pupil hide the white. "Oh my," she says. "That is absolutely divine."
"You think I'd miss a chance to actually try out a Krabby Patty?" says Victor, squinting his eyes. He takes a bite off the other half. Same reaction as Celestia. "Holy mother of Christ! This is AMAZING!" He scarfs down the rest of the Krabby Patty and wipes his face. "Okay, now we can go."
"I'm still mad at you." Celestia's tone is stern. She performs the spell once again and they both vanish.
* * *
Victor and Celestia reappear in a wasteland with blue grass and green sky. Victor gets an instant ide of where they are. It's dangerous to him, but exciting. Celestia looks at Victor's expression. Then she hears an explosion. The sky grows dark and a pillar of smoke erupts from a distance.
"Is this place familiar to you?" asks Celestia, worried about the explosion.
"This is Planet Namek," answers Victor. "From the Dragonball Z universe. There's guys in here that can destroy planets." Celestia turns to the direction of the smoke and explosions. A massive, white and blue ball of energy forms in the sky, and it grows. "This must be when Goku and fighting Frieza! That fight was so epic!" Victor jumps in excitement. He's about to witness the power of the Spirit Bomb.
He climbs up to a plateau, allowing him to see the full action. He can see the evil Lord Frieza beating Piccolo to a pupil while Goku charges the Spirit Bomb. The energy given off by these beings give a ground a small tremor. Celestia flies up to Victor, letting her curiosity take over. "What is that giant ball of light?" she asks.
"Never mind that." Victor's excitement starts to get shrouded with uncertainty. "So why are we jumping randomly to other worlds?"
"I told you. This spell is highly unstable. We'll just have to get lucky." Celestia performs the spell again, and they vanish.
* * *
The two universal travelers appear in a very pink room. It's so pink, it hurts Victor's eyes. It also hurts Celestia's eyes. They look around at all the pink. It gives Celestia a headache. Victor's heart stops to sight of a few ponies gazing at them. They're in a bakery, and all the customers have their eyes on the two newcomers. The ponies are like the ones in Equestria, with the cutie marks and stylish manes, but their eyes make them look braindead and their heads are thicker.
"Hi there!" greets one of them. "Wanna come to my dress-up party?"
Victor grabs Celestia's shoulders and shakes her. "GET US OUT OF HERE!" he yells.
"What? Why?" says Celestia, confused. The ponies keep staring at them.
"JUST GET US THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!"
Celestia does the spell as a response to her panic, and they make an exit with the explosion of light.
* * *
When the spell transports them to another world, Victor is revealed to still be holding Celestia by the shoulders. He lets go and sighs in relief.
"What was that all about" asks Celestia, confused.
"You should've known better," answers Victor.
"Known what?"
Victor snaps his neck to Celestia, staring. "Don't you realize what that place was?"
"No."
"Generation Three! That's what it was! A place where all hell is unleashed on you..."
"What?"
Victor sighs. "Your show is what we call Generation Four. The last three are also My Little Pony shows. Generation One, okay. Two and Three, terrible. You should thank you for getting us out before it was too late."
Celestia roars with laughter. "Didn't you say we were for little girls?"
"Yeah...?"
"Seemed like that other world made sure of it."
"Oh, shut up. You're blessed enough to be in the good generation." At this point, Victor and Celestia take a look at their surroundings. They seem to be in Canterlot, seeing a palace and other fancy buildings. Wait, Canterlot!
"Yes! We're back in Equestria!" shouts Celestia, hugging Victor.
"Close enough," laughs Victor. "The similarity of the other world must've helped send us here."
Celestia's happiness is shortlived, though. She sees the swarm of monsters dogfighting with Equestria's military force. She can't really teel which side is winning. "This has The Forbidden One written al over it."
"Yeah, he did the same thing back on Earth, before we had that little accide- OH SHIIIIIIIIIIIT!" Victor grabs Celestia for protection, as he witnesses an alicorn drill through hundreds of monsters. The young boy is terrified by this new being, even though he doesn't know Harmony is on their side. He grabbed as a childish impulse, like a scared child running up to his or her mother's legs and wrapping the tightly. Celestia is one his mother figures.
Harmony swoops down, spotting Celestia. She lands in front of her. Celestia is impressed by her appearance, especially the fading colors in her mane. "Another alicorn? I wonder if more will crawl out..."
"That thing is frickin' volatile!" shouts Victor.
"Victor..." Celestia locks eyes with the boy. "Please let me go."
Victor lets her go, and turns to Harmony. "So who are you?"
Harmony smiles at Victor. "Don't you recognize that little pony you love?" she says sweetly.
"Fluttershy..." Victor's eyes widen. "FLUTTERSHY?"
"You're partially right. Yes, I am Fluttershy." Harmony's voice majorly gives off Fluttershy's soft, angelic voice for a moment. "But I'm the other five as well. Just call me Harmony."
"How did you six fuse?"
"Elements of Harmony."
Celestia chuckles. "It was only a matter of time," she says. "This only happens when the world is plunged into absolute chaos."
"It would be an honor to fight by your side, Princess."
"No," says Celestia. "I'd be honored to fight by YOUR side."
The Moon swoops down between Celestia and Harmony without warning. She turns to Harmony. "Come on, we need your help!" she says. Then she notices Celestia and Victor. "Shouldn't you two be on Earth?"
At this point, one of the flying behemoths are about to charge at the group, but Twig comes out of nowhere and knocks him out of the way. About time, thinks the Moon Fox as she crosses her arms. The beast is knocked out, and Twig walks away from it, dusting off his scaly hands. "Sorry I'm late," he says to the group. "What's up with the huddle? We still got tons of chaos out there."
"Twig, something weird happened back on Earth," says Celestia.
Twig raises an eyebrow, or at least the scales of the area where they would be. "That explains why you're not there."
"Uh, who is this guy?" asks Harmony.
"Ally," answers Moon Fox.
"We encountered this man on Earth," recaps Celestia. "He was extremely powerful, and even with all four of us ganging up, he still had the upper hand. We were torn apart. Then Victor confronted him with one of his attacks, and he collided with the man. It sent both Victor and I to another world, and we kept randomly teleporting to others until we got here."
Twig's eye widens (while the other is covered). "Who is this man you speak of?" he asks.
"He calls himself The Forbidden One."
"No," says both Twig and the Moon Fox at the same time. Their faces express pure hopelessness.
"Oh, God, not him again," says the Moon Fox, disappointed.
"So what? He's a bad dude, but we still gotta take him down," says Victor, smacking a fist into his palm. "Fox, if you're old, then you must've dealt with this guy long ago."
Moon Fox gazes at Victor with a depressive face. "I have. So did Twig."
"So how do we kill him?"
Twig and the Moon Fox don't answer to Victor. Victor raises his arms in anticipation, but he is growing impatient.
"Speak up, you two!" commands Harmony. "We must know how to rid our worlds of this evil."
"You can't," murmurs Twig.
"What?" Victor can't believe what twig is saying. "Yes we can! I'll kill him with my own hands if I have to!"
The sky grows dark by the swarm of monsters above them, still dogfighting with Equestrians. The Moon Fox puts a hand on Victor's shoulder and stares deeply into his eyes. "Victor," she says, "Oliver was the only one who came close to containing The Forbidden One, but he sacrificed himself long ago doing it. He can't die."
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
Victor swats Moon Fox's arm off his shoulder. Moon Fox can already tell by the look in his eye that he is not happy. Victor looks away, breathing heavily. He tries to keep it slow and steady. This is the result of trying to bottle up anger. Victor feels like his chest is going to explode unless he lets it out. It could be anything. Cursing, punching something, or worst, shooting something with lightning. His hands shake, and his face grows hot.
"What did I say about your anger?" snaps the Moon Fox.
Victor turns to the Moon Fox and glares at her. He looks like he's about to kill her. He can pull it off with a decent amount of effort. Transformed, Moon Fox doesn't stand a chance against him. When training the boy, her intention to make him stronger than her, and especially the overlord that she wanted dead. Clearly, it's starting to backfire.
Twig gets between them. "How about we discuss this under a roof, where the monsters can't blow us sky high," he suggests in a demanding tone.
Victor calmly turns and heads for a nearby outlet store, called Abercolts and Fills. The rest of the group simply follow him inside, disregarding the swarm of monsters terrorizing Equestria. They have far larger worries at the moment. Somehow, Victor senses when everyone is safely inside. "He can't win..." he says.
"Well, too bad!" says Twig. "The only guy who could stop him is dead."
"Well, this Oliver must sound REALLY special." Whenever Victor is troubling in an argument, he makes a creepy, joy-like expression to draw out comic relief, or just to act ridiculous to make others seem ridiculous. It's a trick of either mind games or just for annoyance.
"He was."
"Who the hell is he, then?"
"Her creator." Twig glances at Moon Fox, pointing his eye at her. Victor's anger seems to fade, and is replaced by curiosity. "Oliver was chosen to be a hero. He was chosen to be a leader. The Moon Fox was her eternal assistant, in other words, helper."
"How did he create her?"
"Thought of her like some imaginary friend. That's how it worked." Everyone else looks at Twig like he's crazy, but Twig could care less about others' opinions. "The Forbidden One wanted to kill Oliver, because he was the only one in the way of his plans: to create a world of his own where he would be the supreme ruler, while everyone else is an eternal slave to him. It's a long story, Victor."
Celestia walks up to Twig. "It would be nice to know how this Oliver defeated him," she says.
Twig sighs. He really can't say no to those dazzling eyes. "I know more than you think. Moon Fox. Victor. What I'm about to tell is the worst time of my life. The Settlers, they were with Oliver, to support him. They helped him prepare for a fight against The Forbidden One, but all our efforts were in vain. Oliver had one last trick up his sleeve, so he gave his last hug to the Moon Fox, and he ran up to The Forbidden One, and they both..." Twig struggles to use the right word. "...vanished."
"Why didn't you tell us this before?" asks Victor.
"I thought he was DEAD." Twig's tone is stern.
"How did he do it?" asks Harmony.
"Huh?"
"How did Oliver stop him?" she repeats.
"How should I know? The bastard killed me long before Oliver did."
"Then how are you alive?" oppresses Victor.
"Reincarnation eventually hits a cycle." Twig looks at the Moon Fox. He notices she looks a bit sympathetic. "I don't know what Oliver did, but someone else does."
Harmony, Celestia, and Victor turn to the Moon Fox. Fox starts to get nervous. "Fox, what did this kid do?" asks Victor. No answer. "I know I asked you a million times. About you. About the Settlers. I know you don't wanna think about your past." He gets closer to her.
The Moon Fox lowers her chin and closes her eyes. "I can't," she says depressingly. "I just can't tell you."
"Why not?"
"It's just too painful to remember..."
"Come on!"
"VICTOR!" roars the Moon Fox. It makes everyone jump, especially Victor. He aims his eyes to the window, noticing that the sun is setting. Then he turns back to the Moon Fox. Her eyes are black. Right on cue. But they're shedding tears. "I've never felt so weak before in my life. Losing Oliver, the first who ever showed me what it's like to not be alone, was a nightmare."
Celestia shields Victor from the Moon Fox. It's a feeling that she's about to attack him. "Fox, why don't we end the nightmare, then?" she says. "I won't tolerate the beast that my pupil found in the Everfree forest to be crying over something that happened a thousand years ago. I've lost many that I loved, too, but that's only because of my immortality." Victor moves out the area facing Celestia's flank. He wants to get a good view of his blue, furry friend. "What are you?"
Moon Fox sniffs her tears away. "The Moon Fox..." she mutters.
"The sun already set, Fox," continues Celestia. "I want the real you for the night. The same, mighty being that I fought in the desert. I demand that you tell us how Oliver defeated The Forbidden One or there won't be a sunrise!"
"Alright, fine!" yells Moon Fox. She points a claw at Celestia, glaring with her black eyes. "But only because a princess deserves better..." She clears some space from the others and clears her throat. "Oliver called it the Fallen Angel ritual. Only a person with a massive amount of energy can perform this."
"How is it performed?" asks Harmony.
"The choreography is simple." Moon Fox claws her hands and stretches them in front. "Remain calm, and point at your target like so. Slowly bend your arms until the target is close enough, then..." She swipes one hand higher, and another over her mouth. "Cover the mouth," she says, muffled. "But easy as it looks, it's insanely difficult to remain calm through the ritual."
"Looks simple to me," says Victor. Moon Fox glares at him. "I'm the strongest out of all of us, so I should do it."
"NO."
"What?"
"I said no."
"Why not?"
"Moon Fox, I don't why he shouldn't," says Celestia. "He is the strongest."
Moon Fox turns to Celestia. Glaring at her reminds the blue fox of when they first met. Victor starts to worry that they'll break out in a fight, but Moon Fox seems like she's going to break into one with any one of them. "Because the ritual kills both the victim AND the performer," answers the Moon Fox. "That's why I'll do it."
"NO!" Victor grabs Moon Fox by the shoulders. "I'M NOT LOSING YOU AGAIN!"
"Stubborn boy! It's the only way to save our worlds!Don't you understand? I have to do it!" Moon Fox pushes Victor away from her. "The rest of you are too attached to something while I'm not." She turns to Celestia. "You got your kingdom to rule." She turns to Harmony. "You six are literally attached to each other." She turns to Twig. "You have to jog the Settlers' memories." Lastly, she turns to Victor. "And you got your own life to get back to, your family and everything."
"I went through so much trouble going after you!"
"Yes, I know," says the Moon Fox, watching Victor's eyes tear up. "Victor, you've been very loyal in the time we spent together as friends, but I have to do this. Also, your efforts were not in vain. We discovered Equestria, and now you have a way back home. The Forbidden One. He's going to turn all of that a living hell..."
Victor's arms tremble, then claw tightly over Moon Fox's torso, embracing her into a tight hug. "I'm not letting you go," sobs Victor.
Moon Fox looks at her student sympathetically. She raises a hand and strokes his hooded head. "I know," she says. To Victor's surprise, she claws the fabric of his hood and hurls him to the side. The boy flies into a fitting room. Crashing on a messy pile of clothing. The Moon Fox rushes past her friends and out of the store. The moment a roof is not under here, she takes off into the sea of monsters above them.
"No doubt she's going back to Earth," says Celestia.
"Well, she did see the ritual with her own eyes," agrees Harmony.
Black lightning and fire bursts out of the doorway of the fitting room. Celestia, Harmony, and Twig turns to the sound of an ear-piercing roar. Victor lunges right out, in his transformed state, furious. Twig gets in an instant 'oh shit' face.
"No!" he yells, getting in front of Victor. "I know what you're thinking, Vic! Let her be!"
"I'm not letting her die again!" says Victor as he tackles Twig and jumps off him. He heads for the exit, but Harmony quickly gets in his way, holding him with her magic. Victor struggles to escape the rainbow aura surrounding him.
"You have to let her go," says Harmony, sweetly. "We all like her, but the circumstances got desperate."
"There...has to be...another way!" Victor can barely move his mouth.
"We already tried fighting him!" yells Celestia. Victor turns to her. She's next to Harmony. "And how did that turn out? We never stood a chance. You've got to understand that we've got to make sacrifices sometimes."
A deep growl vibrates through Victor's teeth. His fangs shine out, aiming at Celestia, then to Harmony. They know they can't contain the beast. Not forever. "I don't want to hurt both of you!" says Victor, glaring. "LET. ME. GO."
"No," answers Harmony.
It's the most unyielding 'no' anyone's ever heard, one that shows that it cannot be shifted in any way whatsoever. Victor breaks out of the aura and rushes out the door at an amazing speed. Harmony is fast, too. Faster, actually. She goes after Victor and tackles him over the edge of Canterlot. They both tug each other, punching, clawing, blasting, until they hit the ground. Victor doesn't care. He doesn't care that he's technically hurting all of the six ponies at once. Celestia and Twig run up to the edge to watch.
"Victor, what the hell are you doing?" mutters Twig.
"Why would they hurt each other?" asks Celestia, gazing at the two fighting with disappointment.
"Princess, in the time I spent with the boy, I've realized that he's unyielding."
A large eagle drops by beside Celestia, bigger than the white horse, actually. It tucks its wings and looks at her curiously. This confuses Celestia. Then Adam pops out of the eagle's back. "What's up?" he asks. "Wait, shouldn't you be on Earth?"
"Change of plans," answer Twig.
"So what's the plan?" asks the eagle. Adam slides off its back.
"Wait?" Celestia trots closer to the eagle. "Nick?"
"Yup. It's me," answers Nick, holding his beak up pridefully. "Remember? I can turn into animals and stuff. Awesome, right?"
"Y-yeah..."
"Something wrong?"
An explosion of lightning seeps out of the bushy trees below them. Victor and Harmony pop right out. Victor is using his staff now, firing streams of lightning at Harmony. Harmony is doing the same, they dodge, block, rinse ad repeat. Harmony tackles Victor into the mountainside, but Victor grabs one of her hooves and tosses her aside. Surprisingly, Harmony is calm.
"Victor, stop!" she commands.
Victor's response is a punch right in the jaw. It sends Harmony spinning into the forest. When she banishes into the leaves, Victor roars at the sky, and darts off.
"Uh, why is Vic fighting that fusion pony?" asks Adam.
"No doubt he's going to the arc," mutters Celestia.
At this point, Nick transforms back into a human. Then Harmony bursts out of the leaves, with a rainbow of energy surrounding her. It builds up toward her horn, lighting the night brighter than day. Then the energy is released into a large stream. Direct hit on Victor. Harmony can tell because of cry from afar. Victor let his guard down, assuming that last attack would've kept Harmony on the ground.
Absolute silence among the spectators. Not only the group, but other citizens of Canterlot joined to watch the brawl shortly before. Victor fades into the leaves. Harmony's rainbow eyes follows her defeated foe, and she turns to her friends. Twig walks toward her.
"Your power is inconceivable," he says, impressed.
Harmony lands in front of him, brushing her mane out of the way. "Harmony will always reign. The boy had no control."
"Is he dead?" asks Nick, worried.
"I wouldn't kill your friend. We're too attached to him as it is."
"So what now?" says Adam. "Nearly all the monsters are dead now."
"You both contributed well," says Celestia, smiling. "But there is not much we can do now."
"Correct," agrees Twig. "Moon Fox had already left to deal with the leader."
A crack appears on one of Harmony's hoof. It spreads all over her body, giving off cracks of lights. Her body shatters, spitting out six dazed ponies. All their heads are spinning.
"Oh, what happened?" asks Rainbow Dash.
"I think...we fought monsters, then...the boy. Victor..." says Twilight, sad.
"How long do y'all reckon till he wakes up again?" asks Applejack.
"Didn't we just, shoot him?" adds Rarity.
"WHOOWEE!" squeals Pinkie Pie, jumping up to her hind legs. "Sweet Celestia, that was exciting! Are you excited, because I am, and it's just SO EXCITING!"
"Pinkie, we hurt him...real bad," says Fluttershy, feeling guilty.
Pinkie's cheering stop instantly. Celestia looks at the distant forest. She spreads her wings. Before she takes off, Nick gets in front of her. "What is it?" asks Celestia.
"Celestia, what are you gonna do to him?" asks Nick.
Celestia leans her head, staring closer at Nick's eyes. "First, I'm going to scold at him for hurting my ponies. I might as well hoof him across the face for being a stubborn bitch!"
"What did he do?"
"He wouldn't let Moon Fox leave and go after The Forbidden One. That's why he broke out into a fight with Harmony." Celestia swipes a hoof on the ground, preparing her takeoff.
"Before you give him a piece of your mind, I just wanna let you know that he breaks under this kind of stuff."
"What?"
"He's gonna feel devastated. Just try to let him down gently."
Celestia instantly takes off after that. Nick turns around and shakes his head in disappointment. Vic, why did you do that, man? he thinks.
"Uh, girls?" says Applejack, feeling stupid. "Shouldn't we have brought him back or something?"
"Doesn't matter now," replies Rainbow Dash.
Everyone loses sight of the sun goddess. Celestia angrily scouts the forest for any sign of Victor. She follow the trail of burn marks on the trees, from Harmony's attack. She reaches the end of the trail, and finds Victor on the ground. His back is gushing out blood, but Celestia can hear him breathe heavily. If the attack didn't kill him, then bleeding out would for sure.
Oh, my, thinks Celestia. She hovers down next to him. A sound other than breathing comes from Victor's mouth.
"Ce...les...tia..." Victor is rudely interrupted by coughing up blood on the dirt. Celestia takes note that Victor is still in his transformation.
"This, my boy," she begins. "Is the price you pay for being stubborn." She picks Victor up with her magic and heads back to Canterlot. She can only hear his heavy breathing, and crying. But is it from the searing pain in his back or the way he acted?
Celestia takes Victor back to her palace. Her other choice was the hospital, but many of them are packed. There's been numerous casualties for Equestria, but nonetheless, all the monsters have been slain. It's uncertain whether Victor is unconscious, or he just refuses to move or speak. Either way, Celestia gives him medicine, wraps the wound in his back with bandages, uses healing magic, and puts him to rest. He's still transformed, yet calm. Completely clam.
The Mane Six, along with Twig, Adam, and Nick finally catch up to her. They were worried. Celestia flew off with Victor without saying anything to them. They find her with Victor in her room. Victor is in Celestia's bed. His black eyes are open, but he does not close them to go to sleep. He just stares into the ceiling without saying a word. Celestia only glares at the stubborn beast. She knows Victor is too afraid to gaze at the fire in those eyes.
"What was up with that?" asks Adam, annoyed. "This place is huge. It took forever to find you."
Celestia turns to her friends. She sighs. "Sorry, but I just couldn't..." She chokes on the last word. "...just couldn't bear to see him suffer."
"Is he fine?" asks Nick.
"Just some serious back pain, but mentally, he's not fine." Celestia turns to Victor. Is that even Victor, or just an empty shell of what he used to be? "He's not talking to me, not looking at me. He's not even moving. The only thing moving is his tail."
"Oh, so that's what is," says Adam. "So where's the Fox? She was with us back in Pony-whatever."
"Ponyville," corrects Twilight.
"Whatever. So where is she?"
Celestia looks out the window. "She left to sacrifice herself..."
"WHAT?" Everyone but Victor, Celestia, and Twig burst with that one-word question.
"Why the hell is she doing that?" asks Nick as he runs in front of Celestia. It seems like he's going to grab her and start shaking the answers out of her.
Celestia chuckles. She smiles the blonde-haired boy. "Because she cares about you. All of us." She turns to Victor. "Times are hard, and sometimes we have to make sacrifices." Victor completely ignores her remark. "I'm gonna miss her."
"But no goodbyes or anything?"
"Better to get it done sooner. She may have told me that she's only attached to very few people."
"But it sounds like she doesn't care about us."
"Nick. If she didn't she wouldn't have ran off to do a ritual that takes her own life." Celestia points a hoof at Victor. "The reason why your friend was fighting the Elements was because he was too attached with the Moon Fox."
"So we're done?"
Celestia nods. In response, Nick puts on a wide smile. "I only knew Fox for a few minutes," he says, "she died minutes after I got to know her. But Vic's been with her for weeks. No wonder he couldn't let go. I guess we can relax, since Moon Fox's got it covered."
"Probably. But I wish she'd at least stay and give a proper farewell."
"What did you idiots think I was coming after her for?" Celestia didn't say that, nor had Nick. They both turn to the source of the cold, unforgivable voice. Victor finally speaks.
"Dude, you got your ass kicked by a bunch of ponies that are on your side," says Nick. "Now who's the real idiot here?"
No answer. Victor returns to being mute. The Mane Six walk past Celestia and huddle around the boy. His blue fur is tainted with blood, the blood they spilled. Victor quietly grits his teeth, dealing with the back pain.
"You brought this on yourself, you know that?" scolds Twilight.
"I know," answers Victor. He takes a deep breath.
"You being so strong, I thought you'd a bit more mature to go with it."
"I ask myself why I even have powers to begin with." Victor has trouble breathing. He nearly chokes on the last word, and starts to cry softly. He tries to speak back to the purple mare. "I already have blood draining out of my back. The last thing I want is for you girls to hate me." He turns to Celestia, glaring with his watery eyes. "Especially the goddess queen of this country..."
"Then don't do something like that again," says Celestia, glaring back. She turns around and heads for the door. "It's best if you got some privacy..."
Everyone takes the hint and leaves the room. Celestia leaves last, passing one last glare at Victor and closing the door with her magic. The moment the door's closed, Adam speaks up.
"So, why didn't any of you go after the Fox?" he asks.
"The way she ran off..." mutters Twig. "Obviously, she doesn't want us to get involved."
"Hold on!" interrupts Applejack. "I'm missing something here, y'all. What in tarnation is she up to?"
"Applejack," says Celestia, "everypony, back in Manhattan, we encountered the one responsible for the disaster. He's a heartless being who can't be killed. We fought him, but he was too strong. Victor and I had a little mishap with him, and after..." She pauses, trying to collect some thought. "...difficulties, we ended up back in Equestria. Oh no! Jin and Corvus are still with him! Oh I hope they're alright..."
"Oh shit..." mutters Nick.
Twig decides to continue where Celestia left off. "Anyway, Moon Fox knows about a ritual that can contain The Forbidden One, the man they fought. But doing so will taje the life of both the performer and the victim."
"Oh..." says Applejack, lowering her head. The rest of the Mane Six turn gloomy as well. Celestia can't but cry a little. Her tears sizzle when they hit the floor. "Makes me feel terrible for what happened back in the forest..."
"How do you think I feel?" says Rainbow Dash. "I threw the first hoof..."
No one else speaks. They only stand there in the hallway to spend some time to mourn their soon-to-be martyr. They find it mind-boggling how the Moon Fox never bothered to at least say a last farewell. It makes them question. Why didn't she? Is it because she was in a hurry to end the horrendous tyranny of The Forbidden One, or because she never really accepted anyone as her friend. Most of the time, she is emotionless around people.
Silence is broken when Victor swings Celestia's door open. His face is dripping with dried tears, and the bandages on his back are stained red. "I'm sorry," he says calmly. "Fox knows what to do, and I'll let her go." He notices all the pouting faces. "Yeah, I'll miss her, too..."
Nick wraps an arm over Victor's shoulder and smiles at him. "You're crazy, man," he jokes.
Victor chuckles back, weakly. "Yeah, I am..."
Celestia's eyes grow wide open. "Luna!" she shouts. "Oh crap, I completely forgot about her!"
"Wanna go check on her?" says Twig. "The arc's not too far from here, and we're pretty much done."
Celestia smiles at the old dinosaur. "Yes, please."
* * *
Back in Vremena, Peake City is shattered. Buildings are housing fires of many colors, and the smoke from many explosions fill the sky. Heavy casualties on both sides, but that battle's not over yet. Groves is on a rooftop with five other nightmarish creatures and slashes his swords through each and every one of them. Edward chases after others, breathing a stream of fire that cremates the monsters down until they plummet far below. Nightmare Moon is doing best. She keeps drilling through the sky, incinerating many with ease. Groves can hear her maniacal laughter, and he can't help but grin a little.
Groves looks down to the surface of the city. Many adventurers, even the ones who contribute some other way to the community are out on the battlefield, willing to protect their family and homes. Groves jumps down and transforms midway through the jump. His fall is slowed by his black wings, until he executes one of the monsters. It's beginning of a killing spree for him.
Okay, where the hell is Phil? thinks Edward as he shoots another monster down. Not even Castus, Mar, or Teddy? He wonders where his friends are, the remaining Settlers. Normally, they would spring into action during a time like this, but it all seems strange to the dragon. He stops fighting. "Luna!" he calls.
Nightmare Moon immediately flies up to him. Even though they're allies, her fiendish form can't help but glare at the dragon. "What is it, dragon?"
"I think we should go check up on your sister."
Nightmare Moon gasps, then transforms back into lovable Luna. She smiles at Edward. "Yeah, I've been worried," she says. "So...Settler. Where's the rest?"
"What?"
"Where's the rest. I heard there were seven."
Edward shifts his eyes away from Luna. "Good question. Where the hell are they?" He chuckles. "Oh well. They're gonna miss out."
"Now where's Groves...?" Edward carefully watches over the streets for any sign of their killing machine. He finds him dragging a monster's face up a building. Ouch. Everyone still feels uncomfortable about the influence he comes under. Victor and Jin transform from two who are truly kindhearted, and their friends, but Groves has the legacy of one of the worsts things to happen in Vremena. "GROVES!"
Groves turns around, noticing Edward calling out for him. He slashes the head off another monster with his claws and flies over to him. "Yes?" he says.
"We're going back to Earth."
"Is there something going on there, too?"
"We're not sure. I just wanna check."
Groves turns to the city for moment. "We got our hands tied up, my friend. Are you sure?"
Sweat starts to seep out of Edward's scales. He nods to the beast in front of him. Groves heads for the tree arc, while the dragon and alicorn of the night follow.
* * *
Out of all three worlds, Earth is doing the worst. The army of The Forbidden One spreads horror beyond the city of New York. Humans don't have pony magic and weather control on their side, nor do they have powerful adventurers that are basically war machines. Jin does his best aiding the military, but with Celestia and Victor's dissapearance, along with Corvus duking it out with The Forbidden One, he's not doing so well. Manhattan will soon be the Corvus' cemetery unless someone takes action.
Corvus flies through yet another building. Through all the pain and moaning, she's been counting how many times she made a hole in a structure. She lost count. She gets on her wobbling feet and comes back for more. The Forbidden One has been enjoying beating the tar out of the raven girl through all this time, but keep doing something repeatedly and one loses interest.
Corvus flies with her tattered and bloodstained wings toward The Forbidden One, aiming her talons at him. The Forbidden One easily counters with the most comedic and ironic maneuvers an immortal would resort to: a bitch slap. The power of the slap sends Corvus yet again far away, with a red marking on her cheek. Her body skids over the concrete of the streets, and grinds back to her feet. She pays close attention to the cuts the claws on her feet made on the ground. She pants, kneeling with support of one hand. She looks at herself. Corvus' frowns at the sight of her torn outfit. She loves to dress classy, but absolutely hates when her clothes are ruined. And the blood. Amazing how they're still not infected. But that's just her anatomy. Very resistant.
The Forbidden One calls out to Corvus. "Getting tired, missy?" he mocks. "Am I hurting you? Spill more blood and you'll look more like a robin."
Corvus scoffs at him. She struggles to get on her two feet. "You're not so tough," she lies confidently.
"Darling, I could've finished you off the moment we started. Your only use for me is amusement."
Corvus switches to a glare, then modd swings into a childish giggle. "I swear. sometimes you're just all bark. I amuse you?" She spreads her arms beside her and lengthens her stance. "Let's see if this amuses you!"
The sky grows darker. Corvus' muscles start to flex rapidly, especially the ones in her arms. The palm of her hands pull in a huge amount of energy. Hell, her whole body is sucking it up. It emits a purple aura, and continues to build up the energy. With surprisingly excessive effort, Corvus aims both her hands at The Forbidden One, who only stands still to ponder about what Corvus is planning. Corvus cups her hands, holding sparks of energy that only appear for less than a second.
Corvus grins at The Forbidden One and coldly says, "I fucking dare you to stay right where you are..." The Forbidden One raises an eyebrow. "If you're really that strong, then this shouldn't be a problem, now would it?"
The Forbidden One gives Corvus a sly expression and obeys her. He secures his balance and waits for what his opponent has to offer. Back in a building, the tree arc still shines brightly. It spits out in a storm of aura Celestia, Twig, Victor, Adam, Nick, and the Mane Six. Victor is on Celestia's back, still suffering from the wound on his back. He is basically leaning right on the princess' neck. Reason why he's still in his transformation is uncertain. Adam is the first to look past the edge.
"Guys, check this out," he says with excitement. They all take a look. They see a violet light blinding half the city. "Well, this place still has the monsters, but we can handle it. But look at that light over there."
Victor closely examines the light. His eyes widen. "Corvus!" he shouts. The problem is, he shouted right into Celestia's ear. it makes her jump off her front legs. Victor hangs on tightly to her neck. "Sorry..."
"Corvus?" mutters Twig. His eye widens. "Corvus!"
"So Corvus is causing that light?" asks Nick.
"She's about to obliterate," says Victor. "I can barely see her through that light. She's in that stance..."
"What stance?"
"The Twilight Force."
"Twilight what?" says a confused Twilight.
"Oh, yeah! I remember that," says Adam. "Man, that move's a doozy."
"How much of a doozy?" asks Pinkie Pie.
"My little pony, let me explain it in the simplest way I can." Adam pauses. "FUCK EVERYTHING UP IN THAT DIRECTION."
At that moment Corvus chants in the tone of power and might. Her voice echoes all over the city when she claims the name of one of her most destructive attacks Her voice is like an angel's, who came from the heavens to do all she can to defeat the bastardization of the immortal in front of her:
TWILIGHT FORCE!
A wide explosion of light bursts from Corvus palm, releasing a blinding energy wave that is the width of one of the widest streets of New York. It maims the side of the buildings, along with the street itself as it rushes toward The Forbidden One. Right before it hits him, he makes an 'oh shit' expresion and gets consumed by the violet light. Adam wasn't kidding. The Twilight Force rushes further, demolishing anything caught in its radius. The humongous energy wave then curves up and banishes into the emptiness of space. Everyone on the rooftop simultaneously drop their jaws, especially Celestia and the Mane Six. As the light dims, it leaves Corvus at the same stance, catching her breath, in front of a twenty-yard-wide ditch.
"Oh, sweet Celestia..." mutters Twilight.
"So awesome," mutters Rainbow Dash.
"Wait a second." Victor's eyes perk up. "What was she aiming at?"
"Probably The Forbidden One," answers Celestia.
Victor rolls off her back and pulls his body up to the ledge. "Oh. Think that killed him?"
"Remember what the Moon Fox said? He can't be killed."
"Then let's go down there and find out if it worked. How about that?" says Nick. He jumps off the ledge and morphs into a fully grown pegasus and flies away.
"Son of a bitch. He could've given us a ride!" rants Victor. "How the hell are we supposed to get over there if only three of us can fly and I'm crippled?"
Twig thinks for moment. He turns to Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash. "How much can you two carry?"
"I can hardly carry one pony," answers Rainbow.
"Hmm, any chance you can turn into that Harmony pony again?"
Rainbow nudges her Element. A spark flies out, startling her. "Maybe they're on a cool-down period," suggests Twilight.
"Damn..."
"Yo, Celestia," says Victor. "Hook me up with more of that healing magic?"
"I've already done all I could," answers Celestia. "Time is the only remedy now."
"Dammnit. Okay, so I have an idea. I got one foxtail right now, but I can't get the other six out. I'll try to fly, carrying Pinkie and AJ." Victor struggles to his feet. "How long till we can get Harmony out?"
"I'm not sure," says Twilight, lowering heard head. "This never happened before."
"I'll cry Adam and the white one," says Twig. "But show you can fly." Victor grunts in pain as he slowly hovers over the ground. "Close enough." Twig grabs Rarity over one arm and Adam on the other and jumps over the ledge. Everyone else can hear Rarity screaming in terror. Twig lands on another building with ease, and runs over the ledge to jump to another one.
Victor looks at Applejack and points his tail at him. "Hold on tight, AJ," he says as his tail wraps around her. Applejack feels a little awkward, but gets a strong on the fur. Victor then turns to Pinkie Pie and picks up the pink pony like she was a baby. He slowly hovers over the ledge and flies over to where Twig is heading.
Celestia picks Twilight up with her magic, surrounding her yellow aura around her student. She takes off, while Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash follow her.
Surprisingly, Victor is the first to reach Corvus. He collapses right next to her, letting go of Pinkie Pie. He loses the grip from his tail, releasing Applejack. He lies on the street, moaning in pain. Corvus kneels down to him, excited to see him again.
"Victor! Oh, I'm so glad you're okay!" she says joyfully. "Hold on, where's Celestia?"
"On her way," answers Victor. "So, is he dead?"
Corvus turns to the damage she caused. "I don't see how he could be."
"Right now, I'm more surprised how the military didn't confuse you as the enemy."
Applejack, Pinkie, and Corvus look up. There's still a swarm of monsters scrambling through an air force. At this point, Celestia catches up to them and her magic loses grip of Twilight. The first thing Twilight does is trot over to the beginning of the ditch the attack caused and gapes her mouth.
"Unfrigginbelievable," she says.
"That really was a doozy," agrees Pinkie.
Victor can't help but laugh at the word 'doozy', only to be interrupted by searing pain. "Oh, hurts to laugh," he says comedically.
Celestia starts to work on healing magic on Corvus. Corvus can feel the magic spread all over her body, easing the pain The Forbidden One caused on her. "So all this time, you were fighting him?"
"Yeah. Where did you two go?"
Celestia sighs. "You don't wanna know." She loses concentration on her spell. "Have you seen the Moon Fox?"
"No. Maybe Jin did."
"Where is he?"
"Helping the military."
As if on cue, Jin lands next to Corvus, making his lush, violet wings banish into thin air. Like Victor, he's still in his transformation. He tips his hat to Celestia. "Glad you and Vic are okay," he says politely, then her turns to Corvus. "And Prettybird, you just destroyed around twelve buildings..."
Corvus stares at Jin blankly. "Shit."
Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash arrive, and Twig sprints up to the group at the same time. He lets go of Rarity and Adam. Then Nick arrives, quickly turning back into a human.
Jin turns to Twig. "So, how's it going in the other worlds?" he asks.
"All cleared," says Twig. "But we're not done yet."
Then Groves impacts the ground, startling everyone. He tucks his black wings and gives a friendly wave to them. Edward and Princess Luna land softly. The gang's all here, except for the Moon Fox. Luna rushes up to Celestia and gives her a hug.
"Tia! I'm glad you're okay!" she says.
Celestia completes the hug and says to her beloved sister. "Likewise."
Luna notices the wounds on her big sister. "Sister, you're hurt!"
Celestia leans her head back and widens her eyes, saying, "You don't say." Victor chuckles as he thinks of the meme, then feels pain. He's basically the only one who's not on his feet. "Well, we had a hard time...especially Victor and Corvus."
Twig clears his throat. "Ladies, I hate to break your reunion, but the fight is not over yet. We have to make sure The Forbidden One can't harm anyone else again."
"But I just killed him," says Corvus, pointing at the large ditch.
"He can't be killed. You can tear him apart, but not end his life. The only way to end this is to imprison him."
"Who's this Forbidden dude?" asks Edward.
"The douche who started all this." Twig looks around, glaring at the sky. "Oh my God, where is she? Where is the Moon Fox?"
"Oh, crap!" shouts Jin. He gets in front of everyone and blocks an explosive spell with an ice barrier. The attack temporarily paralyzes his forearms. The Mane Six step back. Jin turns to them. "What're you waiting for? Use the Elements!"
Twilight puts on a determined look, along with the rest of her friends. "Formation, girls!" she commands. They listen to her without hesitation, and the light of the Elements of Harmony merge them together. Once again, the light reveals Harmony, the defender of peace.
Jin whistles a sinking tone, impressed by the power of the Elements. The first thing Harmony does is point her white horn to Victor. It shines into a rainbow of light, and it consumes Victor's body, healing his wounds with ease. Victor nimbly gets up and stares at Harmony with his black eyes. "I'm sorry," she says.
"Don't be," replies Victor. "I can never hate Fluttershy, let alone the rest of you."
Harmony smiles, then turns to where the spell came from. The Forbidden hovers over the with an arm extended toward the group. "Oh, what a lovely reunion," he says in a surprisingly kind tone. It completely throws off Victor's glare. The Forbidden One turns to Twig, frowning. "My, can't you just stay dead?"
As the other stare at The Forbidden One, Harmony quickly heals Corvus, considering she's in terrible shape from fighting a battle she could not win. Harmony smirks at her, admiring how resistant. Corvus smirks back.
Victor steps in front of everyone and takes a deep breath. "Okay, let's get something straight here," he says calmly. "You just want to use your powers to enslave innocent people, right?"
"What?"
"You heard me, gramps. Why do you wanna do that?"
The Forbidden One lowers his arm and chuckles. Not as in evil or devious, but regular. "It's all you're useful for, I'm afraid. I believe that the human race is a waste of decaying material and oxygen. Hundred years, give or take, and you'll wipe yourselves out."
Victor lowers his head. "I see..."
"Victor, there's no point trying to reason with him," says Celestia from behind.
"I know." The boy sheds a small tear. "But if we're going to die, I might as well get something off my chest."
"Oh, don't cry, kid," mocks The Forbidden One. "Everyone has to die eventually."
Victor looks down at his hand. Blue, furry, and fingers tipped with black claws. He watches as his fingers bend into a trembling fist. He lowers it and continues his glare toward The Forbidden One. "Everyone, but you," he says, successfully hiding his anger. "I spit at people like you, those who can't accept that all life has something to offer. How I sometimes deny that fact precedes me, but it's a cycle, my friend." Victor raises an arm and presents his friends. "Look at my mates, Forbidden One. My longtime friends from Earth, The exotic creatures from Vremena, and the ponies of Equestria. We are an example of the potential life has, and what we do best is to defend our right to live as we should. With freedom."
The group all spread, passing on determined looks. Adam pulls a bow out and aims a stretches a flaming arrow on the string. Nick's hands point at The Forbidden One, glowing. Edward and Twig get on fighting stance, while Celestia, Luna, and Harmony rise into the air. Jin, Corvus, and Groves also rise with their wings.
The Forbidden One laughs at the heavens themselves. The insanity of his laughter echo all over the city. "You can try all you want, but I'll still win against all of you. The hell with humans. Why should I stop with one race. The rest are just the same."
"STOP IT!" shouts Victor, whose black eyes run a stream of tears. "I WILL NEVER LET YOU CALL THAT A LIE!" The boy always resented how he cried when he would be at the brink of his anger, but now, he does not. If he must cry, then he shall. "YOU'RE GOING TO HARM ANY OF MY FRIENDS! OVER MY DEAD BODY!"
Harmony is the first to spring into action. She swoops down and knocks The Forbidden One over, sandwiching him to a building. The Forbidden One explodes into an expanding ball of fire, knocking Harmony back, falling. The rest fire various spells and streams of energy at the fireball, but it seems to be fueling the small Sun. Then it bursts, blinding the street. Harmony can feel burns in her fur, so she flies further from the blast radius. When the fire burns out, The Forbidden One emerges, grinning ten times. Oh, wait, that's ten Forbidden Ones each grinning. The corrupt god has split himself into eleven beings, one for each of the fighters. They all pick their targets and ten raging one on one battles commence.
Groves immediately slashes through the torso of his opponent, but the wound quickly regenerates. He slashes again, and the tissue and organs reattach themselves. The Forbidden One copy electrocutes him. Groves can feel searing pain everywhere, and drops to the ground like a rag doll. Paralyzed.
Edward rams his copy into a wall, but the copy pushes him away. They both breathe fire at each other, creating a swirling collision of what could be pictured as the gateway to Hell. The copy's fire overpowers Edward's, forming into a gigantic fireball. It hits Edward, ramming him into another building.
Celestia and Luna both try to shoot spells from their horns at their copies, but they're too fast. One of them grab their necks and slam their heads together, while the other lands a hard kick on their backs. The two sisters plummet downward, falling on rooftop. They can't find the strength to get back up.
The Forbidden One truly is invincible, even when split into eleven beings. Harmony gets caught in an explosion, Nick gets hurled out far enough into the ocean, Jin gets smashed by a ruined car, Corvus has a broken leg, Twig passes out from a knock in the head, and Adam is coughing blood. The heroes have fallen, and Victor joins them. As all the copies of the corrupt god gain some free time, they all gang up on Victor. He is tossed around, feeling a new source of pain every second. One moment, he can feel his back impacting concrete. Another, something is burning is legs. The Forbidden One then glares at the boy sadistically and punches him right in the face. It sends Victor falling down to the streets.
Victor is too afraid to move. The pain is everywhere. There's no way he can fight back. It's over. Hoping that The Forbidden One doesn't notices, his black eyes quietly shed tears, from both sadness and pain. He's waiting for him to finish him off, end his life. He wants the suffering to go away for good.
As The Forbidden One comes close to Victor, about to fulfill his last request, he mutters coldly, "Over my dead body? That can be arranged..." His right arm morphs into a large blade, capable of cutting wood with only one swipe. He lunges it at the torn body, only to be interrupted by a strong force from his left. It's someone's foot, right in his temple. It sends him crashing through a glass pane.
It hurts for Victor to even move his neck, but he hears a voice too familiar too him. "Why don't we finish what we started?" says the voice.
MOON FOX , thinks Victor. The Moon Fox is responded by The Forbidden One rushing to her and punching her in the jaw. Moon Fox coughs up blood as she hits a wall. Her tails swarm and swerve toward The Forbidden One, entangling him. She slowly walks up to him, tightening the grip of those blue snakes.
"How someone as bastardized as you came to be alive is beyond," she says. The Forbidden One keeps struggling, getting angrier and angrier. The Moon Fox comes within arm's reach and aims her claws at him. She's about to perform the ritual. "I'll make sure you're sealed away forever." She turns to Victor's struggling body and sheds one last tear for her pupil. "Farewell, Victor. I've taught you well."
The Moon Fox's words feel like they heal Victor. He feels much better now. He smiles, only to be interrupted by the wave of an explosion. It sends both him and the Moon Fox rolling. Victor can hear her painful moaning. This has The Forbidden One written all over it. Victor hears his footsteps, then sees his shadow on the streets. He doesn't dare to look at death right in the eyes.
"Now where were we?" says The Forbidden One.
His voice makes Victor's body shake. He can hear his arm morphing into a large blade again. He can't move, but he has to. By the sound of it, the Moon Fox is in very bad shape, so with the little energy he has left, he springs off the ground and drills a clawed hand through his chest. As The Forbidden One screams in pain, with black blood gushing out, Victor drills the other hand, giving The Forbidden One a sadistic glare.
Victor can feel searing pain in his joint, but irregardless, continues by electrocuting The Forbidden One. The current paralyzes him, then he says to the corrupt god, "What life can offer is the will to defend itself from scum like you..."
The Moon Fox looks at Victor, who's pulling his hands toward him. She mouths the word 'no', several times as a circle with strange encryptions appears around them. The outline shine brighter, and they spin.
"VICTOR!" shouts the Moon Fox, crying uncontrollably.
Too late. Victor palms The Forbidden One's mouth, along with his own, and the circle of light spins faster and shines brighter. The light explodes, and at the same time, the remaining of the swarm of monster all vanish. Victor and The Forbidden One are consumed by the light.
The Forbidden One's voice echoes. "OLIVER! DAMN YOU, OLIVER!!" The light fades, and he's gone, along with Victor. The Fallen Angel ritual has been completed, taking away yet another two souls. The Moon Fox gets on her feet and runs to where the circle was. She keeps running tears, feeling the ground her pupil used to stand at. Her black eyes keep running tears, as she repeatedly curses the heavens.
"NO! VICTOR! NO, NO, NO! VICTOR! VICTOR!!! Victor..."
The Moon Fox collapses to her side. The only movement she has is from her rapid breathing.
From the rooftop, Celestia and Luna have gotten up, and they saw the ritual. They both cry with wide eyes, in denial of what just happened. The boy with extraordinary powers that came to Equestria only to get his friend and teacher back, only a couple decades old, is now dead.
"Victor," sobs Celestia.
Then, the dark atmosphere of the ruined city fades, as the civilians emerge. They look around, noticing that the terror has left. They all clap and cheer. The Moon Fox still lies down crying, inaudible because of the loud cheering. The military leave, knowing that their work here is done. Jin and Groves turn back into their normal states and run toward the Moon Fox. One of the civilians, a man in his sixties wearing a blue polo, tugs Moon Fox's arm. Moon Fox feels his grip, noticing that he's trying to pick her up. She grabs the man's wrist and is pulled up, looking at him with tearing eyes.
"What's there to cry about, miss?" asks the man. "It's all over."
"My friend sacrificed himself, to save us all," sobs the Moon Fox.
"Believe me, I saw the whole thing. And shame on me for not knowing such a brave man."
Moon Fox breaks into tears again. "He was a boy," she sobs in between. She cries over the stranger's shoulders. The man lets her wet his shirt with her tears. He gives the Moon Fox a nice, friendly pat on the back.
"God bless him, then. I don't know where you people came from, but we needed you desperately. Thank you for standing up against whatever that monster was." The man grabs Moon Fox's chin, forcing direct eye contact with her black eyes. "I heard what he said. Don't forget those words, alright?"
The Moon Fox slowly nods at the man, then lets go of him. At this point, Jin and Groves catch up to her. "Pity," says Groves. Without any surprise, he's still emotionless. The only ones who aren't breaking into tears is him and Twig.
"Fox?" says Jin, coming through over tears. "I miss him, too."
Harmony, Celestia, and Luna trot over to them, then Edward and Corvus, landing. Adam, Nick, and Twig run to them. Alost everyone is crying.
"NO!" shrieks Corvus, barely making out words. "NO! WHY HIM!"
Twig looks at his allies sympathetically. He turns to the growing crowd of applauders. "People," he says. "I ask for a moment of silence for the loss of our beloved friend." The cheering fades. Victor's friends keep crying, but quietly. They all lower their heads and think of their fallen comrade, only barely of age. Edward, Corvus, The Moon Fox, Celestia, and Luna are all a thousand years old. They're all thinking, It should've been me . The crowd grows, and each and every one of them pay their respects to their savior, the boy from Earth who dealt with insane hardships in a foreign world, whose last act of selflessness saved three worlds. The Moon Fox smiles about her prodigious student. She chants his name in her head repeatedly. Victor. Victor. Victor...
* * *
Harmony is turned back into the Mane Six once more. Their first movement is from their stomachs, rumbling. Fighting against an all-powerful, evil god can work quite the appetite, so they all head to a Latino restaurant, in honor of Victor's heritage. Their eyes can't run any more tears. They're all drained out. The waiters give them the courtesy of putting many tables together to make a long one, fitting the whole group. The Mane Six all look at their food curiously, not exactly sure of what they ordered.
Harmony split into the Six before she had time to heal everyone, so the group is sitting there covered with blood. Celestia and Luna try their best with their healing magic, but it's just not as efficient as Harmony. They did manage to fix broken limbs. As for the dripping of blood, not so well. They should've gone to a hospital, but the Moon Fox insisted to come here first, to enjoy the food Victor enjoys. Her decision was unimaginably adamant. The only ones who aren't dealing with a lot of pain is the Mane Six. Harmony's wounds don't transfer to them, so they feel fine.
Batches of arepas , fried, doughy goodness with butter and cheese lay in front of them. "My, the smell of this cuisine is too much for me," says Rarity, grabbing one and taking a bite. "Delectable."
"Vic ate tons of that stuff," says Nick. "He would it with deviled ham, but I'm sure you guys don't eat meat."
"That's correct," answers Twilight.
"Do you mind if we ate meat?" asks Adam.
"Not at all." Twilight grabs an arepa a scarfs it down.
"Wow, this is some good stuff!" says Rainbow Dash.
"Maybe Mr. and Mrs. Cake can make these ara-watchamacallit's!" agrees Pinkie Pie.
"They're nice, I guess..." mutters Fluttershy, slowly chewing a bite.
Jin stops eating. "So what now?" he asks.
Corvus wipes her face with her forearm, still wet from running tears. "We go home," she says.
"Makes sense," agrees Nick. "Hey Adam, weren't we trying to find a way back home?"
"Yeah, I remember," says Adam. "Wow, it's been so long. I wonder how everyone's going to react. Family, friends."
"You know we have to tell them about Vic..."
Adam sinks into his food. "I know..."
"That's right. You boys can go back to your homes," says Twig. "We all can."
"What about the arcs?" asks Edward. "Are they permanent?"
"Yes," answers Luna, swallowing dough. "When we built them, we aimed for a permanent link to other worlds."
"That's right," agrees Celestia. "Our worlds are connected." She smiles at her sister. "Imagine the possibilities, what we can accomplish."
"So we're free to visit you guys?" asks Nick. His spirits are rising.
"Pretty much," mutters Twig.
"Awesome," says Adam, smirking. "I really could use a vacation."
"Uh, I can't go back home," says Jin. Everyone looks at him. He's the only one that still seems depressed. "My family's dead."
"Mine is, too," adds Groves. "But then again, I've always worked better alone."
Corvus wraps her arm around Jin, since they're sitting next to each other. "You got a family right here, Jin," she says. "Why not stay in Vremena and live with us?"
Jin smiles at Corvus and takes his hat off. "Thanks, Prettybird."
"Victor let us have this moment..." says the Moon Fox, quietly. Everyone looks at her. She still looks depressed. "Because of him, we can be here, talking and laughing about how we're all gonna be close friends now."
Celestia smiles at the Moon Fox. "Now that is a truly selfless act."
Twig clears his throat. "Anyway, Celestia, what're you planning now that we have that link?"
Celestia turns to Twig, trying to collect some thoughts. "I was thinking coexistence in both worlds, maybe later on Earth. Sharing knowledge, enriching the cultures, and securing harmony beyond my nation."
Twig chuckles. "So you're expecting a bunch of talking ponies to colonize Earth? Good luck with that."
"Why do you think I said 'later'? I know humans are like, and it will take them time to get used to any newcomers."
The television in the restaurant plays at full volume. Everyone, even the other people eating, drop everything and take a look at the large screen. It's a news broadcast.
"We can all rest peacefully, and let the dead rest in peace," says the anchorman, "because a monster, repeatedly referred to as The Forbidden One has been vanquished by a group of beings that are capable of supernatural powers. This Forbidden character has been claimed to be the one responsible for the appearance of many monsters swarming in the air. The heroes consisted of the same ones who were watching over the city of New York, some who seem to come directly from a cartoon show." Luna giggles. "We now go to the streets of the battlefield, where all the citizens wish to speak about these heroes."
The camera switches to a variety of people voicing their opinions, narrating what happened, and crying over the loss.
"It was the most amazing thing I've seen in my entire life!"
"Like a movie, but I was actually IN the movie!"
"Who says ponies can't be manly? These guys were bamfs!"
"My son and I watched, as this blue beast came up to the bad guy and took him away, along with him. That was the bravest thing we ever saw."
"Dragons, birds, and ponies, duking it out with that wizard guy! Frickin' epic!"
"This place needed heroes, and we sure as hell got 'em."
The camera switches back to the anchorman. "As you can see, the city is thankful for these creatures,
Everyone in the restaurant looks at the heroes, who look at each other. They all cheer at them for a job well done. Pinkie joins in with the cheering, and the rest of her friends join her. Everyone but the Moon Fox. She smiles at her friends, shedding tears of joy. She gives Celestia a big hug without warning. Celestia lets her, because they're friends. They're all friends now, who can help build a lasting harmony beyond Equestria. The Earth is wounded, and Vremena is also wounded. The Princess' wish is to expand the peaceful influence of her world to the others. Everyone is now yelling and cheering at the top of their lungs. Instead of being depressed for the loss of Victor, they can be overwhelming joyous to know that he was willing protect the ultimate freedom: the right to live.
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
It's another bright and sunny day in Equestria. The air is hot and humid, as a the hum of the fan blows on the face of a snoring colt, having a light brown coat and a long, black, spiky mane. The blanket is scattered, only covering one hind leg, until the alarm scares the live out of him. He bounces out of bed and hits his head on the floor, only to be welcomed by the screeching sound of a heavy metal song.
Note to self: Use Boston music next time he thinks, grumbling through the pain. He trots over to his MP3 player and turns it off. It's hooked up to his alarm clock so it plays the music in it. The young colt starts stretching, especially his wings. As he does, he only keeps thinking about going back to bed, but that's one mistake he'll never do again. He shudders at the memory of his father drenching him with a bucket of ice water. Dad, you crazy...
"Storm?" asks a quiet voice. It's coming from the door. The colt heads for it and turns the knob with his hoof. His mother waits for him in the hall, a yellow pegasus, gazing at her son with her teal eyes. She smiles at him and kisses him on the cheek. "Good morning," says Fluttershy.
"Morning, Mom," says Storm, yawning.
It's been eight years since Victor's death. Ever since then, things went very well for his mourning friends. In the first year, Princess Celestia and Princess Luna declared colonization in Vremena. The ponies who were willing to undertake this new challenger were kindly welcomed by the species of that planet, and they coexisted peacefully. Equestria adopted their technological advances, which scales from labor-saving devices to flat-out futuristic tech.
Victor's closest friends, Adam and Nick, lived on with their lives. The Moon Fox dropped them off at their home and said goodbye to them, but it's not forever. They told Victor's family the truth, and as expected, they were devastated, especially his mother. They held a funeral for him, and he was mourned. Adam and Nick hung their gear because returning to their normal life did not require their powers. They still have them, but no dark empire or evil overlord is popping out of nowhere for them to handle. So the two continued with their lives, but once in a while, they'd go visit either Vremena or Equestria, where they can share the happiness with their friends.
Two years after Victor's death, Equestria joined Earth's United Nations, along with some nations in Vremena. The princesses have been questioned of their monarchy, considering how they ruled for millenia, and prompting how they should have a democracy, but Celestia refused. If harmony was maintained so long, then she has no reason to retire the throne. The beings of Vremena, including humans, started to colonize in Equestria. The ponies gave them a warm welcome. mainly for treating their colonists nicely a year ago. Also, the Earth and Equestria started sharing and adopting from each other's cultures.
During that time, Fluttershy met a special somepony. When a certain elegant stallion came to Ponyville, he fell in love with Fluttershy the moment he saw her. The stallion was a unicorn named Arc, having an orange coat and a smooth, semi-short mane. Fluttershy felt the same way about him later, and they got married a year later. It was one of the happiest moments in her life. She had one son, and Arc named him Storm. Fluttershy's husband died two years later from a heart attack, leaving Fluttershy with her beloved son. The rest of the Mane Six also found their special someponies later, but no one expected Fluttershy to be the first.
"So what's for breakfast?" asks Storm.
"Oh, but don't you want to be a surprise?" responds Fluttershy.
"Kay, Mom." Storm trots back to his room. He has his mother's eyes, and the length of her mane. He picks up his saddlebag, collecting the books and papers he has scattered on his deck. He looks out the window when almost done, admiring the beauty of his mother's cottage.
* * *
All the colts and fillies take their seats in the classroom. Class just started. Storm is sitting in the front row, with a belly full of waffles and daffodils. Colts and fillies? Not entirely true. Some of Storm's classmates are Vremenian species. There's been an experimental exchange program running for half a year now. Storm finds it interesting interacting with non-ponies. The stories they could tell, the experiences they had, but yet, they're so young like him.
Cherilee enters the class and smiles at the students. "Good morning, everyone!"
"Good morning, Miss Cherilee," says the class in unison.
Everyone. Why not everypony? Because that would rule out the few non-ponies in this class. Storm looks at them at best to not be noticed. There's a Vremenian human, an elf, and a being known as a Ramfernal. Head of a ram, and has yellow markings on his face. The rest of him is red, but since it's only a kid, he's cute instead of vicious.
"Today, we have a special guest, so give him a warm welcome," says the teacher. Storm groans quietly. His wings twitch a little. He reminisces about the other guests Miss Cherilee brought in to her classes. They always would have boring stories and lecturies accompanying them. If only I could sleep with my eyes open, he thinks.
A yellow foot passes the doorway, tipped with white claws. Step by step, Edward, the dragon from Vremena, enters the room. The students are shocked by his appearance. Some are amazed, some are curious, but Edward's appearance is a setback for when he's not intending to provoke fear. He doesn't a day older, considering his immortality. The dragon is wearing a black suit and tie, instead of the baggy pants he usually wears. He smiles with his fangs at the classroom.
"How are you all doing?" he asks as he rubs his head, messing with his spiky, white hair. He keeps on smiling.
"A dragon!" shouts a white filly.
Edward laughs. "Yes, I'm a dragon, but I like to be called Edward. There's lost of dragons out there, missy."
"Class," says Cherilee, "Edward is a Vremenian dragon."
"That's right. I came to Equestria to study the dragons here, considering that noPONY has the guts to come to such creatures up close. But don't let those brutes fool you. I'm a nice, gentle guy once you get past the claws and fangs."
"Edward, would you to tell the class about your little adventure? It's legendary."
Edward smiles at Cherilee. "I'd love to." He clears his throat and grabs a seat. "So I've been told about this land of ponies eight years ago from my friend Twig. I got to meet Princess Celestia and Princess Luna, and all I was thinking, 'ponies? are you kidding me?' It was pretty funny, actually, because in my world, ponies were not considered a threat or a strong force. I was so wrong. Equestria has power, and I saw with with my own eyes. You guys heard of The Forbidden One, right?"
The class nods simultaneously, and appear as if the happiness got sucked out of them.
"I know that feel, children." Edward holds a fireball on one hand and presents it to the classroom. "In Vremena, we use energy as a weapon. I know the unicorns here do something similar, but The Forbidden One could turn something this small, a little fireball, into an endless disaster." The fireball burns out, and the dragon sheds manly tears. "All of you could've had a terrible life if he were still around, but thanks to Victor, we're all safe."
Edward gets off his seat and looks out the window. In the distance, he spots a statue of his fallen friend, placed in the center of town square. Whoever sculpted it decided to follow the design of Victor's beastly transformation, since he died in that state. The statue watches the town without resting, keeping the peace.
"Children, Victor was my friend," says Edward. "He contributed with the princesses and the Moon Fox to create the link between the worlds. "Sure, the princesses are busy with royalty stuff, but the Moon Fox likes to move around a lot. Maybe you'll catch her as ask her to tell the story. Her version is the best."
* * *
Edward changed the definition of a dragon. Him being one, he was able to study them up close, comparing and contrasting with the ones in Vremena. He published his studies, making him a huge success. He lives in Canterlot, where he continues his research.
Jin and Corvus decided to move to Equestria as well. Corvus liked the idea of being in a world so fantastic and joyous, rather than one scarred by warfare. Jin basically lived the brony dream, settling in Ponyville with Corvus. Even though they were friends, the ponies expected them to be something more. Anyway, Corvus opened a music store, while Jin shared his adventures in Vremena and Earth for the Equestrians to hear. He also helps Corvus with her store.
Twig and the Moon Fox haven't accomplished much in this time. Yes, they shared their sides of the stories, but the two kept wandering around aimlessly. Sometimes they would pay a visit to Adam and Nick on Earth, or the rest of the Settlers in Vremena, or their friends in Equestria. The two were beings who just came and went.
Celestia and Luna continued their goal of expanding Equestria's harmony, aiding newfound ally nations with reconstruction of the war in Vremena, and sometimes fixing the dying Earth. It was hard, but they still haven't given up. Vremenian humans have settled in Equestria, but Earth humans haven't, because of their natural fear of the unknown. The Earth still remains exclusive to the humans, but Celestia does not intend on keeping it that way.
* * *
Storm's saddlebag is heavy. It's a lot of books for a little colt like him. And also, Fluttershy's cottage is so distant compared to the rest of Ponyville. This is what he undertakes every school day as a walk home. He can't wait to start flying. On the way home, he always passes town square, and that statue looks at him every time he passes. Even if made of stone, those black eyes watched over the colt every day, growing up.
Tired and hungry, he makes it home. The first thing the young colt does is burst through the door, tosses his saddlebag aside and heads for the kitchen for a nice, afternoon snack. When he snags a couple of bananas, Fluttershy enters her home. She smiles at her son.
"Hey, Mom," says Storm, with a mouthful of mushy banana.
"Oh, goodness. How was your day?" asks Fluttershy.
"Boring. Oh, except for this special guest."
"Who was it?"
"That old friend of yours Edward."
Fluttershy takes a seat next to Storm. She leans her head on an elbow, feeling happier. "I love his work. Someone finally did something with those mean old dragons."
"What about Spike? He's taller than you." Storm finishes his first banana.
"Y-yes, but Spike was raised to be gentle and kind. Edward, on the other hand, lived through hardships."
"Isn't the dude like a thousand years old?"
Fluttershy nods. "Would you like me to cook you something nice? In case, the bananas aren't enough..."
Storm looks at his second banana. Fruit doesn't tend to make you painfully full. "No thanks."
Fluttershy leans closer to her son. "Aw, are you sure? I just finished feeding all the animals."
"Yeah, Mom. I'm sure..." Storm looks back at the countless times he saw the statue of Victor. Then he looks back to an earlier time when he first met the Moon Fox at a party, reuniting all of the adventurers to do what they couldn't do before: just have fun without worrying about someone or something tampering peace. He was scared of her at first, but he asked her about Victor. He knows how the boy works, with the magic and the transforming. They would call him a Storm Mage, having control over weather like a pegasus, but at a deadlier potential.
Storm turns to his loving mother. "Mom, what happens when somepony dies?"
The happiness in Fluttershy vanishes. She shifts her eyes and says to her son, "Well, you have your whole life ahead of you. That should be the least of your worries."
"I wanna know."
Fluttershy sighs. "Storm, is this about your dad? Yes, we all miss him."
"No, it's not about him. It's about Victor..." Storm finishes his second banana. "Didn't he die?"
Fluttershy wraps an arm around Storm, looking sad. "Yes, he did, but it was an act of pure kindness. When somepony feels as if they can no longer live, feeling too weary or weak to continue, the spirit splits from the body and builds a new one to replace it. It's called reincarnation."
"So, does that mean I'm a reincarnation?"
"We all are, which means we had past lives. It could have been anyone, anything."
Storm turns to a framed drawing. It's old, but it still shows the rough sketch of a familiar, yellow pegasus on a tree. "Mom?" he says, "I always wondered. Who drew that?"
Fluttershy turns to the drawing, and can't help but shed a single tear. "Victor."
"He was an artist?"
"Oh, yes. He even drew the first sketches of Vremena and Earth. It was the first time Celestia knew how the worlds looked."
Storm smiles at her. "That's cool."
"Hmm, come to think of it, I wonder who Victor got reincarnated into."
Storm laughs, then gives Fluttershy a hug. "Could be anyone, right?" he says. "That sounds kinda silly, the reincarnation stuff, but Victor could've been anyone. From strangers to family."
Fluttershy gazed at her son's chocolate eyes. The young pegasus gets off his seat to grab his sketchbook from his saddlebag, along with a pencil. He rejoins Fluttershy at the counter and examines her, paying extra attention to detail.
"Y'know," says Storm, "maybe we could frame another drawing, to go with that old one."
Fluttershy shifts views between Storm and the drawing, then gives her son another warming hug, stroking his spiky, black mane. It flows by her hoof, and she bever felt so happy before in her life again.
THE END
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
It's the calmest of days in Ponyville.
Celestia's sun shines proudly over the town, along with the rest of Equestria, as its inhabitants tend to their duties and lifestyles. The land is peaceful, but when there's peace, there's something bound to destroy it. Little did the ponies know that this would be their last day that would actually feel harmonious.
Rainbow Dash is flying swiftly above Ponyville, showing off some of her moves as usual. She would go for a Sonic Rainboom, but has enough common sense to know how what it causes. She simulates one in her head. The image of her reaching the speed of sound, ripping a hole through the transparent barrier. The boom echoes as the multicolored wave spreads across the once-calm sky. The shockwave shatters all the windows like a plague, Then CRASH!
Rainbow Dash's daydreaming is severely put to an end by crashing through a wall. She was not paying attention to her flying. She opens her red eyes to notice two cute little fillies, staring with confused expressions. It's Pound Cake and Pumpkin Cake. Rainbow Dash shakes her head, feeling the splinters stuck to it. No doubt this is Sugarcube Corner. Probably should go apologize to Mr. and Mrs. Cake, she thinks.
Rainbow Dash presses her hind legs, dangling outside in the air, on the wall. She pushes and pushes, until her head pops right out the hole. She flips outward and lands firmly on her back. She moans with pain from both her face and her back, but not for very long. The sound of chatter and muttering makes Rainbow Dash's pain change to curiosity. There's a crowd of ponies. She gets up and squeezes into the conversation.
"Have you even seen it?"
"No, but someone else did."
"I heard it has like, nine arms!"
"I heard that it eats ponies and raises them as its minions."
"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard."
"I heard that it had eyes as black as night, and they stare right into your soul..."
"Everfree Forest was scary, but now it's, SUPER SCARY!"
"Well, I think we should throw it a PARTY!"
Rainbow Dash flinches to the last remark. She recognizes that high-pitched, energetic voice from a mile away. Pinkie Pie just bounced into the bouncing words of the group. Her voice kills it.
"Pinkie Pie, what this 'it' everyone keeps talking about," asks Rainbow Dash.
Pinkie Pie gasps. It's so loud, it makes everyone take a few steps back. "You don't know?" she says with wide eyes.
"Know what?"
Pinkie Pie giggles. "Oh, boy! Have you been missing out, Dashie! There's something in the Everfree Forest that keeps giving everypony the heebie jeebies!" Surprisingly, her voice has no sense of fear.
"What's it doing there?" asks Rainbow Dash.
"Nopony knows! But I think that it just needs good ol' Pinkie Pie to welcome it!"
With this, Pinkie bounces way, humming a tune she came up with just now. Rainbow Dash feels uncertain. There's already enough creepiness in the forest. Why would it need more? she thinks. The group disperses, leaving Rainbow Dash alone with her scratches and bruises from her accident. The pain comes back, and she rubs her head. The splinters have fallen off, though. Rainbow Dash stretches her wings and heads over elsewhere. The rumors of this new creature keeps her mind boggled over whether it actually exists or not. She needs reason. Hard, proven facts. She needs...
"Twilight!" yells Rainbow Dash as an imaginary lightbulb flickers over her head.
With that one word, defining her egghead friend who does nothing but study, she darts off to the library.
* * *
Knock, knock, knock!
"Who could that be?" asked Twilight, even though she's the only one in the room.
Spike, who is cleaning downstairs, heads to the door to answer the knocking. The purple, baby dragon takes off his pink and white apron to avoid embarrassment and opens the door. He comes face-to-face with a slightly bruised Rainbow Dash.
"Rainbow Dash. What happened to you?" asked Spike.
"I, uh, fell down some stairs," responded Rainbow Dash nervously. "But it's alright. Just gonna walk it off like a champ." Her tone is now cocky.
"So why are you here? Borrowing another Daring Do book?"
"Nah. I didn't finish the other yet, but we're getting way off-topic! Can I talk to Twilight?"
"She's busy studying..."
"Spike," says Rainbow Dash, annoyed. "When is she not?"
Spike thinks for moment, tapping his chin with one of his claws. He doesn't answer. Instead, he walks upstairs. Rainbow Dash comes in, waiting for the studious pony. She hears Spike and Twilight, arguing. She can't understand the words, though. They're too indistinct and muffled that it sounds like another language. Hooves and claws slowly make their way downstairs, and Rainbow Dash notices Twilight's face. It has a touch of exhaustion. How long, thinks Rainbow Dash.
"Good morning, Rainbow Dash," says Twilight, trying not to sound tired. Her mane is slightly messy.
"Oh. Hey, Twi," says Rainbow Dash.
"Anything I can help you with?"
"Yeah. I heard a bunch ponies talking about some thing that's in the forest." Rainbow Dash tries to collect what she heard. "Something about having nine arms and black eyes."
Twilight's smile drops into a frown. She starts to feel uneasy. "Um, that's exactly what I'm trying to find out," she says.
"Oh! That's awesome! What did you find?"
Twilight just drops her head. Rainbow Dash's anticipation diminishes as she keeps looking at her disappointed friend.
"She's been up all night reading book after book," interrupts Spike. Rainbow Dash looks around, noticing crumpled paper and books tossed on the floor with their pages open.
"So nothing?" asks Rainbow Dash.
"Nothing at all," answers Twilight. "I only have rumors to rely on, and they're not very accurate. There's no match. Either it doesn't exist, or it's something new. I'm trying to figure out what this thing is so that I can know whether it's a threat to Ponyville or not."
"Could be," suggests Rainbow Dash.
Spike starts to feel queasy. Twilight and Rainbow notice him about cough something up. They've already seen this a million times. Spike coughs up a puff of green fire, and a scroll drops on the ground, below a rising puff of smoke. Twilight picks up the scroll with her magic.
"I wonder what Princess Celestia wants..." she mutters.
Rainbow Dash leans in to see the letter. Twilight reads.
Dear Twilight Sparkle,
I'm sure you have heard the rumors that are spreading fast. Not only in Ponyville, but in Canterlot, too. My subjects won't stop talking about the creature, and they keep describing it as something unholy, terrible, and bloodthirsty. The problem is that it's causing mass hysteria. You may be worried, too, Twilight. I know you too well. But alas, this panic is causing too much trouble, so I ask you to do me a huge favor. Remember the Elements of Harmony? Ever since you girls defeated Discord, you kept them in your library ever since. Use them again. I want you to gather your friends and scout the Everfree Forest for this creature. If it does exist, use the Elements if necessary. If not, let everyone know. Take your time preparing yourselves. No one can tell how dangerous this creature could be, or how much potential it could have, but I give the best of luck, my little ponies.
Your friend,
Princess Celestia
Twilight's magic fades, and the letter drops back on the floor. Rainbow Dash and Twilight look at each other, worried. Spike joins in, too.
"Are you guys scared?" asks Spike.
"Me? Scared? Ha!" exclaims Rainbow Dash as she loops in the air. Her eyes are filled with raw determination "I'll duke it out with this thing if I have to!"
"Please, Rainbow, just be careful. We have no information on it," says Twilight with a negative tone. "We go at sundown."
"Why? We should just go now!" disagrees Rainbow Dash. She stops flying.
"I heard that when the sun goes down, something weird happens in the forest..." Twilight bows her head, confused. "Might as well find out."
* * *
It's early afternoon in Canterlot. Princess Celestia is in her bedroom, trying to sleep off the headache she has from just thinking. No one in the palace would shut up about the creature. It's always the hype of the conversation. She sighs and starts to drift away, letting her mane settle down over the pillows and blankets. Unfavorably, her ear that is not being crushed by her head catches the sound of rapid hooves.
"Sister!"
Celestia gets up and looks at the doorway. It's Princess Luna who was making the noise.
"Ugh, what is it, Luna?" asks Celestia, annoyed and tired.
"Oh, Sister," starts Luna, "I did not mean to bother you, but I have something that you must know."
"I already heard the rumors. Fifty times, actually..." She rudely rolls over and tries to fall back asleep.
"No, it's not that. It's about the Moon."
"What about the Moon, Luna?"
Princess Luna doesn't respond. She gently rubs one of her front hooves on the floor, feeling confused and nervous. "The moon," she starts, "is rising."
"Yes. The Moon rises. That's your job."
"But I'm not doing it."
Princes Celestia springs back awake. She felt asleep the whole day, but what Luna says is her coffee. Her pick-me-up. She feels alert in a way she hasn't before. "Pardon?" she says quickly.
"I'm not rising the Moon, Sister. I try to, but it beats me to it."
Princess Celestia raises an eyebrow, that is, if she had one. "So the Moon's rising itself..." she says in a puzzled tone.
"That can't be. Maybe..." Luna inhales deeply, then exhales.
"Maybe what?"
"Maybe something else is rising the Moon."
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
"VICTOR! NO! VICTOR, PLEASE COME BACK!"
"Get a hold of yourself! It's no use..."
"But it's already bad enough that we lost Moon Fox, now HIM TOO?"
"Yes, we will miss him. We never knew each other much, so I can only have empathy for him."
"But what if Groves comes back? Victor was the only one strong enough to go against him!"
"It'll have to be Jin. Didn't that boy pull off a transformation based on you, Corvus?"
"I-I remember. He saved me."
"You along with Moon Fox and the others are more than just an influence."
"Wait. Maybe Adam or Nick could pull it off. Then we'd stand a chance."
"It's not that easy. I'm going to assume that the stronger the relationship you build up with a Settler, like you or Moon Fox, the more energy they absorb off of one. When enough is absorbed, and a trigger is pulled, it happens. The trigger is anger or sorrow."
"If Victor turned out to be this strong, he can find a way back from the dead. I know he can! He has to!"
"Most of us here are immortal. Watching others die is just something we have to go through for eternity."
* * *
"Hmm, I just noticed," says Moon Fox, looking at a structure she built in the Everfree Forest. Princess Luna and Celestia are with her while everyone else is having fun at Fluttershy's birthday party. It's two thirty, and Celestia's sun is starting its decent. A breeze whistles through the structure, which is surrounded by a pile of wood, stone, gems, and books. Everything but the books are used for building material. It's almost done.
"What?" says Luna.
"This is gonna consume a lot of energy. How are we gonna get all that power?"
"Fox, we're four powerful beings. How could we NOT get enough energy for this gate?"
"Four? Oh, right. Vic..."
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Moon Fox, Luna, and Celestia are paralyzed by a sudden shriek. The look around for the source, but they hear rapid footsteps. Their ears twitch to the source of the shout, and it's from the boy, running toward them. He looks panicky and extremely worried, holding the wrist that has the bracelet.
"What's wrong, Victor?" asks Celestia.
"No! Nononononono! Dammit! Just fuck everything!" shouts Victor.
"Stop yelling and just tell us!" commands Moon Fox, glaring at Victor.
"My bracelet broke!" he says, showing his wrist, covered with a few slices. Blood drips out.
"But isn't that the thing that was supposed to take you back?" asks Luna, starting to get worried.
"YES!"
"How did it break?" asks the Moon Fox.
"Well, I was messing around with the ponies, and then I felt searing pain on my wrist. The bracelet literally exploded, just like that. I started to panic, then I went looking for you guys. Now we're stuck in this world. Dammit!" In a fit of rage, Victor shoots lightning at a tree, bursting it open in a flash of light.
Moon Fox wraps a tail around Victor and moves him closer to her. "Victor, you've got to calm down," she says, calm. "Remember your anger. You've got problems with it, and no one likes to see them."
"But, I'm angry when I transform," says Victor, not even trying to break free from the grip. One of the things he learned about Moon Fox is that when you're trapped by the tails, she means business.
Moon Fox puts her hands on Victor's shoulders and leans closer, staring eye-to-eye. "Yes, but that's controlled anger. When you're just exploding like that, you hurt others and yourself."
"But there's no way back home now."
"But don't you like Equestria?" asks Celestia.
Victor looks at her, starting to feel guilty. As Moon Fox's tail lets him go, he says, "I do, but it's not home. Home is back on Earth, but I can't go there until everything's fixed up in Vremena. I have to go back to Vremena. My friends miss me, and they also miss Fox."
Celestia starts snicker. "Did you really think we were never gonna see each other again?"
"Uh, yeah. Every time there's a story about going to a new world or something, there's always a painful good-bye to it."
"It doesn't have to be that way," says Celestia, smiling. "You've proven yourself worthy of being an honored guest in our world. And we weren't going to let you go away like that. Now that you can't get back, the only way back is to discover multiverse travel."
"Yeah," says Victor, intrigued. "We can make history. Two worlds, maybe three, connected to one another. But if we do pull it off..." This is where he gestures Luna, Celestia, and Moon Fox to listen carefully. "...listen to me so this doesn't turn into a whole mess. There's a chance that our actions could seriously screw the pooch on our goals, resulting in worst case scenario, interplanetary war."
"Good point," says Moon Fox.
"So princesses, it's best if you listen to both Fox and I, because if we end up in either Vremena or Earth, you'll have one of us with the experience."
"Of course," agrees Luna and Celestia, simultaneously.
"Not gonna lie," continues Victor. "There will be some cases where we need to fight. Hopefully, that won't happen. When I defeated Groves, it ended the war in Vremena, and last time I was on Earth, economy was pretty stable. What I'm worried about is how people are gonna react to you two."
"Then just tell them we mean no harm," suggest Celestia.
"Easier said than done, Sister," says Luna.
* * *
Every day, Victor and Moon Fox would wake up early and fly over to Canterlot, which is a problem for Victor. Moon Fox just lets him ride on her if he doesn't feel like transforming. Victor likes to save it when it's absolutely necessary. They meet with the two princesses and work on experiments. First, they study and test the behavior of teleportation, trying figure how to perform it at a large distance. These are molecules being broken apart and reassembled light years away, so they attempt amplified teleportation spells on simpler life, like a potted plant.
Victor finds all the studying boring, but the rest are very interested about it. Sometimes he's helping with carrying books to and from the library by the princesses' bidding, and sometimes he's donating his power into the experiments. Of course, this requires him to transform because it works as a power multiplier. He remembers how doing it so often fatigues, so such experiments can only be done once or twice a day. He tries to get into the studying portion so he can be a bigger help, but has difficulty understanding the concept.
Sometimes, they all would be in the Everfree Forest, working on the structure. Celestia and Luna are a big help to Moon Fox, because where everything is placed is crucial for the multiverse travel to be a success. The structure is finished within a week, and it's basically an arc made out of twisted, grown trees, props to Twilight Sparkle for providing a rapid growth spell. The twisted trees are encrusted with a few large gems to store the energy that will produce the portal.
The ponies are very supportive of their work, at least when they found out about it when they were through a few days on the project. The idea of interacting with a new world was very interesting to them, so they offered help whenever they could. Victor starts to worry, because he knows what will happen if the ponies are seen in the other worlds. Vremena would be okay. The humans there are very tolerant of other species, and most of them live harmoniously despite their differences. They coexist without problems, but Victor is worried about Earth. There's a fifty-fifty chance of going there. He should be glad that he's going home, but he's too busy being concerned for his friends. Earth humans would freak out if they saw the ponies. They look little to nothing like actual horses, and how is he going to explain the cutie marks showing bare on their flanks?
This cycle of work, worrying, and helping goes for three weeks. Victor starts to get used to Ponyville, and he is to be stuck here forever, if all their work is be in vain, he'd be okay with that. The folks are kind and neighborly, it's a time of peace, and mane six are very fun to be around. But there's still his friends back in Vremena and his family back on Earth. He knows they all miss him dearly. That is why he prays for the gate to work. They were all very busy for a while, especially Celestia and Luna, juggling their royal duties and the multiverse project. Celestia even took the time to teach Luna how to raise the Sun, so they can swap their position on the throne while the other worked on the project. One night, Celestia and Luna smile at each other. The gate is finally ready.
"About time," jokes Celestia.
Moon Fox, Luna, and Victor laugh, but Victor's is short-lived. "You sure it'll work?" he asks.
"I'm very certain. How many tests did we run. Like, thirty?"
"Thirty-four," corrects Luna. "And they proved for this to be safe."
"We tested this on plants..."
"Yes, but they appeared miles away from here without a scratch on them. This is really just teleportation, but further away," says Celestia.
"Y'know," says Victor. "I'm surprised you and Luna didn't go once going all 'ow, I broke a hoof!'" He makes a mockingly girly tone. This makes Celestia and Luna fall over laughing. "That shows that you both didn't let all the luxury got into your heads."
"Oh ho, who wishes to drink?" suggests Luna.
"You mean go out?"
"Yeah! A night out! To celebrate, of course," says Luna as she gets back up.
Moon Fox and Celestia smile to the idea. Victor smiles last, but he's still worried. Maybe some wine should help him ease his mind. Too bad he hates wine.
* * *
"Corvus, give it a rest. He's not coming back."
"Don't say that! He will! I know it!"
"It's been a frickin' MONTH. If he found a way back, he would've been alive again. You're just staring at a corpse."
"Edward, I'm not gonna stop believing in him. Victor proved himself countless times that he can get out of these kinds of messes. He's a miracle boy, and he'll keep on making miracles."
"Hmm, don't you notice something weird about the body?"
"Huh? Well, it looks fine to me."
"That's the thing. It looks fine."
"I'm not following."
"When someone dies, their body decomposes. It should start smelling bad or something."
"Now that you mention it, that is weird..."
"But I think we should leave Victor at peace. We got our own problems."
"Like what?"
"Peake City's been having so many storms lately. They're starting to get dangerous, and we don't have our storm mage anymore."
"A little lightning can't hurt anyone unless they're careless."
"I'm not worried about the lightning..."
* * *
Victor and Moon Fox lean on the finished gate the next morning. They told their friends that they were 'going away for a while'. They took it decently, except for Fluttershy. After about a month of living with them, she grew very fond of them and didn't want them to leave, but Victor promised right in her eyes that he would come back. He even made it a Pinkie promise. For all he knows, if he breaks the promise, Pinkie would cause a rift in space and time just to hunt him down. He will miss the mares, but Moon Fox feels better about it. Yeah, she will miss them, but she tries not to get too attached to people, because she knows they'll eventually die and while she lives on.
Victor looks up, still worried. Princess Celestia and Princess Luna both fly over them and land, carrying a couple of saddlebags. Victor and Moon Fox have little to nothing to pack, except for food and water stored in 1 saddlebag Fluttershy let them borrow. Victor looks at the two princesses. He can read their anticipation, but he's not entirely confident about the success of their project. He feels like the slightest mistake could make things go horribly wrong.
"Mornin', Your Highnesses," he greets, blankly.
"Still got your doubts, I see," says Celestia.
"I do. And let's start with the biggest one: Who the hell is going to rule Equestria when you're both gone."
"Shining Armor volunteered, no questions asked," responds Luna.
"And Princess Cadence agreed to help him out with all the royal stuff," adds Celestia.
"A wise choice," says Victor, feeling interested. "Just make sure it's the REAL Cadence." He replays the season two finale in his head, especially when the so-called Cadenza revealed herself as Queen Chrysalis, the Changeling Queen. Celestia scowls at the thought, remembering the events of that little episode. "So you're both willing to leave Equestria, the place where you rule, for a while just for this?"
"We certainly won't be princesses there, but I'd like to try out being an adventurer for a little."
"So are we gonna just stand her and talk or are we gonna crank this gate up?" says Moon Fox, feeling annoyed.
"I thought you'd never ask," says Celestia. "Alright, everyone aim on the top gem."
"We only tried this with only one person doing the charging," says Victor. "Preferably me..."
"The experiments proved that the more power the gems hold, the longer the radius of the teleportation gets. If we charge it up with just enough energy, we'll create a link to either world. Everypony, give yourself some space."
Moon Fox, Victor, Luna, and Celestia spread apart, all staring at the top gem, laying proudly on the top of the tree arc, ten feet above the ground.
"We might destroys the gems," says Victor.
"Not really. They're indestructible," says Luna.
"Okay, then..." Victor takes a deep breath, and black lightning surrounds him. With a roar, his whole body changes back into the beast. Unlike Moon Fox's eyeballs, his stay black the whole day. His aura causes a gust that flutters with the princesses' manes. "Ready."
"On the count of three," says Celestia. Luna, Moon Fox, and Victor all point at the gem, which is the size of a beach ball. Fox and Victor aim with their hands, but Luna and Celestia aim with their horns.
"One...two...three!"
The four powerful beings fire a stream of energy at the gem. Victor's is black and white lightning, Moon Fox's is a dark blue fire, Luna's is a line of black, and Celestia's is shining yellow, like the Sun. The gem easily consumes the energy, but the four keep going. Victor glares at the charge with his black eyes, mentally commanding it to open the gate to another world. The gems starts to glow white.
"Stop!" shouts Celestia. They all stop, staring at the bright gem. They can feel the heat giving out, and a stream of white energy travels through the arc, charging the other two gems. An aura begins to form within the arc. It grows, and kees growing, until it reaches the edges. They did it.
"It worked!" shouts Luna, happily.
"Holy crap, it really did!" says Victor, surprised. This is an unlikely shift of emotion for him, considering how sadistic and serious he acts when he's in his transformed state. The aura contained by the arc is light blue, and it's being transferred from the three gems, travelling through the trees, making them glow white in the cracks. "Ladies first," says Victor.
Princess Celestia is the first one to take a step. She looks carefully at the swirling vortex in front of her, and to he surprise, a figure starts to manifest. She steps back as a gruff voice comes out of the portal.
"Hello?" asks the voice.
"Who are you?" asks Celestia. Even though she can see edges of a figure, she can't make out who she's talking to. Her friends listen, very surprised how the gate turned out.
"Twig! Who the hell are you?"
"Uh, I'm Princess Celestia..." says Celestia, feeling nervous.
"Never heard of ya."
"Wait, did I just hear 'Twig'?" asks Victor as he gets closer to the gate.
"Victor?" says Twig's voice.
"It worked!"
"What worked?"
"Twig, don't you realize what just happened? We just made a link to both worlds!"
"I guess Corvus was right..." mutters Twig. "Where are you?"
"Equestria. You probably don't know it, but this is where we ended up when we died. What's going on over there?"
"I was just minding my own business, and this tree arc just popped in the middle of the room," answers Twig. "I started calling out to it, and I heard this Celestia. I saw the outlines of a horse, too."
"This world is full of talking ponies..."
The voice from the portal is speechless for a moment. "Okay...? Is it safe to come through?" asks Twig.
"I bet. Moon Fox and I, with the help of Celestia and her sister Luna perfected this gate to transport us safely. it took us a while, but we got it."
"Are you actually talking to Twig?" asks Moon Fox, surprised.
"Yeah. Something wrong?"
"I haven't seen for centuries, is all."
"Victor, you might wanna switch the portal to Earth," suggests Twig.
"Why?" asks Victor.
"Because there's been some weird storms lately in Vremena. I guess I was right about the multiverse thing, and examining these storms and all the cloud formations, they might be a warning to what's going to happen on Earth. We need to prepare ourselves. Earth doesn't have the power to defend against this upcoming threat."
"So what do we do?"
"Bring your pony friends," says Twig, blankly. "I'll send a couple of Settlers to Earth, along with Jin. He can transform like you, so that should give you some firepower. How do you switch this portal to Earth?"
"Shoot the gem on the right," says Celestia. "It should change the focus."
"Alright," says Twig. "Another arc's gonna form, and since we had no previous link with Earth, it could be anywhere. Be prepared."
"Why can't you come, too?" suggests Moon Fox.
"I should stay in Vremena and look out for any more possible signs and warnings. I'm switching the focus now."
Luna shoots the gem on the right side of the arc. The aura grows and switches from light blue to a lime green color. Victor roars and reverts back to his normal state and looks closely into the portal.
"What do you see, human?" asks Luna.
"I see...buildings!" says Victor. "It's definitely Earth." He jumps into the portal and vanishes in a flash of light. Moon Fox runs in next, then Celestia, then Luna. The aura contained by the portal remains, maintaining the connection between the worlds.
The Black Eyes of the Nightmare
This story is a crossover of MLP and my own OC's (non-pony related), which they interact with each other. First, the Moon Fox, then Victor shows up, and then I slap several more at you. Lots of OC's, but I think I did fine with this story, overall.
When I first started writing, it was intended to end before the major antagonist showed up, AKA The Forbidden One, but then I felt like I should introduce for OC's to spice it up. The Moon Fox was originally intended to go with Victor back to Vremena, and they would never see Equestria ever again. A My Little Dashie style ending, but I'm not a big fan of sad endings. I like it when the protagonist wins, especially when winning turned out to be incredibly hard for them.
About the combat, it felt like everyone could jump onto action, except for the Mane Six, which is where it story started, so I created the Harmony character, a being stronger than Celestia, a fusion of the Six. But this isn't Dragonball Z. Yes, there is talk about energy, but this story didn't really involve much screaming to get more power. I can, however, list the characters in the order of power:
The Forbidden One > Harmony (Mane 6 combined) > Victor (transformed) > Groves (transformed) > Jin (transformed) > Celestia and The Moon Fox > Luna > The rest
Victor, Jin, and Groves all have transformations, but in base form, they'd be weaker than Princess Luna.
Also, not too big of a romance fan. Yes, I do see potential in it, but I like to stick mostly to the love someone has for another in friendship. That doesn't include benefits. The point is, the Internet is a place where the slightest nudge of affection can lead to unspeakable terror in terms of visuality. I know love can be beautiful, but some wish to bastardize of thoughts on it and turn into something that is frowned upon. I absolutely despise those who spend time creating damnations of the childhood I loved. Right in the childhood, bro.
The OC's will feature on an animated film that is currently under progress. Ask me if you're interested.
Good show, and I loved how it inspired me to write a 70,000 word story about it XD.
I like to thank my friend Jin for going over this and giving me constructive critique. It was really helpful.
Finally done with this story. Now what to do?
